There was no wind. There was no rain. There was no sun. There was only darkness and a bitter cold that slowly seeped into the bones. The thickness of the winter coat no longer mattered. The shadows didn't care about size or age, health or durability. They penetrated every body equally, stiffened limbs and sent joints aching until only movement seemed to thaw out the blood enough to keep it flowing. Without the sun to warm the air even the desert oasis had begun to freeze over. Sharp shards cut painful scratches in the sensitive muzzle as she tried to drink, chilled her already frozen stomach and lent an illusion of fullness that only too quickly faded, leaving behind an even deeper sensation of hunger.

It didn't matter where she was anymore. The pillar of hope that burned eternally in the desert gave only light and some small amount of warmth, but it would be impossible to remain by it all the time. There was no food to find out there, no water and precious little safety - if any place at all could be considered safe anymore. Oh, the crow knew that the warriors of the herd was alert and doing their best to patrol the borders, but in this darkness anyone would be able to slip past a guard with a bit of caution and cunning.

Shivering as liquid ice slowly sunk into the depths of her gut the short mare raised the head from the black waters of the Oasis and padded away from the shore to lean against the red tree that stood like a black tower against the grayish sky. The light of the Divine Flame barely reached here and shrouded the desert plains in an eternal dusk where only shadows and the memory of light thrived. Dying grass crunched softly beneath hard hooves, muffled by the sand and yet appearing to echo in the hovering silence that threatened to make her permanently deaf.

A sigh set velvety nostrils trembling as the little raven took the weight off her hooves, wings hanging limp from the shoulders and head held low. Heavy eyelids fell down over lavender eyes; there was nothing to see anyway. Only mile upon mile of deserted lands, darkness and gloom.

No one laughed anymore. It felt blasphemous, as if the darkness would take offense by any sign of mirth... not that there were reasons to laugh nowadays. Hunger, cold, the constant threat of the northerners..

"..and why did I come here again?" she sighed to herself, wincing with backstroked ears over how loud the soft murmur had sounded.

Dark lids cracked open a smidgen as the silence shattered once more, broken this time by the painted stallion she had seen at the meeting. The darkness appeared to thicken as she looked up and glanced in his direction, words obviously replying to her listless sentence; she allowed it to and spent the long drawn pause in search for his name. It had been something grand, something that belonged under a brilliant sun where the gold on his coat could glimmer and shine and play upon the heavy metal collar that weighed around that muscular neck. Something fit for a general with all the trust of the leaders and all the heavy responsibility to carry on two-toned shoulders...

Ah, yes. Midas. Hectors colleague and, she supposed, her superior too.

The shadow reluctantly retracted the wings and settled them more neatly against the shoulders, neck tossing in a manner that could only be considered a shrug.

"Who knows" she replied with tired voice, understanding without words who the soldier referred to - they were on everyones lips these days. "This place is too strange for me to understand. I never believed in gods to begin with.. not sure I do still. But apparently they're needed, and from what I saw out there on the meadow they left reluctantly."

"Yes, I think they will come back. But when? What is a mortal lifetime for a god. For all I know they might as well wait until we're all dead and rotten, so they can start over from scratch."

Eyes closed again tiredly as her ears turned forward, searching for what her eyes strained to see; the location of his bulk, the awareness of his presence, the inaudible sound of blood and muscle moving beneath the smooth coat. She didn't have to see him to hear what he said, didn't have to be close to discuss a subject that had been turned over and over in her mind, in the quiet conversations of others around her, in pained tones whimpered at the deepest sleep. The shadow didn't move, but nonetheless her focus was directed towards Midas, quietly trying to figure out why he had brought up this subject of all there were to talk about. Did he try to comfort, or was he seeking it for himself?

"What do you think, General" the voice inquired after a moment, betraying none of her musings as it slithered across the void to reach his ears; silken as the black feathers of her wings and exotic in its unusual rhythm. "Do you long for the return of your gods?"

She couldn't argue with his views. While her faith towards these divine rulers was questionable at best she couldn't deny that she missed the sun. The warmth against the skin, the bright lights and the soft shadows it created, and the peace of the cool darkness that came when it set, lit by moon and stars. How much longer would they be able to stand this long nothingness? Without time, without food, with barely any stimulation for the senses the raven was starting to doubt her own existence. Remembering what she lived for had grown harder and harder and more often she found herself dwelling on the sadness of the past.

