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[ϞSymreeϞ]

ÁSTRÍÐR

The Gray was cold and damp, and the mud like a wet sponge under hoof. The air hung thick with silvery mist that neither added nor detracted from the light of the red moon overhead.The mist was just there, unchanging with the rest of the Gray. Rougevet was small, but bright, and shed a blood red hue upon the rocks and trees. Lumara and Brevk could be spotted in the far side of the sky, hanging like violet and silver diamonds in a dark turquoise sky.

I walked steadily, my crimson eyes darting from one place to another. My hooves picked their way tenderly through the terrain, always testing for false holds of rock. Gaze narrowing, I paused, wondering why it was that I felt so strongly that I had been here before. A strong sense of foreboding hung in the air. I shouldn't be here. Wasn't it my day off? Perhaps it had been yesterday and I had merely forgotten? Yes, that sounded right. My muscles clenched tightly as a wind buffeted my side. Why was I so jumpy? I had spent many a night in the gray. A faint rattling sound filled my ears, and unbidden, my bodice trembled. I had to get out of this section. I had to find my troop. How could they have strayed so far? Usually they were only a few paces behind...My mind felt heavy and clouded, as though it had been stuffed with mist and weighty fog. I wasn't sure that my troop had even followed me into the gray this night...

I glanced forward again and stopped, eyes widening in surprise. A wraith, a true one stood before me, not more than two feet away. Although he had no scent, I knew that it was a stallion before me, or at least, he had been once. I barred my horn towards his throat in warning. I had dealt with wraiths before. The stallion smiled, and as he did, his dark, clouded face started to appear. I could make out the delicate lines of his muzzle and lips, and the luminous red of his eyes, a shade or two lighter than my own. My gaze hardened and I widened my stance, "Back away, wraith."

The rattling sound came again, and I realized with a start that the sound came from the stallion. He was laughing. "Peace we hold when you have many behind you. Alone you are now." He gestured to his left, and then his right, revealing four of his kind on either side. My heart jack-hammered in my chest. There was no way in hell that I could fight them all off and survive. Where was my troop? I never would have gone into the gray without them...would I?

"We have been waiting for you, Áśŧřĭďř." The stallion said calmly, his eyes wandering the firm, curving lines of my body, but lingering on my hip, where the withered black flesh still lay. His words echoed eerily in my mind, almost as though he had some power over my name. How had he learned it? The wraiths circled around me, quick as a flash, and I realized that I had lost sight of the original stallion. His soft, rattling laughter sounded, but so close this time, that I could feel his cold breath on my neck.

I kicked out, and felt my hind hooves connect with his flank. The next moment, his full weight knocked me to the ground and held me, squirming, to to the cold, damp earth. His teeth tore at my flesh, and then he stood as two others took his place. I hadn't a hope of moving beneath their combined weight. The places where he had bit me burned like fire, and I could smell my skin dying, and shriveling as it had on my hip. I screamed involuntarily at the pain that he had so easily inflicted. Tears of pain leaked through my eyes as I watched the stallion above me. He licked my blood off of his lips, ordering his wraiths to stand me up.

"Áśŧřĭďř!"

My eyes snapped open, and I gasped for breath, still feeling the burning on my flesh where the wraith had bit me. I glanced over my barrel and flanks, feeling the pain, but seeing only smooth, sable champagne coat.Furiously, I realized that I was still crying, but this time, not from the pain, but in fear, and relief that it was over.

"Stride!"

I blinked up at the pegasi stallion, his brow furrowed in worry. Angrily I wiped away my tears, forcing myself not to look at the dead flesh on my flank. I wouldn't have been able to handle it. "God, Stride, I had no idea it was this bad..." Carefully he helped me up, wings circling my neck in a gentle embrace. "Those herbs didn't help you at all, did they?"

I shook my head, "No, I think they made it worse." I pulled away from his touch, regathering myself. He was a guard in my troop. If others saw us together, they would make something out of nothing. The last thing I needed was another thing for the other Wardens to bait me with. "Listen, Lhayn," I said softly, "It was very kind of you to look after me, but I cant stay here."

His violet gaze narrowed dangerously, "Why not? Stride, we've been friends since we were yearlings, there's nothing that you need to hide from me. Besides, you need help! I gave you twice the normal dose of that herb and still your dreams came! I think you need to speak with the Drathvar."

"No," I said sharply,"This was a mistake, coming here, I just need to let the dreams run their course."

"They sound more like nightmares to me. Stride, you were screaming, " he said quietly, "Your not a filly afraid of the dark, it takes a hell of a lot to make you that frightened. You were screaming and shaking in your sleep, you acted like you were being attacked, like something was kicking or biting you. I've seen you take on dragons in the gray bloody huge monsters! You never even flinched away! Talk to me, what is it that you dream of?"

I stared at him for a long moment before replying softly, "Wraiths."

He held my gaze, eyes tender as he glanced at the withered flesh on my hip,"I'm sorry, Áśŧřĭďř, I should have known. You lost so much to them, first your sire, and then your dam, but they cant do you any harm. You fight like the devil himself, they wouldn't be able to get anywhere near, and even if they did, I'd always be there to back you up...all of your troop would be."

I grinned wryly, "My dreams would disagree."

"Stride I-" he stopped, giving me a very odd look, "I will always be there for you. Your troop will not let you down."

I gazed at him for a moment, before assuring him that I did know all of that, but still wondering at the strange look he had given me. Lhayn seemed rather confused about it as well, so I did not press the matter. He couldn't begin to explain it to me if he didn't know what the look had been about either. A moment later, I had forgotten all about it. Fortunately for me, the waking world always held something to distract me. A weanling was being exiled today.

My sister had been a yearling when my sire was killed in the gray. Mother had all but lost her sanity when she was weaning me off of her milk, so my sib blamed me for a very long time. She had come to the conclusion that I was cursed; a demon, and that I had caused my father's death and my mother's insanity. She felt sure that within the next year I would display some sort of magic, and would be forever banished from the tribe. I was put through extensive testing, but I had not a magical bone in my body. She did not speak to me until my second birthday, and even after, our relationship had been rocky. Without me to blame, I guessed that she had started to blame herself. She had never stood up well in the Gray, and was instead apprenticed to a healer. Her black eyes had never changed.

In her fourth year, she fell in love with a guard that became her mate. I did not know him very well, but saw him from time to time in the gray. Their first foal had been born very early, right into the cold world of late winter. Being a fully realized healer, my sister knew how to keep him alive, a mixture of strange herbs and spices that I had no hope of pronouncing. The snow white colt had some sort of magic to deal with heat and the sun. He was always hot to the touch, like a rock that had been sitting for hours in the hot summer sun. No herbs for fever could cool him, and after a few weeks, it became clear that he was not ill. As he grew, he was able to affect the heat of the area around him, and started dropping the temperature by twenty degrees as a way of play. My sister knew that he would have to leave, but still it broke her heart to see him go.

Lhayn walked by my side towards the edge of our territory, and I wondered at where this new boldness had come from. Normally he would walk a few paces behind, or staggered about even with my barrel. Perhaps he was tired of having to look at me from behind when I led in the gray. I brushed off any concern. He could do as he pleased here, there was no need for battle formations.

As we walked, he drifted ever closer to my side. Assuming that he wanted to talk, I did not move away, and glanced at him expectantly. He kept coming a bit closer until his coat was brushing against mine. I thought little of it, but he did not jump away as the muscle of his shoulder pushed into mine. I glanced at him again, this time in surprise, and opened my mouth to ask him what he was doing. I never got the chance.

The next moment, he had shoved me sideways, right into a tree. The impact forced the breath out of my lungs, and little lights swam in my vision. I felt a large bruise forming on my ribs from the trunk of the tree and fought for breath as the stallion held me there. My mind was sluggish and dim from the lack of oxygen, but I could feel his muzzle tracing the line of my throat, gentle and sensual. Feeling dizzy, I stretched away from him, lacking the breath to tell him to stop, and the strength to shove him away. What was wrong with me? Why could I not think straight?

Realizing that I couldn't breathe, his grip slackened very slightly, just enough for me to catch a gulp of air before he pressed harder again, now grooming my chest and moving to my underbelly. His wings fanned out over our heads and I struggled to free myself, kicking with my forelegs at his flanks and barrel, just out of my reach. Unable to think of any other way out, I pulled all four legs off of the ground and fell , the trunk skinning and tearing at my flesh. Finally free of my confines, I shuddered, gasping for the breath that he had knocked out of me. Through the dizziness and the racing of my heart, I felt a burning anger in my chest. How dare he touch me like that! I was his warden, his superior! "Get off of me!" I gasped.

Lhayn dropped to his knees, placing them on my barrel as he came to earth. Whatever breath I had managed to reclaim was stripped of me then. The world spun and suddenly I was coughing, expelling whatever I managed to take in between gasps. My heart was slowing down. My vision slowly started to fade to black, and I had nearly lost consciousness when I heard the shouted order, "Hey! Get off of her!"

