Off the edge of the map

She left the twins in the care of their father and set off on her own, refusing to listen to any objections. Quite apart from the bone deep weariness and the frightening new forces that had erupted upon her body there was nothing wrong with her, and she had a purpose with this trip that had nothing to do with wanting to be alone. 

Not entirely, at least. 

Sitting still would be dangerous, she realized. Allowing herself to come to a halt would be the death of her, and of them all. Grief lay like a choking blanket over all her emotions, numbing her ability to feel deeply about anything. The analytical part of her mind analyzed that it was shock that made her so remote, shock and loss and the fear that came of uncertainty. Leaving herself in the care of others, no matter how well meaning or caring they were, would allow her too much time to dwell on her grief and the terrors she had seen. Before long depression would come creeping in, melancholy as deep and draining as any poison. If ever there had been a time for clear thinking and action it was now, and Erthë refused to let her recent motherhood or the need of the twins to hold her back. 

In fact, she reasoned, this trip might benefit them eventually. 

Picking a direction at random, the pale young mare set off in a general southbound direction. She would have preferred to fly, to get her bearings and see the general overlay over this dark and gloomy realm they had been forced into, but on one hand she was too weak from the recent labor and still heavy with the excess bulk pregnancy had forced upon her, and on the other the constant downpour had soaked her feathers through to such an extent that she feared they might never dry completely again. Thus she kept to her feet and made her way gradually south, guided by the light of the fire that dripped from her feathers and hair in never ending streams, all while noting everything she saw and felt to herself for later reference. Her memory was excellent, well trained by Alune the Seer during her apprenticeship but there was just so much that was strange, so many things that were alien to her that the young mare simply had to memorize everything she saw. 

It was exhausting, an impossible task, and yet she persisted. 

Finding food in this place would be just as much of a challenge as finding shelter. Even the most innocent looking strand of grass might be full of toxins, while stinking, rotted looking fungi might be rare delicacies... there was no way of knowing for sure. Not unless she either found a native willing to share such information... or tried it out for herself. 

Not exactly something she looked forward to.