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The Hammer and the Sword

Chapter 1. Prologue.

"We will camp here for the night. Gather wood and bring it forward - the night is too cold to do without a fire, and you will all I think feel better for it"

The small band breathed a collective sigh, each choosing their own patch of grass beneath this small stand of trees to sit and collect their thoughts, before hastening to do as they had been ordered. Huddled under the unwelcome weight of his travelling cloak, Lieran let out a soft neigh, the only external sign of the turmoil inside. The young roan stallion was still coming to terms with the turn his life had taken. Tomorrow would bring the start of a new existence, the true shape of which he could only dimly comprehend but the nameless terrors lurked at the back of his mind, ready for a moment of doubt, a flicker of weakness.

After the fire had been set, his companions were for the most part content to sit alone around it wrapped in their own thoughts, letting the darkness hide the uncertainty and pain from their fellows. One moved closer however, his scent reaching Lieran's nostrils before his eyes could make out the shape. Romali, his best friend. He let out a brief nicker of welcome, as the smaller chestnut stallion joined him, sitting close and letting his shoulder touch Lierans in an unconscious sign of their close friendship. For the young roan, circumstances had meant that friendship was something he had never been able to take for granted, and it was doubly welcome now, even if tinged with guilt. His friend was a victim of his loyalty, something Lieran burned to remember.

"What do you think of them?" whispered Romali, pointing with his muzzle at the two forms still standing, their outlines visible against the fire, and currently engaged in a low conversation. Two soldiers of The Great Mare, their guides for this journey. And guards, reflected Lieran ruefully. Whatever the pretence, the party were prisoners, pure and simple. He examined them, their garb eloquent enough testimony to their status. Metal armour over leather, beautiful sword in a leather scabbard hanging casually at their sides. The symbol of the Great Mare, the hammer and the sword, emblazoned in gold on the leader's breastplate. Manes and tails braided with silver cord.

"Arrogant. But why would they not be? They are the law across the Vale, whatever the convention may say. Otherwise we would not be here" he added with a twinge of bitterness_. Here...and on our way to wherever The Great Mare may choose_. The reality reared its head again, and this time he found it harder to submerge the sense of panic.

Lieran's dark thoughts were interrupted by the senior guide, addressing the group.

"Tomorrow we will arrive at Wolf's Gap. Your life as guest members of the Great Mare's herd will truly begin there, though your life under her protection began when you took your oath before your own herd. I suggest tonight you prepare yourselves for that reality as best you can."

The guide then looked each of them in turn, his expression stern and forbidding. "Remember also that you are under not just Her protection - also Her justice. You will obey orders, you will show deference to all members of her herd. Your eyes and your ears should remain down or you will soon find the justice hard. And She does not have a reputation for mercy."

Lieran felt his friend's slight shiver beside him, and he moved closer letting the touch of his body calm the chestnut. Taking off his cloak, Lieran wrapped them both, and held his friend until Romali yielded to his care. Soon, the journey and the strain caught up with the chestnut, and his head came to rest on Lieran's chest as he gave in to a restless sleep. For Lieran however, sleep would not come, and instead his mind wandered to his old life.

Outcast. It had been the scar on his heart for his whole life, a scab just under the surface waiting to be picked by the cruel, or the unwary. Now it was an open sore, a reality that he could not avoid. All it had taken was one mistake, just one mistake. He could not believe how naïve he had been. We convince ourselves that life is how we want it to be. So had his dam often told him, now he had to admit she was right. He had wanted to believe he was wanted, belonged, and it had led him to his destruction.

"Lieran!"

The roan colt gave a sudden start as he heard his name out of the blue, a harsh whisper pitched for him alone. Looking behind, he could see a long blunt finger beckoning him from the barn entrance. He recognised the finger, an involuntary grin covering his muzzle at the memory of what that finger had done just yesterday. Looking around to make sure no one had seen the exchange, he cautiously made his way to the barn before entering, closing the door silently.

