Chapter 6: Death and Vengeance

I don't know how long I lay here, staring up at the trees above me in silence. Must have been a while, as I began to notice the small streaks of light piercing through random openings. I couldn't sleep, the memories of the night before burned into my mind and replayed over and over. It wasn't until a small ray of light, barely a speck, shifted into my eye that I groaned in annoyance and resigned myself to getting up.

The first thing I did upon returning from my little quest was study the new map. I made sure to mark where Twilight Purple had motioned at, before taking in everything else. While a bit unorthodox looking at first, it's not too different from the varying biomes in Azeroth's continents come to think of it...

I couldn't read any of the writing on the map, but I could at least make out what the symbols meant for the most part. From what I could tell, the most prominent species seem to be small ponies, gryphons, some more traditional looking horses and dragons.

'I could try a death gate again...' The thought whispered in the back of my mind.

I could.

This whole time I've known I could just open a portal and leave this place, but a part of me wanted to find another way. I'm not sure if it's the fear that, as I step through that portal, I'll come face to face with that monster as I did so many other times. Or... that it will kill me.

Firstly... It just bothered me. Having to rely on that damned spell that I had used so many times to return to that cursed place... after finishing whatever heinous task he'd given me. Even though I had heard of the fall of Ebon Hold, it didn't change my feelings towards the spell.

Secondly... even if I was "Immortal" I could imagine very clear limits on my abilities, which I thought up not too long after my first long flight on a griffon with lots of thinking time. If I can't find my body after I die, how do I come back? Well, the answer to that one is probably an eternity in spirit world purgatory.

Imagine if a unstable portal killed me somehow, and sent my body hurtling somewhere in spacetime. I'd be stuck in the spirit world forever... and that's not something I'd really prefer to do thank you very much.

Which is why I've always preferred the slower way to travel... usually by vehicle, wind rider or my own two feet. Of course, this all is under the assumption I'm even still immortal, and that first death wasn't a one off second chance.

But, seeing as there was no other way...

'I guess I might as well look around first, can't help to take in the sights a bit before I leave. After all I'll probably never see this place again anyway'

I looked at the forest around me, the early morning alive with birdsong. Stretching a bit, feeling a ripple of cracks up my back, I pulled myself back over to the forest edge. My eyes suddenly widened at the sight. The village I payed a friendly visit to last night lay before me across the short green field. However... things have definitely escalated while I've been resting.

Yeah, resting.

'I've certainly attracted a lot of attention' I thought to myself as I watch the bustling village during the early morning hours no less. 'All this over a library break in?'

The village in question was alive with activity, even at the early crack of dawn. Ton's of ponies with white coats and golden armor covered every entrance to the town, standing completely still with an unwavering gaze. Thoughts about relocating away from the forest came to mind, but were all put on hold at what I saw before me.

A Equine creature with a Pure white coat appeared at the edge of the village, looking towards the forest I was in. It was much larger than the other ponies, rivaling even my own height. It's mane and tail seemed to gently move of it's own accord, swaying in a prism of colors I'd never thought I'd see come to life like they were right now.

I'm not... sure the emotion I felt looking at the thing. It was certainly a beautiful creature, more so than most I've seen in my travels... but as I watched it I couldn't help but feel a strange warmth.

Placing my hand on my chest, slipping though my armor, I felt my cold skin against my hand. After a long pause, I felt a faint heartbeat, before another long pause. I certainly was an oddity among other Death Knights or undead that was for sure. Cold as ice, but still had a heartbeat... I can't explain how it feels to have cold blood flowing though your veins like that.

'I guess the alternative is no heartbeat so I'll take what I can get'

I turned my gaze back to the village, and watched the creature for a while longer, wondering what it was planning on doing. Much to my surprise, it just stood there... staring into the forest as if waiting for me to make the first move. I don't think I'll be sneaking into the village any time soon... not that it mattered, as I'd already found what I was looking for.

Thinking back to what I'd seen about the mountain, both from the map and what I could observe from here, getting there without being seen would be quite the difficult task. Based off what I could match up from the illustrations... the only two ways to the castle are by the train network or the heavily guarded caravan trail.

