i dream in phosphorescence | avery [part i] Posted on March 9, 2024 at 03:20:11 PM by Helios
A Note for the Reader: This thread is a series of flashbacks that begins the previous winter.
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It was the first winter of his rule. Though one could scarcely tell it was winter here on Salem if they were a visitor. A longer-termed resident or a native would be able to tell in the temperatures, the weather pattern, or even the feel of the ground. Helios hadn't been in this particular arid country for long, but he had grown up in a vast desert somewhere far across the mainland.
The chestnut stallion had been focused on settling most of his herd. It had only been he and Niyat in the main band since Antares and the rest of Niyat's family left the Dunes. So Helios had been quite excited by the development of three new additional mares, two of them pregnant by him now. The thought of the upcoming spring and the joy to come thrilled him as their bellies grew.
It was with this positive, excited mindset that Helios had set about heading along the northwestern border that afternoon. There was still no one in the third position to take up a large part of the patrolling that the northwest iqtadar -- the part of the land he had previously inhabited -- required. Helios hadn't met any of his neighbors yet, which was why the sight of a horse ahead intrigued him. When they finally met, Helios smiled at the mare. “Hello,” he'd said amicably. "I'm Helios. Who might you be?"