Laura - 2000-03-12
he view of the valley from where Azari was standing was breathtaking. She watched the beams of light bouncing off the treetops across the horizon. She could see everything because of the perfect position of where the sun was shining. Each tree seemed to breathe in and out as the sun was glistening off each leaf.
Azari was so distracted by the view she did not notice her father standing next to her with arms full of horse gear. He was trying to get her attention. Clefton dropped the gear to take her arm. "I’m sorry father, I wasn't paying attention. The view is so lovely isn’t it?" Her eyes full of bliss.
"Come on sweet heart, we need to get you on this horse. Preferably before winter?" He walked up to Misty saddling her for a ride. "Azari hop on back, I want to show you a few things." His arms opened to take her hand to help her get on the back of the horse. "Easy girl, it’s OK, steady." Clefton trying his best to calm Misty with his soothing voice.
"There, now what?" Azari asked.
After Clefton had a chance to show Azari a few vital lessons on the horse, Azari took a ride herself. Clefton coached his daughter "NO, you have to show her WHO’S the boss." They had such fun that they both forgot the horse keeper who was still waiting for Clefton to give his consent to buy the horse with a final offer.
"I’m afraid I’ll have to interrupt the two of you, It is getting late and my wife is due to call me in for supper soon. Ah- Have you decided upon my offer?" The horse keeper spoke while he was walking closer. "What’s it gonna be? Do you want her?"
Clefton looked over at Azari to see if she was confident enough. Azari beamed with joy. "Lets do it father, I think this horse and I are made for each other."
Before Clefton spoke, his eyes were filled with hesitation, but after sighing a deep breath, he said "I’ll give you 8 platinum for her."
The horse keeper was tickled pink, "Mr… you have yourself a deal" Clefton and the horse keeper wondered to the house together. Meanwhile Azari continued to ride Misty through the courtyard, back and forth in a gentle trot.
Clefton and Azari left the lot of the old horse keeper’s yard, venturing toward home. Quiet from the long day, they didn't speak through the rest of the evening. All to be heard was the echoes of the horse riding in the woods. It was getting very dark.
Amber - 2000-03-17
Finally, Trevor pulled the horse to a stop. "We’re stopping?" She asked, and at his reply, slid off the horse. She looked around the clearing, tucking a strand of chestnut curls behind her ear and straightening her clothes almost subconciously. She realized just how muddy she was and frowned, looking around, her eyes resting on the saddlebags Trevor’d rescued from the mud after Starstruck ran off.
She smiled at Trevor and Tiel and grabbed her saddlebags. "I need a bath." She said and peeked inside, relieved to see all of her provisions and clothes intact. Tossing the saddle bag full of food to Tiel, she smiled, seeing the way the Felana was licking her lips. "Enjoy." She turned and looked around and set off towards the edge of the clearing, where, just beyond the trees, she could hear a bubbling brook.
"I’ll be back. You can set up without me." She frowned, realizing at that that her tent and bedroll were drenched with mud. (Great.) She thought. (I’m gonna get a *lot* of sleep tonight!) Luckily, she found a stream after a few minutes of wandering.
It was more of a small, deep river than a stream, and she walked downstream until she found a small pool sheltered by willow trees and shrubbery with a wide stone outrock just below the surface of the pool. She gratefully peeled off her muddy clothes and dived into the stream, using some sand from the beach to scour the mud off her body and out of her hair. Fully refreshed, she used a spare tunic to dry herself off, and pulled on her underdrawers and silk undershirt.
Chestnut hair even curlier than usual and shiny with water, she shook the access water out of it and reached for her spare tunic, humming a small tune she’d learned as a child.
Suddenly, she froze, tensing. Something had moved in the underbrush. She slowly straightened, shivering at a chill brush of cold air. She hadn’t realized how cold it was until right then. A cloud drifted over the sun and Selene’s breath caught in her throat.
There, upstream, perched half in and half out of the water, was a gigantic mud-black wyvern. It looked at her through lidded eyes, pulling its upper lip back to show razor sharp white teeth.
She shivered, but immediately made herself still. Wyverns depended mainly on smell and movement to see their prey, and she was downwind. If she didn’t move, hopefully the wyvern wouldn’t realize she was there and go away.
Suddenly, a branch snapped behind her, and she turned sharply. A deer fled the scene. Selene breathed a sigh of relief until she realized what she’d done.
The wyvern most assuredly knew she was there.
It roused itself from its spot on the beach and fluttered the water off its sinuous form, walking slowly downstream towards her. She was immobilizied with fright and could only move backwards as it moved towards her...
Suddenly, she felt something around her waist. She looked down. Its tail!! It had wrappped its tail around her! She screamed as she was lifted in the air, pulled closer to its gaping maw.
"TREEEEEEEEEEEVOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!!!"
Diana - 2000-03-19
While Selene was off taking her bath, a deer bolted right across her path. (Oooh! Lucky lucky me!) This was an opportunity for Tiel, as she seemed part of this little group now, to help keep the saddlebags full and feed them for the night.
Predator oozing from every pore on her body, she raced after the deer. The deer leapt left and leapt right, trying to shake the beast that practically breathed down her neck, and leapt right into it.
Tiel 'Ooomfed!' when the deer plowed her over, but gripped the prey's leg firmly in her jaws. With only three limbs in working condition, the animal would be much easier to catch. If it managed to escape now.
The deer reared high on her hind legs, ripping the beast off the ground, trying to shake it loose, but her attacker clung tightly. The deer felt the killer's teeth starting to grind on her bone and she fought desperately.
A well-placed kick, or perhaps a lucky shot, caught Tiel's shoulder, forcing her to release it and the deer raced back in the direction of what had jumped it right into the waiting jaws of this predator, the velvet scent of blood speaking loudly of her weakness and injury...
Spellbinder - 2000-03-25
e nodded to Selene, "Yes, it's best to set up camp while there is enough light." She certainly wasn't a woods person. Everybody knew that rule of thumb. Everybody but a royal, that is. Trevor watched as Selene slid off the horse, a mixture of relief and disappointment written on his face. Relief that he could relieve cramped muscles, disappointment that Selene was no longer leaning on him. He would have to be a dead man not to enjoy the closeness of such a beautiful young lady, regardless of whether said man had any feelings for the girl. Trevor did not, at least not at that time, but that had not kept him from enjoying the ride. Selene was as bossy as ever, something Trevor was beginning to find annoying, but he held his peace. Tonight he would extract some answers from this mysterious girl.
The young knight watched Selene as she investigated her saddlebags. He was about to comment that a bath could wait until they reached his home, but decided to keep his mouth shut. No doubt she would veto that. He rolled his eyes in exasperation at her orders to set up camp. He turned away as she carelessly tossed all of her food at Tiel, hiding his frustration. He didn't have much food left, certainly not enough for the two of them. At least he didn't have to worry about the Felana. She certainly wouldn't starve. Trevor shook his head at Selene's retreating back and in a surly mood began to set up camp. The wind did not help his efforts as it tormented Trevor by blowing small items around, causing him to stop what he was doing to retrieve the offending article. He scarcely noticed Tiel's departure as he worked. He finally calmed himself down as he finished setting up. His head suddenly snapped around as he heard Selene's scream. He was tempted to ignore it. She was always screaming at something. Probably some snake, he thought, grinning. It would serve her right for being so bossy. But something in the scream made him think otherwise. It was terror. Her other screaming fits had been anger and frustration. This was laced with pure, unadulterated terror. Trevor removed his cloak and drew his sword, his feet already moving.
He heard a commotion in the woods to his right as he pounded down the trail. It was Tiel after a deer. He ignored her as he searched for Selene. He could hear something big moving in the underbrush ahead, suddenly Selene screamed again. The scream came from the same area as the sound he'd just heard. Trevor bulled through the brush and witnessed a scene that made his blood run cold. A huge wyvern had Selene wrapped up in it's tail and was soon going to have her for dinner. The wyvern was suddenly distracted by a movement in the nearby bushes. A deer jumped, apparently the same one Tiel had been chasing. It made the fatal error of concentrating on just one threat and had blundered into a bigger danger. The timing couldn't have been better for the creature was concentrating on the deer and not Selene, though she was still trapped in the coils of it's tail. Trevor didn't hesitate. He was slightly higher than the wyvern on the riverbank where he stood, so he used this to his advantage. He gripped his sword tightly and with a muttered prayer to Arden he lept on the wyvern’s back. He landed hard and nearly knocked the wind out of himself. The beast roared and tried to knock Trevor off, but he held on for dear life. The daring knight looked for a gap in the behemoth’s armor that he could exploit. He finally found one. A ragged gap in the tough hide near the back of the wyvern’s head looked like the only way to penetrate the menace with his sword. Trevor sat up, placed the tip of his sword into the gap and pushed down with all his weight and might. The blade sank into the wyvern’s flesh, the beast emitted a high pitched screech and dropped Selene. Trevor was concentrating on his sword work and didn’t see the wyvern’s tail sweeping toward him until it was almost too late. He managed to duck in time to prevent decapitation, but the glancing blow swept him off the creature’s back and down onto the rocky riverbank. He struck a rock with his head and the world faded to black.
Copyright (c) 1999-2000 Abigail Laughlin and the members of the Circle of Stone.