So much was happening. She had tried to return home, tried to fall into the confines of the Basin, and all that had waited was darkness. In her desperate attempts at escape, she had barely slipped free from the steppe, kicking up frozen soil and freezing snow as she abandoned the north, left behind her pines and her mountains, left behind her family. She had crossed the plains, across many lands, and no matter how hard she looked, couldn’t find her children. She couldn’t find Mesec. Panic clouded her judgement, sharpened her edges, churned her calm and controlled spirit, forcing her into wild eyes and tangled mane, tossed by the wind that whipped past her as she thundered south.

It was here she had found Mesec so many weeks ago. It was here that she had remembered. It was here that his warm touch had set her ablaze, sent her spiraling, pushed her into territory she would have never assumed she would fall into. But how could one foster the smallest ounce of desire, of love, when the world was ending?

She had heard of the altar, listened to whispers of the god Kaos, and she needed to place herself within ground zero, hope to find an answer, pray that her children and their father would be waiting. There was no reason they would be here. But in her panic she just needed to see, to hear, to learn, to beg, try to ensure that they would be spared.

A voice rings out, and the blue girl slows her pace to a canter, but still continues on, silver eyes flashing, ears twisting. Words she doesn't understand cut through the air, and someone has beat her to this place. She slows as a form appears, her muscles tight, ears pinned, anger coursing through her. For eons, gods have unleashed power and punishment and meaningless death. But when it touched upon her, upon them, upon the countless souls who lived upon this world, somehow it seemed personal. She tried to quell her fevered spirit, hoped that maybe she could find answers.

She prowls forward, a warrior placed upon long legs, gifted a sword to swing, and words to bite. Perhaps everything her father had put her through, all of her training, all of her sharpness, could finally be put to good use. But she finds comfort in knowing that another has already come here, and she stops several paces away. “What is happening?” she begins, holding her voice steady, keeping her external composure calm, even though every nerve is alight. Her stormy eyes seek out the woman’s brown gaze. “I don't have any idea what is unfolding, other than what I have seen with my own eyes. Our gods, have they really gone?”

The world seems quiet around them, and for a moment she looks past the woman, at the onyx pillar, at the runes engraved upon it. When Mesec had found her, is this what he was looking for? Had he come from here? Had he known something?

“My family could be in danger because of this,” she says, and her voice shakes ever so slightly. She contains her tears, begs her racing heart to calm, pushes down the nauseating fear that threatens to pour over. “I cannot find them. Please, tell me what you know. Maybe I can help stop it. Maybe there is something I can do. If whatever is happening has hurt them, has kil-“ finally she chokes, expression twisting for a moment with fear, unable to say it.

But despite her inability to say it, she couldn’t help but see it, burning and blazing in her mind's eye, their broken forms laying in a haze, unmoving, lifeless, and the knowledge that she would be alone again. Knowing that maybe should could have protected them.

She couldn't be alone again.