Claiming Bellona

[Billie]

"Don't ask me to surrender"
Her voice fell tired and spent
"My hopes and dreams, a silent heart
I carry here within"

Her outstretched wings, left tattered
A sail aged with rust
"A breath in time, that's yours and mine...
it belongs to only us"

The snow drifted lazily from the sky above and landed on the pallid body of Oliver, the first few flakes melting from his warmth paving the way for the rest to settle and pile up on the softly sloped rump of the stallion. Large black eyes scanned the surrounding lands, dark as they were he could not see any land marks on the horizon, it seemed as though he had been wandering for hours and not seen a thing. As snowflakes caught up in his eyelashes Oliver squinted and shook his head “This just won’t do” he thought grumpily to himself. What he was looking for was a shelter belt, trees perhaps or some large rocks. This barren land seemed void of anything over a foot high.

Placing one dark hoof tentatively in front of the other, Oliver carefully watched his step, a wrong step could easily cost a horse his life and in these dark and snowy conditions it was even harder to make out the condition of the ground around him. White tail pressed hard against his lightly dappled rump the stallion shook again, this time his whole body shuddering to rid the snow from his coat. Lifting his elegant head up a little, Oliver glanced around again… still nothing, a sigh escaped his black velvety muzzle. Here would have to do. The stallion stopped his slow ambling and began to paw at the snow that had begun to pile up on the ground, his hard hooves quickly clearing away the thin layer of snow and hitting the harder frozen soil and grass. Working quickly the dappled steed cleared himself a small concaved hollow in the cold ground. Lowering his head, Oliver inspected the temporary bed he had created, it would have to suffice for now. Easing forward first onto his knees and then lowering his bulky hindquarters, Oliver managed to fit his mass into the little hollow he had made, flicking his tail with satisfaction he quickly snuggled his muzzle under a hind leg and went to sleep.

All night snow piled up around the stallion, the mound created by his sleeping body unknowingly marked the approximate centre of the vast land of Bellona. No other animal wandered across this land over the course of the night so when the first shafts of sunlight hit the flat land of Bellona, the snow lit up in the most spectacular fashion with no marring of the pristine snow.

Oliver awoke with the first touch of light, he kept his eyes closed for awhile longer as he waited for his body to wake up properly. His muscles were quite cold and tired from the sleep out in the open and the previous days wandering. As the light grew brighter the stallion opened his dark eyes and raised his head to take a look around the land which had him so lost in the darkness of the snowy night. It was as what he expected, very flat and very large, but the unspoiled cover of snow added a picturesque (though cold) beauty. Slowly rising from his sleeping position, Oliver shook himself free of the snow and looked up at the sky, there were no clouds on the horizon to indicate another snow storm, this one had been unusual enough this late in Winter. Turning his muscular neck, the dappled stallion took in the land around him, it was completely empty. Presumably an unclaimed land. Oliver raised his head and whinnied loudly, his call of claimence ringing out clearly over the vast landscape, those who wished to challange him for this land were called forward.

And I will write her name and cast it to the sky
silhouettes recede into a mother's tearful eyes
a host of angels clamor to her side
a light dissolves to kiss the wind
release the dragonfly

See the rose within the field of white
She's searching for the grail
but the rain descends to snatch the light
from distant dying suns
a faint resounding in the night
calls angels wings to beat
singing silent lip-sewn songs
but the distance is too deep...

Word Count 610
Land Claimed
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