YOU'RE ONLY AS SICK AS YOUR SECRETS
While Erupt is coaxing a stream of magma, Aela doesn't bother hiding that the blue tobiano is being forced through the Tephran jungle.
It had been an accident, this theft. She had gone because Gale had once been Chieftain of Islandres and Aela had thought to find something of her half-brother's past. Perhaps one of the old residents might know something useful: a spot that he often favored, perhaps he had a favorite fruit. The palomino wasn't entirely sure what she was searching for, only that she had planned to cross paths with the brindled stallion again and Aela was determined to be prepared.
What she hadn't planned on had been the little tobiano mare grazing quietly on the saltgrass. It had been easy to gain her trust - all it took was a small manifestation of the feeling - and the young woman had told Aela everything that she had no use for: that Gale was charming, that Gale was kind, that hopefully, he'd come back to visit Islandres soon (blissfully unaware that he already had). All it took was a little more prodding and Aela found that the current Chieftain possessed a power that she hadn't encountered before.
Intrigued, she decided to bring Islay back to the Pampas.
Unfortunately, Islay hadn't wanted to come. And so a few jarring memories later (the armored predators in Pangea, Gale and his dark abilities, the breaking of bone and splicing of flesh, Skandar and his furious gaze scorching the skin of an unknown), the argument had been settled after... something happened to Aela. She had been herself, she knew that. But the deep blue eyes of the other female had widened when her skin had started to feel like it was on fire, different from the way when she had summoned her aura. With Islay's mind wide open, there had been a flash of something fearsome and terrible. Aela doesn't know how or why it happened but that wasn't unusual for her.
Surprising even herself had become her new normal.
"I'm tired," Islay seethes at her captor and Aela sighs, as if she didn't feel the tiring effects of her magic. They had been traveling for hours and while the striped mare had managed to bring the Pampas' newest hostage this far, she wasn't sure how much longer the fear she held over the other mare would last. "You'll be more than tired if we stop," Aela says, lilting the warning as nonchalantly as one might discuss the weather. There is nothing savage on her lovely face now but Islay - having already learned that the golden mare was - flicks her pale blue ears back. Her two-toned head glances back towards the island they have left and though there are still hours to go until nightfall, she considers making a break back to the beach.
Aela - who had been behind the slight Chieftain - smiles. She is tired, like her 'companion'. Her Magic is draining and the palomino is resolute in getting them both back to the Southern Kingdom. Her temper sparks and she can feel it, small flames that have started to shoot up behind her, licking the dry summer grasses. That isn't the only heat she can sense; someone else is nearby. "Care to join us?" Aela calls out in her usual fashion - something that could be taken either as an invitation or a warning.
@Erupt