TORIELLE
It's only me who wants to wrap around your dreams
I follow his movements, and I realize that he has the confidence of someone who has walked these lands a hundred times. He is not exactly kind to me, not in the traditional way, but I feel that he is kind to me in the only way that he knows how. After all, I am but a stranger to his lands, and yet he has indulged me in my desire to see the sun lift himself into the sky. He tells me that the trees are akin to a tightly woven net, and even now, in the midst of winter, I can see their branches twining together. In the height of summer, I’m sure nearly no light at all makes their way through. The oldest forest, he says. And I can feel that in my very bones. Perhaps that is why this is the place from which I emerged from the nothing. It calls to me much like my heartsickness calls to home.
He brings me in amicable silence to the edge of the trees, and I am content to share the space of our walk this way. The longer I spend observing the pegasus, the more I feel that I may understand him. He may patrol these areas to keep them safe from intruders, but I feel that more so than that, he patrols these areas to keep his mind and heart safe from himself. From whatever chaos boredom and stillness would bring him. And why should it not be a place of some kind of peace for him? The forest and her children, no matter where someone is, they have always been good listeners. They swallow secrets and do not judge you- past, present or future.
The way that the sun rises over the plains is beautiful. Deep sleepy blues stirring into lilac, the stars winking out of sight. First slowly, and then by the dozens, as if each firefly light realizes their companions have gone away and they desire not to be left behind. The stallion tells me his name is Andras, and I mull the name over my tongue. It’s a strong name, and it suits him. I hold it in my mouth a while, watching the sun climb over the edge of the world, bringing with it striking colours of pink and orange and brilliant gold.
“Andras,” I say slowly, bowing my head slightly, the bells in my antlers chittering. “Well met.” I turn myself to look at him more fully, the most comfortable I have been since our meeting. I understand now that, while my skin tingles like an electric current, he is no more a god than I am. He is a man, destined for growth. Perhaps struggle and hardship, but ultimately, growth. Just as the sunrise has pulled glory from the twilight hours, he too shall have a day when the shadows of the night will be chased away by his light.
I smile, a gentle thing as I look back to the open plains. “Thank you for sharing this sunrise with me. And for showing me the beauty that is your home.”
I turn my eyes to him once more, watching his stoic form, searching perhaps for something. I’m not sure what, and the thought passes. I observe him for who and what he is. “Let me not keep you from your duties, Andras. If you have business to attend to, please feel free to see to it.” My blue orbs travel back to the horizon, the sun brushing just the edges of the earth, spilling gold and pink and lavender like an overturned teacup. “I think I shall stay here a while.”
art by the-day-of-shadow character by scapeh table by sunny
