The Portal
S A O I R S E
Saoirse didn’t notice the inky substance on his left shoulder, imprinted by the tree trunk. Merely wet and insignificant, as the colt considered the graveyard of ancient trees. It would take time for his eyes and mind to adjust to the lapis glow accenting their gnarled barks, and the added depths of their shadows. It was nearly too dark to see anything, and yet the world bled blue with sinister, haunting creeks – urging the colt onwards for an escape.
Before he could take a step, an invisible force begins to compress his being. “What the – ” Saoirse shudders under the invisible hands at work. He tried fighting them off with a pathetic growl, tossing his horned head, sprawling his wings – stumbling and being pulled whichever way in the process. He looked possessed for a moment, the movements unnatural as he was jerked one way or the other. Until he stumbled on the forest floor and fell again – the familiar heat of anger, boiling beneath the surface. “Fuck off!”
Until they take it, the amulet, his anger twists painfully away from him. Replaced with unreasonable thoughts of loss. It reverberates through the colt, choking the air momentarily from him. And spreads from his lungs to his heart, limbs and all. To the point of being stuck in a half standing position, because he can’t quite make it up himself at this point.
“SAOIRSE!”
The stench snaps the boy’s attention up to the familiar colt. Grimacing, as the other boy’s smell envelopes them both. A weak cough greets Iskra before Saoirse offers a half smile. “Iskra?” An air of disbelief marks his voice, and boops the extended muzzle, taking the offered neck and hauling up against him.
“I’m not sure…” He breathed out, the air bloody as he did so – and stiffened as he finally found his feet and stared at the colour. “Ah… what…” He swallowed hard and shook his head, an expression of confusion furrowed his brows together – and his eyes appeared lost as he searched his friend’s face for answers. “Did you – AYE!” The unexpected shock had Saoirse flinching back, as it connected with a portion of his wing. “What the hell is happening?” An incredulous snort followed with a maroon waft. The boy’s eyes widened, and finally settled on the curious creature beside his friend; but before he could get another word out, an emerging figure and her irritating voice snaps his focus away.
“You…” He glared at Sabia, and the child pressed quietly behind her legs. He found that her tears meant very little to him anymore, as his features twitched with returning ire. And at the thing that suddenly fills itself with pomp and gusto, facing them with blind, foolish courage. “Leave me be mare,” he snapped. He didn’t want to face her, or the new family she’d attached herself to. With felled ears pressed against his head, he regarded Iskra. “I think I’m good. We should probably go...” A look of anxiety crossed the boy’s gaze, as he shifted in the opposite direction.
Which only intensifies as the stallion approaches Sabia. The colt struggles to keep more tears from falling down his cheek. With a swallow he turns away, walking further - farther into the shades ahead.
@Iskra
