There is something behind the throne

Quilyan

greater than the king himself.

It had not been long after their acceptance into the herd of the Edge that the endless night had begun, bringing with it a perpetual feeling of unease and a rush of overprotective tendencies. He may not be correct in his assumption of Resplendence's reliance on him, and yet the assumption was there all the same. As the darkness wore on, he was both pleased and infuriated by her acceptance into the herd: pleased because she was so very shy, so very timid, that to see her welcomed and adored was a relief; infuriated because he was, after all, a jealous soul, and used to having his things all to himself. In another life, he would not have cared, for he would have had a different plaything every night, but here, now, she was all he wanted, and so his craving for her presence never ceased. He had taken to wandering the wilds again, not wishing to burden her with his ever-changing emotions, and so it was that he missed the invasion.

But that's getting ahead of myself.

Currently, Quilyan is flying on a path from the Endless Blue to the World's Edge. It is dark, of course, as it has been now for some time, though he finds it remarkably easy to find his way, all the same. Perhaps the gods didn't desert us, he comments to Zarina. They left us light-plants, after all. The pygmy marmoset sighs and shifts in her usual position at the base of his nape. Gods gone, she disagrees absently, his tiny fingers clutching something that gleams faintly gold in the dim light. The moon's back, at least, he reminds her, glancing up at the cloud-covered skies. A faint sense of unease permeates his excitement, for he wonders if the Mood Goddess will still be showing her face when the clouds clear, but it quickly fades. For the first time since before the invasion of the Foothills, he feels as though he has a purpose. A smile flickers across his maw, soft and shy, as he thinks of Resplendence and how she will react to his gift.

He recognizes some telltale landmark or other and begins his descent - and his smile slips quickly off his face. He can see many creatures moving in the night; they appear in pockets, barely visible through the trees and the fog, but they are there all the same. Dread floods his mind. Dropping further, so that his hooves skim the treetops, he recognizes the sounds of battle. They are all too familiar to him, and as he realizes that it sounds like the end rather than the beginning, his first thought is Resplendence. Will she have disappeared, like last time? No! They had only just found a home, only just begun to settle... she was loved here, and was coming to love others... She couldn't be lost! Not again! And then, just as desperate desolation begins to set in, he hears it. Sobbing, from a copse of trees just below him. He tucks his wings close to his body and falls through a gap in the treetops, landing outside the thick ring of trees that are currently sheltering the owner of the tears.

"Resplendence?" he calls cautiously, picking his way through the trees. "My lady?" Zarina has grown more alert with her bonded's terror and now sits upright upon his back, scanning the trees. As he steps into the sheltered grove, he is met with perhaps the oddest sight he has ever seen in his life. His beloved lies shaking and sobbing, her tail in a knot, grasping a makeshift dagger in her teeth, bleeding from various wounds. As he stares at her, he is infuriated and awestruck in equal measure. "Resplendence," he says more firmly now, forcing a soothing note into his vocals, though it is particularly hard to do as he inwardly rages. WHO DARED - WHO THE FU - I WILL KILL WHOEVER TOUCHED HER, he fumes inwardly to Zarina, who in turn chitters comfortingly from his back. He approaches his lady slowly. "You're all right now, my lady; it's over, I think." Another step closer, hugging his wings to his sides like old times, but wanting nothing more than to pull her close to him in an embrace.

[W/C | ---]
Walk walk walk.
Talk talk talk.
Think think think.

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