A soft hum acknowledged the truth of the generals words, but the way she was addressed made the stocky mare shift uncomfortably where she stood. Lady? She really hoped he didn't take her for one...
"I'm no lady, so you don't need to be so polite" she mumbled and peeked a quick glance at him from under the thick and ragged forelock. "Name's Skuggi or Shadow, whichever you prefer; the meaning's the same either way. And yes, I'm new. Arrived a short time before the Darkening, invited to stay by Cirrus. Gotta say, I'm starting to question my decision..."

A wry grin stretched across the maw, the first hint of a smile she had shown in days. It was unexpectedly nice to have company. Used to take care of herself as she was, independent by nature and unaccustomed to the constant presence of other horses, the inky crow had kept mostly to herself since she came to the Throat. Crowds made her nervous and with the multitude of faces it was hard to remember everyone; she'd rather not say anything at all than make herself look stupid by calling people by the wrong name.

"Is Helovia always this unpredictable?" she resumed and cracked an eye open for a curious glance towards the painted soldier. "I've herd of gods and seen magic, and many of the horses I've met so far has been accompanied by the strangest creatures... Wolf-like beasts, specters and even a young boy with a red bear with a tail on his head. How come this place is so different from the rest of the lands I've roamed?"

An ear ticked forward in interest as the general answered her, but found the explanation unsatisfactory. A flick of a tail was followed by stirring motion, the mare straightened up and eased her stiff limbs into a slow walk that brought her closer to the painted warrior, determination gleaming in the weary eyes.

"Maybe it is the gods then" she mused and came to a halt next to the other, leaving the space of a wingspan between them, enough so that it wouldn't be uncomfortably close and yet close enough not to strain the voice. "I've been roaming my entire life, you know" she confided, "flying from land to land, between north and south so many times that I couldn't remember where I was born for anything in the world. The horses I've met on the way have been much like myself and my parents; nomads, rovers, godless and homeless - if owning the world makes one without a home, that is."

She tucked her wings closer to the slender body, huddling slightly in the bitter cold in an attempt at keeping the chill off the skin. "I never heard of gods before.. not beyond fairy tales mom used to tell, from where she lived as a foal. Magic was a tale too, and you wouldn't believe my shock when I discovered that it's commonplace here. I thought they were all mad when they started talking about Lords and powers and soul bonds..." She shook her head sceptically, still unwilling to believe in any of it despite everything she had seen so far.

"Is it really that common?" she asked and gave Midas a curious look, apparently feeling far more talkative than she'd looked. "Magic, I mean. On Cirrus it sounded like every horse and their uncle has it, and that the gods hand it out like candy to children..." The thought made her gut tickle in curiosity and intrigue. If anyone could get it, did that mean she could too? The thought both scared and enthused her, to the point where a small greedy smile spread over her maw, unhidden and as obvious as the lack of sun in the sky.

"Oh.. " the little mare murmured, disappointment faint but decidedly there in her voice as she tried to fit her mind around the elusive nature of the magic. "That means that either you have it or you don't, then. I'd have hoped... well, I guess it doesn't matter. But what about these companions then? How do you find them, is that coincidence too?" Rounded ears immediately turned forward again, the expression of the shadow at once enthusiastic again. There was so much she didn't know that the horses around her seemed to take for granted, so many details and unwritten rules that they didn't think would need explaining but that made her feel a bit left out. So far Skuggi had done a good job in assimilating into the herd, but there was no doubt that she still was a newcomer, only just knowledgeable enough to get by in this area.

There was no denying that she had a particular interest in magic, however. The miracle of healing injuries in just a few heartbeats, the power to tame the wind and make animals obey your commands, they were just small examples of the wonders she had been allowed to witness. Conveniently the young mare chose to forget that magic also was the cause of this long darkness; she chose to remain blind to the very real threat it posed to not only her safety but also that of the ones around. It was the kind of reckless childish enthusiasm that made foals dive off cliffs with the daredevil belief that the wings would carry them if they just had enough time to get used to the wind, that made young stallions challenge mountain lions. The risks was a mere afterthought, pain a result of ones personal lack of skill - all that mattered was the thrill of the moment that set the heart pumping.

