I drew in a cold ragged breath, my orbs sharpened when they focused on the small inanimate stones that lay in a scattered pile around my feet. One forehoof rose from its held position and gently I tapped the top of one said sandstone—it seemed to tremble, weakly resisting the power which surged from my very shoes. Slowly that dull red color faded from the inside out, and the chemical bonds spun themselves like the threads of fabric into something entirely new. I had just made gold.

My lips curved at one end, a little smugger looking than usual I turned to where my child lay beneath the awning of our old magnolia. It was still early, the sun barely high enough to cast a warm glow across his body; and in Frostfall, none of the herd favored cold mornings. “Cera,” I called softly but with excitable note, “I finally turned the stone.” Fina chirped happy from her branch in the magnolia. In short, this morning was lazy and perfect.

That was until… it came as a whisper, a rare instinct that blossomed into fruitless warnings. The smile that had been creasing faded in an instant into something seriously troubled. I stiffened and turned toward the North as if expecting some overly zestful monster to come flying over the dunes. Suddenly the air grew colder as if all light was being sucked from the very partials…yet nothing had happened. All around us our world seemed to be spinning like normal-- sleepy eyed clanfolk were rubbing their faces against hocks. Fina screeched a moment later, her cry piercingly loud which caused nearby neighbors to glance up with irritated scowls. Something was very, very wrong.

Fear, unexplainable, churned in my belly. I trembled and snarled at the dry wind, “Be on your guard…something is…” It was then that it came, like a cloak or sheet covering the whole sky. The pace change was rapid, our beloved sun vanished, no stars, no moon were left behind. All around me I heard the sounds of my family gasp in terror and turn their faces to heaven for an explanation. It was likely that the whole of Helovia did the same. My wings unfurled as if to send their owner to heaven. Yet, I could not move.

Both golden pools widened in horror, yet to say that it was wholly because of the darkness would be a lie. My knees trembled as magic began to leave this body. Magic that made me the son of sand, the earth bender, and gave a golden touch. It drained as the light did, fading into nothing—until I felt as empty as a vessel no longer fit to hold water. Lungs constricted and suddenly I felt as if drowning in a pool of nothing, head lowered painfully and my sides heaved. Fina thrashed and fell to the ground, her fire fading as my magic had. Nothing would remain I realized, it was going to take everything from us.