Abdiel stepped across the moist leaves and dirt as he made his way through the thinning trees. The leaves had started falling, making the ground scattered with bits of orange and red. He liked the sound the leaves made under his hooves normally, but today the sound was muffled by the softness that always came after a light rain.
As he walked his eyes shifted to a familiar tree. The last time he had been here there had been a mare leaned up against that tree. Today it was bare and lonely, and so was he. He paused for a moment, remembering his encounter with the Kalona Keira. That seemed like forever ago. He thought it unlikely that he'd see her again, yet for some reason he had hoped that he would. It was a silly thing, to think of someone he had only just met once.
Shaking his head and neighing softly he picked up his pace again, taking his eyes away from the tree as he moved forward. She was probably healthy now, and happy off on her own, wherever she was. Perhaps she had found her father. He walked faster; now it was time for him to go home and visit his family.
