Myrways

Time seemed to pass in me moments in the canyon. The day edged into night, now bordering on full on evening. The mild banter had dried up when everything but the sky went quiet. Ears fell flat against skulls in the herd. Danger was near- they all felt it as silence rolled over the canyon like a wave. Only the water cascading over rocks echoed. “Shh, shh. It’s okay. you’re safe.” Ash’s words of comfort carried through the canyon. It barely stifled the squeaks of the pups. At the front of the herd Rhiannon brayed a warning and when she met his eyes, there was a spark of panic in them. Panicking would not be a good impression on Cumulus and Coco, who trembled like leaves behind Ash- Coco too busy comforting her son to see. “Focus!” Ash snapped, and Rhiannon blinked. The doubt she felt about her decision to join his herd faded when he turned stern eyes to her. She shook her head and nuzzled her lead. In that moment she saw how young the stallion was, younger than her sons when she lost

“What are you…doing?” Rhiannon’s question trailed off when the Stork took flight. It kicked up a cloud of dust as it did and when he opened his eyes again the bird was gone. He scanned the horizon to see a white dot fading into the distance. White feathers drifted to the ground as he turned back to his small herd. That felt disorienting as well even though he knew they would be there; he still expected a lot of other horses, different ones, in their place. “Well. That was odd.” He said, and froze at a tiny squeak near his hooves. He looked down at the tiny bundle left on the ground. It moved, and two tiny ferret pups showed their tiny heads before ducking back into the blankets. “Oh…right. He said something about this, did he not?” “Oh no.” Cumulus said, Ash shook her head and Coco sighed. The panic this left in Rhiannon’s chest might have been amusing in other circumstances. As it was he felt something heavy and beating in his chest seize and narrowly refrained from gasping out

Nyr glared at the upturned ground with worried eyes. In the back of her mind she wondered how long it would take for the owners of the paw-prints to arrive. Staring at the sky to gauge the time, the autumn wind blew her red curls around and around her face until she pushed them away. Too soon, probably. Maybe far too quickly to save the local festival. Lowering her hand to the ground, she measured the pawprints again. “Dires.” She muttered, sharing a worried look with the two tokota’s and snowy toki who had accompanied her to the forest. As she slowly stood up Ramsay whined at her agitated behavior, with Aylendah and Feylin not far behind. Shaking her head the handler quickly soothed them with a sigh. “Time to go.” ‘Evidence.’ Nyr thought. Worry made itself evident in her quickened pace. ‘That meant that what the scouts said was true. They’re here and probably quite close.’ “Alright.” Nyr said. She walked over to Ramsay and swung herself onto the saddle. He let her, still shaking a