How had he gotten through? Alvarr was glad that nothing had threatened him, but it was mysterious how the leader had just walked through all the mage's barriers.
Barron nervously twitched his ears. "See you later, Alvarr," he said, and dashed away, leaving the mage alone with Laren.
"What was he doing here?" the leader growled. His gray tail whipped from side to side.
"We're friends," Alvarr said. Maybe it was stretching their relationship, but what business was it of Laren's? They weren't friends. I don't know what we are.
"He's the one you healed, isn't he? During…"
That night. "Yes, that's right," Alvarr said. "I healed Nassor as well."
"You also seem friendly with him," the leader said, a challenge in his eyes.
Maybe I should tell him about Thane and Nassor. But what would he do? Probably nothing, and Alvarr hardly needed an escort. His magic would protect him. Nature's will clearly didn't want to see him harmed.
"Why do you take such an interest?" Alvarr asked with a shake of his mane. "You never have before," he dared to say.
"A leader has many people to care for," Laren said, but his words lacked conviction. Instead, he sounded tired. Defeated.
A shaft of sunlight filtered through the thick trees and struck the leader's neck and back. His light gray mane and coat were touched by gold, creating an effect of pure beauty, but the set of his shoulders was weary.
He has a lot resting on him, Alvarr thought, reminded of the Elders' words about how young their leader actually was. But the mage still resented the way Laren had treated him. It wasn't as though Alvarr himself had no responsibilities.
"I come here to be alone," the mage said, his words cold as spring rain. "But Barron followed me to apologize for his bullying. Why have you come here?"
"The colt has run away," Laren said.
A sudden dizziness struck the mage, then several scenes flashed into Alvarr's mind. The colt, waking up in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by people and scents he didn't know. And walls around him, which he'd never seen before.
Then, the colt running for the familiar look of the grasses with a swift, springing gait. No one around to stop him. Everyone was out grazing, even the Elders.
"He was scared when he woke up," Alvarr said. "He left when everyone was foraging." Then, he gasped, remembering the name he'd privately given. Doran. Wanderer. Had he made this happen by accident?
Laren paced, his great legs wearing the same path in the ground. "Don't you understand what a loss this is for us? He could have lived with us, become one of us-"
But Alvarr struck the ground with his foreleg. I'm not stupid. "No, he could not have stayed with us," he said. "The colt was too young, not even three years old. Who among us could raise him?"
"You," the leader said, gazing at the pond of water.
"Me?" The mage was astonished. Oh yes, the colt would come with me as I heal people from injuries, gather herbs in the field, get bullied by Thane and Nassor.
"My life is no life for a child, Laren," Alvarr said. "Surely you know this. He'd bolt as soon as I had to heal someone in the healing tent, or wither romeya, or cleanse a stream, or-"
"All right, you've made your point," the leader snapped. Then, he sighed again. "I just wanted to… I don't know."
"Protect a young life," Alvarr said softly. "I know. A colt is a wondrous thing, especially these days." His heart ached at the thought of the colt wandering again in the wilds, looking for home. "I hope he makes it home. We didn't even get a chance to speak with him."
The leader bent his nose to the white flowers growing on the ground. "It's beautiful here," he said. "I can see why you come."
"It is where I was born," the mage said. "My mother… she must have known I'd be a stallion mage." And she had me here, knowing she'd have to let me go.
Mare-Mother Quirina had always treated him with distance. Perhaps that was why.
"Alvarr," Laren said. "The Elders…" He gave a frustrated whinny.
"What about them?"
"They talk to you."
I suppose they do, now. Laren was watching him with the same sort of expression the Elders; hopeful, even if it was more guarded.
Alvarr would do what he could, but he would not lie. "You probably know as much as I do," he said. "But I'll tell you what I've learned."
The two stallions walked away from the pool of water. "You've seen the cave paintings, haven't you," Alvarr said. When he'd gone to the cave, it felt like he was the first one who had ever been there. Maybe I'm the first one who has ever dreamed of the mare-mage.
He glanced at Laren, who was listening, ears pointed toward the mage. "When I returned, I stayed in my man-shape to hide the horn that had grown in the night." The mage looked down at the ground. "I was afraid," he confessed.
"I can well imagine," Laren rumbled.
"When I emerged from the cave, I went to a stand of trees with a small pond."
The leader's head lifted. "Where is that? I've been that way. There are no trees."