Paws came out of the darkness to wrap around his midriff and he felt himself drawn against another, all his senses registering the identity of his assailant simultaneously as he felt a muzzle on his and a long slender tongue begin a hungry kiss. Reluctantly he broke off the kiss while he still had some sense, and looked at his paramour with a mix of exasperation and desire.

"Keira!!!. In the name of the Great Mare please be more careful. Anyone could have seen you, or more likely heard you. Your whisper would wake a drunken taurine."

The beautiful paint filly gave him a mock pout before breaking into an unrepentant grin, then planted a kiss on his chest.

"Awwwwww my beautiful colt still worried? Stop worrying my love, our time has come. We are of age now. It is time for us to stop hiding."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. Midsummer is almost here. It is time to go to my father and seek permission for us to me mated. We can be mated at the midsummer festival, before the whole herd. Then we can stop hiding, and truly be together."

Lieran let out a long sigh. The plan sounded truly enticing, and he wanted nothing more, but a life spent in fear did not allow for an easy acceptance of joy.

"Keira...we have spoken about this. You know I would like nothing more, it is all my heart could want. But do you really think it will be that easy? I may be under your sire's protection, but not in his heart. He took us in not from love but obligation, that he has made clear more than enough times. I am an outcast in his eyes, and always will be." Bitterness crept into Lieran's voice as he went on, as much as he tried to hide his hurt from his filly. She could not know what it was like, and he hoped she never would.

Lieran's sire had been the herd stallion, his dam the stallion's senior mare. His sire however had challengers to his authority, and one day when Lieran was still a foal, the challenge had come. Single combat, the old fashioned way, and Lieran's sire had gone down, not easily, not quietly but he had gone down. With a choice between death or the humiliation of submission, he had chosen death in spite of what this meant for his kin. Lieran and his dam were suddenly in mortal peril. With submission, they would have fallen under the protection of the new herd stallion. Choosing death however, had consigned them to the same fate.

Escaping their own herd, they had sought refuge from a neighbour, and been taken in as was custom. Duty and honour were the life blood of any equine, and Karlin, the herd stallion, was a stickler for protocol. That did not mean he had to like it however, and Lieran had always been made to feel his status keenly in a hundred subtle and unsubtle ways. Outcast. Unwanted by his own herd, living only at the pleasure of a gracious host. He could imagine what the reaction of that host would be when his own daughter sought permission to mate the outcast.

His reverie was interrupted by a questing paw. Seeing his face cloud with unhappy memory, the filly had sought to calm him with her touch, caresses moving down his muscled frame from his chest, across his flanks, his hips. The attentions had not proved sufficient until with a final exasperated nicker she reached inside his pants and touched his sheath, and was rewarded by a startled whinny as he felt her start to stroke him there, the look of surprise making her grin. Enjoying the feel, she slid her other paw down to cup his heavy balls, revelling in the feel of his leathery scrotum against her fingers and the way his balls danced and moved with her touch.

Taking control now she had his undivided attention, she stripped her light dress then reached in to undo the tie holding his pants, dropping them to the straw below. Moving in now she held him again, their muzzles now locked in a passionate kiss, feeling her love surrender to her kiss as she continued her ministrations, and come alive under her touch. Slow strokes of his sheath were soon rewarded, as he gave in and let his long mottled cock extend, her fingers now wrapped around the shaft as she sought to pleasure him. She felt him thicken and harden in her grasp, a sensation that never failed to make her feel excited, the power of knowing she did this to him, that this magnificent cock was hers and hers alone, a tribute.

Her nose pricked now, smelling the wild musk of his excitement at the same time as she felt it, the sweet slickness starting to drip from the tip of his cock, now thickly flared. She sensed his building need, the soft low nickers, the shaking gasps, and laughed as he held her tight. She was in love, and he loved her, and in spite of his normally serious and controlled demeanour, he was a stallion after all - hers, for however long she wanted. The others do not see Lieran the way I do, this playful passionate lover, they only see the serious outsider with sadness in his eyes, or the rival who doesn't belong. I should be grateful.

