20th of Winter Khasr mumbled and stumbled out of his tent. He couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t nightmares or anything like that, but he just couldn’t sleep. A feeling of urgency had settled over his camp, and all he could do was fidget and roll and try to get comfortable. But no matter what he did, he just stayed awake, and so had decided to clear his head with a walk. For an almost straight ten days the Drykas had been here on the plains, longer than he ever had before, living next to a herd of wild striders, and a certain black bay in particular. The stallion was strong, fast, belligerent, and had a positively volatile temper. He strongly reminded Khasr of himself, actually. The she-leopard that lived almost on top of him wasn’t as bad as Khasr had thought she would be. She had a gift for staring, but he had learned to resist, and he couldn’t help but admire her beauty when he saw her. There was also a pack of hyenas nearby, but they had never shown the slightest inkling of interest in him. The stream was bursting with life even in the winter, and providing for himself was a simple and easy affair. His traps provided most of it, The grasslands were uneasy. He could feel it in every step, every breath. Something wasn’t right. He looked into the tree nearby, but try as he might, he couldn’t find the she-leopard. He slung his javelins over his back, wary, and slipped into the grass. His feet had walked this path many times before, and the moonlight was enough to know where he was going. He reached the lip of the valley, and his heart stopped. The striders were gone. The sound of hoofbeats made his head turn, and he saw the black bay, hide blacker than black against the world around it. It was a ways away, but he knew it was looking at him. It pranced, but did not approach. The bay turned reared, powerful muscles rippling, and neighed. The sound echoed over the empty land, and the man couldn’t help but feel like it was trying to tell him something. “What is wrong?” Khasr whispered. The stallion’s forefeet returned to the ground and it spared him one last, long look, then wheeled and plunged into the grass. |