Their gazes crossed and as the blue-eyed outcast smiled the raven couldn't help but return one of her own, gratitude and appreciation for the swift action apparent in the inclination of the chiseled head. Nostrils flared as the shade took a similarly deep breath, savoring the scent of wind and earth and brimstone that pummeled her senses, then flicked the tail and adjusted the angle of a wing to slip slightly closer to the other, just so she wouldn't have to shout to be heard.

"I was naive who let him so close to me in the first place" she admitted with a bitter grimace. "Even though our leaders told us not to allow anyone close to the borders I didn't react when I came upon him, and like a brainless colt I followed him where few would be able to find me... I won't be doing that again, that's for sure." Conveniently she forgot that following the lead of the lightning bird was just what she had done before. This and that was separate things, why would the rover help her escape just to imprison her again? No, Shadow didn't fear the younger mare that flew beside her, not like she had the horned stallion.

An ear twitched as the voice of her rescuer reached it, and while focusing her gaze on the horizon Skuggi listened to the hesitant question she was asked. It was her turn to smile; with a soft neigh she beat the inky wings to add speed to her flight before making a roll that sent the moon and the stars swirling around her, an expression of joy and delight that set her in a graceful tumble over the feathered girl and on to her other side. There the amethyst-eyed mare planed out gracefully and made a little squeal from delight, letting the wind whip and tousle the hairs of her mane.

"I do know, vinur minn" she exclaimed, happy to be able to help the one who helped her. "I saw it with my own eyes. By the time winter reached its peak a great battle took place on the meadow north of here, between the Gods of Helovia and something strange that didn't seem to belong here. Like a crack in a rock it seemed, only it cracked the air and the world instead. The gods tried to keep it back, but apparently they couldn't and so they went into it... First a golden stallion, then a great brown one, followed by a lavender mare and finally by the black and swirly one. When he disappeared the crack did so too, and then darkness fell."

Shadow shuddered visibly as she remembered the light draining from the sky, feeling fear like an echo of her emotions back then.
"Not dark like now" she continued, more quietly this time. "There were no stars, no moon, no nothing. Only the Seer's Fire in the Throat, the glowing Heart and these light trees... They weren't as bright as they are now though. I guess something good happened a while ago, because between a breath and the next the stars and the moon returned, and it grew warmer... Some of the magical folks in my herd says their magic is starting to return, though it's a bit... odd. Like it's broken, or something."

She tilted the head towards the dark figure, alert gaze interested in figuring out if the mare would make more sense of it than Skuggi could. The raven still found the events she had witnessed to be more than just a little incredible, and she really wouldn't blame the other for not believing her.

Focusing on the surroundings once more, her stomach made a happy churn as she noticed that the landscape was growing dryer. Vegetation slowly thinned out and started to give way to rocks she knew to be red as blood - now they seemed more like dark gray lumps bathed in moonlight. The little raven longed to shoot forward and dive down towards them, wanted to speed up and disappear into the dark labyrinth she knew to hide amongst the stones, but she couldn't. Not while she had a stranger along with her. Instead she broke the straight course and cut across the winds, elegantly falling into a large circle that let her remain in largely the same place.

"Thank you again for freeing me" she said with a smile and followed the path of the other. "My name is Skuggi - most call me Shadow around here. You're free to come and stay in the herd if you'd like; all winged ones are welcome at Dragon's Throat, especially brave and skilled ones like you."