OOC: Hey shanza, I was thinking that this could be a very interesting entrance for your charrie xD

[Shanza]

ÆÐELRIĈ

The mahogany bay stallion shook off lingering drops of water as he left the river. In the morning sun, the field looked vastly different than any place located within the bounds of the Gray Area. Even though he felt at home in the Gray, time away from it was required to be able to remain sane. Several foals came up, giggling and laughing. When they saw the red shine of his eyes they quieted and slid past him, as foals always did. Most foals were comfortable around Guards, as most Guards had families. Wardens, however, were another matter entirely. Rarely did they take mates, and most of their time was spent in the Gray, commonly only leaving for meals and sleep. One of the more infamous Wardens for his surly disposition, Æđelriĉ was one that foals studiously avoided. Not that he minded; he rather liked being left alone.

As he left the field, he wondered if any he passed would know the small weanling who was to be exiled today. It was likely they knew him in passing, but not closely. They were several months his junior, and would have been discouraged to associate with a foal known to have the witch-curse. Breaking off that train of thought, he veered over to the main camp. He had been one of the three to see him to the edge of the territory, and to chase him off if he wouldn't leave. His parents could accompany him to the edge, but no farther. It was likely they had been getting him ready for this day for weeks now. Foals handled the knowledge easier if they weren't surprised.

Æđelriĉ picked up a swinging trot as he traveled down a sloping mountain path. It wove through trees and bramble in the direction of the main camp. Since he was part of the handling party, it was prudent to arrive well before the actual ceremony. A slight crash made an ear flick, but he continued on his way. A scuffle sounded, and he paused, deliberating. Since the scuffle continued, he decided it would indeed be prudent to break up a fight, argument, or whatever.

Veering from the path he quickly followed the noises, just in time to see a sable-colored unicorn go down to her belly and the pegasi light on top of her. Seething with rage as he recognized his fellow warden, he charged, lunging down the slope. A snarl came to his lips as he yelled, "Hey, get off her!" Which he realized, a second too late, might not have been the best idea in the world. The Guard yanked his head up and swerved to face Æđelriĉ's incoming rush. The pegasi twisted past his horn but the bay stallion crashed into him full-boar. Gravity helping him, he nearly knocked the sturdily built pegasi off his feet, but the pegasi's wing came out of nowhere to give him a good thwack in the side. He stumbled, nearly slipped on a rock, and turned just in time for the large Chokoli to come crashing down on him. Well built as he was, Æđelriĉ stood 17 hands to the pegasi's 18.3. He slashed his horn back and forth, trying to get room to maneuver, and the pegasi quickly went into a half-rear. Æđelriĉ scrambled backward to try to get clear of the crushing wings, and he quickly realized how cagey his opponent was. He had played right into the trap quickly laid. The Chokoli, Lhayn, he thought his name was, had indeed fanned his wings, but then rushed forward and had him backed up in a corner of a fallen tree and a large boulder.

Æđelriĉ lunged forward again, horn barred, trying to rip the other stallion to pieces. Once again his anger had got the best of him, and he had rushed in without an eye for the ground or potential traps. A large wing came right at him, and he threw himself into a rear to avoid getting clobbered. He had been hit once with a pegasi wing; it had spun him around like a rag doll before he was hit in the head with the other. That blow had left him nearly senseless, on the ground, and unable to defend himself. It was an experience he never wanted to repeat.

He backed off again, and the stallion let him be. Æđelriĉ knew that this Lhayn would face no consequences for his actions outside of the Gray, but once the story was known how he attacked a Warden, all the Wardens would make his life a living hell on the inside. They had a strong bond, because there was no going it alone on the inside; it was either fight together or die alone. So Lhayn could either tough it out for the rest of his life in the Gray, resign and face the scorn of the Tribe, or 'convince' the Wardens not to talk. That last one would be the hardest, for Æđelriĉ knew that there was only one time he would shut up, and that was when he wasn't alive to say anything.

Now studying the situation, he felt the large tree on his right, branches splaying out at awkward angles. If the branches weren't there he might be able to spin and jump it, but several were easily a foot thick and extended above his head. The tree was wedged into the rock behind him, which he was starting to suspect wasn't a boulder at all, but in fact a large outcropping of rock. In that case, it wouldn't be moved for anything, and it was less than a foot behind him, and extended out to his shoulder. The boulder did protect his left side from getting hammered by a wing, but it also limited his maneuverability.

Ears pinned back, he tried to think a way out of the situation, but none were coming to mind. Finally settling on a plan, he knew it wasn't the best idea in the world, but he had to try something before he was completely clobbered. Without warning, he launched forward, and the pegasi scrambled back as he hit him. The unicorn felt the wings slamming into his sides and he groaned, but lashed out with horn and forehooves. The pegasi spun sideways, and Æđelriĉ spun away as a wing came down on his head. His movement caused the blow to glance off him, but he staggered sideways, trying to get around to face his attacker. His world swaying violently, he saw the sneering expression, wondering briefly, where in the world is that mare?

[ϞSymreeϞ]

ÁSTRÍÐR

A heartbeat or two, and I felt Lhayn's head rise from my barrel, his weight finally leaving my ribs as he spun to face his assailant. My hero. I rolled away blindly from the scuffle of hooves, fighting to regain my breath. I blinked furiously, trying to clear my vision of the black lights that floated stubbornly around the sparring pair. Slowly the lights faded, and my breathing slowed, growing less harsh and irregular. Shakily I stood, glancing out upon the face of the equine to whom I now owed my life. My eyes drank in the dark mahogany bay coat, and the nasty scar left on his shoulder from the days of our apprenticeship.
Æđelriĉ had come to my rescue.

After that moment, all of the sound seemed to come back into the world, and I could catch only flashes of my fellow warden's scarlet eyes. The bay stallion was one hell of a warrior, but in such tight quarters, Lhayne's larger form held the advantage. Æđelriĉ held his own at a solid seventeen hands, but he could not hold off all nineteen hands of the pegasi stallion forever. He would need help. Besides that, I wanted a piece of the jerk myself. God I would never hear the end of this one from my fellow warden. He would forever be reminding me of this day, and taunting me with the memory of how he saved my life. Don't get me wrong, I was grateful, Æđelriĉ just wasn't the most humble of heroes.

I snorted, testing each of my limbs for injury. It seemed that my pride was the most injured from the encounter. As I watched the fight, it became clear to me that there was not much room for maneuvering in this section of rocky wood. My smaller form would not do much on the ground. Both stallions towered over my fifteen hands. A direct assault would get me squished. I needed to be a little more creative... I scanned the terrain, looking for something that could help me out. Æđelriĉ had been wedged into a corner, pinned between a large log and a boulder, heavily set in the earth, neither of which could be jumped or budged. The bay stallion charged the pegasi and I groaned under my breath, muttering, "Yes keep charging, the ground will magically change to your advantage eventually! This isn't the gray, stupid-head!"

I turned my attention away from the fight and glanced at Lhayn's side of the terrain. If I couldn't join my fellow warden in attack, then I would launch one of my own. Trees and a few smaller rocks littered the ground opposite Æđelriĉ, void of anything useful, save for another boulder off to the stallion's left. It wasn't much to work with, but in the gray, you learned to use what was available. I had a plan.

I glanced at the sparring stags, knowing that they were too locked in their battle to even notice that I was still alive. I had to hurry if I was going to do this. Æđelriĉ wouldn't fight for me forever. Though he had probably ignored that fact from the start, reminding himself that a fight was a fight, and they didn't come around every day. I doubted that his intentions had gone anything past saving my life to keep the wardens happy. He couldn't care less if I lived or died, he just didn't want to loose his standings in the gray.The other wardens would doubt his loyalty if he hadn't tried to help me. Here, even heroism could be selfish.

I managed to maneuver around the fighting stallions, walking calmly towards the boulder that stood off to Lhayn's left side. Running may have attracted their attention. I climbed the slight rise that the boulder stood just below, finding a spot where I could easily make the leap from hill to boulder. I eyed the top of the large gray rock, which was mostly flat, falling away to jagged edges. Unhesitating, I jumped from a stand- still, hanging in mid air for a moment before my hooves clattered, sliding slightly on the smooth surface of the rock. Luckily the stallions were too engaged in their battle to even notice the added noise of my hooves on stone.

Æđelriĉ backed away from Lhayn, and the pegasi let him rest in his corner, wedged between rock and tree that completely cut off any escape root. He was pretty well trapped. I lifted my horn atop the rock, trying to discreetly get his attention so that we could work out a plan. If the bay stallion saw my signal, he ignored it, charging headlong towards the pegasi once again. Nice plan, genius. Lhayn apparently hadn't been expecting the attack, and fell back a few paces, an easy jump away from me. I almost took the chance, but Æđelriĉ was in the way. I could still hit him by accident, and I couldn't take that chance. My horn was poised to maim and kill, not to deliver love taps.

Lhayn's wings battered at the warden's sides, and my eyes flashed in anger. I would make that stallions life a living hell in the gray. Not only did he attack me, but Æđelriĉ as well! What an idiot! My muscles tensed, looking for an opening. The warden lashed out with his fore-hooves, and the duo-tone skewer on his brow, groaning as the pegasi's wings continued to hammer at his ribcage. At last Æđelriĉ's horn struck through the flesh on Lhayn's foreleg, and the pegasi spun away, coming right into my path. As I lunged off of the rock, a wing struck Æđelriĉ's head, spinning him clear of my path. As I came within inches of the pegasi, I let out a war-cry, smiling for a moment before I crashed into the stallion horn- first.

