She could have objected, but the thought of not moving if only for a short while was too good to pass up, and so the mare simply nodded and settled in beneath the boughs of the alabaster tree, a polite distance maintained to her teammate.

"I hardly know myself" Shadow sighed, pawing the ground with a small, dark hoof as she thought back. The subject was an unpleasant one, reluctance painted across her drawn features while round ears withdrew within the rich mass of hair; she flicked her tail to chase off the ever present buzzers, unwilling to relent any of her precious blood to them. Who knew, at the state she was in they might very well be capable of sucking her dry.

"It started, I think, when I just arrived here, some three years ago. The Gods battled some great threat, I don't know what, but as a result they were removed from the world. The sun disappeared, the moon hid from view, all grass faded and there was no way to tell the passing of days... We spent an entire winter in complete darkness. Apparently those more... gifted lost their abilities too. Then slowly everything went back to normal, but something must have changed in the world because before we knew it a great darkness came crawling back, more menacing this time."

Shadow licked her lips uneasily, watching the unicorn from under the thick curtain of her forelock while she spoke.

"It swallowed everything in its path, and it changed the creatures that were touched by it. They became ill, sick in mind as well as body, strangely distorted until they looked less like themselves and more like some monster from a nightmare. The herds scattered, sought shelter somewhere, and I too looked for somewhere to hide from it all... But I had my son by my side at the time, we were slower than the rest and as then came upon one of those dark-tainted beasts... I told him to run while I fought the creature, but in the end... I too succumbed to the... the taint..."

There was distaste in her deep, husky voice as it trailed off, disdain for her own weakness and shame for failing her single most important duty; protecting and watching over her son.

As she paused however, Shadow was surprised at (and rather displeased with) herself. Hadn't she just been thinking how stupid it would be to talk about personal issues with a stranger? Her brains really must have become addled by the plague if she suddenly let her tongue stray like this, just because someone had shown the slightest bit of interest in an event of the past. Had there even been a need to tell him about her own part in it all? What if he thought her contagious still, that would put a swift end to this partnership for sure!

Pressing her lips together the blackbird turned her head away, unwilling to see the look of disgust that ought to spread across Bolverik's face any moment now, and without offering anymore free information she bowed down to graze, teeth raking restlessly, impatiently at the grass she really should be collecting for the Earth God.


@[Bolverik]