Victory was a far cry from what it should've been called.

Few had come to the defense of the Hidden Falls, and those who had were gravely outnumbered as they found themselves face to face with not only the Edge, but the Basin as well. We had emerged from the sorry battle victorious, but for what? I'd failed to question the motives behind the attack in the first place and had rushed in blindly. Was it a just cause, or had our leaders grown greedy? Was it because of the Moon's betrayal that we had sought a new home?

No matter the reason, as the days went on, I felt myself growing bitter as those thoughts gnawed endlessly at my mind. I loved the Edge and those I called my family, my brothers and sisters, even those I'd never really spoken to before, and had followed them all to the Falls while leaving my beloved home behind. The Edge had become a part of me, a part of who I was, and had finally begun to fill the hole in my heart once held by Vallhea. It ripped me to pieces as I carried myself away from that misty land for what could be the last time, as though a monster was clawing at my very insides ready to tear my heart open.

Yet still, I held my head high as I entered the foreign territory of the Falls, the hefty glass cart rolling along behind me bearing the weight of Resplendence's beloved herb box. A distant look haunted my bister eyes as I took in the land, as though disappointed in what lie before me; it offered clear, wide open spaces whereas the Edge had been thick with trees and ferns; it offered the sight of beautiful, cascading waterfalls and towering mountains, but it lacked the beauty of a sun rising to cast its golden-red glow across the ocean.

It was only when a concerned coo from Suli sounded that I noticed my feet had drawn to a halt. With a sharp breath I looked back to her, the little green sitting perched on the edge of the cart by the even smaller Merlin. As young as the black dragon was, even he could sense the emotion that was keeping me so distracted, and he mimicked Suli in the way that she cocked her head to the side in clear worry.

Exhaling the sigh heavily, I turned my head back to face the Falls, my unwilling, reluctant new home. "I'm okay," I reassured them as I pressed on, picking up my feet once more as I spoke my hesitant promise and ignoring the tremor in my voice, "I'll be okay."