Suddenly, Dominus is by her side. He'd hung back during the fight (if it could be called a fight - she'd had no chance against the skeletal monster) but now he is here, a low whine emanating from his throat as he touches his muzzle softly to her cheek. She'd not considered what would happen to him if she died. He couldn't survive without her, so her death would condemn him to the same fate.

That, more than anything so far, makes a second tear follow the first. What if they're separated once they pass? What if she never gets to hear his voice in her mind again, feel his emotions, things she's become so accustomed to during their three years together? It is unthinkable, terrifying.

Around her the battle rages; others throw their magic and their might against Kaos' monster, but Nyx knows it is futile. He cannot be defeated, not here, not today. He will be, though. He does not realise that when he trifles with one Helovian, he trifles with them all. Perhaps Nyx's death can be a beacon around which the amassed armies of Helovia can fight, a cause for them to raise their swords for. Or, as is more likely, she simply isn't that important, and will fade off as a footnote of history: Kaos' first kill.

Oizys is by her side in an instant, and amidst all her pain, Nyx registers some surprise that the girl seems to care so much. She hadn't thought that the gargoyle child had a single caring bone in her body, yet here she is, wracked with horror at the thought of losing her mother. The ironheart manages a weak smile, and desperately lifts her head to touch to her daughter's nose. "It's okay, my love. I can't think of a better cause to die for." Forcing the words out is almost impossible and the mare's head sinks swiftly back to the soil afterwards, her ruined side heaving with the exertion.

An unfamiliar mare comes, then, and her sweet song ripples through Nyx's ears. She closes her eyes, feels the pain in her side begin to ease as the healer's magic tickles across her torn and maimed skin, but she knows in her heart that it isn't enough. @Lena has eased her pain, undoubtedly smoothed her passing, but she cannot fix what is beyond broken. All the same, Nyx looks towards her salvation with warmth in her eyes, murmuring a soft "thank you" towards the unfamiliar woman who had been so willing to try and help her.

The peace and serenity is shattered by Arakh, his accusations towards his sister. Dominus issues a loud, protective growl towards the colt, warning him to fall silent and not upset Nyx any further; she doesn't need it, cannot handle it. Then comes @Kiuaji dressed as a dragonlike creature, one of the only ones who had defended her during THAT herd meeting, something she's eternally grateful for. He helps soothe her children and she gives him a soft whicker of thanks, relieved that he is helping where she cannot.

A young stallion ( @Sacre ) arrives, and Nyx feels recognition blossom in her mind. "You," she murmurs, looking at his red-splashed side. "You probably don't remember, but...you were there the first time I came to Helovia." She pauses, smiles feebly. "Full circle." The poetry of it is not lost on her. He works on her too, and her pain eases further as her ribs are shifted back into place. If they hadn't already done the damage with their jagged edges of bone and cruel shards pressing into her vital organs, then perhaps the man's work would have saved her. Alas, it only lessens the agony of the inevitable, but she is grateful nonetheless.

Then comes a duo of arrivals that only makes this a thousand times harder, that makes her bleeding heart swell with pride about the herd she's chosen to serve and the people she offered her sword to, but also with sorrow because of what she's going to leave behind. In @Alysanne , the Edge has a queen who will serve it loyally, who will rule it as Nyx never could; she receives a small, weak nod and as much of a smile as the grey can muster. The pegasus brings calmness with her, and Nyx feels some of her fear leak out of her.

And in @Tembovu ....in him, the Edge has power. Elephantine strength in the body of a man so good, so kind, that she knows he would do anything for the herd just as she would have. When she tries to think of all the things that Tembovu is to her, it makes her chest ache with the knowledge that she's leaving it all behind. Lover, king, herdmate, friend. Of all the people who have touched her heart since entering Helovia, he is one of the most pronounced, one of the ones to edge himself deepest into her emotions. Yes, she loves him. Maybe not in that way - although having been there and done that, she can give glowing recommendations - but in a platonic way, a way that is no less strong or real than the alternative. "I'm sorry," she murmurs sadly to him.

