The filly who buried him speaks, and how the hell can she be so devoid of emotion? How can she speak of death in such simplistic, such barbaric terms? Yes, Nyx is a warrior - she sees death regularly, and brings it when necessary. But she does not see her foes as sacks of meat to be returned to the worms. She knows they have families, loved ones, thoughts and hopes and dreams. But the hybrid could well be remarking on the weather, not the death of a living creature. Jesus, is she made of stone? The silver soldier tries to force calm into her voice, inhaling sharp breaths of misery-heavy air. "Our quarrel is with the fact you took that choice away from us. So what if we want to stand by his body until the flies descend on it, then watch him fade to bones? So what if that isn't what is best for the earth? If it is best for us, we are entitled to it. The earth could have waited for his body - we will never have the option to see him again. You decided what you wanted to do, what you saw as best, without realising the implications on everybody else." Her voice is forced calm, shoving the storm deep, deep down into the pit of sorrow that expands by the second. This argument is just delaying the inevitable - when she moves away from this chaos and stands alone, with only her memories and her grief to consume her.

Suddenly, the sickly peace is torn. She likes Kaj, respects him, but what he says to Tandavi is out of order. The storm queen's ears pin and she hisses, lashing her tail dangerously behind her. "That isn't fair, Kaj. Grief isn't a competition - just because this girl hasn't lost as much as you does not mean that she doesn't feel the pain of loss as acutely as you. That doesn't mean she hurts less than you do, or that her grief is less worthy than yours." Grief varies from man to man. Some can lose entire families and never bat an eyelid. Some crumble to dust at the first death they suffer. Some great warriors fall at the sudden death of a friend. Kaj's words imply that his grief is somehow greater, more worthy, than Tandavi's, just because he is older and has lost more. That isn't fair, and Nyx will not take it - the filly does not need the abuse of an old veteran who should know better, and the move strikes her as cowardly on the stallion's behalf. Kaj has let her down, and disappointment wedges itself into the mourning hole of her heart. She has already lost one friend - now the memory of another has been tainted.

He walks away, and Nyx makes no move to follow. She sighs deeply, painfully, and looks to the golden filly with sympathetic eyes. The poor girl has lost a friend and has just been roared at for no reason whilst she is likely weak and shocked - she is too young to have to suffer that. "You may come with me if you wish, girl. We can discuss our happy memories of him, instead of tainting his deathbed with this bickering." She wants away from this place, now. All she has left of her oldest, best friend is a pile of stones.

All that is left of her heart is a pile of stones.