The sun was here, but in one small moment, the world shuddered into darkness.

As if the sky had been covered in a thick blanket, the sky turned dark as shadows in the night. There were no twinkling stars to comfort the weary, no north star to guide you home. All that existed was an abyss, gaping and inseparable. Below, standing fifty paces away from the pit of fire stood the shaman of the Dragon's Throat. Her eyes widen in shock, but her body freezes otherwise. The hairs upon her back stand in attention, and ears flicker back and forth.

Now had not been the time for night. Even if it had, there was no such night as this. The only explanation for such unbreakable darkness creeps into her mind, whispering to her. The time of Isilme had come to an end in such endless, miserable darkness. Now, the shadow had crept its way back to Helovia, without so much as a warning. Even the fires of the great Heart felt as if they had dimmed. It was then that Onni knew they were alone.

Upon her shoulder, Lyhty begins to chirp sadly, mournfully, at the thoughts of his bonded. I here, Onni. Reaching back painfully slow, the painted girl nudges her friend. Whatever light the sun had gifted her to quell her fear of the night was gone. In an instant, she began to run.

Pale hooves plodded along the earth and she swiftly hauled her ass back toward the fires of the heart. Dry, winter grass claps along her sides and stings her flesh, leaving her all the more hurried. When she is close, hard, cold dirt greets her hooves, sand pluming up around them as the orange light reflects in her eyes. Onni comes to a fast halt, much like her haphazard travel from where she had been to here. The beads in her mane tinkle still with movement, but otherwise she can hear little aside from the cascade of flames, and the soft breathing of the somewhat startled Lyhty.

He had not been to Isilme. He had only seen the shades in the confines of their shared mind, in dim memories. Suddenly, in the endless night, those memories reforged themselves with illuminated clarity. Standing still, looking directly into the fire, Onni begins a hopeless prayer.

"Father Sun, travel safe and hurry home. I need your light."
""