Nyimara had bn gone far longer than she anticipated. With Kara and especially Cahyr at her side, she had been forced to take more breaks than she might normally have taken in her quest. The rumors that had reached her ears had been true enough, her grandsire was indeed still clinging to life (or what one might call living though she could not quite agree after seeing the old bag of bones for herself). She had hoped his once great herd was still strong and fierce as ever. Would it have been wrong to steal what he had gained from years of hard work and cunning. Without a doubt. But if it meant that Solomon would pay for the blood he spilled then so be it. Nyimara would become the blade that severed the ties of blood. For their blood. It was only right.
And yet when she uncovered the old beast in his putrid den, Nyimara could not have welded the dagger even if she had wanted to. The once great her was gone.
‘Lost in the mists that lay beyond the mountains…’ or some garbled almost incoherant explination. In essence, all that Rougaru had once bragged about, the stories mother had told, all of it was gone, dispersed to the far reaches. Her trip had been futile. That alone made her want to end the old stallion’s life but somehow seeing him with cataract ridden eyes and the sunken hollows of his hips was enough to know that leaving him was a far worse fate. The fate befitting of a worthless scrap of flesh. That much, she left him with. He would continue to rot and decay there in that cave of darkness and shadows scrounging on the tiny morsels of moss and lichen. The feeble nutrients would be enough to keep him alive until his soul truly broke and whatever demon rose from the darkness to claim what remained. It was what he deserved.She had full intentions of returning straight to Salem. Athough she had left both Asmodeus and Quinn in charge, there was no telling exactly what might have befallen the desert and what unwanted strangers might be trespassing upon the ol wolf’s bones. Quinn alone would never be able to hold their kingdom of fire and flames but Asmodeus…. He was a different story. Nyimara could see in him what Solomon ignored. She saw the frustration, the fury and the twisting knot of emotions that were searching for an outlet. SHe had given him his release. In one fowl swoop, she had secured him at her side and bound the noose tighter around the ice king’s throat in the form of the spirited pale boy with sea-green eyes. Asmodeus’ eyes.Solomon had caged and shackled Asmodeus with promises of a kingdom and growing harem of follows. It was the witch queen who merely pointed out the irony in how quickly
all those followers had readily agreed with Solomon’s decision to abandon him for their mistake. While Quinn amused himself with the little harlot he tried to hide from her eyes, Nyimara watches with delight as Asmodeus took his duties seriously, patrolling their home with the fierness that she herself possessed. It was only herself and Cahyr that could deter him from the task at hand and she was surely fine with that. Quinn might have the age, the suave remarks and flirtatious eyes…. But Asmo…. He had the same fire.The swim from the mainland to the largest of the island chain was as daunting now as it had been nearly a year earlier. While Cahyr had grown and strengthened his body, he was still unused to keeping himself afloat over such long distance. It also did not help that the waves that pulled and tugged at their bodies were much stronger than they had been during the original crossing. A storm must have either just left or was waiting in the wings to pummel the islands with its fierce blasts. As much as Nyimara wanted to return to the Desert, Cahyr needed to rest and replenish the energy he had spent.
”Over there Cahyr, eat and rest. Stay.Put.” she commands as the pair arise from the white-capped surf. Gingerly she points her small muzzle towards the well worn path cut into the dunes. Dark ears tilt backwards as she offers the colt a knowing glare.
”That path will lead you to the meadow. The clover should still be thick and the grass shaded from the worst of the summer sun. Eat and rest. I will come and find you shortly.” she finishes, turning towards a different trail hidden among the high reeds. Familiar. Something buried deep into the recesses of her mind called to her ol’factory senses as they flooded through every fiber of her being. Faint, hours or maybe even days old but that scent was still there. Who?The temptation is too much to ignore. As agile as a hunting cat, the silver haired minx flits through the dense brush and disappears into the thick shadows of trees without another backwards glance. With any luck, Cahyr would listen to the threat in her voice and do as he was told. Forgetting the boy for now, she follows the alluring scent, trying to once more place the tantalizing odor with whatever memories had long been buried in her mind. The roaring sound of the falls grows louder and louder still. Even as she ducks beneath an overhanging branch in her path, the lingering familiarity quickens the beating of her heart. Paper thin nostrils flare as she comes to a halt near the frothing waters that tumbled from the granite boulders high above. Sleek, chocolate colored skin shivers as droplets of icy water dampen her pelt to near-black, matching the darkness of her eyes that scan the woodland around her. Aside from a few completely unfamiliar beasts, there is nothing to trigger that scent or the quicken to her heartbeat. Was it merely a trick of the islands? A wraith in the mists once more to torment and confuse her?
’NO! No.’ She tells herself, giving her finely dished head a shake in hopes that the electricity would somehow dissipate from her skin. She would not fall victim to that again.
’Never again…’ The murmured voice in her mind hisses as she stomps a single jagged hoof against the rock strewn bank. Muscles coil and release as the silver-haired witch arches her sleek neck to press her muzzle to the surface of the pooling waters. WIth any luck, a frigid drink would both quench her thirst and silence whatever demons try to haunt her and keep her from her journey’s end.