i dream in phosphorescence Posted on June 24, 2024 at 06:47:55 PM by Helios
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The Arabian had gone out on an early patrol before dawn. Though he trusted Al-Hilal and Lionheart to mind the borders, he still marked the length of the territory's border from east to where he rested in the northwestern oasis. The afternoon sun was baking down upon his coppery skin where he dozed in the shade of the oasis when he heard the call from the direction of the Badlands.
A stallion in that land had been the first to get under his skin, the first to take something from the Arabian that was not his: Raegar. Starlight had been taken shortly after birthing their daughter Solaire, and Helios has despised the paint ever since. Despite the surprise of her return and the peace between the lands since, there was still the matter of his bruised ego. It had been his own fault for leaving her alone so close to the border, yet the slight remained.
Curious, the male left the ease of the lush pool in search of his caller. He did not make an approach straight away, taking his time instead to survey the stranger from a distance. The scent on the wind foretold a young mare, though it was not Arsinoe. He remembered the snobbish attitude of the largely pale mare. This one was a paint as well, but markedly different: chestnut instead of faded amber.
There was something else new on the wind -- or someone he should say. There were no traces of Rafe, the stallion who'd been rumored to have claim on the Badlands. Helios had never met the stallion himself, but the scent of him or his kin had always been there cementing the border between his territory and theirs. Some concern knit his brow together. It showed still when Helios closed the gap between them.
"I don't usually receive visitors from the Badlands. Things must be changing." It is a benign and rather obvious statement, he would admit. His dark eyes flit beyond the red-gold girl to the foreign land at her back. It madehim uneasy to now so little of what was happening with his neighbors, despite their lack of friendly relationship. Helios returned his gaze to the mare, paying close attention to her now more than ever.
"What happened here?"