i was an offering to the gods Posted on July 22, 2024 at 01:16:42 AM by Astarte
Astarte had been listening intently, her ears pricked forward to catch every word as he spoke. Yet her mind's eye opened, and his words slowed, nearly fading to a whisper as the images flashed before the mare's eyes. She blinked, and there stood the stallion before her as he had been, but there were new lines on his features. His maw was flecked with white hairs now, and his eyes had a tenderness within them as he beheld her.
The stallion's vision-self turned to look northward. A macaw flashed by overhead in the real world, drawing her gaze. Then, the land in her vision rushed past them as if pushed away by the flap of its wings. It felt as though the wind were whipping through her mane and her skin cooled on the icy harshness of it, though no breeze blew in Paradise. Channels of water passed, then a great mountain, before they finally stopped on forested alpine slopes.
Sigurdr -- his name sang through her mind and the cords of her heartstrings -- turned to her once again within the vision, and Astarte looked upon his actual form. She appeared almost distracted as all this went on within a few heartbeats, breathing slowly and her eyes almost glazed. She would only barely hear him if he spoke now. A smile rested on the lips of the vision-stallion; an emotion lingered there she could not identify.
As the snowy land around them faded with the end of the vision, Astarte glanced randomly to one side. With a hitch in her breath, the dark mare found pale eyes gleaming within the dark shadows of the forest. They stayed even as the scenery fully assimilated into the very real jungle of Paradise before finally fading. Dread washed through her gut like a cold shock after the surprising warmth a few moments before. She spoke haltingly at first before collecting herself into an assuring tone.
"I a-appreciate your patience, Sigurdr," she murmured dazed, speaking his name before he'd yet offered it to her. Blinking away the last of her fog, Astarte attempts to smile and push away the questions milling in her mind. A glimpse of the future and of the emotion that could clearly develop betwixt them had placated her fears. "I shall leave Paradise as you wish it. I am quite content to stay otherwise."