Destrier

don't go gentle into that good night
rage on against the dying light

I wasn't afraid of many things, but to some degree, I was afraid of heights. Climbing the mountains of Vallhea with only my balance keeping me from tumbling to my death, all the while donning heavy steel plates of armor and the weight of my beloved Bran... That I could do, but the thought of peering over the edge of the island and knowing just how high up I was was a completely different story. The simple knowledge of it made it hard enough to stand remotely close to the edge at all, and Suli was having a blast rubbing it in.

"Oh, stop it, now," I said as I walked along one of the many paths of the island, while Suli danced and twirled just beyond the cliff's edge, her wings cutting through the clouds as she seemed to cackle at me, "That isn't fair." But the emerald didn't care, her amusement growing as my embarrassment did the same. A grown stallion, a father, a trained and proven warrior... afraid of straying too close and falling over the edge. I could almost laugh at myself.

'Des scared, Des scared!' She endlessly repeated, much to my chagrin, 'They won't see Des falling from such great heights, 'come down now', they'll say, but...' I waited for more of the dragoness' sing-song voice, but when nothing more came, I pulled my bister gaze from the road ahead and apprehensively looked to the left near the edge, seeing Suli hovering and looking off in the distance, violet gaze intense. Curious, I came to a halt and followed her eyes, my own landing on a pale form lounging in the grass. For a moment I simply looked on, trying to place a name or a familiar face, and it was only when I spied those golden markings that I realized...

"Fire-bitch!" Suli's words screeched inside my head, her choice of language causing me to flinch and then send her a sharp look before looking back on the pale mare's form. It was Aurelia.

My feelings towards the mare were different than the majority of the Edge's, if the recent meeting was anything to go by. I sought to give the then-Seer a trial, to hear her out and bring conclusion to her actions. She had every right to fight Kahlua, if she saw herself a better fit, and although I didn't personally agree, I still longed to know why she had done what she did. Kahlua had wanted to find her alongside me, and even though my Queen wasn't here with me, I couldn't pass the opportunity up.

So, with a sharp breath and an equally sharp glance back to Suli, I stepped forward and approached the Pegasus. Would she remember me, remember that I was from the Edge and go hurrying away? The action would surprise me, but I hoped that she would remain where she was. "Aurelia," I spoke up, voice deep but gentle as I regarded her, noting the terrible look of suffering riddled across her face, a look that had my own expression slipping into one of worry. Perhaps it was the father in me reacting, but I couldn't be nasty with her, not right now.

I came to a halt a few yards from her, so as not to make her too uneasy, wishing only to speak with her. "I don't mean any harm, Aurelia. You... You look like you could use an ear, or a shoulder."

"bloop"