My long crystalline skewer cut like a knife through soft butter, parting the pegasi's flesh across his neck and shoulder. My knees connected with his ribs, and the momentum carried us down. His wing connected sharply with my head and we rolled once, twice, before I lost my hold and went spinning off to the right, my head reeling from his blow, and the rocks scraping my sides raw. I groaned, but felt like laughing for some unfathomable reason, feeling lucky to still have all four limbs attached.

I stood, splaying my legs wide to keep myself erect. Even then I swayed dangerously, seeing double as I watched the pegasi stallion writhe in pain, cursing me to hell as he stood, violet eyes blazing. I suppose that it may have been impressive to some, but I bared my own teeth and horn, scarlet eyes flashing dangerously. Purple was just pretty. Red was the color of death. I laughed as he spat curses at me, stomping forward menacingly. It was clear that he meant me harm for his new wound. I knew that it would be a scar that would never heal. The cut was deep. I shrugged, backing clumsily away from him, still dizzy from his wing striking my head, "You were the one that said I fought like the devil himself, you should have known better than to cross me." Yeah, don't bait the enemy when you can barely see strait: not smart.

Lhayn lunged towards me and I fought for good footing on the rocks, poising my horn in a warning that he would be sure to ignore. I hoped that Æđelriĉ had recovered, and that he hadn't decided to leave when I had given him the chance. He wouldn't leave me alone to fight off the green giant...would he? Well, Lhayn wasn't exactly green, but you get it.

[Shanza]

ÆÐELRIĈ

His mind fogged, and he stumbled sideways. The pain lanced though his skull as he shook it a time or two, trying to clear it. The scream of a stallion, badly injured, cut through the air after a war cry Æđelriĉ had come to know and respect. So she was back on her feet then. Sure took long enough. He snorted with contempt, looking over at the bloody scene Ástríđr had turned the battlefeild into. They writhed on the ground before the mare staggered to her feet, only moments before Lhayn did. Boy, could he curse! A grin tugged on his face; Æđelriĉ appreciated the amount of vocabulary the pegasi had apparently mastered.

The light brown mare swayed slightly, then steadied, almost growling back at the large stallion. Æđelriĉ grinned, appreciating her spunk. Barely standing at 14.2 hands at the withers, she was a feisty chuck of flesh. She taunted, teased, insulted, and raged at anyone and everything that moved. She even targeted some that didn't. For just a moment, he considered heading back to the ceremony, but then he remembered how he had been wedged in that corner. A sneer came to his features, promising sweet revenge on the stallion who had made him eat dirt. The bay picked his path carefully, sliding quietly through the forest like he was born to it, although it had taken quite a lot of practice to get his normally clumsy body to move silently and well. He glanced up to see how the standoff was coming, and saw her take a few wobbly steps backward. Then, she started baiting him. Brilliant, just absolutely brilliant. Sneer now almost fixed in place, he slid into position. He was less than two lengths from the pegasi's right wing, and he grinned with devilish anticipation.

The stallion lunged at the small mare, as she barred her horn at him. Æđelriĉ knew that she had to still be dizzy if she was standing still like that. She should have been moving the second the pegasi attacked, like he did. "Hey, stupid!" he yelled as he lunged forward. His second jump didn't carry him forward, instead making him go up. As he had anticipated, the pegasus reacted by throwing out his wings to hit the bay, and also prepared him for a launch into the sky. Æđelriĉ had decided not to give him the chance. The wing came up under him as he came down on it, crashing to the ground with all his weight. Lhayn screamed in pain as he was ripped sideways, and left plenty of an opening for a small, dizzy mare who apparently needed rescuing.

The mahogany rolled to his hooves ready to give the pegasi another pounding, but apparently it wasn't to be. Ástríđr had battered him pretty darn well, according to what Æđelriĉ could see. "You so owe me." He never took his eyes off the groaning stallion on the ground, watching him with coldly intense, fiery red eyes. Even though all Wardens' eyes appeared to be shaded the same dark scarlet, in fact they were all slightly different. Æđelriĉ's eyes were brighter than most, closer to the shade of the true wraiths of the Gray. He didn't have any light or dark flecks in them either, which made them look oddly flat. He valued his eyes, they completed the look that told everyone he wanted to be left alone.

Bending closer, the unicorn stallion placed his muzzle next to the ears of the downed pegasi. His breath hissed out before he started, and his voice held all the coldness and anger he could pack into it. "No one, ever, humiliates me. No one. If you come at me again, I will kill you. If you come at a fellow warden again, I will kill you. If you so much as put a single toe out of line, I will think up the worst death I possibly can, and leave you to it. It will not be short and quick." He paused, controlling his rage with a will, before continuing. "It will be long, and you will suffer. None will come to your aid. Do you understand me?"

The stallion's eyes rolled in his head, and the pain he was in could clearly be seen. "You can't," he gasped, sounding slightly panicked. Of course, he might have sounded like that do to the agony he was in, but Æđelriĉ hoped it was from his threat. No one, not even in the Thoros Avarní was suppose to be able to get away with murder. Of course, those were the normal rules. He didn't intend to comply with them. The stallion's eyes rolled back again, and his muscles spasmed as he fought off the pain. He didn't try to get up, which was wise, considering that the two unicorns standing over him would consider that an invite to continue the beat down. Breathing normally again, he coughed out his next bit of an argument with a unicorn that had just succeeded in helping beat him to a bloody pulp. "The tribe won't allow it. You'll be kicked out. You'll be exiled, forever." He had a gleam of triumph, but Æđelriĉ didn't intend on that lasting long.

Nastily quiet laugh in place and everything, the bay realized he would quite enjoy killing this sorry-SOB. "You just don't understand, do you?" His tone was quietly polite, and had just enough sugary niceness laced in to make his mouth sour. "It won't be here, it won't be anywhere near here. The Gray is a treacherous place for traitorous fools, you idiot." His tone turning nasty, he continued. "And don't think being in another troop will help one bit. I don't envy what you'll go through in her troop," he motioned to Ástríđr, "I just wish you were in mine.

"And, if you are planning on resigning, I wouldn't count on that making you safe. Accidents happen, you know." A grin came to his features; ugly, cruel, and mean. "I will enjoy this, you know," softer than ever, he wondered if the stallion had any idea exactly what group of equines he was dealing with. Wardens were chosen for their hardness, their ability to complete the task no matter what that task was. Of course, not many enjoyed it as much as he did. "I hope you know enough to give me a good chase."

He turned and walked away, headed to the ceremony. Stretching his sore muscles, he realized that his head still wasn't feeling quite right, but it wasn't giving him any balance problems. As long as he could stay on his feet, travel, and fight, he would be happy for a long time to come.




Word Count: 1153
Characters: Æđelriĉ Lhayn Ástríđr
Place: Thoros Avarní

[ϞSymreeϞ]

ÁSTRÍÐR

My mind should have had more than enough time to settle by now, but still my hooves were clumsy beneath me, not entirely recovered. What was wrong with me? I had received blows to the head far worse than that one, and recovered twice as fast! I shook my head slightly as Lhayn came closer, a feral growl on his lips. "You are mine, Àstríđr," he said in a harsh whisper, gritting his teeth against the pain in his neck and shoulder. "The bitter-root slows your body for a few hours to come. It will be more than enough time for me to destroy you."

I snorted, anger dancing through my crimson eyes. I knew that Lhayn was staring at them, and the tiny flecks of black and gold that ringed around my pupils. "You are dragon-food when we get back in the gray," I hissed. I saw the stallion's muscles bunch beneath him, and some part of my mind screamed for me to move. The message never got to my legs. I barred my horn at the last minute, hoping that he would impale himself on it's tip. The pegasi never even reached me.

Æđelriĉ had lunged out from the shadows, yelling to draw the stallion's attention away from me. His mahogany form seemed to glide through the air, like some giant demented, egotistical bird. Lhayn swung his wing up to bat the stallion out of the air, but I watched, vaguely impressed as Æđelriĉ came down on top of it, pinning the wing at an impossible angle on the ground. The pegasi screamed in pain, writhing and cradling his broken wing as the other stallion stood, looking down at him. "You so owe me," Æđelriĉ said, never meeting my eyes. He stared coldly down at his catch, completely ignoring my presence as he spoke to the fallen pegasi stallion.

I barely noted what he said to Lhayn, knowing that it would be the usual. Your fate is in my grasp, buddy, and you are screwed. It was the same thing that I would have said, but the battle was not won by me. Æđelriĉ was the only one with bragging rights.

The pegasus was too proud to beg for his life, but half sneering, half grimacing, he said that Æđelriĉ would be kicked out of the tribe for killing him. Even here, murder was punishable by law. It was a pity that being a filthy, slimy traitor wasn't punishable by those same laws. Not that any of that would stop Æđelriĉ. He would be sure to make Lhayn's death look like an accident. It was easy to loose a life in the gray, but few enjoyed the work as much as the mahogany stallion. Most of us did what was necessary to keep the peace. If Lhayn's death was the way to that, then so be it, we would get rid of him, but it wouldn't be a task that we would enjoy. Not so for Æđelriĉ. The nastiest of our duties were the icing on his cake.

