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News » I Will Pay Any Cost - 5
Sapphire and Cindy in -
A Dream of Meeting Friends
Story Two: I Will Pay Any Cost
Chapter Five
Sapphire did feel fear at being surrounded by a magically created stone fence. He however was not going to accept his situation. He looked down and saw a thick growth of plants that were more than the sparse grass that grew beneath the thick forest. That had him believe that they now stood in an open meadow and the trees they saw earlier to have been nothing but illusions. However, the acceptance that what they had seen was an illusion caused him to wonder if the stone barrier now surrounding them was also an illusion.
Cindy spoke his name with concern as Sapphire moved forward. When he felt her hold on his reins, he jerked his head. Fear showed on the young lady’s face as the leather straps left her hand. Sapphire however felt free to put his focus on moving upon the wall.
A fight ensues, then Cindy decides that she will fight some more.
Sapphire and Cindy in -
A Dream of Meeting Friends
Story Two: I Will Pay Any Cost
Chapter Five
Sapphire did feel fear at being surrounded by a magically created stone fence. He however was not going to accept his situation. He looked down and saw a thick growth of plants that were more than the sparse grass that grew beneath the thick forest. That had him believe that they now stood in an open meadow and the trees they saw earlier to have been nothing but illusions. However, the acceptance that what they had seen was an illusion caused him to wonder if the stone barrier now surrounding them was also an illusion.
Cindy spoke his name with concern as Sapphire moved forward. When he felt her hold on his reins, he jerked his head. Fear showed on the young lady’s face as the leather straps left her hand. Sapphire however felt free to put his focus on moving upon the wall.
The wall faded as he put his front hooves upon it. While that filled the purple horse with pleasure, it gave him alarm to see a host of people before him. Some of those revealed were dressed in robes, but most had sections of chain or pieces of metal helping to protect them from harm. Those not in armor simply had staves in their hands, but the others had bows. While a desire to continue using his hooves for attack did fill Sapphire, he also felt concerned for his life and a desire to put his feet to running.
The purple horse suddenly reconsidered things when Ellemon charged past him. He rushed someone on the right. An arrow from Fimmish suddenly sunk into the chest of one of those in robes. Wanting to assure that all of the Nixoops felt threatened, the purple horse darted to someone on his left.
Arrows flew around him. He felt a couple strike, but they did not seem to do more than cut his skin. What surprised him was seeing a few of his opponents move their arms as arrows also came upon them.
Sapphire quickly surmised that the surprise of the Nixoops had caused them to release a round of arrows without fully pulling or aiming their projectiles. While they certainly planned to kill him and those with him, the Nixoop bowmen had relaxed to enjoy the spectacle of fear upon the faces of their opponents, which made them unprepared when the magic failed. The one Sapphire attacked however did manage to turn in a manner that put his armor in place to protect him from the hooves. As he drew his sword for close combat, he suddenly spurted blood as another sword went into an open spot near a shoulder.
“KEEP ATTACKING SAPPHIRE!†Cindy yelled stepping up to the next Nixoop in line. “Sky, keep behind me!â€
The purple horse smiled as he moved with the young lady. While fear showed on the one they attacked, the emotion also displayed itself in the expression of others. They clearly felt that they expected to have an advantage behind an imaginary wall, so did not know how to react suddenly having to directly face their opponents. While most lifted their bows with an intent to attack, no arrows flew in what Sapphire considered to be a fear of hurting their own people. He and Cindy showed no reluctance in their actions.
The Nixoops suddenly turned and fled. Fimmish continued to send arrows flying, but Sapphire looked to Cindy to assure her health even as she looked to him. Both of them turned however as another approached.
Ellemon said, “Dearie, you and your horse ain’t supposed to fight. That is my job.â€
Cindy returned, “And how were you going to handle the Nixoops over here?â€
The big man simply stared for a moment before saying, “Sapphire is bleeding. Are you hurt, Dearie?â€
The young lady suddenly began checking her mount. The purple horse enjoyed the attention, but found himself turning his head to check on Sky. Seeing him look to her, she approached.
“That was very brave.â€
“No. Not to have done something would have been stupid.â€
“How did you know that it would work?â€
Sapphire did not want to say that he had not been certain. In forming what he felt would be a good reply, he realized that he was speaking to another horse like himself. He thus subdued his confident tone by trying to sound more experienced.
“I learned last year that we are not called magic horses for nothing. My hooves could hurt some creatures that Sir Hivarn was not having good success against. There was magic in our creation. Since we are fighting Nixoops, who were the agents for the curse that created us, I felt that I would be effective against their magic.â€
Ellemon stepped up to say, “Well, it worked, and it looks like you saved our lives. Very good, Sapphire. We now however need to get back to traveling.â€
“No,†Cindy said. “How many Nixoops do you believe are in this area?â€
Fimmish replied, “One arrow striking true could make this journey a tragic one.â€
The young lady turned on the man as she asked, “Haven’t you learned? That would be true even if I stayed in Dachion. I however don’t want threats around me. I accept that life is not easy, but I will not live a life of fear. I faced the Shibelgo and will face these Nixoops as well.â€
Ellemon said as he turned from inspecting the corpses, “Dearie, that is not a wise suggestion.â€
“You are supposed to fight the battles, Ellemon, not give advice. You were not hired for your intelligence.â€
Fimmish quickly replied, “Then what is your strategy, my lady?â€
“We return to find Edward and Poppa. They know things. They should know about the Nixoops. They should know the history of Sky. I want that knowledge.â€
“How do we know where they are?â€
“Sky can direct us. Sapphire and I can always find each other. We are connected by the magic that brought about his existence.â€
The mare said, “I usually cannot find Edward. I tend to always go to Poppa.â€
Cindy approached to have a hand touch the face of Sky, although an arm went around the neck of Sapphire as she replied, “I am not surprised by that, Sky. You have things you need to learn from them as well. Still, you just said that you can bring us where I want to go.â€
Sapphire felt that all eyes turned upon him, but he knew that they were looking to Sky. He thus turned his eyes to her as well. She did not seem strong enough to handle the gazes upon her, but dropped her head as she spoke.
