Main Menu
Search
Wiki Search
|
News » In Darkness I Will be There - 11
Sapphire and Cindy in -
A Dream of Meeting Friends
Story One: In Darkness I Will be There
Chapter Eleven
Sapphire could not help but scream. He heard Cindy scream as well. It was not just the fear of feeling himself quickly descending that caused him to yell, but not being able to see how far he would drop or upon what type of surface he would land.
All that the magic horse could do was prepare himself for meeting the ground. He thought back to the reason for his existence. Cindy had helped Princess Alledia after she had broken her leg in a fall. He now promised himself that he would be there to support the young lady however hurt he might be.
It did not surprise him to feel the cool sensation of water. They had been following the path of the stream beneath Cindy’s ancestral home as divined by the dowsing powers of Kalorph. Sapphire felt glad not to strike a hard surface, although as he tried to paddle he felt something about his feet.
Definitely not the usual type of monster.
Sapphire and Cindy in -
A Dream of Meeting Friends
Story One: In Darkness I Will be There
Chapter Eleven
Sapphire could not help but scream. He heard Cindy scream as well. It was not just the fear of feeling himself quickly descending that caused him to yell, but not being able to see how far he would drop or upon what type of surface he would land.
All that the magic horse could do was prepare himself for meeting the ground. He thought back to the reason for his existence. Cindy had helped Princess Alledia after she had broken her leg in a fall. He now promised himself that he would be there to support the young lady however hurt he might be.
It did not surprise him to feel the cool sensation of water. They had been following the path of the stream beneath Cindy’s ancestral home as divined by the dowsing powers of Kalorph. Sapphire felt glad not to strike a hard surface, although as he tried to paddle he felt something about his feet.
As his head broke the surface of the water, he heard Cindy screaming. Trying to move quickly to react, he managed to understand that she was merely talking loudly with a tone of fear. Other voices could be heard coming from above, but it was a voice much closer that caught Sapphire’s interest. Cindy also seemed to react to that voice.
Sapphire also moved to the voice of Ellemon as he heard the young lady speak of being glad to be out of the water. Her voice again changed to tones of concern after the magic horse called to her. He felt a set of strong hands grab his bridle, then the lighter hands of Cindy reached to get a hold of his saddle. Sapphire felt some relief in being out of the water, although quickly became concerned feeling himself upon a very soft surface.
He had to ask, “Where are we, Cindy?â€
She replied, “I don’t know, Sapphire, but this does not feel normal at all.â€
“Can you stand up?â€
The more powerful voice of Ellemon answered, “I don’t know if you can, Sapphire. I am having a hard time of it, and you are a little larger than me.â€
Sapphire tried to stand as he said, “It is dark. Is the Shibelgo around?â€
He suddenly yelped with fear as his hooves sunk into the surface. Instead of being able to stand, he found his feet slipping into some gooey substance. Squirming and paddling only had him slide further down. He could not tell what those with him were doing, but felt a need to let them know of his own problem.
Upon stating that he was sinking, he felt whatever was around him shake as both Ellemon and Cindy moved to his voice. By moving their hands upon his body, they quickly determined that he was correct. While the young lady held the head of her horse tightly, the large man kept his hands moving about the body seeking a solution.
“Cindy,†Ellemon said, “you need to get your horse out of here.â€
She returned, “We cannot see.â€
“You don’t need to see. Simply get your horse away. There has to be an edge to this place. Swim out until you find an edge, then move along it until you can get away.â€
“How do we get Sapphire out of this stuff?â€
“The same way we got him out of the water.â€
While hands grabbed at parts of his saddle and bridle, they did not easily move him from whatever surrounded him. The substance felt to close upon him when they tried to lift him, and a suction prevented his body from leaving its embrace. What made the action more difficult for Cindy and Ellemon was that Sapphire found his efforts to help to only cause him to sink further. While he had been able to propel himself in the water, he could not in the gooey mess around him.
Cindy began to cry as Sapphire felt his neck stretched from her hands pulling on his bridle. Ellemon also grunted as he worked to physically lift the magic horse by his saddle. The magic horse felt pain from the efforts of both, although his strongest emotion was fear that he would sink beneath the surface. In pure desperation, he worked to leap while trying not to cry himself.
The large size of the room could be discerned by the sound of a great mass of water becoming turbulent when Sapphire stretched out his rear legs to hopefully make a powerful kick that would remove him from his predicament. He did believe that he struck something, but nothing that felt completely solid. While his body did lurch up, enough for the two providing aid to pull him free, none felt certain that the success was due to their effort or simply the advantage of the shaking of their surroundings. Such uncertainty declared itself when Ellemon asked as the magic horse slid into the water.