Even more worrying. "There, I saw my reflection, and realized that something had happened to me. I ran like a fire was behind me, until…" his courage failed him, even now. He did not want Laren to know of the terrible destruction he'd caused. "I neared home and changed to man-shape to hide it."
The mage walked in silence for a moment, seeking the quiet cover of trees. He breathed in the dry scent of fir needles under his hooves, and marveled at how the new green tips appeared as he passed by.
"Then, you spoke to the Elders," Laren prompted.
"Y-yes," Alvarr said. "Have you seen what Elder Mastok keeps under the rock?"
Laren nodded his gray head.
"Then you know about the rift," the mage said. For some reason, he hesitated to discuss this with the leader. "Elder Mastok said… he thought the rift started all the bad things happening."
"I've heard the same," Laren said.
"But it was so long ago," Alvarr said. "Wouldn't people have noticed by now?"
"I do not know," the leader said. "But I know this: the Elders believe in mates. Some more than others."
At the word, magic washed over Alvarr in a wave. "Do you believe in it?" he asked. His horn started to glow softly.
"I do not," Laren said. "I don't even understand what it is. Surely we would have longed to find a mate, if it was truly meant to be."
But we are all so lonely, Alvarr thought. Even Laren. That was why Laren sought him out. Alvarr didn't know anything that the leader did not; he just wanted to talk with someone.
Laren is as isolated as I am, the mage realized. Set apart by his position as leader, having to keep the order of the tribe, Laren, too, had a lonely role.
But they had come together during the Time of Mating. Nassor, Thane, and even Barron had shown excitement out of season. What if we can mate at any time, not just the Time? What if mating was for more than just siring foals?
He realized he felt a tightness that meant his member was going to extend. He, too, found release that night, though he did not mount anyone.
"Laren," Alvarr said, moving closer to the large gray stallion. "Nassor, Thane, and Barron said I smelled different. What do you think?" He deliberately thought about being under Laren that one time, and his member extended more.
"Don't come close," Laren said, dancing out of the way.
"Why?" Alvarr asked, but he had his answer. Even though it was out of season, Laren wanted to mount him. But this time, I don't mind.
He wanted the leader's weight upon him, and his thick member inside his body. His horn glowed brighter, indicating Nature's will. But will Laren agree?
The mage came right up to the leader, touching noses. "You want to mate with me," he said.
Laren's tail swished. "I… I don't!"
"It's all right," Alvarr said. Already, he craved the feeling of being covered. "This is meant to happen. Look at my horn; Nature's magic is working through me." He splayed his legs out and twitched his tail to the side.
"I want to give you this," the mage said. And I want to experience being seeded again. "I'm ready for you."
"It's not right," Laren said, but he didn't move away. "This isn't why I came."
Alvarr smelled his leader's excitement. He rocked from his front legs to his back legs, knowing that Laren would not be able to resist him. His own member hardened fully, tight and aching in that pleasure-pain he'd only felt once before.
Laren moved behind the mage. "This… isn't what I want from you," he said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself.
"I want you to," Alvarr insisted. "Go on, Laren."
"I…" With a low sound, the leader reared up on his hind legs and got onto Alvarr's back.
The mage settled under his weight. This is right and good. His horn glowed steadily, illuminating the haven of trees around them.
Laren thrust against his side a few times. It wasn't frenzied, like their first mating, but slower, as though he was finding his way. "I'm going to enter you now," he said.
I want it, Alvarr thought, as Laren took small steps to line himself up. Again, he felt the hot, wet tip of Laren's member at his opening. There was a moment of resistance and pain, and then Laren's girth stretched him open, inch by inch.
Laren made small thrusts until his hips came right up against the mage's hindquarters, and he was buried fully inside. Alvarr shuddered at the feeling of being so full. His organ was so tight and hard it felt like it was going to burst. "Laren, please," he said, shifting his weight from front to back.
Behind him, the big gray horse draped his neck over Alvarr's back and pulled out a few inches. He rumbled low in his throat. Then, he pushed back in. Slowly, as though he were savoring every moment.
This was not the frantic magical coupling during the Time of Mating, Alvarr realized. This was… something else. He gasped as Laren stroked him from the inside, stoking a slow fire inside. "Don't stop," he whined.
"I won't," Laren promised, a rough edge to his voice.
"It feels good, Laren!" Alvarr had to let the leader know how this made him feel.
