Keela - A Pegasus - Part 2
By T W I
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6th Oct 2010 •
2,691 views
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4 comments
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I lay on the mossy ground next to a small pool of deep green water, letting my tired body relax. My dark wings were spread on either side of me, extended to their full twenty-five foot wing span. It had been a tiring day, emotionally as well a physically and I was glad for a chance to truly get some rest in. After my flight over the sea, the Selgyn Sea to be precise, I had veered westward after flying several miles to shake off my pursuers. Now I was trying to rest while I could, before they found me again, though this deep into the forest I hoped that it wouldn’t be soon.
I heaved a sigh and scrambled up, folding my wings against my glistening sides. I was in perfect physical condition and glowing with health. Indeed, I was on the run constantly, making for firm muscles and no extra fat. My coat gleamed with vitality, its soft hairs reflecting the sunlight. The flight feathers on my wings were perfectly aligned and they too had a healthful shine to them. But what was the use? Aalnar was gone. I was alone.
I listlessly plunged my muzzle into the cool water and began to drink. As I gratefully sucked in the pure water through my teeth, an irregular noise bumped into my consciousness. A splashing, gurgling sort of noise, sounding like it had come from something large in the stream that fed my little pool, to my right in the trees. Though I was wary, I wasn’t ready to flee, not yet. Cautiously, I made my way through the thick underbrush towards the place where I had heard the sound. Silently stepping over twigs and brushing past the bark-covered trunks of towering pine trees, I glided through the woods, hardly daring to breath. I ducked under a bough of pine needles, feeling them gently brush my neck and back. Twitching my skin to rid myself of the tickly feeling on my coat, I was caught by surprise as I stepped into a small clearing in the woods. I raised my neck to take a look around and abruptly caught my breath. Standing in the small stream trickling merrily into the trees, a Pegasus stallion stood, looking directly at me, his face impassive. His soft, white wings were gently folded against his sides and his golden mane shone in the sun. I couldn’t believe it. Like a ghost, stepped out of a dream, there he stood.
“Aalnar...?”
A bit of a smile then touched his chiseled ivory face.
“Yes Dear Heart.”
I sucked in my breath, not believing what I was seeing and hearing. Images flashed through my head. The ribbon of red running down Aalnar’s neck. His labored breathing as he struggled to rise. The torment in his eyes mirrored by my own as I made the impossible choice whether to die with him or flee and save myself. Wait. His eyes.
I cautiously stepped closer and peered into them. They were the same deep alabaster eyes, eyes that could make your heart flutter - piercing but full of mirth. And yet they weren’t. Something had changed. Something wasn’t right. I blurted out the first thing that I could pull out of my tumultuous thoughts.
“But you’re dead!” Aalnar raised his perfect head, letting golden mane spill down his withers and laughed. It was a beautiful sound, ringing through the trees and it made my heart beat faster. Then he stepped out of the stream towards me. That was when I smelled it. It was a sickly sweet smell, so faint that I wasn’t sure that I wasn’t just imagining things. Yet as he drew nearer I became surer. Years of flight had taught me caution, almost to the extreme and I instinctively stepped back, my breath catching in my throat.
“Keela, it’s me.” He said, peering steadily into my eyes. I shook myself, and stepped back another step.
“But...the wound. The arrow. You were dying!” The last words were drawn out of me, in a strangled manner. Aalnar seemed to flinch, but soon composed himself.
“Yes Keela, I was dying. But as you can see, I’m not dead.” He lowered his muscular neck so that his face was level with mine.
“I promise you, I’m not a phantom.” I swallowed hard.
“Then how...how did you survive?” Aalnar sighed deeply.
“I had hoped to put off this discussion until later. But as I can see, you need answers. Come, follow me.” Without further elaboration he turned and plunged deeper into the forest. I watched him disappear into the trees, my whole body trembling. Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself and cantered in after him in. What I would find there I did not know, but I knew I had to follow him. I had lost him once and I would not lose him again, not until I was sure that it wasn’t he. |
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