A cloudless sky stared down at the lone filly seemingly stranded upon the sands of Ischia’s beach. Her nearly black figure stood in stark contrast to the pale blue of her surroundings. A warm breeze drifted off the white capped waves, catching wisps of her baby mane within their tendrils. She’d lost track of time. Granules of sand stuck to her legs and crabs pecked nosily at her hooves, still she stood unmoving, barely blinking. Green eyes searched the horizon though, for what, she hardly knew. She’d been born upon the very ground on which she stood. Barely moments old she’d been discovered nestled within the dunes, her eyes shut against spring’s warming sun. Brennen – her father – had wasted no time in taking her in.
He never spoke of her mother, Brennen. Though, she wasn’t deaf to the whispers shared among her half-siblings. It was easy to pretend that she didn’t care, simple to feign ignorance. Truthfully, she supposed that it hardly mattered. The creature who had planted a foal amongst the seagrass clearly hadn’t the slightest interest in mothering the child she bore. Thus far, Astarael hadn’t wasted a single moment pinning after such a careless creature.
But this day was different. It was one year ago that she’d been lost and found simultaneously. Her expression grew solemn as she closed her eyes and called upon the memories of that long-ago day. Deep within the depths of her earliest remembering’s she saw Brennen’s face as she had the day he’d found her. Concern wrought upon his face, he’d wasted no time in wrapping her within the comfort of his safety. Galilee, too, had been kind enough to take her in, whilst her new siblings welcomed her joyously. She’d found a sliver of happiness amongst the tugging of her loneliness.
And, at times, it was lonely. While her brothers and sisters trained tirelessly with their multitude of abilities, she sat sidelined. Ordinary was not a word she was pleased to align with herself. She liked to think that things would have been better for her if only the fairies, in their abundant wisdom, had sought to bestow upon her a gift.
Abruptly, she opened her eyes and, for a moment, imagined a far-off land just beyond the realms of sight. She realized how foolish she’d been to hold onto a hope that she thought she’d long since buried. Still, she’d prayed that she would stand upon that beach, in the spot where she’d been born, and be met by the figure she’d only ever encountered within her dreams.
Hot tears pricked at the corners of her eyes and Astarael blinked them furiously away. She would not waste precious tears on a woman who hadn’t even bothered to bestow upon her a name.
Astarael
I want to exorcise
the demons from your past