Night had come, effectively putting an end to the search of herbs through the deep forest. The two Moon Doctors had been travelling together, looking for plants that were seeding with the season that they could bring back to the Edge. Alysanne had just been about to suggest finding somewhere that they could rest for a while when a flash of orange through the trees ahead. “Is that Tallis?” She asked Evangeline quietly, the smouldering light a beacon in the darkness of the night as she hoped it was her friend's companion - perhaps he was hunting but even as she asked there was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her otherwise.

Any thoughts of finding somewhere to rest were quickly abandoned. There was no desire to go and fight flames but she felt concerned. It didn’t look like a wildfire but the night breeze brought to them the stench of burning wood and flesh. With a quick look at her friend to see if the same conclusion had come to her fellow Doctor, Alysanne started to move through the woods in the direction the light had been with Hemlock flying ahead - his small body weaving through the trees and the darkness with ease and faster than she could.

A few moments later, he reported back - his deep voice filled with panic. “Queenie hurt.” It took Alysanne a second to realize who he was talking about but the image of the white unicorn came easily enough. He might no longer be the queen but the imagery had stuck nonetheless. “Mauja.” The pegasus muttered the name under her breath but her pace quickened as fast as she dared in the dark and in the woods until she was upon them. She recognized the mare that was already there - her knowledge of Tandavi as a healer was the only thing that kept her calm about the embers that were flying towards the burn.

She hurried to join, flapping a wing in a gesture to get Tembovu to back up and get away. She didn’t, couldn’t, know that he had caused this but even as she shouted “What happened?!” at Tembovu her attention turned away from the king and toward the fallen queen. She had never seen burns like these before and her knees wanted to buckle at the sight but she couldn’t let herself be drowned by worry and despair. She had a job to do and she was already calling upon the dark mists - already making the decision that she’d pour her entire energy into healing Mauja. How fortunate that she and Evangeline had been in the area and Tandavi too. On their own, their magic might not have been enough but together they could do this, they could save him.

Hemlock flew away from her, knowing that he couldn't help and sought out Irma to try and calm down his larger cousin, his higher-pitched calls being added to the night.

Alysanne and Hemlock