The Academy: The world will never, ever be the same.

The sky was not blue this day; the intensely beautiful sun did not cast its warm soothing rays upon all that lived and all that breathed; nor was the vast Element bright with daylight cheer and the fluttering wings of a gentle breeze. Thick heavy plumes of cloud had gathered across the outlands, and here, nestled comfortably between sloping hills and beneath the shimmering embrace of evergreen canopies; the Academy was no exception. Perhaps as far away as Desreal, thunder burst through the air and its ferocious roar caused the clouds to shatter in fear. Slowly their beds of the purest moisture crumpled away, and from their dark menacing midst began to fall the cold rain- the first gift of the harsh winter promised.

Delilah did not start in fear as a second roar of thunder echoed violently above; she drew energy from these storms and sought greedily the danger of lightning, for it was so beautiful and unique beyond reasoning. The scholarly horses began to scatter as the rain beat down relentlessly upon them, but Andarin had not seen such for nearly a month and Delilah basked as though it were the very sun itself, while the chill fell to spread across her shoulders. It found thin channels across her face and swollen body, and streamed quickly downwards, soaking her thoroughly so that she shivered.

A face melted through the veil of grey rain, and Delilah couldn’t help the smile, which hastened across her thin smoky lips. Her mane clung in slick drapes across her slender, arched neck, as did her forelock to the thin feminine structure of her lovely face. But before that, a voice that had redeemed its calmness, had ventured brazenly into the privacy of her mind. Delilah did not answer the faceless words, although she knew whose thoughts uttered them- for she could not; she knew only the abilities of an Oracle, and even then only because as a warrior she had called on such healing.

In his mouth was a flower, beautiful and young and she shuffled gingerly while the pools of water sucked at the weight of her hooves. He was shy and courteous as he came forward and her eyes beckoned him closer, kind and thankful all the time. She watched with quiet interest as he replaced the flower back into the earth, and she thought idly of Formaldehyde’s oak twirling lazily in the summer afternoon breeze. “Indeed friend.” She paused and touched her humble lips against the steamy warmth of his blue-flecked cheek. “I am no fighter. No longer do I have such desire to harm another; never did I house the skill to do this.” She thought about the last battle, for she had defied her own odds and won against one of their own- Ulaume. All she had needed was another battle in which she claimed a prisoner, and then she would have taken Silver for a title. It was not success enough though, to replenish her confidence.

Her beautiful pale brown eyes held the steady gaze of the stallion, and there was strength that was never apparent when she stepped onto the sweat-stained plains of the Krieg. Still the rain surged downward, but neither horse sought the refuge of the singing trees. “I have come because it is where I belong.” She whispered, glancing upwards as a sheet of bright lightning lit the vicinity around them. Delilah lowered her face to peer where Formaldehydes eyes lead them, and there before her widening gaze the small lily’s stemmed had straightened and was growing; the flower also, and it became bluer than the ocean, perhaps even the clean sky during daylight. “It is very beautiful.” She exclaimed wonderingly, and smiled warmly at him. “Perhaps I can show you what I have learnt- much the same, but exquisite in its own way.”

Delilah
unranked | lightning III + aurora australis | andarin