another mind, another soul, another body to grow old. it's not complicated.
As the mare began to speak, Otem just nodded as if her words were something she had already heard. In a way, they were. Everyone's story started with such and such was happening, and concluded with and then I was here. Sometimes it was more dramatic - like how the Helovian's had been sucked through the portal, or how Aurelia hadn't been able to escape the pull any longer. Some were more nuanced, like this mare's story. She hadn't even known she was heading towards a different reality. At least the Helovian's knew more or less what they were in for.
"You aren't dead." The autumn-coloured mare offered, trying to be reassuring but likely failing. Moving on quickly, her eyes darting about somewhat, Otem forced herself to take a breath. She reminded herself that for Aryel, this was her first time. No matter how many times Otem had seen what was about to happen, for Aryel, this was it.
"Listen." Otem cautioned, lowering her head and speaking in a whisper. "Something is about to come. You won't necessarily see it, but you will feel it. You can't run from it or reason with it. It has never failed to come. It ... " Otem paused, her ram-horned head shaking slightly as she tried to find the words suitable to describe what was going to happen. "..it takes things from you. Sometimes it's magic, sometimes it just breaks your possessions. If you're really lucky, all it does is chill your spine and then depart." Ignorant of Aryel's past as a soldier and accomplished warrior, and not been sufficiently keen enough to notice that the mare's body told enough of a story about her past, Otem tried to be reassuring. "Don't be afraid. It happens to everyone. It should be over soon and-"
Before Otem could continue, the ball of light at her side began to shake slightly. It rolled (now a thing it could actually do, since it was no longer spherical), and writhed as if there was something inside trying to get out. The orb then split into two - both spheres glowing just as brightly as the previous one had, and both precisely the same size.
"-also there's that." Otem said, nodding towards the sphere of light as it gently moved towards Aryel, hovering at her side as did the one at Otem's. "This land is ... sort of sick. The orb helps to heal it. You needn't do anything, it just ... will follow you for a time." She mumbled with a shrug of her shoulders.
The Portal
