Disclaimer-I own nothing TP related!!!

A/N-Here's the next chapter! I had to change Mist's age because she needed to be older for this chapter. I'll go back and change that in Chapter 2 later! Enjoy!

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\\.Before the fire.//

Sophia couldn't sleep. She was restless and couldn't quite say why. Sitting up, she stretched and yawned, turning her sapphire blue eyes skyward. It was the dead of night and the only light in the sky came from the millions of stars. A slight smile crossed her facial features. Under the cover of darkness it would be easier to get into the stable.

Quietly she stood up and picked up a slow trot toward Ethan's barn, eager to see the mare and her young foal. As she approached, she ducked behind a bush and scouted the area in front of the stable. She had learned early on that Ethan had a tendency to appear in the worst possible places. Seeing that there was no one, she jogged forward. Three strides from the entrance, Ethan rounded the corner. Sophie froze and prayed that the shadows hid her. Unfortunately, with her blond hair, it was quite likely that she would be discovered. Quickly she called on her Gift and sent it hurtling toward him, telling him to walk back the way he had come. It gave her just enough time to duck into the barn.

Once inside, she breathed in the familiar scent and began walking down the main aisle. Sleepy horses whickered soft greetings before going back to sleep. Sophie padded along silently, turning down the third aisle on the right. The fifth stall down belonged to the mare and her filly.

She unlocked the stall door and slipped in, speaking soft, reassuring words to both the mare and foal. They greeted her happily and she soon felt a small, velvet nose on her upper arm and a larger, warmer one on her head. She giggled delightedly and dug in her pockets for the carrots she had stolen earlier that day. She fed them to the grateful horses before curling up with the filly at her mother's feet. The two accepted her presence and didn't make a fuss.

After a few minutes, she fell asleep next to the filly and didn't wake till an hour before dawn. She immediately sensed that something was extremely wrong. As she glanced around, she saw that the mare and filly were standing at the back of the stall, obviously worried about something. Swiftly and silently, she moved to the stall door, whispering to the horses that she would be right back.

She jogged around the barn, searching for something unusual or out of place. There was nothing, but all the horses she passed were nervous. Some moved forward to her for reassurance. She stroked and soothed them as best she could, but nothing would convince them that everything was OK. Sophie was baffled as she exited the barn forty-five minutes later, turning her eyes to a sky streaked with soft light.

Suddenly, a frown crossed her young features, for there, just barely visible on the horizon, was a small, moving dot. As she watched, it grew closer and closer. There, two wings, a large body. . .long neck. . .a large head. . . She froze. It was a dragon. She watched as it grew nearer, it's dark scales glittering in the early morning light, neck arched slightly so the large, head was angled so it had a good view of the land below.

It was a magnificent sight indeed, but for some reason, Sophie felt fear. She had met dragons up close before, and had never once been afraid of one, but this one struck a deep fear in her heart. She heard a shrill whinny from behind her and whipped around. The horses with stalls facing outside had spotted the dragon. One was rearing in his stall, another was kicking at the walls.

'Why are they so afraid? Why am -*I*- so afraid?'

She looked up again and saw that the dragon was hovering right above the village. In the blink of an eye, it tucked its wings to its sides and dove like a hawk out of the sky, it's fore claws cupped holding fire. As the fire flew out of it's grasp, Sophie opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. The fire had consumed one of the farms nearby. It wasn't long before the fire extended to the other buildings nearby. The dragon had risen and was dropping again, hurling fire at the buildings. The process was so silent that no one noticed it except Sophie. . .and those who were in the houses that were attacked. . .but for them, it was to late.

'Is it going to destroy the whole city?' she wondered.

She was about to yell a warning when a glint in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned her head and what she saw made her want to scream. There was a ring of fire, taller than she was, encircling the village. There was no way out! It had almost reached the woods, and once it did, the fire would completely take over and destroy everything in it's path, living or not.

Sophie snapped out of her shocked-like state and ran for the stable, yelling for Ethan to come and help her. The man was outside in a second, glaring at the girl. Then, he saw the fires and the dragon and started opening stall doors and letting the horses out. There was no time to put blindfolds on the horses and lead them out, they just had to open the doors and hope the horses knew what to do.

Sophie darted to the inside stalls and started opening them, nearly avoiding being trampled multiple times. She didn't stop to think about what she was doing, or her surroundings till an ember fell on her hand. She yelped and brushed it off, glancing around. The stable was on fire. She tore a piece of cloth from her skirt and tied it around her face, hoping to filter out some of the smoke. She ran to the few horses that she could still get to before turning to leave.

It was then that a familiar young whinny reached her ears. She spun around and stared into the flames. Just visible from her position was the stall of the mare and filly. A wall of flames separated the girl from the two horses. Silently, she whispered a quick prayer to the Mother Goddess, and ran forward, jumping the flames. And she was through, felling a little hot, but alive nonetheless. Wasting no time, she ran to the stall door, flinging it open.

The mare flew out of the stall, nearly knocking Sophie over. The foal was a little slower, and was much more careful avoiding Sophie. The girl ran after the foal, praying that the mare led them both to safety. No such luck. A creaking reached Sophie's ears, and she glanced up. Ahead of them, a timber from the roof had caught fire and was about to collapse.

Sophie yelled, knowing that it was useless. The timber fell right on top of the mare. The horse let out a sound so much like a human scream that Sophie almost put her hands over her ears. The mare's death had been quick. The foal was frozen in place, staring at the spot her dam had just been. The poor filly was confused beyond belief, watching the burning wood that covered her mother.

