The moon stood high, stars twinkling against the dark night sky. A fog slowly spreading over the grassland and cold chilly winds blew by, one by one. Under the big oak lay a stallion, one that had been deep asleep until it all took a turn..

Dealg inhaled sharply, gasping sound leaving him as his eyes shot open. His green eyes almost glowing in the dark and he felt the chilly wind playing in his coat, with his mane and he snorted. Where had the fog come from? And hadn’t it been a warm evening when he had settled beneath his favorite sleeping spot? he thought. He slowly stood up, joints feeling stiff, his coat feeling dirty despite it just being fog and that chilly wind? He shook his whole body, stretched his legs and neck, everything to try to get that stiffness and feel of dirt off him.

Suddenly, his ears prickled, stood straight and twisted as best as they could. Head turning, trying to see and there, a young greyish mare paced near the waterhole.The thing was, she was see-through and first then it dawned on him what was happening, he was seeing them again, the spirits. Something was different though, she was moving like she was trapped in a cage. Took a few steps, before she turned, galloping a few, suddenly stopping and then turning around again. Her hooves didn’t make a sound against the ground, and her mane was drifting as if she were underwater.

Slowly, Dealg started to approach her. Making soft sounds from his nose and when close enough, his head lowered to not startle the mare. ’’You are far from your path’’ he said softly, with a warmth in his tone meant to soothe and help. He waited, waited till he saw her flinch and then he lifted his head, knowing he had her attention.

The mare had flinched, her pupils wide. ’’I can’t find my herd’’ she said with sorrow in her tone. Her form flickering, like there was a disturbance of some sort. ’’They were running. I was behind them and then.. Everything and everyone disappeared’’ she continued. Dealg recognized the confusion he saw in the mares expression. After the few spirits he had met recently, he had quickly learnt that many of them only remembered their final moments.

’’Your herd has already crossed’’, he said gently, seeing the shock and surprise there. How she shook her head.

‘’No! They wouldn’t leave me behind!’’ she exclaimed.

‘’They didn’t leave you, friend. You lost sight of the road’’ Dealg continued in a soft, calm tone. He noticed how her panic softened into uncertainty. Stars sparkling against the night sky, moon shining bright. The green around his horns gives off a slight glowing aura, casting small, green light dots across the grass, almost like fireflies.

Dealg turned around, steadily and with confidence as he started to walk. Head lifting to look back over his shoulder on the mare, ’’Come with me’’, he said before turning to look forward again. The mare hesitated at first, trembling despite not being solid, but with the steady and confident presence Dealg kept, she finally followed him. A surprised snort when she left what she before had thought were an invisible cage.

Dealg led her over the grassland, the fog separating where they walked, creating a slight path as they went on. They soon grew taller as they went on, the air almost feeling thinner, but more crisp. The fog disappeared and instead was replaced with dew on the tips of the taller grass.

He first paused when they came up beside a fallen oak tree, the veil between life and death thinner there.The mare came to a stop beside him.

’’I’m afraid’’ she said and he turned his head to look on her. Nods with his head, he understood. First time he had seen one of the ghosts, he had been afraid, very afraid and not sure how to handle it. Dealg moved closer to her, shoulders almost touching as a soft green glow flowed from him, steady and grounding, carefully swirling around them. He saw how her eyes became distant as the memories of her herd played in her vision, running beside them, wind roaring in her ears, the comfort of moving together with her herd. Not a loss, but a belonging.

’’They are waiting on you, on the other side of that veil’’* he spoke softly as he jerked his head towards the veil. The green glow moves to touch it, to slowly separate it, creating an entrance and on the other side. Silhouettes of horses running freely were shown, manes lifted by a breeze they couldn’t see. Dealg could almost sense how the fear eased from the mare and he exhaled softly.

’’Will I remember?’’ the mare asked.

’’Yes’’ Dealg said and looked at her. ’’But, without pain’’ he added and heard how she inhaled a long and deep breath, one a ghost wouldn’t need but she did anyway. Then, she stepped forward, crossing the veil between life and death. The light on the other side welcomed her warmly and without hesitation. Her form grew brighter, stronger and the flickering he had seen before was gone. She then turned to look at him and he held his head high, looking at her with pride all over his expression.

’’Thank you, Dealg ’’ she said before she turned back to the herd on the other side and she ran. Ran faster than any living horse, vanishing into the endless herd as Dealgs magic came back to him, and closed up the veil again.

The place grew still, calm and Dealg turned around. Slowly he started to make it back to the oak tree he had sleepy under before. Noticing the mist being gone, so was the chill wind that had woke him. He moved, quietly and once he reached his oak tree, the one he always sleeps under, he lied down again. Breathing slowly as he curled up under it, exhaling, breathing out deeply before his eyes closed again…

’’Dealg wake up!’’ he heard someone say in a hurried whisper and he flinched awake. Eyes wide, was it another spirit? But no, there, right in his face was the foal that always seemed to follow him, even if he asked to be alone. ’’Dealg , I can’t sleep, to much energy and… It feels like something is happening tonight. Please come with me!’’ the foal exclaimed and Dealg groaned. Judging by the light, it was still night, he lifted his head to look around, seeing others sleeping around them. They hadn’t been there when he had been woken before. He felt a tug to his longer ear from the foal and sighed. Dealg stood, again, shaking his limbs, stretching seeing the foal run off. But he couldn’t shake that feeling of him, that mare… Had it just been a dream?...