Journey continues...

[magnus]

Since he was young, Magnus had struggled to sleep. It eluded him, dancing around the edges of his conscious mind before ducking away, leaving him frustrated and awake. He had learned young that it was useless for him to find it; instead, he usually shrugged it away and did the only thing that made sense: he ran. When he was young, he had run through the jungle until he ran as swiftly as if it had been over flat ground. Then he had run through the Chamber and later the Gates. He ran until his muscles ached and his flesh was slick with sweat; until he no longer requested sleep and it instead swooped in and claimed him.

It was during these sprints that he had learned joy in the moment, suspended between moments of time, the rest of the world melting away into the sound of his hooves striking ground. He was infinite in those moments of silence; he was powerful and in control of his destiny. He was free—of everything.

So when she answers his call, joy swells in him and his grin is large and infectious. She called out to him and he laughed in response, rocking backward and then lunging forward, his powerful gait quickly eating up the ground between them. He jumped forward and then matched his pace to her own, checking himself so that they could run side by side, no sound being exchanged except the snorts and gulps for air. It was exhilarating and joyful, and he glanced over his shoulder often to make sure she was enjoying herself.

Without words, he directed their path until they had raced over vegetation and across thin coils of magma until they had reached a more secluded part of Tephra, where the land bled away into sand and near the ocean. The salt in the air here beat back the more overpowering scent of sulfur, and he found that he enjoyed coming here most often. With a wicked grin, he lowered himself to the sandy beach and then rolled joyfully, letting the ground scratch his back and fling upward on his belly. When he stood and shook, the particles flung away, but his hair was matted and tangled, and dirt smudged his inky nose.

And so he stood, grinning, lungs aching, looking upon her.

“So where are you off to next?”

Because she did not seem the type to stay any one place for long.

out of the blue out into the loneliest place that you'll ever know
I carried the world just as far as I could but the damage had taken its toll