Soul of Avalon

by DuskIsGolden

Prologue

Prologue:

-Creation of the Higher Heavens-

"We are never far from your reach, your cry will never go unanswered. Our Council and Courts will watch over you and your families for generations. With our upmost responsibility, we will take whatever action is needed to keep both of our worlds safe." -- Dusk, the founding Pegasus of Equestria.

There was a chiseled physique of the skies that century where the architects gathered to discuss their news of the day and successes over the years. Stones were being raised by teams of Pegasi and windows being refined of the glass found in the rare sands of Equestria itself. There was an air to the place being built, and in its Majesty would be born a future community within itself that made its Grandeur even brighter than its architecture as a whole. Small communities were put up for Ponies that had passed away- so in its greatest essentials, it was exactly like Equestria- but only with embodied souls from those passed away. The air was filled with the smell of burning coals fueling the iron being smelted for the super structure of the two sides of the Higher Heavens as established by the three founding ponies of Equestria itself; the first Pegasus, Earth Pony, and Unicorn. After reaching the Higher Heavens, they each used their various abilities to start the Heavens on its way to being built.

Their connection to the mortal world that had been created was simple- the bodies of the Ponies in the Heavens could not stray into the mortal world, only their invisible souls could collect such the materials for their only heaven, and the souls of those mortals in Equestria could not stray into heaven, for their bodies were no longer considered alive. The agreement worked for all, and it worked its magic for the beginning of the creation of the Higher Heavens. Several ponies looked down and declared themselves good enough to answer the call of the ponies in Equestria who called up to the Heavens for peace and tranquility. The Higher Heavens soon not only became a resting place for ponies who passed, but a link to near Godliness.

"The creation of this world must not need to be perfected," the Pegasus founder stated as he eyed each and every architect, "but it must be genuine, must be perfect in your eyes. Your generation has been called to construct another layer upon this world. Lay down your legacies, impress us with your abilities and make it known that you were once exactly like the Equestrians below us," each of the Architects took a pledge of honor to their own generation's architecture, and each went off in a direction they sought best to start building their second or third legacy. This gave the Higher Heavens a detailed, rustic look. Many generations had already built something upon the limitless land. The founders had agreed that soon, rules would be placed upon this beauty and peace be at hand. Any sign of chaos or discord would collapse the superstructure. The skyline had soon become a joy to look at and watch. Candles were blown out at night and the whole landscape would grow dark, but never eerie. It looked exactly like the Eastern mountains of Equestria, but with a more natural curve. The blooming Heavens surprised even the founders.

* * *

Centuries passed and the Higher Heavens had established self-sufficiency and started to teach Equestria the same if they hadn't already. By that time, the Heavens' architecture had blossomed into something truly spectacular- the two Governmental structures rose higher than any other building in all of Heaven. They each rose four or more stories high, arches were at every level, adorned with carvings and endless stories of the time period, and a dome near the top, surrounded by supporting pillars. On top were the two flags of the structure-- the Council of Heaven and the Courts of Angels. It was declared by their superior founders that they meet every one-hundred years to discuss the passing of the previous year and what was to be done in the next one-hundred. They had one year to discuss the matters and what to do about them. For six centuries the Council and the Courts met, in agreement and sometimes not, but that never stirred any suspicion within Heaven. Not for even a moment.

But one building rose higher than even the Governmental superstructures- the Pinnacle of Hope rose high above them, making the exact center of the Heavens and Equestria. It was not only the meeting place of the Council and Courts, but also the link- the only link- to Equestria. Here the founders met to discuss the surviving of both worlds as one connected body. Past centuries brought concern, but never despair. The Heavens had several plans to retain balance and peace between either world if they ever needed it badly enough.

"What if Equestria were to fall into madness?" the Unicorn inquired, her elder voice speaking clearly and worriedly. She cast her gaze to the other two founding members.

"Madness? The only way our creation would fall into madness would be if we were to abandon it," the Earth Pony piped up. His voice was deep and controlled. He had looked directly at the Unicorn as he spoke. The Pegasus spoke lastly, agreeing with neither, but standing in the center of their two points,

"Madness if we abandon them? Yes. But will they fall into madness themselves? Certainly not..." she spoke lightly and freely, her tone soft. "I was thinking of some back up plans in case Equestria ever does fall into a deep enough darkness or madness destroys them,"
She began to lead her two fellow founders down a winding set of stairs, seemingly constructing themselves out of nowhere.
"You've become quite good at constructing something out of nothing, Pegasus," the Unicorn noted, clearly impressed, "perhaps we should give more Pegasi that ability," the Pegasus laughed- a little over confidently and replied back,

"Oh, that would be too much, dear Unicorn. We gave you the magic and us only the ability to fly and walk on clouds, which is enough for me," she fluttered her wings and the Earth Pony chuckled.

