The flames had burned down, leaving nothing behind but ashes and debris. The once beautiful plains dotted with burning blooms was a shell of its former self, a barren wasteland of black and grey shades, haunting to perceive and acrid to smell. Vestain looked around, taking it all in slowly as he stood in the midst of the ruins. His home was in the pits, and it was time to walk away. He had only barely escaped with his life when the flames had swept through the land, destroying everything as they consumed with a voracious appetite like none he'd ever beheld. The whole time he had only thought of one thing, one voice: that of his angel. He knew he would be alright, he trusted his body to carry him to safety as it always did, his training once again paying off. He had been searching for the white mare for days, though, traveling through the different lands and asking others if they had seen her, by chance. Never a trace of her lingered, and it left him worried and distraught, most unusual for his usual state of mind. She had turned his normalcy into a foreigner though, for now his old habits and ways seemed as if he'd always had his eyes shut tight, until he had opened them to her blinding light.
Seeing her safe from the flames had been so much more than he deserved. After the fires had burned out though, she had disappeared again, but now he knew she was close again. He could feel it in his bones, the presence of his angel. He turned away from the ashes and walked toward the area of his former glorious home that had been spared by the flames. Much of the land was in ruins, but not all of it. That was where the survivors had been staying since that awful night, and where he was headed now. He moved slowly, with the air of one who was weary and needed relief from whatever tired him so. His neck hung low, his mane trailing in the soft, billowing breeze that carried the scents of the horses nearby. There was a faint scent of a flower as well, and he recognized it at once. He raised his head and pricked his ears forward, noting a white form flowing toward him, though something seemed broken about it. He knew it was Delaney, despite the limp, the sadness, the way she appeared ready to collapse at any moment. A terrible iron scent wafted to him as well, and he felt a chill as he realized it was the metallic smell of blood. Something horrendous had happened...
He trotted forward, unable to watch her stagger any further, and reached her side to give her support. Her beautiful white coat was marred with hoof prints and dirt, her mane and tail were a tangled mess, and just as he was able to catch her, the wilted flower fell from its place and whirled hauntingly down into the grass. He had seen many things, sights even worse than this, but what made it truly unbearable was that he had never actually cared about anyone these things had been committed against. Only three times had they made him catch his breath, his heart stop for a moment, and a twinge of fear and pain surge through his body. When he had seen his son, murdered and stiff on the ground, he had frozen and stared in disbelief, when he had seen his mate cold and lifeless, having taken her own life, he had felt it, and now. Now he felt it again, though he knew there was something to be said for Delaney still being alive. It was a wonder she was. He knew what had happened to her. He'd seen it before. What he couldn't understand was how anyone could do it to her, an angel on earth, an ethereal beauty whose melancholy eyes chased any wicked thought out of your mind. 'Lay down, Delaney, you need to rest.'
He tried to remain calm, not to think about the perpetrator but to worry about the victim for this moment. She was in a horrible condition, and she needed care. He would stand over her and keep anything from trying to get at her in her weakened state. He would be her constant defender, her guardian. Nothing could change what had happened, he admitted to himself, but he would be damned if it ever happened again. 'Who?' He uttered, almost too quiet to hear. His anger was getting the better of him...

Vestain watched as she crumpled down to the grass, weak and deprived. She was so fragile and delicate now, even more so than usual. Her beauty was there, but it seemed faded, dulled by the tragedy that had taken place. Her usual glow was but a faint aura, shuddering with each breath she took. It broke his heart to see her like this, to think of how afraid she must have been. She had probably been desperately searching for someone to help her, to protect her. That was his duty, and he hadn't been there. It was his fault this had happened, it was his failure to bear from now on and forever more. He sighed as she whispered, begging him not to go. He closed his eyes, lowering his neck so that his muzzle brushed against hers. He would not leave her, not like this. 'I'm not going anywhere. I couldn't bear having you out of my sight.' He replied quietly, trying to soothe her, but not sure how to fully express how much she mattered to him.
