[Dreaming that they are in the DT as its rulers. I figured it would be easier to have the thread elsewhere though so as not to complicate things :P In this dream Rhoa is full grown and has a phoenix with him. @[Ranjiri]]


Just where is she? I pace back and forth, my hooves scraping small trails in the bloody sands as I continue to walk in the same small oval pattern that I've been walking in all morning. Toff, my phoenix companion, obviously sensing my distress trills a small and encouraging song, as if the sound of his voice will be enough to loosen the weight that has fallen on me.

"RANJIRI!" I call again, and my tone is laced with frustration but also anxiousness. What if something has happened to her? What if they have got her? Have found her? No, she's far too quick for that. I shake my head decisively, trying to console myself with images of Jiji defeating countless opponents and waves of invaders. I spread my embered-wings and throw hot ash on the ground. Where it is super heated small diamonds form, and the sands begin to glisten and sparkle even more brightly than before. The warmth of the sun does little to warm my mind, for I cannot be whole without Ranjiri with me. She is my light and my warmth and my home. But where on earth could she be?

Sighing, I cease my pacing and cast my blue-green gaze to the horizon. It's possible that she is just keeping me waiting intentionally - a lesson in patience perhaps. But now is not the time! Worry creases my brow, and my darkened features appear even darker somehow. I stand taller and call her name one last time - hoping that the fear that has crept into my words will make her come out of hiding, if indeed that is the reason for the delay.

Doesn't she know? The space invaders are coming!

I heard my name, but I was indisposed and unable to answer Rhoa when he called for me. Annoyance, pain, fear, and worry all bloomed in my chest and whirled around me in a way that made something that should have been so beautiful seem so absolutely terrible. I knew they were coming. The Diviner had warned me on the day that I discovered Rhoa and I were to be parents that some force not of our world would be coming. They would want my child and would stop at nothing to take it. I didn't understand why and the Diviner could not shed any light on it, but I knew we would have to fight and we would have to win.

They were coming.

My pain lessened but my fear grew as my foal, my first and only child slid from my body and breathed her first breaths. Rhoa continued to call for me but I remained silent as I stood over my child that I already loved so much. I cleaned her coat, nuzzled her ears, preened the downy feathers of her wings and as I did so I could feel a resolve as hard as the steel that I had crafted once upon a time form.

They would not take my baby.

They would not invade the Throat.

Too much time passed from the time my daughter was born to when she stood for the first time, took her first steps, and had her first drink of milk. It struck me, as I watched her, how much she resembled myself and Rhoa from her red eyes and golden accents to the way her tiny hooves glowed like embers from a fire. I nudged her and, together, we walked to where Rhoa paced impatiently for us.

"How long do we have?" I asked as I came to stand before him with our child pressed against my side.


"."

@[Rhoa]

Oh right. Of course. Ranjiri was pregnant with our daughter and was busy giving birth. No wonder she took her time.

Logic and reality slid down the back of my throat as I swallowed hard at the sight of them. Fear, relief, anguish, and love filtered through my mind, and suddenly I couldn't even remember why I was worried at all.

I rushed forward to greet them, quickly eating up the distance the bridged us - the three of us. My embered wings spread from my flanks as each wing tried to find its place on their shoulders - gently falling on the golden marking that Jiji bore, and touching for the first time the downy softness of my daughter.

"Not long-" I replied distractedly, still wanting to take in the beauty and achievement of Ranjiri's efforts. Our child was to be the saviour of the Throat - but only if she lived long enough to fulfill her destiny. Already metallic ships could be seen in the sky - like great shining stars they fell, clearly heading for the Throat.

"The sentinels report that none have landed ... but it can't be long. Especially now that she has been born. Everyone is at their posts-" My eyes rise and want to drown in Jiji's ruby stare. "-they await your orders." Many have commented about our odd leadership - especially after Gaucho's militaristic reign perhaps it seemed odd that the commander of our warriors was not his son, but instead the Sultana. Still, none could defy Ranjiri's strength and her battle-knowledge.

With a sigh I looked to the bloody horizon where indeed the metallic glint of the invaders could already be seen.

I wanted so desperately to just spend time with my family, just Rhoa, myself, and our daughter. But there was no time. As Rhoa told me that we didn't have long I looked to the sky and I stared at the ships that glinted in the sunlight. My chest felt like it was constricting, strangling my heart and my lungs... panic I realized. I had not felt such a strong sense of it since the very first time I had sparred against Gaucho so many years ago. I wished that he was still here to offer me council, to guide me, to help me make decisions that would protect my small family and my herd.

He was gone.

My mother was gone.

The only thing I had left of them was the knowledge and experience they offered me.

"-they await your orders."

My gaze fell to our daughter, so innocent in the face of something so evil it was impossible to understand. Why? I'd often wondered and anguished over throughout the course of my pregnancy. Why my child? Why not someone else's? No matter how much I wondered there were never any answers, just the cold, bleak reality of the unknown-- of what was coming for us.

I wondered for a moment over what we should do. Should we wait for them to land? Should we try to reason with them? What was the right thing to do? But the Diviner had been so clear that there would be no reasoning. There was only one goal in mind and that was the kidnapping of my daughter and the destruction of the Dragon's Throat.

"Tell them to show no mercy." I said as I finally looked to Rhoa. "If we can take one of them hostage do it, otherwise I want them all annihilated. I will join you on the front lines soon ... I need to hide her."

There was so little time we couldn't even name our daughter.

"."

@[Rhoa]