It was the death that had drawn me to the island. Sanguinis Insula was famous for it- hence the name 'The Island of Blood'.

Most people were drawn by the horses. The animals arrived every autumn, when the sky became stormy and the sea choppy, rising out of the sea and ravaging the land.
Scientists had tried to explain why they only ever appeared on that particular island, writers had included them in literature, and the creatures had worked their way into mythology from around the world.
The Aqua Equus. Caught in October and November, trained throughout the winter and spring, and raced throughout the summer.

Some were raced until they died, some were kept on land, some were returned to the sea. Some would turn on their 'owners', and those people were never seen of again. The only sign of their fate would be a trail blood heading towards the sea; blood which would wash away with the next rainfall.

The smell of the sea turned them wild, and more violent than anything anyone could imagine. Only the idiots and the foolhardy would race them on the beach, the sand turning red with blood.
The island stank with death, but Mors flitted amongst the population, unseen.

And so, I made a life for myself on Sanguinis. The island wasn't big, but had quite a few farms, and several small villages. The farms supplied the majority of the island's food, but most of the income came from tourists, who came in the summer to see the horse races. Some came during the autumn, to watch the horses arrive from the sea, but many were put off by the danger.

But no one told them to avoid the boys with the sea in their irises. How do you explain to humans that something that looks like them couldn't be more different? And so, even in the summer, unsuspecting visitors swimming in the sea would be dragged down to their deaths.
Yet, the world's fascination with the Aqua Equus was not diminished.
And we lived with them in every aspect of our lives. Everyone knew someone who had been lost to the sea, yet we would all watch at least one race a year.
Every girl on the island was warned about the boys that would turn back into horses as soon as their prey was drowned.

The normal horses on the island would quite often have some Aqua Equus blood, and the ones at the stables where I lived and worked were no different. The more Aqua Equus blood they had, the rougher they were, and there was a certain thrill to be had by riding horses directly sired by the violent creatures along the top of the sea cliffs.
But I had never ridden a pure Aqua Equus.

I cantered along the path by the clifftop, Sea Dragon raising her nostrils to the wind coming off the Ionic Sea. It was early September, and the storms were nowhere in sight.
I wanted to catch myself an Aqua Equus.
I urged my horse on, down a rocky path to the beach. Her nostrils flared, but I wasn't worried. She was only half Aqua Equus, well trained, and death didn't bother me anyway.
We galloped across the beach, her hoves throwing sand up behind us. I turned her towards the water, and soon we were moving through surf, and then the water was steadily creeping up her legs, until my un-stirruped, bare feet were trailing in the sea.

I pulled her up short when I noticed a shape in the water, the memory of blood frothing and dripping from a horse's mouth flitting across my memory.
We stayed completely still for a while, watching the shape.
A human head broke the surface, gasping for air before disappearing under a wave.

I urged Sea Dragon on, until she was swimming, and my fate lay in her not tossing me to her kin.
I pulled the boy onto Sea Dragon, just behind me, and with his arms around my waist, I steered her back towards the shore.

When we got there, he collapsed on the sand, gasping.
"Thanks." He muttered, just before turning over and throwing up. He had obviously swallowed quite a bit of sea water.

Standing nearby, with one hand holding Sea Dragon's reins, and the other playing with her mane, I got a chance to finally get good look at the boy I had rescued from the waves. His dark skin rippled with muscles, there was sand dusting his back, and the frayed end of a surf board safety cord was around his ankle. No prizes for guessing where the surf board was now, which was why everyone on the island carried a diving knife with them.
He could easily have been mistaken for a god, with his looks and his muscle, except for the fact that he had just finished emptying the contents of his stomach.

"Okay now?" I asked. He nodded silently. "What's your name?" I asked, as I didn't recognise him at all.

"Arrow." He muttered, still bent over the sand.

I nodded. "Did no one tell you to not go swimming in September? The Aqua Equus are already restless."

"I'm from over there." He pointed at the mainland- the Salento Peninsula- in the distance. "It's safe for us."

"Not once you've drifted near the trench." I said. "Lucky for you my horse can swim."

He looked up, a worried expression on his face. "Is that an Aqua Equus?" He asked.

I shook my head, my hair wipping around my eyes. "Sea Dragon? No, she's only a second generation. Else I wouldn't have brought her down here."

"Have you ever ridden one?" He asked, interested.

