#avalonsso

“I’ll be back soon I promise!” You yelled to your father who watched you from the doorstep of Kora’s home. “I just have to deliver these to Rowan!” You showed him a bunch of papers in your hand. Rowan had you design some flyers for a trail ride, and now you were going to deliver them. You were already on your way to do the delivery, but you were stopped by your worried dad before you could even get on the trail to the ranger base. The man frowned he didn’t want you to go alone. Mistfall was dangerous there were wolves in the forest. Your father worried you might come across them. You also did not have a horse, if you got into trouble you would have to deal with it alone. He shook his head deciding it was best not to let you go “come back!” He yelled back to you. You were a bunch of feet away from him, so you both had to yell back and forth. “I am almost done talking to Kora! Wait for me and we can both go together!” Your father started walking towards you. You loved your dad you really did, but you also loved time alone. You walked to him as well, so you could speak and not yell. Once you got close to him you said “dad I can do it alone.” You wanted some alone time you hoped you could convince him to let you go. “I’ll be fine the ranger base is just down the road” you moved the papers in your hand towards the direction of the base. “If I get into any trouble, I can handle it alone” you grabbed your father’s hand giving it a comforting squeeze. “Go back inside and enjoy your tea with Kora I’ll be fine” you smiled when your dad squeezed your hand back. “Plus I’ve been around Mistfall many times and I have never seen a wolf” today would be no different. At least you hoped it wouldn’t. You brushed the thought away not wanting to accidentally manifest a wolf. “Can I go now?” You let go of your father’s hand. The man nodded, and you went wide eyed as he pulled you into a bone crushing hug. “Be careful” he said to you, and you managed to huff out an “I will!” Your dad was old you wondered where he got all that bone crushing strength. He was a druid his job did not require any psychical strength... Or did it? You didn’t really know what he did, he kept it all a secret from you. Maybe he was sneaking in some training sessions into his busy druid schedule to beat the shit out of Garnok himself. When your dad let you go, you took a deep breath in, and you said goodbye to him heading back to the trail. Your father headed back inside to speak to Kora leaving you alone. The walk to the ranger base was boring. You couldn’t use your phone it was low on battery, and you needed to save it. You looked around you trying to keep yourself entertained. You had seen all of Mistfall thousands of times. You had been up and down all the trails. The bad thing about having explored the whole forest was that there was nothing new to look at. You prayed to Aideen for something new. Maybe you should have allowed yourself to accidentally manifest a wolf. A nice wolf of course, so you don’t get mauled. As you walked you continued to look around. It did not take you long to notice that the forest was quiet. No birds were around. No rabbits or frogs either. No sounds as well. You were starting to feel uneasy. Why was the forest so quiet and still today? Your fear made your walk turn into a jog. You wanted to get to the ranger base quickly. It took a few minutes to get to the base and once you got there your fear grew as you saw that the base was empty. The lights were off, and the horses and people were gone. On the door you could see a paper taped to it. You walked over to the door reading the paper it said ‘Out investigating. Be back soon!’ You sighed wondering what to do. You needed to drop the papers off now while you were in Mistfall. You looked around for somewhere to put the papers. While you looked you thought about what the rangers were investigating. You heard some townspeople in Dundull say they heard an explosion last night. That same explosion was the reason why you and your father were in Mistfall.

When you asked your dad about it, he told you it was “classified druid business.” Whatever caused the explosion must be magical if your father was involved. You ended up finding a mailbox, and you neatly put the papers into it. You wished Rowan would have told you that they were going out. Maybe they could have picked the papers up from Kora’s house instead of making you come all the way out here. You reached for your phone in your back pocket. You were going to send Rowan a text saying you left the papers in the mailbox. When you touched your phone, you heard a shrill neigh. You stood still with your hand on your phone looking like an old timey western cowboy getting ready to draw. Did you imagine that neigh? You waited a few seconds, and you heard it again. It was coming from the trail leading to Wildwoods. The neighs echoed and bird calls followed after the neighs. You watched as birds quickly came flying out of the entrance. Rowan must be coming back now. You started walking down the trail to Wildwoods to meet Rowan there. The entrance to Wildwoods was covered by a bunch of bushes and vines. Some of the bushes looked like they had thorns, you would have to be really careful. As you walked into the entrance you carefully walked around the bushes with thorns. Some of the thorns came close to touching you but none of them actually did. The neighs got louder the deeper you walked into the entrance. You had never been inside the entrance of Wildwoods. It was all new to you, and it was amazing. You wished for something new while you were walking to the ranger base and you got it. You were so distracted by your surroundings that you didn’t realize you had gotten to the source of the neighs until you heard them again. You snapped your head towards the neighing. You moved your head so fast it hurt. You would have rubbed your neck in an attempt to soothe the pain, but you didn’t move. You couldn’t move you were shocked by what was in front of you. In front of you was a black horse with multiple wounds and damaged tack. Was this a new horse of the rangers? The horse neighed and bucked, and you noticed that one of its legs was not moving correctly. You feared the horse’s injuries caused lameness. Slowly you walked towards the horse “where is your rider?” You whispered to it not wanting to scare it. The horse turned to look at you, and you put a hand over your mouth quickly coming to a stop. The horse had red eyes. Blood red eyes that seemed to glow. You wanted to run you wanted to scream, but the look the horse gave you stopped you. It looked so sad… Could horses look sad? Were you imagining it? You didn’t have much horse experience. It had been a while since you last rode or had been around horses. The steed snorted, and looked away from you looking at the leg that did not move. You followed its gaze looking to its leg as well. You looked it over sighing in relief when you saw a vine wrapped on the horse’s leg. The horse was trapped that is why it wasn’t moving it was not lame, just trapped. You started moving again whispering “it’s okay” and “stay calm” to the horse. Some of those words were for you too. You were scared shitless, and you were trying to calm yourself down. The horse watched you as you walked towards it. Its red eyes watching you scared you more, and once you got close enough to the horse you slowly squatted down. “Please don’t kick me” you begged the horse, and it nickered. You hoped it was saying it would not kick you. Gently and slowly you grabbed the horse’s leg waiting for any indication that it was comfortable before proceeding. Once the horse relaxed its leg you began to try your best to remove the vine without further hurting the horse. You wanted something interesting to do today and you got it. If only the interesting thing would have been discovering a new kind of butterfly or a nice wolf and not a red-eyed horse in the woods. The vine slipped off the horse’s hoof, and you quickly moved to the side not wanting the horse to trample you.

