Horses of Dawn: Part XI

They sent Ailim and two others back to the stars that night, the three bodies laid side by side on a large funeral pyre. Shane, now clad in a fresh set of leathers, but these green colored, stood with his father and kinsmen as the embers flew up to the sky in a bright stream and then blinked out of sight. Brennus would be sent home to his own gods in the morning; the boy supposed they would bury him in the fashion of humans.

Afterwards they all went back to the camp and sat around a smaller fire, singing songs and drinking to the memory of the fallen. Even Ian sang a duet with Uncle Ashe, who then sang a song by himself that took Shane by surprise, a barracks ditty about maids and warriors. The expression on Shane's face must have mirrored his inner astonishment, for his great uncle saw it and began to laugh so hard his face turned red. But when Evaynan stood and cleared his throat, the circle hushed as all listened to his words.

"We've suffered greatly these past few days... Aillim..the others..and Brennus. We will hunt down the rest of this pack and wipe it out. But the more important matter lies in the Green Silences. Someone has defiled the Pool of Mezumiiru. From what we are able to determine, the desecration extends across the planes, befouling each part of it left behind as a Shadow Pool. Ian, I ask you to seek out the Pool on your plane and access the damage there. Ashe. my son, I ask you to seek out others from those places the Silences have visited in its journey. We must know the full extent of this taint." Heads nodded as a general discussion broke out. Only Yarrow seemed hesitant over this plan, but Shane was too tired and still grieving for Brennus to notice. He went off to bed..

********

In his dream the king stallion stood over him, the great eyes staring into Shane's soul. "Not me", Shane whispered. "I cannot leave my family." The horse nodded his head once, and then vanished, as the elfling at long last slid off into a deep sleep.

**********

Shane was wrong. In the hour just before dawn they sent Brennus home on a funeral pyre as well. All the elves without exception gathered to pay their respects to the herdmaster, and Evaynan himself lit the pyre. Just as the first rays of dawn lit the sky, the fire collapsed inwards, sending a great cloud of embers into the air. For just the briefest of moments it hung there, until the Horses of Dawn came thundering by, and as the herd ran off into the morning, the embers were pulled along behind it like a glowing tail in the sky. They watched until the Horses and embers vanished in a flash of sunlight, and then the three visitors from Camelot said their farewells and made their way to their own horses and gear.

"They're gone, aren't they?" Shane looked at his father. "They're gone to look for the new herdmaster."

*********

Far to the east of Camelot, on the Hungarian steppes, a young boy hears the thunder of hooves coming, it seems, out of the very air. Then suddenly he can see them, the most beautiful horses he has ever seen, and he knows he wants nothing else but to be with them, ride with them, go where they go. How can he not, having seen them?

How could he not?
He waits until one draws even, grabs a handful of mane….
And rides away into the dawn.