The crunching of hooves across the thin sheet of snow disrupted the peaceful silence of night. Uneasy and unable to sleep, Roland wandered carelessly across the frozen steppe, eyes raised heavenwards as he admired the dark night sky. The moon’s pale round face shone down upon his golden hide, illuminating the snow and throwing shadows into sharp relief. From one horizon to the next stars twinkled and shone, each one appearing crisp and white; yet if one looked closer they would see the myriad of colours flashing beneath, some inky blue while others sparkled blood red.

And cast across the sky like a mystic blanket swirled the aurora borealis, acid green and faded sapphire, dancing gracefully across the heavens on celestial wings. Roland’s breath steamed before his face as he walked, the otherworldly blush reflecting in his widened eyes. Wet snowflakes spiraled through the chilled air, biting into his skin with the sharpness of an icy bite, yet for once the wintry weather was not enough to make him seek out shelter. As he scaled a slow incline, his gaze moved to the ground before him, maneuvering over an icy patch and then looking out across the barren steppe.

He sensed the sudden presence of magic before it manifested before his very eyes, ears perking and step halting. After a few moments of breathless silence, several feet ahead of him the snow began to swirl, sparkling with an ethereal golden hue as it was woven into a glasslike object. The stallion stepped back a pace, watching with mixed fear and admiration as the mirror formed, framed with gilded ice and reflecting a crisp image of himself and the snowy ground around him.

At the top of the mirror curled a golden snake, unmoving as a statue. After a moment’s hesitation, when all seemed to grow still again, Roland stepped forwards and stretched out his neck, muzzle reaching hesitantly towards the shining reptile. He spoke no words for fear of breaking from some reverie, but paused, muscles tense in anticipation as he studied the apparition which appeared to have come from nowhere but the ground itself. If this was a God’s doing, only time would tell, and Roland was remarkably patient.

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An icy wind brushed chillingly against Roland’s throat as he reached out towards the mirror, but he was too entranced to spare a thought for the unpleasant weather. He had eyes only for the wintry mirror and the statue that was poised above it, wreathed in a halo of gold and frozen as if in ice. Time seemed to stop as the stallion gazed at it, the yellow glow cast across his champagne hide. After a moment it seemed life was suddenly breathed into the snake, and its skin began to crack and break, fissures appearing along its gleaming scales. Eyes like blood red rubies slowly opened, the cardinal hue contrasting sharply against the pale, unoffending palette of winter, and the gentle blush of gold emanating from the mirror.

Muscles jerked as the stallion started, watching as the statue came to life before his very eyes. He took a step back as the shell seemed to fall away from its body, revealing a shining charcoal skin beneath. It appeared so venomous and dangerous when moments ago it had seemed to be some angelic symbol, curled harmlessly atop an extra terrestrial pane of frosted glass. Roland tensed, his nostrils flaring, heart hammering against his ribs. He was unsure whether it was necessary to keep his distance or not, as the creature had made no move to harm him.

The unspoken question was answered soon enough as the otherworldly reptile parted its ebon jaws, revealing a throat of black and a snaking tongue of gold. Its demonic hiss cut through the air with the foreboding repercussion of a gunshot. The image was reflected in the icy mirror, Roland’s eyes bright and fearful, his golden body backed by the peaceful northern lights who were unmoved by the scene unfolding below them. The snake released its grip on the golden rim and threw itself towards him, muscular tail curling around the stallion’s neck as its sharp fangs sunk into his neck by the shoulder.

He let out a sudden cry of pain as the venomous teeth sank into his flesh, a searing burn jolting him like a sudden flash of fire amidst the cold. He reared back, trying to shake the creature from his neck, but as the poison bled into his bloodstream his vision slowly blurred, and the snow around him swam before his darkening eyes. His hooves met the snow with a heavy thud, blind spots appearing in his vision. Try as he might to blink them away the distortion remained, and his mind slowly blanked. The pain still seared through his neck, and he shook feebly to try and rid himself of the creature, breath rasping through his throat. Amidst the fog in his mind he was filled with regret at the choice to dare a late night walk, and the gamble he took when nearing this evident source of black magic.

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Just what foul trickery was at play here? The cloud in Roland's mind seemed to ebb away slightly as the snake released his throat from its jaws, falling to the ground. It's venom still coursed through his veins, startling his heart into a frantic beat. Beads of dark blood appeared where the reptile's teeth had once been, and the bared flesh stung bitterly against the cold. Panting heavily, the stallion jerked away from the strange creature as its head rose threateningly from the snowy ground.

