An enigma, a treasure trove, she lures his intrigue with all of the spell-working of a singing siren upon cliffs above a moody black ocean. So shy and afraid was she in the beginning, that he had felt the need to pledge the worth of his guardianship upon her, but today (particularly, and in these moments unfolding), she rises like a phoenix from the ashes to steal the very breath from his lungs. For months he has appointed himself a beacon of light in the darkness of her faith, watched her dwindle and teeter along the edge of wicked despair (something that terrified his innocence), only to return threefold, with a luminous grace that defies belief; a dove indeed, Nora has pulled loose those binding chains of her demons (he’d witnessed a sliver of their wrath).

Like a butterfly to nectar, he is attracted to her, the perfect meld of shyness and warmth, of mystery; modest beauty that even pales the halo-light of his beloved mother-moon - She calls forth the tides of the sea with the same magnetic song that ensnares the emotionally unwary stallion.

It takes him by surprise when she draws alongside, and his heart swells, bursts like an overinflated balloon beneath a piercing thread of sunlight. The tender reach of his eyes seeks to broach the forced distance between them by the whispering splay of feathers combined, but her eyes are trawling with hungry focus along the smoky, scorched landscape below. They linger quietly nonetheless, thoughtfully, admiring the fire-glow reflected therein, beneath the pastel blur of long, light-tinted lashes; it is her prettiest side, he feels - the one which retains much of that original, delicate quaintness (an air of girlish innocence), and begs the most virile blood in his veins to boil. All too quickly she pulls free though, and he traces her slow, looping descent through rotten winds towards sharp, rocky contours (he does not pick from their murky lines the mouth of the cavern).

The unexpected pitch of her womanly voice twists upwards, and long, broad wings respond, dipping to follow with unprecedented obedience as the message is snatched eagerly by golden ears; ”alright!” The sudden and unexpected boldness of her character impresses him, allures him, and he is more than content to trail as his heavy bod swings down behind; marvelling at the comely quality of her narrow (though hardly lacking ripe pad), hips to either side of the ribbon threads of tail in her wake, he cannot fathom how one as fine as she can eat the stunning volume she does.

The sound of her touchdown - the technique had improved drastically through their travels - and the dusty drum of her light, bouncing stride thereafter motivates his own preparation to land, and knees (which tuck beneath the barrel of his chest in flight), groan objectionably as he drives lower-forelegs forward towards the rising plane of glowing-red earth. With much less elegance than she, but perhaps better skill… his hair-cloaked hooves collide, with a jarring jolt up the length of each correlating limb; the rhythmic thunder of his canter begins to slow after a time, and he makes a gradual path in the direction of his darling dove. She stands poised with her nose touched to the ground and before her, like an ominous cloud was the wide opening to a cave.

With more hesitation on display than intended, he approaches, scouting too through the litter of old fragrances which suggest that this is a fairly popular (perhaps by the light of day). He can’t help but commend her courage to breach the barrier between this world and that one; the threshold between heaven and hell, and fights bitterly to conceal his great disappointment (the flailing tantrum within), when he realises that it was a great deal deeper than her mountainside hovel back in the cold valley. There is no mistake about it, if she is to enter, he will need to follow. Swallowing hard, he touches the taught meat  of her thigh - perhaps to reassure himself, more than her - and the wonderful flavour she owns ignites a sudden fever of heat behind his closing eyes.

Noah

I was born a warrior
I was born a warrior