The wind whistled over ebony feathers. It pulled and tangled the thickness of the mane, howling and thundering in the ears as she fell towards the dazzling blue surface. She was an arrow, a rock, a black line painted over the sky, a being without name or purpose. She was a shadow, a mirage, a raven tumbling through the heavens for no reason other than the sheer pleasure of it.

At the last moment the small black mare spun around and pressed out the wings towards the sides, her stomach lurching as she evened out and raced just inches above the cold waves. Black hooves touched upon the liquid, the skin prickled and burned from the chill as it sprayed up over the legs; with a shriek of childish delight the shade laughed and arched upwards once more, enjoying the strain of her muscles as the wings propelled her towards the sun.

It was a beautiful day. The sun was bright, the sky was blue, the sea lay like a sheath of glass from the ivory beach to the end of the horizon, and Shadow had never felt more alive. For days since the New Dawn she had done little more than eating, sleeping and racing around like a filly, giddy and drunk on the feeling of sun against her skin, of all the colors that stung the eyes and made the heart swell with emotion. For all that she had gotten used to the eternal night, for all that she had made use of it to hide in and move stealthily, she still loved the sun more than anything.

So what if it bleached her dark velvet coat to a reddish brown? So what if others could see her coming a mile away? The work as an informant wasn't all that she was, and for now Skuggi just wanted to be herself. It felt like such a long time since she had smiled, and she didn't want to waste any more days on worrying, working or longing for things she couldn't have. It was enough to play by the ocean, enough to tumble through the sky like there would be no tomorrow. Hector could go shove his horns up wherever he wanted, she was doing fine anyway.

And with a defiant cry of delight the crow let herself fall towards the ground again, dipping her head in a steep dive that this time drove her deep down into the cold ocean waves, into the refreshing embrace of the muted, shimmering underwater world... It was a long while before she came up to the surface again, panting for air and laughing in delight. With soaked wings spread wide on the surface to help keep her afloat the little girl began to swim back towards the nearby shore, looking forward to a thorough roll and an even more thorough filling of the belly on windswept sea meadows.

It was spring, the sun was shining, and it was really, really good to be alive.