Till the End: Literature

Featuring Kaziya, mentioning Anabelle, Keet, Rafe, Illyrica, Virgil, Jeet, Etain, and Eilias
Mid-Summer, Year 760 of the New Age
Gumtree Hollow, Windborne

Even with her best friends easily at hand, life in Gumtree was dull, to say the least.  The pangare filly, alone for once since all of her friends were firmly stuck in bed, was bored.  Keet and Rafe had tried to get her to go back to sleep but, after having sat all day - again - Kaziya was ready, even in the earliest hours of the morning, for play.  Illyrica she hadn’t even bothered trying to wake; much as she loved playing with her best doe friend, Kaziya knew that Illy desperately needed her sleep.  With Ana cuddled tightly next to Virgil, that left no one but the darkness and a lone, rogue beetle to play with.

The little black creature moved rather quickly, for such a small thing, through the castles and pyramids of mud that Kaziya created for him.  As he breasted one of her tallest constructs, the pangare filly sighed heavily.  After the initial fright from the kidnapping had faded, the whole event had been rather exciting.  She had her best friends with her and, even though her mama, aunt, and uncle were probably worried about her, she would be able to return and say that it really hadn’t been all that terrible after all.  But the last few days, with Jeet the friendly storyteller not around and the same old games they were allowed to play losing their fun, Kaziya had finally begun to feel trapped.

The young doe rolled onto her side, allowing the small bug to crawl across the waves of hair and cowrie shells that fell before it, until she closed her eyes in a desperate attempt to sleep.  

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At first she thought she was dreaming but… no.  The voices were too loud, too real.  Kaziya snapped into attention, rolling onto her belly from her side as her ears pricked forward and desperately tried to figure out what was going on.  Shadows slipped through the ranks of sleeping babes, urging them to wake up and follow them.  Kaziya’s ears pinned, confused, until her intuitive nose caught scent of something familiar - home.  She bleated loudly, calling out for her mother, uncle, or anyone that she recognized.  Realizing that, this time, she was alone, the filly scrambled to her feet and bounded toward where Keet and Illy had been sleeping before.

It didn’t take long for things to get out of hoof.  Does and stags of the alliance, the adults she recognized, surged forward, some clashing briefly with guards before breaking away and ushering groups of fawns to safety.  In the dark shadows of morning she caught glimpse of a silver and saw Jeet, whispering words of encouragement to a group of young babes…  Including Keet.  “Keet!”  The pangare filly raced after him, following the bay’s dark tail in desperation…  Until a large bay stag crossed in front of her.  The filly skidded to a halt, narrowly missing the stag’s muscular form as he bounded toward a member of the Alliance.  Kaziya squeaked but, aware of the fact that she was still alone, scrambled back to her feet and bolted in the direction she had last seen her friend’s tail.

It didn’t take her long to find not just Keet, but Illyrica, Rafe, and the others.  Kaziya shouted at them to wait up, to wait for her, and, for awhile, she was gaining on them.  Ahead she could see the Point Doe’s on the horizon, waiting to lead them home.  She wasn’t sure, but she swore she saw her beloved uncle.  New hope surged in the filly’s breast.  Home.  It was within her grasp.  She put on the gas, racing as fast as she could toward the brave stags and does that would bring her home.

That is, until she heard Anabelle’s scream.

Alarmed, the golden filly nearly lost her footing as she whirled around just in time to see the dun filly collapse after being knocked over by one of the Main Herd guards.  Without even thinking, Kaziya turned back.  “Hold on Anabelle, I’m coming!”  The pangare ducked and weaved between the fighting adults, narrowly missing getting clobbered herself many times as she danced toward her friend.  Thoughts of the others flew away as she skidded yet again to a halt beside Anabelle.  “Ana, wake up!”  The filly nudged her friend a few times, realizing too late that her friend was out cold.  “Oh, c’mon Ana, get’up!!!”  With no other option but unwilling to leave her friend, Kaziya dropped her muzzle down and grabbed her friend’s tail as gently as she could.

“Sorry love,” she murmured between a mouthful of tail, as she began to drag the filly to the nearest bush she could find.  She had almost made it, when the looming form of a dark stag approached.  Kaziya shook the dun filly again.  “Anabelle, please, wake up!”  Tears threatened to breast Kaziya’s normally composed features but, it was to no avail.  As the liver chestnut stag strode toward them, the pangare had no choice but to flee.  Diving into the bushes, the filly watched in horror as the dark stag collected Anabelle’s limp form, transporting her back into the clutches of their prison.

“No,’ she whispered, her eyes following Anabelle for a moment before they switched to looking for her other friends.  What she saw made her heart sink.  Behind the foreboding form of Etain, her dearest friends crested the final hill between the battle and freedom.  Kaziya whimpered, realizing that by going back for Anabelle, she had doomed herself.