You expected the horse to buck or to bite you or just do something crazy once it was free, but it just stood there. It snorted again, and it lowered its head to you sniffing your hair. The horse still had a medieval style bridle on it with an interesting symbol on the middle. The symbol looked like two snakes? You grabbed the reins of the bridle holding the horse still as you stood up. You examined the bridle. You hoped to find the owner’s or the horse’s name. You ended up getting lucky you found a tag on the bridle badly scribbled with sharpie that said ‘Khaan.’ You read it, and then you said it “Khaan?” The horse’s ears perked up, and you smiled “That’s your name? Khaan?” The horse neighed, and you pet them “where is your owner, Khaan? Can you lead me to them?” The horse did not move it just stood still watching you. With all the luck you were having today you expected the horse to move, and begin to lead you on some epic quest to save its owner. Luck must have run out. You thought about what to do, and while you thought it over you pet the horse. You stood there for a few seconds thinking about what to do while you patted the horse’s neck. Should you wait in place for the owner? Or go straight to the Dundull vet? Maybe report the missing horse to the rangers and hope they can find the owner? You didn’t know what to do, you were getting stressed. Khaan went stiff when he heard your name be called. It was your father he was calling you. You had taken too long, and he worried for you, so he came to find you. You panicked, you needed to find a way to hide the horse’s eyes. You looked at Khaan seeing his braided mane. He had a forelock it had been braided too and it looked long. You reached up undoing the braid. Khaan huffed as his forelock was spread evenly onto both sides of his face covering his eyes. You thanked his owner for growing out his forelock. You gently tugged on Khaan’s reins “can you walk Khaan?” The steed answered your question by taking stiff steps. The wounds on him hurt each time he took a step. You frowned, and you began to lead him out of the Wildwoods entrance “poor horse.” You pat his side “me and my dad will get you to the vet it will be okay.” Khaan nickered he trusted you to lead him through the entrance. His mane obscured his vision he was putting a lot of trust in you right now. Normally he would be very distrusting of a stranger. He would bite and kick, but right now he needed help, so he decided to trust. The ranger base was right outside and at the base was your dad. When he saw you he waved he stopped when he saw you were not alone. The man walked to you with his jaw open in disbelief “where did-.” You interrupted your dad wincing when you saw the upset look on his face “I’ll answer questions later right now we need to get this horse to the vet.” Your father saw the wounds on Khaan, and he understood your rude interruption. The horse looked… Familiar to him… Where had he seen it before? As you said before there was no time for questions, only time to help the horse, so he refocused. He could always think about where he saw the horse later. “Wait here” he said to you “I rode Kora’s horse here I’ll ride to Dundull and I’ll bring a trailer back with me.” Your father did not want the injured horse to walk further. You thanked your dad, and you watched him run back to Kora’s shire. Your dad wasted no time. He quickly got on the shire and you watched as he rode down the trail like he was in a race. Today was… Eventful you could not wait to go home and lay down. You smiled when you thought about bringing Khaan home. You knew he wasn’t your horse, but you were still excited. “You’re going to love staying with us Khaan” he huffed shaking his head to try and get his mane out of his eyes. “Don’t worry it won’t be forever” you fixed his forelock moving it away from his eyes. “Just until we find your owner… I hope they’re okay” You let out a little huff as Khaan laid his head on your shoulder.

He missed his owner, and he hoped she was alright. The explosion was bad, and from what Khaan saw his rider got the worst of it. You put a hand on his forehead, and you closed your eyes trying to provide some comfort to the poor horse.

Avalon’s hands shook. The teacup in his hand struggled to hold its tea. The plate that held the teacup threatened to slip from his hand. The man took a deep shaky breath in. He closed his eyes trying to keep his hands still. What he saw couldn’t be true. He must have imagined it. He must be mistaken. He must be wrong he needed to be wrong… The man let out a gasp as the teacup slipped from his hand. It fell down to the floor missing the table in front of him by an inch. The teacup shattered. The tea that was once inside it was now all over the floor.

Tiny pieces of porcelain decorated the tearoom floor. The man put the teacup plate on the tiny table in front of him. He didn’t want the plate to join the teacup. Avalon stood up going to the kitchen to grab some paper towels and a vroom. On his way to the kitchen he walked by the living room. In the living room he spotted your guitar. He had no idea where it came from. He just knew you got it sometime during his meeting on Friday. You also got a jacket. You got it on his second meeting the Friday after the first. Those Fridays were a month ago.

The electric guitar laid on the coffee table in front of the couches of the living room. It was right in the center of the small living room. He frowned at the guitar. Every time he looked at it, he felt uneasy and every time he looked at his living room, he felt… Threatened. Something had been in his home. In his living room. An uninvited guest left a bad vibe in the home. He suspected said person must be the owner of the guitar and the jacket. You must have had someone over while he was gone. The father shook his head trying to stop himself from being accusatory. If you had someone over, you would have told him.

You were his kid, you told him everything. You told him you wouldn’t lie anymore. He wanted to trust you he really did… But something was nagging him. It was telling him “do not believe them.” The man closed his eyes. He said a quiet prayer. “Oh Aideen what shall I do?” Avalon quickly opened his eyes when an image flashed in his mind. The image of what he saw the Friday you got the jacket. The man was headed back home after his meeting. It was late at night. The moon was too dim to shine proper light on anything. Even with the dim lit moon Avalon knew there was no way he confused what he saw.

He saw you… But you weren’t alone. When he turned the corner at Elizabeth’s house, he saw you by the stables. You were facing the road that led to Hollow woods. The man was about to ask what you were doing outside so late at night, but he stopped himself. He stood watching you in horror as Khaan walked to you. The steed was being led by someone. He couldn’t see who it was. The Friesian covered their face. It wasn’t until the person turned to leave that he saw it. He saw her face. A Dark Rider in Valedale. The man grumbled a curse as he thought about what to do. You weren’t going to tell him the truth he knew it.

If you had lied about Khaan, you were surely lying again. He had to be nosy. He hoped you would forgive him for it. It was better for you to be mad at him than for you to be in danger. He would never forgive himself if he didn’t do anything to keep you safe from the Dark Rider. Avalon turned around. His robe flowing dramatically as he took the sharp turn. He was headed for his room. He was going to call Anne. The man was old too old to ride, too old to fight, and too old to follow you.

He was going to ask the Soul Riders for help. You were out for the day. You said you were going to Firgrove. Assuming you weren’t lying then the Soul Riders would hopefully find you soon and bring you home. If you were with her then the Soul Riders would also handle her. Avalon prayed for your safety as he walked to his room. He prayed that you and your mare were alright. That she wasn’t with you.

He started to call himself a fool. He should have grounded you and told you to stay home. He should have forbid you to go. He should have been worried from the moment you got the guitar. When the man was inside his room he searched all over for his phone. He always left it in the oddest places. He never really used it, so he just threw it wherever.

Once the worried father found his phone, he made his calls. All of the Soul Riders said they would go out and look for you. They were just as worried as he was. Who knows what the Dark Rider had planned for you. He had been holding onto this for days. he prayed he wasn’t too late. He prayed that she wouldn’t harm you. May Aideen hear his prayers.

When you were younger you had heard a story of a boy named Justin. You heard that he had betrayed the druids. He partnered up with evil people that worshipped Garnok, and he became evil as well. You heard that he was sentenced to jail for life. The story was completely dismissed by you and the other teens of the village. You all thought it was just a story made up to scare everyone into staying away from Garnok and his worshippers. Your current situation made it clear that the story was real.

The worst part of it was that you were now currently living that story. Without the becoming evil or a Garnok devotee part. The going to jail for life part was very much a huge part in your story. Just before your phone died your dad called you. At first you thought he was calling to tell you to come back. His call was the complete opposite of a comeback call. “Don’t come back to Valedale” he said to you over the phone. “Fripp and the other druids are waiting for you and so are the Soul Riders” your dad had a shaky voice as he spoke to you.

“You are a traitor to the druids and to me” your heart still ached remembering those words. “I love you and because I love you, I call you to tell you to never come back” Valedale was no longer your home. “Stay far away from Valedale and from me” and that was all. Your dad hung up after those words. He didn’t let you get a single one in. You were now a runaway from druid law. A traitor to the druids and to their leader Fripp. You didn’t care about any of them. You just cared about your dad. You just wanted your dad.

You felt like a little kid again. You wanted him to hold you. You wanted him to tell you that it would all be okay while you apologized to him for lying. You knew he wouldn’t do any of that and he definitely wouldn’t hear you out. It very much sounded like he disowned you in that phone call. You were so scared. You just wanted to be home and back with your dad. How you wished things were different. How you wished Sabine and your dad were different people. With no involvement in Aideen or Garnok. You sighed and you covered your face with your hands.

