i dream in phosphorescence | open Posted on May 15, 2024 at 10:42:50 PM by Helios
Helios dozed restlessly. His copper skin, mottled by the shade of a palm tree, twitched as the stallion slept. For a season as long as a lifetime, he had dreamed of Starlight and their child while they remained trapped in the Badlands, the westernmost territory on Salem. Now, he ruminated over Vāna sweet, soft Vāna and the black behemoth who had stolen her away. It wasnt long before the Arabians eyes were open again, screwed up against the light of a late afternoon sun.
He had judged himself harshly for the mares departure. Helios had promised to protect her from the likes of such men and been forced to admit that he could not. Now Vāna lingered across the water on a different island altogether instead of merely up the island as before. This thought had often boiled his anger over to new heights every time it came back to the forefront of his mind. This time around saw the tightening of nerves in his stomach and the ebb of guilt in his chest. Terrible guilt flowed at the thought of yet another child who would not grow up immediately feeling at home in the sands, threatening to swallow the desert stallion as he peered into the pool.
The sounds of the oasis thrummed back to life around Helios as he regained his bearing from unconsciousness. Sleep, as always since taking the throne, was a burden instead of a relief. Dark eyes moved over the shapes of his other mares and young children in the spanse of oasis around them. There was tranquility here, something the copper male wished to enjoy at his leisure. Yet the events of the last year had denied the stallion any such joy. He was a ghost along the borders these days and still Vāna was wrested.
Shutting his eyes, Helios inhaled deeply and centered himself. Brooding wouldnt help that lovely mare, and he was sure that somehow she would come home soon. There was a way. He would find it. So Helios continued to stand motionless, musing as the day slipped past.