Miracle of Life

A miracle of life. Voyeur supposed that he should be thrilled to witness it, but his stomach was in knots. He was more interested in what happened after death, but he supposed watching life come to be would do.

Sirona had tasked him with gathering herbs, so he did just that, wandering the wide expanse of plains flowing around him. He had been given a satchel that rested over his back, his dragon, Shadowdancer, flying high above to help scout. The dragon had grown slightly, being about as large as Voyeur himself. The magic that allowed Shadowdancer to shrink and expand, the shadows that indeed swirled around the dragon high above, seeming to suck away the sunlight, had always baffled Voyeur. Dragon magic, he knew, was not like Quirlicorn magic. It was more wild, more unconfined to any one form.

Very different from Voyeur’s own budding magic, the fangs that had started appearing in Snowhaven, and the venom they gave.

He knew that venom could be lethal. Had found out the hard way.

As the stallion wandered, he noticed a shape on the horizon. As he got closer, he realized it was an equine shape, wandering the low fields where Sirona had indicated some mares came to give birth, wanting to be closer to a healer just in case.

Voyeur would have ignored them, wanted to ignore them, but above Shadowdancer was signaling that there was one of the herbs he needed straight ahead. Straight for the other equine.

So Voyeur reluctantly continued onward, toward the shape.

The mare was a deep violet and eyed him with what Voyeur could only describe as interest, and a cunning light to her gaze. He swiftly realized she was not one to tangle with, even as she made her approach to where he gathered the herbs needed, mere feet away. He felt her gaze eyeing him up, as well as the dragon above, but her scent gave away no fear.

“What brings a stallion that smells of death into this land of life?” The mare queried. Her stomach lay heavy with foal, and Voyeur couldn’t help but wonder if she was on her way to see Baroness Sirona.

“I do a task for the Baroness,” Voyeur said, a bit stiffly.

“Indeed,” the mare observed, looking at his satchel and the herbs he gathered. “You do not seem to be one of their Acolytes.”

Voyeur couldn’t help the snort at that. Deities help them if he ever became an Acolyte of the Torre. “I am simply a passer by, assisting the Baroness before continuing on my way. A kind deed if you will.”

“You are questing then?” The mare responded, eyeing him up like he was fresh meat.

Voyeur wasn’t sure what to make of her expression as he cautiously confirmed.

“Then you are just the stallion I am looking for,” the mare responded, with a seemingly smug look to her eyes.

The mare, who had introduced herself as Binary Star, followed Voyeur back toward the Torre. Shadowdancer still soared high above, and Voyeur was still highly uncomfortable by the mare's presence. But given the fact that they were in the land of healing, it wasn’t much of a surprise that she would wish to visit The Torre, and have her birth in the safety of the tower before heading back out into the world.

So Voyeur led her there, his shoulders becoming stiffer by the mile.

“So where do you come from?” Binary asked as the city came into sight.

“Around,” Voyeur replied, then paused. Would that be considered a rude answer? He didn’t want to be overly rude to the mare, especially if she had friends in high places. “I served the deities for a time, and wandered most of the continent. After that I decided it was time to get a land of my own, my last set of quests for them.”

Binary made a ‘hmm’ noise deep in her throat, and Voyeur felt awkward again.

“How about you?” Voyeur finally asked, since it seemed like she was waiting for something.

“I too served the deities. A finder of lost objects,” Binary said, and as Voyeur glanced back at her he didn’t miss the self satisfied smirk that crossed her face at his question.

Voyeur mimicked her earlier ‘hmm’ noise, and looked forward again, not entirely wanting to continue conversation. His quest was one for some peace and quiet; after these last quests he was content on making a quiet life for himself where he could experiment to his heart's content. Making allies out of Khaalida’s large family was a bonus; strong allies meant protected borders, and not ones that would be challenged or crossed often.

“Where shall you make your land?” Binary finally questioned, and Voyeur hid a smirk of victory at her coming to him on this question.

“Perhaps south, along the borders of Swamp and Mountains,” Voyeur mused.

Binary snorted, as if in amusement and Voyeur glanced over to her.

“I have…. Experience in those lands,” Binary said and Voyeur puzzled over her words, his eyes drifting from her face to her quite obviously pregnant stomach. Just what kind of experience was she talking about?

“My work took me there often,” Binary clarified, looking a bit offended at the insinuation in Voyeur’s gaze.

“Indeed,” Voyeur murmured, a hint of a smirk crossing his maw again as he looked forward to the city gates looming ahead.

As they entered the city, Voyeur heard a gasp from Binary. Glancing back he saw the mare looking around in wonder as the city spread around them, the wide streets open and clean, hints of spices on the fresh plains breeze. Vendors were hawking their evening wares, and the sun was starting to get lower in the sky, casting a golden light over the streets. Voyeur tried looking around with the eye of someone who could be dazzled by such beauty, but found it lacking, in a way. This was not a place he would have chosen for himself…. Maybe. There was something charming about the city, he had to admit. Everyone seemed to have a purpose, a reason for their lives. That purpose quickened their steps and brought surety to their posture, and Voyeur found himself a bit jealous, or perhaps shameful. His purpose was for his own comfort, not like these Quirlicorns, brimming with the purpose of serving others.