You were in the bathroom of the inn in the fishing village standing in front of the mirror. You were trying to start the day, but you ended up breaking down instead of getting ready. You missed home and your dad so badly it made your chest ache. The constant pain in your chest kept reminding you of your current situation. It always made you want to cry. It always had your eyes watery and your vision blurry. You groaned and you removed your hands from your face coming face to face with yourself in the mirror. You looked like shit.

You had been crying so much that your eyes were red and somewhat puffy. Your hair was a mess. You had tear marks running down your cheeks. You were a huge grieving mess. You let out a sigh and you shook your head. You ran a hand through your hair trying to fix it. Your brush was outside the bathroom in your backpack. You left Valedale with nothing on hand. Everything you currently had was bought with the fifty Jorvik Shillings you had in your pocket or by your very generous girlfriend. You felt really bad about her buying you stuff. Once life got better you would definitely pay her back… But… When would it get better?

When could you start to look for a job? For another place to live? When could you stop laying low? Would the druids ever give up looking for you? You shook your head again trying to keep the tears building up in your eyes from spilling. Your thoughts continued to spiral. When will life get better? When will you be able to find a job? A place to live? A new place to- your thoughts come to a stop as your brain focuses on another thing.

There’s knocking at the bathroom door “you, okay?” It’s Sabine, the girl is worried. You’ve been in the bathroom for a while. You clear your throat it’s dry and it aches thanks to all your crying “I’m good!” You try your best to sound like you’re genuinely okay, but your voice is shaky. Sabine catches onto it there’s no hiding anything from her “you sure?” You bite your lip.

Should you talk to her? You’ve been avoiding talking about… Everything ever since you left. You don’t want to talk about it. It scares you and it makes you feel like if you do talk about it all hopes of things being okay will fade away from you. You feel like if you talk about it the situation will really settle in. You fear that you’ll realize there’s no chance of going back home. You fear your dad will never forgive you. Could you even call him dad anymore? Should you call him Avalon now?

You feel the ache in your chest get worse. “You still with me?” You blink the tears building up in your eyes away and you look at the door. You had been quiet the whole time. You quickly move to the door. You hope you didn’t freak Sabine out by being quiet. You open the door and Sabine takes a few steps back from it. You follow her you go straight to her. You hug her wanting her comfort. She gives it to you. Her left hand holds your waist and with her right she runs her fingers through your hair.

She gently combs her fingers through your hair being careful not to claw you with her nails. The girl hums when you rest your head on her chest. She moves the hand on your hair to rest on the back of your head. The girl rests her cheek on top of your head. “When you feel ready to leave, I’ll call for the ferry” she doesn’t ask you to speak on what you’re feeling. She knows you don’t want to talk about it. If you did you would have done so a long time ago. “You tell me when and I’ll do it” Sabine expects you to need a few more minutes but you’re ready to go now.

“I’ll get my stuff” you make a small movement letting her know that you want to break the hug. The girl lets you go, and you move away from her going to get your backpack. Sabine is surprised by your response. She wants to ask if you’re sure, but you beat her to it. “I’m sure” you grab your backpack, and you look to her giving her a smile. You hope your smile will make her smile too, but it does the opposite. The girl frowns and she nods “we’ll meet you outside.” When Sabine leaves, you gather the rest of your stuff.

You don’t truly feel ready to leave but you really don’t want to spend more time grieving in the inn. The inn just makes things worse. The bed makes you wish you were on your own back h-… Back in Valedale. The inn bed isn’t as comfy as the one you had in Valedale. You couldn’t find a way to get comfortable. All you did all night was toss and turn and sleep for five minutes or so. You wish you were back in your room. You missed your room. You missed so many things, your bed, your clothes, your blankets, and your cozy PJ’s.

The PJ’s you currently have on sucked. They were fluffy but not enough to be truly comfortable. They were all you could find at the Silverglade store, so they had to make do. They made the horrible uncomfortable inn bed worse. Maybe if you had comfy PJ’s, you would have slept a little more. You finish gathering your stuff which is just your dead phone and a half empty bottle of water. On your way out of the room you drink the rest of the water. There’s a trashcan near the door so you finish the water before you hit the door.

Once you’re at the door you throw the water bottle in the trash, and you walk out of the room. You put your phone in the pocket used for water bottles on the side of your backpack. The sun hits your eyes, and it hits them hard. You have to take a moment to adjust to sunlight. You squint as your eyes adjust. When they’re ready you slowly open them. The fishing village makes you feel a little better.

Watching the villagers interact, fish and walk around makes you forget about the ache a bit. You look around for Sabine. When you find her, you see her standing with Khaan and your mare at a bridge. The girl watches your mare as she curiously watches the waves move. Your mare had never seen waves up until now. She didn’t really have any time to see them last time she was in Cape West and she never saw them on her time on the oil rig. You make your way over to your girlfriend and the horses.

Sabine looks to you when she hears your steps on the wooden floors “the ferry should be here in a few minutes.” The girl gives you a weak smile when you stand next to her. “You can look around if you want to” you shake your head “look at what? Fish?” The fishing village doesn’t really have interesting stores. Sabine nods, and she jokes with you “go pick out a bass you can keep it as a pet on the oil rig.” You laugh softly, and you shake your head “there are no bass here.”

Sabine’s smile widens at the sound of your laugh. “There are cod here though” you know that because you studied fish in Jorvik at school. “Well then go pick out a cod” she looks to your mare when she whinnies as a wave gets too close to the bridge. “You can make it rig mascot name it something stupid like dog” the girl looks to Khaan when he neighs in response to your mare. “A cod named dog sounds great” you watch the waves move with your mare. “I’m sure dog will be a great mascot” you laugh again “you’ll definitely strike fear in Anne’s heart when she sees you guys carry team stuff with a cod on it.”

The conversation about a cod named dog makes you feel a lot better. “Thinking about it sure does scare me” Sabine takes her phone out of her pocket. She checks the time. The ferry should be arriving at the dock soon. “The ferry should be here soon-“ the girl pauses to grab Khaan’s reins. She continues talking once she’s got them “we should meet it at the dock.” Sabine can’t wait to get home and lay down in her bed. She’s really tired. Your tossing and turning made her get very little sleep.

She also can’t wait to show you around the rig. At least she hopes she’ll be the one showing you around. Katja or Jay will most likely steal you just to piss her off. “We’re leaving without dog?” You grab your mare’s reins she snorts. “You had your chance to get dog and you missed it” Sabine begins walking down to the docks with Khaan. You and your horse follow her “because you distracted me by talking about dog!” You laugh, and Sabine says to you “too bad so sad.” Your mind is now completely off the ache in your chest as you continue talking with Sabine about a cod named dog.

All the way down to where the docks are the cod distracts you. It works pretty well until something brings you back to the ache. While the four of you walk down to the docks a man yells “stop!” You, Sabine and the horses look back to the voice. Some villagers walking near you also look back. A very fancily dressed man that you recognize at the mayor of Cape West is pointing at you. At first you think maybe he’s mistaken you for someone else. It becomes clear you’re the right person when he says, “they’re right there!” And lightning shoots past you.

It misses you by a few inches. Suddenly you and Sabine are being chased down the docks by all of the Soul Riders. Your mare and Khaan run ahead of you both. Khaan and Sabine seem to be having fun while you and your mare are scared shitless. You apologize to fishermen and villagers as you run past them. Their yelling of “hey!”, “stop running!” and “what is your problem!?” Makes you feel awful. You didn’t mean to disturb their peace by running wildly down the docks, but you had to if you wanted to stay out of druid jail.

