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News » I Will Pay Any Cost - 12
Sapphire and Cindy in -
A Dream of Meeting Friends
Story Two: I Will Pay Any Cost
Chapter Twelve
...
The purple horse felt that the situation was drastic, and the words of the mare did not bring him relief.
"NO! Poppa is in trouble!"
Sapphire eyes went wild as a number of the Nixoops knelt revealing those who were readying bows. The kneeling presence of their comrades gave the archers a clear sight on the mare. He wanted to shout, he wanted to run, he however found himself only to remain frozen in place as he awaited the death of Sky.
Sapphire finds himself not liking the way things work out.
Sapphire and Cindy in -
A Dream of Meeting Friends
Story Two: I Will Pay Any Cost
Chapter Twelve
Cindy yelled, “Sky, move back!”
Sapphire did not know what good that would do. The magically lit area before the wagon was not great, but it was crowded with armed Nixoops. While gaining the darkness of the forest might provide some cover, the great number of their opposition would still assure that some would gain their position to make an attack. The purple horse thus felt that the situation was drastic, and the words of the mare did not bring him relief.
“NO! Poppa is in trouble!”
Sapphire eyes went wild as a number of the Nixoops knelt revealing those who were readying bows. The kneeling presence of their comrades gave the archers a clear sight on the mare. He wanted to shout, he wanted to run, he however found himself only to remain frozen in place as he awaited the death of Sky.
Arrows flew, but almost none were from the Nixoops. Almost all of the archers found themselves sprouting the fletched end of a wooden shaft. Cindy dismounted as Sky jerked from being hit, but Sapphire found himself wondering about the condition of his opposition.
“NIXOOPS,” a strong voice sounded, “your activities in this land are against the law!”
Cindy removed a couple of arrows from the mare, patted her, then moved back to open one of Sapphire’s saddlebags while saying, “She is all right.”
Some Nixoops fled, but Sapphire held his position as he watched a number more drop from another volley of arrows. He knew that Cindy could care for a magic horse, because she had cared for him all of his life. While she might have gotten advice from those in the castle stables, it was always her that administered to him. Sapphire thus did not doubt her ability to treat Sky, although wondered why they did not move from danger. He however frowned as he realized that Cindy held her position because she did not feel threatened by the new arrivals.
Therox rode into the clearing directing a number of men to perform various activities. Reavis moved up to give the knight a report. He listened, but his face showed no real concern for the words as he almost took pleasure in what his men did to those surrendering. Finally feeling that all was secure, he dismounted and moved to Cindy.
No sooner did the young lady break from treating the mare, than she galloped to the wagon. Sapphire actually felt good that the action kept Cindy from trading affection with Therox. The purple horse however found himself turning with the young couple to watch Sky.
“Poppa, are you all right?”
“No thanks to you.”
Even from the distance, Sapphire could tell that the lady was troubled. He at first considered her expression due to the rough words from the elder man. Her response however caused the purple horse to comprehend that her actions were due to another source.
“Where is Bubba?”
“What? Who?”
The mare put strength into her words to assure that the man knew that she would not be put off from leaning the answer to her question. “Bubba. Where is Bubba?”
“How do you know about Bubba?”
Sky turned to look away from the elder as she asked, “He is over that wagon wheel, isn’t he?”
The wooden axle had broken just behind the wheel. Sapphire could not see the reason why the thick wooden rod had failed. He however could understand that its fracture would have disturbed whatever was in the wagon above it. The response from the elder indicated that he accepted that the broken axle could have caused a certain secret to be revealed.
“Yes, Sky, he is. Let me go check on him.”
Cindy said, “I will help you.”
As the lady rushed to the wagon, Therox turned to Sapphire to say, “You could have waited for me.”
The brown hair on the young man stuck to his head from the presence of sweat. His clothes also appeared wet and dirty as if washing the attire had long ago been considered a useless endeavor. Sapphire clearly gained the impression that Therox had been pushing himself to catch up with his traveling fiancé. The purple horse however was not going to give the young man any reward for his actions.
“This was supposed to be a simple journey. I was actually enjoying not having you around.”
The blue eyes of Therox showed no signs of being annoyed as he returned, “I see that you found yourself a lady.”
“I want to meet more.”
The young man began walking to the wagon as he returned, “Well, one is enough for me.”
Sapphire followed, but found a number of men move in front when the voice of Cindy sounded asking for help. He thus stayed at a distance as some activity occurred inside and around the wagon. Finally, what appeared to be a coffin was brought out. Sky cried as she approached the long wooden box. The elder spoke to her and the men around him to explain what had been found.