'Getting into the castle was going to prove much more difficult than I anticipated... perhaps it's not worth it after all' I pondered the idea, settling on a decision. 'Maybe I shouldn't be pushing my luck anyway, I don't even belong here'

And it was true, you could see the stark contrast between me and the very land itself. The longer I stayed here, the more of a chance I'd corrupt whatever peaceful land this was. My thoughts drifted back to the winged unicorn I had "met" in the library, and felt a twinge of regret in the back of my mind. Looking back at it... I really must have terrified the poor thing.

Letting out a deep sigh, I resigned myself to what I was about to do.

While I preferred to do this while I was in worgen form, I could still preform the spell as a human too. I just preferred my beast form due to the... incision on my hand I had to make. Proven from many battles, I've found that small cuts stop bleeding much faster in my beast form.

Kneeling down, I drew a small line in the dirt, before returning to my full height and lifting my hand over it... before making a shallow cut on the palm of my hand. I gingerly moved my hand over the line I drew, and let a drop of blood land on each side, before taking a deep breath and recalling the incantation. Steeling my nerves, I let the last drop land in the center.

Flinching as it landed, I expected the purple energy to light up like it had many times before... but it never did. The blood slowly absorbed into the dirt as I furrowed my brow in annoyance. Growling in frustration, I brushed the dirt away and made a new line, before drawing more blood out of my fresh wound. Three small drops later, and the portal still wasn't active.

My rage began to boil over as I continued to retry the ritual, even making new cuts to draw from to try and bring forth some kind of reaction. After the fifth attempt with no results, I finally gave up as blood flowed freely down my arm and into the dirt below. Trying to distract myself from the situation I now found myself in, I rummaged around in my pouch before pulling out a small bundle of bandages and began wrapping my lacerated arm. It would work for now... at least until I had some real combat to leech off of.

I was quickly pulled out of the bandaging process by the faint sound of metal clanging together. I froze, and snapped my attention back to the village and set my eyes upon quite a sight. A large mass of ponies wearing that golden armor, and even a few wearing a deep blue, had gathered at the edge of the village in small groups. Before I could take in any more details, they started to fan out towards the forest, closing in quickly.

'They're gonna search the whole forest?!' I could feel my heartbeat raise as I quickly shifted back into Worgen, and took off deeper into the trees. 'Okay, I definitely took it too far this time, these ponies are definitely much more skittish than what I'm used to'

My paws beat hard against the ground as I charged through the forest, branches and dead bits of wood crumbling under my strides. The sound of armor and weapons clinking together reached my ears, as they swiveled around at every new noise.

The air quickly grew stagnant as I felt my panting grow deeper, the patchy wooded ground quickly transforming into small pools of stale yellow water. I had seen this on the map, some kind of bog connected to the forest. I couldn't read any of the warnings, but I could tell from all the symbols that nothing good dwelled here.

'So... no death gate...' My mind raced as I darted through the bog, 'If that doesn't work... what if...'

I felt my adrenalin start to rise, as I realized the possible situation I was in.

With the realization that I can't open a portal to Ebon Hold anymore, what if other abilities of mine didn't work?

'I'm gonna have to test them out sometime, but for now...' I cut off my thought process as my ears picked up a peculiar sound to my right.

I stopped my running, panting slightly as I do, and slowly stand on my hind legs to get a better read on what I heard. Focusing on the direction, I listened intently... trying to ignore the croaking of frogs and the bubbling of the warm bog's water.

*CLAAAANG*

My ears picked up the noise, and I immediately recognized the distinct sound.

Combat.


It seems, even faced with the possibility of true death... I'm still powerless against my own sense of curiosity. I'd quickly tracked the sounds of fighting, and was nearing the source. On my way here, the frequency of attacks had reduced substantially. Nevertheless, I pressed on towards the noise, until a deathly screech filled the air... causing all my hair to stand on end.

All the stagnant water around me rippled from the intensity, as I covered my sensitive ears with my paws.