To the villagers you, Sabine, and the Soul Riders look like unruly teens running for fun. It pisses them off and they continue yelling at you all. The mayor recognized you thanks to a description given to him by The Soul Riders over the phone. Anne knew you might hit Goldenhills. She knew Sabine might take you with her to the rig since land wasn’t really safe for you anymore. The leader was right, and she was feeling incredibly smart and lucky for having guessed right. “Stop running!” Anne yells out to you “you can come back home!” She’s trying to trick you. You know she is, but a small sliver of hope makes you wonder if maybe what she says is true? You slow down a bit which makes Sabine panic. “Your dad is waiting for you! Just come with us!” Anne loses you with that. Your da- Avalon told you to stay away from him.

He told you to never come home. Hope vanishes and you regain your speed. Your girlfriend is glad you don’t fall for Anne’s tricks. “We need a way to lose them!” You yell to Sabine who’s already looking for a way to lose the Soul Riders before you speak. “Hold on!” Sabine looks to the sea she can see the ferry coming to the dock. “Run for the dock keep running and don’t look back!” Sabine suddenly comes to a stop.

She whistles, and Khaan stops too. He stops, he spins on his back hooves, and he runs to Sabine. You follow her instructions, and you keep running. You pray to Aideen your girlfriend knows what she’s doing. Can you even pray to Aideen anymore? Or does she hate you too? The Soul Riders keep yelling at you to stop and turn around as you run. Your mare looks back at you and she neighs. The poor Lipizzaner is freaked out. “It’s okay girl!” You try to comfort her “keep ru-.”

Now it’s your turn to freak out as a huge burst of heat followed by a blaze of light happens behind you. You can hear villagers yell “fire!” Now everyone is running. Not to you anymore but away from you as the fire continues to grow and spread down the docks. The fire follows you; you don’t look back you’re too scared to, but you know it follows thanks to the growing heat and light. You want to look back you want to make sure Sabine is okay. Who caused the fire? Did Sabine do it? Did Alex do it with lightning?

Your mare neighs again, and she looks past you. You look back you’re met with Khaan running to your side. The steed seems very energetic and not at all scared of the flames behind you. He neighs again, and he shakes his head giving you a little rear mid run. You go wide eyed when you realize his hooves are leaving burn marks on the wood in the shape of his horseshoes. You look behind him seeing Sabine running beside the flames. The further Khaan gets from her the weaker they get. You quickly understand Sabine caused the fire herself. Not with gasoline and a match but with her magic.

You knew she had magic like the Soul Riders, but you had never seen her use it until now. When the girl feels eyes on her she looks away from the fire she’s spreading and to you. “I told you not to look behind you!” She shakes her head at you, and you can tell she’s being playful. “I’m not a very good listener!” You slow down as you realize there’s no more need for running. Your mare who had been watching you the whole time also slows. She doesn’t walk to you she’s too scared of the flames.

Khaan doesn’t slow he keeps running he bucks and rears as he runs. He’s happy it’s been a while since he and his rider worked together to make a fire. Sabine stops the flames from spreading further and she walks to you. She checks you making sure none of the flames touched you. You allow her to check you. When she makes sure you’re okay she checks your mare. You watch the ferry dock as she checks up on your mare. Once docked the person driving the ferry waves to you from the control room.

You wave back letting them know you see them. Normally the people driving the ferry would ignore passengers, but Sands told them to be kind to you. You were his guest after all, and you deserved to be treated with great care. When the checkups on your mare are done you, Sabine, and the horses board the ferry. You are finally free to relax. No more running and no more worrying. You just lean against your mare and you both watch the waves as the ferry takes you to the oil rig. You can finally breathe.

As Anne watches the ferry pull away, she groans and facepalms. Linda and Lisa say nothing, they just watch the ferry pull away from the docks. The further the ferry gets the more the flames die out. Alex frowns, and she fixes her beanie it got messed up while she was running “Avalon is going to kill us.”

Arriving at the oil rig was nothing like how you had expected it to be. You expected to be greeted sure but nothing like how you were welcomed in. You were treated like royalty. Your mare was taken from you, and she too was treated like she was Jorvik royalty. Your backpack was also taken from you. A worker said it was going to your room. You were surprised by the fact that there was a room waiting for you. You were incredibly confused but very pleased.

Sabine didn’t like it at all. Something about it all felt off. She didn’t say anything to you about it. She didn’t want you to worry. You had to climb up a lot of stairs. On your way up you and Sabine talked. She told you about Mr. Sands. From her description of him you understood the man wasn’t very nice. The girl told you to leave all the talking to her. You had no problem with that. You would rather she talk, and you stay out of the way. You didn’t want to piss Mr. Sands off. When all the stair walking was over Sabine led you inside a building.

The building was dark and it was really cold, it freaked you out a bit. You walked down long metal hallways that echoed every step and every word. Sabine led you deeper into the building. She was leading you to the center of it where Sands office was. Halfway through the hallways Katja and Jay met up with you and Sabine. The two said a quick hello to you and then they started talking to Sabine.

This time you couldn’t hear anything they were saying. They were being really quiet so you wouldn’t hear anything. The echoes of your footsteps also made it hard to hear. All the Dark Riders stopped to talk, but you kept on going. You hadn’t even realized they weren’t behind you anymore. You kept walking deeper and deeper into the rig. By the time you realized you were alone it was too far to turn back. You stood in place wondering what you should do.

Should you turn back and make a double trip? Or should you stay and wait for Sabine and the others to find you? As you tried to decide you heard footsteps. They were coming your way. You looked down the hallway you assumed they were coming from. It was really hard to pinpoint where they were from. The echo was making it hard to guess. “I’ve been expecting you” you hear a voice behind you. It belongs to a man who sounds like his throat is very dry.

His tone is happy but it’s not genuine happiness. You look behind you. You’re met with a man who seems to be in his 50’s. He’s wearing a tan coat and a suit with a red bowtie underneath the coat. “I’m so happy you made it” the man smiles at you. His smile seems more like the fang bearing of a wolf than a smile. “I hope your journey here was a good one?” He walks forwards to you. He takes your hands, and he gives them a tight squeeze.

The squeeze is comforting, it reminds you of the ones your d- Avalon used to give you. The action makes your eyes water. The man tells you it’s okay to cry. He tells you he knows what you’ve gone through. The care he gives you makes your guard drop. You feel safe with him. That’s exactly what he wants. The man is just pretending. He has no real care for you. He just wants to use you for information on Valedale. “Welcome home” the man says, and he pulls you in for a hug. You allow it and you hug him back trying to replicate the hugs Avalon would give.

“Welcome to the team.”

You were never good at lying. Every lie you ever told was always discovered. Most of your lies were harmless. You usually lied about losing your homework or about doing a chore which you didn’t do. One time you even lied about your dad’s robe being cool. You told small lies that didn’t hurt anyone. Except the robe one that one definitely hurt your dad. Usually your lies never hurt anyone, they were small and they were harmless.

Until now… Now you were lying about having never met the druids most wanted enemy. You looked Anne dead in the eye, and you told her a druid took Khaan. You told her a druid whose name you did not know found you in the forest. You told her he took Khaan, and gave you your new mare to make the ride home. You felt guilt set deep in your stomach when Anne smiled at you. She believed you… She believed you were telling the truth. She believed you were being 100% honest with her. She believed you because what proof did she have to back up that you would lie to her?

The leader believed, but her friends didn’t. As you told your story Lisa, Linda, and Alex gave you looks that told you exactly how they felt. Lisa asked you “what was his name?” You repeated that you were too busy making your way out of the forest to ask any questions. Linda asked, “how did you keep the bridle?” You said he had a halter on hand, and when you saw it you asked to keep your bridle. You added that it was too cool to let him take it. Alex asked, “why are you at the docks?” You told her you were walking around in hopes of finding the group. Anne’s friends did not get to ask you any further questions because Anne spoke.

