Orangemoon was a good time to travel; its cooling breezes helped to keep fatigue at bay for the mare and the eagle on their journey north. The Sun, it seems, had slaked its fury during tallsun and now was content to be a guide and travel companion for the pair as it rose and set above their path. The last time the mare had come this way it had been a race, a rescue, and she had come to these lands bathed in sweat and worry only to be met with ill grace. Now she was not alone and both she and the adolescent raptor held a steadier pace though the air. It would take a good deal longer but that would mean she would arrive with enough energy to complete her task.

Outside of the home that she had so recently been raised to rule, this would be the first test for Megaera… She had earned the respect of her herd and now she was tasked to face the leaders of the three northern tribes to reaffirm alliances after the recent political upheaval. The task required diplomacy, a level head, patience, and decorum…Gaucho had picked Meg. She had, on two previous occasions, briefly met with previous leads from the Basin and the Falls and at both meetings she had been aggressive, abrasive, and impetuous. Her lack of any political weight had let her slide from those encounters without any consequences, but with every mile she passed, the rookie Sultana reminded herself that this time had to be different, that she had to be different.

Since Gaucho had named her to lead the Throat with him, Megaera had worked tirelessly to reform herself. The faith that the Wildfire and the Sun God had placed in her was a heavy responsibility to shoulder and that weight itself had begun to change the mare. ‘The Sunspear', as Ampere had named her, had to be different from ‘Meg’. The Sunspear had to be bold, had to be wise, had to be strong. She had to speak for her herd, lead them, guard them, and as the Sun God had told her, protect without destruction. She had to become The Sunspear.

Evening was just starting to darken the sky when she slipped through the trees and touched down on the bank beside a rushing waterfall. Behind it, she knew, was a tunnel that lead into the Falls and as Africa had showed her, the bay pegasus tucked in her wings and plunged through the falling waters. Once through the deluge, she stopped to shake the water from her feathers and steel her resolve. Gwaihir followed her with a small splash and an angry little screech and the pair made their way out of the tunnel and into the Hidden Falls. They didn’t move too far into the land, but stopped themselves in a small clearing just beyond the entrance. She had been given the names of the conquering Czars but both were strangers to her and it seemed unwise to venture further on her own. They had taken this land by force, she she had no reason to expect they would not defend it likewise.

Always quick to sense her nerves, the large, dark eagle settled himself upon Megaera’s back. Young as he was, the bird had always been the calm one of the pair, the steady one, and Meg was so very thankful to have him here with her. ”My Meg.” came his voice in her mind “Meg fine…Meg good…Meg calm.” His words were broken and childish but the surety that flowed from the bird was not. For a moment the mare waited, breathing deeply, wrestling back her nerves and cloaking herself with confidence. I am the Sultana, damn it! I can handle this! Then she reached for something else inside her, something deeper. She gave it a good sharp tug and let it go, shooting into the sky a pillar of light, gold and pure as the sun itself. It shone bright for a several seconds and then diminished, leaving the mare and the eagle to wait in the still evening silence.


"talk talk talk"
Tags: @[Kaj] @[Archibald]