Stallion Mage: A Horse Shifter Mpreg Romance (COMPLETE)

Gifts of the Season

Dry, brittle grass brushed the mage's calves.  Here, just outside the camp, stallions had bitten the good parts of the plants long ago.  And they hadn't grown back.

There had been too many days without rain.  Despite Elder Sevan's words, Alvarr felt the wrongness of his world down to his very bones.  He just had to get far enough away to shift.  Then, he could release the magic that had gotten trapped inside him.  Alvarr could at least do that much.

The power rightfully belongs to the earth.  He rubbed his stomach again and wondered what advice Mare-Mother Quirina would give him.  It was another reason why the stallions and mares should live together… all that knowledge, shared between them. 

He bent down and tried to bury his finger in the dirt, but it was cracked and hard.  He could make water come for a moment, but without rain, it would do little good.  If only he could call the weather to him. 

Who knows what secrets my mage ancestors knew?  But he saw the painting in the cave of the mad mare-mage and the winds whirling around her.  Perhaps such power was best left to nature.

The stalks behind him snapped as heavy hooves trampled the grass.  Alvarr rose and turned around.  Approaching were three equines that he recognized all too well: Thane, Nassor, and Barron. 

He froze in dread, fighting the urge to run.  But I saved two of their lives.  He'd reached inside them both with his power and healed them when he could have easily killed them.  No, he would stand his ground this time.

Nassor's gait was not as strong as usual.  The large dappled gray moved slowly, his hooves not lifting as high as they usually did.  Barron looked sound and healthy.  Alvarr could not read the expressions on their equine faces, nor did the set of their ears and tails tell him anything.  But it was clear they wanted something.

Alvarr held up a cautious hand.  "Greetings," he said.

Thane came forward first, his night-black body rippling in the light.  As he walked toward Alvarr, the mage could see that he held something between his teeth.  The black stallion bowed his head and dropped it at Alvarr's feet.  "Greetings, mage.  A gift for you," he said in a flat, cold voice, and then backed away.

Confusion locked Alvarr in place.  A gift?  Why?  Was it gratitude for having healed two of them?  If that were the case, why would Thane be the one bringing him something. 

He should accept it.  "Th-thank you," he said in barely more than a whisper. 

Keeping his focus on the black equine's face, Alvarr knelt and groped around on the ground until he found what Thane dropped.  Only when he rose did he dare to look at it.

The object was a vine with many shriveled berries on the ends.  "What… is this?" he asked.

"Eat them," Thane said.  "They are good.  Sweet."  He pointed with his nose.

Under Thane's emotionless gaze, Alvarr plucked a dried berry off with numb fingers.  He brought it to his lips and licked the surface.  Hoping his power would warn him if it was not good to eat, he put it in his mouth and chewed. 

A rich, sweet taste erupted from the small morsel.  "It is sweet," he said.  "I've never had this before."

"They grow by the mountain," said the black stallion.  "Enjoy my gift."  And he backed away to let Nassor come to the mage.

The huge gray and white stallion walked slowly but with purpose, also carrying something in his mouth.  When he got close enough, he bowed his head and dropped his item in front of the mage.  "A gift," Nassor said in his hoarse voice.