05. The Sip
Agatha had never strayed from Anthracite. Until then, the outside world was only built in her imagination. She found herself at the crossroads of intrigue and empathy, but there was something deeper pulling her towards Blue. After an initial reluctance, Agatha accepted his invitation.
It was to be a moonless night in early autumn, as the legend recalls. By the time the bells rang for horses to return to the stables, Blue and Agatha were wading across the wildflowers that resided in the Fountain Foothills.
In their travels, they spoke like they’d known each other their entire lives. However, it was in the moments unspoken where their love grew. An unfamiliar yet exhilarating trust in one another was building with each passing step.
Blue and Agatha were above the tree line when they absorbed the scene of the setting sun, with Anthracite fading on the horizon. It was the most beautiful sight Agatha had ever witnessed. Her world was growing by the minute, and would be changed forever.
Meanwhile at the mansion, Waylon was hosting dinner with delegates from Anthracite. They had been at his house long before they returned from the Fountain, awaiting his return. They informed him that the Fountain they saw that day was never meant to be seen. The veil had been lifted on their generations-long secret. Anthracite knew they could rely on Waylon, but they feared what could happen if Blue the Mostrenco was left unchecked.
So when Waylon received word that Blue and Agatha had not returned to the stables, a search party was organized. Waylon set out with a team of Anthracite riders to wrangle the missing horses. However, if it was up to him, he would’ve waited til morning. Waylon knew horses well enough to know that they needed some freedom. They’ve got to go out, make mistakes, and discover the world themselves. Waylon believed in Blue, but this was bigger than the both of them.
The echo of flowing water could be heard long before it was seen by Blue and Agatha. As they drew closer, the cool mist tickled their faces and collected on their coats. The olfactory scent of dew on the grass was intoxicating. Soon the horses began to giggle with one another. For the first time, they felt unrestrained.
They were enamored with the open sky, blissful of a blinding breeze, and they cried at constellations. Their trail that night uncarved caverns. It cut through the truth like the loose lips of the lost. Together they tumbled towards the source of the river, and the Fountain rested before them like an old friend.
“Are you sure?” Agatha chuckled nervously when suggested by Blue to take a drink. She collected herself for the first time since arriving at the peak. “What could possibly be better than this? After all, isn’t this what changed you?”
“It never changed me. It only magnified this sorrowed part of me. But, I feel at peace with all of that. I’m stronger through my struggle.” Blue spoke with a sincerity that caused Agatha to feel a sense of weightlessness.
“Perhaps he needs someone else to know what this is like, to truly understand him.” Agatha pulled in a deep breath of the pure midnight air. She knelt down beside the stream and gathered a sip from the Fountain.
Suddenly her vision blurred, the river grew silent, and she sat alone. A rush of images raced in her mind. First she felt herself running wild through a canyon, next she saw herself as a mother nursing her foal while resting on a stratus cloud. Soon, the child fell from the cloud and emerged from a coal mine, covered in soot. It did not recognize her despite her pleading. The foal became a disambiguous figure, as if changing shape before her very eyes. One moment a foal, the next a fox, a serpent, an eagle, and finally, a human.
The human was dressed in a blue coat that spanned the length of its body. Their eyes were bright lanterns to a soulless plain of misfortune, and yet she saw the world in them. In that moment, she understood the stars for what they were. She contemplated the thought for a suspended moment in time, until the visions changed again, one last time. The human multiplied into an army. Agatha began to shiver.
“They are on their way. You must stop them, Blue. You must protect me. You must protect the fountain!” Her lips never moved.
The Sip
Running through the meadow in the canyon of gods
Holding to my child on a cloud covered moss
Foal is falling to the ground
Hold me like a baby grown straight from the vine
Growing from the shadow come the coal coated one
Foal is turning purple, serpent, eagle, human
Multiplying blue you are
Hold me like a baby grown straight from the vine