unfortunate circumstance

Balian had been traveling the lands, observing the packs that had popped up all over the place and the wolves that lived in them. He knew of a pack in the west where another horse lived, but the stallion had decided it was best he probably move elsewhere. He had been to Auster before, but it had been a while. Interested to check out if anything was new further south, he made his way through the Fjord. The sky had been dark for the last few days, rain falling here and there. This spring seemed to be ravaged by frequent storms, but today would be different, it seemed.

Thunder rumbled and cracked overhead, and lightning streaked across the sky and touched the ground. He could feel the electricity in the air, his hair standing on end and even his hawk companion refused to fly during the storm for fear of being struck. He swore he could smell the faint smell of smoke from a tree being struck somewhere, but if there was a fire, it was likely to be put out pretty quick as the storm started to rage.

He moved quickly through the Fjord, but not quick enough. He put on the pace, the stallion galloping through as he looked for shelter as the rain and winds got worse. Rain fell from the heavens heavy and hard, obscuring his vision and making the ground slippery which caused him to slip and stumble a few times. He had to be careful, else he might injure himself and he didn't know a soul that could help him. An injured horse was a dead horse, and he rather liked being alive.

"Balian! We can't stay out in this!" The monkey on his back howled over the raging wind and rain. He snorted. Of course he knew that! But his vision was limited, and he was having a hard time seeing through the falling rain. Heart hammered in his chest as the winds violently picked up, and just as they did, he spotted an alcove. He hurried towards it, hooves stumbling in the muck. Were it not for his now crystallized hooves, however, it was likely he would've had less traction and would've gone down already.

As he drew closer, a strike of lightning hit just feet from him, sending the stallion into a near panic of terror and adrenaline as he raced the last few yards into the shelter with a high-pitched squeal. His ears were ringing and he felt like he had been temporarily blinded. But at least he was safe...he hoped.

WC: 790/1,500

"Speech"