“I am a woodsman, so often traveling to fell trees for various purposes to Count Dehillid. When we entered one area, my youngest son however suddenly recognized no one around him. We also had trouble making contact with him.” The elder focused on the mare as he said, “I tried and tried to help him, Sky, but eventually simply felt that in breaking his connection to you that he might be saved.”
Cindy asked, “What do you know about this curse?”
“Nothing. I have not been able to learn anything about it.”
Therox said, “King Nichixu has many of us knights out trying to remove what curses remain. We can thus possibly find something.”
Cindy stated her agreement, “We need to help him.”
“I don’t want you getting affected, Cindy. You are going to Hebalsh. I will see you around Count Dehillid’s land, then while you go on to Hebalsh I will go to the castle to learn of any reports.”
“Okay, Therox.”
The elder moved to the mare as he said, “I am sorry that I was going to have you killed, Sky, but my boy is more important to me than you are. You were worth a lot to the Nixoops, and I felt that the money from you could help me restore my life with Bubba.”
Water poured from her eyes as she replied, “I would die for him, but I did not know that he really existed.”
“Yes, you weren’t that old at all when this happened.”
Sky turned to Cindy to ask, “Can you help my rider?”
“We broke a number of curses last year, including the primary curse over the land. A number more of the curses have been broken over the last year. We will break this one, Sky.”
Therox spoke his agreement, “King Nichixu is determined to cleanse his land of curses. We will restore Bubba.”
The young man then went to work to assure a good camp. The captured Nixoops were placed in the charge of an officer to be brought to the royal castle. Sapphire was not pleased to hear Therox state that he would stay with Cindy, although found relief that he would soon leave to go check on the curse affecting Bubba. The purple horse thus moved to his rider feeling that things would return to normal after a few days.
It bothered him to see the young couple spend time with each other. Both made certain that things were proper about camp, then found time to take a bath, but afterwards stayed a pair. Sapphire did not like that at all, and looked to Sky wondering how Cindy would feel if he spent time with another.
The mare stayed near the box holding her rider. The purple horse moved up to see that it had been lined with spider silk and leaves. The lad inside did not appear very healthy, but he did move with signs of life. Sky tried to have her words sound positive, although Sapphire could see the moisture of tears around her eyes.
“He says my name.”
“Trust me. He cares as much for you as you do for him.”
“Do you think,” Sky began to sob as she finished her words, “that if I had been killed that he would be released.”
Sapphire moved close to try and comfort her as he said, “No. I don’t know of any story where a rider was freed from a curse because his mount was killed early.” He really did not want to say the next words, although seeing the tears coming from the eyes of the mare had him believe that he could not make her feel worse. “What bothers me is that he is not dead. The curses were designed to kill the riders.”
“But he is not.”
Sapphire worked to make his voice almost sound cheerful as he replied, “No, he is not, and we will save him. I promise.”
“Thank you, Sapphire.”
“Well, I took this journey to meet other magic horses. I however knew that I would have to meet their riders as well. I thus accept that however glad I am to spend time with you that I will also need to spend time with Bubba.”
Sapphire continued to talk with Sky, although he became annoyed when Cindy did not come to take him away. He stayed rather dissatisfied when she and Therox continued to mostly chat with each other through the next couple of days. Cindy did not ignore her magic horse, but she spent most of her time with her fiancé, and Sapphire did not like that at all.
The presence of Sky did not help ease his discomfort. She mostly stayed near the wagon. While her rider stayed in his box in the vehicle, she did not become an active member of the group. The mare spoke little except to the wagon where she hoped that Bubba could hear her.
The group came to the top of a hill when Therox called a halt. He pointed off to a flag barely visible as it flew on top of a tower that was part of a castle a distance off. Sapphire looked with joy understanding that the young knight would soon be leaving to visit those in the castle. The purple horse stopped feeling the hands holding his reins go slack, and he gritted his teeth expecting for the two lovers to again exchange words with each other.
Fear showed on the face of Therox, and that caused Sapphire to turn his head with alarm. He felt Cindy slide from his back. He turned his whole body with fright as he suddenly could not sense her presence.
As the young lady asked, “Where did everybody go?” Sapphire almost cried understanding that she had come under the same curse that affected Bubba.
And the stage is set for story three, "Why Are You Lonely?"
Posted by TerishD on Saturday, October 02, 2010 (11:11:16) (297 reads)
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Re: I Will Pay Any Cost - 12
(Score: 1 )
by Thema on Wednesday, October 06, 2010 (03:03:55)
I haven't read a word of this tale but I know I like it already.
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