RED

One by one, we were marched through the blistering snow and towards a jagged crack in the mountain.

Compared to the majestic retinue of Kirin, our party of four was a sorry sight. Rana and Sebastian had both slumped into their human forms, their hair mussed and snow-sodden, blood and dirt clinging to their armour in sticky patches. Gretchen and I fared slightly better, but we were evidently exhausted from the effort of healing everyone's wounds. My legs felt janky, like I was a puppet being dragged along by a cruel mistress, and the witch had to clasp her charred hands behind her back to keep them from shaking.

Sebastian lingered on the threshold of light and dark, a shudder rolling through his wiry frame as he tried to peer into the cave. I felt an echo of that foreboding as I recalled my last trip through the mountains, already wondering if I would ever see the sun again. Even so, I grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight, hoping to reassure him with the unspoken lie that everything was going to be okay. His chin touched his shoulder, red eyes sliding towards mine, and my heart melted at the softening of his mouth as he fought fear and tried to smile back.

The lead Kirin planted its hoof in the middle of his back and shoved him inside. I cried out with indignant rage, rushing in after him. Sebastian dusted off his jacket with a scowl, rising to his full height, but when his gaze slid over me the violence in his eyes lost its edge.

"I'm fine," he muttered, glaring at the slate-grey beast. It snorted in response, a decidedly derisive sound, and shoved past him.

The distant sound of running water gurgled through the tunnel as we followed the sloping path. At first it felt warmer inside, being out of the snow long enough for our body heat to dry the clothes on our backs, but it didn't take long for a new, insidious cold to leech out from the rock, pressing down upon us with the phantom weight of the mountain overhead. I swallowed hard, the sound explosively loud in the dreadful quiet of shuffling limbs and shuddering breaths, unable to shake the sense that we were slowly being digested by a giant golem.

It wasn't until we reached a fork in the road, however, and they started to push all four of us down a different path, that I truly started to panic. Eddy sensed my distress and shoved her nose into my hand, looking up at me with eyes like fossilised amber.

Trust me, they seemed to say. And sure enough, we were all alive, though this wasn't the welcome party I'd been hoping for.

There was no mistaking that we were prisoners.

"We have to go alone," Gretchen said, her voice husky and strained. "I suspect we must pass some kind of test before we can enter their kingdom."

"Absolutely not," Rana hissed. "Bad things happen when we split up."

The Kirin behind us lowered their antlers, barring the exit. Rana bared her teeth, talons flicking free, and the Kirin made a low, threatening rumble. Sebastian surreptitiously reached into his jacket for a throwing knife.

"Let her choose," I begged, latching onto Eddy in a sea of unfamiliar faces. "Please."

Eddy's ears swivelled as another Kirin complained with the sound of a tinkling stream. She brayed back with the rumbling threat of an avalanche, and the other mare snorted, clearly displeased. Even so, they lifted their horns and allowed Rana the option to turn back.

"Let's go," she said, tugging on my sleeve.

I dug in my heels. "This is my quest. I will see it through until the end."

She turned to Gretchen, clearly expecting some support, but the witch only shrugged.

"They are also the Earth Mother's creatures, but they have an entirely different way of speaking with Her," Gretchen explained. "I don't think I could forgive myself if I turned down the opportunity to learn about their culture."

The wyvern crossed her arms. "Fine. We all go into the creepy caves."

"What about me?" Sebastian asked. "Don't I get a say?"

"You go where Red goes," Rana said, as if it was obvious. "I thought I'd spare you the posturing."

It was hard to tell, with only the pulsing light of the Kirins' up-flowing manes to see by, but I thought Sebastian might have blushed.

"What about you?" I asked Eddy, drawing the palomino's attention again. It felt wrong to call her a filly now; she was almost the same size as the stallions, and the look in her eyes was far older than the scant weeks we'd spent together in the Wylds. "Are you sure you're okay? We can leave anytime you want."

I knew that wasn't necessarily true, but Eddy seemed to appreciate the sentiment, nibbling on the palm of my outstretched hand. I yelped when she pierced skin, light rippling through her scales as she lapped up the blood.

Onward. The word imprinted itself against my thoughts and then faded away, like footprints on sand. My eyes widened a fraction, but everyone was moving before I could question if I was losing my mind. Gretchen was the first to wave goodbye, and Rana muttered to herself all the way down her tunnel, a sound that travelled long after she disappeared from sight.

Sebastian's hand found my shoulder. The touch was light, almost hesitant, but I leaned into all the same.

"I'll find you," he swore.

"Dead or alive," I replied with a wry smirk. "Try not to get yourself killed, though. Dragging you out of here would be a hassle."

"I should be saying that to you," he chuckled, but the humour in his eyes was quick to fade. "After all this is done, we need to talk. I promised you an explanation."

"I'll hold you to it," I promised. "Just... be safe, Bastian."

His expression softened, and he opened his mouth, only to close it again. Later, we would talk. Later, we would try to mend this rift between us.

For now, our paths would diverge, and we had to take them alone.

Dark rock gave way to veins of shimmering blue shot through with gold. The light from Eddy's mane refracted on the walls, and I felt a pang of fear at the thought of being trapped underwater again.

"What is it?" I whispered, reluctant to disturb the oppressive quiet. Something about the crystal made it feel like we were entering a sacred tomb.

Lapis Lazuli, Eddy replied, glancing at me over her shoulder. There was no mistaking it this time; that mature, grave and imperious voice was all hers. The truth stone.

"So you can talk," I muttered, rubbing at my jaw.

I speak the language of every element I consume. Air. Stone. Water. Flesh.