"No, but I want to." I shrugged.

"Wouldn't that be dangerous?"

"Wouldn't that be part of the fun?" I replied.

He shrugged, getting to his feet. "I can't believe I owe my life to a scrawny white boy with a death wish." He grinned.

I opened my mouth to argue, but thought better of it. "See you around, then." I said, hopping back onto Sea Dragon and riding away.

The sun was sinking steadily as I rode back to the farm, making long shadows and bathing the island in orange light. I urged Sea Dragon into a gallop, and we jumped over fences and through gardens, until we hit the East-West road. I followed it, spurring her through the fields and woods. We chased our shadow, but never catching it. When, at last, we jumped the fence into her field, I walked her round a bit before slipping off, my bare feet landing on the grass. I removed her bridle and she happily wandered off towards the shelter in the corner of the field in search of hay.

I cleaned the mud and salt off the bridle before hanging it up in the tack room above the unused saddle.
Cesca and Dani were rushing around the kitchen when I walked in, and I found a stack of plates shoved into my arms.

"Be helpful for once." Cesca said. Her curly sun bleached hair hung around her shoulders in waves, and she smiled, before pushing me back outside.
I nodded, and set the table silently.

"We had the police round again." Dani called though the window, his arms in the washing up water. The blue shutters were flung open, allowing the last of the summer breeze to float through the house. "Anything you want to tell us now?"

I shook my head.

"Well, Miriam will be hearing about it then." He said. " And you might want to put those swords away before she gets in."

I nodded, unclipping the sheaths from my back and quickly running upstairs with them.
Miriam and her wife loved kids, so filled their farm with anyone who so much as asked, on the condition that you helped in some way. I was good with the more wild creatures, training them until anyone would be safe riding them. Sea Dragon was one of the ones I had worked with. Fortunately it meant that they turned a blind eye to everything else I did.
But they drew the line at the swords I had been given by my father. Two iron short swords, as black as the darkness, and as cold as death.
I wore them, not as a weapon, but so that he would know who I was, if he saw me.

The next day, I was up at the chilly hour of six, putting in my contact lenses, and pulling on jods and a hoodie. Teo was sat at one end of the long, wooden kitchen table, munching on some toast whilst doing her homework. "Can I come?" She asked, absentmindedly, whilst I downed a coffee in one gulp.

I shook my head. I always rode alone, and refused to act as a riding instructor. I preferred to be alone with the wild animals.

Teo shrugged, "Toast?" She asked, pushing the plate towards me.

"I'll eat later, thanks." I said, pulling on my boots and picking my riding hat off a shelf.
I happily carried Lucifer's tack- this time including the saddle- from the tack room to his stall. He tried to avoid me, but in the confined space it didn't take long until he was saddled and ready.
I walked him round and round the field, alert to every twitch of his body.
We were doing well, until a car rattled down the track, spooking him. I turned Lucifer towards the fence, in an attempt to slow him down. The ground rushed past beneath me, greens and browns blurring together like the sea after a storm.
I could feel him tense, about to jump the fence, so I turned him again. And again. And again.
Finally, he showed to a walk.
I continued to put him through his paces, until I was bored of the field.
I gingerly opened the gate and walked Lucifer through it before shutting it behind us. I walked him down to the nearest bit of beach, where we re-did everything I had made him do in the field.

"You're going to end up tiring out this new horse of yours."
I jumped, and Lucifer skitted sideways a bit. Arrow was sat on a rock about half way up the beach. I ignored him and reined Lucifer in, pulling him to a standstill before getting him to go again.

"So, are you just going to ignore me now I'm not drowning?" Arrow asked.

"Yes." I replied shortly, getting Lucifer into a rising trot. He had no Aqua Equus blood, but I needed my full attention on him. I had promised Mirium that by the new year, he would be as safe to ride as Sea Dragon or one of the others.

"I never caught your name!" Arrow called after me.

