At first I can't see her. The only thing that gives away her presence is the sound of her breathing, and even that is difficult to pick out amongst all the other sounds of the Heartlands. And then, all of a sudden, she's there - for a moment just a shadow against the starry sky, a black patch of nothing and then she turns her head and the sight of her hits me like a sword through my chest, cold steel and warm blood and a sense of delirium.I walk up to her, gently touching a fur that is songs and dreams against my hands, feeling a warm breath that smells of shamrocks and starlight against my cheek. Already I am in love, hopelessly lost in those eyes that are like fire, at once the sort of fire that welcomes you home, gently crackling, and the sort of fire that consumes forests, villages, cities.Her ears point toward me as I whisper her name. The attention is exhilarating - not because she is a gift from my Speaker, but because this creature is clearly not sprung from Mundus. She feels like something of the Void, a small piece of the Dread Father himself and it is more than I could have ever dreamed of asking for.I whisper her name, my name, tell her that she is mine as much as I am hers while my fingers are tangled in her mane and her head comes to rest on my shoulder. I know that she is my reward for proven loyalty to Sithis and the Night Mother but she feels more like a comfort for the family I've lost and I wet her mane with tears over Ocheeva, Gogron, Telaendril, Vicente. My brothers. My sisters. Antoinetta Marie, Teinaava, M'raaj-Dar.
I weep for them as I sit up on this horse that moves like poetry, living magic and together we move away from Fort Farragut, disappearing into the darkness, barely making a sound as we pass through the Heartlands.
