Stone Circle Bobcaygeon

Even in the dim light, his silhouette blocked out the reflection of the stars on the water's surface as he moved to the soft, muddy bank. Her eyes were drawn to his dark feet, made to look even larger now given the way his toes spread in the mud. She swallowed hard, but remained where she was. Despite the few feet of space between them, she could almost feel him and was surprised to be calmed by his powerful yet sedate aura. His movements were graceful and quiet, the way a king elk would make its way through a forest head held aloft, indifferent to danger. 

She was surprised, then, when the shadow shrank, revealing the stars once again, and the mountain bent to touch the water's surface. Hastily, she turned her gaze aside and tightened her shoulders so as to bring herself lower into the water. Now, it rose up beyond her flanks, and only a strip of her silver-flecked spine remained above the water, along with the top of her head. She shuddered softly against the cold, but told herself that this was just a better way to treat the inflammation of her injuries. 

She shivered when he spoke, as though stirred by the vibrations of his brassy tones. She had to lift her muzzle a fragment, in order to speak without simply making bubbles in the water. In a peep, hardly louder than a cricket's chirrup, she spoke. "Oryx."