Without question, Druid had heeded Mauja’s request that he sleep- and indeed he slept, soundly and without the disturbing clutter of dreams. It did not matter whether night or day gripped the land- that was irrelevant. The foal had collapsed himself into the embracing roots of the old tree; the grand oak which had weathered the fumbling of conversation between the two, and he had taken peace below the shielding presence of the stallion. Only at Mauja’s wakeful touch had Druid stumbled upwards, composing his unsteady self with much renewed vigour. Briefly he was guided to a square of grass to eat a little, and then they had set off.

Druid followed Mauja intimately; the radiation of warmth from the stallion drew the small foal as close as his shy heart could possibly allow. Occasionally he would feel the brush of body against the flatness of his bobbing cheek and quickly would swing his face in the other direction, startled by the most part of such contact with another. While they remained in the forest, the thick fragrant aroma of pine filled his lungs, and Druid would lick his thin dry lips, teased when the strange coreless flavour lacquered his tongue. Though he could not pick a safe passage, the colt trusted in Mauja, and listened to try and match the thud of each step, pausing whenever his guide did so that he might not slip or stumble terribly in the darkness.

“Ma...Mauja.” He had mumbled at one point, surprising even himself when his soft broken voice slipped unintentionally, betraying a private thought. Druid had coughed a sound that was much the same as what he had spoken- a blanket perhaps, or a disguise.

The longer the colt bathed in Mauja’s company, the more disconcertingly apparent it became that something was different between them. Intently, he scrutinized the precision of each step the stallion made. It was as though some light that Druid did not share guided him along. The colt however would falter across the slightly raised tip of a rock, or balk away from the crack of a twig beneath his own careless step. He could not determine the direction travelled, nor did he understand the sudden drop in temperature as the fringe of trees thinned and were no longer. His little frame shivered as the cool still air hugged through his thin, tattered coat and with a little hesitation, Druid had crept in closer to Mauja and touched quietly alongside him so that the stallion’s warmth might soak against him. The feeling was strangely refreshing, and for some of the journey he pressed close.


Mauja continued, though Druid imagined he felt the stallion’s demeanour shift a little- he seemed to relax somewhat. It was cold, and where a light sweat dulled the exaggerated curve of his flank, the foal’s skin flinched uneasily. He listened for the sound of his laboured breath again and it seemed distant now, rather than echoing off the walls which he had frequently been encouraged away from. He was disorientated and quite exhausted, and the confusion of scents as they attacked his narrowed nostrils started a minor ache in his head. He could feel too as they walked that the warmth from above which he often sought to invigorate himself with, was gone. There was only that biting chill, and without stored fat for energy Druid suffered. The bony sway of his hip locked snugly against a groove in Mauja’s hot body, as the colt sought still closer than before. It was all he could do to ward off pursuing fatigue.

After a long, long time on the move, they stopped. Druid’s ears flattened, unsure despite the comfort he found building the longer he spent with the stallion. The terrain beneath his neat hooves yielded underneath his small weight, almost like water had fallen from the sky, something he generally found little pleasure in. Mauja spoke about that same time, and the foal thought it to be a conclusion to their travelling. He assumed that this strange new area would be relatively safe, though he could not tell what encounters might otherwise lurk.

"We're within the Basin now, but we'll go a little further, to a warm place." The tiny horse nodded in understanding, over the past few days he had grown increasingly accepting, learning to adapt to Mauja’s unthreatening presence in his life. For now the child had almost forgotten the loneliness which had plagued every moment of his life.

The air grew warmer, thicker and more comfortable and the startling contrast- no matter how gradual, intrigued Druid. Where the cold had thinned his energy and weakened his mind, this unusual turn in the climate heated his muscles, soothing them after such a trying workout. A subtle spring lightened his stride, though he remained as close to Mauja as possible, confident now and contented. When the stallion stopped again, Druid lifted his face high into the wash of unfamiliar air. The oddness of the lingering smell drowned his senses, though it wasn’t overly unpleasant. “I...It is warm...” the foal mentioned, agreeing that it was indeed more tolerable than the bitter pass through which they had come. Daringly, he took one step forward and traced the length of the outstretched leg until he found the rich substrate below- there was grass, though he found not the courage yet to taste it.