It was with curious enthusiasm the raven eyed the painted general, her gruff attitude melting for each second to reveal a generous, open-minded girl who simply had seen too much of the darker sides of life. While not mindlessly trusting of the taller stallion, the amethysts that gleamed in the faint light of the Seer's Fire remained clear and unguarded none the less as they imprinted his coloring and built into her mind - stopping, only as they touched upon the heavy collar that rested around his neck.

"What is that?" she asked curiously and nodded towards the metallic contraption, nose twitching from a desire to reach out an touch it. It looked uncomfortable to have something like that clamping down around the neck, the muscles of her own arch swelled at the mere thought of the restraint; feathers of the wings swelled and ruffled, making her unfurl them and give the stale winter air a quick beating to release the tension felt.

Was that curiosity that glittered in the eyes of the General as she veered off from the words that had teased upon her tongue? His interest in her thoughts was almost as curious as the explanations he offered to her persistent questions, and honestly the raven felt flattered by it. Compared to the tall, strong and decidedly handsome stallion she was a nobody, a mere newcomer who knew nothing of the world and even less about the herd - that one such as he would be willing to stand there and take time from his duties to play twenty questions with a shadow was both kind and daunting.

Never the less, it didn't stop her from spilling the words that crowded her tongue. There was so much to learn here, so many things she wished to know, and Midas - being a native and prominent figure of the herd - seemed the perfect person to inch knowledge from. Skuggi rewarded his answers with a bright smile, his comment about finding what one desired having definitely cheered her up once more. "Does that mean one could get anything, if it's just wished for long and hard enough? It seems so easy, maybe almost too easy. Doesn't it ever come with a cost, this magic?"

Dark ears perked upon the mention of a son, and with a shift of the weight that set a round yet skinny rump slanting sharply to one side the little pegasus settled down more comfortably, decidedly enjoying her company.
"You have a family? That's nice... Do they live within the herd?" There was a barely noticeable hint of envy to her words, a bitter aftertaste caused by the memory of what she herself had lost. Shadow always did her best not to bother others with her own sorrows, but that didn't mean that she never felt down. The loss of her parents was still so fresh, the pain had yet to become old. Would she ever learn to live with it? The horses of the Throat was slowly filling the hole left in her heart, but new faces would never be able to fully make up for the loved ones she would never see again.

She suppressed a sigh and listened as Midas explained about the collar, eyes following as he gestured towards it and touched upon a glittering rock at the center of the piece. "Lord of Earth.." she mumbled, thoughtful and almost absent-minded. "Cirrus mentioned a Lord of Sun... How many gods are there? I mean, I saw some figures at the darkening that I suppose must have been the gods, but was that all of them, and who were the others..?" The thought of deities walking on the earth and looking like someone's uncle still didn't sit right with her. That she would have actually seen them with her own eyes was even more incredible, something that surely should have been a dream. And yet here they were, standing in the shadow of their disappearance - and there was no doubt that something on a divine level would have had to cause it.

It was much to consider, so very much for a lost little crow, and with a soft snort the girl lowered the head to rub her nose tiredly against a foreleg. If she didn't have a headache after this conversation had ended, she'd never get one.

A sigh slipped unwanted from trembling nostrils, elated and content and happy all at once. The small smile that had settled upon her shadowed lips was bright and grateful as it radiated towards the painted hestrinn, a mere expression of the attention she payed him.

Such a patience. How many horses did she know that was willing to stand there and answer question after random question, always with a willing smile? Well, Hector of course, and maybe Cera too, the young colt she had met just after the Darkening. And Fawkes, the blue-coated unicorn from the North. Actually, most of the stallions she had come across thus far had been incredibly mild of temper - but that was beside the point. More important was that she felt a growing sense of gratitude and respect towards the smiling general and it kept her from prying deeper into a subject that apparently dampened his spirit as much as it did hers. She willingly veered off the topic of family and told herself to be content with what she'd managed to learn; instead the inky raven returned to the subject of gods and magic, since it appeared least troublesome to discuss.

