Can I get a bump? {Magnus}

[magnus]

Although Magnus lived a rich, storied life, he often felt like he had been husked out. It was in the quiet of the night when these worries came to him—when he felt his insides empty, when his eyes took in the stars as they spun across the expanse of Tephra. He felt his heart thrum in his chest, now tangled alongside the gift of immortality, but no matter how hard he searched, it was difficult to find the heat. It was impossible to find that passion for living, that bubbling and simmering rage; all he felt, all he could find, was cold.

It wasn’t a weakness he liked to consider often or ever, to be honest. He turned his mind’s eye from it and focused on the task at hand: the duties and responsibilities of being a leader, of keeping Tephra safe. The land flourished quietly, families calling it home, children laughing throughout its borders, and it was enough. Enough to ease his mind, soothe the aches, bury the pain that so often lingered in his chest.

But the truth was that he was terrified had so little to give beyond that.

So he didn’t look at her as she spoke, not moving from her touch, but not returning it right away, taking a moment to process her offer, the gentle way that she placed her heart out before him. Finally, he took a deep breath and turned toward her, his gold-flecked eyes sad and his smile kind but small. “Jord,” his voice was thick, husky, and he finally returned her touch, reaching over to press the velvet of his inky nose to her jaw. “You are a beautiful, kind mare—any stallion would be lucky to have you at his side.”

He turned his gaze away to look to the border, feeling his pulse thud in his veins, his chest expanding with every breath. “The truth is that I have lived many years, many lives, and you deserve better than someone like me.” They all did, but that too was a truth that he hid from them, a truth he could not bear to look at straight. He looked back at her, taking her in. “I want to be friends though. I hope we can be.”

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