Suddenly he could control no longer, and he took her in his arms lifting her up and laying her back on a hay bale. Lifting her long graceful legs over his shoulders, he bent to his favourite task with a will, long questing tongue diving full length into her already wet pussy as he began eating her out, determined to lick up every last drop of her essence. One paw now on her mouth to stifle her moans and cries, he began pleasuring her relentlessly; now a blunt thumb stroking her clit while he lapped at her lips, now his tongue on her clit as she drove her hips up to meet him. Her hands entwined in his curly mane, she held him down on her and rode his tongue, his fingers now holding her lips apart as he gave her his all. She felt the shattering orgasm build and build until she could hold no longer and let out a powerful whinnied scream as she came, showering his muzzle in her excitement as her whole body was wracked with waves of release.

Coming down from the high, she felt him now over her, kneeling between her legs as she remained propped on the hay. His soft lips now nuzzled her nipples, his paws stroking her sides as he kept her excited but allowed her oversensitive clit some respite. She knew his patterns well now, how he liked to go down on her more than once. She had had to teach him a few things about a filly, including the need for a bit of recovery time after she came. He was an enthusiastic pupil, unlike her previous experiences. His desire to do what pleased her had been part of what had endeared him to her early on. It still gave her a thrill inside.

Lying back enjoying his lips on her, she felt his thick cock now resting against her slit. Unconsciously, he thrust his hips gently, rubbing the flared rim of his tip over her, nudging her lips, driving her wild. Forgetting all reason, all she could think of was the smell of his musky cock, her own heat, and the feel of that cock against her. She wanted it so badly, needed it. They had waited, waited as law and custom demanded, but law and custom were things she could no longer think of as the mist of heat invaded her brain.

Arching her back, she reached down to line the blunt head of his cock up with her, and then pushed her hips up, trying to take him. She felt the thick end pressed against her, too big to enter her easily, but determined to make it happen, gripped him tightly and was about to thrust hard when her colt suddenly recoiled violently, breaking free of her grip and pushing back until he was kneeling panting before her.

"Keira!" he cried, "no!"

Angry now, embarrassment mixing with unsatisfied need, she sat up and stared at the shaking colt, eyes blazing.

"Why not? Are you a stallion or not? We want each-other, I know I want you and from the feel of your cock you want it too. Why can't you mount me and make me yours, when we both want it so much?"

"You know very well why not. We haven't been mated with permission from your sire. If we are discovered..." he could not go on, harsh thoughts building inside as he remembered the consequences of disobedience.

He was a colt of 15 summers when last the law had been tested to its utmost. A big shire by the name of Tranis, had been caught mounting his filly, though they had not been allowed to mate by either the Herd Stallion or her Sire. They had been called to answer before the herd, and Karlin had presided. It was not the Herd Stallion that had sealed the colt's fate though, it was the filly's sire. He hated Tranis, due to a long past fight with Tranis' sire that had partially crippled him, and the time for revenge had come. Karlin had chosen not to exercise his authority to stop it when the full punishment was demanded; he did not particularly like Tranis either, and in any case, so the whispers said, was grateful of an opportunity to reassert the rule of law in his Herd. Tranis was merely a victim of circumstance; a convenient warning to others.

Like all the herd, Lieran was forced to watch the punishment, and it had been seared on his memory ever since. The terrified colt, naked and tied to a frame, arms and legs stretched out, muscles bulging as he fought the bonds. The look in his eyes when he saw the gelding iron. The frenzied screams as the cruel implement had done its work. His limp form, sagging against his bonds after fainting. Most of all, the sight of his sheath afterwards, only an angry cauterised wound below where his scrotum should be. An involuntary shudder passed through Lieran as the memories rose again.

"Keira, you know if we are discovered, there are enough who despise me who will demand my gelding. Your sire may not deny them even if he wanted to; but we both know if I defied him that way there is no chance of him accepting me as your mate. He would likely wield the gelding iron himself. Is that what you want? I know it is hard for you to know what it is like, but I can't escape it because I've been living it my whole life; I am an outcast and I live here on sufferance. Even if you are too spoilt to see it, I know it, and because of it I have to be even more cautious than all the rest."

