Shiver

The filly accepted his invitation, and Taliesyn stood steady as she took a spot beside him and settled enough to lower her head. He could still hear the hammer of her heart. She made note of Wangui and he chuckled softly. “Her name is Wangui. She is a lemur, a kind of primate. She’s one of my friends. The other is Isolde. She’s a hawk, and she’d keeping watch above up in the air. It helps to have friends like these. I can fully relax, and know I’ll usually have forewarning of any predators trying to sneak up on me.”

Again, the puma sounded and he listened, judging the distance by the sound.

He raised his head to gently brush her shoulder, instructing, “Breathe in slowly, and out slowly. Let your head lower. It will help your heart settle.”

But he moved forward as an easy pace, essentially ponying the girl in a large, slow circle if she was willing to keep at his hip. The stallion was utterly patient, having had much practice in settling the anxieties of young horses new to the un-banded world, out on their own. Usually it was young colts freshly pushed from the herds. He was a guardian and guide to them, a teacher. Sometimes it was even his own sons. Occasionally a flighty filly like this one would be his pupil for a time.

He never kept them to himself once they found a herd they felt happy with. Of course, this was between his tenures as band stallion, when he wandered a nomadic life, exploring his world.

Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think