Mother wandered a lot. Every now and then the black mare simply left and went off somewhere, rarely giving a reason why. Sometimes Erthë was left behind with her father, but it also happened that she was brought along when the trip was expected to take a while. Slowly but surely the world expanded beneath her feet. Mile after mile was added to the borders of her perception, time and time again her views on what was normal, right and familiar forced to change. From knowing nothing but the vast, windswept fields of the northern steppe they had traveled east, over high mountains and steep vales, into deep forests and across rivers filled to the brim with rushing water. They climbed and balanced on steep rock ledges, ran as fast as they could across wide-stretched fields painted in vivid spring colors, and Erthë swam for the first time in an ice cold pool lined with red rocks with Shadow watching over her, laughing to the rhythm of the daughter's clattering teeth.

The further south they went the warmer it became. The cold-blooded filly quickly discovered that she very much preferred the icy expanse in the north. She was not fond of sweating, and when the sun raised the temperature to twice that of your own towards the peak of the day it was pretty much all you did.

But she did like the vivid colors. The red of the rocks, the bright spring green grass that hid flowers so bright they made her eyes water, the vast blue arch of the sky revolving high above her head... And she loved the rain that fell at night, treasured each precious droplet that tinkled its mournful melody against leaf and branch, rock and stream and pattered against her back. Some times after a shower had passed her coat was covered in frost where the water had frozen. When the sun returned it vaporized, spreading a thin, fine mist into the air along with her clouding breath.

Ah, and the stars. She never knew them to be so big and bright, or the moon so close. If only she had been able to fly, maybe she could reach out and touch them.

It wasn't only fun and games though. Shadow was careful and took few risks, but they still had nasty encounters with predators. Erthë particularly remembered the meeting with the pack of timber wolves in the deep forests, their gleaming eyes as they circled and watched, weighing the strength of the mare and the cost of a meal against the treat of a feast... They had been lucky to escape that time.

Sometimes it grew downright dull too. After walking through the same unchanging landscape for several days even a very patient foal grew restless, and Erthë's was mercurial, as fleeting as summer shudders.

"Don't go too far" the shadow mare reminded absently as the filly wandered off, her focus on everything but the grass on the ground. How could her mother eat so much all the time?

"No mom" she replied automatically - but what point was there in adventures if your mother remained within shouting distance? Still, Erthë really did intend to be obedient when she skipped off into the tall, swaying grasses. She just wanted to move around, dance a little, flap her wings and feel the muscles in her shoulders develop from day to day.

She definitely didn't count on there to be a hole in the ground. When her cloves suddenly met with nothing but air she gave off a little squeak and tumbled down into darkness, rolling and skidding down the steep path until she landed unceremoniously in a pile at the bottom. For the longest time she simply lay there, dizzy and shocked and terrified to discover that something was broken. When seconds, minutes, years probably, passed and no pain set in however, she began the process of untangling limbs and looked around, wide eyed and suddenly quite small.

It was dark. It was strange. Mother was nowhere to be seen and the blue spring sky had been replaced by a rough stone sealing. On one side the darkness deepened into pitch-black tunnels leading into the bowels of the earth, and on the other a red glow radiated both light and heat and turned a figure into a black, ominous looking silhouette. Almost, but not quite horselike, and the shadows it cast were long and threatening, wavering slightly back and forth.

Her lips began to tremble, out of shock or fear - she wasn't sure which.