Abruptly, the bay stallion turned on heel, striding towards the ceremony. I glanced after him, and then down at the writhing Pegasi that had once called himself my friend. I kicked his barrel with my fore-hoof, eyes blazing, "If for some reason, he doesn't end your life, I will."With that, I turned after my fellow warden, leaving Lhayn to lick his wounds.

As I moved, my head started to clear, my movements becoming less sluggish. Bitter-root. I couldn't believe that he had given me bitter-root! I would make his life a living hell in the gray! I followed Æđelriĉ's shallow prints in the earth, breaking into a trot so that I could catch up. What would I even say to him? I shook away my pride, knowing what it was that I would try to say to him. I only hoped that he wouldn't say something to make me mad before I got the chance. God, what was I thinking? Why was I going after him? The stallion hated my guts! Well he hated pretty much everything, but I seemed to be near the top of his list. I couldn't begin to imagine why, but I didn't pretend to be an expert on how his mind worked.

I caught sight of the tall mahogany stallion a few feet ahead. From the back, it was hard to tell what sort of mood he would be in. I was probably the last unicorn on the planet that he wanted to see right now...but he didn't seem too moody...perhaps he would allow me to make amends. I took a deep breath, trying to make sure that I was on my best behavior. I would make this as quick and painless as possible. Fifty five seconds of his time, that was all that I would need. "Æđelriĉ," I called softly, "Hold for a moment?"

Slowly he turned towards me, as though hoping that by the time he turned to face me, I would have lost my nerve and gone. I almost laughed. He should know me better than that by now. His rather flat, scarlet eyes probed mine, and I felt a harsh flame leap into my chest. Peace we hold when you have many behind you. Alone you are now. My heart raced and I shook away the memory, trying not to think of how much Æđelriĉ's eyes resembled the wraith's from my dream. "What do you want?" The stallion asked flatly. It was clear that I had wasted enough of his time today.

I took a deep breath and forced myself to meet his gaze, my own eyes loosing some of their customary hardness. "I just wanted to thank you...for saving my life. And to let you know that I plan on repaying my debt."

[Shanza]

ÆÐELRIĈ

The unicorn stallion slid through the trees, trying unsuccessfully to reign in his anger, excitement; his fear. He could feel the blood pound through his body, and he knew that at times like these if confronted he would lash out and damn the consequences. This uncontrollable, undeniable rage, bloodlust more like, would come at the worst times, and leave when he needed it most. It had almost gotten him killed several times, but it had also saved his life and that of his troop more times than he cared to count. He could think, but of safety; he could reason, but never about a backup plan, or what to do if it failed. It was an urge to kill, to maim, to rip his opponent to pieces. He had denied it back there, when all he could think of with that pegasi on the ground was how good it would feel to rip his throat out.

Æđelriĉ allowed himself a grim smile, imagining how satisfying it would be to watch that fool walk into a trap of his own making. Of course, it would be difficult; it was always difficult. That, however, was the challenge. This scum didn't deserve to die in the Gray, although leaving him there with wraiths closing in, and no help to come would be mighty enjoyable to watch. Arranging his death outside... well, that would be a real challenge. It would either have to be devastatingly elaborate, which would lead to many possible complications, or cunningly simple. He liked simple, but he loved elaborate. He would have to think on it.

The call came from his fellow, and he paused. He should turn, it was only polite. Really, though, he was the one who saved her, not the other way around. Compromising, he stopped and turned slowly, loath to face the dialogue. Come to think of it, she was usually as sparse of word as he was. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad, this time. Maybe. Æđelriĉ looked at her, waiting for her to continue. He was sure she could sense his displeasure, for she was always a mare accurate in the judging of others. The bay saw her pause, then shake. His eyes narrowed, just slightly, wondering what the matter was. She was always brave, never fearful; at least she never showed it. Æđelriĉ only had contempt for those who wore their fear, for it gave away your advantage, your hole card. In the Gray, you counted on those hole cards, every last one of them. Might as well get it over with. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to thank you...for saving my life. And to let you know that I plan on repaying my debt."

Her response surprised him. He made it clear that he rather detested company, hers in particular. However, they had known each other since foalhood, and seemed to have a tact understanding. She seemed genuinely thankful, which was likely the reason he was quiet for so long. Finally settling on an answer, he nodded and started walking. There were plenty of things he could have said or done, anything from sneering and batting her thanks away to politely accepting and rubbing it in her face. Instead, he chose a different route. Why? He had no clue. Perhaps that was what stumped him most.

*       *       *

They were almost ready when Æđelriĉ and Ástríđr reach the send off point. The colt was standing tall, and strong. Æđelriĉ could see his fear, but also how he was trying to hide it. A brief wave of sorrow passed though him; the youngster would have made a great warrior. Ástríđr left to join the family and friends, while Æđelriĉ walked over to the other escorts. It would be brief, but painful to all involved. This was the worst part of all his duties as a Warden, bar none. Neither of the other two were talkative, and the bay was glad for that. This was a time for silence, reflection, and sorrow. It was also a time for anger. Those outsiders who so carelessly used and abused their witch-powers had no idea of the price paid by the guardians of the Gray. For the ability to control their demon-gifts with safety, the guardians gave up their lives, their health, and their kin. None with witch-powers could live near it, without consequences. Some went mad, some were lost to their own minds, and some just vanished without a trace. Most, however, lost control of their 'gifts,' wreaking havoc on the tribes and themselves. None meant to do it, but it happened, and lives were lost as a result.

So those that remained to guard and to watch were thoroughly without gifts, witch or demon. They had to exile those who had them at a young age, or the Gray would claim them forever. They were leaving a cold, cruel world, for a hard, ruthless one. No one knew if many survived; sometimes the scouts brought reports of a yearling, two, or three-year-old who had been seen living in the south. Those always warmed the family's hearts, but most were never seen past their first winter of exile. Generally, exiled foals would hang around, but would be forced to leave the mountains upon the approach of the winter storms. After that, most vanished.

The tribe was gathering, the family was making their last goodbyes. Now for the several-mile-long trek to the border. Æđelriĉ started to shake, then stopped as his buries and cuts twinged. He was not going to enjoy this journey, not for one moment.




Word Count: 953
Characters: Æđelriĉ Áśŧřĭďř/Ástríđr, exiling ritual ..... Mentioned: Lhayn
Place: Outside the main Thoros Avarní camp

ooc: Sym, which version do you want to use? => Áśŧřĭďř or Ástríđr

[ϞSymreeϞ]

ÁSTRÍÐR

(trying different perspective, don't panic!)

To live is to put up with uncertainty and change. It is to face whatever challenges sneak into our world, and to defeat them with honor. If you lack the strength to fight your own battles, then you fight like hell and pray that it's enough. If you win your battles, but loose your honor, then what is left? A half life? A cursed existence? The sable mare shifted weight onto her left flank, feeling that there was only one certainty now. Or maybe two. The first was that she would now be truly alone outside of the gray without the only creature that she had ever called a friend. The second was that she would find little comfort with her present company. He had saved her life, but it would mean little in the end. Their relationship had always been one torn in the middle between outright hatred and unshakable loyalty. She would not go so far as to say that they had ever been friends, but nor could she claim that they had been true enemies. They always fell somewhere in the middle where nothing was certain and honor was the rule.

For a long moment, Æđelriĉ was silent. The slight look of roundness to his eyes suggested that he had not been expecting her to thank him. Just as she always expected the worst out of him, he seemed to do the same with her. Vaguely she wondered what it was that he had been expecting. Perhaps for her to yell at him for intruding on her fight? It would have been a probable outcome had she not been drugged and exhausted. Bitter-root. She still couldn't believe it.

Wordlessly, the mahogany stallion decided on his response and nodded to her before turning on towards the ceremony. Ástríđr followed in silence, feeling content with the agreement that they seemed to have reached. It felt like an uneasy stalemate, just like the one that kept the wraiths away from the troops in the gray. She wondered vaguely how long either would last. She glanced at her fellow warden with a hint of curiosity, but looked away again quickly. If he wanted to behave today, then she would not press the matter.

When they reached the send off point, Ástríđr took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment before glancing again at her companion. She knew that he would be one of the wardens to chase her nephew out of sight. "Šæglän Ðrêÿ, Æđelriĉ."* Quickly she turned towards the small cluster of equines that surrounded her pale sister, whom shook violently at her knees, trying to go to her son. Tears streamed openly down the mare's face, and her mate crooned to her softly, his own violet eyes glossy with the pain of exiling his firstborn. The sable mare stood awkwardly to the side of the small group, recognizing her brother in law's sire and dam, and an elder mare that could only be his grand-dam. Ástríđr did not remember any of their names.

She turned her gaze away from her sister to look upon the snowy white colt. He shook slightly, but held himself proudly. After-all, he had nothing to be ashamed of. Not really. He could not help the curse that he had been settled with. It was not fair that he should pay the price of all magic users on Val'thoron, but such was how it had always been for their kind. There was nothing that could be done about it.

