The winds of the Australian Alps lashed fiercely at the great ridge of rock known as the Ramshead, and the brumby herds nestled amongst the high peaks pressed close to one another for comfort. Spring was very late this year, already the grass had attempted a growth-spurt and been smothered by freezing snows, and foals were being born on freezing and hard ice, with barely a chance to live. But though this was happening to the herds, King Wirramirra knew his place was upon the high ranges like his sire, not upon the wide valleys that were ruled by horses he had a kinship with and yet had no knowledge of.
The snow still remained on the ground and the air was bitter and cold as the two mares paced nervously around the Leatherbarrel Valley, they were not safe here but the blizzard had forced them to remain in the sheltered valley, despite the dangers from other herds. As was a typical thing for pregnant animals in desperate and stressful situations, both mares had given birth at the same time, and were busy licking their beautiful foals. The mares were typical Brumby shades, one was black and the other was a bay-grey, and they had been wandering among Wirramirra's herd for a good two years already, though these were their first foals to the great stallion. The great silver prince did not like them wandering, he had lost a foal in the storm last year and he was not a beast willing to leave the heights and wander into the realm of his enemies. But both mares had needed to leave because of the freezing weather due to the late spring, it had been a primitive need and now they had only to wait till the foals could wobble around more comfortably before they scaled the valley wall and headed straight up toward Wirramirra's grazing grounds.
"The weather's clearing up a little Kaneky, we'll be able to move soon and our sons both seem quite strong today." The black mare nickered softly as she nosed her pale creamy son, named for the missing sun, Punga. Her colt looked up at his mother a little impatiently, she had not moved her leg yet so he could not find a good place to start to suckle, and he was on edge after hearing the whistling of a low-flying kite. The black mare shifted a hind leg slightly and gave a little bemused snort at her youngster before looking toward her nervous grey companion. Unlike Kaneky, the black mare had given birth twice before and she was much older then the mare that was named after a Yellow Crested Cockatoo. "What was it you named the colt again?"
"Tyipa, for the Moon." Kaneky nickered nervously, her eyes spinning around and her head shifting from side to side as she stood protectively over her paler Cremello colt foal. But the black mare snorted gently again and the grey gave a gentle sighing-snort, if the black was relaxed then she should be too, there was no wind to carry their scents so they were quite safe, and it was still snowing though it was indeed spring, so no humans would be present.
"The moon? I thought it was a family tradition of yours to name foals after the first bird that you see? After all, we've seen currawongs, hawks, and even a strange eagle already these past three days. Why not name him after an eagle? What encouraged you to name him after the moon?" The black mare snorted gently, and she began to pace over to Kaneky with a flick of her tail. As she moved Punga be detached from her teat and he gave a squealing sound of upset and cantered over to his mother's hip once more. There he looked at the pale almost white foal at the feet of the grey mare that had lifted his head to look at his companion. This made Punga forget about his milk and immediately he nipped the ear of the colt. Then the half-brothers stood up and began chasing each other about, they were both very playful this morning.
"It's not just birds, it's the first thing we see after their birth or hear or feel. He was born at night when the snow clouds had moved for me to see the moon. Plus, I felt and knew in my mind that no one of Thowra's line that was of such a silvery type was named for the Moon. Was that wrong of me? Are their rules to naming foals?" Kaneky nickered nervously, she did not understand the interest her companion had in the name, and she lowered her ears and drooped her head in upset. Had she been wrong?
"Of course not!" The black mare teased with a nicker of delight and a flick of her long black tail. "If that were so I would not have been able to name Punga for my chestnut sire. But I see the logic, I do not recall there being a son named for the Sun either. Perhaps that's a good thing that we have chosen those two celestial beings for them. After all, both the sun and the moon are brothers in the sky, and they do the same duty. You chose a good name for him."
This seemed to boost Kaneky's confidence somewhat, though she was still very nervous about her pale colt foal. There were so many uncertainties for his life so far and she did not want to have her very first foal die young because of its paling colour. But the colts seemed to be having fun dancing with one another, unaware of the problems that were ahead of them or the angst that was felt by their mothers. They danced and chased one another around the narrow end of the valley where they would be climbing to meet their sire in due time. Already they seemed quite strong, they would be ready for the climb soon though there was very little food for their mothers so high up the Ramshead Range. So whilst the colts played their mothers nipped and chewed impatiently at the grass around them that had appeared before the blizzard. There was no visible snow smothering these green shots so they did not have to dig them out and there was little for the colts to slip on.
The morning had given way to midday when the colts had finished their games, had their drinks, and then returned to sleep again. The two mares had been nickering amongst each other, deciding when the best time to leave with their foals was and when was probably an unsafe period. They chose to head up in the evening, when the foals had rested and there was still light to go by, but not enough for them to be seen or noticed too greatly. So during the time the foals rested, their mothers also rested for quite a while before the black mare's nostrils twitched and she stamped her hoof in alarm.
"What is it?" Kaneky nickered softly, afraid for her son and afraid for herself. She tested the air with the black mare and the scent of a stallion was too close for comfort. Both mares nudged their colts awake though Punga was a little more temperamental about the situation and let out a squeal of defiance. He was nipped on the ear and snorted at in warning by his mother, but it did not matter. The sound was echoed by the angry call of a territorial stallion and the mares were betrayed by the wind blowing their scent towards the horses. With a shrill cry of terror Kaneky butted her colt hard in the rear toward the slope where they could climb out and without interest in her babe's confused whickers she stampeded up the rocks to get away and back to Wirramirra. But the black mare was patient with the foals and gave encouraging snorts and huffs at them to follow Kaneky up the ridge. The two colts did as was commanded and began to plod up the slope after the grey mare. But though the black mare waited for them to get higher before she joined, it was too late.
With a roar of anger the stallion had reached their former grazing point and could see her and the foals heading up the ridge. The black mare gave a shrill neigh to the colts to rush and they tried their best to reach the pacing Kaneky that nickered in fear at her companion and her son. The stallion was a large bay animal, a common sight among Brumby herds but an annoyance to the mares. He began to march like a malevolent raven waiting for the predators to move away from a carcass toward them. He wanted to get rid of the foals and take the mares, as was the way of most wild stallions, but the black mare was not going to give up her foal for this animal. With a scream she turned and lunged at the stallion, making the animal pause and back-up slightly as she jumped and stamped in warning in front of her. Then she lunged at the animal and raced around him a few times, distracting him for the foals to reach Kaneky.
The foals were being coaxed on by the nervous grey's gentle whickering and quite quickly they reached the top of the ridge. But without waiting for the black mare to join them Kaneky butted both colts to carry on and trotted beside them, leading them toward the safer crevices toward the edge of the Ramshead where their king was waiting. The black mare continued to wind-up the stallion for a few minutes before bolting back around and diving toward the ridge. She froze half-way, afraid because Kaneky and the foals had gone on without her, and that gave the bay a moment to react. He darted forward and grabbed her quickly at the wither. He was a strong animal and managed to turn the mare so that she would have no choice but to charge toward his herd. The black mare bucked and struggled to get out of his grip, but she could not and was dragged away from her son and the King of the Ramshead's herd….