Melaina Chapter 1

Melaina Chapter 1

She stood and watched the darkness fade into shades of milky blue and soft yellows. There was no vibrant glow of sunrise this day. No birds to sing her awake. Melaina sighed and shook out her still growing mane in annoyance with herself.

Today was no different than any other day. Except today she knew when she wandered away from the herd, she would not return come sunset. She had spoken of her discontent to her dam when they had had a few moments together, but Omorfia did not have the desire to wander like Melaina did, and Melaina was not content like her dam to stay in one place, even if it was with a herd of her own kind.

So today, in the milky blue and yellow light of the rising sun she took one last look at the still dozing herd and walked away. There was sorrow in her heart but at the same time she knew this was her path. There was something she needed more than safety. Omorfia had encouraged her to wait, to grow a little more before she decided, she was after all only a baby, no 2 year old should be out exploring on their own. Yet Melaina had had the dreams for months.

Those dreams. She snorted again and now out of sight of the herd broke into a trot, letting her anxiety flow away from her as the breeze ruffled through her coat, making a flag of her tail as she set off to the east and the dawn.

She was sure to her very core that Olympus was everything her mother said it would be, the promise the gods had given her in those dreams, showing her what she could come back to, a real home. A rightful place and an order to what all of the Aksiothos she had spoken to called the chaos of the fall. She was glad she had not been alive during the wars, the fear and sorrow the older ones had shared with her was bad enough, but she had asked, so they had told.

The dreams had made her curious about the world she had been born in, surely before she could make any decision she had to know what this world was like, discover things for herself to see if maybe it was a decision she did not have to make. Maybe here would be better than a place that had been torn asunder by the greed of others.

The sun broke over the horizons edge as she left the edge of the woods that surrounded her mothers grazing grounds. This wasn’t as far as she’d explored, but there was an unspoken line that they chose not to go beyond. Well this was her time, and her own path. Melaina deliberately placed a hoof firmly down on the dew wet grass in front of her which swept down the long valley and followed with the other three without any hesitation. Feeling free she broke into a trot, then a canter and within moment she was streaking like a dark ghost down the hill towards the valley, the wind catching her as she leapt and danced in the morning light, throwing miniature showers of dew into the air to be carried away by the telekinetic magic that coursed through her veins.

She whickered delighted as her power curled to her bidding for a moment before dancing away beyond her reach as she slowed panting and engulfed by the shadows of the hillside. She’d need to find another Aksiothos to teach her how to use her powers better. She’d never felt truly inclined to learn before but now she was on her own a few extra skills would be extremely useful. Like being able to reach the best apples in the orchard she spied. Only problem was it was close to the human habitations. It was natural for any creature to be nervous around them, for some of them were cruel beyond measure, but it was still very early and as she stilled and watched the settlement it looked like there was nobody yet up. Not even smoke curled from rooftops.

She crept slowly closer, edging through a thicket of brambles and ignoring the sharp thorns on her way into the orchard. Reaching the first tree she tried to keep as much of it between her and any early risers just to be safe. Nobody liked an apple thief, not even one as pretty as she was. The few on the ground at her feet were already wizened and food for dozens of smaller insects. The ones she really wanted were higher up where the sunshine had ripened them to a bright green.

She concentrated, telekinetically manipulating anything never worked unless she was very firm about what she wanted to achieve. She imagined the top of the tree swaying just enough to free some of the apples, pouring her will into what she envisioned. At first nothing happened, but she forced her will out into the area around her and made the tree shake, its branches bending with the sudden movement before all was calm again. Several thuds, followed by a small shower of leaves over her head and Melania was busy picking out the ripe apples around her making sure to miss none.

An excellent breakfast to be sure. Filled with the success of her first tree she moved on to another but something even more sweet beckoned her on. Carrots and asparagus growing in a patch at the back of a house. Too good to resist. She crept as close as she could and reached her head over the rickety fence to hoover up as many of the asparagus as she could easily reach. They were delicious and she couldn’t help but strain forward to try and reach a few more, but with a loud snap the fence broke making her freeze.

Sounds from the house alerted her but before she could back away and hide a man had appeared waving a broom.

“Oi, bloody horse get out of the veggie patch!” He shouted brandishing the broom. Melaina whinnied in fear, throwing her head up as he made a swipe at her. She turned tail and fled, leaping over the broken fence and again out the other side towards the open fields.

She slowed again once she had reached a thicket of birches, their white trunks helping to hide her in the shadows. She snorted in annoyance, she was no mundane horse. She had seen plenty of those. They always tended to be nervous around her, for they knew she wasn’t one of them either. The fence had cut her chest she noticed sadly as a small trickle of blood made its way down her leg. She touched it gently with her nose huffing at the metallic smell of fresh blood. She licked it, wrinkling her nose at the taste but knew she needed to clean it a little.

She rested in the thicket and considered her options. Being found the next valley over from where the herd was would be both humiliating and stupid. If she was truly to find her way in the world she would need to move on, and not be so stupid about foraging for treats. The humans would no doubt look for her if they thought she was an escaped horse so without any further ado she strode on up the hills as the sun rose with her.