The stallion peers into the glassy surface of the lake, the small tide of the water sucking at the feathers around his hooves. If one were to look at him, it would be almost statuesque, his chest barely moving with his breath. It’s hard to tell how long he may have been standing here at the edge of the waters. At some distance his elk companion watches him, a stray summer breeze ruffling the lichen that drips from his bone chalices.
“Gareth…” The bonded companion steps forward, pressing this thoughts gently to the stallion, concern filling his bright green orbs. “I’m sorry. But she is not as you once remember her…” He presses his side to his companion, moss mingling with earthy tones, their reflections rippling in the water.
The stallion does not speak for a long moment, and almost seems to completely disregard the stag at his side. He lets a deep sigh fall from him, as if he has been holding his breath. He closes his amber pools, unable to look at his reflection any longer. He turns from the lakeside and his beloved friend.
“I’m not as she once remembers, either, Noor,” He speaks in a flat affect. He shakes his head, the curled piles of his mane knocking a few thick tresses loose to hang against his neck. He looks back across the lake, a longing in his gaze. “So many things have happened between then and now… and…” He bows his head again, deflating. “And I’m unsure how to continue. I failed her, Noor. I let her leave, and I…”
The stallion grits his teeth and pounds the shoreline with a harsh stomp of his foreleg. He held that spark of anger for only a moment before he let it fizzle out again. Anger was an exhausting emotion. “I don’t know how I can face her now, after all these years.” The words are a broken sound, the lyrics of a man who fears he cannot redeem himself.
