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It had been a long night on patrol, mostly uneventful, but drawn out nonetheless. Wings beat furiously as he swivelled mid air, training while no threat called for his attendance; no visitor by the border summoned his audience, and the great copper hybrid lunged with the marvellous athleticism of his kin.
Faster, faster, he urged, long brawny legs reaching forward with each thrust as though they might find traction in the cool night air and pull him forward still quicker. Galloping, galloping... his mind screamed, imagining a competitor below, flightless, but with legs built for such land-bound travel and haste.
Hector’s shift was drawing to an end and on this final leg of the course he’d invented (there were parts such as this in midair, and others to test his dexterity on earth), he fought back weariness and burning sinew to perform the fastest lap yet. Stars glittered across a heavy canvas of black, and the late Tallsun moon cast a cool pale light across the dull golden desert below. Even while his thoughts were wrapped up in his exercise, the stallion’s tawny eyes were aglow, chasing eagerly the slithering darkness below; dissecting shadows on full alert. It was his responsibility, and though of late his path wavered confoundedly, he committed to role in earnest.
There was a rippling white flash through his mind, an image materialising; a scene that caused his gasping breath to choke, and his forward motion to falter. A feline pack stalked through the cover of night, nearing the oasis; hungry perhaps, their posture easily betraying their intent.
Where are they? Teeth snapped harshly, grinding as anger began to leak through his powerful, body; adrenaline goading into action. The stallion was already dropping, enormous wings dipped and closed by half to accelerate his descent. Another picture invaded his thoughts. Veci was near the oasis, and Hector was not far north.
Like a boulder plunging from the face of a cliff, the burly soldier barrelled forward, and it took him little time to find the lions- and the two young mares who were lingering not far ahead. Naturally, as hooves collided with sand, the stallion positioned himself between Tandavi, Sikeax and the predators. He knew not the magic stewing through the sun-burnt girl, the Sun Physician; he could see the brave swing of the other’s glowing horn, defying all logic to defend the land of the Sun. A furious scream pealed around him, spilling into the darkness like wild water from a river’s bursting banks.
Wings extended in full, exaggerating his already mammoth size, and Hector reared with thrashing hooves to warn the pack away.
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