[AW] with the moonlight as my guide [relic contest]

[Seraphina]

COLD WIND gusted through the mare’s mane, a not-unwelcome departure from the desert heat that she was so accustomed to. Seraphina had travelled through the Arma Mountains before, accompanying envoys and historians, but walking the thin, precarious trail that dipped and wove through the rugged peaks still put her on edge. More unnerving, however, was the ever-present sense that she was trespassing, regardless of whether or not the Night Court actually had a Sovereign or a functioning set of laws. When she had walked these trails in the past, she had always had express permission to be doing so, and the thought of wandering into the lands of the Night Court without it made her stomach twist into knots. Wrong, wrong, wrong. She had managed to swallow her inherent opposition to her current invasion in favor of something that was not quite curiosity. Even in a land as vast as Novus, rumors spread quickly, and she had heard that a relic of Tempus, the first god, had emerged, though any specifics of its location were lost on her. (Though, she supposed, if it was a relic of the time god, it could be in many places at once, or constantly moving – she wasn’t especially philosophical, however, and spent little time considering it.) A relic of Tempus was bound to be quite powerful, and it was her duty to see if it presented a threat or an opportunity. In either case, she needed to return it to the Day Court, should her attempts to find it succeed. Seraphina did not want to risk allowing something with the potential to be so powerful to fall into hands that would misuse it.

She hugged the mountainside as she picked her way up the trail, eyes darting to keep careful watch on her surroundings. Much as she wanted to keep them trained on the icy, slick ground below her hooves, Seraphina was well aware that danger could present itself in many forms, and she was unwilling to allow herself to be caught off-guard, particularly in foreign lands – not to mention that, for all she knew, the relic could be somewhere in the mountains. She came to a momentary halt on a craggy ridge, shielded from the wind by a large overhang that dripped with icicles. The sun hung low in the sky, spreading rays of brilliant red-gold and peach across the sky; soon dusk would come creeping in, then night, and she would admit that she wasn’t looking forward to navigating the trails in the dark. For now, however, even Seraphina could admit that the view from her perch was stunning. Lands that seemed so large when she wandered through them sprawled out in miniature as far as the eye could see, cut open by glistening rivers and streams and coated in forests that looked like little more than weeds; she was looking down at Terrastella, at the moment, but if she turned just a bit she could find the familiar, golden sands of Solterra, glistening like a sea of diamonds in the dying light. It was rare for the woman to pause to enjoy the view, but she had never been alone in these lands. Solitude brought with it observation, and, with observation, appreciation. Seraphina knew that she couldn’t linger, however, and after a moment’s silence continued on her way. She needed to cover as much ground as she could before darkness fell.