Again, a shiver traveled down his spine. There was something in those eyes - a clear weight, a power, it wasn't afraid, it knew it could do, well.. anything. At least, that's how it seemed to him, a mere mortal standing in a place he wasn't quite sure where it was or when it had been. It shared a horizon with the Steppe of his memory, but how could he truly know? He couldn't. And this owl - steadfast, obsidian eyes held him trapped, clipped speech coming from his black beak. Coal-tipped ears swiveled forward, straining to catch every syllable of that odd voice. The owl knew his name, and that did not surprise him in the least. In fact, he would've been more surprised he hadn't. What kind of magical owl would he be if he didn't? Not a very good one. Ruler of the Edge in future times. Hearing it spoken in that strange voice from that strange owl with his heavy eyes made Mauja's fur stand on end all over, something so much more than a shiver passing through his entire being. Future times - as in, his future, or the owl's future? Winter crunched under his hooves, winter lived in his lungs with the air he breathed, winter clung like frost and icicles to the static world around him.

Winter was due in a few months. Winter had occurred countless times in the past, so many cycles that he had no idea if he even had a number for its longevity. Which winter was he in? The past, or the future? The King drew another deep breath. Did it matter which one, truly?

Movement drew his eyes lower, watching those huge, taloned feet shuffle around until they found something. Bared to his mortal eyes was an egg, seeming perfectly smooth and looking like any other white bird's egg he'd seen. Yet there was something... His head drew closer, neck straining to point his muzzle and eyes as close to it as possible. When the faint breeze shifted the branches of the tree, the sunlight shifted too, and cold blue flashes traced patterns across the shell whenever hit at the right angle. "This is your fated companion," that strange voice said, and something within Mauja grew very still. Fated companion? He knew of Helovia and its companions, but - fated? How had he somehow gotten tangled up in the fate of things, when had he become someone who had to travel through time just to make sure it happened? Before my time... He was in a winter past, then, but how many winters past? Blinking, he watched the egg levitate, hints of the same flashing electricity holding it and gently coiling itself around his neck. Mauja held still, afraid even to breathe, feeling the soft weight of it against his broad chest. The magic around his neck seemed to solidify, a strange, cold thing against his pale skin. Once it stopped tingling, he let out the breath he'd held, a plume of white rising into the air.

Slowly he brought his gaze up to the owl's, uncertain of what to say - or what to do. Coming here had been easy. Would leaving be, too? So many questions spun in his head, and now that this gift had been given, it felt like his time would soon run out (and maybe he'd wake up in a clearing, this only a dream). "I- thank you..." he managed to say, looking about him again, but not seeing anything but the vast expanse of snow. "How far in the past is this? Will you return me to my time, and what will happen of this egg, then? Or am I fated to stay here, with my companion?" The latter sent a dread chill through him, a knot tying itself in his belly. Did he know of a Mauja from Helovia's past, bonded to some type of bird? Or would he be stuck here now, ultimately altering all of history, completely rewriting the last - what, centuries? - with this strange turn of events?

Or would he just turn around, walk back through the portal, and live the rest of his mortal life with a companion who had lived and maybe even died years before Mauja came into the world?

It was enough to make him dizzy, yet his mind hungered for the knowledge hidden here, on this snowy plains, in this cold, lone tree, and in the deep, powerful eyes of the owl.
He hungered, and he knew that he would likely never know.