Finally comes @Esinakh , her youngest daughter, her last ever child. She stays away from the carnage and as much as Nyx wants to summon her closer, to wrap herself around her and feel her warm daughter-flesh one last time, she knows it would be selfish of her to expect the child to overlook her anxieties simply for that reason. Instead she offers a low whinny of greeting, and asks Dominus to remove the items she keeps stashed around her person. Towards Esinakh he carries the glass fangs forged by the Glaziers, dropping them at the filly's hooves. "I love you, Esi," is all she can say by means of explanation. To Arakh, Dominus carries her glass spear, depositing this by his feet too. "To help you keep her safe, my brave boy."

To Oizys, Dominus carries a glass shield. "To protect you when I'm gone." Then he places her glass shiv on the ground by nobody in particular. "For any of the Edge's warriors, should they choose to use it." Finally, the white lion carries Nyx's Moon Amulet towards Tembovu, placing it with surprising gentleness at his feet. Nyx had filled it with her magic only the other day - she hadn't imagined she would be parting with it so soon. "It has my magic inside. Not that you need my help to protect the herd, but...it's the thought that counts." Another weak smile. Around her neck is her Spark Amulet; she thinks she will take that with her to the grave, so she may have a part of her patron God with her at all times.

She peers through the crowd, half-hoping to see other familiar faces so she can bid them goodbye, too. Libertad, d'Arcy, Enyo. Mauja, d'Artagnan, Nato; her beloved family, and those who have made her journey through Helovia all the more remarkable. From the blind, abused child who held storms in her hands, to the loving mother, friend and General who makes her bow here, in a no-mark marsh in the grasp of a cruel God. So much has changed, and how she's grown! Overall, she has had a good life. She's had a happy life, and her final years in the Edge had been more than she could have ever dreamed of.

She looks between all of the gathered horses, but specifically those of the World's Edge, her home. The best home she's ever known, the herd she's been proud to serve for all these years. "If it's not too much to ask...would you take me to the Edge and bury me there?" She feels herself growing choked as she speaks, as she fights against the dying of the light in her eyes; not yet, not yet. "It is my home and always will be...I would like to spend my eternity there." The mare allows herself to smile, thinking of the thousands of sunsets she can still witness when she is laid to rest in the Edge, its loyal soldier watching over it even in death.

I'm scared, she says to Dominus as he returns to her. He rests his magnificent maned head down on her cheek, until she feels his whiskers brush up against her sweat-soaked skin. "Me too," he replies, open and honest as he allows his own fear to mingle with hers. Their minds entwine together closer than they ever have before, memorising every last bit of one another, exploring every inch of the other until they are one as never before.

The silver swallows hard, gulping down the lump in her throat. Together? she questions.

"Together," he replies. "Always."

At last, the mare allows herself to relax, to put down her sword and shield and accept the inevitable. She's been fighting all her life, from the dark days of her mother's abuse to the dozens of physical altercations she's survived since she entered Helovia. To finally let that all go, to submit to the inevitable...it is a release, a glorious slackening of battle-tensed muscles, unfurling herself from her armour and allowing the final war to end.

Nyx takes one last lingering look at everyone gathered - friends, children, loved ones each and every one of them - and then up to Dominus, imprinting the image of each of them behind her eyelids as she finally shuts them. They are the last thing she sees as, with a sigh of relief, she feels the fear disappear and the peace wash over her. Death's hands grip her, pull her in, but she's not scared anymore; she's ready.

With one final breath, the mare's consciousness fades and she tumbles into Death's waiting arms. No more than a second later, Dominus twitches, growls, and follows; his great white body falls slack as he passes alongside his bonded, their dual minds still entwined as they go together into the next great adventure.

Together. Always.