Sidewalk scenes and black limousines (Santana and Family)

[Gale]

Gale run away with me-- lost souls and reverie running wild and running free   It had taken some time to convince Erne to stay behind, and Gale is forced to fly harder than he’d intended in order to catch her. The rainbow of their island shrinks beneath him, and the white-haired stallion shakes his head as if to silence the plaintive cry of the osprey that rises from below. ‘We’ll be back in no time,’ thinks the brindle pegasus, and though he can still sense Erne’s displeasure, the seahawk falls quiet behind him. Soon the only sound is the wind in his navy ears and the splash of water beneath him. The set of his brow is determined as the water he flies over turns into jungle, and then then Sylvan forest, and finally the red rocks of Loess. Gale is sure now that the reason his mother had reacted to his last visit the way she had was because she had thought he was Wolfbane, and he cannot blame her. It still hurts, but he does not blame her. He lands a bit away from where he sees Eyas speaking with a pale stallion. That is Santana, he suspects, and allows them a moment to speak quietly together before he joins them. As he does, he takes a moment to look over the other man, curious about this dragon who has agreed to help them in this monumental task. The pattern of frost on his horns is a nice touch, Gale decides, having become rather partial to the use of his horns since attaining them from the Mountain. Does he mean to be the brawn in this battle the way that Gale does, the brindle wonders as he sidles up to his sister? Eyas is the brains of this operation, after all. Gale’s breathing heavy with exertion, and the stripes of palest cream that color his ribs rise and fall rapidly. Despite that, he is grinning, the determination he feels melding with anticipation and a sense of finality. At last, this day has come. He says nothing before he draws even with them, but he does tweak at Eyas’ sight and cast everything she sees a shade of pale blue, his silent and unique hello.  Only then does he ask: “When do you think he’ll be here?”