The winter had come -gusting over both land and sea alike- with a vengeance that was unmatched in prior years. It was not unlike myself to seek out the comfort of the wood and the towering pines in order to protect myself from the frigid breeze, but there was a certain discomfort in lingering anywhere without Evangeline at my side. She’d gone away sometime before and I had busied myself by tending to Sabine. I’d made numerous nests and niches in which to shield the Zephyr from the ice and the snow, but she would not budge from my shoulders nor would she leave my side for more than a moment. It was nice to have someone always at my side, but my anxiety had groomed me to expect the worst when it came to nurturing a mare, whom I loved, so heavy with child. Somehow Sabine understood my affection for the mare and had grown quite fond of the Pure herself. Some days she would pick and groom the tangles from Eva’s mane and tail and others she was content to stare openly at the mare from her perch (otherwise known as my back).

But not today.

Eva had gone away, most likely to a warmer haven, in order to nurture the familiar pains of labor. They had come from time to time, plaguing her and disabling her from mobility. I pitied her greatly for what she was about to endure, but I could not ask to humiliate her by hovering over her shoulder at every moment of every day. Yes, I’d been a father once before and I knew how important my presence would be when the foal came… but a woman in pain was not a reasonable one, and thus I’d resolved to allow her the space that her minimal patience would allow. I knew that Tallis would come to me –wherever it might be- when the time came. However, I feared that time… I feared what would happen to the beautiful creature that now carried my second foal (hopefully son). I couldn’t imagine a life without her… and should the birthing of out child cause such loss, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.

Though, I liked to think that Eva was stronger than my worries and my fears. I liked to think that the task of bringing life into this world was something she had mastered in her youth. But I was also a male. I was a male who often made a mockery of labor and all that it entailed. I only hoped that it would not make me again ignorant to rearing another child.

As the snow began to fall, a certain feeling of uncertainty made my skin crawl. It was a mere notion that something was amiss that made me look up into the canopy, watching as the grey clouds grew dark and unforgiving. Yet as the minutes stretched into a length soon indistinguishable, a flash or perhaps just a flutter of red-orange caught my eye. I turned toward it with a soft scowl, confused by the image, before understanding suddenly dawned on me. Tallis. He was like a beacon or a ray of light pressed against the ocean on a dark and stormy night. He had come to guide me home to Evangeline.

I didn’t need words, or warnings rather, to understand the red flag the dragon raised. It was time. The birth of my second child was upon me and I feared that I would not be there to witness it.

With Sabine securely seated between my shoulder blades and a healthy amount of hair gathered between both beak and claws, I gathered myself for the hearty, headlong spring ahead. It had been too long since I’d opened such a stride before this land, but with snow and ice threatening to unseat me, I dug in for the haul. I wouldn’t let the elements keep me from her side.

When at last the dragon had brought me to the bitter image of a chestnut mare in wild and unimaginable pain, I stopped… It was not graceful or kind, but more so a shuddering hefty ton of horse that threatened to break legs upon the ice in which he ran. She was stationed not far from the sea and with the rushing of the waves her cries were muffled at best. “I’m here! I’m here… Evangeline, I’m here,” I soothed between her moans. I didn’t know how to help or what to do so I stood above her, attempting to guard her from the winds until the foal was… here.

-Insert whatever your heart desires-

When the second foal came, I gasped. A Father to not only two but THREE… I was blissfully happy, delightfully confused and rightfully proud. As Eva attempted to keep them warm by the fire that Tallis had drawn, I dropped to my knees. It was not an easy feat and Sabine made her protests clear, but I would not let my children freeze in the frigid winds of FrostFall. As carefully as a man of my size could muster, I circled myself around them, a protective barrier from the ice and snow. I bent my face to each child in turn, breathing them in one by one, and smiled. “I am a blessed man this day Eva. A blessed man indeed,” I whispered. I didn’t care about the feathers or the frail creatures that the Gods had given me. I would protect and serve their needs until the end of time. I would offer myself both body and soul to their cause. I would never fail them as I did Essetia.

I would never leave their side.

Thor

&
Evangeline