The colt looked away from his parents briefly to gaze upon Ástríđr. She doubted that the colt even knew her name, but she offered him a kind smile, one that he struggled to return. The air around her warmed slightly and the colt looked away, glancing in terror at the three wardens that began to drive him away from their land, horns barred and wings extended overhead. She spotted Æđelriĉ among them, and the smile faded from her lips. Perhaps one day it would be different. Perhaps one day they would not have to give up their young as a sacrifice to the hungry motor of the rest of the world. Perhaps the witch curse would one day fade entirely, and there would be no need to guard the gray. As much as she loved the gray, there was a certain horrible quality to the job, just because it had to exist.

* Take heart, Æđelriĉ

769

[Shanza]

ÆÐELRIĈ

Night was coming, but for the moment there remained enough light to clearly see by. The bay stallion walked so slowly he almost wandered in his course, but he would reach his destination in due time. Meanwhile, he had a lot to sort out. The exiling of the colt had gone well, almost too well. Æđelriĉ would be surprised if the colt didn't try to sneak back in, almost all of them did. It was hard for the foals, as they were never told why they couldn't live near the Gray. Most didn't understand, and rebelled with fear and anger in the last few weeks before their exile.

With a sigh, he straightened his course, and leapt up several ledges of rocks. He gained ground quickly, but the hard climb left him breathing heavily at the top. For a moment, he looked back the way he had come. The camp was to the southwest, and well hidden within the trees. A river ran though the mountain valley, where it started, he wasn't sure. Following it with his eyes, he moved upstream until it lost itself in the thick, dense fog of the Gray. A thin tendril of fog swirled around his ankles, and he finally looked down on what he was standing on. The climb had led to a small saddle between two mountains, right on the border of the Gray Area. It was roughly five strides long, before the sides started rising with the mountains, but only a stride or two deep. Like a restless ocean, fog swirled and twisted at it's edge, stretching to and around the nearest mountains, which were a fair distance away. A few trees extended out of the fog, but only when the ground was close to the top of it.

Æđelriĉ took a deep breath, and started down the little-used trail. He wasn't on patrol, but he couldn't do this with a troop anyway. As he walked, he could feel the cold seeping into his body, feel himself become less, as if he was less substantial, made more of fog. His coat lost most of it's color, and his mane and tail floated, as if suspended in water. He started to glide easily down the steep trail, and jumped, almost floated, down a near thirty-foot drop. Landing easily at the bottom, he pushed off at a trot, an effortless gait that covered nearly twice the distance as he would have on the Outside.

Knowing this section of the Gray exceedingly well, he left the trail with no hesitation. North, or any other direction for that matter, didn't have much value in the Gray, because only when you ventured out of the fog could a direction become clear. Dawn and twilight were near identical, as the suspended water droplets reflected the light and no shadows were cast at any time of day.

Wingbeats sounded through the mist and he froze, looking around carefully. A soft thud, then a dark shape swayed towards him. It stopped, roughly ten strides away, staring directly at him. It was smaller than most equines, only about 14.2 hands tall, and had a roughly equine shape. Æđelriĉ was careful; this was one of the true inhabitants of the Gray, and from this distance he couldn't tell if it was the one he knew. Large, bat-like wings ruffled along its back, and the stallion saw it twitch its tail. If she, Ŋỵvől she called herself, decided that he was worth more dead, there was not much he could do about it. Not without a troop to back him up. So, understandably, he proceeded with caution. <Ŋỵvől,> he greeted her, raising his head in a way of greeting. He had learned, one of the first times they had met, that waving his horn around as he dipped his head was a good way to be attacked. Apparently, her kind took the relaxed, standing position with a high head as a peace sign. Because he lacked wings and a snake-tail, he couldn't imitate their signs of respect, but she understood that, thank god.

<Æđelriĉ,> she tossed her head, armor-coated face softly glinting in the weak light. <Wondring? Yes?>

<Sorry, I can't now. Two days, promise.> Apparently, she found him as interesting as he found her, so an odd friendship of sorts had developed. He had mastered very little of her kind's tongue, but she had picked up much of his, apparently from wraiths.

<Here why, then?>

<Can you feel it? The tension? Is the Gray reacting to something?>

Her answer was long in coming. <Yes, ₭ἰəťḎie₥.* Worry, anxzious.> She looked directly at him, and her cat-like gaze he found disconcerting. <No fear. Looking... searching,> her head tilted sideways as she tried to search for the words, and then gave up. <Here, ₭ἰəťḎie₥, I show.>

He stepped forward, hesitantly. Unlike when 'sharing' with others of her kind, she needed close eye contact to transmit images, feelings, and impressions to him. The last time she had done this, he had thought he would be sick for a week. Unicorns, apparently, weren't built to accept that kind of message from her kind. He took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. Her eyes were rather beautiful, made of a thin, black slit was surrounded by a deep gold, flecked with bronze. He hardened at her question asking if he was ready, replying, <Yes.>

<Good.> And she took him in. A swirl of dark colors, flashes of light; an image flashed past before he could grasp its meaning, then white. A surge of triumph shook him, and then a flash of fear. Even before the fear had solidified it was gone, replaced by waiting patience. Annoyance, and then confidence. About what, he had no idea, just vague impressions. Æđelriĉ was yanked out, and he fell over sideways, unable to steady his swaying head. He choked and coughed, felt his stomach spasm, and his legs trembling. <I sorry, Mἶaṃ, onlee way. You be kayful of him, Mἶaṃ, he destroy you if could.>

<Its fine, its fine,> he mumbled his response at her through his mind, still twitching and coughing. Only after a minute had passed did he realize what she had said. <Wait, him?> He yanked his head up, which sent off another spinning fit. <This force, this presence, is a creature?> The idea was so strange, it was almost terrifying. To be able to have such an effect to change the presence, the feel of the Gray, was so beyond anything what he had ever encountered before.

<DǽlVἴŧ* or ₭ἰəťḎie₥ sure. Not others.>

So a unicorn or pegasi? A flavor of worry colored his thoughts, but he pushed it aside. He would analyze later, he needed information now. <Anything else?> She shook her head, and he thanked her as he rose to his feet. He was still wobbly, still quite unsure of his step, but she shadowed him as he made it back to the trail he had come in on. Bidding him farewell, she spread her wings and vanished into the fog.

It was only later, well out of the Gray and on the path home, did he realize something else she had said. She had called him Mἶaṃ, she had called him friend.

*₭ἰəťḎie₥ ~ HornBrow, directly translated; unicorn
*DǽlVἴŧ ~ BirdWing, directly translated; pegasi



Word Count: 1285
Characters: Æđelriĉ & Ŋỵvől
Place: The Gray, meeting place

[ϞSymreeϞ]

ÁSTRÍÐR

Growing up in the Thoros Avarni, there were certain things that one learned at an early age. The first was that things were not always what they seemed. Eyes could be fooled by shadows and light, just as the heart and mind could be deceived by lies or half truths. The trick was to find balance at the tip of a knife-blade, and to pray that you wouldn't fall. Here, flirting with danger seemed to be more a requirement than a character flaw. It was easy to shut yourself away, but it was easy to do a lot of things. It was easy to be a coward, a traitor, a player in the background who's soul ambition was mediocrity.

It was hard to trust. It was hard to let someone into your world, to share the struggles, the fears, the anger, the joy, when it had been yours alone for such a long time. I had not been a coward. I opened myself up to him. I let him see the hopes and fears, the shattered glass inside of my soul. I comforted him when he was frightened or sick, I helped him get through his guard training, and the early death of his sire. I had been a friend to him where friends where scarce. He repays me by trying to take what was mine alone to give, by pinning me to a tree and nearly suffocating me! Thanks to him, I was in the debt of a fellow warden, scraped up and sore, and supporting the weight of a bruised ego. I wished him ill footing and a bottomless pit. Let him dance with the devil instead. Let me watch as he screams and writhes mid-air, cursing me to the deepest reaches of hell as the black swallows him up. If there was any justice in this world, Lhayn's end would not be quick and painless; and if there was any fairness, I would be the one to push him.

I stopped just outside of the gray, glancing over at I disagreeembled troop. My eyes narrowed slightly at Lhayn's dark buckskin form before glancing at the other guards, all standing slightly away from him, their eyes darting between his bodice and mine. I had not said a word of our altercation, but it was clear that all of these knew what he had tried to do. A still, awkward silence hung in the air, and I knew that they expected me to say something about that day. Tough luck, they weren't getting a word.

I turned to my second, a tough, burly unicorn stallion the color of smoke. "Everyone accounted for, Kaẅlĩŗ ?"

He nodded crisply, his stance proud, but respectful, "Affirmative, Ástríđr. This guard would like to express his dislike for the slime in our presence, and offer his services should the Warden require them." A smirk tugged at the edge of the stallion's lips, and I had to suppress a smile. The three other guards laughed, glancing mirthlessly at Lhayn.The rest of my troop made it clear that they would certainly be on my side of things in this. Even the apprentices had taken to glaring openly at the pegasi stallion.

