It was not even a full season yet since Sakhmet had allowed Sayyida to return to the Dunes alone, but still she remembered that meeting as if it were yesterday. The words the Mira spoke haunted her, tugging at her heart despite the continued anger she felt. But that anger did nothing productive. It only filled the eyes of her watchful and learning son, making him think that it was all the world had to offer. There was so much more that it could give and staying here hidden within the Hills would not justify what all there was out there for him to learn.


So, today, as the sun began to color the sky, the mare reached over and nudged her son awake who slept soundly at her hooves upon the sand. “It is time to get up. You have a big day ahead of you.” Sakhmet said, but it was the only warning that Ra got. Stepping away from him, the grey woman began to make the long trek across the wasteland. Her son, who was slow to wake, stumbled to his hooves and dragged along behind her a few paces. Yawning and blinking his eyes, the buckskin finally managed to realize what was happening at long last and quickly caught up to his mother.


“Are we going to see Sayyida?” he asked, his boyish voice beginning to change. Ears forward and eyes alert, he watched his mother’s face as he now walked shoulder to shoulder with her. Sakhmet did not offer him any sort of reply, but the curious young stallion saw the brief flicker of pain and anger cross his mother’s stoic gaze. “Will I meet my family?” he asked, which caused a catch in Sakhmet’s step. “I don’t know.” she answered quietly, and silence fell over them again for the rest of the journey.


When they crossed the invisible line into the Dunes, Sakhmet felt the instant difference. The scent had changed, and the stallions that once patrolled the border had not done so in a while. Now, a dominating mare’s smell hung in the air, which caused Sakhmet to stop with hesitation. Had this been a mistake coming here? A snort blew from her flared nostrils, her tail held aloft as she debated turning back to the safety of her hidden home. Seeing the difference in her, Ra pushed himself close against her side, mimicking his actions although he didn’t truly understand what was happening.


Sakhmet had come here to pay her respects to Sidika. The mare had been the only one to approach her for the things the grey mare had been feeling. And only because she could still catch whiffs of the familiar scents of the lingering herd, did Sakhmet proceed. Moving at a floating trot, she carried herself with caution. Ra made every step she did as they skirted the herd, trying to remain ghosts, not yet willing to face the pain that had made her the outcast she wished to remain.