She told you she was sorry about Khaan. You gave her your best fake sad look telling her that it was “okay” and that he was in “good hands.” At least that part was true. You listened to her as she told everyone that since the mission was over it was time to go back to Valedale. Now you were riding side by side with Anne. You felt guilty for lying to her. Really, really guilty so guilty you felt like you were going to be sick. Your only comfort for how you were feeling was your mare. She neighed at you, and she nipped at your pants. She could feel how you were feeling. It did not take a magical bond for her to feel how awful you felt.

You smiled sadly at her giving her a pat on her shoulder which earned you another neigh from her. She was the only horse making noise. All the other horses were quiet. Just like their riders they too were highly suspicious of you. You had an awfully familiar scent of smoke. The scent and your mood only made their suspicions worse. If only their humans had a good nose like them. Then they would know exactly who you were hiding from them. Ever since you left Goldenhills you had all been riding in an uncomfortable silence. That was a full day ago.

The silence was slowly killing you. You were getting closer to your home. You were in the heart of Hollow Woods. You really wanted to ride back by yourself, but Anne said she had to deliver you. If she let you go alone and you got hurt Avalon would never let her hear the end of it. He would surely have her kicked out of the Soul Riders for not keeping an eye on you like she said she would. She couldn’t lose you again. When the silence became too much for you, you asked Anne if you could change the pace from a walk to a gallop.

Luckily for you she accepted. Now you were all galloping through Hollow Woods. When you saw Valedale show up in the distance you let out a sigh. You could not wait to be home. You couldn’t wait to order a pizza, sit down with your dad, and forget everything that happened. Some stuff was good though, so you decided to forget most of it but not all of it. You all slowed your horses as you rode into Valedale. You looked down at your mare giving her a big smile, she let out a whinny.

“You’re going to love Valedale, girl!” You didn’t know if the mare had a name, so you were just calling her girl. You did not see a tag on her bridle like the one Khaan had on his. Did Sabine even name her? Your mare let out a snort. The long ride had drained most of her energy. You comfort her by saying “we’re almost home girl.” When you made it home you got off your mare leading her into the little walk-in barn that belonged to Khaan.

Your dad bought it pre-built. It was set up quickly so Khaan would have somewhere to rest while he healed. Now the walk-in barn belonged to the mare. She stood patiently as you took off her tack and you groomed her. She relaxed as you brushed her mane. After she was all brushed you gave her hay, water, and some treats. She thanked you by licking your hand when you held out the treats. You said goodnight to her, and you headed home holding your licked hand away from you.

You walked inside, and you saw the Soul Riders in the kitchen. You thought they had already left. It looked like they weren’t planning to leave anytime soon since your dad was making them something to eat. It all started with them in your kitchen and now it ended there too. Your feelings had changed though, you went from anger to guilt. What an awesome change. You decided to join everyone for dinner, but first you had to wash your hands.

You laid down letting out a sigh as your sore muscles tried to relax. It was nice to be back in your bed. Nothing beat being back home in your own bed after a long trip. Your dad stood at your door. He smiled warmly at you, and you smiled back tiredly. “Goodnight” he said in a whisper. You replied to him with “goodnight dad” your volume was a bit louder than his.

Your dad gave you a nod before gently shutting your door. When his steps went quiet, and you heard his room door close you sat up. You grabbed your phone from your nightstand. It was charging, so you had to be careful not to pull on the cord. You opened up the contacts app, and you looked through it. You were really sleepy, so the screen looked like a blurry mess. It took you a while to find the number you wanted.

You pressed it being careful as you pressed the text icon. It was dangerously close to the call icon. You definitely did not want to call the owner of the number. It was late at night it would be rude to call her even if it were by accident. Your phone took you to the texting app. You watched as the little text bar flickered as it waited for you to write a text. You thought about what to write. You did not want to sound super formal… You also did not want to sound too informal… You thought it over for a bit.

When you felt like you came up with something good you started typing. ‘Hi! Meet in Everwind? Saturday?’ it was Wednesday so Saturday was two days away. You felt the text was good because it was short and straight to the point. You felt it was too lame and a bit mysterious, so you added a :) and you also added who it was from. You sent the text, and you put your phone back down on your nightstand. You were about to lay back down, but you were stopped by your phone buzzing. You looked at the screen seeing it light up. A text containing ‘sure’ with a thumbs up and a horse emoji flashed across your screen.

You held onto your horse as they took a sharp turn to avoid crashing into a spike of ice. You were in the Valley of the Hidden Dinosaur currently in the middle of a fight. Your horse neighed as they slid on the frozen lake. Katja was giving you a really tough time. She was the only person after you and she made sure to make your ride as horrible as possible. You wished Sabine and Jay were the ones trying to attack you because at least then you would have an easier time dodging attacks, but the two women were busy fighting with your friends. You were on your own with Katja and you knew exactly why. Your horse did another hard turn and they neighed almost bucking you off when they jumped up and bucked in pure excitement. You laughed quietly and pat their shoulder “you’re having fun? In this horrible cold and with all these spikes you’re having fun?” your horse neighed in response and kept running. Another spike came up far in front of you both, but it was angled it looked like a jump. Your horse jumped over it and you looked over at Katja who was standing on a small hill with Mortifa. The woman was overlooking the whole fight. When she saw you look at her, she smiled and waved. The woman was giving you a tough time and only targeting you because she cared for you…she was your girlfriend. Katja had asked Sabine and Jay to leave you to her so she could protect you. While your friends were fighting Katja was playing with you and your horse. She kept you safe by pretending to fight you. All the spikes were just for show to make it look like she was really trying to hurt you but none of them ever touched you. Your horse had the time of their life racing around the spikes and occasionally jumping them and you just held on while they had their fun. You looked behind you seeing your friends and the rest of the Dark Riders far from you. You looked back to Katja, and you asked your horse to stop. They slowed before coming to a stop and they looked to Katja neighing at the woman. You knew what your horse was asking for and you put it into words “can you set up more spikes to jump?” you pat your horse’s shoulder “please?” you kindly asked your girlfriend. The woman pat Mortifa and then she got on the mare “I’ll join you” Katja rode down the small hill and to you “want to race?” she rode Mortifa behind you ready to make it look like she was chasing you. “I can pretend I’m doing more than just watching and hoping I’ll land a hit” the woman watched as Mortifa lightly reared the mare was excited to race. You nodded and smiled “sounds good!” you hummed and then you asked your girlfriend a question “why is it always you that does the chase? Why not me?” Katja laughed and she shook her head “no one will ever believe you managed to scare me” she gave Mortifa’s sides a small squeeze and the mare began to walk. You huffed and clicked your tongue your horse walked and then gained speed. Soon you and Katja were racing around the lake. The woman set up some spikes and your horse jumped them with ease. You and Katja were having so much fun that you did not even realize you had ridden right into the fight. Katja tried to call out your name and stop you, but it was too late you were caught in the middle of it. You tried to ride out, but it wasn’t possible you were stuck. Your horse turned and accidentally turned right into Sabine and Khaan. Sabine was about to throw an attack at Alex, but you stood in the way, and you were about to be hit with a fireball. Katja saw the fire headed towards you and she tried to stop it with a wall of ice. The wall was really close to both you and your horse. Your horse was spooked by the fireball and then the ice wall, so they reared. You did not have enough time to react, and you gasped as you fell off your horse. Katja saw everything she saw your horse rear, you falling off, and landing hard on the frozen lake. Everyone immediately stopped when they heard the sound of your fall and your friends panicked when you didn’t move. Sabine and Jay looked at each other and then to Katja not knowing what to do.

