She changed her mind about journeying to the mountains the instant she felt the chill on the air. Pausing to glance down at the tiger, she found herself smiling quite solemnly despite the general pleasantness of the journey to the edge of the Threshold. "I didn’t tell you everything back there," she begins, her eyes crinkling slightly in apology as she tilts her head and continues, "there is darkness among us. We cannot go to the Basin. The way is not safe." She looked back ahead of them, intending to continue walking while explaining the situation, directing their path to the cave system that Mauja and Circuta both had told of. The mare had promised it would be safe, and she could only hope that the woman had known of what she was speaking.

"There are some caves, however," she says, "they should be safe. I will take you there."

-----------------------------------------------

She hadn’t been yet. The stones clacked beneath her hooves as she entered the dark rim of their opening into the earth, breath coming evenly despite the sporadic churning of her heart in her chest. The rest of the herd should be down here, waiting for those who were gathered from the wilds, led by the Lord down to safety after the meeting between the mare of the Plague and the rulers of the mountain had been so rudely interrupted.

Keeping a good space between the two of them, afraid for her own health after so many interactions with the beasts above, she remains polite and friendly despite the dangers of the situation at hand. They had travelled quickly and with little delay, the mare well aware of the savagery of the devils they faced and fearing for the newest member of her harem as well as herself. She had stood her ground to several of the monsters, and each time she was left feeling drained, as if their very presence could drink the life out of her veins.

It was only fear and pride that kept her going, at this point. She hadn’t slept in nearly a week, not since the others had left the mountain and she had remained to gather stragglers, lead the lost into the damp caverns. She glanced at the stone that seemed to press in upon her, feeling her breath shorten, and takes a deep, steady inhalation. It is only the earth, she reminds herself, forcing her brain to think of the deep, dark place as a branch of the ice tunnels south of her home.

The pair arrive into a vast room, the very center inhabited by a pool. She felt a strange energy in the place, a throbbing of magical power, and it eased her concerns that it wasn’t truly safe here – being trapped in a hole wasn’t the best place to be when a demon army marched in. "We’re here," she says, dreamily admiring the tall ceilings of the room and the small gatherings of normal, living beings around them.

It was the first time in her life she had ever looked upon a hornless and been glad.

@[Cin]
Sorry for the delay!

Illynx