"And we are the naturally strong ones, thank you," the Unicorn and Pegasus laughed together as the Unicorn answered,

"Yes indeed, Earth Pony, yes indeed," by that time, the winding steps had been fully constructed from glass and white marble, their brilliance shining down in the form of giant poles reaching down from the top of the cylindrical tower. As the Pegasus led the other two down the cobblestone hallway, candles immediately flickered up and their light cast soft shadows down the corridor.

"What exactly is this plan?" the Unicorn inquired carefully, her eyebrows raised. The Pegasus smiled as she turned her head back to glance at her.

"These," the Pegasus mentioned, motioning her hoof towards the six ponyquins standing side-by-side. They glowed with a mysterious inner force, a fierce lighting emitted from both of them. Each was a different color, their radiance was brilliant and beautiful, taxingly gorgeous.

"What in the world are these?..." the Unicorn asked under her breath. She gawked at the ponyquins and the Pegasus turned her head to look at the Unicorn.

"I created these when I was thinking of the various things in our lives, Unicorn." the Unicorn narrowed her eyes in confusion and inquired, finally sitting back on her haunches,

"And that was?" The Pegasus walked around her creations and listed off the six things,

"Fate, Hope, Lie, Truth, Destiny and Time." the Earth Pony shifted uncomfortably around on his hooves and said equally uncomfortable,

"Are you sure you should be messing with the Essences of Life?" The Pegasus stopped short and glanced back at the Earth pony.

"I haven't encased them, they'll be here when they are needed..." the Pegasus started but slowly she trailed off into thinking. She picked up her comment shortly after, "but... we could infuse them with a soul and release that pony into the world if its ever needed," the Unicorn raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth as if she were to shout, but only her natural voice came from her throat as she stated gently,

"That's quite a plan you've set up with the essences, dearest. But it will only take a powerful kind of magic to infuse six essences within one soul. One day you do realize they must be released?" the Pegasus nodded, a powerfully simple smile on her face.

"Only when summoned by their keeper," The Unicorn walked up to the Pegasus and put a hoof out to get her attention.

"And when do you suppose this is going to happen? You have no control over Fate!" the Pegasus' ears laid flat after she heard the comment and replied softly,

"That's not the intent... Fate's embodiment is contained within this glass Ponyquin. It will speak when spoken to, and I guarantee you, it will get its time," the Unicorn sighed and retorted,

"Oh? When do you think will that be?" the Pegasi frowned and stared at the ground as she answered stiffly,

"I'm afraid I don't know that, and you won't either,"

* * *

-The Council and the Court-

It was the middle of the year that the Council and the Court could meet, and the decisions and fights they had been getting into wasn't making things any easier. Stirring tension made the founders worried that their paradise would fall into complete destruction if the Council and Court couldn't settle on a decision that would keep the peace. Winds were growing stronger that season and rains came and went frequently. Some other power was stirring the souls of the ponies in the Heavens. Every particle of dust seemed to settle upon the meeting hall of the Pinnacle of Hope, but with every hoof-step the ponies from either Governmental side took, the dust as shaken off. The grand architecture still awed them, no matter who they were or which side they were on, but once past the oak double doors, war was on. And the intensity of it increased dramatically. No other century had created such tension as the past- Equestria was slowly growing and had set up its own system of leadership to rule the kingdom. The Higher Heavens was still called to, and few Alicorns made it close to making it through the gates that guarded them. Though Equestria had a leader and seldom called to the Heavens, it was slowly descending into madness every second the Higher Heavens spent more time arguing over issues than delivering back a message of hope to satisfy the hunger that dwelled in the hearts of many ponies who tried to understand the Higher Heavens.

The best of the Council of Heaven and the Courts of Angels were seated at the Pinnacle of Hope, each holding their answer to themselves. Each had a seat, a vote and a time to speak. When the votes were laid, the drafts were to be shown and construction immediately laid out. Not a moment's notice was wasted- the best of the best had been gathered to discuss the matters at hand.

