YAY!!!! Mad dance You wouldn't believe how long I've been waiting for this site to let me update my stories! But now it's finally letting me, I'll be getting on with it...

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Iana POV

We were still riding onwards, hooves thundering underneath and behind me. I wondered how long this would go on when I realised that we were approaching a gravel road heading from east to west. Florian slowed down slightly and swerved left onto the road. She carried on for a couple more minutes before stopping completely. Naiad stopped beside us; I jumped off Florian and went to her head.

"That was amazing…" I breathed, stroking her cheek. Florian arched her neck and looked quite proud; I felt her shoulder and realised that she was only just starting to work up a sweat; my mouth dropped open in amazement. Not many other horses could have galloped that far without breaking their wind, let alone sweat… Naiad snorted, looking for attention. I grinned and turned to him, feeling his shoulder; this one was only just warming up! I couldn't believe it! Suddenly, Florian was pushing me towards Naiad's back, obviously wanting me to get on him. I frowned and mounted him, looking at Florian. But she was conversing with Naiad in quiet snorts and whinnies. Then she stepped aside and gave a small neigh. Naiad started walking forward, following the road, then trotted, cantering, eventually galloping away from Florian. I gasped as I realised Naiad was a lot faster than Florian, and a lot more free in his movement. I could feel his muscles moving beneath me as he ran; I looked over his shoulder and saw how far he stretched his forelegs in front him. I thought for a while; Naiad had obviously broken out of the traditional teaching, where the horse is taught to run at a pace where the movements are comfortable for the rider. He was stretching his legs to the limit, expanding his pace even if he jerked me around. That was why he was so fast! His paces were at the same rate as Florian's, just a lot longer and stronger, allowing for a quicker covering of large distances. I wondered who had taught him… Or if he had been taught at all…

We galloped along for a long time; soon the sun began sinking behind us, casting strange shadows before us. I began worrying; where was Naiad taking me? Why was he taking me? But I didn't know whether to stop him and to try and turn him around, whether he would obey my command or ignore me and carry on. I decided to let Naiad take me where he wanted, remembering that Father had said I was safe with a Mearas.

Eventually it was almost dark; I began to worry a bit more. Naiad had shown no signs of neither slowing down, nor of turning around and going back the way we had come…

"Naiad," I whispered in his ear, "Sedho, nuitho i'aeg!" Naiad snorted and threw his head up and down, but didn't stop. I sighed; what was he trying to do? Suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up on end; Naiad stopped immediately, almost pitching me over his head. I stared out before us, wondering what on earth could affect both of us like this.

"I don't like the feeling of this…" I muttered to myself; Naiad gave a little snort and backed up slightly in fear, "Sedho," I hissed, gripping his sides with my knees; he stopped moving, but I could feel his flanks heaving beneath my legs. The area of the road in front of seemed darker than the surroundings, filled with an evil presence… Suddenly, I could hear the crunching sound of hooves on the road; I held my breath as I waited to see what would appear.

I didn't see them until they were only a couple of paces away; four Black Riders sitting on black horses. I gasped, unconsciously directing Naiad back with a slight kick of my feet. Naiad was breathing even quicker now; the Riders moved towards us and stopped. I gulped and looked around, wondering what they were doing here. I knew what they were, but I didn't know what to do now that they had seen me. One of them moved slightly ahead of the rest of them, its head fixed on me.

"We've been expecting you…" it hissed; I felt a shiver creep up my spine at the sound of it.

"Who are you?" I asked quietly, even thought I already knew. The Black Rider made a noise halfway between a laugh and a screech.

"We are the ones that captured you before!" it cried, its horse rolling its red eyes back in horror. My breath was coming in ragged gasps now, as small memories wormed their way out of the fog that lay over my mind. I shook my head to try and clear it; the Black Rider made its strange laugh again.

"You cannot escape us," it growled, "Our master wishes to see you again…" It began coming towards me again, the other three following it.

"Keep away from me!" I cried out, "He will never be my master!" Naiad backed away even further, obviously wanting to get away as quickly as possible. The Riders were only a foot away from us when a loud roar rent the air. Naiad reared up in shock, twisting and pawing at the air; I clung on when another large black shape appeared on the road between me and the Riders. It roared again; the Black Riders screamed, their horses rearing in fright.

"You again!" the lead Rider screeched, "Our Captain will have his revenge!" It drew its sword. The others copied, also screeching into the night. I realised that I had no weapon on me with which to fight, having left the sword with Éowyn; I gulped, wondering how long I'd last…

The creature on the road jumped onto the lead Rider's horse, which gave a terrible scream and started bucking around, trying to throw it off. The other Riders watched in horror as the creature managed to pull the Rider off the horse, and began clawing at it. The horse was shrieking in pain; I couldn't bear to watch any longer. Naiad was snorting and prancing around, held in place only by my legs, that were gripping his sides so hard they were going numb. The Rider jumped onto one of the other horses and the lot of them disappeared the way they had come. The creature left the horse alone and chased the Black Riders for a while, roaring in anger; the horse got up and cantered off into the darkness, snorting in pain. I didn't want to wait around to see what the creature would do to me; I whirled Naiad around and gave his sides a quick squeeze. He didn't need anymore urging than that; he galloped off as if the creature was actually after him.

Phew! Poor Naiad; I'm so mean... And what is the strange creature? Why is defending Iana and Naiad from the Black Riders? He he he! You'll have to wait and see!