"Good," the leader growled. "Because I'm going to mount you and mount you and mount you until you're bursting with my seed." He worked his long, hard organ inside the mage a little harder. Their hips slapped together with the sound of mating.
Alvarr began to whine, deep in his throat. Under the big gray's strength, all he could do was stand there under Laren as the other stallion moved in him. Every time the big flared head passed over the spot inside the mage, Alvarr's tension grew. "Yes, don't stop," he gasped.
But Laren started to grunt. "Uh, uh." He started to jerk his hips forward and back instead of the smooth, controlled pushes he'd been making. The leader panted.
Not yet, don't shoot yet, Alvarr thought desperately. He wanted to release, to pour his seed on the ground as Laren's hot seed flooded inside his body. "More," he pleaded. "I need more."
But the leader's flared head thickened even more as it stroked Alvarr's passage. Laren's thrusts grew shorter and sharper, and Alvarr could feel his back legs trembling.
The mage tried to work himself up and down the shaft, wanting more of that white-light feeling to build up and burst. Laren pushed himself all the way in and held still.
Alvarr felt the leader's heartbeat throbbing all along his length. Then the surge began.
"Take my seed, mage," Laren growled, and started pumping him full of his potent fluid. He pulled out a little and shoved back in as more came.
The hot seed flooded his passage. Alvarr clenched down on the thick girth, but he could not relieve the tightness inside him. "Laren," he whined, but he knew it was no use. The stallion was finishing deep inside him, pumping him full.
But Laren did not soften and withdraw. He stayed draped over Alvarr's back, sides heaving for breath. His hard member still stretched inside the mage. "I'm not finished with you yet," he grunted, and only pulled back a few inches.
Easing his shaft back inside the mage, Laren spoke as he found his rhythm again. "I promised to make you burst with my seed."
It was wet all along Alvarr's passage, and some of Laren's gift spilled out with each movement. The mage shook his head, unable to stand the intense feeling of being mounted again, but he didn't want Laren to stop.
He moaned as heat washed over his belly and streaked to his unsatisfied organ. Laren was in no hurry for the second time. Such a virile stallion serving me!
"I'll satisfy you, don't worry," Laren promised darkly. "You will never want another after I'm through with you."
"I'm… I'm yours, only yours!" Alvarr said, trembling. He couldn't imagine sharing this with anyone else. "Laren, I'm… I'm going to…" He could not speak over the intense heat licking all over his body. He squeezed around Laren's girth, the flared head rubbing right where he wanted.
"Ah…" he gasped. His wet hole clenched and released, and his organ bounced against his stomach.
"Yes, that's it," Laren moaned. "Take your pleasure. Show me."
Again, Alvarr's legs shook as the first long spurt of his seed splashed against the ground. Laren's fluid gushed out of his hole as the contractions expelled it. His horn glowed brighter than ever; all he could see was hot white light.
He shook and shivered as his member pulsed again. His seed jetted onto the forest floor as his member bounced with the force. "Laren," he cried. "Laren!" It was more intense than the last time. How he wished he could move, but he could do nothing but stand there and take it.
With a roar, Laren pushed his engorged, flared head inside and sealed them together. He, too, started pumping his hot liquid inside the mage for the second time.
Both of them could do nothing but experience Nature's call as they locked together in mating. When it was over, Alvarr felt like something amazing had happened to him. He was warm all over, especially along his underside.
Laren withdrew, and Alvarr turned to him with soft eyes. "Laren, that was…" but he trailed off when he saw that the stallion would not look at him.
"What have you done to me?" the leader said. "This was not supposed to happen again. You did this, somehow." He shook his head. "Mating out of season? It has to be your power." He spat the word out like it was a ruined fruit.
Alvarr stumbled back, betrayed. How could the leader say that, when he was the one that had mounted? Laren was the one who had shot his seed inside the mage, not once but twice.
"Perhaps it was magic," he said, his voice weak and wavering. "But maybe it was just because… we wanted to." He made himself lift his head up to challenge the leader. "We took comfort in each other. There is nothing wrong with that."
Laren made no reply, but cantered out of the woods.
---------------
You know what would be really great? Fan art for Stallion Mage. I would love to see how other people see the characters. I can put it in the story itself and link to your dA or tumblr.
Also, my (real life) friend said, "Is it awkward to admit that I like your erotic horse-shifter fantasy story?"
I said, "Not as awkward as it is to admit that I like to write it!" But jk - I don't actually feel awkward. It's just my imagination, after all!