A shadow crossed the streets, and Voyeur looked up to see Sidra and Sulien returning on flared wings, looking worn out.

Voyeur quickened his steps to greet the pair as they landed a few feet ahead in the open square, their familiars looking as exhausted as they did. He was glad for familiar faces, and admittedly was hoping to distance himself from the beautiful mare behind him. He almost paused as the word ‘beautiful’ crossed his mind, and quickly shook it away. Mares were a burden, and not something he was looking for in his life. Especially after seeing Sulien and Sidra. The way Sulien looked at her as if she were the star he orbited was disgusting, not that Sidra seemed to notice it anyway.

“You were gone longer than expected,”  Voyeur said, getting right to the point.

Sidra sighed, shaking out her mane, tangled from the wind high above.

“The Golem was completely missing,” Sidra grumbled. “So we ended up just flying the whole way to Arcanum to deliver the letter and get the response.”

Voyeur remembered the maps he had seen of Torre and nearly winced. That was a sizable distance for sure, and he wasn’t sure how they had made it there and back again.

“Thankfully Sulien found out half way there that he had velocity manipulation magic,” Sidra added, seeming to answer Voyeur’s thoughts, but also shooting Sulien a slight glare who winced slightly.

“But even so, it was a lot of flying,” Sidra finished, and seemed to notice the pregnant mare who was watching them carefully. Sidra gave Voyeur a curious look, and Sulien raised his eyebrows.

“I was out gathering some herbs for the Baroness, and well. She wanted an escort,” Voyeur replied as explanation, which Binary snorted at.

“Seems like Sirona put you to work as well then, if you are just getting back now,” Sulien commented.

“Indeed,” Voyeur commented, and stiffened slightly as Binary approached.

“You speak of the baroness with familiarity,” Binary commented.

Sulien nodded slightly. “She is indeed a friend of our family,” Sulien replied and Voyeur almost snorted. He didn’t know Sulien’s origins, but knew enough to know Sulien had arrived in Espeor around the time of Sidra’s birth, as if he had been drawn there for that exact time. But family? Things must be more serious between them than Voyeur had realized. Or perhaps it was just the wording that made him pause. Had he ever considered anyone family?

“I am Binary Star,” Binary introduced, eyeing them as she had Voyeur. But she seemed to see the connection between the two, and turned her calculating gaze back to Voyeur.

“I am Sidra, and this is Sulien,” Sidra introduced the pair in turn.

“A pleasure,” Binary said, then stiffened with a slight noise in her throat.

Voyeur turned his gaze to her, and realized she had made a few of those noises on their walk.

“Crap,” Binary muttered. “I think the foal doesn’t feel like waiting until we get to the tower.”

Voyeur looked around in a slight panic. Birth and foals were foreign to him, and while he had been nervous at the thought of assisting Sirona, it was nowhere near the nerves that hit him when Binary said those words.

“What do we do?” Voyeur asked, looking between Sidra and Sulien who shrugged.

Binary grimaced as another contraction rolled through her. “Find me some place to have this foal that isn’t a street, you idiots!” she bit out.

The following moments were a haze to Voyeur. Looking back on it, he would remember accosting an unsuspecting older mare on the street, begging for a place indoors for Binary to have her foal, he would remember the small room with a cheery fire burning as Binary shuffled into a more comfortable position after being rushed through the streets (snapping at him the whole way, like it was HIS fault somehow), and Binary nearly breaking windows with her high pitched shrieks as she pushed out her foal.

But the thing that stuck with Voyeur the most was the triumphant yet exhausted gleam to her eyes as she licked her sunset foal clean, and his first wobbly steps as he surged to his hooves to nurse.

When Sirona finally arrived (Voyeur didn’t quite remember summoning her) she found an almost domestic scene - Voyeur stood close to Binary as the foal nursed happily, his dragon in its smallest almost cat sized form creeping between his legs to sniff at the newborn. Although he would never admit it out loud, the look in his eyes as he gazed upon the mother and child was soft, and the look that Binary returned didn’t have quite the calculating gleam that it did when she first laid eyes on Voyeur.

Sirona used her magic to scan over the mother and foal, and smiled. “Born healthy with no complications,” she declared.

Sirona wandered back outside, her kitsune on her heels, to find Sidra and Sulien peeking through the doorway.

“Let them have their space,” Sirona chided but there was no harshness to her tone, only a soft smile.

The two younger Quirlicorns shared an almost guilty glance as they followed Sirona back to the streets.

“Voyeur did well,” Sirona commented as they stood there, gazing back toward the home they had commandeered so Binary could give birth somewhere other than the street. “It seems that she did not need my help at all.”

At Sulien and Sidra’s confused glances, Sirona chuckled.

“Binary was coming to me because she was worried there might be complications with the birth. But she was blessed with a healthy foal, and no issues,” Sirona explained.

“A true miracle of life.”