"Do you have magic?" she asked with a childishly eager look, hoping against hope that he wouldn't tire of her sudden jumps between topics. All bounds had loosened from her tongue by now, and she simply let the thoughts out as they came to her - what was the point of being shy if directness would cure her curiosity faster? "What kind is it, what kinds of magic are there? Cirrus healed me once, just as I came here, and then she did something funny with the weather... I think it was her, at least. And she carried a wolf-looking thing on her back, can you believe! I suppose that was her companion then... Do you have one of those too?"

The little mare had a hard time staying still from the excitement that prickled her limbs like tiny tickling needles. For the first time in.. she didn't know how long, she felt energy rush through the body as if she'd be able to run a mile or fly from the red rocks to the very ocean in one go. Of course she'd better not if she was to survive until spring came, but it felt so incredibly good to be alive just then. There was no telling how long it would last, but she was intent on making the most of the moment...

Her smile managed to broaden even more as he inclined the graceful head into a yes, but as the ground before her hooves suddenly started to move the expression ran away from her face even faster than an otter down an icy slope. “My magic steams from Earth and Sun, I can bend sand and shift the plates of earth,” she heard him say, but the words sounded like they were coming from far, far away, muffled and faint. All the clearer were the granules of sand that soundlessly, effortlessly rose from the ground, completely resistant to the cold northern wind that chilled her hocks. Widening eyes followed them transfixed until they came to a halt, the little mare frozen into place, stiff as a statue... Red dust began to change, its gleam deepening in the faint glow from the Seer's Fire until granite turned to purest gold, one grain at a time.

Only when the glittering, shimmering mass fell back to the ground again did she remember to breathe. An explosive gasp left the raven, followed by a deep breath that send her coughing and hacking as it got stuck in the wrong pipe. There was no hiding the tremble of her limbs as eyes traveled back and forth between Midas and his.. well, creation, part exalted - and part terrified.

"Amazing" she breathed and turned to stare at the paint, eyes glittering with unhidden emotions. "How.. why.. Is it hard? It looked hard..."

Did she look stupid as she nodded when he told her about the gods? Shadow certainly felt it, especially as a large golden bird came flying from the nothingness that was the sky, so magnificent that the mere sight of it made her want to shed tears. How could the eyes of a bird make her feel so small, so insignificant?

"Hello Fina. I'm Shadow... Midas, she's so beautiful!" Was it humility, the slight hitch that clogged her voice and made it tremble? There certainly was awe that reflected in the eyes of the little wingling as she admired the phoenix, but there was also something else. A... longing, as if she had just realized something that had never occurred to her before, or found the answer to a question she never wondered about.

"I wish I were like you" she eventually sighed, her small frame sinking a smidgen as a heavy sigh that wasn't so much jealous as it was admiring. "I mean, you know this place. You have family and friends, customs and traditions and magic.. and you have Fina, I guess that is more special than anything. As for me..." she trailed off, throwing a glance over the shoulder to her dark frame. Compared to the dazzling general she truly looked a shadow. Small and dark and plain, with no family left, no friends and nothing that tied her the the herd except the kindness of others. She didn't say it, but her thoughts were easy enough to follow as she turned back and made a tiny shrug, as though intent on giving up.

A soft laugh whispered from her throat as Midas jested, a kind and jingling sound like water beneath ice and dew falling onto mossy rocks. It was hard to take the eyes off the golden bird, and as it didn't seem to mind the shameless admiration the shadow offered the little mare simply kept studying it as she listened to the stallion. Her smile faded slightly as he mentioned the weakening of the magic, eyes turning distant as she tried to imagine what it must feel like. As if the winds suddenly didn't have the strength to carry her weight, leaving her forced to gallop twice as long in order to reach half the height. Was it because the gods weren't there? If magic came from them like the light of the sun and the stars and moon did, it would explain why magic was weakened or even disappeared altogether.

