02-02-2020, 05:26 PM
The world is quiet when the star falls. Eons of suffering whisper come here, come here, come here as the competitors lift their eyes to the sky. Thorn, bleary eyed and innocent, turns his face to the stars. They twinkle spectrally, fading in and out as if they are not really there. Thorn thinks he is experiencing sleep-induced hallucinations when a bright, burning star falls from the cosmos. The winged man’s stomach turns with foreboding, but those whispered come heres sound melodic and sweet.
The violence that follows this even sits lightly on Thorn’s shoulders as he stands to follow the light. His magic instinctively turns him into his more frightening form, nothing more than a hollow skeleton with bones that glow pearly white beneath the moon. He doesn’t think much of the heaviness, of how this sense of foreboding should turn him back to his family’s nest. Wonder would snatch him up with worried hands for leaving in the middle of the night to follow something frightening, he thinks. Guilt squeezes his gentle heart, but the call of the beast is a siren’s song.
The travel from Tephra to the Mountain is a long one, so Thorn shifts his wings back to their fleshy form and takes off into the sky. The wind is cold and strange as it blows through Thorn’s empty skeleton, but he nearly likes it, how alive it makes him feel. If it weren’t for the shiver of fear traveling down his spine, he might hum to the whistling between his bones.
Thorn has a sweet face and soft eyes. His mother’s magic gave him a powerful heart, and the all-encompassing love his family has made him stronger than the average horse. So when he lands at the Mountain and peers at the holes dug so viciously into the ground, he leans into that magic, draws on it just enough to take the hesitation out of his step. Here, facing what is sure to be at least an uncomfortable unknown, Thorn knows his family is with him. They love him so deeply and that strength in his heart replays their whispered I love yous.
At the mouth of the cave Thorn stands, peering into the orange glow. It reflects like orange and purple fire in his eyes.
For a moment, Thorn feels as if he can face anything.
The violence that follows this even sits lightly on Thorn’s shoulders as he stands to follow the light. His magic instinctively turns him into his more frightening form, nothing more than a hollow skeleton with bones that glow pearly white beneath the moon. He doesn’t think much of the heaviness, of how this sense of foreboding should turn him back to his family’s nest. Wonder would snatch him up with worried hands for leaving in the middle of the night to follow something frightening, he thinks. Guilt squeezes his gentle heart, but the call of the beast is a siren’s song.
The travel from Tephra to the Mountain is a long one, so Thorn shifts his wings back to their fleshy form and takes off into the sky. The wind is cold and strange as it blows through Thorn’s empty skeleton, but he nearly likes it, how alive it makes him feel. If it weren’t for the shiver of fear traveling down his spine, he might hum to the whistling between his bones.
Thorn has a sweet face and soft eyes. His mother’s magic gave him a powerful heart, and the all-encompassing love his family has made him stronger than the average horse. So when he lands at the Mountain and peers at the holes dug so viciously into the ground, he leans into that magic, draws on it just enough to take the hesitation out of his step. Here, facing what is sure to be at least an uncomfortable unknown, Thorn knows his family is with him. They love him so deeply and that strength in his heart replays their whispered I love yous.
At the mouth of the cave Thorn stands, peering into the orange glow. It reflects like orange and purple fire in his eyes.
For a moment, Thorn feels as if he can face anything.