I can see a lot of life in you; Aranea

[magnus]

The voice had come in the middle of the night—and Magnus’ question had been answered, finally.

He had not been sleeping; instead, he had been wandering the border of Tephra, his nose swinging low to the ground, his gold-flecked eyes washing over the border and the residents who clustered around them. It was then that he had heard it. His own name in that same voice he had hear for so many months, so many years when trapped. His head had snapped up and there he had been, the voice finally manifested.

It had been a stallion, built heavily, tall and wide, his coat a deep mulberry and his eyes emerald. Magnus had snarled, the old anger rising up in his chest, but Woolf had cut him off. It would do no good to fight; he could not be hurt. It would do no good to ask questions; Woolf had no intention of answering them. But, but, the stallion had come to Magnus with an olive branch of sorts—an apology, if you will. He had explained that it did no good to have bad blood among the family and while he would not apologize for what he had done, how he had protected Magnus, he would appreciate putting the issue to rest.

And so, he came with information—with things of use for Tephra’s leader.

Once Magnus had accepted, he agreed: this knowledge was worth it.

So he had turned from the mulberry stallion, no longer furious but still cool, and took off at a brisk trot and then a gallop, searching the land for the silent mare who had been trapped within her own mind since the first moment that she had come to Tephra. The skilled diplomat who was unable to voice her thoughts; the one who strained to contribute in ways that were so difficult for her. Magnus’ heart beat steadily in his chest, hope flaring within him. It would be a benefit to Tephra to have Aranea freed from her silence, but more than that, it would be good for her—and if Magnus could help at all, he would.

When he finally found her, resting, he hesitated. Perhaps this news could wait until morning. But he, eventually, decided against it. Instead he lowered his head to her, nudging her gently.

“Wake up,” he said softly. “I have news for you.”

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

@[Aranea]