Golden eyes watching our every move
Losing time without the sun or moon
He is exhausted, mentally and physically. But he had kept his promise. A promise made to his sister in desperation, but still he had seen it through. And that oath had not been kind to him.
When finally his powers had returned to him, bleeding black through his limbs, he had felt an immense sense of relief. He had not known before just how much a part of him those shadows had become. Just how integral to his identity they are. And he welcomes them with open arms, letting the blue and white be swallowed by black, clinging pitch.
He is weary though, even now. And it takes him time to rebuild his strength.
When finally he does, he gathers Briella with a tired smile. “It is time to go home now,” he whispers. He calls it home, but it is only a semblance of such. His home will always be the shadows. She could hardly consider a place she had never been home. But it contains his family, and it contains her family. So perhaps home is truly what it is.
He carries them through the shadows, his strength eaten away by illness and over use. Perhaps it takes longer than it normally might have to find the correct place, but eventually he parts those dark curtains to reveal the tropical paradise they had made theirs. His portal brings them to the densest part of the palmy wood, long leaves masking the sunlight shining from above. It is too bright still, but here at least the light does not burn.
He steps onto the sandy beach, turning yellow eyes to peer at the little chestnut filly. Exhaustion etches every line of his dark body, and he does not even have the strength to call those shadows back. Instead he touches her thin neck gently, in the familiar manner their journey together inspired. A way to say she is safe now. And then he turns and finds the darkest corner of the wood beneath a massive palm frond and curls beneath it.
He had done his duty. He had seen her safe. Now he would rest.
ether
@[Briella]