Chapter 1

The dawn sun slowly began to crawl over the horizon, blanketing the dapple-grey mare that trotted across the prairie with a golden radiance.  No clouds skirted across the sky, and the moon had already disappeared into the light.

The horse tipped her head to the heavens, scenting the air.  Pricking her ears, she turned her head to see a blue-roan horse cantering towards her from the southwest.  Saka lowered her head, letting out a snort of exasperation.

The roan let out a whinny, but the mare only shook her mane in acknowledgement.  As the stallion trotted up to her, he tossed his head with happiness.  Saka narrowed her eyes and broke into a walk.  

“Saka!  Hey, wait up!”  The roan’s sides heaved from his long run from Rigsbur Rise, the camp of the Rigsbur Alpha Herd.  His light silver-blue eyes shone with excitement, tail high and swishing behind him.  

“Ciios, I want to be alone.”  The dapple-grey looked behind her, ears laid back.  Ciios dipped his head and nickered.  

“It wasn’t my decision!” he said, prancing up to Saka.  “Faldor told me to go with you!”  At this, Saka rolled her eyes.  

“Don’t you think that Faldor cares a little too much about my well-being?” she snorted, leaping into a canter.  Ciios followed her stride.  

“He cares about you, that’s all,” he replied quietly, hooves falling in unison with Saka’s.  The mare blinked, but did not reply.

The spring sun was now high above the horizon, warming the two horses’ coats.  In front of them, the Lorarem Mountains leaped high into the morning sky, a flicker of purple brushing their edges.  Saka pricked her ears, looking over to her right where a Beta Herd galloped across the plains.  The 15 horses that qualified it as a Beta Herd fell into step behind their lead stallion, who let out a whinny.  

Saka smiled.  She herself once belonged to a Beta Herd before Faldor had taken her and Rigsbur became her home.  Shaking her mane, Saka quickened her pace, remembering the days when she had lived within the Awev.  The days where she breathed on Rigsbur Homeland without the freedom to run wherever she liked, the days before her life changed so dramatically…

“Look, can we go any faster?  My legs can’t stand a patrol without galloping.”  Saka blinked, looking over to Ciios, whose eyes were dull with boredom.  The mare sighed, and then tossed her head, signaling for Ciios to go on.  

The yearling whinnied, flying into a gallop.  Saka watched as his tail whisked by her face, then he was gone, hooves thundering across the Lorarem Foothills.  

“Be careful!” she called after him, but Ciios only nickered in reply.  Saka slowed to a trot, nostrils flared and eyes alert for any sign of danger.  The mare flicked an ear.  The roan should know by now that patrols were for keeping the herd safe, not a sprint beneath the mountains.  

Saka had been traveling for two days now to get to where she was; it was quite a feat that Ciios had actually caught up to her.  The mare then remembered Ciios’ foal days, when he would run in circles around Rigsbur Rise endlessly, coming back to his mother at the end of the day with gleaming eyes.

Sighing, Saka walked forward, taking each hoof step carefully, alert for any danger.  A hawk let out a cry above her, and a mouse scuttled across the grassy hills.  She was surprised that Faldor had sent Ciios to accompany her.  There were so many other horses with more experience than him.  Shaking her mane, Saka let the thought go, simply keeping her eyes on the path before her.

Saka continued to trot towards the mountains, tail swishing behind her.  Ciios had disappeared from sight; all that was left of him were hoof prints in the grass.  A gentle breeze blew Saka’s forelock out of her eyes, and a cloud moved across the sun, which had moved to the top of the sky.  

Blinking, the dapple-grey mare broke into a canter, mane waving behind her.  Ciios’ scent drifted through the air, informing Saka that she was not far behind the stallion.  

Surprise caught her off-guard.  Another scent drifted through the air, that of another horse.  A muscle on Saka’s haunches twitched, and the mare narrowed her eyes.  Distress floated through the air like an eagle feather caught in the wind.