I shook myself and turned away, grinning as I lowered my horn, stepping into the gray. I watched as the sable coloring faded from my forelegs, looking a strange shade of brownish gray. My mane and tail lifted, floating as though in an invisible breeze, and my whole body seemed to go hollow, lifting me into a stride that was longer and faster than anything I was capable of on the outside. Kaẅlĩŗ's tail swished at my flank, and he caught my eye. <You're not alone this time. Just think the word and I'll take down his sorry a** for you.>

Inwardly I laughed, <It's tempting, but I don't think that it will be necessary.> With a grin, the smoky gray stallion drifted back in his position, leaving me free to survey the gray. My heart lifted as I broke into a trot, more gliding across the ground than actually touching it. Fog hung heavy in the air, covering some of the path as we traveled down it. Here, the gray was open and very flat, rolling only in slight hills, heavy with grasses that we were forbidden from eating. The effects were somewhat unclear, but there was a general agreement that it would either kill you or drive you insane. Neither was particularly desirable in my opinion.

<Movement off to the left, Warden.> That was one of the Guards on the main connection, one of many that could be operating simultaneously. I would be shocked if most in the troop were not conversing with at least one other this very moment. A connection could be as small as two equines, or as large as the connection between all of the wardens in the gray. Rarely did we use that connection, but it was always kept open just in case one troop needed backup.

<Do you know what it was?> I asked calmly.

<Negative. It was just a shadow, but it's small, probably a wraith or something of the like.>

Inwardly I sighed, <Alright, let's check it out. Lhayn, Kaẅlĩŗ, come back me up, the rest of you continue on and meet us near the Great Oak.> There was no way that I was leaving him to look after apprentices. My second and I could more than handle any trouble that Lhayn may cause.
I watched the rest of the troop leave, catching their rueful and disappointed frowns. They had apparently wanted some quality time with the traitor. I had the feeling that he would be quite the hot topic for a while. Not many were stupid enough to attack Wardens in or outside of the gray. Most knew that we were not the type that anyone wanted to pick a fight with.

<You're enjoying this, aren't you?> Lhayn asked.

<Your pain and humiliation among the troop? Yes.> Inwardly my heart constricted in anger. How dare he talk to me now? I would beat his slimy little face into a pulp.

<They wont be laughing for long.>

<Your right, keep this up and you wont be around to be laughed at.> Please tell me that this guy can take a hint? Doubtful. It was clear that my second was oblivious to our conversation, his eyes were focused on the thick clump of tree and brush where the guard had spotted the shadow.

<Just watch your back, Stride, this isn't over, darling, Æđelriĉ wont be able to save you next time.>

<What? You want a scar to match your other side, gimpy? Don't threaten me, Lhayn, you cant win.>

<Neither can you. Even if you keep face now, you'll dream tonight.>

I cut out the stallion's private connection and strode forward, parting the brush abruptly with my horn. My teeth were barred, but the air was empty, holding only a mysterious curtain of fog. I glanced down at the earth, and saw runes spelled out in a rough sprawl across the dirt. I froze as I made out the writing, my muscles tensing slightly. Kaẅlĩŗ parted the brush beside me, his eyes following my gaze to the runes. He frowned deeply before glancing up at me, question marks etched in his violet eyes. <What would spell out your name in the earth and run away?>

Wordlessly I shrugged, moving away from the brush to meet back up with the rest of my troop. The image of the runes remained seared in my brain, and with a twinge of bitterness, I knew that Lhayn was right. I would dream tonight.

[Shanza]

ÆÐELRIĈ

Æđelriĉ strode down the trail, trying to reign in his anger and frustration. It was just past midnight, and his troop had just returned from patrolling the Gray. It hadn't gone well, to say the least. Something was disturbing the atmosphere, something was changing the feel. Everything within the Gray was more restless and harder to deal with. His Troop had found two Fog Storms near the border, one of them which had been much more powerful than a Fog Storm should rightfully be. It neared the strength of a Weather-Morph, which was a different thing entirely. Although Weather-Morphs could create the affects of a Fog Storm when they were young, no where in known history had Fog Storms been able to send electricity through the air or create thunder. He had consulted several other Wardens, and they decided to discuss it just before the Changing of the Guard tomorrow, which was at noon.

He bid his Troop farewell, knowing that the story of the strange Fog Storm would be all over camp by mid-morning. The Council would want a full report, but the Council be damned. This was a Warden matter. He sighed in frustration as he stopped, wrestling with the damn thing called common sense. With a snort, the bay stallion spun in the night, quickly trotting to where he knew Ástríđr commonly slept. Æđelriĉ paused, then turned down into a less known area. Since the events of the past few days, she would be unlikely to stick to any set schedule. She wouldn't want to be surprised, and would would want to know if any were coming. He loped down a trail, jumped a log, and set out cross-country. There wasn't any easy way to get to the place he had in mind, but that was the point.

"You want to come down from there?" He called softly from the darkness, and was answered by a cautious snort. A cramped cave could be seen in the daytime, tucked on a small ledge half way up a cliff. It was nearly impossible to attack without having wings, and even then it was a dangerous situation to take on. "I need to talk to you. Did you hear about the strange Fog Storm before you left your Patrol?"

Wondering if she would come down, Æđelriĉ stared into the night. He thought she would; she stilled owed him, even though he hadn't called her directly on it yet. He was getting more edgy by the day, he could feel it, and was sure she could. There was something malevolent and evil there that was growing restless. How one thing could affect the entirety of the Gray Area, however, was beyond him. Yet Ŋỵvől had hinted at just that. One thing, one lone unicorn or pegasi warping those connected to the Gray was something that scared the living nuts out of him. How was he suppose to deal with that? How could any of them?

A chill ran through him as he remembered her warning. This equine, this powerful, lone equine, wanted to destroy him. Him alone? Or all of the Thoros Avarní? For all of his worries, Æđelriĉ was sure of one thing. When Ŋỵvől said destroy, she meant it. This stallion, who ever he was, wanted them dead or so insane that they wouldn't be even a vision of a threat. The thought wasn't comforting at all.



Word Count: 581
Characters: Æđelriĉ & Ástríđr
Place: Base Camp, Southe Ridge

[ϞSymreeϞ]

ÁSTRÍÐR

Things are pretty bad when a mare can't sleep in the same place for more than a night at a time. Call me paranoid, but I did not want to be found. Lhayn had come much too close to finding me a few times already. Luckily the mountains had ample hiding spots such as the one that I had found on this night. There were plenty to choose from. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't afraid of Lhayn on his own, yes, he was large, but our previous fight had proved that size is not everything. He still wore the scar I gave him like a mark of shame. All of the bruises that he had given me were all but faded, save the one on my pride. No, what I feared more was being found when I was asleep. Lately the dreams had become more vivid, and harder to awake from. It seemed that every night I slept longer and more fitfully than the last, but had awoken barely on time for patrol, still tired, but functioning. I was sure that Lhayn had noticed, and he seemed to be enjoying my sleepy discomfort. At least I had avoided the attentions of the other wardens...so far.

"You want to come down from there?"

I snorted cautiously, glancing down at the large, dark figure just below my cave. Æđelriĉ? What did he want? Not needing to remind myself of the debt that I owed him, I started the treacherous climb back down to solid ground, my hooves silent and practiced from having done the same climb several hundred times before. The nights I stayed in this place over the years were few and far between, but after I had first learned to climb it, I never forgot exactly what ledges were safe to use as hoof-holds.

"I need to talk to you. Did you hear about the strange Fog Storm before you left your Patrol?"

I froze mid-way down my decent. Yes, I had heard of it, the strange properties half-way between a fog storm and a weather morph, yet over and under developed respectively. I had no idea what had caused it, but one thing was clear: something or someone was disturbing the gray. "Yeah," I said, finally hitting level ground and walking towards my fellow warden, "I heard about it." I paused, and then stopped a few feet away from him, my stance proud but respectful in the same breath. Whether I liked it or not, I owed Æđelriĉ my life, it was no time for slouching. "Your troop took care of it?"

The dark bay stallion nodded, grunting in a way that I took to be an affirmative.

I nodded thoughtfully to myself, pondering on the strange goings on in the gray. It would not have unnerved me quite so much as it had, if not for the fact that the chaos had all started the day that I found my name written in runes across the soil. I had found five more in the past week, but kept them to myself, thinking that there had probably been seven in all, one for me to find every day of the week, but somehow I had missed the last two. I waited attentively for Æđelriĉ to speak, thinking that it was doubtful that I would tell him about the strange runes. This probably had nothing to do with the chaos in the gray. Even as the thought crossed my mind, I dismissed it. I did not believe in coincidences.

"There was something else you wanted to talk to me about, I think?"

Words: 619
OOC: it may be interesting if the two are linked?

[Shanza]

ÆÐELRIĈ

Æđelriĉ watched as the small mare carefully maneuvered down the steep trail. He could see her in the dark, but barely. She was one who always chose her hiding places well. He wondered what he would say. Earlier he had come to the conclusion that there was something big happening, too big to stay quiet on the subject. Then there was that incident a couple of weeks ago... well, he wouldn't tell her about that. Not unless things got extremely desperate. He grinned to himself, fulling realizing that she would likely never know what had happened to him, because by the time the he would judge the situation to be dire enough, they would likely all be dead.

