By this point in time I can feel crippling exhaustion hit me like a brick wall and I’m not entirely sure the cold is to blame. All bursts of energy have been used up and I can feel the drag of gravity like a heavy weight on my back, a convincing incentive to make the ground my bed for the night – all these herds be damned. My thoughts have slowed to a crawl and every processor in my body is blaring red warning signs that shout out ‘OVERLOAD’ but I can’t do anything to stop it. This has been entirely all too much and too fast and though I thought I could handle all the information being poured into me it seems I’ve reached my limit.
 

Simultaneously everything happens at once and in slow motion. Ilios leans closer to me with a whisper that confirms my confusion. I’m appreciative, so I attempt a dumbfounded nod. My lips can’t seem to cooperate long enough to offer him a smile. Then Mauja speaks again and even through my daze it seems he’s at war with his own senses. There’s some sort of foreign aura around him that I can’t place; it seems almost sad, but even if I had every ounce of brain power I possessed I doubt I would understand. He mentions the Edge where he’s from and my frostbitten heart leaps at the mention of its small size. I can vaguely recall Ilios saying something about trees and mist at the Edge but I’m not sure if it’s some sort of daydream I’ve concocted, mixing this new reality with my yearn to regress back into my familiar, comfortable past. But even as I fight through my own overwhelmed mind, Mauja backs away and bids the group a farewell. He tears a part of my hope away, stealing it as he leaves. “Wait…” But my voice is too tired, too quiet, and too late. The leopard-printed stallion disappears.
 

I try as I may to listen as Ashamin steps up with his answers. The little deer – or rather, cerndyr – retreats back into the safety of the lion-tailed stallion’s presence and I’m instantly envious. I once had a blanket of comfort all to myself back in my homeland where the trees protected me and my mother’s presence was guaranteed. Until it wasn’t. With a tired look cast on the little fawn I can only hope he never sees his own concrete truths shattered. As Ashamin generously provides me with information I can’t help but drift my attention back to the trees that had taken Mauja. A spark of want lights my insides and I wonder if I just follow in his footsteps would the trees swallow me up, too? It seems like such a familiar escape.
 

Johnny provides conclusion to both Ilios and Ashamin’s answers and I take time to consider the three of them. Despite the anxiety the meeting has caused me, they’ve all been helpful and gentle. I’ve never had to make a decision of such magnitude and that alone adds panic to the heavy burden already on my mind. I offer them all a smile of gratitude though I’m sure the gesture looks warped as I force all the muscles into place. The line of trees beyond the remaining group of stallions still calls to me with a lullaby of temptation, begging me to vanish between their bare, silver trunks. “You’ve all been very generous to me, offering up your homes and your time.” I pause, my chest suddenly tight with a mixture of fear and nerves. Suddenly I’m jumping off a cliff and into the unknown. “I want to go to the World’s Edge.” I’m in a free-fall, spiraling down and out of control. I move, then, taking a handful of steps in the same way that Mauja had gone earlier. The snow clings to my ankles. In a jumble of thoughts and memories I can recall the black spotted unicorn offering up an invitation into his home and I think, perhaps, if I leave now, I can catch up to him. “I need to find Mauja.” It’s more a thought said aloud than anything I expect the others to respond to. I offer up one last look, paired with a tired nod. Until next time.
 

Then, the trees devour me whole.