"Equestria no longer needs us, as they've become self sufficient in their ways to continue," one of the Council members stated, standing up and speaking loudly. His voice echoed around the chamber, and Celestia's endless light would streak through the windows and flirt madly with the dust from the ended construction of the chamber.
"I think not! Equestria will always need us!" another Colt yelled. He was in the attire of the Courts of Angels. The first Council member to speak barked back in reply,

"Oh yeah? How? Who in the bucking world has cried out to us in the past one-hundred years, huh? Name one!" The colt from the Courts sat down and the Colt from the Council stuck out his chin in an effort to show he won the argument and said, "That's right. Equestria doesn't need us anymore! Not one of you can name a time since we all last met that we've been needed!"

"Hold on!" a young mare with dark blue bangs shouted, "Who do you think you are!? Equestria may not show us it needs us, but it always will! You have to hope they do!" The colt spun around on his heels and retorted again, his voice sharp,

"I am the leading member of this Council, thank you very much! And what, is the essence of Hope going to save us? Since when did Old Mare's Tales save us back in Equestria, Lily?"
The mare named Lily half leapt across the table, but she was held back by supporting members of the Courts. Becoming relaxed again, the Council member sat down and another stood up, holding details of the Tether in his mouth. He dropped them on the table and rolled them out. Objects were placed at every corner to keep the paper from rolling back on itself, and once the entire Blueprint was laid out, the Court members gasped.

"Now," the Stallion who had stood up announced his presence and continued, "the Council believes a Tether should be built between Equestria and the Higher Heavens, seeing Equestria no longer is in need of us," murmur shifted between all members of the Court and a little on the side of the Council. The Stallion slammed his hoof on the table to get their attention again, and he went on, "this Tether will be spiritually bound by Contracts. These contracts will be life-time imprisonments were, meaning none of you, and I mean none of you will be able to leave the Higher Heavens. Ever." Silence deafened the room. Jaws dropped, wings twitched insanely. The Stallion thinly smiled.

"I'm glad we agree," he stated. He began handing everypony in the room slips of paper that contained their cutie mark, and a number written below it. "Those are your contracts," he noted, standing before all the members, he was suddenly pushed off by the first Court member to speak.

"We can't just decide to build this Tether!"
. He glared back at the Stallion, who slowly walked back up the steps to announce the final plan.

"The final plan is this," he started slowly, "the Tether is a spiritual-bound boundary that none of us can break. It's fueled by the magic of the Unicorns who have passed into the realm of magic that they cannot come out of their trance. Your Contracts are also soul-bound, which means you can never leave the Tether with your soul in-tact..." he trailed quickly off, and equally as quickly back on after he grumbled to himself, "unless you're a lucky bucking pony..." "but anyways!" he kept up his pre-recorded-like voice, "who is opposed?"

"I thought we had made a deal on not to build a Tether!" one of the Court members yelled. He stood up, his pitch black mane shining in the dim light, "At the last meeting we had agreed! Why didn't you let us know earlier?"

"Because we couldn't have!" The Stallion yelled back, "one-hundred years ago, we declared that you can't announce news at a date not set for our meetings!" the Court member kept rallying his argument,

"You cheating bastards! You went against our decision! We'll declare war on you! You're going to die in your places!" The Stallion suddenly seemed hushed, but only for a glistening moment. He darkly grinned.

"Going to war, huh?" he started thickly, "If it's a war the Court wants," he stamped his hoof and a Hooded Colt appeared from the doorway of the Chamber, "It's a war you will get."

"But remember, Equestria will begin to fall into malice and chaos!" Lily screamed, "You don't realize what you'll be doing is murder!" The Stallion winced at every word. He knew it was true, but he denied it in his mind.
"Throw this screaming pony off the edge of the Heavens," he simply stated. He could hear her being muffled and brought out of the Chamber room, and he shuddered. In the back of his mind, he thought, Hope, save us all. After the fact, he turned his attention to the now completely hushed room. he stepped down from his pedestal and heard one of the Court members say in a hushed tone,

"But what if someone shatters the Tether?" the Stallion blinked dumbly and he remained quiet. No one told me that would be possible, he thought. He re-gained his confidence in the matter and walked up to the Court member who had spoken to him.

