Common

From the moment his wet body hit the cold earth of Tinuvel, he was shunned. His mother’s first look upon his thick, leggy, bay frame was one of disgust. How dare he exist, despite her best efforts to kill him before he even breathed a single throat full of air. He stared back at her twisted, blue-black face with a vacant expression and when he attempted to stand, K1A1 was already halfway down the side of the hill.

However, Panzer did stand and attempted to call out—to demand—but where his voice should have been came nothing. Not even a small squeak. He frowned and pursued her, driven mostly by instinct. If he did not nurse, he would starve.

And the bay roan colt was not about to die today. Not on his first day free from the woman who tried with all her might to prevent him from existing. He was inevitable. K1A1 should have realized this, but all her stubborn refusals were met with even more vigor from the colt. He rushed at her, his small teeth clamping harder on her with each attempt he made for nourishment. Occasionally, he wasn’t quick enough to dodge her large, wide feet from kicking him away and with every well-placed attack he rose once again, hatred and fervor growing inside his mind with every rebuke.

Until came the day when he no longer needed her—six months later. Scars from her repeated kicks and bites decorated his white-roan coat. He only glared at her, still incapable of speaking. Even if he could speak, there were no words that could describe her cruelty. And despite all this, he persisted. He fought for his life every day and at last, he had won.

Panzer wished he could have killed her that day. He wanted to be strong enough to strike her down, to press his large hoof over her throat and watch the life drain from her cold, coal-black eyes. He wanted to drink in the sweet smell of vengeance, his nostrils wide and eyes rolling. He hated that he could do nothing to her at such a young age, and for the last ten years he replayed all her cruelties over and over in his head.

Enough was enough.

He was overdue for revenge. And so he decided that he would return to the cold, unforgiving land of his birth to find her and strike her down. To bring his macabre fantasy to life. Panzer needed her dead, and he didn’t care who got in his way. He would torch the whole forest to see a single tree burn.


PANZER