The filly looked at her sweet colt, his look of anguish melting her heart in spite of his harsh words. Perhaps she was spoilt, but she was also in love and that would guide her. Lifting herself off the hay, she knelt down in front of him, lifting his chin to hers and kissing his nose.

"You are right my love, we will follow the law; but does that mean you agree to petition my sire for permission to mate?"

Lieran looked into the eyes of his lover and the objections died in his throat. How could he deny her? She could persuade him of anything; perhaps she was right and her sire would be equally helpless in her grip. Hope was all he had, and the thought of a happy future, mated to Keira, truly accepted in the Herd, was too intoxicating a prospect to deny. Still keeping her eyes fixed with his, he nodded his head, warmth flooding his soul as he saw the look of pure joy take her. Flinging her arms around him she kissed him deeply, a genuine flood of happiness passing to him through her touch. Maybe it would be all right, somehow.

Finally breaking their embrace, Keira gave a wicked smirk as she looked at him. "Besides; it would be a shame to lose these beautiful balls of yours" she finished, a lame joke but one he welcomed. She reached forward now to cup them, his whinny of undiluted pleasure surprising him as she worked on him, bringing him again to full eager hardness in her grasp.

Without speaking, they somehow moved as one, kissing, caressing, until he was stretched out on the hay and she was above him. Moving now until her pussy was above his muzzle, she lowered herself onto him, taking her ultimate pleasure from his tongue. She loved this position, the feeling of power, riding him. One day soon she would do this to his cock, but for now this was incredible and she was determined to enjoy it. He parted her cheeks, letting his long blunt fingers tease the skin from her slit to her tight tail-hole while he concentrated on her clit with his tongue as she ground down onto him, her whinnies of delight growing louder and louder.

Finally, she leaned forward over him, taking his long dripping cock in her muzzle as they pleasured each-other, teasing him, drawing him in her to his medial ring then out again to lick the flared tip, before going all the way to his groin as he began the final fast licking of her exposed swollen clit that always made her world spin. Abandoning her teasing, she squeezed his balls in time with her tonguing determined to bring him off before she came, but he knew her body too well. With a final series of deft flicks of his tongue on the tip of her clit he drove her into her second orgasm, her body on fire as the wild contractions of her muscles caused her to slump over him, helpless as a newborn foal.

Lying together now on the hay, their bodies entwined, she reached for his still unsatisfied cock. Kissing slowly, lovingly, she began a long slow lazy stroking with her paw, the sensual feel of his shaft intoxicating. This was her gift to him now, and she made it count, bringing him to the edge time and time again and each time backing off until he was begging, pleading, before finally bending to his lap and taking his tip in her soft lips while she stroked him faster and faster. In spite of his increasingly frenzied warnings, she didn't back off, determined to take his seed, and so when he finally let go it was her muzzle that took his wild spurts as he came, rope after rope forced from him as his long delayed orgasm finally emptied his aching balls.

Afterwards, they held each-other, neither speaking, both lost in their own thoughts and the simple pleasure of being together. He forgot his fears for a moment at least, willing himself to believe that their love and her devotion could overcome prejudice. He was destined to be sorely mistaken.

Afterwards when the rush of emotion had paled, he thought of begging her not to do it, but could not bring himself to disappoint her. And so, she had gone to see her sire, the Herd Stallion, and seek his permission for them to mate. He had offered to join her but she had insisted that it would be better this way, so instead he had waited, pensive and moody.

He was not sure if he had expected the summons, but it filled him with dread all the same. Karlin had demanded his presence, and he was not allowed to see Keira first to find out what happened. Following Karlin's attendant he presented himself at the Great Hall entrance, and was ushered not unkindly into the meeting chamber.

Eyes adjusting to the half light inside, he saw the great Herd Stallion and immediately felt unease. Karlin was a huge stallion, his coat now going faintly grey but still formidable. Wearing his cloak, he sat on an audience chair before the fire, expression unreadable as he stared at the young roan. While not a member of his family, Lieran and his dam were in effect part of his household, so he knew the Herd Stallion well though he tried to keep his distance.

