it comes in waves, ghaul/any

[Alcinder]

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth

Mama had said never to leave their hidden sanctum to the northern part of Loess without her because it was unsafe, so naturally the young boy waited until she and the visiting Ischians (his new friends!) were asleep before heading for the sandstone pathway out of their den. He had walked as gently as he could to keep the clack of his small hooves against the hard-packed earth from awakening his mother; and, foolishly at the time, he had been excited for the small canyon to peel away and reveal the small foothills of the rest of his home ─ and above them, the wide and untamed sky. He watched the stars with his silver eyes for a time, reveling in his first experience with true silence and solitude.

But he had not been alone for long ─

And the creature, one plucked straight from nightmares Alcinder had not yet dreamt, herded him from the familiar comfort of Loess. The young boy had glanced over his winged shoulders countless times, hoping to see his Mama racing after them, but the only movement he had seen was something he blamed on his imagination. And after seeing the talon-footed stallion deal violently with the other young boy who traveled with them ─ the handsome black and gold one ─ the tobiano newborn had not felt very much like fighting back.

Trailing behind as far and for as long as possible, the son of Oceane and Castile shivers coldly in the dark of the night. His confusion and fear ebb just slightly, however, as the glowing gold of a scaled creature appears in the distance.

What is this place?

The stallion with horns for eyes wraps himself around the gilded reptile and Alcinder shivers at the impossibility of the creations before him; he holds his opalescent blue wings tight to his lanky, gangly body and when the eyeless beast mentions him (though not by name), he finally speaks up, albeit tentatively ─

"Bring me home. I want to go home."

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A L C I N D E R

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@[clarissa], @[ghaul], @[Cormorant]
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