They stayed in the depths of the forest for days after the battle to recover and process what had happened. With Shadow's renewed vigor and after seeing the bleeding, pus-filled boils on her daughter dry and fade she deemed the child well enough and finally handed out the scolding Erthë had been dreading. Overall it was very eloquent and convincing with well chosen words that had sufficient impact, and the rhetorics of it were quite impeccable. The mare had been working on it for several days after all.

It did impress the child quite a bit, but no eloquence in the world would ever make her appreciate being yelled at. So after listening for a long while at accusations and threats and repercussions along the lines of 'never seen such an irresponsible child in my life' and 'never take my eyes off you again' and 'never do that again' with the underlining message being immense disappointment, the child ran off after a very shrill, teary and forceful 'I hate you'. Mother didn't follow her, and for that the girl was grateful, because Mother did not much approve of tears. And right now she really wanted to cry.

Everything was just unfair! Was it really her fault that gods appeared wherever she went? Could she really be expected to stick to her mother every waking moment of every day, when there were so many interesting things to see and do in the world? Shadow had some nerve to come and say that she was to blame for getting in trouble, when it was the trouble that always, ALWAYS got in her way.

She ran and ran as the anger and sadness and pain rampaged within her small body, until the legs could carry her no longer and she collapsed by the roots of a gnarled old tree. They encircled and dipped into a spring with clear water, lined with rocks almost as red and eerie as the ones up by the blood falls. Snow-colored cheeks felt hot as she pressed them against the cool damp of moss, streaked with inky black filth that had begun to leak from the eyes, the ears, the nose... There was a smell like tar and tears and anger in her mouth, but the red waters in the pool didn't tempt her.

She simply lay there on the ground, feeling as though her heart might actually break from the weight of everything she carried, and though the sun was bright and warm and the sky stretched out high and blue beyond the canopy, the light seemed blurred and hazy to her. Dimmed and faded, unwelcome as the sweet perfume of flowers crushed beneath her careless feet.

It was all just stuffy, hot and clammy anyway, so she didn't care about any of it.

She was allowed a few precious minutes of solitude, and then someone thoroughly annoying appeared. He was loud, and rude, and persistent, and he touched her like it was the most natural thing in the world! The nose was rough and uncomfortable where it shoved into her side, and the shock of feeling the touch of a stranger startled the girl enough to actually rise - though, it was only to retreat closer to the gnarled tree, away from the... the boy?

The girl scrutinized the other with critical eyes, passing over the lanky, half-grown figure until everything, from coat color to height, health and overwhelming confidence had been processed. He looked older than herself, but not by much. It most definitely was a boy, but he was ruder than any she had come across so far (well, aside from Rikyn) and he already annoyed her. It was a bad time to make acquaintances, Erthë wasn't in the mood for making friends or playing or doing anything at all, really. Her body was sore and weak, coughs tore in her frail lungs and the dead, blind eye was making her head feel swollen and tense, like it was too big for the socket.

It kept itching, but she was afraid of rubbing it too much. As young as she was, even she had to admit that there was something awfully wrong about it. Like the eyeball had died because of the God's blood, and slowly rotted beneath the eyelid...

The thought was horrible and the girl refused to let anyone look at it. Even now she turned her right side at the kid, so that he wouldn't see the horrible swelling, the pus that leaked from the tear canals, the pallid, milky stare so akin to a corpses. It was bad enough that black filth kept leaking from every other opening in her face.

she grumbled and peered out at the colt from under the thick curls of her forelock.

She glared at the boy and ruffled the feathers in annoyance, the slender tail beginning to thrash behind her. He refused to leave, and it didn't feel good to have him hovering over her while she lay on the ground. Flattening the ears against the poll she unfurled the legs and heaved herself up on the feet, wings half spread in an instinctive attempt to make herself appear larger and more intimidating. The effect wasn't overwhelming, to tell the truth; it just made her look more like an angry, puffed up kitten - only without the needle-prick claws and sharp teeth.


Her voice was flat, laconic, and the way she looked at him was clearly suspicious. Magic was amazing and it could heal, but Erthë didn't think anything could fix her eye anymore. Maybe one of the gods could... but this stupid boy definitely wasn't one of them.

Still... his words woke a longing in her. It sure would be nice to have the eye back to normal. It had never been of much use, but at least it hadn't been painful before. Sniffing she considered the gangly looking colt, eyelids narrowing in a calculating way. Could it possibly get worse? She wasn't sure what kind of magic he had, or how he intended to fix her, or even if he knew what he was doing. It might hurt, it might be dangerous - magic wasn't to be trifled with, she'd at least learned that much in her short lifespan.

Above all, she didn't like his tone, or how he tried to bribe her.

she demanded, and raised the head with a challenging smirk.
If he didn't want to, he could just leave her alone.

With grim satisfaction she watched him struggle, saw ire turn to rage and mold into determination. To think, that mere words could grant such power of people! If the colt had stopped to think, pushed away the anger and the injured pride for a mere moment it would have become obvious to him what she was doing.

But no. He took the bait, swallowed it hook line and sinker, and when he lashes out it is with silvery light - or was it liquid? - that stretched towards her through the void. Her first instinct would have been to duck, to swat it away and turn tail. Magic could do horrible things to people and this was probably stupid, foolish, she had no idea what would happen once the supernal essence touched her skin.

But foolish though it may be, she stood her ground. curiosity was a strong force too, and it ruled her spirit this moment. Holding her breath she stood still, watched the vapor aim for her face, the blind, dead eye that pained her so....

And when it touched her, it was the most peculiar sensation. Neither hot nor cold, not even particularly painful, the magic still caused the girl to flinch and gasp. She shook her head violently, no longer able to remain still as the swollen orb within its socket changed, shrunk and solidified with an itching, burning, tingling sensation.

Erthë kept both her eyes pressed tight together until the discomfort died away. Then she opened them, and squealed in delight. Not only did the damaged eye no longer feel damaged at all, but it did something she had never experienced before. It took in light, registered shapes and colors and was, if anything, even sharper than the right one. To someone who had lived her life in half darkness, this new perspective was at once blinding and dizzying - it would definitely take some getting used to.

Her previous bad temper disappeared like it had never even been there. Frowns vanished in the face of her wide, radiant smile, and she turned to the infuriating colt with a sort of soft, awed glint.

She would have thanked him, would have played with him for days and weeks if he still wished it. Instead, he made grimaces and backed away, clearly intending to leave.

She sighed, suddenly disappointed that he actually would go and leave her alone. she called to his back, the gratitude burning on her tongue. Why didn't he wish to receive it? Boys were so weird.

As she was stubborn however, and did whatever she wanted, Erthë waited until Zsoka was nearly out of earshot before she called out one last time;


There. Now everything was right with the world. Smiling to herself the girl turned and left the place as well, ready to make her way back to her mother and start apologizing. Oh, mother would be so surprised to see her new eye!