He tensed suddenly, breath catching in his throat as it slithered towards him again, wrapping its muscular body up and about his leg. His skin felt as if it were on fire, just waiting to feel the white hot pain of poisonous teeth sinking into his limb, but rather than attacking him, he heard its bone chilling hiss echoing in his head. Shadowed sapphire eyes lowered to meet its bloodied gaze, and he knew the snake was daring him. What was he to say? If fate had brought him here, it had strange ways of showing its intentions.

He wasn't one to lend trust to inanimate objects so easily, but for once his curiosity outweighed his caution. He looked into the clouded depths of the mirror, studying his reflection in the misty glass. The snake was wrapped tightly around his leg, black body pinching his circulation off with an iron grip. Roland blinked, his mind processing every thought slowly and belatedly. There were so many questions he could ask, but he guessed this wasn't a chance for his three wishes to come true.

The possibilities of his question were strewn out before him, a mass of thoughts all screaming in his head, and every idea he grasped at slid from his grip. In the mirror, his reflection stared slack jawed at itself, still acutely aware of the dangerous reptile wrapped around his slender limb. He had been raised to be faithfully religious, and so his mind automatically strayed to the Gods.

This was clearly some strange magic, and there was no creature in sight for miles that could be causing the phenomenon he gazed upon. The prospect of knowledge was suddenly overwhelming to Roland, and he shied from the possibilities; inquiring after the future, of power or love. Perhaps that was what emboldened him to ask such a painfully simple question, though it was one that burned in the forefront of his mind like a bright white fire.

"Is this a Gods doing?" His voice quivered just slightly, sounding foreign to his ears as if it had known nothing but disuse. It stuck in his throat, but once the words were brought into the cold air there was no taking them back. His eyes studied the glass awkwardly, waiting for some new image to appear, or to listen to the throaty voice of the snake once again. He wanted to know the purpose of the venomous reptile and the mirror that had been born from the snowy ground. Over all the questions one would normally jump to when given such an opportunity, he merely wished for this. An explanation.

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Snow ghosted across the icy ground, gifted wings by the icy breeze that wreaked havoc across the barren steppe. It brushed against Roland’s fetlocks with a chilling touch, a shiver coursing through his tensed muscles. His sapphire gaze flicked from the snake back up to the mirror, hating the fearful look in his bright eyes. All too sudden the image changed, distorting the reflection of his golden body until nothing but gray mist appeared in the glass. The stallion jumped as the obscuring fog parted slowly to reveal a twisted image of the Earth God, his body emaciated and weak. The deity’s head was soon replaced by the Moon Goddesses, her face sunken and aged.

Roland’s lips parted to let out a wordless cry of protest, sounding uncomfortably like a whimper as he watched the distorted images of his beloved Gods flash across the mirror’s silvery surface. He stepped towards the speculum, stumbling as the snake’s grip threw him off balance. Blue eyes searched the glass, heart pounding frantically in his chest. Why was the snake showing him this? Was it just to toy with his emotions, or could it be a glimpse of the future, a fragment of paramount foreshadowing that was divulged only to his eyes? He stared helplessly at the blood stained faces of the Gods, a frown creasing his forehead as their bodies slowly turned to stone.

Occupied thoroughly with his anguish, he had barely felt his dark companion shift its grip on his leg and slither up his neck until its mouth lingered by his ear. Another snake had appeared in the icy looking glass, and this time Roland was wary at its appearance. He jerked away from the sardonic voice that cut through the night, unsure of whether it was a source of relief to him or not. “Then what does this mean?” He questioned, fear turning to frustration as he gestured towards the mirror with his muzzle. The words had barely left his tongue before the snake in the glass was leaping at him, a reflection of what had happened mere moments before. The other serpent coiled round his neck, choking off his oxygen as he jerked back, dancing out of reach.

His hooves thudded against the snow as he leapt backwards, missing the jaws of the new snake by mere inches. Nostrils flared, he turned to look at it in horror, shaking his head violently in hopes of ridding himself of the other reptile. This event alone was enough to make him forever wary of travelling alone at night, and this new aversion to snakes was likely to last a lifetime. The stallion rose up in a rear, back arching as he tried to twist his neck out of the snake’s grip, letting out a gasp. Spots of blindness and pale colour still lingered in his vision, and the bleeding wound on his throat stung as he writhed. “-the hell?” He managed to choke out in a voice so seldom vulgar, wondering what he had done to deserve this.