He was angry, though, and his instincts told him there was only one way to make the world safe for her again. There was no way to know if Avanti would come for her again. He'd heard that name before, uttered by horses in passing, and he knew who the shade was, but he had never dreamed he would have to worry about him. Sure, he was every foal's nightmare here, but Vestain was not easily affrighted; he'd been born and raised on horrors most would turn and run away from. He still wasn't that scared of shades, truth be told. He believed they were a match for him, worthy opponents, but the fear that was behind their motives, their double-edged words which were intended to startle and alarm, they were mere words to Vestain. What had happened to Delaney was the first act he'd found that actually lent some legitimacy to the fear behind the shades. This was just too much. He had to do something, that was the only way he knew how to handle his raging emotions...but he could wait. He could wait until she was feeling better, until he knew she'd be safe.
You're not going to die. I won't let you...' He replied, softly. He didn't want her trying to get back up just yet, she had barely rested at all. He gentle pushed her back down into the awaiting flowers with his muzzle. He wished there was something he could do to help her without having to leave. He was so unpracticed with expressing his feelings, and he'd never truly had this many all at once. Rage, anger, sorrow, regret, sadness, longing, a need to make everything better, to protect...It was all so confusing. He sighed deeply, unsure of himself. There was only one thing he knew for certain, and that was that he was compelled to do whatever it took to keep Delaney safe, alive. Avanti would wait, he had all the time in world, literally. Delaney needed him now though, and so he would stay. That was all could do...

The shade appeared in a dark veil of what seemed to be urging the viewer not to see what they knew was there. Vestain's muscles tightened together, a springboard ready to snap at the slightest provocation, to the defense of Delaney, who was still down in the grass, too weary to bear her own weight any longer. Vestain flattened his ears instinctively as the shade made his idle taunts. So, this was the infamous Avanti, was it? Vestain quickly assessed that the only thing he had working for him was the mere fact that he was indeed a shade. His words seemed obviously coated with inciting words, so obvious that Vestain honestly felt no threat from them. The only part about Avanti that made his cautious was his sheer size. He was a powerful stallion, muscles large and toned from nights of running through forests, no doubt. Vestain could not be cowed by this stallion's skills in the art of verbal jibes, but if it came to a physical fight, then he would be fairly evenly matched, he knew. The shade did not seem to want a fight though, merely to make an appearance and seek to further scare Delaney. Of course, it was probably meant to scare him as well, but it simply did not. Words could never hurt him, not from anyone other than the white mare at his side. Her words held a mysterious hold over him, one that he had never truly felt like fighting.
Vestain was not stupid. He didn't need Avanti's worthless confirmation to know what his sinister intent had been in his actions toward Delaney. Of course she would be carrying a shade foal now. He had jumped to that conclusion without anyone's notice, because that was what he did. He took what knowledge was around him and made a deductive conclusion. He had been trained to do that his whole life, and it had never failed to serve him well. Delaney was upset though, and Vestain was thankful when the snake-like stallion finally retreated into the shadows once more. 'I thought he'd never shut up...' He muttered darkly as he eventually turned his attention back on the blue-eyed creature before him. She was shivering with worry, fear perhaps as well, and Vestain nuzzled her comfortingly. He hadn't forgotten what she had been saying before the shade had made himself known. He didn't know how to respond though...someday he would go after him. He wasn't sure when, but he knew he would. It was the same as the way blood bubbles, signaling the time to go to war. He felt it now, and he could not ignore it forever.
'This doesn't change anything, Delaney...' He commented, trying to soothe her. If she expected him to desert her now, he would be glad to prove her wrong. 'This doesn't have to be the end. In fact, don't let it. Don't give anyone else the power to decide how you feel about your life.' He hoped his words were encouraging, but he didn't know really. That was how he had always felt, but it might not work the same for everyone as it did for him.