There was a lightness and cheerful ring to th clip clop of tiny hooves that approached the cavern hall. One might not pay much heed to it at first. After all, the air within the underground sanctuary was humming with sound; hooves against rock, rushing water, the murmur of voices and the occasional loud shriek as a babe raised its voice in violent objection... and below all that, so deep a rumble and so quiet compared to all the racket was the sound of magma that emanated from the first chamber. It was a constant churning and whispering as rock bubbled and boiled, solidified only to melt once again and splatter against the transparent quartz with a teasing hiss - as though it was trying to get out of its chamber and mingle with the frail mortals that had invaded its quarters.

Yet, despite the constant torrent of sound there was something decidedly different about these steps. Lighter than most, brighter than many; it was the kind of steps made by someone who didn't worry, who wasn't weighed down by sorrows or troubles or the crushing weight of bedrock above their heads. Oh, how rare such a person was in these dark days!

Perhaps it didn't come as a surprise to find that the cheerful ring originated in the excited prances of a foal. Even children had worries these days, but Kari felt that his had just begun to solve themselves, one string at a time unfolding from the great tangle of worry and trouble and despair that knotted around his heart. Through the generosity of a kind lady his belly was full and thirst slaked, he had a caring auntie who had promised to help him and, as if the very gods themselves had opened a sleepy eye to smile on him and bless him with good luck, he had been able to find the largest group of brave people he could ever hope to come across. Surely someone of all those adults would have time and skill enough to save him. Surely, between Mauja and the lighting lady and Africa and all the others, someone would want to save his mother.

Kari was overjoyed. It felt like something big and black and sticky had let go of his chest, allowing him to breathe easy for the first time since he was separated from the shadowmare. Dizzy with elvation he bounded down the narrow corridors, ducking in and out of crowds and slipping between tall legs on his way to the painted room. Maybe he would find auntie Africa there, but even if he didn't he would do like she had done before the first time he met her. He would close his eyes, turn to the colorful depictions that sprawled across the wall and pray to the gods she had spoken of. Surely, if they weren't the source of this madness and disease, they would do whatever they could to help him reach his goals. At least it felt like it was worth a shot.

It was with a smile so wide that it all but split his face in two that the young colt slipped around a corner and rushed into the room, his oversized wings half open and tail set high to aid him in keeping balance. A glittering set of blue eyes swept quickly over the room to see who all was there already, used by now to never being alone anywhere (there were far too many horses crammed into these few caves for that, even if they indeed were big rooms). As his gaze fell upon a gray shape at the center of the room, hovering around the clucking fountain like a ghost of misery, the hybrid boy skidded into an abrupt halt. Just as suddenly as he had appeared, as quickly did the smile on his face vanish, replaced by a face so blank that it could as well have been a slate wall.

He remained quiet, frozen in place as he stared at the stallion he had only seen once before in his life yet knew just as well as his mother had.


I see your true colors