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For a moment relief washed over Roland as he felt the snake’s grip loosen from his throat and the reptile slipped from his neck, scales sliding against golden skin. It hit the snow with a satisfying, muffled thump, and the stallion didn’t hesitate in widening the distance between them. His sides were heaving with fearful breaths, eyes wide as he looked down at the two black serpents curled upon the icy ground. He didn’t even notice the cold wind as it blew against his skin; his blood was pumped full of adrenaline, and the ache of the bleeding wound on his neck was enough to keep his attention fixated elsewhere.

The bone chilling voice reaches him again, double toned as both snakes respond in time to each other. He flinches away from the noise, frowning at their response. “You must have some purpose, unless I am the victim of a poorly orchestrated jest,” he called back, voice quiet as if he feared to disturb the silence. It was too difficult to contemplate the reason behind the strange occurrence. Why should a mirror appear in the darkness, manifesting conveniently before his eyes, and his alone? Why should the snakes feel such resentment towards him when he was merely an innocent bystander caught up in the wonder of magic, when he had experienced so little in his life?

The mirror suddenly explodes, shards of ice shattering across the snow as the sound of breaking glass echoes across the flat ground. The gold light emanating from the speculum increases in intensity, casting a brief halo across his features. Shadows darkened and stretched across the white snow before the steppe was plunged into the blackness of night. The world became ominously still, suddenly lacking the mysterious lantern that had given Roland the opportunity to see clearly. His eyes gradually adjusted, the colourful banner of the northern lights rippling across the bejeweled sky.

For a moment he almost forgot about the two snakes lying in wait beneath the cover of shadows, until the ominous hiss of breath through their throats becomes a demanding, dangerous noise that split through the frosty air. The stallion tucked his chin down, searching the snow for the two black bodies. Luck appeared to be on his side, as their scarlet eyes caught the light of the moon when they moved, and he saw them as they lunged for his hooves. Heart pounding in his throat, he leapt from the ground, twisting in mid air and coming to land again a few feet away. He shifts about on his hooves, quickly growing tired of the serpents’ antics. Lifting his knees, he attempts to lash out at one of the creatures, hoping that, with a well aimed strike, he might be able to render it harmless. Whether it was capable of dying or not still remained to be seen.

[I didn’t have the time to proofread this, so I apologize for any mistakes!]

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As Roland’s hoof connected with the fragile body of the snake it seemed to shatter beneath his foot, innards spilling grotesquely across the snow as the silence was ripped to shreds by a blood curdling scream. The stallion jerked away from the serpent’s ruined body, nostrils flared as he searched for the form of the other reptile. Each turn of his head caused the wound at his throat to pulse painfully, a thin trickle of scarlet blood dripping its way down his chest and leaving dark spots on the white ground. His head still felt thick with fog, but his vision had cleared and now the only thing to obstruct his sight was the darkness that associated itself with night.

With the pale glow of the moon as a guide, he searched the snow until he caught the red glint of the second serpent’s ruby eyes, shocked to find them flown wide open as if in fear. Despite the tension of the moment, Roland frowned at it, wondering at the emotion that was displayed so clearly across its scaly features. His breath misted before his face as he watched it, preparing for another attack. As time passed however, the reptile made no move, remaining in one spot as it trembled. Roland’s own fear was replaced with incredulity as he noticed its body beginning to fade from the tail up, as if it was slipping out of tangency and into nothingness.

The snake was wracked with sudden convulsions, writhing about as if trying to escape from the inevitable; attempting to slip from whatever grasp magic held it in. Soon all that was left of the being was its head, and Roland flinched as it slowly turned to stone and fell with a heavy thud into the snow, cardinal eyes fading of their life. Shuddering, the stallion remained in place a moment longer, as if expecting something more to happen, yet nothing did.

He twisted his head about to look down at the puncture wounds in his neck, letting out a shaky sigh as his blackish blood glinted in the moonlight. He would enjoy washing that off in the morning. With one last wary glance at the snake, he turned on his heel and began to retrace his steps towards the Basin. “Some sick joke…” He muttered beneath his breath as the aurora borealis danced, joyful as ever, overhead.

[I actually had a nightmare the other night about these snakes… Not fun xD]

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