[AW] A borrower of the night

[Raymond]

***

Nighttime in Sideralis Prairie reminded the red stallion of the big sky country in which he'd spent his formative years. The sky stretched overhead, an uninterrupted and unpolluted dome of glittering splendor as its countless stars winked and glistened like a spray of crushed diamonds. He was a worldly creature, hooves planted firmly on the ground in more than just the physical sense, but such vastness awoke in him the very same awe so readily claimed by the more religious majority. Here on the prairie, Raymond remembered his smallness as readily as he remembered the path that had brought him across the leagues to this place and this moment.

Perhaps solitude had been a contrivance of his character, imposed out of bitter pragmatism rather than desire. Perhaps the part of him that had wanted so desperately for his dal'rend's dream to flourish had not died with his followers.

Ruth's presence, a distant yet overpowering weight alongside his own, shared her own view of the starlit sky from her nest deep in the Arma Mountains. Stars were scarce where she had weathered the tortuous millennium alone on a dead world, and here - freed or at least shielded by their connection from the most destructive elements of her Tarrasque nature - even the clouded mountains provided an endless cornucopia of things upon which she could feast her eyes.

An indistinct image pressed itself through the link like a drawing pressed against frosted glass and the red stallion's eyes focused more intently on the skies above. Several minutes passed in silent regard, until he caught sight of the familiar shape in the stars. Recognition flooded back through the link with the image, and Ruth answered with a deep prrum that Raymond need not be present to feel.

He had not played such an innocent game in a very, very long time.

Content to steal this moment from the night amidst the crushing weight of more substantial concerns, Raymond stood alone and apart amidst the softly rolling hills of Sideralis Prairie, his coat painted silver with moonlight and his eyes fixed upon the stars laid out overhead with a fixation better suited to the truly faithful.

***

Raymond
And at his feet they'll cast their golden crowns
When the man comes around.

Any night court citizen welcome!