However harsh the winter had been Lillith had prevailed through the rough winds and the stinging ice that fell from the sky, all while her belly swelled with yet another child. This was her fifth, and this pregnancy had Lillith feeling larger than usual in this stage, although by Vodnik’s own size it really shouldn’t be such a surprise that it was how it was. Truly she felt deep within the child stirring, and no doubt she would raise yet another into the same greatness that she had raised her other children. Flarie, Lockjaw, Selephia, and Odette were to obtain a new sibling and it was doubtful they would ever truly know. Long ago they had gone on their own ways, and so had Lillith.

Dipping her head and nosing some snow away from the thawing earth Lillith inhaled the dampness of the earth, her pale eyes flicking upwards to the blue radiance of the sky. Not a cloud in sight. It was nothing but a beautiful day towards the end of winter and the beginning of spring, and although Lillith had seen a few of the other mares and stayed close for warmth during the worst parts she hadn’t taken into talking to them all that much. For a small herd they seemed… distracted. Clearly there was something bubbling beneath the surface and as much as Lillith enjoyed stoking the fire she did not intend on incurring harm to her child. She was not as swift as she used to be, nor was she as young, but she would be damned if one of the mares lashed out and caused this pregnancy harm.

With a curiosity Lillith raised her whiskered muzzle to the sky and let out a cry, calling forth any company that managed to be around. Seeking answers, she would keep her head low until her child no longer nursed, and then it was game on. If that’s what they needed. The bay shook out her tangled mane and then gave a nip to her swollen belly, the movement slightly uncomfortable as her foal continued in growth. Moving her body down a small hill she stopped at the bottom that looked out over the vastness of the territory, no trees for cover needed in this mild day. Although she had approached Vodnik and enjoyed his touch and was very impressed by him she yearned to know of the impressiveness of the rest of the herd. He did not seem a man to collect mere trinkets, and if that’s what these ladies saw themselves as, well, Lillith had made a mistake in entering The Ridge.