"That's because I never said it!" I replied, urging Lucifer on. Names had power, and I wasn't going to just give him that power.
We headed back to the farm, where I stabled Lucifer before ducking back up to my room to swap my jods for a pair of shorts. The corridor was filled with cases, as Stef once again cleared out his room in time to go home. He went to boarding school, and so was always the last of the summer visitors to leave, due to having the longest holidays. I nodded at him quickly, and took the stairs two at a time to get back to work.
I was stopped at the door by Miriam's wife, Sara. She pushed an apple under my nose, and wouldn't let me leave until I'd eaten half of it, whilst she scolded me about not eating.
I didn't reply, and immediately gave the other half to Lucifer once I was in the yard.
Whilst he happily crunched my unwanted apple into oblivion, I grabbed a wheelbarrow, and started mucking out.
I raised a hand in response to Alessa's "morning", shouted from across the yard. She was showing a girl in fancy jods around, but I payed them no attention.
After mucking out, I replaced the straw, and then put various mixed feeds into different buckets. I put the correct buckets into each stall, and then hung some hay nets up outside. Then, I allowed myself a moment to rest, sitting on top of a food bin with my water bottle resting on my knee.
I was tacking up Lucifer again when I was aware of someone watching me. He was more skittish than normal, so I didn't turn round, trying to catch his head.
"You mind?" I asked, angrily. "I'm working."

"Obviously." Came a sarcastic voice.
I finally got the bridal onto Lucifer, and turned round.
Arrow was leaning against the stable door, smiling. The sun was behind him, framing his face with light.

"Are you stalking me?" I asked, still angry.

"No, I just came to see if I could hire a horse for the day, and who do I see? My mystery hero." He smirked.

"Well, you can go and ask Miriam, she's the boss and will be in her office." I said coldly, swinging myself onto Lucifer. "So, if you could get out of my way, I have a job to do."

"So I've heard." He muttered teasingly, but he swung the stable door open for me to pass.

I had Lucifer going round the field again, and I could tell that it was boring for both of us, so I cut it short and tied him up in the yard next to a hay net, before I started brushing him down.

I saw Arrow across the yard, talking to the fancy jod girl, and I scowled. This was my yard, why couldn't he leave it alone. And who the fuck was she?

"Careful, the wind will change." Arrow smiled, leaning back against the wall, watching me. I scowled even more. "Nice lady, your Miriam. Said I could stay a while, so long as I either help out or pay a bit."

I couldn't have scowled more if I'd tried.

"That poor horse isn't going to get any cleaner than it was two minutes ago." Arrow spoke up again, and I realised I was still brushing Lucifer. I turned my attention to picking the stones out of his hooves, which had the added bonus of turning my back to Arrow.

***

Everest was our best racer. Lean and fast, and capable of the highest jumps. He dwarfed the smaller kids, like Teo, and scared a lot of the others. He was the closest to a pure Aqua Equus that I had riden, at only 1/4 regular horse. Possibly less than that, but no one knew much about his grandmother.
He had won many titles over the past two years, and showed no intention of stopping yet. He wasn't an easy ride, always wanting to speed off into the sunset. And, quite often, that was what we did.
But the sea was calling to him, so I had to be wary.
The island, at 384 km^2, wasn't large enough for him. Italy wasn't large enough for him. He would run to the ends of the world and still not be out of breath. And I loved it. I loved the freedom he gave me, the sense of power, and the feeling of not being fully in control. The pure muscle beneath me, as both horse and human thought the same, singular thought. Run. My hair was never in my face when I rode him, he was too fast for that.
Too fast for the memories that creeped up on me.
Riding Everest was like ruling the world. Taming the waves. Owning your own life.
Riding Everest, you were on top of the world, and nothing could pull you down.
It was a drug, and I was the addict.

I saddled him up, choosing to use a double bridle. Because I could, more than because of the ocean's song. His hooves clattered through the yard, the sound ringing off of the stone buildings, as I led him to the mounting bock, before throwing my leg over his back and pulling myself up.
"Let's go," I whispered to him quietly, as we headed out of the yard.
Before I knew it, we were flying across the ridge that ran across the middle of the island, the ground falling away either side of us. I pulled him up short before the land started to slope gently down towards the sea. I knew it ended abruptly in a cliff. There was a large lighthouse on the rocks, and I sat there for a while, looking at it. Checking my watch briefly, I knew I was missing lunch, but I didn't care. I couldn't face Arrow. Maybe I should have let him drown after all.
I shook my head, trying to loose that thought. Human life was a precious thing. I of all people knew that.
I shook my head again, before turning Everest and racing the wind back along the ridge.

