I’d never seen anything so strangely beautiful as my children. They were nothing like I’d expected and obviously unanticipated. I had assumed that Eva would carry only one child to term and that her breeding and size had contributed to such fullness. Little did I know that I would be gazing down at two foals instead of one; I was still recovering from the shock of it. After all, how many twins had I myself encountered in Helovia before now? However, that wasn’t all that moved me to silence… There upon their shoulders perched the beginning of what have been wings. Somehow the sight of them broke my heart more than losing my own… Somehow I knew that, deep down, it was my fault that they were not whole. I was the reason they were not absolutely glorious.

Tears threatened to overwhelm me at such thoughts, because in my heart I knew they were nothing short of spectacular. How dare I think otherwise? The snow and the ice at my back made me shiver just slightly and I couldn’t determine if I was truly cold or just ashamed. I hadn’t dealt well with the loss of Essetia and as it appeared, becoming a father again was just as nerve wracking. While I studied my new children, wondering just how magnificent they would become in both appearance and personality, Eva was quick to root herself once more into the daunting role that was motherhood.

With both of us situated around the twins, we created a fleshy barrier to guard against the howling winds of winter. But I knew we wouldn’t have long before the cold finally did away with those first baby breaths and allowed only those last baby cries. We had to get them to shelter. However, before I could do much of anything, I was startled by the prickling of my own skin. It wasn’t until I turned around, twisting my neck over my back as far as it would possibly allow, that I noticed what looked to be a young colt approaching the fire. Yet, there was something… off about him. He was gangly and thin, as if he’d lived this long without either mother or father, and the straps he wore around his face were slack as if they were two sizes too big.

Evangeline was none too happy with his arrival and her urgent prodding did little to steer my attentions her way. Instead, I rose to my feet and stepped away from my newborn foals in order to shake the snow from my coat. I was wary, as any new father might be, and should the colt attempt anything rash, I would be the first to chase him from the World’s Edge no matter how ragged his state. Besides, with Tallis off searching for fire wood, we didn’t have any alternatives. I only hoped that if anything transpired that Eva would be able to get the twins to safety on her own.

But when the mare’s patience grew paper thin and she finally admitted to seeing blood upon the boy’s green straps, I stepped toward the foals again, my eyes never leaving the colt to chance. Even as he perched alongside the fire, his muzzle extended toward my children… even with the traces of blood that appear almost native to his likelihood, I did not feel anxious. “Eva,” I soothed as the mare pushed for the twins to stand. I knew they would come to their feet in their own time, but until then it seemed best to figure out who the strange youngling was. “Eva, stop. Calm down, I’ll take care of it.” I assured her before the odd colt could rise to her demands. Like the protective father I was, I bent my head toward the malnourished youth and acted as a wall between him and my own son. “What’s happened to you?”

Thor

&
Evangeline