FROST FYRE
_{But with what we have, I promise you that. We're marching on.}

She hears the call echoing through her head, blurry images of her Lord flicker through her head. Her vessel is sending messages through the thread of silver between them, a fuzzy video with a loud, static voice fills her head. It is the Lord who speaks, telling that the Basin is unsafe and that they should leave. He mentions that they should head for the Sanctuary, the place the maiden had discovered earlier in the season. Standing, she stretches her legs before taking a hesitant step out of her cave. She has holed herself up in the cave for days, occasionally daring to peer out of it now and then. Foul things have happened ever since her and Carn talked. Shadows had swallowed the Steppe, leaving only the Arch as a passageway to the Mainland. It scared her as she slept, plaguing her with nightmares. She thought of the Arch being swallowed, leaving everyone trapped in the Basin. And then when she realized she had not seen her Knight in ages, she was fully swallowed by fear. Ever since that horrific moment when she found out Carnesir was gone, she felt herself going mad. She had a dream of her love being eaten by the shadows, becoming a ruthless monster, one of the foul creatures with rotting flesh she had been hearing rumors about. She had wept after that nightmare, trembling in fear when she woke. Her vessel has tried to calm her, but his attempts were to no avail. Even now, a few days after this dream, she still trembles out of pure fear for her future. Would she end up like them?

Inhaling nervously, the girl works her way down to meet her companion, who is racing for her. A clouded image of a familiar bay stallion finds its way into her head, gentle snorts falling from her vessel's nostrils. Father. She whispers to herself, suddenly seeing his bay figure racing along the pale landscape. She speeds up, trying to settle in beside him. He hadn't been the greatest father to her, and she had always wondered why. She had settled on the idea that he had never really wanted her, and that he assumed her mother would take care of her. But her mother hadn't either. Yes, she had been there some days, but others she was absent as well. She closes in on her father, realizing now that she is the only one who knows of her mother's death. She has told no other soul of her mother's tragic ending. Other than you, she murmurs to her bonded, who bounds along behind her. They head in the direction of the Sanctuary, following closely behind the maiden's sire.
"talk talk talk"