There was no doubt about it– today was the hottest day of the entire year.
The world shimmered and wavered with the burning sun, like it was slowly melting under its intensity. We hid in the Sin Luna places, but there was still no relief from the heat– the air was thick, promising rain, but stifling.
I was squeezed into the cave with my herdmates, unable to breathe in the thick air. The moisture from the walls tasted sour.
“I want to go outside.” I snorted, pawing at the rocky ground.
Sombre eyed me. “No. We stay inside. Word is the Metal Birds and the humanos are on the move again. It is too much risk to go out.”
Irritated with his demeaning, bossy tone, I switched my tail. “Since when are you so afraid of humanos? They will not come all the way out here. It is too hot even for them.”
He loped around me, blocking my path. “You will not go outside.”
I shoved against his chest, without much avail since he was so much taller than I. “You are not the boss of me, Sombre.”
He snorted. “I am your herd leader. If I say we do not go outside, we do not go outside.”
His tone was menacing, a type of anger I had never heard from him before. I backed away, ears pinned. “Since when did you decide I was so inept to do what I wish? Is it because I am short?”
His black and white ears twitched, hesitating. “No.”
“You think I can’t run as fast if trouble comes?”
“I don’t want to lose you.” He murmured. “You are my best friend.”
“But apparently not a friend enough that you give me a name.” Too hot. It was too hot in here for me. I pinned my ears, switched my tail. “Fine. I will show you how I can run.”
I struck a blow at his chest with my hoof, catching him off guard as I bolted around him towards the cave opening. He squealed, galloping after me, but for once, I was faster than him.
I ran out into the canyon, breathing in the open air and staying to the shadows. I ran until I came to a sagebrush valley, and then I bucked, enjoying the feeling of the air beneath my belly.
“Not fast enough, eh?” I nickered. “I showed you!”
I turned, expecting to see Sombre, but he wasn’t there. The valley was silent.
My nostrils fluttered as the sense of being alone sent shivers down my spine. Alone. A dangerous place for a horse to be in.
I considered turning back, then shook my head. No. Let Sombre think I was gone for a minute more. See if he would even care. He hadn’t even given me a name. I was still nameless, an outcast.
I smelled the damp air of the watering hole. Water. That would be good. A nice swim would feel good on my hot coat.
I started trotting across the valley, when suddenly, the earth beneath my hooves shifted and rumbled. I paused, uneasy, but curious.
White dust flew in the distance. The sounds and smells of dozens of horses running together rushed at me like a storm gale.
I bolted, from what, I didn’t know. But there was danger. Danger that I needed to escape.
But it was no use. My legs were not long enough, my strides weak. I was swallowed up amidst the bodies of horses who were strangers to me.
A cream-colored stallion in the back of the herd told me this was Halcon’s herd. But why? Why were we all running in such a madhouse?
The buzzing overhead answered my question.
Humanos.
I needed to get out of this herd. I wasn’t a part of these horses! I could still escape.
I lifted my head over the other horses, trying to find an opening. There, between two spotted mares. I charged toward it.
They bumped against each other, forcing me away to avoid being crushed. I squealed. “Let me through! I’m not a part of this herd!”
No one heard me over the sound of the roaring hoofbeats.
I sensed the direction where we were going, where these metal birds were herding us. We’d brush close to a box canyon. If I could make it to the edge, I could break away and hide before any of the humanos realized I was gone.
I shoved between two copper mares, darted past a foal, but I was tiring. How long had we been running? My legs burned, and my throat was coated with grit.
Must… escape… back to Sombre.
The metal bird flanked us, forcing us closer together. My progress in making it to the edge was ruined by dozens of horses crowding in, forcing me into the middle.
No!
I couldn’t stop. To stop would to be crushed to death.
I kept running.
“Where are they taking us?” I asked, but no one answered me. They were too afraid.
We squeezed even tighter together, until I saw nothing but brown walls on either side. Walls?
“It’s a trap!” A horse shouted, but it was too late.
Bars of molten moonlight surrounded us. There was still an opening to the sagebrush– perhaps if I could bolt—
More bars slammed in before I could think.
I whirled, looking around in desperation for an exit. This cannot be… there must be a way…
But the bars were everywhere.
Sweat smell, blood smell, and another smell I couldn’t identify were hot in the air. My back was soaked with sweat. How far had we run?
“Maybe…” I whispered, my legs shaking. “Maybe they’ll just prick our necks and let us go.”
The horses around me didn’t say anything.
Then, from out of the shadows of a large metal box, I saw them for the first time.
The humanos.
