Go, go, go. Walk, walk, walk. Hurry, hurry, hurry. The stallion lead Areli and I away from the forested area in which we had met, and pushed us further…deeper into the lands of this place. This world. Many a time did I wish I had chosen differently because the journey was so long, so far, that it seemed near the point of insanity to travel it all in what remained of the night.

‘He’s crazy,’ I thought to myself every few minutes, ‘He’s crazy and daft and stupid and…and,’ my thoughts faltered as I began to put the puzzle pieces together. He’s sick and got Areli sick. He thinks he knows somebody who can help Areli at this edge of the world. He was pushing for us to get there before daybreak thus tiring us both to our limits. He…he was smart. At least, if what I was thinking was his game plan was his game plan then he was smart.

Quickly I looked from the spotted stallion ahead and then to Areli who was a few feet to my side. The spotted rash seemed to only be getting worse as we travelled. Every now and then a spot would raise up, become all red and icky looking and then it would explode only to reveal and release some sort of yellowish white fluid that’s texture was akin to that of mud with small pebble stones in it. I couldn’t help but also notice that every time one of those raised areas exploded Areli seemed to wince and whimper in pain and the furry thing did too. Whatever Areli had, it sure looked painful and gross and I definitely didn’t want to experience such a thing.

“Are ve zere yet?” I managed to call out to the stallion through a yawn. As I finished asking the age old question a bird flew towards us and the stallion stopped in his tracks. Were we here? What was with the bird anyway? Did everybody here have some sort of pet or creature that they loved? And what in the world did the stallion mean by a magical disease anyways? I mean I know that there are diseases, my mother would help the sick in my homeland, but there was no magic about anything. She would use things like plants and mosses and water from different places to help others get better. Magic didn’t exist as far as I knew.

Just as soon as the bird had arrived it began to fly away and I could have sworn I heard the spotted stallion utter the word go but I couldn’t be sure. Heavy eyes looked at the stallion as he turned back to Areli and I. He mentioned something along the lines of how this place was up ahead and then began yet again to walk. This time uphill. A heavy sigh pushed out of my lungs and into the air as I forced my hooves to move despite them seeming to grow heavier with each passing minute.

“Hey,” I whispered over to Areli as I suddenly remembered the pieces of the puzzle I thought about earlier, “Sumzing doesn’t seem to be right about him. Am I right?” I took a quick glance at the stallion in front of us. Why else would someone who was sick go out and socialize with little girls? Certainly something was off, “If sumzing seems to be very bad, I’ll yell. I yell and ve run, got et?” Tired as I may have been, I was not stupid.

I looked at Areli with my blue eyes hoping, praying that she was on the same page as I was. Then I looked down to the pendant I wore around my neck. Two crescent moons encircling a smaller full moon – my family crest. It swung from side to side as I walked – it’s rough metal texture glinting in the waning moonlight as the night was ending and daylight beckoned for all creatures to arise from their slumber. Long ago mother gave it to me and told me to wear it with pride. Now it merely served as a reminder of what I had lost. My mother, my father, my brother. My entire family was gone and my home…the Celestial Wood was merely a place that would be lost to the ravages of time.

There was no home anymore.

NYX! The stallion’s booming voice startled me out of my somber thoughts and I looked around wondering who or what was this Nyx? Before I knew it though a pale figure appeared from the top of the hill and came towards us. Was this the Nyx person that the stallion was referring to and if not then who were they? Any who, the pale figure ended up being a mare and eventually she stopped after what felt like giving us a visual examination and then asked what was going on.

As if it wasn’t obvious.

Was this really the person that was supposed to help Areli? Because, to me, this person felt more like more muscle. After all it was now two adults versus Areli and I – two yearlings. Just what did the stallion have in mind? Was he up to something or was he truly being as kind as he said he was going to be? I could only hope that he wasn’t a viper hiding within the tall grass. Not just for my sake, but for Areli’s too.

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