"It's impossible," he stated simply, "There would be no point because you'd be disobeying your contract," he slowly said the last three words of his sentence and the Court member remained quiet.

"I'm saying what if someone did?" the Stallion glared at the member and stated again,

"It. Is. Impossible."

* * *

-Many years later-

Madness swept her arching wing over the land of Equestria as the Tether was being built. With every contract, one more day passed that was of darkness. Malice introduced himself as an essence of darkness and discord, the night seemed forever in its favor. Light seemed to have vanished from the parched Earth. Equestria seemed as if it were dying, seething and teething off of the ponies left to survive on the little that remained sane. Equestria soon fell into such chaos that wars broke out amongst its dwindling ponyfolk. Gems were converted into counter-weights for basic daggers and swords and duels were set up every night to help weed out the weak and find some way to feed the beast of malice itself. On this particular evening, where the moon had arisen to the point where darkness shrouded everything, the lights were swallowed up immediately. A cloaked Stallion stood at one end of the cheap dirt road that led virtually to nowhere but the divide of the land, and at the other, everypony who had tried to defeat him had been killed. Their blood still stained the ground and their bodies cheaply disposed of. A crowd had gathered, but no one would go offer themselves to fight. One of the head leaders of the small cheap town hoof-picked a member of the crowd, calling her out,

"You! You've always seemed stronger than everyone else, get up there!" he stated, shoving her to the empty end of the street. Another Colt handed her a curved scythe, which she grasped tightly in her small jaw and she narrowed her eyes and thought to herself, Mom, this is for you... but at that same moment, she felt a warm sensation flood her body, and the last thing to go through her mind was Fate's words, You can't own Fate, darling. At that instant, she felt a tingling throughout her entire body and a burst of white light consumed everything in its radiance. In the middle of the spectacular event, the leader of the town yelled,
"Go!"

The young cream-colored mare sped to her target, her small wings flapping hard against the stale, dry air, and she swung her head as she saw the shining blade of her opponent- but she felt a sharp stinging pain by her ribs, followed by two swift cuts near her wings. She shrieked and rolled in the dust, her blood pumping out two stubs by her back and a gaping wound in her side. Getting weakly up, she ignored the pain as much as possible and ran back towards her target. She swung wildly, seeing that the whole world had been seemingly consumed in the white light, and she felt the scythe sink into the back of her opponent. He screamed in pain and swiftly managed to sink another dagger into her side. She held her mouth shut as best she could, but she still let out a small scream of pain. She tore it out and staggered back, breathing heavily as she glared at the Stallion who had nearly ended her life. The Stallion stared back, and only a few seconds later, both of them collapsed.

* * *

-The Higher Heavens-

A piece of the darkness of Equestria had settled upon the Higher Heavens, making it gloomy and no longer living. The Pinnacle of Hope as always lit no matter what, and it gave a sign to those who had no decision on being Tethered away from their mortal world that something could still be done. It took three generations to finish the Tether, and in turn, all the Contracts had been written up and locked away, except for one. One Pegasus refused to keep with it. She fought the odds when she could and had always lost, but she always fought. Her death had been announced on both sides of the Tether, and shock was only felt from the Higher Heavens, and while serving her time, she always remembered the days she took her first hoof-step to hear her final contract.

* * *

-Flashback-

Celestia's light was dim as it tried to pry its way through the thickened clouds below the Tether. The weight of the world was pressing upon the Higher Heavens, and they knew they could feel it just as much as any other pony did. However, but the Council had learned that emotion and the morally dubious Ponies could only hinder their decision making. The stained-glass windows were all ready, the pillar standing straight and tall, and only one thing was left: the Contract. The hooded colt stood at the front of the hall, and several steps down was the cream colored mare. Her soul had been reunited with her body once more, and she couldn't say she wasn't grateful for at least that- but that her contract had been disobeyed, and a new one was being drafted just for her. It guaranteed her death if she tried to leave ever again, it was a deal she couldn't have made because she didn't understand the gravity of the situation. Of course, she was tenacious, a fighter. Someone strong-willed. She couldn't stand to lose to the odds of death; she had taken on those odds before.

"You," the hooded colt stated, directing his voice towards the cream mare, "welcome back to the Higher Heavens," he sneered. He picked up an oak box that had the cream mare's cutie mark and set it aside. He pulled from his left side some parchment and a quill and began to write,

"This contract serves as a life-time imprisonment for being once Banished from the Higher Heavens, for returning without consent, and believing she could save the Mortal world from falling into complete and utter madness." he scoffed, giving off a blunt laughter.

