Stallion Mage: A Horse Shifter Mpreg Romance (COMPLETE)

The Flow Of Time (2/3)

Over the next few days, the tribe moved slowly in the direction of the stallions. Fara spoke more and more. Just single words, but each word told Alvarr and Laren how much she understood about the world.

"She listens when people talk," Alvarr said to Laren one night, when their tiny daughter was asleep. She had stayed on two-legs for the first time, and her face was peaceful in the dim evening light. "I worry that... if people blame her for the rain..." He sighed. "Do you think she knows it is her doing?"

Laren stroked Alvarr's back. "I cannot tell. But all we can do is what we can do." He pulled the mage down to rest. "Sleep now, and try not to worry."

The morning after that, two mares approached the stallion mage as they traveled. They were light brown, and as alike as two leaves from the same tree. One of them hung back, but the other stepped forward. "Hello, stallion mage," she said, hesitantly touching noses with Alvarr, then Laren and Fara. "Hello, mate and daughter of Alvarr."

"Hello, tribe-sister," Alvarr said, a little shy at meeting another stranger from this huge tribe.

Laren nodded to her, and Fara watched them silently.

"I am Reha." The mare flicked her ears in the misty air. "And my sister is Harta."

Alvarr nodded to the silent mare. "Tribe-sister." Why have they come to me? It is not just because we are now in the same tribe, is it?

"We were wondering," Reha said. "Whether your magic has come back."

"I don't know," Alvarr said, startled. He had not tried since the meeting. "Why do you ask?"

"We might be able to join our power to grow some grass, at least for the children," the light brown mare said. "Harta and I have done it since birth, and with you to help..."

They are earth mages! But they have so little power. He could feel it now, glowing softly, like a rock that had been warmed by the sun. He reached for his own energy and discovered that a small amount answered. "A small amount has returned," he said. "Can you feel it?"

The sisters were still a moment. "A small amount?" Reha asked. "You feel like a normal earth mage, to me."

Harta nodded, then whispered. "But you are Mare-Mother's own, like Darani and Sakol, who are already strong healers."

"He is an unusually strong mage," Laren said. "The stallions would have perished without him."

"I would like to try," Alvarr said. "What is the harm?"

When Mare-Mother Quirina called a stop to the day's travels, the three earth mages met a little apart from the camp. There was no rain yet this morning, but a heavy mist that still clung to their coats and swirled in the air, like clouds come to the earth. They faced each other. Alvarr examined the ground. "What should we do?"

"What do you usually do when you channel Nature's power?" Reha asked.

"I just ask, mostly," Alvarr said. He swished his tail in apology. "I received no training as a colt."

"Why not?" Harta stared at him. "Your stallion Old Ones should have guided you."

Her twin cocked her head to one side. "He is not an ordinary earth mage, I think," Reha said. "Is it true you grew a horn?"

"Reha, we should begin." Harta delicately head-butted her twin.

"Yes, yes, sister," Reha said with a sigh.