9 June 2012
I watch them, dancing in the surf, moving serenely and gracefully, their movements flowing. My bare feet dangle of of the cliff's edge, the wind tangling my wild rust-coloured curls. I want to be like him, taming the sea's demons, riding the offspring of the surf. He canters along the beach, the dappled mare baring her teeth. He bends down, offering her a chunk of meat. She rips it from his grasp, teeth like knives ripping it to shreds and gulping it down. The Sela are wild, untameable horses of the sea, soul's alive with the water's rage. Many are afraid of them, but a few mainlanders will risk everything for the pride of owning such a beast. But even these people do not approach the sea's hunters before they are tamed. Instead, they pay islanders to do it for them. Like Will. He is only a stablehand, but knows these horses inside out, capable of controlling them. The mare screams, her yellow eyes flashing, the sea is calling her. The Sela's scream is a much feared noise, deafening and piercing. It won't be long before Will will have to take her inland, away from her home, her mother. During midsummer and midwinter, it is worse, Sela literally flowing out of the ocean, coming onto land, causing havoc, magic thick in the air.The islanders fear them, but for me, they hold a deep beauty, I respect them. And I hope, they respect me.
(inspired by 'The Scorpio Races' : an amazing book that I really recommend!)
The Surf's Hunters • Opuss № I