Narrowing her eyes, the mare quickened her canter, flying across the hills.  No sensible horse would come this far away from Rigsbur Rise, unless they were on a patrol like Ciios and herself.  And, the scent was unrecognizable, neither Rigsbur, Thiskel, or any Beta or Omega Herd that she could remember.  

The sound of hoof beats awoke Saka from her thoughts.  Looking up, she watched as a grey-blue blur galloped towards her.  

“Ciios, what are you doing?” she whinnied.  The yearling did not reply, only quickened his pace.  Saka cried out to him again, but still no reply, only the sound of hoof beats.  He came closer and closer until Saka could clearly make out every strand of hair in his mane.

Skidding to a halt, Ciios tossed his head, beckoning Saka to follow him.  Blinking, Saka leapt after him, stretching her legs as far as she could to keep up with the roan.

Ciios’ eyes were wide with fear, his sides heaving with effort.  

“What’s wro-”  

“No time to explain,” Ciios panted, ears laid back.  “You’ll understand when we get there.”  Saka stared at him, then leapt forward, hooves pounding into the ground.  

The two horses ran for a short while before Saka noticed that the scent of the strange horse was getting stronger.  Worry clawed her belly like frost on her coat, and she flared her nostrils.  

Ciios’ silver mane flashed past her face, and Saka leapt forward in order to keep up with the stallion.  Every hoof step she took the scent grew stronger; she worried that she would spook if the tension grew any higher.  They ran in unison, hooves flying and tail lashing behind them.

Then, all of a sudden, Ciios skidded to a halt at the top of a rise.  Saka reared onto her hind legs, hooves catching the light of the sun.  All was quiet, and the dapple-gray pricked her ears.  

The faint sound of a mouse scuttling in the undergrowth was all she could hear.  Saka blinked, looking over to Ciios.  

“Why did you bring me here?”  Ciios did not reply, only began to make his way down the hill slowly, each hoof step taken carefully.  “Ciios-”

The yearling turned his head to gaze at her, silver-blue eyes filled with alarm.  

“You’ll understand soon enough,” he murmured quietly, and then began walking down the hill once more.  Puzzled, Saka strode after him, head raised high and mane blowing behind her.  

The mountains now lay directly in front of her, shear cliffs rising high into the afternoon sky.  Saka flicked an ear impatiently.  The Lorarem Mountains were one main borders of Empire, and it alarmed her to be so far away from home.  

Shadows flowed over the foothills as Ciios continued to walk, Saka shoulder-to-shoulder with him.  Her tail flicked back and forth angrily.

“Look, whatever this is, do we have to go this slowly?” the mare finally snapped, ears laid back to her head.  Ciios looked at her in surprise, the fright in his eyes fading slightly.  

“The Immortals did not bless you with the gift of patience,” he whinnied with a small smirk.  Fury spiked through Saka.

“When you came to find me, you looked as though the Creator herself came down and spoke to you!” Saka said irritably.  “Looked as though if I didn’t come with you, the Immortals would come and take you to Dorando!”  Saka stopped in her tracks, eyes blazing and sides heaving.  

Ciios stared at her in alarm, but when he spoke, his voice was unusually calm.  “Saka,” he whispered.  “There’s no possible way that you’d believe me if I told you.”  He shook his mane.  “I’m not even sure if I believe it myself.”  

Saka pawed the ground.  “What do you mean?”  Ciios sighed.

“I mean, that we don’t want to spook whoever lays beyond this hill.”  Saka felt a chill run down her spine.  

“There’s a horse over here?”  Ciios dipped his head, and then took a step forward.  Saka strode after him, ears pricked and muzzle high to the sky.  

Climbing over the hummock, Saka scanned the scene before her.  A small stream flowed down the canyon, and lush green grass swayed in the wind.  A cloud floated lazily across the horizon as the sun finally made the final journey over the Lorarem.  

“What am I-?”  But Saka stopped in mid-speech.

Below the hill, a gray mare lay close to the river, belly swollen and sides heaving with pain.