“I would like to learn some things as well.â€
Cindy moved to put her hands gently on both sides of the mare’s head, then lifted it to look into her eyes. “I am sorry to do this to you, Sky. It still hurts Sapphire to know that he was the cause of leading me into all the danger that we faced last year. I thus don’t want you to think that you are leading us into danger. Yes, there is danger in the direction that you will be taking us, but we are going there willingly. Whatever threats are present will not go away, and to let them remain makes you also at fault for whoever else may be hurt. If you truly want a future where you can have days without being afraid, you have to face your fears now.â€
“You are a lot different than Edward.â€
“I will take that to be a compliment. Now, will you direct us?â€
Sapphire saw the mare nod, then begin walking almost in the direction that they had been coming. She noticed that Ellemon and Fimmish moved ahead of her, then signaled for her to slow her pace. Sky then looked back to Sapphire. He moved up beside her glad for the recognition, although she seemed to only want to ask him a question.
“Were you scared a year ago?â€
“There were times, but I was mostly angry. I grew up thinking that I was something special. I was not like any other horse, and my owner played with a princess. I thought that I had such a wonderful life that I wanted to share it with another. I instead found my desires and my actions to merely be the result of a curse that brought about my existence in order to gain a special commodity for trade. I felt betrayed, and I felt Cindy was betrayed as well. It was all so wrong, and I eagerly fought each curse determined to prove myself as having some good.â€
“I feel that I am a part of something wrong as well. Unlike you however, I don’t believe my owner is worth fighting for, but…†Sky dropped her head again as she softly added, “That makes me feel worthless as well.â€
“Oh, you are not worthless. The Nixoops are definitely fighting for you. We are as well. At least we value you living, so stay with us.â€
Sapphire was pleased to see that Sky had a smile on her face when she lifted her head. The hug from Cindy also made him believe that he had chosen the right words. He thus had a smile on his face as he saw the mare again take some steps.
Ellemon could be seen in the distance holding his position behind a tree. The sight caused Sapphire to look for Fimmish. It surprised him to find the man standing quite close as he softly spoke.
“Lady Cindy, it is getting late. While the darkness can give us an advantage, I would rather secure the position of the magic horses.â€
The young lady asked, “Do you believe that you can find a meadow where they can safely graze? If you need me to, I can instead gather grass as I did for Sapphire a few times last year.â€
“We might have to do the latter, but I want you to know that we are turning back to the hills and preparing to rest for the night.â€
“I know better than that.â€
“Truthfully, no. The Nixoops won’t kill our horses, as they have no value to them… well, maybe if they are really hungry. Still, I see a number of new foals each year, but I have never seen the birth of a magic horse. Ellemon and I thus will assure the safety of you, Sapphire, and Sky, then get some rest ourselves as we expect more trouble tomorrow.â€
Cindy looked around, nodded, then turned to her horse to ask, “Is it all right with you, Sapphire?â€
“I am hungry, and it will give us time to speak some more with Sky.â€
The young lady turned back to the forest person to say, “Okay, Fimmish, let us find a safe place to camp.â€
Sapphire moved feeling that they were in a safe part of the forest. He did not see Ellemon or Fimmish move off to encounter any threat. While he noticed the care in determining a slightly secure and hidden location, it was mostly the relaxed manner that those caring for his safety went about their duties that caused him to accept the site as acceptable.
No fire was built, but the humans ate basically the same thing as the magic horses. Cindy shared fruit with Sapphire and Sky, then went with them to where some fresh clean water fell down a slope. Once it became dark, she moved with them to a meadow so they could graze. Sapphire actually found the dew-covered grass to taste good, and heard the humans say that they considered the grass to look as if it tasted better than what they munched upon.
Nobody spoke about the distant fires that could be seen. Sapphire could not make out more than a half-dozen. He stayed calm remembering the year before when campfires were seen all around the places where he and Cindy hid with Sir Hivarn and Therox. Sky seemed disturbed by the potential threats around her, and did not say much. Sapphire did try to trade cheerful comments about Dachion with Cindy, and she tried to support the topics, but he could tell that she was troubled by memories of her years growing up in the town as a very poor girl as well as again seeing the fires from the horrors the year before.
Due to the low voices being used, all heard the distant calls from Nixoops. “Give us the corpse of our magic horse! We have killed the rider, so the horse is no longer alive. We paid for the horse, and if you give us what we paid for we will go away!â€
Sapphire looked to Sky and saw a shocked look on her face as she whispered, “I don’t want to die.â€
Yes, the Nixoops play for keeps, so Cindy's plan is doomed to fail.
Posted by TerishD on Saturday, August 28, 2010 (11:33:01) (377 reads)
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