I kept myself sane by wandering helplessly behind Sia, a toddler clinging to her mother and childishly shying away from everyone else— hiding behind her thigh and refusing to make eye contact with whoever glanced at me. I'd never had a proper introduction to the members of the Throat, simply sliding into their ranks without being noticed and settling uneasily within their borders. Even after a season of being here I felt like a trespasser, like I didn't belong, swearing that every night I hear the sands whispering threats and demands, pleading with me to take my leave and never return. Some dare threaten to spill my blood upon their precious red sands if I linger too long— these threats always left my nights seemingly longer, dragging on and on as their hissing assaults my senses.  

So I would wander, taking on the role of the Dragon's Throat's very own ghost, a quiet being bringing forced silences wherever I go. My hooves tread lightly over ground that is not my own, not wanting to disturb this land that has settled long before my arrival— the sands run red from the centuries of history lived upon it. 

My shift was just beginning, the sun kissing the earth goodnight as it slips beneath the horizon, forgetting to promise that it will return tomorrow, as it always does. My restless legs straighten, folded wings unfurling, carelessly dragging their tips across the sands. In my wake dips in the sand form, hollowed creases that border my hoof prints. My fatigue gnaws away at me, eating up my conscious mind and forcing my knees to tremble as I take weary steps towards the coast. 

"Need a little company?" My ears press flat against my skull, amber eyes settling on the creature of my nightmares. Tonight they don speckled ebony flesh, grin sickeningly wide and mischievous— not a good sign. "I was hoping you wouldn't show up tonight," I mumble, heaving a sigh as Sameira responds immediately with a frustrated bark in the distance— she'd been trailing me since I abandoned my little "nest", pursuing me hastily to see where it is I ended up tonight. "Oh my, perhaps you've jinxed it then?" They chuckle, sly smile making me sick as they stride beside me. "No havoc to wreak tonight, not from me anyway." I don't even want to ask what they mean, watching as Sameira runs ahead of us, wagging her tail like she was a regular dog— like we were living a regular life and I was a happy neurotypical just walking her dog. Except I wasn't, and I never would be. So I walked in silence with my hellhound and insanity at my heels.