Chapter 76
Avalina knelt in the dirt, pulling up the old dead grass that covered the ground, letting the fresh air hit the earth below.
She had timidly asked the Horned King if she could work with the land around his castle, and he had consented, warning her not to raise her hopes.
She had picked a piece of land in between the moat and the lake about a hundred yards square, the water lapping the edges, at the back of the castle. She had pulled up all the dead plants along the outside first, to give herself an outline of her workplace.
She had been working nonstop on it for days, making sure to leave time for the library and her other activities. The Invisibles had supplied her with gardening gloves and any other tool she needed, which she was thoroughly grateful for.
Something odd she noticed was that all the dead mess she pulled up disappeared when she turned away from it. She supposed it was the Invisibles work.
The reddish-black storm clouds that covered every inch of the Horned King's grounds blocked out any celestial light that might have tried to peek through, and even the birds avoided it like the plague. Not that she really blamed them. She would too.
The lake-water looked as nasty as the sky did, and Avalina did not dare to touch it. She was grateful that Mitternacht had enough sense not to drink from it either.
He stood a little ways off, ground-tied, resting after his brisk morning workout.
Finally, she rose, stretching, loosing a sigh as she surveyed her work.
Everything inside the area she had stepped off was now free of dead grass, and had been gone over roughly with the pickax. The ground was so hard the hoe had to be abandoned for the moment.
Avalina's arms and shoulders ached from swinging the heavy tool, and her hands were stiff inside the gloves, but her heart was happy.
Her back had healed nicely, and gave her no pain whatsoever now.
Tiredly, she went over to Mitternacht and swung up, before turning him toward the castle.
"Well, boy, I think I've done a good job this morning," she told him, rubbing his neck.
Noticing she still had a full hour before her daily music session, she whispered softly to him, "Want to gallop a little?"
Mitternacht snorted happily and threw his head, giving a little crowhop as he did so.
"Alright, easy boy, easy!" She laughed, keeping her seat.
"We'll have some fun."
Keeping him to a warm-up canter was hard, like it always was. He was well-mannered enough not to fight her, but she could feel him through the reins, begging for a faster gait. When there was enough open space to gallop and he was full of energy, top notch was his favorite type of speed.
She cantered him as far to the front of the castle as she could, where the Horned King's influence ended, but as she turned him around, the forest behind them, he snorted and froze, his eyes turned skyward.
Following his gaze, she looked to the sky and started a little.
Framed by the menacing clouds was the black silhouette of the gwythaint, flying overhead.
Apparently it had spotted them, for it came closer to observe, and Avalina prayed it wasn't hungry. She didn't think it would attack her, but Mitternacht. . .she stroked his neck in a calming gesture as he eyed it warily, snorting loudly, his ears pricked forward.
As it came closer in a spiraling motion, she realized the thing was going to land, and Creeper was on its back.
Waving with her free hand, she called a greeting to the goblin.
"Enjoying the day?"
The gwythaint landed several yards from the horse on an overhanging bald limb, folding its wings together as it eyed the horse curiously.
Mitternacht stamped and blew loudly through his nose, trying to figure out what this thing was. It smelled dangerous, but his rider held no fear. In fact, she seemed comfortable.
This eased his worries for the most part, but he kept his eye on the strange winged creature before them.
The goblin shrugged in answer to Avalina's question.
"Could be better."
"How so?"
"I'm bored."
"How in the world could you be bored?" Avalina asked in shock. "You were *flying!*"
"Flying where?"
Avalina gestured.
"Everywhere!"
"No, human," Creeper said bitterly, "Just *Here.*"
He indicated the dead ground around him with an exaggerated gesture.
"I can't go out either unless the master allows me to."
The Horned King had expressly told Creeper he was not to let Avalina know in the slightest what he was searching for outside the castle grounds, and Creeper, terrified, was only too happy to comply.
"Oh," Avalina said, "I'm sorry. Does the gwythaint get tired of flying around in circles?"
"Sometimes."
"She looks lonely."
"Animals don't get lonely, human."
"Oh yes, Creeper, they do," Avalina said quickly. "They feel a whole lot more than people think they do."
Creeper huffed.
"Its true!" Avalina protested.
"Whatever."
A bit frustrated, Avalina leaned back in the saddle, deciding to change the subject.
"Has the gwythaint ever seen a horse before?"
Creeper, after thinking a moment, replied.
"No, I don't think she has. Why?"
"Just asking. She seems very curious."
"Probably wondering what he tastes like."
"Creeper!" Avalina cried, appalled, "Don't say that!"
"Why not? Its probably true!"
"Well, in case it's not, she doesn't need ideas!"
Creeper snorted.
"That won't matter much. She could catch him even if she didn't feel like it."
"Oh, I don't know," Avalina said, rubbing Mitternacht's neck, "My boy's pretty fast."
