so i listen to the    wind for an answer

She’s really not all that confident in her plan either, but she’s trying to pretend that she is. It was a trick she learned, to pretend to be something you wanted to be. It helped you believe it, and believing was half the battle to making something come true. They would get out of this, alive and well and whole. Bears and wolves and predators lingered in the corner of her mind, but she kept telling herself it would be fine. Though she kept checking the horn that hung around her neck, making sure she could easily reach it should they need a shield. Lyanna had no magic to help them, but she could at least create a small shield to give Erthe time to run.

Though for now, Erthe leads the way. Lyanna sticks close to her, though lets her lead because really, Lyanna has no light to offer. And she’s far more likely to disappear in the darkness than Erthe is. The white girl is like a beacon, hard to lose even in the gloom. Erthe pauses, and it’s too dark for Lyanna to see the sweat that drenches the girl, though she can hear the white mare trying to catch her breath. Lyanna too is exhausted, sweat slicking her black coat, this incline more than she would have expected.

“Hang on, let me help a bit,” she says, tugging on the Moon’s healing magic. The wind picks up around them and though it’s too dark to see the black mists roll in, she can feel them as they slip around her and Erthe (though Lyanna is ready to pull the magic away should the girl decline the offer). The magic works to help her tired muscles, cool her overheating body. It wasn’t a huge help, but it would certainly give her some more energy.

As the mists begin to recede, she adds, “No, I don’t remember hills,” trying to think where they might be. She’s too focused on the magic to put much thought into it. It isn’t until the mists roll away and the wind dies down that she continues. “Oh, I think the Falls borders the forest. Perhaps we are heading north, into the mountain range. If we start marking trees as we go hopefully we won’t get turned around…”

She trails off, beginning to doubt her own words, beginning to struggle with this fake confidence. She hadn’t thought to mark the trees at all. At least Erthe thought of it now, and it looked like the girl was busy trying to find a way to mark the trees. But before Lyanna can ask and offer to help, a scream rings through the air. Lyanna stiffens, ready to flee in the opposite direction before she realizes she doesn’t know what the opposite direction is and doubts she could run anyway.

“I don’t know,” she says, keeping her voice to a whisper, trying not to draw attention to them. She grabs the horn around her chest and keeps it in her lips, ready for whatever mind find them. She begins moving slowly, creeping in the same direction she thinks they were moving. Her ears flick around them, listening for any more sounds. A scream, a crack of a branch because that predator is now after them…She glances to Erthe every few moments, making sure the girl is okay and still with her.

And then there’s a flash of eyes, caught in a little bit of light that filters through the trees here. She freezes again, watching as the creature comes closer. There’s a sliver of light getting through the dense foliage, and though it’s not much light, it’s just enough to see as the red fox creeps into the beam of gray light. Lyanna relaxes visibly, knowing full well that foxes make some of the worst sounds. Still though she keeps the horn in her mouth, ready to hit the fox with a blast of light should he try anything. But one small fox against two large horses were not good odds for him. But of course, he may have friends…

She nods to Erthe, hoping the girl can see her, and begins to creep forward again. If there was a small patch of light here, maybe they were heading in the right direction.

lyanna