long, long journey through the darkness Posted on November 26, 2022 at 04:21:16 PM by charybdis
but what are miles across the ocean to the heart that’s coming home?
She cut a lonely, frantic figure as she paced restlessly, perilously close to the steep, jagged edge of the jungle cliffs. It was a blessing to have so many with her still in the Ridge, given the rigours Atlantis had suffered as of late. And that was discounting the dangers that were ever present in the humid jungles over which the red patched mare kept fierce guard. But some had slipped through the cracks, and Charybdis fell to fretting anew. Still, she remained evasive whenever she ran into Drogon, but the truth was undeniable.
The three that had disappeared without a trace were her wild rivers and the only surviving kin of the beloved soul that Charybdis had lost thrice.
Her firstborn children, and the daughter of Skylla. Gone, just like the fiery pelted son she’d borne to Drogon. But not yet dead, like Charon and Acheron. Or so she desperately hoped. There had been no sign, and truthfully, the half blind mare had spent too much time looking. But it wasn’t just that over which she worried. There was new life growing in her, Charybdis had dreamed of a child. But this one was not yet born, and already she feared for it. She still heard the voices sometimes, whispered in her ear in the dead of night. You are cursed, Charybdis, and you will never be a fit mother.
And how the memory of them tore at her heart with a savagery that left her breathless.
She couldn’t… For so long, she’d tried to do this alone, believing that it was better, safer for those she cared for that she kept away. But three were vanished, two were dead, and one… One still might find his way back, if he could find it in his heart to forgive her for what she’d done.
Sensing this spark of hope for what it was to her - a lifeline, Charybdis held fast to it, and halted her anxious pacing. The ache in her chest had diminished enough for her to draw in lungfuls of air, and without hesitating, for the first time since she had pledged herself as protector to the Ridge, she called for those who were as family to her. Even as the bellowed summons still echoed, Charybdis had already turned to begin the descent down to the pool of fresh water at the base of the cliffs which was fed by a narrow, snaking waterfall.
There the enigmatic guardian would slake her thirst and wait for any who would come to her.