Her mind was colored with millions of thoughts, everything twisting and bending in the recesses of her head, pressing outward to create a throbbing ache that she had never felt before. The cool breeze laced her breath in frost as she moved forward across the Steppe, contemplating where she might end up. The ground was hard beneath her feet and the sound was hollow, much like the barren cavern that occupied her chest. Everything was silent and still around her which made the thud, thud, thudding of her hooves echo against the empty atmosphere. She was a stark reminder of the winter wasteland that highlighted her dark features like the moon in the sky at night. It was this time of the year that her coat actually resembled the deep lavender tinged soot that she had been born with versus the murky brown that often hindered her appearance in the summer. Her eyes were wide with life which was something that she did not often possess, but it seemed that life had granted her a new path to take and she was quite tender with the thought of it.

She was unsure what had brought her to such a barren place, but the soft gurgle of water excited the innermost part of her heart as she navigated the icy terrain. She had always felt at home by the shore side in Avalon and while Helovia did not offer such a briny escape, as far as she knew as of late, any source of the element was comforting enough. To rest eyes on the reflective surface and ponder made her feel as if she were almost free of herself and that freedom always brought her home. She longed to gaze across the waves of the Oceanside with Jackal once again, but she knew no such thing should occur until her soul was lifted from earth and cast to heaven to rest at peace alongside his. She had paused now by a small stream, eager to dip her face to the unmoving surface whereupon her breath created small ripples in her reflection as she looked back at herself. She was much healthier than the year prior due to Avalon’s ruin and now she could understand what it was that had caught Jackal’s attention.

Murky brown eyes peered back at her from the water, golden flecks littering her gaze of temporary innocence. At one time she had not been tainted with sin and even now it was possible for her to imagine such days in her life. Her slender face was wrought with anxiety despite her current carefree mood and her lips were tight against her teeth in an effort not to grimace. Long ago, this was not my face, no such worry lie in the pits of my heart and darkened my eyes with hurt… However, now she was alone, no King to accompany her anguished cries at night, though she prayed for him. Sometimes she saw him in her dreams, but they were not reality and it often caused one more wrinkle in time to appear upon such a beautiful face.

[W/C:520]

The night's on fire