“Please….wait….don’t go….”


The words trickle from her mouth in a plea while her heart feels as if it’s being shattered into a million unfixable pieces. Laying in the snow, her body no longer useable, Eriana knows that death will come for her soon. But she doesn’t want to meet him alone. Fear drove her to struggle, to thrash about in the cold white powder that was her death sentence, until she no longer had the energy to do that. “Why wasn’t I worth staying for?” she whispered, before the inevitable darkness swallowed her.


Yet a gasp fills her lungs, and Eriana’s eyes snap open to see the beautiful Falls leaves and green grass around her. Always the same dream; always the same nightmare. She had hoped one day it would stop, but no amount of hoping had rid her of it. There was no truth in the nightmare, as Alioth had not left her that day in the snow. He had pushed her to survive, and only because of him had she been able to make it. So why did her own mind keep lying to her?


Unable to answer that question for herself, she had once again avoided the stallion, but for different reasons. How would she ever be able to give him an answer if she didn’t first find it? But as the seasons pressed on, Eriana found she was no closer to finding it, and perhaps it was time to give up. To let go of whatever fantasy that kept her roaming instead of seeking him out. Yet, there was still one thing that was holding her back.


Standing at the Falls, looking down at her reflection in the water, Eriana was still lean. Her body not the supple, beautifully muscled form that she seen so many other mares flaunt to their advantage. Her mane was long, but thin and a bit straggly. Her tail is just the same. Her coat dull, her skeleton visible though not jutting; Eriana just wasn’t pretty. Perhaps when she was still much younger, when she remembered being healthy, but no amount of forage seemed to make her gain weight or strength.


“This is hopeless.” She told herself disheartedly, hanging her head a bit. But she still turned and followed the known trail that would lead her to the place that he called home. Only when the reek of stallion began to fill her nose did Eriana become wary. Her steps were placed carefully among the mud, not wanting to slip and fall, while also doing her best to be quiet; not wanting someone else to find her. “Alioth?” she whispered when she thought she caught his scent.