*Young Grimwold is running. Yesterday, from his life; today, for it. He is deep in Dunn, give or take a letter. He has no idea where the river is, nor the forest's edge. That is what he had wanted. But he didn't bloody know the forest was going to go up in flames, did he?
He beats branches aside with his club. No doubt the greenwardens and elves would object, but the trees have far worse to come. The fire is closing in from all sides. As the bark is bitten and the ancient wood is immolated, the crackle of the flames sounds like sadistic applause. Perhaps it is applauding Young Grimwold for so thoroughly damning himself. He will die exhausted and in pain. His body will be incinerated beyond recognition. Not that anyone would care to look for him and identify him, but they'll never have the choice. It's over. It's really over. It's just a matter of when. So why is he still running? Because even when his fate is inevitable, he cannot face it. Coward.
YG hurtles into a clearing, and is shocked by what he sees. The trees are caked in frost, and in the centre is a pool of frozen water. Has he been transported somewhere? He looks behind and sees the path he beat: he is still in the forest. This feels wrong. But it is fire's opposite: might YG be safe here?
Through the trees he sees the flames. They are everywhere. It almost seems like they are mounting an assault on this hibernal stronghold. In panic, YG ventures onto the ice. It is no place for the feet of an ogre. He slips and falls flat. He can't get up. He has sees blood drip from his nose. He hears faint, determined cracking below him and he feels sick. The glen has allowed smoke in and YG starts to cough, as much from despair as anything else. There is a calling name he once knew: someone important that bothered with him before and might help him now. But his memory is hazy [OOC: from the light void] and the name won't come to him. His final thoughts will be to wonder which of the elements has taken more of his dignity. Dignity he wasted a lifetime fighting for. The wasted fight is over: Nature in her disgust is breaking the circle. The fire is positively stampeding now. The punchline to Mr. and Mrs. Grimwold's long, bad joke. Time for some last words?
Oh dear. What a pity. Never mind. The trick is not to mind. He mutters,*
I... I don't mind.
*- But YG cannot manage the sleight of head needed to make the words true. The eyes will be last to go. YG opens them and raises his head to witness the fire's entrance.
It isn't fire that enters.
A creature has cleaved a path through the burning trees and galloped into the clearing. A white horse. Perhaps its owner was a hunter, now lost to the blaze. It must be here to seek shelter too. It does not realise that the flames have trapped it. But YG is glad it has come, for now he will not die alone. The steed stands at the edge of the pool, looking at YG. He blinks to clear his vision and looks back. It is so well groomed that its coat almost shines. Its eyes hold no fear. YG does not understand. He wishes it would quietly accept defeat. It doesn't.
Instead, it quietly unfolds its wings. And stands there.
YG gapes. The ice is cold against his chin. He knows what the pegathor wants. He knows what is possible. Screaming away the numbness in his heart and in his hands, he scrabblesto the edge of the pool. His legs are shaking as he tries to climb on its back. A wing helps to lift him. He links his arms around its neck, gripping either end of his club. Unnoticed, the drops of blood that YG shed on the ice slip down a crack, as if sucked in. Meanwhile, the smoke is getting thicker. YG holds his breath.
Equula [OOC: last seen
here], unlike its parents, has never taken a passenger before. But it knows what to do. It bounds across the clearing and leaps towards a tree.
YG barely feels Equula's hooves make contact with the trunk. Moving with a blend of grace and speed that other beings can only pretend to have, it pushes itself off the trunk at an angle and up onto another trunk. It continues this, keeping clear of the flames that are clawing their way up some of the trees, zig-zagging out of Dunn's wooden clutches. Branches creak and crash below and the air is hot. The forest canopy is in sight. YG feels himself sliding sideways off Equula's back. His stomach lurches and his hands gain splinters as he grips his club tighter. Equula tilts its body to straighten YG. His sight blurs and he feels giddy.
YG raises his head from Equula's mane as his sight clears. No sooner does he inhale than his breath is taken away. He is flying. Beyond Equula's head, the sun is rising over YG's world. Beneath Equula's fully extended wings, that world extends in every direction. In any direction. Beautifully, endlessly flat. Young Grimwold sobs a single time.
After several deep breaths, YG carefully pulls himself up Equula's back until he is almost sitting upright. Looking down at the Forest of Dunn, YG sees several patches of fire. Across the land are numerous plumes of smoke, indicating
fires that have been defeated or have retreated. YG does not doubt that these blazes are nothing natural. But they barely trouble him. He feels more touched and less touchable than ever before. He feels safe from them and from himself. Sitting atop the equus ex machina, he can't remember why he was ever in the forest, nor where he was before - and this does not bother him.
I, I don't mind.
What YG does remember is where he wanted to go. He gazes over at the Rocks of Bruin and sees no smoke, but he must be sure. Equula is hovering, waiting for him. YG takes a hand of his club and points to the rocks.*
Pl-please will you take me home? Maybe you can stay.
*The pegathor turns and begins to move through the warmed sky.*
Thank you.
Once he is home, YG will be ready to remember. Until then, he will at long last enjoy the ride.
'Cause I don't remember; take, take me home...*
[OOC: Continued in
Deposit.]