The snowy expanse seemed to stretch on forever, an unending blanket of cold pain and indifference. In every direction, there was white, white, and more white. The blizzard's cold winds bit deeply into my naked form as I soldiered through the snow. My hooves never stopped, and the winds raged around me, numbing my limbs and stinging my eyes. But I couldn't stop. I could never stop.

So long as this is your burden to bear, you will never know peace, Adrian. What a horrible fate to be left with...

In the distance, I saw a shape. A silhouette of black against the white blizzard. Someone was here?! I picked up the pace, the sound of the snow crunching whisked away by the raging winds. Who? Who was it that was here, of all places?!

Finally, I get close enough to see them through stinging eyes, my hooves no doubt frozen solid by now, and I can't stop a cry of shock. Before me stood myself, my fur a much darker, richer purple, and my grey feathers blackening at their spines. His eyes, my eyes, were orbs of black, radiating a cold malice that easily matched the angry winds.

It's pointless to fight us, child. To fight me. That peace you so desperately seek, the love you crave, and the happiness you try so hard to grasp will forever evade you. We're capable of so much, Adrian... this world which forever rejects us will know no peace. The prey you call your "friends" have turned your eyes from the truth.

Don't listen to him, you know what he is!

But am I wrong? Is it truly so hard to believe that I understand the only truth mortalkind will ever know?

His eyes narrow, and a grin spreads from his beak.

Not so long ago, you knew this truth as well, Adrian. So long as two creatures remain in this wretched world, there will always be war. Violence never stops. Destruction never ends, and the forces that hold us back grow weak in their complacency. You've tasted my power, Adrian.

His eyes narrowed to black, glittering slits.

That means you know this as well. You've tasted the flesh of many, ended lives in mere sweeps of your hand, or stomps of your hooves. The world cowers in fear of you, even if those prey animals don't. Soon, they will as well.

"Liar!" I shout, my voice cracking and my throat ragged from the icy air. He throws his head back and laughs, a hideous sound akin to the sound of nails on a chalkboard, in a lower pitch.

Am I a liar, Adrian?! Do you truly believe I would go out of my way to tell you this is it wasn't true?! In the short time you've been alive, have I ever lied to you?

I say nothing, looking away from the twisted mockery of my face.

Soon, Adrian, you will see as I see. That the world is beyond saving, beyond caring. Faust's children have failed. War is waged every day, and peace never lasts! This world can't be saved...

He turns away from me and walks further into the blizzard, his final words just barely audible above the growing fury of the icy sky.

And putting an end to it is an act of mercy. The only mercy it deserves. Where your mother has failed... you will succeed.

I fall to my knees, tears streaming from my eyes as the full weight of his words hits me. It feels as if a stake was driven through my chest.

"Liar... I won't... Mother...I..."

Finally, I can take it no longer. I throw my head back and let loose a scream. A scream known the world over as a trumpet of disaster. A warning of widespread carnage.

A scream that forever haunts me.

SCREEEEEEAAAAAAA!!!!!!

+++++

I can barely make out the sound of someone calling out to me as I float through a sea of black. I feel the pull of consciousness, hear the voice call out again. But it isn't enough. As the blackness slowly pulls me in, my mind goes blank, and I (metaphorically) open my arms to embrace the one thing I knew I could never have.

Peace.

Author's Note

Take from this chapter what you will, loyal readers. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Gods, I need more caffeine. Or a better sleeping schedule.

Or maybe both.