"You failed in your attempt to try and save the mortal world," he stated dryly, putting the small-worded contract in the box and setting it back on his desk. "I didn't think you'd want to return, however," the cream mare stepped forward and half-yelled,

"I didn't! This is only place that I could go to!" the hooded colt gave off a dim silent nature before speaking,

"Besides the grave? They didn't bury your body and give you proper rights to leave the earth," the cream mare shook her head in frustration and yelled,

"What!? Why does everything need to be on a bucking Contract!?" the hooded colt only gave off a mad grin not even the cream mare could see, and he turned around and excused the banished Pegasus.

"When you banish the Pegasus," he called over his shoulder to the guards who were taking her away, "give her some time to think, tell her she'll never break us, the Tether, or the Council. We've made our deals and odds and ends," the Guards nodded and slowly took the Pegasus out of the Grand Hall.

* * *

The Guards carelessly threw the cream mare into a cell near the bottom of the Grand Hall, and they told a Unicorn nearby to put up a noise-blocking spell as well as a spell to keep the entrance to the cell blocked. The unicorn did as she was told, and the cream mare sat back on her haunches and blankly stared through the invisible wall. It's not impossible to break something mostly spiritual, the cream mare thought to herself, well... I'm not sure... she frowned as she curled up in the back of her cell, ... but it's not impossible. She slowly dozed off and fell asleep.

* * *

-Supposedly a life-time later-

Have you ever wondered if you could have a second chance at something you knew you could have saved? Have you ever thought how you could beat the odds that were stacked against you?

Rain fell heavily against every window that night in all of Equestria, a black night that had eternally arisen from the ashes of the heavens, some said. Others said that those who worked at the cloud factory had made too many clouds and the Pegasi that had to take care of them were lazy. Even more claimed that in an old mare-tale that the heavens were heading to war; with whom, for what, and why were all questioned. But it was considered worthy enough to try. The Higher Heavens were never known to linger between the Tether to Equestria, but this war was creating a boiling point between the two, which would soon bleed into Equestria itself. Across Equestria, the most brilliant mares and colts were brought together at a conference to discuss what was to happen- not only to them, but what might happen if the Tether was to be broken. By whom, it was still unsure, but the doubts that the Tether was to be broken was high.

I wanted to win. There were odds I just couldn't watch stack against me. I was going to break them.

Thunder roared in the Higher Heavens, the ancient cobblestone walls crumbling as armies of colts marched across the various roads connecting the Higher Heavens together. The clouds gathered there could not be moved by even the most skilled team, only the Highest power could remove them. But in the courts of the Higher Heavens, where the most essential essences of life met, the embodiment bastard mare of them was sentenced to a life time imprisonment. Ever since the Higher Heavens had Tethered themselves away from Equestria, the tension inside the gates of the Higher Heavens gave way to war. The leader of the Heavens had gone against the Courts of the Angels' decision to keep connection with all of Equestria to avoid Equestria going rampant with madness.

A cream-colored Pegasus stepped onto the Court's stained-glass floor, her rust and gold-colored mane finely glittering, her amber eyes set firmly upon the silhouetted figure at the front of the elongated room. The room was adorned with stained-glass windows all along the sides and had supporting pillars lining the walls, and a high-vaulted ceiling to match. The front stained-glass window depicted the Equestrian world and the High Heavens Tethered together as one world, for since the founders of Equestria had died, they created the High Heavens so both worlds could stay in contact with each other. The building stood four stories high, arches adorning every floor, pillars and ancient architecture at its finest from the ponies who had passed before the tether was made. The only thing allowed to filter through the Tether was Celestia's sunlight, and it warmed the stained-glass floors that the cream Pegasus was standing on.

"I know why you have come here," the hooded Colt said. His voice was deep, his face could not be seen, and he faced away from the mare as he stared through the front window.

The cream Pegasus lightly shifted her feet and cleared her throat and after removing bangs from her eyes she said, "Then say it."

The hooded Colt turned around and in the blackness that was his head, he seemed to stare straight through the cream mare. He didn't step down from the cobblestone steps that divided him from her, but only stood there, his tail lazily shifting and twitching now and then. The silence filled in the gap of his next words.

