Once again his path had brought him to the rim of the glowing abyss. It was now one of few places where it was more hot than cold, a rare source of light and warmth in a world that slowly was beginning to die.
Had they ever known how important the sun was for the life of Helovia? Not only for warmth but for sustenance, for vital substances Lace didn't even know existed, but that none the less affected both him and the land around him. Slowly but surely the frost hardened its grip on the ground, freezing roots and seeds that normally would have escaped this far south. A perpetual fog had settled over the ashen plain as fire and ice battled over dominion of the soil - ice freezing, lava thawing and scorching. A different time the war might have resulted in tough, acid-tasting grass as the increased moisture encouraged growth of new shoots, but without even the pale winter sun, nothing would begin to grow.
What was it that constantly drove him to come and stare into the boiling mass of molten rock? Time and again the silver grullo ended up in almost the same spot, thoughts churning events of past and present, speculated about what the future might bring and what was happening below the surface of the Heart. He was one of few who knew that a very different civilization lived beneath his very feet, deep within the depths of the crater. Small, ugly gremlins most closely resembling misshaped dragons had carved out an existence below ground and appeared to thrive down there. Did they know of the disappearance of the gods? Did they care, did they feel the grip of darkness closing in on themselves?
The stallion sighed and tore the gaze away from the glowing pit, blinking to remove the blinding spots that danced before his eyes. Sparing a quick glance at the little dragon that danced and played in the updrafts from the volcano, Lace then turned his back to the source of the heat and began to walk away from it, scouring the ground in search for something, anything, that seemed even remotely edible. Hunger had been a constant companion for some time, harder to slake than he was used to. The Edge was a lush land, constantly watered by mist and a warm ocean breeze; but now even the hardy coastal grasses were dwindling, not nearly enough to sustain the population of horses that huddled beneath the gleaming canopies.
But food wasn't the only thing that kept him away from his home now, he had to admit that. Neither was it the threat of further violence or the order that prevented him from taking revenge on those who had murdered his loved ones. No, it was a small little monster that had settled in the guts, called jealousy, that made it so hard to look his leader in the eye. One time had they stood close enough to feel the heartbeats of one another fasten, once had they shared words that shouldn't have been uttered... and now he just couldn't forget. Something had changed, whether it was him or her or both of them - and he didn't like it. It had been fine being friends, and the burning emotions that time after time crept up whenever Mirage was mentioned made that impossible. Who, after all, craved to be physically intimate with their friends?
Struggling to push the subject out of his mind Lace began to circle around the crater, nose towards the ground and silken mane dragging over stones and rubble as he went, using scent and touch as much as sight to find what he was looking for. Eyes weren't much use lately, and slowly the steed was growing more adept at relying on the other senses. If it hadn't been for the cold and the lack of food he might even have been fine if the Ever Night would end up continuing as the norm.
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