Raevyn kept their sword close as they walked through the ruins, their steps light as red light of the moon slid over their pelt through the cracks in the stones. Compared to the smaller horse they were sworn to protect, Princess Seraphina moved slower to not be hit by the beams of red light. 

They couldn’t tell where she looked with her unveiled eyes, her scarf lost to the flames of the furnace, but it didn’t unnerve they like it had a few horses in her court, they had grown up together and they would have broken under the dark gaze of her father long before they had raised to the ranks of royal guard. 

“Have you seen anything like this before,” Seraphina asked, her quiet voice breaking to silent night air, a slight note of unease was in her voice.

“A few times in my early training days,” they said. They could still remember the other young squires daring each to stand the red moon’s rays. 

“They say if you stand under the full moon’s light you could meet the Harvester,” they said.

They felt more than saw Seraphina stop, the warm presence at their side disappearing. They could see how her scarecrow, Pumpkin, gripped her cloak.

Scout squeaked in annoyance from where she was nestled in their mane when they turned too fast for the painted bat’s liking. 

“Don’t worry it is simply a folktale. I believe they are simply like Wizard and the Ranger,” they said. They couldn’t say that the Harvester didn’t exist after all their sword was said to come from them.

“They would be too busy to just appear randomly for horses,” they said to her, touching their nose against her ear. 

“Plus if anything did come to try to harm up Scout and I can handle them,”they said, their bat joined with their war squeak as she spread her wings slightly.

“I don’t doubt that you would,” she said gently nudging Pumpkin forward with a soft closed eye smile as to not startle him.

“But there is only so much you can do against magic,” she said, trying to ignore Raevyn's wincing.

They were still dealing with the realization that there was something they couldn’t easily fight. That they couldn’t touch the one who had betrayed them.

“Well I can still try and give you a chance to run,” they said, standing a bit taller.