The Lost Can be Found

Virga... The Portal seethes around you. You seethe, too, pushing breath back at it. You are here with a goal in mind. You are in search. And for the first time since you left Helovia, you act alone. Savera is absent. You could find her if she needed you, of this you remain certain, but you have business of your own. You have plans of your own. You move through the trees with purpose, a darkness against even the shadows. A creature hewn of midnight and cold fury. The air burns with every breath, but it hardly distracts you. Your ears move. Your eyes scan, searching for someone else as promising as stony Yves. And then you hear a great commotion. Crackling. Breaking branches. Something sizable pelts toward you. This information arrives in your brain slowly. Few things throw themselves at you. Maybe it's the horn. Maybe it's your temperament. But, unaccustomed to outright attack, you pause to blink in the direction of the noise. Your thoughts begin to form the question — What is that? — when it comes upon you and then catches you broadside. A hearty whuff! as all the air leaves your lungs. Wings flare, spread, flap twice as your hooves skid and you stumble. You catch sight of something pale and stocky, but shorter than yourself. Then you step sideways to keep from falling, and your lungs heave, heave, heave in an attempt to regain what the collision took. But it takes less time than it feels like. It takes a few heart beats, and then you've stepped away enough to close the distance, to wheel and bring your horn to bare, wings hooded around your shoulders, eyes a little wild and a little furious. You turn to run the attacker through, but then you lay eyes on her, and the sight is enough to make you hesitate. Just a little. She: on the ground, breathing hard, clearly terrified. Your eyes lift from her to the direction from which she came, but you hear no sign of pursuit. Eyes narrowed, you wait. Nothing else appears. Your anger cools a little as your gaze turns down to the stranger. Enough so that you don't attack her. "What are you doing?" you wonder aloud. light shines brighter in the dark

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