Sophie recovered quickly and ran over the foal, grabbing the halter that it still wore. She pulled on it with all her might. "Come on!" she whispered, speaking reassuring words.

The chocolate brown eyes of the filly turned to the girl. She knew this girl. This girl was the one who had brought her treats and sometimes curled up with her to sleep. This person could be trusted. Having no other choice, the filly turned and began to jog after the girl.

Down one aisle and up another Sophie ran, searching for a way out of the flaming building. The effects of the billowing black clouds of smoke were starting to show on her. She clenched her teeth and ran on, still tugging lightly on the filly's halter. Spots were showing in her vision as she turned down an aisle and saw an exit without flames licking at it. However, the timbers above it were about to give out. Sophie ran, and the filly ran too. Either they made it under or the white-hot timbers granted them the same death they had the mare.

Sophie shut her eyes and ran, a cool wind swept over her sweat-streaked face as she burst out of the stable with the filly. Behind her she heard a crash as the timbers gave way and collapsed over the exit. Opening her eyes, she saw that though she had escaped the stable, she now had to escape the village.

She let the filly's halter go, praying that the young horse would find her way out of the flames to safety. With that, Sophie turned and ran toward the street, hoping that it hadn't been consumed in flames as well. She heard soft hoofbeats behind her and turned. The filly was still following her. Sophie smiled and shrugged, secretly delighted that the filly trusted her that much.

Together, foal and girl ran down street after street seeking an exit. Their situation was starting to look hopeless. Sophie's mind was racing as they discovered that there was no way out. She searched the area desperately, grabbing at shreds of ideas that crept into her mind. She was jerked out of her thoughts by the shrill whistle of a horse. The horse was nearby, and the whistle did not sound at all distressed.

The young girl took off at a run in the direction the sound had come from, leaping over burning branches that littered the road. All this time, the filly followed silently, testing her legs over the strange, fiery jumps. She reached the main road just in time to see a dark shape turn a corner at a rapid pace.

Even as she ran, Sophie knew that she would never be able to keep up. The filly flicked her ears forward at the young girl, watching her carefully. Sophie stopped and studied the filly more carefully. The filly was now nine months old, why they had kept her with her mother for so long Sophie didn't know. The filly was ready to be weaned and trained. She had lost all the fuzz from when she had truly been a small foal, and had easily adjusted to her long legs.

There was only one way out of this mess, and Sophie knew that she was crazy to even try it. She walked over to the filly, whispering reassuring words, and rested her hands on the filly's strong, broad back. Carefully, she tested her weight; the filly flinched, but didn't move. Sophie took a deep breath and swung herself onto the young horse. The reaction was instantaneous. The filly kicked out her hind legs, then reared, protesting this new weight on her young back. Sophie was almost unseated, but managed to grab the long, flowing mane and hold on. 'I am crazy, I am crazy, I am crazy. . .' she thought, over and over to herself as she rode the wild horse.

Eventually, the filly settled down again, accepting the weight, but still cautious. Sophie gave her a gentle squeeze, and the bucking and rearing resumed. The girl waited for it to end, then asked again. After a few tries, the filly got the idea. They worked on guiding and other speeds as they went. 'I'm insane. . .I'm absolutely insane. I'm training a horse in the middle of a fire. What is wrong with me? I don't even know how to train a horse!' she thought to herself, but a little part of her brain was telling her that it was because she was gambling on the filly's abilities. . .and she was desperate. After they had generally gotten the idea, she gave the horse a gentle kick. The speed the filly produced was explosive. They galloped down street after street, making faster, better time in searching for an exit, however, in the time it had taken to 'train' the filly, the fire had grown larger and fiercer. Once again their chances for escape were slim.

After a while, the filly settled down and began to accept the commands instantaneously, even at this breakneck speed. From Sophie's point of view, there was only one thing to do. She halted the filly and turned her toward the wall of fire. This time she prayed to all the gods and goddesses in one short prayer before galloping the filly at the flames, shutting her eyes at the same time. The next thing she knew, they were in the air, and then on the other side. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

Underneath her, the filly was dancing around, obviously pleased with herself, whinnying. As she looked back, Sophie saw the wall of fire, higher than ever. How they had gotten over or through, whichever they did, she didn't know. After a second of shock and wonder, she burst out laughing and tears of joy leaked out of her eyes. She was alive! It was more than she had expected.

One question lingered in her mind; what was the dark shape she had seen? As she reached up and untied the cloth she had put around her nose and mouth, she thought this over. Dropping the blackened fabric to the ground, she looked around, trying to figure out where they had come out. There, to her right, was a party of four. One was a black horse. . .



A/N-Hope ya'll enjoyed that chapter! I have a slight problem. I'm going on a trip tomorrow, and I won't be back till Tuesday, so this is the last chapter for a few days I think unless I can get up really early in the morning. . .and that's extremely hard for me! LOL. I'll try though.

dragonqueen-Your Welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'm also moving from a school I hated to a really neat school. I'm extremely happy about that. Then again, it really wouldn't have mattered if I'd stayed in the States because I was going into high school anyway. . .lol.

Chibi-Chingo-LOL, thanks, I'm glad you think so. Yeah, I didn't mean it that way, I'm really sorry. . .it's hard to express tone of voice over the internet. . .I thought of it one way and then automatically assumed you would too. . .sry again. . .and yeah, I really value your opinion, so keep readin' and reviewin'!