I jumped the horse over a couple of benches, and then turned him towards the lower land. We followed a path as it left the hills and wound between some fields. I had to duck when we passed underneath a tree, but straightened up again as soon as possible. More fields passed, and then I turned him into one. He took the fence in his stride, and that was how we got home. Though the fields, grass and hedges and fences all blurring into one. He jumped them all, and I was invincible.

We clattered into the yard, and a figure came hurrying out of the farmhouse.
"Miriam wants to see you." Arrow said, before whistling. "That's quite a horse."

I nodded, almost forgetting to be cold towards him. There was something about Everest that alway broke down my walls.
But I rebuilt them in a flash.
Arrow had smiled, and looked at me straight on. "So, Renzo, I hear you're good with 'wilder mounts'." He raised his eyebrows, and grinned.

I scowled, my heels gently asking Everest to move. But Arrow's hand was on Everest's muzzle, and the large animal was hesitant to move.

"Double bridle, hm?" Arrow muttered, more to Everest than me.

Everest 'hrrmphh'ed.

"Yeah, I agree. He's a show off, isn't he?" Arrow smirked. He looked up at me, goading me into saying something. I didn't reply.

Finally, Everest lumbered off towards his stall, where I slid off of his back.
My riding boots landed in the floor, and I immediately started to unclip Everest's saddle.
Once all his tack was off, I headed over to the tack room to put it away. Of course, Arrow was still outside, and of course he followed me.

I turned at the door of the tack room, "Fuck off!", and slammed the door in his face.
Fortunately, he appeared to get the message, and was gone when I reappeared.

Miriam was in her office- a room on the ground floor of the farmhouse, with large glass doors opening into the yard.
"Renzo." She said, smiling as I stomped in. "Sit down."

I did so, silently.
"Renzo, I know you don't like people, but if you could try to be a bit more friendly?" She started.

"I'm not here to be friendly, I'm here to work." I muttered.

She put her head on one side. "Fair enough, but this is a working riding stables as well as racing stables and horse training. There are people around, who I'd rather not were scared off." She paused. "Secondly, the riding through fields and gardens. That is trespassing, remember. So stay out of the gardens. And if you go though fields, don't get seen, okay?"

I nodded shortly, but we both knew that I would ignore her words as soon as I was back in the saddle.
"And how's Lucifer coming along?" She asked, smiling.

"Still startled easily, otherwise pretty well." I said.
She nodded, and I knew now was my chance. "I want to catch an Aqua Equus this year. To run in the next races."

Miriam raised an eyebrow at me, but shrugged. "If you think that doing so won't affect your work here, and if you think you can manage such an animal, then I'm not the one to object." I nodded, smiling. "But I am the one to worry. So I'll cut you a deal, Renzo. It can stay here for nothing, but the minute you relapse, the horse will be out."
I nodded quickly, scrambling out of my chair and towards the yard.
"Get them out of my house, Lorenzo." She said, and I knew she meant business. I nodded once again, before disappearing outside.

The rest of my day was filled with working around the yard, and exercising some of the animals. I tried to plan how I would catch an Aqua Equus, but I had no idea where to start. Some people would lay elaborate traps, which often didn't work, and some would brave death to catch them straight out of the sea.

Finally, after a hot day of work, the last feed buckets were out and the night blankets were on. My back ached, and sweat soaked my t-shirt. Autumn might be dangerous, but at least it wasn't swelteringly hot. I ran up the wooden stairs, two at a time, shutting my bedroom door behind me. The shutters were open, and a cool evening breeze fluttered thought them, making me shiver.
I pulled my hoodie and t-shirt off, and grabbed a lighter and a cigarette.
I sat on the window, my feet resting on empty space, watching the trail of smoke make its dash for freedom, lit up by the dying sun, before being dispersed by the breeze.

The minute you relapse. I thought, before sighing and using the stone wall to stub the cigarette out.
But I remained sitting on the window sill.

"Don't jump!" Came a voice behind me, making me jump with shock.
I swung my legs into my room, turning to survey the person who had entered my private space without knocking.
Arrow was looking back at me from the doorway. His eyes raked over me, as if assessing me in some way. They lingered on my bare chest and arms, taking in the ink under my skin.

"Get the fuck out." I said, bracing my feet against the wall so that they weren't swinging like a five year old's.

"Miriam says dinner will be soon." He said, as a way of explaining why he still hadn't moved.

"Great, now get out." I shrugged.

"Renzo.." He started, as if about to ask a question.