"You're here to end your contract, aren't you?" He grabbed a long oak box using his magic and pulled it towards him. On the cover was etched the cream mare's cutie mark and inside was her contract- supposedly. The cream mare took a step forward, but was shunned by another blank stare from the darkness of the hood. She took a step back and more silence filled the gap in between them.

My contract was complete, I had served my time. I had to break the odds that were still against me. I had to break it- the only thing separating me from the Earth.

"I watched Equestria fall into madness for years during my contract! I need to go back!" The cloaked Colt stamped his hoof upon the floor, and the echo shuddered the dimming candles lining the darker parts of the hall. Celestia's perpetual sunlight dimmed dangerously, darkening the hall immensely.

"You cannot go back!" he roared, making his words clear, "We made a deal!" The cream mare narrowed her eyes and fluttered her wings in frustration.

"You can't just leave them there! THEY'LL DIE!"

"You should have known that before you were sent here!"

"How could I have known!?"

"You're the bastard Mare of them!" "YOU KNEW!" The cream mare sat down and lowered her head. Tears struggled to stay capsulated in her eyes, so they dribbled down her face. The hooded mare remained standing. The cream mare would never have been able to tell that a grin was ridden on his face.

In the blink of an eye, the cream mare charged forward, a two-pronged spear held by a magical force held within her, and as she threw it towards the Colt, the Colt stopped it, shattered it, and remained standing. The cream mare struggled to keep her jaw from dropping as she felt a force pick her up and throw her across the room. Blood streaked where she landed and slid across the floor. Groaning, she got up and took out a dagger she was hiding by her hoof and threw it again towards the Colt.

The Colt rallied it, and the cream mare grabbed it and rallied it back. The candles flickered dangerously and as another dagger rallied among the one already flying through the air, the candles blew out immediately. As the cream mare stood aside, she heard the daggers strike soft flesh and flood dribble onto the floor, following a grunt of pain. The grunt came as the sound of fabric crumpled to the ground. As if at signal, Celestia's light gently flickered through the floor, lighting up the hall. The cream mare carefully walked up to the body of the colt and looked at it. She nudged the body and it stirred wildly. The blackness from the hood seemed to reach into her soul and thrash her around the room, breaking pillars and shattering windows.

"The contract was supposed to force you to stay!" the un-colt-like voice roared, shattering the rest of the windows throughout the hall, "You were never supposed to leave!" at that moment, before the cream colored mare hit the floor and landing on the two-pronged spear, she tore free from the magical grip and flung herself upwards, her wings pumping hard against the air. A signal brought on the entire Council of Heaven, armed to the teeth with daggers and powers to keep the cream-colored mare from escaping.

I could feel the fate of the world pressing in on my chest. Hope roared in my eyes what the dying Truth told me at the killing hands of Lies. I was their bastard mare... I was raised in a world I knew I could have saved. They made me a contract, confined me to this world ... escape was at my hooves. I could feel it....

Raising herself to the top of the high-vaulted ceiling, the cream mare dashed down from the ceiling. From the darkness where the Court of Angels stood, they all released their daggers, and as the cream mare threw herself through the daggers, she felt them cut and pierce her hide, and as she passed all them, they turned back around to chase her.

"You don't think I can win, do you!?" she screamed as she raced towards the floor, tears trailing out of her eyes. The hooded colt still laying on the floor had propped himself by the desk and he roared back,

"You aren't supposed to win! You can't beat these odds! Those essences will die within you!" "Equestria doesn't need you!"

"THEN STOP ME!" she screamed, bolting towards the floor, spreading her cream, rust and gold-colored tipped wings. Focusing then solely on her freedom, the end of her contract, she charged towards the glass floor, whispering, "I'm so sorry..."

She collided head-on with the floor, instantly shattering it. She felt the world taper and tear around her, the world collapsing by peeling away like old paint. She could hear the Guardsmen's screams as they were being broken down by the shattered Tether. She began to fall straight through the highest section of the clouds, and could hear nothing but the whistle of the wind past her ears and feel the formation of ice on her body from falling up-side down, wings straight-up through the sky. The very last thing she could see before she passed out was the two-pronged spear shoot through the broken Tether and fly at an unimaginable rate towards her. She saw it, then felt it slice through her body and make her descent all that much quicker.

And for a moment, a fleeting moment, I thought I had won.

* * *