"There was something else you wanted to talk to me about, I think?"

He held back a snort of irritation, that was why he was here, wasn't it? Quickly stilling his restless feet, Æđelriĉ took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves and racing heartbeat. Everything would be alright. Everything would have to be alright. They just had to figure out what was going on, who was pulling the strings, and how to stop it. Piece of cake, right?

"There's something wrong with the Gray. I'm sure you've felt it by now." What if she didn't think it was that bad? Would he have to tell her? Well, believe him or not, he wouldn't tell her. Nothing short of death or total annihilation would make him breath a word of what had happened that night. "Something is changing it, changing everything. I don't think it's going to stop with Fog Storms and increased Wraith activity. I think the others are getting restless, the powerful ones." He paused, wondering what she was thinking. "The dragons, the wavyerns, the karajers, the threstrals. The dragons are the hardest to affect, but just last week one nearly took out Яұέshá's patrol. I'm telling you, something's happening, something's wrong." He took a deep breath, stilling his feet quickly once he realized he had been shuffling again. He knew she would know something was wrong with him, she would know that something had happened. His jaw tensed as he waited for her answer, ears pricked forward. He hoped she had the sense not to push it, although he doubted it. The reason he came to her was because once she latched a hold of something, she never let it go. He just wasn't ready to face what had happened. He kept telling himself he needed time, he just needed time, but even he didn't believe it.





Word Count: 444
Characters: Æđelriĉ & Ástríđr, third person
Place: Base Camp, Southe Ridge

[ϞSymreeϞ]

ÁSTRÍÐR

For a few moments, the stallion was quiet, and I regarded him with silent curiosity. What was so important that he needed to talk to me? Or had he simply come to tell me how it was that I would repay my debt to him? I almost hoped for the latter. I hated the fact that I owed the dark stallion my life. It seemed like an eternity since he had pulled Lhayn off of me.

It didn't take me long to gather that something was off about him. After my question had been asked, I noticed the slight shifting of weight between his legs, and the agitated flickering of his eyes before he looked at me again. "There's something wrong with the Gray. I'm sure you've felt it by now," he said with a hint of impatience. I stared at him for a moment before nodding. Yes, I certainly had felt it. All of the wardens had. Why was he coming to me about this? I had always been under the impression that I would be the last unicorn he would turn to when a crisis arose.

"Something is changing it, changing everything. I don't think it's going to stop with Fog Storms and increased Wraith activity. I think the others are getting restless, the powerful ones."

My gaze became very still as he paused, but I didn't say anything. What was making him say this? Æđelriĉ was like me, he faced dragons, wraiths, threstrals, on a daily basis! What on earth was frightening him so badly that he had to come to me?

"The dragons, the wavyerns, the karajers, the threstrals. The dragons are the hardest to affect, but just last week one nearly took out Яұέshá's patrol. I'm telling you, something's happening, something's wrong." He had started shuffling again, shifting his weight nervously. There was something else. There was something more that he hadn't told me yet.

"I know," I told him softly, "I believe you, Æđelriĉ, but there's more to the story, isn't there?" I paused, letting him think about it. "Something about this whole thing has you terrified, something you don't want to tell me about." I glanced away from him for a moment, thinking of how to convince him that he could trust me. "You came to me for a reason. I can't help you if I don't know what we're dealing with."

[Shanza]

ÆÐELRIĈ

"I know," she said, "I believe you, Æđelriĉ, but there's more to the story, isn't there? Something about this whole thing has you terrified, something you don't want to tell me about."

His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched as she glanced away, just for a moment. He took a deep breath, trying to relax. When she glanced back, he was standing still, albeit maybe a touch too still. His muscles were tight, and he couldn't believe he was thinking about telling her what he had experienced. There was no escaping the fact, however. He had to tell her. She had to know what was coming if there was going to be any chance to save them all.

"You came to me for a reason. I can't help you if I don't know what we're dealing with."

"I know," he said softly, head lowered slightly. His muscles slowly unbunched as he relaxed just slightly. He looked past her, off towards the cliff and into the forest. It was pitch black; no moon, no stars, almost no light. He remembered that day; the complete lack of sensation, the lack of everything. The stallion shivered involuntarily as a breeze ruffled his coat. It reminded him of that day of cold and fear and prophecy. He shook his head, then straightened, wondering where to start.

"That day," he hesitated, full of fear maybe and anger. He didn't want to admit it to himself, he never did. What had drove him down, why he was coming to talk to her was his realization that the knowledge he had could not remain locked in his head. If it did, he would have already won. Whoever he was.

"That day of the black fog- the thing that killed Elveris, killed the sentry that day. the one that held me." His voice dropped to a mere whisper and he could feel his pulse start to pound. He struggled to control his reaction to the memory and to stop it from taking over his vision. With an effort, he continued in his tale. "I saw it coming, but it moved fast- it moved as if it had a target." He shook his head in disbelief. He had never talked about that day, although the healers, Council, all the Wardens, and several guards had begged him to. The healers' goal was for the most part, of an open heart. To be able to heal, he needed to share his fears and feelings, it didn't matter with who. He didn't blame the others or hold it against them, but they wanted the information because he was the only one to survive the attack. He didn't share because he wasn't ready to and he had no idea how his information could help survive that thing's attack. He had no idea how he survived, and it was very likely, that no matter what anyone did, nothing would change who would live and who would die. "It was coming for me," he said softly. He knew he sounded crazy, but he had spent the past weeks going over and over the attack, trying to see all the angles, studying it until he was fairly certain of the answers. "It was intelligent - or at least it contained some sort of advanced command structure. It could have easily hid from our patrols, there were plenty of ditches and caverns for it to dwell in. But it didn't. It didn't," he hissed, ears pinning against his skull. Why did it come for him? "It came for me - faster than I thought possible - rolling and churning and crawling across the ground like billions of ropey vines and black fog wrapping and thrashing and entwining anything in its path.

"It encased me, held me, bound me tight and close," the anger in his voice mingled with fear - but not of what he was recounting - of what was next to come. "I couldn't see, couldn't feel, couldn't speak. I couldn't connect to the others- to you, to anyone. I'm sure you felt that part." Strangly, he was calm, talking in an almost bored tone. "Then - somehow - I saw. I saw, Ástríđr! Somehow images reached me but not through my eyes, but through my mind." He shook his head in disbelief, then continued slowly, tone infused with wonder and caution. "I saw the troops coming, them running and flying and traveling through space and time. Then -" he paused, full of the wonder and terror of what he had seen. "I saw other things. Glimpses and moments of the past. Meeting with the dragon, chasing other things, going about the gray. For all of this it was as if I was part of the scene, I was living it. Then I saw you being attacked by Lhayn, saw the foal being exiled. Saw things that happened only days or weeks after I was engulfed by that black fog. Then other things, which I guess which have yet to come." His tone darkened, and he shook his head, a useless gesture to stem the future. "I have seen things, terrible signs of war and terror; fear and betrayal. An inevitable march towards the world's destruction. Forces were gathering, circles were forming. I saw a mare with a twisted and tortured soul kill yet again to enslave another. I saw younglings daring each other to get too close to a dangerous place. I saw the power that two twins hold and both the possible good and evil in them. I saw this stallion, he was in the Gray, but he lived unchanged. How is that possible? He was the only one who looked me in the eyes, not as if I was seeing the future, but as if he was seeing me. The hatred and fury in his gaze - he took a hold of me. I was going insane and then Ŋỵvől broke the connection. I don't know how, but she saved my sanity and my life."

Æđelriĉ gritted his teeth, knowing he had to tell her everything. "I also saw you. Somehow, he, that stallion, wants you. I don't know why or how I know, all I know is that you are important to his plans." He shook his head, not knowing how she would take the next bit. "I also know he has power; power like the twins have the power, only much, much more advanced and skilled. And," he looked up at her, "It is very hard for him to directly affect any of us within the Gray or the tribal grounds. He wants to destroy us, Ástríđr. Somehow we stand in the way of his path and he wants to eliminate the threat. I was warned only a short while ago by Ŋỵvől that someone wanted me destroyed, not dead. That the threat was an equine, specifically a Horn-Brow or Bird-Wing. I believe what she was warning me about was that stallion. He was pure evil, and full of hate. And he lives in the Gray."

He sighed, now that he had stopped talking. Looking up at Ástríđr, he whispered, "How is it that I was engulfed for nearly an hour, while it barely touched Elveris before he was dead? How is it that the sentry went mad and I survived? Why did it target me? Why did it not go after any others when the patrols arrived? How did Ŋỵvől destroy, or at least scatter it? You wanted to know what I knew. Now you know. Do you feel any better for it?"




