elif
In the end it is nothing - no great adventure as she had imagined that morning, with her heart in her teeth.
Oh, there was magic enough, with Solis at their front and the frost billowing from the mouths of the monstrous elk. But if these were the kinds of battles that had always been fought, Elif thought the bards had embellished them more colorfully than any of the tapestries that hung in the city.
Surround them, their god of blazing summer sun, of fire and pride, said - and with a few beats of her wings Elif drew back, watching the horses on the ground obey the orders. To simply drive them away seemed strange - what if they went to another of the courts? But Elif is not one to disobey her patron god, and so she drives at the elk from the air, beating her wings and breathing her magic, sending the wind pushing behind them, urging them on.
It works; by the time Solis stops there is a sheen of sweat across Elif’s withers, despite the descent of the sun. At last she lands, flicking her wings and tucking them to her sides. Only then does she glance around and find that the black pegasus is gone - but she is too weary to even curse beneath her breath.
Slowly she joins the others, her spring-bright gaze slipping between her god and her queen, waiting to see if there are any more orders or explanations, and return to Solterra in victory.