He knew that Karlin had developed a good blank expression, an invaluable asset in the world of equine politics. He also knew what Karlin didn't know; that his tail told the attentive watcher what they needed to know. Karlin's tail was flicking in a manner Lieran had come to know meant action, swift, decisive, and often unpleasant. Action driven by anger.

"Hail Sire, Stallion of these Halls" intoned Lieran in formal greeting, kneeling before his overlord and flattening his ears in sign of submission. He would tread very carefully, whatever happened. Whether or not he could save himself, he could still make things worse for those who loved him.

A derisive snort from the Herd Stallion was the only, deeply disquieting, reply for some time.

"Stallion of these Halls indeed young colt...and do not forget it, even though you seek to use my own flesh and blood against me." Lieran bowed even deeper, all hope now fleeing his mind. Though he had reached 18 summers, he was still technically a colt until mating, though it was custom to be addressed as stallion even so. Karlin was having none of it though; he was a colt, and to be treated as such. A colt who had sought what he should not.

"Sire..."

"Silence!" the word cracked like a whip. With nothing left to lose, Lieran looked up and saw the rage now playing freely over Karlin's face. "You have created many problems for me over the years young colt, though none as great as this. You have no idea how many members of this herd have questioned my authority in allowing you to stay. You have no idea how many problems you have caused between your old herd and mine. Your arrogance, your stupidity do not surprise me. Your ingratitude does. How dare you? How dare you expect such a thing? Are you mad?"

The dream was vanishing like a ghost, to be replaced by a nightmare. Outcast he had remained, and now perhaps was to become again.

"We have a problem now young fool, one that however you are going to help me to fix. You will not speak now until I have finished. I am not bargaining with you, I am telling you what is to be. It may interest you to know however that should you seek to defy me in this, you will have sealed your fate."

"I know now that you and Keira have been lovers, though she swears you have not mounted her. She was naïve enough to think that this would make me agree to the match. I will tell you now that should you resist, I will produce witnesses that will attest to you having mounted her against my will, witnesses you will not be able to deny. I will personally ensure you are gelded before the whole herd, and I will wield the iron myself. I will then send you and your dam back to your own herd to do with as they will. Your crime will have relieved me of any obligation. Keira will be cast out from my household, and offered to a suitable stallion as a concubine. She will never be a mate, and she will never be allowed to have a foal."

As Lieran listened to this chilling statement, all hope was lost until all he could do was stare at the Herd Stallion, terror in his eyes, mouthing a silent "no" but unable to make the sound. Finally, he found a voice, a need to try to recover something from the wreck.

"Sire...I know you will not forgive me, but please, do not punish my dam or Keira. Please, I beg you. What is it that I am to do to stay your hand?"

The big stallion stood up now, coming to tower over the distraught youngster. His gaze was still angry, though Lieran noted a hint of regret. Despite his anger, he does not really want to do this. If there is a way out I can buy, then that is all I can cling to.

"Lieran. I know you well, and despite our differences I know you are honourable. There is a way I have chosen, not an easy one, but one that will enable you to repay your debt of honour and save those you love. It will be midsummer within the week, and the Offering must be made on Midsummer day before the Festival begins. Tomorrow is the day of choosing. Tomorrow, you will volunteer to be part of the Offering, sacrificing yourself to save one of your herd. As a member of my household you would be exempt from the ballot, so your sacrifice will be all the more moving. You will in a stroke repay your adoptive herd for sheltering you these years, and redeem yourself in the eyes of any herd members who doubt you. And, known only to us, you will save your dam and my naïve and stupid filly from the consequences of your impudence."

The words echoed through Lieran's brain until they built into a screaming he could barely contain. The Offering. A slave, never again to return. Even as the terror built though came the realisation that he had no choice. This was his only way out, if he had the strength to go through with it.

Slowly raising his head to look the Herd Stallion in the eye, Lieran nodded his head and said in a flat whisper "I will volunteer" noting the look of satisfaction on Karlin, mixed with relief and a tinge of regret. Whether the regret was for the lost opportunity to geld the troublesome roan or for what he had to do to him he could not decide. Perhaps a little of both.

