Dust Devils

“No, I don’t like it either,” Gwen said as she patted Butterfly’s neck. The Nordanner clearly didn’t like the sand she was walking in, continually picking up her feet high off the ground and shaking the sand from the green wing markings on her legs. 

Behind her, Sand Dune seemed to be enjoying herself. The dunalino Loshenka clearly took her name seriously as she played in the sand, the dark of her dun marked legs standing out in the sand that nearly matched the rest of her coat. Her nearly white tail was coated in brown sand from several stops to roll in it. 

Butterfly glanced back, green colored nostrils flaring at the sight of the other horse so clearly enjoying themselves. She shook, the coating of sand that had already started to dull her black and green coat falling off in a cloudy haze. The mare then glanced back at Gwen, pinning her ears slightly back as if in contempt of the water fae who held her reins. 

“I’m sorry, okay. This wasn’t my idea.” Gwen patted Butterfly’s nose gently. For all the Nordanner’s posturing, Gwen wasn’t worried. “It’s getting under my scales and it itches me too. We should be out of here soon though. The map said it was only a little over an hour or two walk and we have to have been in here at least an hour by now.” 

Butterfly snorted and begrudgingly kept walking. 

Sand came up behind Gwen at a quick trot, pushing her nose up under Gwen’s hand and demanding similar attention. For all her love of sand, she was a sweet horse. And Gwen supposed she couldn’t really hold the love of a desert against the Loshenka. Everyone had their preferences afterall. 

Butterfly stopped and turned, sniffing at Sand even though the two had known each other awhile now. Sand pulled her head back and looked at Butterfly in confusion for a moment, clearly not understanding why the other mare suddenly seemed hostile. It wasn’t until the Nordanner nipped at something on Sand’s back that Gwen really tried to intervene. 

“No, we’re not having a…..” Gwen broke off as she saw something move away from Sand’s back and the Loshenka was completely uninjured. “What… Butterfly, what did you see?” 

Gwen looked closer at the pair, suddenly noticing little creatures of dust and sand moving about around the horses. They weren’t fully visible at times, the sun seeming to scatter the particles that made up the horned creatures. 

Sand stomped suddenly, catching one under her hoof and bending over to sniff at it. She ignored Butterfly coming up to examine the creature more closely as well. 

The air around the horned creature spun up in a whirlwind of sand forcing both mares and Gwen to stumble backwards and start sneezing and coughing as they inhaled sand. 

Butterfly shook her head in irritation, huffing violently enough her mane tossed about and her black tail swished violently. 

Sand’s reaction was no less dramatic as the Loshenka reared up and away from the swirling cloud of dust the creature created. The Loshenka’s white, curly tail swished in a way that suggested the mare wanted nothing more than to blow away the swirling sands. 

“Dust Devils!” Gwen managed to cough as she swiped at a figure that appeared in the swirling clouds. “There weren’t supposed to be any out here!” 

She managed to blindly snag the reins of both horses and lead them out of the immediate clouds of dust, the small creatures taunting them as they moved. 

Butterfly looked over at Sand, her look conveying a sense of ‘I told you so’ to the sand colored Loshenka. The black and green-wing marked Nordanner then attempted to shake more of the sand from her coat, the end result being similar to that of the Dust Devils as all three of them started sneezing again. 

Before they could really recover the Dust Devils came at them again. The laughing little horned creatures flying through the sand and kicking up more twists of sand that started to chase the trio. 

Gwen, Butterfly, and Sand didn’t need another hint. The three of them took off away from the Dust Devils as fast as they could. The two horses quickly outpaced the water fae as Gwen was momentarily engulfed in swirling clouds of dust. 

She swatted at the Dust Devils as the creatures gleefully circled her, the sand scraping at her skin and irritating her eyes. She had just about been driven to her knees when the angry cries of two horses pierced through the laughter of the Dust Devils. 

The dark hooves of Butterfly and Sands lighter colored hooves flashed in the swirls of sand, knocking the Dust Devils away. The Dust Devils didn’t give up without a fight though. Instead they came back around, trying again. 

This time the creatures were met with Butterfly’s hooves and teeth, the Nordanner biting and kicking at any that got close enough. Sand Dune changed tactics, working in tandem with Butterfly as she made use of that long Loshenka tail to essentially disrupt any swirls of sand the Dust Devils tried to make as they were pushed back. 

Gwen sat on the ground, choking on sand as the two mares drove the Dust Devils back. She wanted to get up and help them but for the moment the best thing she could do was stay out of their way. Clearly the pair had it handled. 

Butterfly landed a nasty kick on one of the bigger Dust Devils, the creature giving an irritated cry as it was driven into the sand. Whatever the sound was, the rest of the Dust Devils gathered, attempting to form one massive swirling funnel of sand. 

Sand Dune was ready though, the Loshenka busting into the middle of it and rearing up. Turning as quickly as she could in the sand, the mare blew at the dust with her long curly tail and really the entirety of her body. 

The funnel, disrupted at the base by the hooves and tails of two very determined horses, failed to form. 

The Dust Devils screeched and a blast of sand washed over Gwen and her two horses, and then it was quiet. 

Butterfly and Sand immediately made for Gwen, the two horses nuzzling at her in concern. 

“I’m okay.” Gwen reached up, patting both of their noses gently and stroking at each of their necks in turn before slowly picking herself up off the ground and giving them both a hug. “You two were very brave, and very clever. Thank you.” 

Butterfly headbutted Gwen very gently before looking over the fae’s shoulder in the direction the Dust Devils had fled. 

Sand moved closer to Gwen, leaning against the fae for a moment before stamping her foot and tossing her head in the direction leading away from where the Dust Devils had come from. 

“Yes, you’re both right. We should get going and watch out for more of those little devils.” Gwen brushed off some of the sand from the folds of her tunic and made sure the two horses weren’t injured and the tack was still well seated before turning to walk in the indicated direction. 

Butterfly and Sand Dune both shook, sand practically billowing off their coats before following along. All of them were more than ready to get out of there, and if they never saw another Dust Devil again they’d be happy.