The Portal
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RIXEN i have late night conversations with the moon;
"You are from Helovia?" I asked Zenobia, turning my head slightly at the question, green eyes focusing once more on the mare’s porcelain face. The orbs cradled within my darkly buffered sockets gleamed, almost glowed in the dimness of the forest. I spoke slowly, thoughtfully, trying to decide what to make of such a piece of information. If this was the case then- then perhaps this mare knew Kiada? And Aurelia... and possibly some of the others who also claimed to be from this place called Helovia, which I had never heard of before setting hoof in the Rift. Though I’d never been there, I still felt somewhat familiar with Helovia, solely because I’d heard so many different stories of it, of the magic and history embedded within its depths. Of course, a few stories were not nearly enough to sum up the complexities of an entire world, but at present for someone who’d never been to Helovia, I was rather well informed on the subject. "I myself am not from Helovia, but the name has come up many times over the course of my travels." My voice finally continued on, without waiting too long for Zenobia to answer my earlier question. "There are horses here who have informed me that Helovia was once their home, too." I glanced toward Roscorro, hoping that he would approve of what I was about to do, or rather, the words that would soon after cascade from my velvet lips as water would a series of rocky outcrops. They flowed nonchalantly, as if they had arrived without a second thought. "We can take you to them, if you wish." The words flowed away as if nothing had been spoken, dissipating in the still air as nearly as soon as they had graced it with their presence. I cast a weary glance in the sky’s direction, as if I would be able to judge the position of the sun even through the shadowy canopy created by the tree branches, but only every not and then did a small fragment of light managed to penetrate the dense layer of leaves. By now it must have settled high in the sky, or maybe it was even beginning to descent back toward the earth. Either way, the simple act of looking was a way of silently reminding myself that we would need to start the trek back to Halyven and soon. It was the rainy season, and I did not want to be caught in the chilling temperatures of nightfall when it chose to blanket the land in darkness. That, combined with a sopping wet hide from the next rainstorm that was sure to come, would make for travelling conditions that were less than ideal. As such, I was eager to return to the city and to my friends. The entire time I was addressing the newcomer, Roscorro did not move from where he stood behind me, aside from the occasional remark. This I perceived as an invitation to proceed with offering Zenobia a more in-depth explanation. I glanced quickly back to the white dun pegasus, who returned my warm smile, further convincing me that we would be making the right choice in inviting her to return home with us. Fortunately, though we probably appeared to be an odd duo, she seemed to express interest in travelling with us. Hopefully she would feel the same way after learning about our herd. "Before making any final decisions, however, I assume you’ll want to know the basics. Where we are now is known as the Portal, and it is the path everyone seems to have taken to come to the Rift. Halyven, our home, is a beautiful place not too far from here. Our numbers are small, but the folk are genuine, pure of heart, and strong. We would certainly value your company back to the city, where you might find comfort and shelter from the cold." Though I could talk of the spires for hours, it seemed best not to go on and on, in case Zenobia was not as keen on listening to me detail each aspect of the ruins as I was speaking of them. I couldn’t help but smile as I finished the final sentence, hardly able to believe that I could call Halyven (of all places!) home. Since the destruction of everything my heart once held close, I had never imagined the day that I could come to call another place home again. Home, as it turned out, was not limited the place I was born. Instead, home became a coalescence; a collection of memories, feelings, beings, and now a place that had, over the course of my time in the Rift, given my heart something to love again. "Talk." he tells me about the sun — and I tell him about you. |
@Zenobia @Roscorro