"That is well, little colt" replied his erstwhile protector.

Anger finally welled up in Lieran, enough at least to fire a parting shot. "It's stallion, Sire, may the Great Mare damn you to hell."

The big stallion snorted and looked at him, a mixture of emotions on his face. "Very well, I guess you have deserved the title after all. As to hell, well I have a feeling the Great Mare will be seeing you there first, perhaps you can tell her I look forward to the encounter when my time comes."

The day dawned warm, the sun rising in a red ball over the Wolf's Gap far away to the East_. A portent if ever there was one_ thought Lieran. My destiny written by the sun.

He had told his dam what he must do, but on instruction from his lord had not spoken to Keira. It would be easier this way. She must begin to forget me.

An hour after dawn, the herd was convened before the Great Hall. The fear that always accompanied this day, fear and resentment, was palpable. There were dark looks in his direction from some of his contemporaries, who were eligible for the ballot and assumed he could not be chosen. They were in for a surprise, he thought sourly.

The Herd Stallion spoke, repeating the proscribed formula as had been done now for decades. "My herd, today is a solemn day. Today we live a part of our duty as members of a larger greater herd, the herd of all equines who live in the Vale of the Horse. Our safety, the very existence of our herds has been threatened here over centuries by enemies all around, enemies that the mountains surrounding our valley could not keep out. Our ancestors would tremble to the sound of the wolves raiding from their lands, or the cries of our mares being taken by the taurines of the plains."

"Now, we know peace and security, thanks to the herd of The Great Mare and her city at Wolf's Gap. Through their sacrifice, their efforts, their strength, the Vale of the Horse is free. We owe them a debt. Today we repay that debt as we do every year at this time."

"Under the convention that governs the herds of the Vale, we agree to make an Offering; members of our own herd to become guests of The Great Mare's herd and work for all equines, cementing the bonds that join us all. These guests leave our herd though they never leave our hearts. Today, we select those who will be making the Offering this Midsummer, the offering of our herd to The Great Mare for her protection and proof of our gratitude in exchange for the right to live in our own herd under our own laws."

Lieran listened only partly to the speech. He had heard it before, and knew its content by heart though its import now struck him anew. As always, there was an undercurrent of muttering at the words, reflecting as they did the surface not the substance of the situation.

Lieran heard a soft voice beside him. "Hmpf. Nice phrases. Pity about the reality."

Turning, he saw it was Romali, his best friend, who was potentially up for selection. He could see the fear mixed with resentment on the young chestnut's face, and gave him a sad smile to try to calm his nerves. Perhaps at least my going could save Romali from sharing my fate.

"You don't buy the rhetoric Romali? Shame on you...slavery never sounded so good." A snort and a nicker was the reply.

The murmuring was expected by Karlin, he knew well enough what they were saying, it was no more or less than he felt himself. The right to live in our own herd under our own laws - only by selling our own into slavery. Some bargain. He had sought a way around it for his whole time as lord of this herd, but like his compatriots across the Vale had found no escape. The Great Mare's herd was powerful enough to hold off the raiders all right. Its next victory had been against its fellow equines though, whether it was acknowledged or not, and the power they had used to gain security for the Vale was now mainly used to keep the Vale in thrall. Time to do what I must.

"This year we are required to provide 6 of our newly of age herd members as an offering" grumbling again, as he knew there would be. The number had been slowly rising from 2, now 6. "However, we have an unusual situation this year as only 5 will need to be chosen by the ballot. One of our members has volunteered, a sacrifice made willingly in recompense for the love and protection of this herd. Step forward....Lieran!"

After a moment's silence, everything happened at once. Gasps, cries, were aplenty. All were drowned out by two great shouts of "no!", one from Keira, who had somehow made her way out of the Great Hall where she was being held. Her long drawn out cry of anguish cut Lieran to the bone, a cry that would burn through his subconscious long after he was gone. Her despair matched his, but the thought that her pain was caused by him broke his soul into shards.

The second cry came from closer by, and he looked to see the horror on Romali's face. He had let Romali into his confidence, so his friend could guess what had happened. What he didn't predict was Romali's reaction. His friend immediately ran towards the Herd Stallion, deference forgotten for a fatal moment.

