Angel of Light: Okay…let's see if we can get to 20 reviews! I know it's a lot, but…I'd really like to see more for this story.

Cody: I think you're forgetting something.

Angel of Light: No, this time I'm sure I'm not.

Cody: Yes, you are. I guarantee it.

Angel of Light: …Oh ya…hehe…forgot…

Cody: I know.

Angel of Light: Shut up. Anyways, I remember! Thank you SOO MUCH to all of you who have reviewed! It really means a lot to me. Seriously.

It was now the dead of night. The sky was cloudless, and the moon reflected eerily off the mare's pale coat. The stars littered the sky like tiny white diamonds. On either side of them, the mountains stood, making it seem darker. The forest was well behind them now, only a strip of trees on the horizon. A few small animals scurried across the ground. Most of the creatures had long since fled the land, and no one knew why.

Princess Hikari rode across the plains at a smooth, paced canter. She was utterly alone. All that she had with her was the pack that she had brought from the start. In the pack, there was some food. There was only enough food for three meals a day for three days, so she had to ration it.

Kari's mind was everywhere but her current situation. She was thinking about the bet that had been made between her and the Prince. There was no way on this green Earth that she could let him win. The consequences didn't seem all that bad, but he could make them worse.

'I have to get there first', she thought. 'This is so much more to me than it will ever be to him. No one believes in me, I have to prove myself. Sure, they don't hate me; they just think I can't do anything for myself. That's why he had to come with me, because they didn't think I could do it. I'll show them, I'll prove them wrong.'

With a spur of determination, she pushed the mare forward into a gallop.

*~*~*~*

Takeru was still heading through the forest. He decided that it would be a faster route, even though he wouldn't be able to keep a steady pace.

The forest was full of trees, both dead and living. He kept Tallow at a brisk walk most of the time, but occasionally he went up to the trot and canter. An owl hooted from somewhere deep within the heart of the forest, though the sound carried and it sounded as if it were right above him. Every once and a while he would catch a glimpse of a small animal, probably a squirrel, scurrying up a tree. He also thought he caught site of what looked to be a deer bounding away from him, and into the trees. The moonlight bounced lightly off the leaves of the trees, leaving thousands of ghosts to watch them.

The Prince shivered as he looked around. There was nothing abnormal about this night that could be seen, anyways. There was a feeling about, but it seemed that none of the creatures had picked up on it. The wind whispered through the trees, sending a shiver through his body. He still couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen. For good or bad, he wasn't sure.

Suddenly, everything went black. The unicorn's ears shot forward, and he became antsy. He snorted and weaved a little. His head was up and back. He was alert.

Just as soon as it had come, the shadow passed. Takeru wished now more than ever that he hadn't of gone off by himself. Not wanting to stay in that place any longer, he pushed forward.

*~*~*~*

Quickly and stealthily, the shadow passed through the sky. It had its directives, and nothing would stop it from fulfilling them. It glided over the forest, and it weaved through the mountains. It hovered over the ominous dark riders that headed down the mountain. It seemed to conceal them, as they were camouflaged beneath its shady wings. They waited for their quarry to arrive.

*~*~*~*

Hikari also noticed the shadow, and she too stopped. Erowin halted dead. The white's of her eyes were showing, and she let out a high-pitched scream. Hikari froze, not knowing what to do. Soon, the shadow passed.

The unicorn calmed a little, but wasn't as calm as she was before. The Princess urged the mare into a faster gallop, afraid of staying too long in one place. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to leave on her own. She had to wonder what the Prince was doing, and if he was any better off than she was. She hoped that he wasn't, but a part of her also hoped that he was.

Up ahead of her, was the forest yet again. She had been riding a long time, and was beginning to wonder when the day would come. To her, it seemed that it should have been day already, but she couldn't be too sure. She took a glance up, and the moon wasn't there. There were no stars, and no clouds. Just an inky blackness. This made her wonder. Still, she pressed on towards the forest.

*~*~*~*

Prince Takeru was beginning to wonder when the forest would end. It seemed to go on forever. The forest didn't get any thinner, in fact, just the opposite. It was getting denser with each stride.

The sight before his eyes startled him. What he saw, or rather, what he didn't see, made him seriously want to turn back. The closed his eyes and shook his head, but it was the same. The trees disappeared into an inky blackness, like a black hole, where you go in, but you never come out.

As he entered the blackness, the stallion stopped, causing Takeru to be thrown up the neck. He quickly recovered, and patted the unicorn's neck.

Tallow wasn't paying attention. His eyes were fixed up ahead, though there was nothing that Takeru could see. He could feel the stallion's body quivering beneath him. As much as he pushed and coaxed, he would not budge. There was nothing that could make Tallow go in there, nothing.

*~*~*~*

They reached the edge of the forest. Kari slowed the mare down to a walk. They went cautiously into the forest. There was something brewing in there, and she wanted to get away as soon as possible.