The two women knew you must have meant something to Katja if she went through the whole trouble of asking them to leave you to her. Katja was horrified she had a hand over her mouth and her eyes were wide and glossy. Your horse looked to her for help and then down at you they nudged you trying to get you to get up. when you didn’t move your horse neighed and nudged you again their ears going back. Lisa quickly rode Starshine to you getting ready to heal you but before she could get to where you were a huge snowstorm blew Starshine and everyone else away from the area.

Lisa put a hand over her eyes, and she squinted trying to shield them from the snow. Starshine walked through the storm with Tin-Can behind him. Linda and Anne stayed behind while Lisa and Alex went to get you. Alex squinted and she spoke when she saw something in the middle of the storm “I think I see them!” Alex let out a ‘huh?’ when she saw that you were not alone. Who could be with you? “Do you see anyone else there?” she asked Lisa and the woman looked back at Alex and nodded “I do! I don’t know who it is though?” she looked back at the middle of the storm, and she gave Starshine’s sides a small squeeze. The horse sped up and Tin-Can kept up with his speed soon they reached the middle of the storm and Lisa and Alex saw you being held by….Katja? Lisa was confused by the sight in front of her. You were still knocked out and being held by a crying Katja and the more she cried the more the storm got worse it threatened to blow them out of the area again. Your horse was standing by Katja and Mortifa stood with them. Lisa got off of Starshine and she looked to Alex the woman stayed on Tin-Can ready to protect Lisa. Starshine watched as his rider walked to Katja with her hands raised to let Katja know she was not a threat but someone who wanted to help. As soon as Katja saw Lisa approaching the storm got stronger thankfully Lisa managed to hold her ground “we just want to help!” she yelled over the wind “let us help them!” she pointed at you and Katja looked down at you knowing you needed help… She would definitely kill Lisa and Alex later for seeing her with you and for seeing her cry but right now she needed them alive to help you. Katja let Lisa approach and she let Lisa and Alex take you and your horse. Before Lisa left she knew that if Katja was holding you and crying over you like that it was obvious you were either both friends or… “we’ll be in Valedale!” she told Katja “you can find them there!” even though she hated Katja Lisa still told her where to find you so she could see you when you were better because she knew the woman cared for you. Alex rode ahead leading your horse with you laid on them and Lisa followed after her leaving Katja with Mortifa to cry.

You woke up and you groaned as you opened your eyes. They hurt from the light hitting them, so you closed them again. You let your eyes get adjusted and once they were fine you opened them, and you looked around the room. You were in Avalon’s home in the living room you had been here before when he invited you for tea. How did you get here?... what happened? You sat up and groaned again when a horrible pain hit your body. You tried to call for someone to find out what happened and why you were hurting so much but your throat was dry. You huffed and looked around the room and you saw Anne and Linda sleeping at the table. You tried to get them to wake up, but nothing worked. You could throw your pillow at them, but you would feel bad doing so even as a joke. You let them sleep and thought about going back to sleep too but you were stopped by a gasp. You looked behind you seeing Lisa she smiled widely “you’re ok!” she walked over to you, and she hugged you being careful. You hugged her back and you sighed enjoying the warmth and comfort of your friend’s hug. Lisa asked you questions about what happened as she held you which you could not answer because you didn’t know and because your throat was dry. You managed to ask for water and Lisa went to get it and while she got it she woke Anne and Linda up. Both women were happy to see you were alright and gave you many hugs while Lisa got you some water. When Lisa came back with the water you drank it all and gave your throat some time to rest before speaking. You had questions and your first was “what happened?” Anne explained everything to you and while she did, she rubbed your back soothing the pain and Lisa did some more healing. Linda took over when Anne got tired of talking and she told you about how she saw your fall and how everyone was worried when you didn’t move. The fall knocked you out cold then she told you about how before anyone could get to you a huge storm blew them away from where you were. Lisa then dropped a huge thing on you that made you blush bright red. “Katja was with you she started the storm to protect you… are you guys?” you knew what Lisa was asking and you blushed at the question. Anne was angry at first when she heard about you and Katja together in the storm thinking about betrayal, and Alex thought the same but Linda told them that there was no reason to be angry. Linda said that you were not betraying anyone you were just good friends or probably in love and there was nothing wrong with that. It wasn’t like Katja would turn you evil so both women stopped being angry and they listened to Linda they trusted her and you. You messed with your blanket, and you answered Lisa’s question “do you guys remember when I told you I met someone and started dating?” Lisa and Linda gave each other a knowing look and Linda spoke first. “I think it’s wonderful” she knew you must have been nervous, so she offered words of comfort “she clearly cares a lot about you since she made that huge storm to protect you.” Linda pats your hand, and you smile knowing there was nothing to fear. Lisa smiled too and she spoke when she finished healing you “she clearly cares a lot” the woman looked over at a chair “she waited for you to wake up and she helped us while she waited” Lisa frowned and looked over at you “you just missed her though” you frowned as well “Alex just left with her she had to sneak her out of Valedale because Avalon was coming back.” You were about to stand up, but Anne stopped you by putting a hand on your shoulder “you can see her when she comes by again tomorrow.” Your leader cared for you, and she wasn’t going to let you go out when you were recovering “rest don’t rush it” she smiled at you, and you smiled back. “Does a sleepover sound good to you?” Anne asked you and you nodded it had been a while since you and your friends had spent time together “sounds great to me.” When Alex came back the rest of your night was spent having fun and once it was late and Avalon came home you all got ready to sleep.

You thanked Avalon for letting you stay, and the man told you not to worry about it and that you were always welcome. No one had told him about Katja, and you were grateful they didn’t.

In the morning you woke up to find that your friends were already awake and outside. You felt much better now the pain in your body had calmed down and you were able to move more. You stretched before sitting up and when you sat up you got a lovely surprise. Katja was in the chair Lisa had looked to before and she was reading something. Your friends were outside the home so you and Katja could be alone. You didn’t know when she arrived, but you hoped you hadn’t kept her waiting for long. The chair was near the couch, so you quietly scooted over to her, and you spoke quietly “what are you reading?” Katja looked up from her book and to you and you frowned when you saw that her eyes were red…she had been crying. The woman started to cry again and your heart ached. This was the first time you had ever seen Katja cry. She had gotten upset before and she did not hide her feelings around you, but she never cried. “Katja? why are-“ you wanted to ask her why she was crying but she interrupted you she started apologizing to you and it was clear that she felt guilty for what had happened in the Valley. “Katja” you softly said her name you felt like crying too “don’t apologize you have nothing to apologize for” you opened your arms and she moved from the chair to sit next to you. She hugged you tightly and you hugged her back with the same force “it wasn’t your fault Katja.” You brushed her hair trying to comfort her and she shook her head “it was my fault!” she sobbed and you kissed her temple “if I had been paying more attention you wouldn’t have gotten hurt it is my fucking fault.” You shook your head as well and you rubbed her back telling her it was not her fault it was sadly just a horrible accident, and it was no one’s fault. “things happen and sadly I got hurt but it wasn’t your fault” you let Katja cry into your shoulder “you kept me safe Katja you didn’t hurt me or cause me to get hurt.” You kissed the top of her head “please don’t blame yourself” she sobbed and you held back tears “I’m alright I’m ok I just had a bad fall but none of it is your fault”. Katja looked back at you, and you smiled softly at her kissing the tip of her nose you wiped away her tears, but they kept on coming. “If you need to cry that’s alright, I’m here for you” you knew that she may need to cry, and you were right she really needed to cry she was scared. When she saw your fall, she was terrified she felt as if she were watching a horror movie and at that moment she had lots of feelings she couldn’t process. Here with you she was able to cry and process how she felt when you fell. Here with you she felt safe and comfortable she knew she could cry. You held Katja as she cried, and you wrapped her in your blanket rubbing her back and giving her kisses to comfort her. Once Katja was calm you talked to her “do you need anything?” you heard her sniffle before she answered you with a sad and quiet “no.” She looked like she was thinking and then she changed her answer “can we…” she blushed a bit and you wondered what she was going to ask. “Can we stay like this for a bit?” she just wanted to be held and when you didn’t answer quick enough, she blushed more and she shook her head “forget I said anything it was stupi-.” You laughed softly at how she did not allow you to reply “yes we can stay like this for as long as you like” you held her close to you and she melted into you completely relaxing in your arms. “You didn’t even let me reply” you laughed again and she huffed “I thought you would say no.” You brushed a strand of her hair into the back of her ear so you could see her face better and you raised an eyebrow “why would I say no?” you would have never said no to that. She answered you with “it was an embarrassing request” she grabbed your hand, and she kissed your palm and then your knuckles she missed you. “I don’t think it was embarrassing” you smiled “I thought it was very cute” you laughed when she blushed again and turned her face away from you dropping your hand.

