I could have chosen to go off on my own, make do with my own company and plan out the next move while my injuries healed. It would have been the easy thing to do. When you are alone there is no need to consider other people in your equations. There is only you, the things that needs to be done, and the victims that will offer their blood for my satisfaction.

But being alone had its downsides too. No one to discuss problems with, no one to distract the opponent while I do the dirty work. The cons didn't outweigh the pros, and thus I found myself joining with the group of scabby, weary mongrels that slipped from the forest of the Edge. Into exile. Like a flood of lice escaping a drowning dog, only these insects would be back for revenge once they had regrouped and regained their strengths.
Towards the north we moved, into lands barren and cold. I frowned, wondering about the decision the FrostHeart was making. No one was likely to follow them into the tundra when winter was rapidly approaching, but what about the rest? Tired, injured, they would soon need both food and shelter. Water to quench the thirst, warmth to aid in healing. None of that could be found in the frozen wasteland.

Frowning slightly I picked up the pace to the best of my ability as the white king called. Limping, my gray form slipped in among the masses - once more finding myself by the side of Ulrik. I glanced around among the gathered unicorns, taking note of those with fresh wounds and those without, separating warriors from the rest. Listening to the voices and opinions, pale eyes moved from individual to individual. The face was unreadable, ears flickering without betraying emotion as they voiced their frustration, their anger and disappointment.

Was it because of my recent involvement with this herd that I didn't share their swirling emotions? Maybe I just found it easier to accept the defeat for what it was. There was no point in dwelling on the past. What needed to be done, now that was more interesting.

"There are other ways to strike back at them" I said, speaking for the first time as I began to slither through the group, enduring the pain in my leg. I closed in on the cremello mare who so far had been the only one to say anything remotely intelligent, and with a pleasant smile I sidled with her, close enough to feel the heat of the pale shoulder. Too close, perhaps, for her too be entirely comfortable.

"Let them settle, grow confident, become careless. Then, as they leave the Edge, take them out one by one. Decimate their numbers, let them taste fear. Why use a sledge hammer when the prick of a poison needle is enough?" Words rolled from my lips in a jovial tone, the way someone might discuss the weather. White orbs traveled around the group in a casual manner, then came to rest upon the small frame of the newborn filly next to Kou. Narrowing for a moment in thought, a smile suddenly spread across my lips, cold and dead as the landscape that surrounded us.

"Indeed, the smaller the better..."