A snapping twig caught her attention. Her head shot around to where the sound was coming from. There was no movement before her eyes. Deciding to ignore it, she went on.

Erowin danced and twitched as she walked. This made Kari even more nervous, because Erowin never reacted to anything.

Another twig snapped. This time she was convinced that someone, or something, was there.

"Wh-who's there?" she called out.

Silence was the only reply.

"I know that s-someone's there…"

Again, there was silence.

"Takeru, if that's you, I swear you're a dead man."

No reply.

"Okay, T.K., I admit, you've got me terrified. Now please, stop it right now…you're scaring me…"

All she could hear was the sound of her own breathing.

She heard the snorting of a horse, and then saw a shadow. She strained her eyes to see, but all she could make out was what looked to be a person, wearing a hood, on a dark horse. She was convinced that it was the Prince playing with her mind.

"Alright Takeru, this isn't funny any more. Come out, and we'll go. Please, just stop." She was now pleading desperately.

Finally, he stepped out.

She let out a sigh of relief, put her pulse was still racing. "C'mon, let's go."

The unicorn would not move. She was looking at him, wide eyed with fear. Hikari couldn't understand what was going on. "Erowin, what are you doing?" she asked.

Her reply was another scream. This time, the unicorn reared up, and lashed out with her front hooves. Kari clung desperately to the saddle to stay on. After, Erowin wheeled around, and bolted. The princess never knew she could run so fast.

Kari was confused, but didn't try to stop her. She knew the unicorn had a reason to be scared, though she didn't know what it was. Obviously, that was not the Prince.

Quickly, she took a glance backwards. What she saw scared her out of her wits. Behind them, was not one, but three riders. They were running after them.

She turned around, and urged the mare more. An arrow whizzed passed her head.

Faster and faster they went, never stopping.

*~*~*~*

Tallow's ears swivelled around when he heard Erowin's shrill cry. T.K. had heard it too. Even though the stallion was still scared stiff, he went forwards.

The Prince was actually worried about the well being of the Princess. Though he would have rather of left her, something drove him on. They raced through the trees, leaping over fallen logs and roots. There was no stopping them.

It started to rain a little, but the leaves of the trees stopped the water from soaking the ground. This only worked until the rain began to come down in torrents. The ground became muddy and slippery. Vision was blurred, but they pressed on just the same. Mud splashed up, covering the two in a brown muck.

*~*~*~*

Erowin was still running, blind with fright. Somehow, she managed to navigate through the forest pretty well, picking her footing carefully.

With all of the running, the mare began to tire. Kari looked back, and their pursuers were getting closer, and things were beginning to seem hopeless. Through all of this, she pressed the mare on, fearing for her life.

Erowin started to slip and slide. Her once flawlessly white coat was now splattered with mud. Kari had to rub her eyes, ad the mud was splashing in her face.

Once again, memories flashed before her. It seemed as though this would be the end. There was no hope left.

Things were looking really bad for the Princess. Things really couldn't get any worse. But, as fate would have it, they did. The unicorn took a wrong step, and slipped. The two came crashing to the ground. An arrow flew through the air, and embedded itself into Erowin's shoulder. Kari was thrown into the bushes. She lay motionlessly, waiting for them to catch up.

Erowin scrambled to her feet. Blood trickled slowly from her shoulder. She saw where the Princess had landed. Her only purpose was to protect her. Knowing that she wouldn't be going anywhere, Erowin ran. She ran in hopes that they would follow her, and they did.

Farther and farther away from the Princess she ran, only having hope on her side, even though there seemed to be none. Finally, she couldn't take it any more. She stumbled once more, but kept going. She stumbled again, and couldn't get up.

The riders came up behind her, and saw her. They looked over her body, and around her.

"Ssssearch here…" one said in a raspy voice. "Leave hhherrrr, sssssshe's deeeaad."

The three of them split up, and searched the area. The one that seemed to be the leader stopped searching. He had a suspicion, and he was going to act on it. He went back to the spot where the mare had initially fallen. He noticed something that he hadn't seen before in the bushed. He hopped off, and cleared the bushes. A sinister smile crossed his face. There in front of him, was the Princess.

He drew his sword, and raised it over his head. He was about to strike.

Takeru raced through, and saw him there. He didn't see what was below him, but assumed that he should attack anyways.

As Tallow ran by, he leapt off, and tackled the thing. They went sprawling off, and rolled across the ground. Takeru whipped out his sword, and jumped up. This began an intense battle.

Hikari had been thrown unconscious, and was just starting to wake up. She wasn't totally coherent, and her vision was blurred. All that she saw before her was the shapes of two fighting figures, both covered in mud. She heard the clanging of metal on metal, and the thud of bodies on the ground. A few groans and shouts could be heard as metal met clash. As things became clearer, she could make out that one of them was one of the things that had been chasing her, and the other was…Takeru. She was surprised that he had come. She wasn't sure what to think, as there was no time. All she heard was the pained cry of a man, and then the thud of something crashing to the ground.