“What? Don’t like to be called cute?” Katja grumbled and she kept looking away from you “you’re embarrassing me shut up” she held back the want to laugh. She told you to shut up but she didn’t mean it. All she wanted right now was to hear your voice. You kept messing with her to take her mind off of being upset and it worked soon you were both laughing and playing around. Katja had gotten tired from crying and then playing with you and while you were telling her a story, she fell asleep. You held her as she slept, and you hummed a song to her the same one you heard when you went with Lisa to find Aideen’s song… You then remembered you were still in Avalon’s home… Hopefully your friends could keep Avalon away from home for a few hours so Katja could sleep.

Your house was quiet… Eerily quiet. Usually your dad would have music playing in the living room. Sometimes he would leave the tv on, on a random show, and he would let it play quietly in the background. He hated not having some sort of noise in the home. It freaked you out that everything was quiet. He must be livid. You were definitely going to get grounded. Most likely until you were his age. You swallowed “dad?” You called out to him.

You got an answer back after a few seconds “living room.” It was all you got from the man. The worst part was that he had no tone in his voice. You were so dead. So freaking dead. You tried to keep yourself from shaking. Your worry was causing your stomach to hurt. The pain was making everything worse. You slowly made your way to the living room. As you walked you hugged yourself. You had Sabine’s jacket on. The leather jacket provided some comfort to you. You tried your best to think positive thoughts.

You made your walk to the living room as slow as you possibly could. You wanted to enjoy not being grounded for a little longer. The closer you got to the living room the worser your fear got. Eventually the fear got so bad it overshadowed your pain. You took a moment to breathe before stepping into the living room. Your eyes landed on your guitar. It was still on the coffee table where you left it before you left the house. You look to the couch.

Your dad is sitting with his eyes closed. His hands are clasped together. They’re resting against his lips. His elbows are on his knees. He looked like he had been praying, or like he was in deep thought. You could see him tense when you looked at him. “You told me you had no more secrets” your dad opened his eyes. He stared dead ahead. “You told me you wouldn’t lie to me anymore” the man closed his eyes again. His words were muffled by his hands. You opened your mouth.

You tried to speak but you had nothing. You couldn’t even squeak out a sorry. “I trusted you” his expression went from neutral to sullen. “I trusted that you wouldn’t lie to me again and-“ the man finally looked to you. He sat up straight his hands dropped to his lap. Your dad’s eyes were red. You knew the reason why. You wanted to say something, but you couldn’t speak “I find out you are friends with a dark rider?” The man stands up “all this time the friend you spoke to me about…”

Your dad pinched the bridge of his nose “why?” He seriously couldn’t understand why you chose to hang out with… Her. You had to speak. You mustered up strength to say, “she’s not who you think she is.” You take a step forward to your dad “Sabine-“ you cringe when your dad tenses more at the name “is a good person.” It was now or never. “She-“ you felt like you were going to pass out “she cares for me.” You hoped your dad would understand in which way she cared, but he didn’t.

You had to make it clear for him “she’s my girlfriend.” You watched your dad’s expression go from upset to shocked. “She loves me, and I love her” you take another step forwards. You want your dad to hold you. You want to cry in his arms like you did when you were younger. “I didn’t want to keep her a secret from you” you take another step. You’re so close to your dad. “I’m so sorry I lied to you” your eyes water. “I was scared” you feel tears stream down your cheeks. You look down at the ground.

Your tears fall from your face and to the wooden floor. They make little puddles on the ground. “I really wanted to tell you” you look back up at your dad. His fatherly instinct is telling him to comfort you. He wants to hug you, and tell you everything will be okay, but he knows he must be strong. He needs you to know that you are in big trouble. “She wants to meet you” you sob “she wants the lying to stop as much as I do.” Your crying gets worse as you realize your dad won’t comfort you. “Please dad” you want him to agree to meet Sabine.

“She’s a good per-“ you’re interrupted by your dad. “Good person?” The man shakes his head “she wants you to think so.” Your dad groans “she’s just using you to get to me!” He frowns “don’t you see? She has manipulated you! Blinded you!” Your dad walks forward he grabs you by the shoulders. “She doesn’t love you” you close your eyes trying to block out bad thoughts “she does!” You open your eyes making eye contact with your dad “and we can prove it to you!”

You grab his hands from your shoulders. You have a strong grip on them “if you meet her in Everwind she can prove to you that she’s not a bad person.” Your dad looks away from you. He breaks the eye contact. His eyes land on the guitar on the coffee table “dad please! Just come with me to the fields and I can prove to you that what I say is true!” You sob, and you shake his hands you want him to look at you “dad!” You start to feel like a kid again. You feel like you’re at the store begging him for a toy or a candy.

Your dad looks back at you when you shake his hands. At this moment he thinks what you are thinking. He thinks you’re still a kid. Still his baby… He has to protect you… This ends now. “Enough” he says with a strong tone “she’s manipulating you she doesn’t love you she’s just using you.” Your dad takes his hands away from you. He fully turns to the guitar. The man grabs it, and he walks to the fireplace in the living room “dad what are you doing?” Your tears slow as confusion takes over your fear.

“She’s a Dark Rider she’s evil there is no good in her heart” you watch as your dad kneels in front of the fireplace. “She only wants to hurt you” the dark living room lights up as flames erupt in the fireplace. Your dad stands up, he backs away from the fireplace. “I have studied the Dark Riders for years trust me-“ he looks at the guitar in his right hand “dad what are you doing?” You repeat what you said before. This time there’s more fear than confusion in your voice.

You watch in shock as your dad throws the guitar into the fireplace. As it lands in the fireplace it makes a loud noise. The noise makes the both of you jump. The flames waste no time. They hungrily eat away at the poor guitar. They grow bigger as they slowly eat. You put your hands up to your lips holding back sobs as the guitar is mercilessly eaten by the flames. “I know she’s only lying to you” your dad watches as the guitar burns.

He speaks while it burns “go to your room.” You want to speak, you want to say no to him. Your dad doesn’t give you a chance to speak. He makes his way out of the living room. As he walks, he tells you “go and we will talk about this later!” At first you think he’s going to his room, but he takes a turn. He’s headed for the door. Then everything clicks. You told him where Sabine is… He’s going after her.

“When I was a kid my dad told me this trail was haunted” you rode side by side with Sabine. The girl looked to you “haunted?” You nod giving her a smile “he said he always saw weird things on the Firgrove trail.” You narrowed your eyes “he said he saw…” You lower your voice to a whisper “aliens!” You whisper yell. Sabine rolls her eyes at you “and you believe him?” You shook your head “not anymore” Sabine takes notice of your words “not anymore?”