"Didn't you hear me." I said quietly, and cold as ice. "Get. Out."

His eyes fell on the swords lying on my bed, and he shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure." But I knew the weapons had bothered him in some way.
The door closed behind him, and I sighed, looking at the ceiling in anger.
I sat there, just thinking, until a shout broke through my thoughts.

"Lorenzo Geminus get down here NOW!"
I flinched, but smiled. Sara always knew how to act like a mother.
I pulled a hoodie on, and jogged down the stairs. She was serving up, looking at me sternly.
A quick glance round the table made me groan. The fancy jod girl was sat in my seat between Alessa and Dani. And because the spare seats had been put back into storage, the only empty place was next to Arrow.

He grinned at me, and shuffled up on the bench slightly.
I sat down silently beside him.
"Renzo, this is Aurora." Alessa said. "Considering you weren't here at lunch you wouldn't have met her." She indicated towards the jodhpur girl.

"Hey." Aurora smiled, holding her hand out for me to shake across the table. "Sorry about startling your horse this morning. Presuming that was you?"

I nodded briefly, looking at her. She spoke softly, and was obviously used to being listened to. Her brown hair wasn't corkscrews like Alessa's, but nor was it waves like Cesca's. Her eyes sparkled with some hidden laugh, and her pale skin managed to combine looking healthy with a hint of tan; and not death-like, like me.
She reminded me of a kid I'd known when in Naples.

I declined to shake her hand.

"That was pretty rude of you." Arrow said afterwards, following me upstairs.

"I don't give a fuck." I shrugged, sitting down in the nest to watch tv. Everyone else was downstairs socialising or something, but I didn't care.

Arrow sat on the opposite end of the sofa. "Why don't you care what people think?" He asked.

I ignored him, switching to GoT.

"What do they mean?" He asked again.
I knew what he was talking about but I ignored him. The galloping horse on the side of my ribs, its shadow forming a name- Luca. The skull made out of stars on my upper arm. The wings on my back, positioned perfectly so that my swords would cross in the centre of them. The scythe entwined with flowers on my wrist.
He shouldn't have seen them. They were my history, my pain, and my anger.

"Renzo?" His voice broke through my thoughts. "Why do you hate me so much?"
He said it almost as if it was a fact and not a question.

"I hate everyone, don't feel special." I said, standing up and heading down the corridor to my room. I grabbed my swords, and crept past him again on my way downstairs.

In the dark, I put a bridle on Marvel, and rode him down to the sea. He wasn't in any way Aqua Equus, but he was the first horse I had ridden on the island. The first horse I had ridden without Luca as a safety net. The horse that had made me feel closer to him.
We swam out to sea, and I knew Marvel was keeping me afloat, and alive.
I wanted to dive off, to finally meet Mors and fight him with his own blades.
But it wouldn't bring back the past.
I turned Marvel back towards home, and safety, tears streaming silently down my face.

When I finally got back inside, my eyes were dry again, and my pain put aside.
Most of the house was asleep, but Arrow was still awake, watching shitty comedies. I stood in the door-less doorway to the nest, watching from behind him.
I felt my muscles relaxing slightly, and forming a smile.
"You can always come in, and join me." Arrow offered, turning around.
I dropped the smile, turning away and disappearing down the corridor.

As I lay on my bed in the dark, I found myself thinking. Of how Arrow wouldn't give up trying to be friendly, whatever I said or did. Of Sara caring for me like my own mother had. Of Luca, telling me to look after myself and find myself a family.

"I tried, Lou." I whispered, finally closing my eyes.
I was woken a few hours later by the stairs creaking. The farmhouse was old, and often creaked, so I lay awake just listening.
The sound of rain hitting the roof reached my ears, and I jumped out of bed. I rushed to my open window, leaning out to pull the shutters closed.

A horse was loose in the yard, its black coat shining with rainwater.
My immediate thought was Lucifer, but it looked too together to be him, and a look at his stall confirmed that he was safely locked away. It was too large to be any of the other horses matching its description.

"Aqua Equus." I breathed, and as if it had heard my voice, it turned around, looking up at me briefly before turning and heading out of the yard to the sea just visible beyond the barns.
I shivered slightly, realising that my arms and most of my torso were soaked, and pulled the shutters closed before shutting the windows with a snap.
But I couldn't get that horse out of my head.