Finally she tore her eyes away from Fina and turned the gaze back to the face of the painted warrior, a faint sigh slipping from the nostrils as he tried to soothe her.
"I'm not sure about the family part" she mumbled with a wry twist of the mouth. "I've seen both the best and the worst sides of love... I wouldn't want to expose myself to something as cruel." The raven turned her head away and stirred, tiny hooves shuffling the dry, cold earth beneath her.

"I never had a homeland" she continued in reply to his question. "In all my life I've never stayed in one place for a full season. We were always traveling, always on our way to someplace else - me, my mother and my father. Sometimes we joined up with others of our kind, but never for long; most of the time it was us three and no one else. We flew all across the northern lands, from icy tundra through mountains so tall that they reached above the clouds, over vast oceans to tiny specs of islands where nothing lived but birds. I grew up navigating the night sky and following the sun from east to west, learning to fight bears and mountain cats... "

"It was very different from the life you live here" she noted, throwing a glance over at Midas. "We didn't have a herd, there were no ranks or rules or enemies... There were rogue stallions trying to possess my mother and me, wild mares playing to ensnare my father, bands of rovers and outlaws from great realms joining together to try and claim lands and become kings... Not that anyone can ever rule the wilderness. The seven winds flow as they please and the sun and moon sets and rises no matter who decides over mortal lives. Things like leadership and loyalty is nothing but a silly game out there - all that matters is the beating heart, the wind over the wings and the freedom to come and go as you please."

Would he understand what she was talking about? As the black crow watched the general she couldn't help but feel old, much older than her years suggested. It was strange to think that she had seen much more than this tall, noble general, that there were vast oceans of difference between them. Yes, she longed to be more like him, to have roots that held her down and drove away the wild longing to see the other side of the horizon that never seemed to leave her. Even here, now, as she stood and cried out her wish to be sister and family with all the horses in the Dragon's Throat there was still something calling to her, threatening to pull her away. Once a nomad, always a nomad her mothers voice whispered across her mind, and Shadow shuddered visibly as a cold wind swept by and tugged at her mane.

She nodded somberly at his comment, understanding all too well what he meant. Nothing it the world was free. Even simple things like grazing, drinking and sleeping came with risks and costs, from exposure to predators, toxic plants, drowning... Even breathing was dangerous, and for every day they lived they came one step closer to death. No wonder that the mortal life was so hectic then, when there were so much to be done in such a short span of time. Maybe some found the time better spent on chasing after the opposite sex, indulging in physical pleasure and procreating... But not Shadow. The raven wanted something more with her life, wished to leave behind something greater when her time was up. Family... meh. Not yet.

He seemed to listen intently as she continued, that Midas. She watched him at the periphery of her field of vision, noticing the wide-eyed excitement as she told him about her past. A hint of a smile passed like a breeze over the dark face, lavender eyes softening with understanding. He must be as eager to know of the outside world as she was to know the inner workings of Helovia. Their range of knowledge was vastly different and yet somehow.. they both appeared clueless, each in their own way.

"Haha sure, if you tell me what you would like to know" she chuckled as the paint asked for more stories. "In return you can teach me how to be of use to this herd... I didn't come here to be a wallflower." The small, finely chiseled head nodded assertively, sending the airy mane in cascades around the stout neck; there was no mistaking that while the crow was small, she also had fire.

But once the subject turned to her parents, the light in her eyes almost went out completely. Like flipping a switch or blowing out a candle, the mare stilled and grew silent, almost visibly withdrawing into herself.
"Father is, I think" she mumbled and looked away, expression unreadable. "Mother... passed away about a year ago."

Why was it so hard to talk about it? The sorrow would always be there, always be fresh; did it matter whether she told Midas the truth or not? But even though the words burned on the tongue she kept swallowing them down, half-panicked and nauseous at the thought of confessing her sin to this proud, strong and noble warrior. Surely he would frown at her if he learned of it. There was no doubt in her mind that the kind smile would fade, that the warmth of the dark eyes would turn to ice and shut her out... Shadow didn't want that. She wanted to remain where she was, wrapped in this cloak of comfort and camaraderie that staved off the chill of the night, that let her hunger abate and almost made it seem as though nothing at all was wrong with the world.

And so she remained quiet as heartbeats dragged on, beat by heavy beat - a silence tainted by a taste of guilt that never washed off the tongue.