"Lord, this is not right. Lieran is a valued member of the herd, he does not need to make this sacrifice. I think he is being pressured to act against his will. I beg you, let him rethink."

"Young colt, you do not get to address me that way. Resume your place. Lieran's choice is his and it will not be overruled."

"Lieran's choice? Or is it your choice? All know you have no love for him. Is this just your way of using the Convention to get your own back? Is that what is expected of a herd stallion?"

Lieran had tried to catch Romali, but others had held him back, thinking to stop him doing something stupid himself. Little did they know. Oh Romali...please, not you too. I could not live with myself.

Into the resulting torrent of whispers, the Stallion's cry for silence fell like thunder, silencing all. In that silence, Karlin spoke, softly, forcing everyone to strain to hear.

"Romali, you have defied me for the last time. I invoke the Herd Stallion's right to select you for the Offering. As you seem committed to Lieran, it is fitting that you should share his fate. That leaves only 4 to be selected by the ballot, and I trust there will be no more disturbances by anyone who would like that number reduced?"

The rest of the ceremony proceeded without incident, two more colts and two fillys selected. All six were taken to a room off the Great Hall, there to await their fate on Midsummer day. On that day, the soldiers of the Great Mare would come to take the Offering away, after they had sworn The Oath before their former herd - To renounce their herd, to swear allegiance to their new herd, and to the Great Mare as their overlord, who they would obey without question or else disgrace themselves and their old herd forever. For any equine, there was no going back from that; their honour was their life.

So on Midsummer day, while his former protectors looked on, Lieran recited his oath, and removed his old clothes, handing them back to his herd prior to being covered in a new tunic and cloak bearing the symbols of the Great Mare, the hammer and the sword. As he stood naked, he looked for Keira and found her in the crowd, her eyes on his, tears flowing freely now. Determined not to let them see him cry, he stood, proud and strong, defiance in his stance, tail swishing. Cast out from two herds now, but from this day on I refuse to be defeated. I will find a way back, some how. Then the soldiers took him, and the journey began.

****************************************************************

"Awake!" the cry entered his mind followed closely by a kick to his hooves. Startled awake, his mind part lost in the dreams and memories, it took him a moment to orient himself again. He was no longer with his herd; no he was in camp on the way to Wolf's Gap. As the memory of his situation dawned he felt his friend's head against his chest under the cloak, the warmth of his breath tickling Lieran's nipple. With an embarrassed jolt Lieran realised his nipple was hard, and his cock part out of his sheath.

Carefully moving his friend, he woke him gently while willing his semi hard cock to retreat inside his sheath_. It must be from all the thoughts of Keira_, he sought to convince himself. A little internal frown though made him pause, as he remembered all too well how he had felt some times when he had played in the river with his friend, naked in the sun. This is the last thing I need.

Finally their little camp stirred, and they began the final leg of their journey to Wolf's Gap, the great city of stone and steel, which no equine had built with or used only a century before, limited to small towns of timber for each herd and simple weapons. Despite his fear, part of him was curious. I wonder if I will soon know the secret? How did the herd of Wolf's Gap come to acquire the skills and power that they use to keep the Vale under the hoof, as well as keep the others out. I wonder if I will live if I learn that, long enough to use it. A plan began to form in his mind, hesitant but growing. Outcast I may be, but there is a certain strength in that, if only I can survive_. A stallion with nothing to lose. _

Putting an arm round his friend, they shared a secret smile, before the surly guides could notice, then the walk began. The sun was their guide, and soon they came across other bands on the same mission, Offering from other herds all finding their way to their ultimate fate. As part of a long line of equines they crested a grassed ridge and finally came in sight of their journey's end; the great city of Wolf's Gap, and the stone wall of which it formed a part that cut off the Vale from the wolf lands beyond. It was an imposing sight, and momentarily Lieran stopped as did all the new guests, to gape at a vision they had never before imagined. A great city in stone.

Journey's end. Or journey's beginning? He mused. He would know soon.