As Matilda's gaze moved across the sky, she suddenly sucked in a sharp breath, her whole body—or rather, the whole horse half of her—stunned speechless, as if she had glimpsed all the terror contained in the starry sky. Matilda's four legs seemed nailed in place, unable to move an inch. She lowered her head and shook it hard. The familiar surroundings called home and the summer plants in full bloom that flashed past her eyes seemed to have turned into poison as well. Refusing to give up, she lifted her head again.
Layer upon layer of fear enveloped her—the stars in the sky were completely out of the positions where they should have been.
A falling sensation swept over her. Hearing a scream in a voice both familiar and strange beside her ear, Matilda came to. Her face felt wet. Only when she opened her eyes did she realize that at some point she had fainted and was lying on the ground in muddy water. The bizarre starry sky she had just witnessed in her memory, along with the rotten stench in the air, filled the centaur chief's heart with vigilance and unease.
Matilda quickly rolled over and stood up with both hands and all four hooves. She looked up at the sky again, only to find it already shrouded in dense fog, with nothing visible. Being unable to observe the stars made the centaur feel as though part of her life had been cut away, unbearably painful. With no other choice, she could only turn her attention to what lay before her. Only then did she feel the stiffness in her limbs, but her focus had already shifted to her surroundings.
Unlike before, the Centaur Tribe's gathering place not far away was terrifyingly silent, making Matilda realize something was