Stallion Mage: A Horse Shifter Mpreg Romance (COMPLETE)

The Journey Home

When he was done grazing, he could clearly see the truth: Alvarr couldn't pull his burden up the steep, rocky slopes of the mountains.  Though they were small, the rocks would cut and scrape the underside, and the cloth-wrapped items were heavy enough that they could pull him back down.

He would have to go around them.  It would take him days longer, and that worried him.  How long would his vine wrapping last?

After he had gone around the base of the first rocky hill, he paused to check on them.  Some of the vines were almost broken on the bottoms.  This is never going to work, he thought.

Shifting, he touched one with his horn, hoping that it would renew itself, but his magic had once again settled deep inside him, as though it had gone to sleep.

But what could he do?  The only thing he could: keep walking toward home.  He tried to move the vines so that the worn pieces weren't dragging along the ground.  Then he resumed dragging it up a small, grassy hill.

It wasn't his imagination. The way was getting harder and harder, and he couldn't understand why.  Hadn't he been eating good food and getting good rest?  He had not been injured, and his legs showed new strength that had not been there before the journey.

I should be feeling stronger, not weaker.  He commanded his legs to keep climbing, and he leaned into the slope.

When he got to the top, he almost collapsed.  Cold sweat ran down his temples, and his stomach clenched as though he had eaten something bad.  A shaky dizziness swept over him.  Alvarr sat and put his head on his knees.

There was something wrong with him, after all.  This wasn't normal.  He breathed slowly, though it made his stomach more queasy, and calmed his racing heart.  I must have eaten an herb back there. 

He rested at the top of the hill for some time, closing his eyes and reaching for his quiet power.  Then, he felt it: a drop on his bare shoulder.  Then another one.

Alvarr looked up.  Above him, the sky was thick with dark gray clouds, and a cold wind started to blow.  He stood up and tried to find a place to shelter.  His best bet were the trees in the valley.

A bolt of lightning sizzled in the air; in panic, he shifted, then grabbed a vine with his teeth and bolted down the hill.  Rain pattered around him, and he plunged down the slippery grass, his hooves sliding dangerously as he made an uncontrolled descent.

It was as though the storm was chasing him.  More lightning followed the mage, flashing right over his head.  Rain lashed his coat so hard, Alvarr could feel the raindrops bounce.

He reached the valley, but his instincts drove him to just keep running.  He was aware of his jaws clamping around the vine, and the sound of his bundle bouncing and sliding behind him. 

His hooves splashed in mud, and it wasn't until he almost ran headfirst into the trunk of a tree that he brought himself to a shuddering stop.  His sides heaved, and his stomach revolted.  He shifted to two-legs and stood in the mud, shaking with burning nausea.

What is happening-  He barely had time to lean over before his stomach emptied. 

After he had vomited up everything, he put his hand on his stomach, which felt like it had been stretched tight.  I just have to wait this out, he told himself.  He would stay beneath the tree until he felt better, and then he would keep going home.  Then, he remembered.
 
The package!  Alvarr saw the large white lump lying in the mud as the rain came down.  The precious contents couldn't get wet; they would be ruined, and all his work would be for nothing.  But he couldn't unwrap them in the rain.