'What the hell was that' I stopped for a moment, pondering if this was really worth it.

At this point, I couldn't hear the sounds of fighting anymore, and figured it had probably come to it's conclusion anyway. This was further cemented by the coppery smell that reached my nose not a moment later, the stench of death.

Ahead of me, there was a sheer drop off into quite a large pit, at least from this side. Peering over, my eyes widened at what I saw.

A hydra, a damned hydra! But still, It looked a bit smaller than what I'm used to...

'Still young perhaps?'

Directly under me, roughly 100 feet down at least, was a hydra which was violently attacking... the wall? I leaned over the edge of the cliff a bit, trying to get a better look at what it was striking, when I spotted a bit of movement. It looked like a pony had managed to wedge themselves up into a small crevice, and was using it as cover from the beast.

Sniffing the air again, my gaze turned to the other side of the pit and was met with a grim sight. Piled up against each other were the mangled bodies of three other ponies, all white coats with golden armor... all battered and covered in blood. The sight would make any lesser being gag, luckily I'd become accustomed to such sights after witnessing the brutality of the scourge.

I could hear a bit of whimpering coming from the area below me, followed by another strike from the hydra slamming into the rock face. As it collided, the pony hiding themselves away let out a quick scream, and I could hear sobbing begin.

'Should I... help?' I pondered as I continued to watch the scene. '...no. It's none of my business and a hydra is far too much trouble to be worth it'

Having made up my mind, I began to back up from the cliff edge. As I pulled away, the screaming intensified ten fold, and the sound of bones cracking filled the air. My attention snapped back, as the hydra pulled the pony out from the wall, their hoof pinned inside one of the creatures mouths'.

The other three heads let out a victorious scream, before the forth violently threw the pony across the pit and towards the rock face.

On reflex I reached my hand out as if grasping for them, and they instantly froze, purple energy enveloping their body. This only lasted for a split second before they hurtled towards me, screaming the whole way.

My hand grasped onto the ponies breastplate as she collided with me, a look of absolute shock and pain plastered all over her face. Before I could even move, an intense screech sounded from below as each head turned to me with a look of anger.

'At least Death Grip still works!' I thought to myself as a ear shattering screech boomed below.

Turning in place, I pulled the pony in close to my chest with one arm as I took off as fast as possible. I could feel the ground quake as the hydra was presumably trying to follow me... however I knew that once I hit the trees it would probably give up.

Probably.

Looking down at the pony in my arm, I noticed they were turning much more pale than they were before. The wound in their leg was... bad. Really bad. Blood was leaking out at a very alarming rate, meaning she was probably any moment away from death.

Part of me wondered why I should even care in the first place, but I pushed that to the back of my mind quickly.

'That kind of thinking is exactly what people would expect from Death Knights... plus I've already taken it this far, might as well see it through.'

In no time, I had exited the bog area and found a large cluster of trees to hide into. Panting hard, I set the pony down by the trees and nearly collapsed in place, dropping to one knee.

I'd already used my form a lot lately, and was planning on taking a break from it today... but it seems fate had other ideas. Sparing a quick glance to the pony I'd "Saved" I saw she'd propped her back up against the trees as she shakily, and messily, wrapped what remained of her leg in a bandage.

I could see her eyeing me warily, watching my every movement. I took a step towards her, and she dropped her half wrapped bandages and grasped at her waist, probably for a weapon that wasn't there. She had heart, that's for sure.

I let out a deep sigh, knowing I'd probably regret what I'm about to do.

Breathing deeply, a mist shrouded over me as I shifted back into human form. Once the process was finished, I opened my eyes and saw the pony watching me with wary, and weak eyes... holding a large stone in her hoof.

Slowly, I raised my hands up in an attempt at a peaceful gesture. This seemed to work a bit, as I saw her hesitate for a second, before slowly dropping the rock. Once it touched the ground her arm went limp, letting it lay next to her.

'She's not gonna make it' I thought solemnly. '... damn it Dalandor you know you can't save everyone' I pestered myself as I reached into my pouch.

Pulling out an imbued vial filled with water, a crystal powered beaker boiler, and a few herbs I got to work on putting the potion together. I had sat only a few feet away from the pony, but as I worked away I could see her watching me, albeit weakly as her eyes slowly began to droop.

"Two parts Icethorn one part goldclover..." I absentmindedly talked to myself as I mixed the ingredients in and gave it a small swirl in the vial.

As I swirled the liquid around, it quickly turned bright red, perpetually swirling around inside the vial. I could see the pony staring at it with wonder, surely they knew what potions were?

I hesitantly placed the sealed vial on the ground, and rolled it towards the pony. She looked down to it for a second, before slowly reaching down and picking it up with one hoof. By now, the blood had started to pool under her a bit and I could see the sockets of her eyes were beginning to sink.

Pulling the cork out of the vial, she slowly lifted it to her mouth, hesitating for just a moment, before throwing the whole thing back in one gulp. Right after she did, I could see her hold her throat in pain, as the potion spread throughout her system.

'Yeah... first few times really burn going down' I thought to myself as she slowly stopped squinting her eyes.

Suddenly, her eyes fluttered back open and flicked towards me in surprise. Color rapidly returned to her coat causing it to shine bright white again, albeit still covered in splotches of blood. Quickly checking herself over, she ran her hooves all along her body, even her leg which she'd haphazardly wrapped in bloody bandages.

Quickly tearing them off, she hesitantly bent the limb and flinched a bit like she was expecting it to hurt. Even the gaping holes made by the creature had closed up, with scars of course.

After looking her limb over a few more times, her gaze slowly locked with mine. I could see the gears turning in her head, and I bet I knew exactly what was on her mind.

'Now what?' I chuckled inwardly to myself at the display.

After a few more moments of silence between us, I quickly stood causing the pony to flinch, but otherwise not move. Turning away, I began to leave the pony behind when I heard it shout something to me. I spun around, and saw she'd returned to standing, looking at me expectantly.

I shrugged my shoulders back to her, eliciting an annoyed look. Rolling my eyes, I turned back to her fully and crossed my arms.

"I can't understand you, pony." I spoke back in Common.

This seemed to have the desired effect, as the ponies eyes furrowed in frustration as she tapped her hoof on her mouth. A few moments went by, before she quickly dug at the ground... making three small marks. Motioning to the small divots, then to herself... then the direction we came from.

'She wants to go back for her friends'

"No." I said simply, shaking my head so she knew what the word meant.

Her eyes widened at this as she yanked her helmet off, causing her black mane to fall free. As the helmet left her head, her coat turned from pure white to a silvery color. Dropping it to the ground with a clang, she stomped with one hoof and pointed back towards the hydra again.

"No." I said again, getting her to snort in frustration. "They're dead."

She tilted her head a bit, as I rolled my eyes and pointed back at the hydra's direction, then drew a finger over my throat. "Dead."

This seemed to get the point across, as she collapsed onto her haunches and her ears splayed back. I stood there silently, not wanting to say anything else to upset her. Her head tilted down, I couldn't see her face but I knew what was happening, as I could see the small stream of tears steadily dripping off her muzzle.

Letting out a tired sigh, I turned around and continued my way back through the forest. I heard a choked sob and frantic movement, before the sound of hooves stomped behind me. Glancing back, I saw her freeze in place.

She'd gotten back up and made it about half way towards me, nervously looking at her surroundings. Her eyes locked with mine again as she rubbed her leg and asked me a question. Only one word.

'Well it sounded close enough to a "please" to me...' Rolling my eyes, I motioned for her to follow me.

The moment I did, she let out a sigh of relief and picked up her helmet... placing it back on her head. As she did, her hair seemed to pull up into the helmet and her coat returned to it's white color.

My eyes widened at this, and a small smile formed on my face.

'Perhaps they are more resourceful than I thought. That's a clever enchantment for something as simple as a guard' I thought to myself. '...maybe I should consider getting on their good side. They may know of a way to get me home'

My smile faded at that thought. Did I really consider Azeroth my home? Sure, I came from there but I only have a few years worth of memories at most, most of them worth forgetting.

'No... I have to go back, I still have so many questions' My mind flashed back to a moment in time... back when I was in Ebon Hold.

I was pulled from my thoughts as the pony cleared her throat, getting my eyes to lock with her own. She quickly pulled away from my gaze, her ears splaying back a bit.

A bead of cold sweat rolled down my face, as I quickly pushed the memory down.

'Not now... I can reminisce later...'

Shaking my head a bit, I proceeded the direction I had come from when I heard the sound of fighting. I could hear the pony keeping up with me, surprisingly enough. I'd expected her to have difficulty maneuvering forest ground on four legs considering how much dead foliage was littering the floor. However, every time I'd take a peek behind me, I'd see her keeping pace with me while expertly weaving through the obstacles... even with her smaller build.

Refocusing my gaze, I quickened my pace a bit towards where I remember the village to be... and before long I began to see the sun's rays piercing through the dense forest ahead. The pony must have noticed too, because I started to hear her pace increase and, before long, she had passed me... running for the treeline. Then, she hesitated and looked back to me, noticing I'd stopped.

She seemed to be thinking hard on something, before looking back up to me and lifting one hoof to her breast. Closing her eyes, she smiled and gave a small bow before holding it there for a few moments.

I watched the display with surprise, I understood she was thankful... but I was a bit taken back by her willingness to show it. However, before I could think on it any longer, she raised her head up to look at me and smiled.

Tapping her hoof one last time on her chest, she spoke. "Silversong."

I watched her for a few moments, before nodding tapping on my own chest. "Dalandor."

She smiled, and gave a small nod. "Dalandor." She said back, before turning in place and jumping through the treeline.

I couldn't help myself, I was the curious type after all. Stepping towards the treeline, I peered out into the clearing and towards the town as the pony ran towards it. I could see a number of guards at the village, either patrolling or talking amongst themselves.

However, the mood shifted quickly once ponies started noticing the blood covered guard frantically sprinting towards them. Most of the ponies stopped what they were doing and ran to meet her, huddling around her and probably bombarding her with questions. However, this all stopped as the figure I'd seen before appeared from the village.

It looked hesitant at first, but quickly ran to the smaller pony before embracing her with her large white wings... completely covering her. This continued for a few moments, until it pulled it's wings back and I noticed the blood covered pony whispering something to the larger one. In an instant, her gaze snapped to where I was standing, or at least the wooded area around me.

'I hope' I thought to myself as her gaze remained locked towards me, before I saw a bright golden light gleaming from her head.

My eyes widened as I watched the color grow, my mouth falling agape.

'That looks like-'

My thoughts were cut off at a sudden white flash, as the light quickly dissipated before I saw every guard that was wearing golden armor begin to glow slightly. Not soon after, the sound of hooves from almost every direction reached my ears.

'They're retreating...' I thought to myself as my eyes widened. 'I'm between them and retreat!'

I frantically looked around, before settling for the least thorny looking bush I could find. Quickly pulling my helmet back on I'd retrieved from my pouch... I crawled into the brush to try and remain hidden. Several thorns scratched at parts of my exposed skin, annoying... but bearable.

The sound of hooves grew louder, until guards of both gold and blue began to dart past me. Some looking worse for wear than others but none seemed to be really harmed in any way. I guess the group I'd met was just unfortunate enough to stumble upon a hydra's den.

As soon as it started, it finished. The sound of hooves being replaced by silence, as I quickly pulled myself out from the brush. Ignoring the small cuts and twinges of pain, I bring myself to my feet and glance back towards the open field... and all the ponies gathering there.

'A hydra's den...' I thought again, sighing knowing exactly what I was about to do. 'Pretty dangerous to have so close to a village'

I let out a small growl, before turning back to the hydra den and setting off.

'If I want them to help me, I'll get them to like me the only way I know how'

Pulling my axe out of it's holster, I looked it over slowly. I hadn't the chance to use it on anything here yet... but there's no reason it wouldn't be just as devastating as in Azeroth. While I'd saved money buying cheap gear, I definitely didn't for my weapons. Well, weapon... seeing as the brother to this axe currently lay embedded in the wall of a house, in an entirely different world no less.

The axe had a black leather handle, a deviation from the reddish color it was supposed to have. The head had a silver serpent etched into the side, and all along the edge of the blade was a green fell iron that had been imbued into the head of the axe. The top of the axe came to a sharp point, allowing one to impale their target or aim for weaknesses in their armor.

My thoughts came to an end as I neared the pit I'd seen before, and I slowly brought myself back up to the edge again. It looked as if the creature had dug the ground out here, or maybe it's the offspring of the ones that did. On the opposite side to where I am, the ground steadily declines to the bottom of the pit like a large dirt ramp.

Peering down, I sighed in relief to see the creature was still there. However, now it lay on the ground, huddled up against the wall sleeping peacefully. I took in it's nest, and noticed only two ponies seemed to be in the pile I'd seen earlier.

'Sleeping off a meal huh?' I thought to myself as I stood back up and rounded the pit, making my way to the decline I could use to get down there.

Careful not to wake the sleeping hydra, I quietly slid down the dirt ramp... paying careful attention to my footing as to avoid knocking any large stones down the way. However, my attempts were in vain as I kicked a particularly well hidden stone, and it went tumbling down into the pit... the sound of shifting dirt and gravel causing the creature to stir.

Wasting no time, I broke out into a sprint and made it to the mangled bodies of the ponies. By now, a couple of the heads had awoken and were looking to where I was, anger quickly filling their features. I had managed to grab one of the bodies by it's armor as one of the heads screeched towards me, followed by it's whole body moving to stand.

"RRRAAA!" I let out a shout as I spin around and toss the limp body towards the hydra.

One of the heads quickly intercepted it by grabbing it with it's mouth, causing me to let out a small smile. Wasting no time, I brought my hand up and slowly squeezed my fist closed towards the body... feeling tension as if something was building in my hand. Then, as I was about to fully close my fist, I opened my hand to the sound of an explosion.

Watching the hydra in amusement, the body hanging from one of it's mouths violently exploded... sending out bone shrapnel and peppering the hydra all over. It screeched in agony as a now headless neck flopped to the ground unmoving, and the others swung about wildly, blinded by bone shards.

Axe in my right hand, I grasped the last pony body with my other and began to sprint towards the beast. With a flex of my arm I tossed the body under the hydras left side, before running around it the other way to use it's own body as a shield. It's heads went into a frenzy as they felt something touch their leg, until the sound of an explosion rang out again.

The force of the blast knocked the hydra over as it screamed in pain again, quickly rolling over onto it's back. Without hesitation, I leapt into the air and grasped my axe with both hands. Letting out a mighty roar, I swung the axe down and buried it deep inside the beasts underbelly. It let out a pained scream that was quickly drowned out by the sound of gurgling. But I didn't stop.

Swing after swing, I chopped at the underbelly of the beast over and over. Blood and gore staining my armor as my knuckles began to turn white... each swing carving deeper and deeper into it's innards. With each attack, the Hydra would let out a small noise, or twitch, eliciting another hard chop. As I swung, I could feel any wounds I'd gained over the last few days start to close, as the life of the hydra was being slowly leeched to my own. With one final swing, I embedded the axe into the chest cavity and leaned back, my shoulders slumping a bit after all the exertion.

Panting heavily, I looked over my work with satisfaction. I'd fought hydras before in Azeroth, but the feeling of a fresh kill was unlike anything else. A part of me hated that I liked to kill, another side had convinced me it was okay to feel good about killing those that deserved it. But it didn't matter in the end... because I still felt good every time I took a life and I hated that.

Shaking my head, I pulled my helm off and wiped cold sweat off my brow. After taking in the sight of the hydra one last time, I sighed and placed the helm back into my pouch before reaching for my axe. With a bit of effort, I pulled it free of the beast's underbelly and got to work.


Leaves and sticks crunched underfoot as I made my way back to the village. Under my left arm was a mass of white and red rags, covering what I'd extracted from the hydra as proof of kill. Along with that, Id pried off the three sun emblems from the breastplate of the dead guards. I shuffled them around a bit in the cloth I wrapped them in, listening to the sound they made as they clinked together.

Before long, I came to the edge of the tree-line again and hesitated as I looked out. All of the guards who'd been in the forest had gathered around the area, and that same large horse was still present... however I couldn't see the one who called herself Silversong. Letting out a small sigh, I braced myself as I broke through the treeline and made a steady pace towards the group.

For the first few seconds, none of the ponies had even noticed me enter the clearing. But one by one, they all shifted their gaze to me before freezing. Almost all at once, the rest of the eyes turned to lock with me... including the larger one's gaze. I felt it on me like two lasers, scorching right through me. I met her gaze, and as I neared closer the mass of ponies quickly shifted and began to run forward to surround me.

I quickly stopped, and bent down a bit, thinking maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. However, before they made it past the larger one, without breaking eye contact... she raises a foreleg up causing them all to slide to an abrupt stop.

Scanning me for a few more moments with bated breath, she slowly lowers her hoof and takes hesitant steps towards me. Watching her intently, and taking a few glances to the ponies behind her, I continue my way across the field. We both come to a stop, less than few feet from each other as we stand at almost equal height.

She towers over me only slightly, however it would be a much different story if I were in my worgen form. Atop her head was a very impressive horn... now that's more like what I'm used to seeing. Her hair looked even stranger up close, like some kind of ethereal energy with a mind of it's own.

'I also couldn't just pretend I'm not the same creature which attacked them... after all that pony I saved had seen me shift forms' I thought to myself as I looked into the Equine's Purple eyes.

I could see her scanning me up and down, but often flicking to meet my gaze... like she was looking for something. Then, her eyes fell upon the bloodied rags I had under my arm and squinted suspiciously.

"Silversong." I said aloud, getting the horse to jump a bit, and some of the ponies farther behind her start whispering.

I could see an array of emotions cross her face as she looked me over, and her mouth opened to speak when the sound of hooves clattering rose behind her. Both of us broke our stares and let our gaze fall upon the source of the noise, and I felt a wave of relief as Silversong hurriedly crossed the field towards me... much to the visible agitation of their leader.

She looked to be covered in some kind of blanket, her armor having been taken off but the blood still very much present. Her own colors had returned to her coat, but she came to a quick stop when she saw the look the larger one was giving them. I began to move around the horse, giving her a wide berth as I did causing her to snap back to me and go to speak.

I met her gaze with a glare of my own, her mouth quickly snapping shut. I saw her ears twitch for a moment, but otherwise stayed alert as she watched me. I could see her jaw clench a bit, before she sighed and lightly motioned to Silversong.

Making my way around her, I came up to the pony who I'd saved from the hydra. I could see her looking up to me in curiosity, and a hint of fear. Stopping just a couple feet from her, I knelt down and placed the tied up cloth on the ground, before unraveling it and spreading it out. Her eyes locked with the small objects inside, and I could see tears begin to form in her eyes as she slowly reached a hoof forward and picked up one of the emblems.

Tearing her eyes away from the small item, she locked her gaze with me again as I pulled the bloodied mass of linen from under my arm. This seemed to set her on edge a bit, as I saw her muscles tense as it hit the ground, a meaty thwack sounding out on impact. Wasting no time, I unraveled the cloth and unveiled it's contents... and as I did I could see her visibly recoil at the sight.

The heart I had pulled from the hydra lay before us, blood still oozing from the spots I had cut it out and soaking into the cloth it rest upon.

The large horse who had been watching cautiously this whole time let out a gasp at the sight, her wings flaring out a bit. I payed her no mind as I brought my eyes back up to Silversong, who looked to be having trouble processing what she saw. I let out a sigh, as I slowly stood to my full height and turned back to the larger pony... who regarded me with a mix of apprehension, and fear.

I motioned forward with my hand, in a gesture I knew she'd understand.

Lead on.