"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
“What have I become, my sweetest friend? Everyone I know goes away in the end."
It was not as violent and sudden as the Catastrophe, when storms and fires and earthquakes ravished the lands — the seas churning so violently that they spit her back out, freshly alive and covered in seaweed and barnacles. And it was not as noticeable as when the old kingdoms were reduced to ash and dust, with new lands rising in their wake, and all but the barest forms of magic were sucked back into the Mountain.
But it was a change she felt nonetheless, a change she felt in her bones, that she could smell on the air, plain as rain. It has been years since she last saw anything; over a hundred years since Carnage ripped her eyes from their sockets. When the image — full color, as though she had finally been able to open to her non-existent eyes just one more time — of an unknown stallion had entered her mind, along with the magic stallion’s all too familiar voice, she knew something was going to happen. And if Carnage was involved, she knew, better than most, that they would be powerless to stop it, until he grew bored of his playthings, as he often did. But waiting for that moment to come could take years.
They said that Tephra was safe, and even though she doesn’t fear for herself, she worried for her and Skellig’s unborn child. She still wasn’t sure what had been released on Beqanna, and she didn’t know that her own son had been there and been apart of it. But if there were safelands, she would take advantage of them, without waiting to find out what they were facing. Many years ago she likely would have found herself in the thick of managing this change, but all she cared about right now was keeping the life that grew within her safe.
They enter, side by side, her overly large barrel brushing against his emerald green one as they walk. It is noticeably warmer here, and to her it is a pleasant change from the frosty cold the rest of the land was blanketed in. She has never been in any of the new lands, having mainly stuck to her familiar Meadow, and she is not sure what she would compare this one to, if such a comparison could even be made. The faint smell of sulfur drifted on the breeze from the volcano in the distance, and she reaches over to touch her nose to Skellig’s neck. ”It’s suppose to be safe here.” Her lips trace the curve of his jaw, a soft frown creasing her forehead as she adds with a hint of worry,”I just hope they aren’t wrong.”
I wanna give you wild love, the kind that never slows down I wanna take you high up let our hearts be the only sound
This is not the Beqanna of his childhood.
The kingdoms are gone, swallowed into themselves and reformed into something new entirely. The horses he had loved are long gone, having either ventured outward into the great beyond, searching for some treasure they could not find nestled within Beqanna’s breast, or washed out to sea. This is not even the Beqanna of several years ago, and his heart thrums in his chest at the reminder of the Reckoning and the way the earth had shifted, chaos rippling out throughout the land in the hearts of her children.
Still, when he looks up, it is the Beqanna of old that he sees.
They stir up the dust in the back of his mind, bringing forth memories—faint as they are. He frowns slightly in thought as he considers the pair, the ivory of her nestled next to the green of him. He would never have guessed that they would be amongst the newcomers that he would greet on this day.
Still, he doesn’t deny the nostalgia and joy that floods through him at the sight of them.
Magnus doesn’t waste any time in making his way toward them, eyes warming as he watches the affection between the pair, the love something worn as smooth as a river stone. “Hello there,” recognition lights up in his eyes as he regards them both, although he would never dream that they would recognize him. He had been a different stallion in those days, although immortality had preserved much of him.
But he wore more scars and even immortality couldn’t keep the weight that has settled on his shoulders.
“Welcome to Tephra, Ryatah and Skellig.” Their names rise in his mind and he brushes the dust off them as they leave his lips, hanging in the air as if they belong there. “I’m Magnus. How can I help?”
I wanna go where the lights burn low and you're only mine
hi we're going to pretend he's met them in the old days or at least knew of them.
“What have I become, my sweetest friend? Everyone I know goes away in the end."
There are so few left that had been from their time, but she is quick to recognize them whenever their paths may cross. He is no different, even though she cannot see him. His scent is familiar, and certainly so is his name. So much time has passed, however, that she isn’t even sure if she has ever actually seen his face. So many rose to power after she had been blinded, or when she had been frozen for years as a statue, and she never had the chance to learn their faces. But his name, that is all she needed to know.
”Magnus,” she says this with a smile, flipping through the memories that were always so carefully stored. ”Atrox and Twinge’s son.” The panther king and his jaguar lover were two that she would not soon forget — they had both been prominent rulers, and briefly, she wonders whatever became of the heart that once pulsed within the soil of the Chamber.
Another reminder that nothing was as it had once been.
”I was told Tephra was safe, from the illness that is spreading.”A magic-born illness, no less. There was no telling how long it would last, or how much worse it was going to get. She hated to even think about the fact that she had likely already contracted it; her nights were restless with coughing, her body warm with fever, and everything was all the more severe due to being at the end of pregnancy. ”I just...I don’t want our baby to be born out there.”
Here, she once more touches her muzzle to Skellig’s shoulder, before tilting her head in Magnus’ direction. ”I would be interested in joining the ranks as well, if that’s alright?”
I wanna give you wild love, the kind that never slows down I wanna take you high up let our hearts be the only sound
It is like crossing over a river and finding yourself in the past.
Her voice opens up a chasm within him, spilling forth memory and it is like he in the Gates once more. He closes his eyes for a moment, breathing it in deep, the nostalgia bitter and sweet and cutting as it floods through him, reminding him of all that he has had and all that he has lost. His parents names slice through it and he takes a deep breath to steady himself. “It has been a long time since someone has spoken their names to me,” he admits, features darkening for a moment. Something like tears prick the back of his eyes but it fades as he looks out amongst the lush vegetation sprawling around them.
“Longer still since I’ve talked to someone who once knew them.”
But she pivots and he does the same, letting the memory of them fade, the ghosts of them settling into the back of his mind. “Tephra is safe,” he affirms, looking between the two of them. “Warrick, a previous leader here, sacrificed a great deal to earn that protection.” He wonders if the bay stallion was safe. If he was amongst family. If he would, one day, find his way home once more to be with them all.
As she mentions her family he smiles, looking to the green stallion and nodding with understanding before addressing the mare. “Your child will be safe here and well looked after.” He never took such duties lightly. It was of the utmost importance to him that those who chose to lay their heads here did so without worry, did so with confidence that they had someone looking out for them.
“And it would be the greatest honor to have you amongst our ranks, Ryatah.”
I wanna go where the lights burn low and you're only mine
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