“What did you hit, Sapphire?â€
The magic horse found himself fatigued from swimming, then fighting his predicament, so barely managed to find the breath to speak as he again fought to keep his head above water. “It did not feel like anything solid.â€
He tried to turn his head to see as a low voice reverberated around him, “I’m coming, Mother! I promise you that they will die!â€
Ellemon whispered, “Dearie, get you and that horse of yours to safety.â€
Cindy replied, “I won’t have you fight alone, Ellemon.â€
“Dearie, to handle the fights is why Chordan hired me, so don’t argue with me.â€
“Sapphire first, Ellemon, but don’t think that I am leaving you.â€
The magic horse heard no response from the large man, but only the sound of someone entering the water. He then felt the touch and pull that he was very familiar with. As he began working to move in the direction indicated, he heard the voice of the young lady.
“You cannot fight in this situation, Sapphire. I thus need to get you to safety. If you will, Sapphire, get Chordan and the forest people to come help us.â€
Sapphire was really feeling tired, but he would not let himself lose hope while with the young lady. She had always been there for him, and he set himself to stay with her. Wondering just how far he would have to push himself this time, he asked a question.
“How far do you believe it is to shore?â€
“I don’t know, Sapphire, but I promise that we will not swim in a circle. There has to be an edge to his cavern, and we will find it.â€
The water sloshed around them as if something deep in the water moved. The voice of the Shibelgo again spoke of its advance to which Ellemon roared his own statement of being ready to meet any challenge. Cries from Chordan and the forest people drifted from above, but they did not sound close enough or with any confidence of truly being able to provide aid. Sapphire worked to keep his head above water while he spoke with concern for the one that swam with him.
“Cindy, I promise that I did not intend to bring you back into trouble.â€
“You never brought me into trouble, Sapphire. These troubles were here waiting for us before either of us were born. The only difference is that we are not allowing these troubles to survive to another generation. We will prevail, Sapphire. We will provide a future that is free from curses.†She then added something that the magic horse did not expect, “I love you, Sapphire.â€
He could not have the young lady lose hope. While the magic horse did not think of their attachment as being the bond of love, he could not deny that the depth of his commitment easily met the conditions of the word. He thus found it easy to use the word in return.
“I love you too, Cindy. I don’t want you going back into trouble.â€
“If we have learned anything, Sapphire, it is that running is not a solution. All of the curses last year demanded more than one person could do. I thus will not have Ellemon fight alone.â€
Sapphire suddenly felt his body lurch as his front hooves encountered something. He felt Cindy drop her hold on his reins, then sensed the water move as she did something. He then heard her voice verify what he was finding to be true.
“There is no gradual shoreline, Sapphire. The wall here drops directly down.â€
The magic horse tried to make his feelings sound less dramatic as he said, “I am getting tired, Cindy, so you must be getting tired as well.â€
“Well, I definitely did not dress for swimming, Sapphire. That is all we can do however. Come on, let us go in this direction.â€
The magic horse tried to listen for the voices of Chordan and others above. Sapphire’s hope was that their voices would help direct him and Cindy toward the stream that powered the ancient mill. While phrases could be made out, the voices echoed around the cavern making it impossible to tell from which direction they came.
He was very grateful when a strong tug from the young lady brought him to a very rough section of stone. While the slope was still very steep, breaks in the rocky surroundings were large enough to give him and the lady some relief. Sapphire felt his body shake from fatigue. While the place provided some comfort, it did not allow his body to completely relax. As he kept his front hooves locked into place and his rear hooves somehow upon a section of rock barely wide enough for his feet to feel secure, he had to keep his body acting to hold himself steady. He still stayed with the young lady glad to have some reduction in the stresses upon his body.
Finally feeling able to again challenge the water, he and Cindy again pushed off from their place of rest. Both commented to each other about how much further they would have to go as they softly spoke words of support to each other. They however again sought a secure hold upon the rough vertical wall of the cavern as the water sloshed around them before Ellemon screamed out something.
“What do you think of that, Shibelgo?â€
“I am here, and you will die.â€
While he could not see the young lady, Sapphire felt certain that she stared at him. While he felt very tired, he suddenly felt the energy to rush back in the direction that they came. What made him suddenly want to put what strength he still had to return to swimming with Cindy in the direction that they had come was the realization that the Shibelgo was very close to them.
The battle begins in earnest in the next installment.
Posted by TerishD on Monday, July 19, 2010 (12:12:50) (209 reads)
[ Administration ]
|
|
Related Links
Article Rating
Average Score: 4Votes: 1 Please take a second and vote for this article:
Options
Last Posts
Last 10 Forum Messages
Total Hits
We have received 21282979page views since April 2003
|
Search
Chat_Room
News
