Nightmare

Upped the brightness...it looked pretty indistinguishable on any monitor that's not my laptop xD

Music: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqB83w…

The unnamed foal drifted out on the oasis' surface in a woven basket. On the bank, Nehkbet's voice rang out in a haunting song, the Persian lyrics making varying levels of sense to RWE's staff who were standing ranged out beside her. Her voice seemed to stir the water along, drifting the tiny corpse in its woven grave further towards the center of the pond. Something eerie waited there with them as they watched the sun set behind the basket's progress. It made it to the dead center just as the sun dipped behind the dunes, drenching the sand in one last coat of blood red. 

With the dark of night came a sudden drop in temperature, but no one moved. Transfixed by the ethereal singing, the fog crept up on the still water without anyone noticing until the basket was swallowed from sight. As the last words wrapped snug around the night and stilled the shifting of the mist something gathered itself out in the middle, lifting free of the water so slowly it was as if gravity itself resented its progress. Time stretched as they watched the form rise, the water bending upward until it shattered soundlessly and the figure broke free. Rearing high, the ethereal horse shook out its great mane and tail, thousands of stars echoed perfectly in the reflection cast on the water. Its mighty head turned towards them, piercing eyes resting on Nehkbet for a long moment. 

"رحلة سريعة" she said quietly, to which the creature blew mist from its nostrils and reared again, up, up, hooves catching on the stars and propelling it upwards into the sky. They watched its ascent in a peaceful silence, until the great horse was just another star against the black. Shaking free of the daze that had gripped them all, Nehkbet stooped to pull the basket from the shore, where it had drifted even as the fog cleared. She lifted it as though it weighed nothing. A glance inside verified that it was empty, the stillborn foal gone. Smiling slightly, she handed the basket off to a staff member and broke ranks to fade back into the shadows, her job done. 

Eons away the Nightmare stopped to let its passenger off, the foal wobbling on unsteady legs to meet its granddam and all the generations before her. Satisfied it was safe, he turned and took off again for the next unfinished soul.

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A commission the recipient wants kept quiet, so I remastered an alternative version to post on DA for my darling Delu. THIS is what he's meant to be, I can't even express how pleased I am with how this came out, even if it almost took my hand with it c: