Seraphina Nightwing's Arc

Chapter 2 of 6

By morning, the black stallion and white mare stood stiff in their stalls. Seraphina set down fresh hay, then a glossy golden apple that glistened with sweet promise. Neither creature lowered its head. She had built a red feed barn just for them and planted a shimmering tree by the stable doors, yet they would not eat. Without food, they would weaken before she could breed a single foal. Seraphina sat on an overturned bucket and watched them. She knew this kind of silence. Trust was not a thing you bought with apples. It was a thing you waited for. Still, waiting cost her time she did not have. A small clatter at the stable door broke the hush. A dapple grey foal stepped inside, its coat dusted like stormclouds. It had followed the glow of the shimmering tree home. The mare's head snapped up. The stallion let out a low, shaking call. The foal trotted between them, and both parents pressed their noses to its small back. Seraphina rose slowly. The mare turned to the hay and began to eat. The stallion followed, then nosed the golden apple from her palm. She let out a breath she had been holding since dawn. Her herd was no longer two. It was three, and it was feeding.