She smiled freely, unable to recoil that amusement which spread like the plague through her pale, slim face. Their expressions perhaps, were equally transparent- Africa cared little, while his reactions soothed still further the agitation leaking from Silas. She had never been one to rush through this process after all, and even though the threat of wraiths and sickness seemed to shift with the banded shadows of the trees all around, the young dappled mare began to settle her strain. She chose not to answer him at once; the time to linger had truly been overdrawn, and watched through the corner of her sharp eye while she moved southern-bound, the way Marco mimicked her graceful strides. For the sake of the mission she had presented to him (still without enforcing that vulnerability about the embrace them both), the Oracle lifted her knees playfully.

This journey- if not the last, would be a test to defy all the courage lurking in their hearts.

As the valiant colt matched carefully her pace, Africa eased gently to accommodate his determination; to make that drive a little more maintainable. With the length of her long, crimson streaked tail snapping and swishing behind, she guided him towards the fringe of the forest, where the unruly wilderness of the sickened Helovia would welcome him sourly. It was not the magical world the mare was used to, nor was she terrible pleased to welcome him into its hungry mouth. For now they could only pray to their Gods- her own Lord, the proud patron of the sunburnt southern archipelago, that some retribution could be raised to confront it. She paused tentatively by the tree line, fidgeting warily with dancing hooves and writhing adrenaline as flimsy snippets of the field beyond came back clear through the juvenile connection of her bond with Silas. She could see his swarthy silhouette sweeping vast circles ahead of them, and she pressed constantly into his mind for that sliver of worry; the hint that they were no longer alone.

‘…The Meadow… quiet… alone.’

Africa turned spontaneously to brush her whiskered maw by the young recruit’s downy ears; a swift gesture to check on him and make sure he was still able to follow. "Come…" She whispered heavily against them, and sprang forward with her lonely, useless right wing partly unfurled by instinct. Through the sea of long grass she galloped; thistles snagging viciously to tangle through the flail of her lush mane and knot together the streaming fibres of her thick, long tail. Nothing else mattered but the boy’s safety now, and she never swayed from her assignment to lead him, even when the grass concealed rogue rocks and unyielding logs. She cleared them all, and monitored Marco all the while dutifully.

She did not pause when the grasses of the meadow began to grow and hedge about her lifted, straining throat. It was a bitter sweet feeling to stagger exhaustedly with numbing legs into that strawy, head high ocean again- although they could not be seen now, those wraiths which hunted through this region might also creep unnoticed. They had Silas though and the Zephyr’s extravagant wings span, glittered with star-shine as he wheeled above them attentively. They had been so lucky, Africa could not thank the Sun God enough for that coat of protection obviously laid across their mortal spines. Silently she repeated- thank you, oh thank you… though still her haste remained unchanged.

The lake of fire glistened ahead, and for once Africa slid nearer to its formidable presence. Leaving the concealment of grass to swelter by the molten liquid bubbling by the earth’s parched crust. Watchfully she checked the colt so that he did not hesitate; did not succumb to the temptation to stop and look- to admire those gems now smiling wickedly beneath their tread. "Quickly Marco. We are almost there," she offered with the first smile in many hours, and turned her face briefly. The lake was left behind, and suddenly before them the grass was sprouting again, small wiry dry shoots at first (grasping for the scarce nutrients in their bed), and still a little further the ground opened frightfully- although the Oracle knew that their salvation lay beneath.

With gasping relief she threw her trembling, aching corpse beneath the Heart and only when The Sanctuary’s most beautiful chamber engulfed them did she stop.

"Well done. We are safe."

Africa