Word Count: 1300
Characters: Æđelriĉ & Ástríđr, third person
Place: Base Camp, Southe Ridge

[ϞSymreeϞ]

ÁSTRÍÐR

As the silence wore on between us, I found myself growing increasingly more worried for the dark stag before me. I didn't understand. If he was in such distress, why come to me? If we were still yearlings, I would have teased him about it for weeks, unrelentingly. He had closer friends than me- heck, he hated me!
If he hated you, why would he save your life, Ástríđr?
I ignored the question, resenting the fact that I was still in his debt. Perhaps after tonight I would be free of it; if Æđelriĉ would actually tell me what was wrong with him!

After I spoke, he seemed to realize that he was doing a poor job of hiding his nerves. He went from shifting and shuffling to standing so still that he looked like he was holding his breath. I narrowly escaped the desire to laugh, and felt proud to get away with the slight twitch of my lips that wanted so badly to grin. It probably was no laughing matter, anything that could get him this nervous, but still, this wasn't something you saw every day.

By the time that he replied, I had regained my composure. It was no longer funny to me that he was frightened. If he was this scared, then it was likely important...and about a week later than it should have been. Æđelriĉ's panic button was pushed about seven days after most equines would have gone straight to the Drath'var. If he was here, then this was important.

He looked past me, as though gathering his thoughts, and I watched his muscles slowly uncoil from their spring. He shook his head and straightened before looking at me. His first two words, as unspecific as they may have sounded, caught my attention immediately. I knew the day that he was thinking about. Everyone knew, or heard the stories, or attended the funeral processions...that day did not need any further description. Three lives had been lost, and the only survivor of the encounter stood before me, his story unknown and begged for by loved ones of the lost, and curious souls like myself that yearned for some inkling of what was happening to the gray. I had never asked him. I knew better. But now? Now it almost seemed like he was going to-but that was nonsense- he would never choose me as the first to learn his part of the story! He would not choose me, he would not tell me, and yet he had, and he was.

I was rather impressed that he had the decency to clarify the day for me, however unnecessary it was in this case. He hesitated only briefly before diving headlong into his tale. I listened, startled, as he began. The thing had targeted him, moving so fast through the gray that he had no chance to defend himself or escape. I thought of my dreams as he described it, and how I was powerless to fend off my wraiths. My heart sped as he described it.

I recognized his cold dread as he told me that it had been coming for him, that the attack had been planned. Planned! It was black fog- but just a fog storm all the same- how could it have 'planned' it's attacks? I shook myself. Fog storms didn't attack. They happened, like the whether in the outside world. Perhaps Æđelriĉ hadn't escaped with his sanity as fully intact as we would have hoped...

"It was intelligent - or at least it contained some sort of advanced command structure. It could have easily hid from our patrols, there were plenty of ditches and caverns for it to dwell in. But it didn't. It didn't."

His hiss startled me slightly, and I glanced away from him, still wondering why he was telling me all of this. It just was so unlike him!

I was distracted again as he spoke of the actual attack. There was that word again! However, as he continued, I lost the ability to think of it as anything else. He described it as it came after him, impossibly fast, like smoke and vines sliding along the turf of the gray. My heart raced as he paused, and a chill ran the length of my spine as he told me of how it held him, and bound him to it's heart. He couldn't see, couldn't feel, couldn't speak. He had been powerless- more effectively strangled than if Lhayn had been crushing his ribcage.

Æđelriĉ seemed to notice me again, and a strange calm washed over him, making his tone sound more familiar and bored.Yes, of course I had noticed that I couldn't contact him. Of course I had frozen solid in the gray, of course I had run, as fast as my legs would allow, to find out what was wrong. After hearing of a death, what warden didn't think that he had perished as well? I never told Æđelriĉ how it made me feel to think that he was gone. I had never told him how I had lost my composure in front of my fellow Wardens, and insisted that we siege the storm if only to recover his body. I wasn't alone in my wild grief, but I was, luckily, outnumbered by older, wiser Wardens. I told myself afterwords that it was just because I had known him for my entire life, just because we had trained together. That was the only reason I cared so much. It took weeks for me to admit to myself that that was a lie.

I shook myself and glanced back up at Æđelriĉ, hoping that he couldn't read me as well as I feared.

"Then - somehow - I saw. I saw, Ástríđr! Somehow images reached me but not through my eyes, but through my mind."

My heart skipped a beat as he described what he had seen. Meeting the dragon, chasing wraiths, as well as other things that had already come to pass. He saw me being attacked by Lhayn, and the exile of my nephew. He saw things that would happen after he escaped the fog that would, in the past weeks, also come to pass. He spoke then of things that he had seen further in the future. He described a mare committing murder, foals playing by a dangerous place, and twins that held witchery-powerful witchery that could be used for good or evil alike.

"I saw this stallion, he was in the Gray, but he lived unchanged. How is that possible? He was the only one who looked me in the eyes, not as if I was seeing the future, but as if he was seeing me. The hatred and fury in his gaze - he took a hold of me. I was going insane and then Ŋỵvől broke the connection. I don't know how, but she saved my sanity and my life."

Ŋỵvől; his thestral. That was how he had survived? She had saved him!? I blinked once,feeling confused. There had to be something else. He wouldn't be telling me this if it were all that had transpired in the black fog. I wondered if I would have to beg for it. Surely he wasn't here just to taunt me with all of this information, and then not have a point?

The next moment, the missing piece fell into place.

"I also saw you. Somehow, he, that stallion, wants you. I don't know why or how I know, all I know is that you are important to his plans."

Me? My mind reeled with the possibilities. A strange stallion wanted me? For what? Why? I knew better than to interrupt him though, it would only make him resent me more.

When he spoke next, it was of this stallion's power, that he was similar to the witch-twins, but more refined- more advanced and skilled in his power. What the hell was that supposed to mean? He met my eyes, and I sensed that the end of his story was fast-approaching.

"It is very hard for him to directly affect any of us within the Gray or the tribal grounds. He wants to destroy us, Ástríđr. Somehow we stand in the way of his path and he wants to eliminate the threat. I was warned only a short while ago by Ŋỵvől that someone wanted me destroyed, not dead. That the threat was an equine, specifically a Horn-Brow or Bird-Wing. I believe what she was warning me about was that stallion. He was pure evil, and full of hate. And he lives in the Gray."

Destroy. This stallion did not want us dead, no that would be too simple, I thought hysterically, he wanted us destroyed. Not only did he want to destroy us, but he wanted me. Me specifically? Did that mean I would die first- or that I would watch him kill everything I held dear until I did his bidding? I paused mid-thought, astonished that the thought had even crossed my mind. I was a Warden. I was specifically trained to not hold anything save loyalty in my heart. I was chosen by the gray to have an empty heart- empty, save for that! Loyalty! Loyalty to the gray! To my troop! To the Thoros Avarni! It would be unwise to care for anything else. As my eyes connected with Æđelriĉ's, I knew that the thought was useless and too late. But whatever I felt for him would fade. I would train it to fade, and then one day, it would vanish, just as mysteriously as it had arrived.

"How is it that I was engulfed for nearly an hour, while it barely touched Elveris before he was dead? How is it that the sentry went mad and I survived? Why did it target me? Why did it not go after any others when the patrols arrived? How did Ŋỵvől destroy, or at least scatter it? You wanted to know what I knew. Now you know. Do you feel any better for it?"

No. Actually I didn't feel better, but I felt that it would be unwise to tell Æđelriĉ that. Despite that thought, my body language gave it away. My legs trembled slightly, and the muscles in my neck were tensed to the point that it was almost painful. If I didn't speak now, he would sit here all night, waiting for me to sort out my thoughts. "Æđelriĉ...I don't think that it was an accident that you survived. I think that you saw all of those things, that you survived so longbecause this stallion wanted you to see them, and because he wanted you to survive. I think that he killed Elveris to get your attention. If he hadn't screamed, you wouldn't have noticed that something was wrong until he was dead. I think that this stallion wanted to make sure that you got to his black fog first, that you were the one to come running to the rescue." I paused, meeting his dark gaze," I think that the sentry was an accident. He wasn't supposed to find Elveris first, that's why it spat him out so quickly. He wasn't this thing's target. You were. So it waited for you." Again I paused, this time remembering his words,"You said that it showed you when Lhayn attacked me?"

" Æđelriĉ- I'm not telling you that Ŋỵvől was wrong, but maybe she's just ahead of the game. This stallion needed you to deliver a message. He needed you alive...un-destroyed... for now. You said that he wanted me, that I am important to his plans. What if he knew that you would come to me? " I broke off suddenly, feeling that I had it all backwards, "Hang on, ignore all of that. If he wanted me, why wouldn't he have just taken me? Why wasn't I his target? Æđelriĉ, I think that you were right...what if he saw a glimpse of this moment in the future- what if he knew that you would come to tell me all of this- that you would ruin his plans? He was going to kill you, but maybe Ŋỵvől was interfering the whole time! Maybe she was hacking into his mind or something, and that was why you saw all of those things? Then with all us in the gray arriving, he knew that he was outnumbered- that he would have to deal with you later- of else hoped that you would die before you could tell me... Æđelriĉ, he self- fulfilled his own prophecy..." My words drifted out into the chilly mountain air, and I shivered, knowing that it had nothing to do with the temperature. Was he even listening? Did what I say make any sense to him? I shook my head slightly, a strange, weighted feeling in my head.
I looked back up at my companion, "Please say something?"