She repeats, and you nod “I was six when he told me” you continue riding down the trail. “I was too young to think my dad would lie so I was terrified of this trail” you look around the trail. “Maybe he wasn’t lying” you continue looking around. Sabine wonders what it is you are looking for. “I mean if Garnok and Aideen exist what says my dad didn’t actually see some aliens on the trail?” Your mare neighs, she lowers her head to the ground to take a bite of some grass.

“I haven’t seen any aliens” Sabine looks up at the sky. The sun shines bright above you both. It’s a nice sunny day. Perfect for a trail ride date. “So your dad-“ she looks back down at you “is a liar.” Now it’s your turn to roll your eyes at her. “Are you saying that because you seriously don’t believe or because you hate my dad?” The girl smiles she tells you it’s a “mix of both.” Any hopes of introducing the two washes away from you. It’s definitely best not to introduce them.

You fear they will kill each other, or maybe your dad will have Anne do it for him. Yeah, your dad would most likely have Anne do it for him. “Even if I liked your dad, I seriously doubt I would believe he saw E.T out here” Sabine watches as you dismount, and you walk over to a tree. At the roots of the tree some moss is growing. The Firgrove trail was where you got some of your supplies for Farah. The trail not only served as the perfect date spot but also a great gathering place. You grab a handful of moss, and you take a little Ziplock baggie out of your pocket.

The moss is carefully stuffed into the baggie. While you put the moss up your mare grazes. Khaan is still walking, but he comes to a stop when he reaches where your mare is. The Friesian joins your horse in grazing. “Can’t wait to see the look on your face when a cool spaceship comes flying by” you walk over to your mare. You put the Ziplock baggie full of moss in your saddlebag. You grab another empty baggie. It goes into your pocket for later.

“What kind of plants are you looking for?” Sabine dismounts to allow Khaan to graze. You smile when she walks over to you. “In this area there is moss and rubia” you hold out your hand, and Sabine takes it. No more riding from here on its walking. You walk, and Sabine walks with you. Behind you both your horses slowly follow you. They graze as they follow. Sabine helps you look for moss. She only helps with moss because she has no idea what rubia looks like.

While you walk, and look for moss and rubia you also talk. You tell Sabine that you learned how to play a new song on her guitar. It’s an easy one to play for a beginner like you. You also thank her again for giving you the guitar. The girl handed it over to you because she knew you would use it. She really didn’t want to have the guitar sit in her closet anymore. It felt like a huge waste of money to not use it.

The guitar was in good hands now. Hands that would definitely play it and not stuff it in a closet. “Did you talk to Katja yet?” You stop your plant searching, so you can look at Sabine. “She said she sent you a message about plants in Wildwoods” Sabine would take you herself but after what happened with the druid stone, she wanted nothing to do with Wildwoods.

You knew why she didn’t want to go back there. She told you her reason why a while ago. She told you when you mentioned the plants located there. You wanted to go but you did not know the area, so you asked Sabine to come along. The girl told you she couldn’t. The explosion of the stone left her and Khaan terrified to go back. What was supposed to be just another normal mission turned into the mission. The stone’s explosion left more than physical scars.

You understood her fear perfectly. “I did and she told me to meet her there Friday” Sabine couldn’t take you, but her friends/co-workers could. You met Katja first. You met her because she bumped into you and Sabine in Hollow Woods. The witch was headed home to the valley, and you accidentally bumped into her. Katja wanted you dead she really did, but she realized you could be used for info. The woman tried her best at getting info. For one full week she tried to get you to spill as much as she could. You had absolutely nothing important on you.

It was clear you were just Avalon’s kid. Not a future druid or a Soul Rider just a druid’s kid. The next week the witch decided was going to kill you with an ice storm when you were riding home alone. She thought it was best for Sabine to have no distractions. You ended up finding her before she could get a proper storm going. She had her violin with her, that’s how you found her. You told her she played beautifully, and it was enough to flatter the witch into not killing you. She would say it was pity for you that made her change her mind.

“Jay said she’s going too since she has more knowledge on plants than I do” you met Jay when Sabine introduced you both. Sabine introduced you to her in hopes of Jay being able to help you with your plant search. She also did it so Jay wouldn’t pull the shit Katja did. At first the girl didn’t really care for you. She started caring after you gifted her a book. Sabine told you that Jay liked books. You wanted to make a good impression, so you gifted her a book.

The girl appreciated the book and her no care mindset changed towards you. You were on good terms with all the Dark Rider’s. You were now not only hiding one criminal from your dad but three. You were hiding three criminals from the druid’s most wanted list. If your dad ever found out, you were surely going to get in huge trouble. You were fine though. All your meetings were secret and in places your dad would never go to. He would never find out. Hiding this secret made you feel really guilty, so a part of you wanted him to find out.

Maybe you could get him to like your new friends and your girlfriend. You were getting tired of hiding this big of a secret. It was too much for you. Due to your heavy thinking you went quiet. Sabine noticed it, she gave your hand a squeeze directing your attention to her. “Everything okay?” Sabine’s look held pure worry for you. You looked to her giving her hand a squeeze back. “I’m fine” you gave her a sad smile “I just-.” Before you could tell her what was bothering you, you were interrupted.

Your mare neighed behind you, and Khaan whinnied. You looked to the horses seeing Khaan trying to nip at your mare. The Lipizzaner backed away from the Friesian trying to get him to leave her alone. Sabine redirected you again, she wanted you to speak about what was bothering you. The horses were playing they would be fine. She was focused on you and you only at the moment “You what?” You looked back at her. You were glad that she kept catching your attention. You wanted to talk to someone about what bothered you.

You needed to talk to someone before guilt ate you up. “I feel really guilty about keeping you a secret from my dad” you let go of Sabine’s hand. You backed up needing a little more space to talk. She understood she stayed where she was. She listened as you talked about what bothered you. “Lying about Khaan hurt and lying about you hurts more because this lie is much bigger than the one about Khaan” you hugged yourself. “You’re my girlfriend” you took a shaky breath in “I want him to know what you mean to me but-.” You looked up at Sabine.

The girl frowned when you looked up at her. “I fear that if I tell him about you, I’ll be putting you in danger” you did not want your dad to hurt your girlfriend. Sabine sighed she bit her lip. The girl was thinking about what to say to you. She thought maybe meeting with Avalon might make you feel better, but she saw no safe way to do it. She also thought that maybe telling your dad about her without meeting might help, but she didn’t want to get you in trouble.

There was no way to tell your dad about her without some kind of trouble. You knew this too. You had reached that conclusion many times. Whenever you thought you had come up with a way to fix your problem it always ended with someone hurt or with you in trouble. “What do I do?” You put a hand up to your mouth when a sob escaped you. The horses neighed behind you, and they ran at the same time you sobbed. You hoped your girlfriend didn’t hear the sob, but she did.

Sabine quickly reacted upon hearing your sob “we will find a way to tell him.” She held her hand out it was an offer for comfort. You walked forward moving past her hand you went straight to her. You wanted a hug. She gave it to you. The girl held you close to her. “You won’t have to keep this secret forever” Sabine kissed the top of your head. She kept thinking of a way to meet with your dad. While she thought of a way you stayed in her arms.

You were doing your best not to cry. You did not want to cry and ruin the mood more than you already did. “Maybe you can-“ Sabine was interrupted by the sound of one single horse running back to you both. When you heard her cuss, you knew something was wrong. You quickly got out of her hold so you could see which horse was running back to you. It was your mare she let out a shrill neigh she bucked at the air. Where was Khaan?!