That explained why she'd started talking after nipping my hand. I opted not to fixate on the how or why; it hadn't helped with Sebastian or the sense of betrayal I'd felt — and still felt, if I was being totally honest with myself.

"Why is it that all of my animal companions turn out to be human spies?" I muttered.

Not human, Eddy replied, flicking her tail. No more than you.

A shiver skittered down my spine. "What are we, then?"

I am what you call Kirin, but we are far older than that name.

"Do you worship the Earth Mother, like Gretchen said?"

Eddy snorted. No more than you would worship your own.

The way she phrased it made me hesitate. "Did you know her? My... mother?"

I thought I'd buried their bones long ago — metaphorically speaking, of course — but the potential of learning more about my parents wrung out every fiber of my being. When Eddy shook her head, I relaxed, but didn't feel any better for the fact.

"And what am I?" I asked, all but begging now.

I do not know. The thought seemed to perturb the previously unshakeable Kirin. Perhaps we will find out now.

As if on cue, the tunnel opened up into a cozy cavern, made entirely from the crystal that lined the walls. Eddy's up-flowing mane brought out a miniature galaxy on the ceiling, doubled by the perfectly still pool at our feet.

There was nowhere to go but down. "I don't understand," I said, frustration bubbling up in my chest. The woman in the reflection didn't even look like me; she was wary and sly, reminding me eerily of a fox in the sharp lines of her face, all pointing towards the red tip of her upturned nose.

This is our last line of defence: the Trial of Truth. All who seek to enter our stronghold must first submerge themselves in the Lifeblood of the Land, which connects all things, Eddy explained, lowering her horn to the surface of the pool. You will be forced to confront your deepest secrets and greatest shames. You will be judged by the Land and deemed either friend or foe, and what you share will be known by all Kirin, as if they had lived it themselves.

"What happens if you aren't found worthy?" I asked, shrinking from the beach.

The unworthy are absorbed by the stone and become crystals forevermore.

I yanked my fingers back from the wall, wondering if the pretty vein had been a person, once. Eddy seemed utterly unperturbed by the notion and offered her memories to the water willingly, the tip of her horn brushing the surface. Soft, golden light danced through the ripples, catching the lapis lazuli on the walls and spiraling back to form new patterns and colours on the surface.

A gaunt, sickly woman with trembling knees and bloody bandages wrapped around her palms took form. Her hazel eyes were wide with fear, and yet she reached out, offering whatever scrap of help she could.

"Did you even need saving?" I asked, recalling the day I'd found Eddy in the woods. She was so little then, lost and terrified of her own power, summoning lightning bolts to scare off predators. In so doing, she'd accidentally set fire to the Rotten Sea, a veritable ocean of dead leaves in the South-Western part of the Wylds. I'd found her in the midst of the inferno and done my utmost to calm her down — right before pitching over and passing out.

I hadn't imagined her desperation, had I? I hadn't just inserted myself into the narrative under a false but flattering light?

I was sent out to investigate the lycans' movements, Eddy explained. I allowed myself to be captured and played the fool, spying on them all the while. When I heard of the atrocities they had witnessed in the Hidden Vale, I knew that I had to return to my people at once. I summoned a storm and escaped in the chaos, but I had not anticipated how quickly fire would take to the trees.

"Were you expecting to be able to put it out?" I asked.

I had thought to master the tongue of fire, but it does not speak. It screams, Eddy replied, sounding a little sheepish. I was arrogant. I thought to snuff out what desperately wanted to live, and naturally it turned on me. Until you came.

The woman in the water collapsed, palms smacking the ground. A shockwave pulsed from her fingers, pushing the fire away and sending up puffs of ash. The foal nosed her arm, shying away when her shoulders and head wrenched back, opening her chest to the sky. Her eyes rolled beneath their lids and snapped open, the same hellish white as the hottest part of a flame, while her hair became flame itself, red and writhing and smoking.

She sucked in a never-ending breath, calling on the power of the wind itself. Tongues of flame arced away in a desperate attempt to flee, but they were dragged all the same down her gullet, creating a maelstrom of fire that blocked out the sky and bathed the world in orange light. Trees bowed and branches crashed to the ground. Eddy whispered something in the language of stone, taking on its weight, and plastered herself against the forest floor as debris came crashing down around her, tree trunks splintering on her back.

"Goddess," I whispered, tears welling in my eyes as woodland animals screamed and fled, only to have the hide torn from their backs by the flaying wind. So much life disintegrated to sate the woman's infernal hunger, and she drank it all in without discrimination, glowing brighter with every second. Her pasty skin took on the warm glow of a paper lantern with an oddly metallic lustre, like molten gold.

And then it was over, just as quickly as it began. The woman collapsed a second time, the light fading from her form like the dying ember that she was. Eddy dared to rise from the ashes, taking in the desolate wasteland that had been an overgrown forest only moments prior. The Rotten Sea had given way to the Ashen Plains, and it was all my fault.

Such is the force of your power, Eddy sent, as the picture faded away. It was that moment I vowed to stay by your side and guide you towards my homeland. You are the weapon my people need to win this war.

My horror hissed as it was plunged into icy dread. I turned to look at the Kirin, a foal no longer, and realised how one-sided our relationship was.

This had never been my quest; she was the one escorting me all along, recruiting other servants of the Earth Mother along the way, so we all might serve in the Kirin's army. I was nothing but a vessel to Eddy's people.

"Swear to me you won't hurt him," I said, rising to my full height. "He is not Nya's creature."

We will see, Eddy sent, flicking her head towards the pool. But first, let us see if you are.