She took a detour on her way back from the Throat. The conversation with Badger had left her with plenty to think about and somehow it was easier to do that away from the rest of the herd. The sky seemed taller down here for one thing, the horizon so much vaster and further away. Not even on a normal day was she a very big horse, but on these wide stretching expanses Erthë felt even smaller than usual, lesser and at the same time more aligned with her place in the scheme of things. Problems that had seemed insurmountable as she trekked the winding paths of the World's Edge shrank alongside her, because suddenly simple and a bit silly when compared to the wild, boundlessness of the world.

Flying low over the muddy, waterlogged flats the filly dragged her feet over the tips of yellowed grasses, felt the rough straw whisper against her hooves and though of nothing, everything. Sharing her issues and problems with someone had been beyond nice - she felt so much lighter and happier now, as though a great weight had been taken off her shoulders. While her uncle might not be any better at solving them than she was, she had at least told someone, shared the load and it made her feel so good that the girl wondered why she hadn't done it earlier.

Gliding on the chilly autumn winds she came upon the steaming, burning chasm of the Heart. She made to turn and fly around the thick plume of ash and smog as usual, but something on the charred, dry ground around the pit caught her eye. Curious, the little snowdrop banked and touched down on the ashen slope with the kind of soft, simple elegance that grew from long practice and painful mistakes, gingerly shifted her weight back onto smarting legs and folded the wings against her sides. Keeping her head low the filly limped slowly across the plain until she came upon the thing that had caught her eye; a large chunk of rock, thrown no doubt from the churning pit on her right.

For the most part there was nothing extraordinary about it; gray, lumpy and too big to move. But as she walked around it, the pale sunlight struck at an angle and with a gasp of delight Erthë found herself nearly blinded by a vibrant display of color. Facet after facet of ice-like crystals cut deep into the center of the stone and reflected the light, broke it and scattered it around in a multitude of tiny rainbows.

This was what had caught her eye and for the longest time the filly just stood there, marveling at the sheer beauty of this small, ordinary miracle.

Erthë

the      night      is      calling      my      name