My thoughts are the cold kind,
I've got storm clouds brewing behind my eyes

This was a new experience for the frost-skinned young mare. Up until now it had always been she that needed comforting and support, and she had been fortunate indeed to be surrounded by responsible adults on whom to lean. From her loving - if perhaps somewhat inattentive and frequently absent - parents, to the leaders of the Edge and many, many others across the continent she had received attention, care and safety, ultimately leaving her able to cope with everything that had happened to her. Though she missed her dead mother, though she suffered from the pain of poorly healed injuries and avoided gazing too long into pools of water so she wouldn't have to look at the ugly white eye that marred her otherwise pristine features, none of it had managed to break her spirit. Bend it, yes, shape it and perhaps twist it somewhat... but not so deformed that she could not keep herself together.

Seeing Bathsheba out here all alone, struggling by herself to find a mother that had vanished - and with the whole of Helovia between her and the herd to which she belonged - and in such a desperately battered state... It made Erthë ache inside, a strong surge of pity soon replaced by an even stronger howl of anger towards the irresponsible mare that left her daughter alone like this. What kind of mother did that? What could possibly be more important than your own child, so much so that she would leave without even revealing where she was headed?

For a moment the pale eyes flashed dangerously as Erthë seethed over idiotic mares, the air growing decidedly chilly around her as her grasp on her magic slipped. But when she sidled in beside Sheba and made to drape a cold, white wing over the child's back her movements were quite calm, the voice steady and reassuring as she spoke again, while drifting frost glittered and shimmered in the air around them.

"Sshh, easy girl. You are safe here. I won't let anyone do anything to you. And do you see those?" She nudged her chin in the direction of the shrines, smiling slightly as she glanced at them and then back at the filly.

"They are shrines. This is the Veins of the Gods, and each of them is dedicated to one of Helovia's four gods. They say that if you pray before them the gods might answer, and grant you a wish..."

Though they might also decline to give aid. Erthë threw a quick glance at the ash-stained monument belonging to the Sun God and looked away again, uncomfortable as the memory of his rejection - and every other memory of him for that matter - tried to resurface. She was not going to tell the young paint about her own failure; Erthë was trying to comfort her, not make her more dispirited than she already was.

"I'm sure that if you ask them for help in finding your mother, they will do what they can to aid you. Until then, you need to stay strong and focus on taking care of yourself. How will you find her again if you are too hurt to follow the guidance the gods might give?"

She said this with a little smile, trying to soften her words so they wouldn't sound too harsh. Shifting weight between her feet the hybrid gazed at Bathsheba, those age old eyes both knowing and understanding. Of course she could empathize with this lost child, when she had spent so much time searching for both father and brother, and followed her own mother on an endless hunt for the brother she had never met. Half her too short life had been spent chasing after ghosts, and look where it had brought her. Crippled before even reaching maturity, battle-scarred and robbed of her innocence before she even had grown up.

"As for where you should go..." The young priestess paused, head tilting to the side as she mulled over that thought herself.

"For starters, the nearest place where we might find a healer to take a look at you. The Dragon's Throat is closest to where we are now, no more than a few days walk. Or I could bring you home with me, but that is a long journey and I'm hesitating to drag you out in the wilds while you are this shaky."

Frowning the hybrid girl observed the strained breathing and trembling legs of her charge, inwardly cursing her own helplessness. Why hadn't she asked Badger for more lessons? Why was she not hanging at the heels of the menders at home, pestering them with questions and begging for information? If seemed so foolish now to devote all her energy to the past when there were those around her who needed help now.

"What do you say? Do you want me to take you to the Throat? After that we can go wherever you want - to the Edge, the Hidden Falls or even back to the Basin, if you'd rather wait for your mom at home."

It was not going to be an option for the filly to continue roaming the wilds in this state, the seraphs tone made this quite clear. Erthë told herself this wasn't hypocritical of her to decide. While she too had wonky legs and was precariously young she was not roughed up and exhausted, and she had her wings to carry her high above any danger that might appear. Bathsheba wasn't as fortunate, and the frost-marked mare was determined to see her to safety in one piece.  

Erthë

And my heart will be blacker than your eyes
when I'm through with you