The number of bodies rotting in the mildewy depths of Helovia’s heart had dwindled in recent days. Rumour of the Sun God’s reappearance had stretched throughout the sunken stone corridors- stories that his beating wings had dissolved away the existence of their world’s cloudy darkness, and others which depicted the proud deity commanding the sickness to be gone with shafts of searing sunrays and a blazing gaze still fiercer. Africa could imagine either being true. The Lord she knew of, a little aloof, though more than beautiful to behold could very well have cast away all that ailed his world; however she had not witnessed the marvel outside personally, and hesitated still beneath the earth. She had been disheartened actually to learn that he had passed through the land of the mortals, and she had missed that rare opportunity to shower him with admiration and thankfulness.

For the moment though, the yearning of her young heart had been quelled- he had come to them at last, deep where they were hidden.

She wore in vain hopefulness the licking flame of the Sun God; it danced wildly and harmlessly through the oily tangles of her thick mottled grey mane, rising in playful salutation of that bright burning orb above, and so too the length of her lush tail. She had wished so terribly to please his eyes, to turn his opinion for the better- and had not been able to quash that elation when his gift had remained upon her during Orangemoon. It had all been for him alone after all, Africa was a selfless soul who rarely sought to appease her own vanity.

When she emerged at last from the confines of the sanctuary; the prison which had guarded them so reliably from wraiths and widespread evil, the shadows slithered back from her sleek, shining coat instantly, repelled by the warmth and sheer radiance which had returned to Helovia-and possibly too, that fire upon her. The grey drew a long breath to fill her lungs with crisp morning air that had been for too long soured, and cool calmness seemed to seep through her core in that same moment. Pastel yellow eyes began to wander without delay, soaking up all which appeared to be quite the same as always; the clay earth dressing the Heart was still parched and glittered with gemstones, and the sky as far as her naked eye could gather seemed endless and crystal clear- apart from the smoking funnel which spiralled upwards from the ever burning pit of fire. Just like always.

Something that did surprise her though, was the fact that none lingered by the bosom of safety; she could see no other face nearby at all. She marvelled at the confidence of the masses, finding comfort quietly in the knowledge that her Lord was watching; guiding. Africa had never been a particularly confident creature- less so, having had no other choice but to bed down so recently with the enemy, and took meticulous care to be certain none of the horned variety had remained. Silas confirmed their solitude after a sweeping patrol of the local area, and descended to rest upon the dip of his beloved’s back with an unusually effervescent chirp.

"Where too…?" Africa mused silently, vaguely, turning for the briefest of moments to inspect the sparkling violet gaze of her friend. He did not reply, though between again spread wings, the star-speckled Roc rose across the billowy updraft and turned towards the west. The dappled mare’s face lowered as she sank into what could only be described as transfixed concentration- magic began to surge through her body, prickling the smooth hair canvasing her frame and tingling through the nerve-network spread beneath. Bones began to twist and contort; shrinking violently and painfully so that she grimaced and groaned, and as her corpse shrank suddenly, bleak grey feathers began to sprout and smother her coat.

The process had become all too familiar now and though transforming was more than uncomfortable; quite an excruciating ordeal actually, it was a blessing to be celebrated and grateful for all the same. Africa’s small parrot wings fluttered wildly against the breeze and the stiff ebony quills lining each quivered with delight, lifting her to follow Silas hastily. The pain began to subside, and the shape-shifter was at liberty to fly as once she had been able- free as a bird.

They descended as the spinning landscape below melded into something quite unfamiliar, a marble structure perhaps, or something similar. It snared both the curiosity of the masked mare and the true avian and the duo alit in a fir-tree between the babbling brook, and the old rotunda. With pinning pupils, the grey parrot scanned the region which had before now, been hidden away from the vast Helovian population; she was drawn to the beauty of the area, the naturalness and tranquillity; the ivory building whose roof caught the glimpsing sunlight and showered fractured colours down across the floor. Another horse was there also, a mare who Africa remembered (albeit vaguely) from the deepest and darkest pit below the Heart.

She swept from the wavering branch though the Zephyr remained, and drifted between outspread wings closer towards Parelia- who by then had ceased all movement, and appeared to be gazing steadily down at an object between her front hooves. There were no vines marring the structure, not even cobwebs, so Africa began the transformation back into her horse dress (quite before she had penetrated the ancient columns surrounding the other mare). She wished not to distract the other, and so ventured nearer only when the magic streaming through labyrinth veins had dispersed and was gone. "Parelia?" her gentle voice cooed while delicate gaze sought the small round egg which lay nestled in a bed of moss. "Is your egg hatching?"