"And now I wish to God that The earth would turn cold
And my heart would forget it's made of glass"

She hadn't gone all the way up to the boy and the crumpled, decaying form of her mother. The feeble, hesitant steps had only brought her a few meters before she stopped again, sweating profusely despite the waves of cold dread that broke across her skin. Erthë wanted nothing more than to get over there and chase the birds herself, but she just... couldn't. It was her mother lying there, only the mare that had birthed her, nursed her, taught her everything she knew - and yet it wasn't, because Shadow was gone, and Erthë didn't want to see what happened to a body when the soul had left it. Not this body, not now.

So she hovered there in the shimmering heat, watching the circling vultures with bated breath.

"I don't know! Be careful!" she called back, but there was worry in her voice and the tail had curled into a stiff coil around a leg, a sorry attempt to contain her internal tension.

Truth be told, she hadn't the slightest idea whether those foul birds would bother going after them or not. During the travels with Shadow they had seen them circle at times, and the black mare had told her what they were doing; riding the thermal winds while looking for something to eat, pecking the dead and dying in order to sate their hunger. But did they hunt live prey? And would two young horses, healthy and vigorous, be tempting when there was an already dead carcass nearby?

At the very least, the flock of scavengers seemed annoyed by the interference. The kettle of vultures came closer and closer to the ground, a veritable cloud of stinking, flapping and squawking birds with sharp claws and lethal looking beaks. A small group of individuals descended towards the sun-winged colt, while another headed straight for herself.

With a thrill of fright the girl ducked as one giant bird swooped over her head, so close that the draft of the wings whistled in her ears. With a startled shriek Erthë spread her own pearly wings and flapped violently, not even noticing that things kept hidden amidst the feathers fell clattering to the ground.

Not until her eyes fell upon the ivory bow. It had not fallen at all - it was hovering, bobbing up and down level with her head, its carved limbs gleaming encouragingly in the sunlight.

Was it... telling her to use it? But she didn't know how, had nothing to shoot away, and how was she to figure all that out when a bloody bird kept diving after her ears?

It was pure accident that made her touch the string of the bow; a last minute dive forward pushed her up against the magical weapon, she brushed across the string and noticed a bright, cold light flare up for a fraction of a second.

Aaah. So simple. Understanding flooded through her mind and without a second thought the filly reached for the bow, caught the string between her teeth and pulled, as hard as she could. Again the light flared up by the arrow rest, manifesting into an arrow of light, so pure and bright that her nose prickled from the chill it emitted. Not entirely sure how she knew what to do Erthë took aim at one of her attackers and let go, the twang of the string accompanying her thrumming heart as the light shot straight from the bow, towards the bird and...

Missed.

But it startled the avians enough to break away and scatter, angry squawks filling the air as they flapped and strained to gain more height.

Breathing quickly now, a newfound strength filling her to the brim with courage, Erthë shot a quick glance towards the young stallion to see how he fared.

Please, oh Lady of all Winds, keep him safe! I don't want any more people get hurt for my sake.

"And all the pretty tulips would disappear
And never disturb me again"