"Yes, but he's earthbound," Creeper said smugly. "He could never keep up with her."
Avalina smiled softly.
"You're never earthbound when you're on horseback, Creeper," she said. "Never. Horses, they're different in that aspect. . .they can fly without ever leaving the ground. And they can give your soul wings too. When you and your horse are one, its the most beautiful feeling in the world. Its like you're free as a bird."
Coming back to earth, she guessed her face had taken on a dreamy type of expression, and she returned to the subject.
Have you ever ridden one?"
The goblin's answer was curt.
"No, and I have no plans to."
Avalina gave a soft smile.
"You don't know what you're missing."
"I'm not missing anything," Creeper huffed, "The gwythaint is faster than a horse any day."
Avalina just smiled softly and rubbed Mitternacht's neck. Creeper had never ridden a horse before, he couldn't possibly know the exhilarating feeling or understand why she cherished it so. It wasn't just about speed. She had to wonder though, what it was like to be up in the air so high, riding the wind. . .
She was shaken from her thoughts as the goblin kept talking.
"In fact, I'll prove it to you."
"Are you challenging us?" Avalina asked in surprise.
"Yes, human, I am. Unless you're scared to admit the truth."
Avalina gave a soft laugh.
"Creeper, why would you want to? Are you saying you want to race?"
The look on the goblin's face was her answer.
'He's actually serious!' She thought. 'My goodness, he must really be bored around here.'
"Well. . ."
Avalina looked down at Mitternacht, murmuring something unintelligible, causing him to dance a little in excitement.
Straightening up, she turned back to the goblin.
"Challenge accepted. Whoever makes it to the courtyard first."
"Good," the goblin smirked. "Then GO!"
The Horned King paced in his chambers, waiting rather impatiently for the goblin and the gwythaint to return.
He had sent them to the first village to scout it out and see if the Pig-Keeper resided there. He had ordered the goblin to simply listen and observe, nothing more. The Horned King had gone to great detail explaining it out to his dimwitted minion. He was to watch and listen for any sign of the boy. He was not to be seen or heard. Especially not the gwythaint. And if, by some chance, he saw the boy, he was *not* to swoop into the village screaming war cries on a screeching gwythaint and pack the boy off to the castle. He was to report back immediately to the Horned King and above all. . .Not. Be. Seen.
The Horned King had told him exactly what would happen if his orders were not carried out to the letter. The goblin had understood perfectly.
The lich bared his fangs in excitement at the prospect of seeing the boy again. The next time. . .he clenched his hands into fists and repressed his wicked glee with a tremendous effort. He would make that Pig-Keeper wish he had never been born.
In his frenzied pacing, he glanced out of the window, before turning back completely as a cloud of rapidly approaching dust blew out over the land, heading for the castle.
He frowned, ordering a spyglass from the Invisibles, noting the gwythaint in the air above the cloud. If someone had followed that goblin. . .he repressed an ugly snarl.
Looking through his tool, the Horned King saw the gwythaint soaring overhead as if it was in pursuit of something. It was flying very fast, and Creeper seemed to be urging it to go faster.
Turning the glass back down to the earth, he saw a black streak disappear behind a hill. The dust continued to rise above the hill like rolling clouds of smoke, signaling the reappearance would be soon.
For a moment, nothing happened.
The black horse seemed simply rise up from the ground, rather than behind the hill, his legs reaching out for the ground in front of him, before curling back up under his body. His mane and tail were waving like banners of war in the red-tinted light above his castle as the dust swirled out over the ground behind them like an army.
It was. . .he tried to remember. . .Mitternacht.
And Avalina was riding him.
They were going at a massive speed. . .for a moment, the Horned King wondered if the gwythaint was trying to attack them, and he shifted his spyglass back up to the sky.
The gwythaint was streaking through the air like a fish through water, obviously not in the attack flight pattern.
The Horned King shifted the glass back down to the earth, where the horse and rider were covering the ground so fast it looked as if they had sprouted wings.
They were flying without ever leaving the ground.
Then the Horned King realized what they were doing, removing the spyglass from his eye as he did so.
'They're racing.'
The horse was as black as a moonless night, made even more striking by the dull brown landscape all about him, and the massive cloud of dust that trailed him like an army.
His mane and tail waved like war banners, and the Horned King could fancy he saw a flash of red in the horse's eyes as he seemed to swallow up the ground before him with his massive strides.
He was the perfect image of a war horse, galloping into battle. All he was missing was the armor and a knight. Which, the Horned King remembered, he had indeed possessed at some point.
'No,' he thought to himself, watching as they drew nearer, 'Avalina is his knight now. He needs no other.'
The drawbridge was coming up fast, and neither party seemed to slacken their pace in the slightest. . .it would be a race to the very finish.
Avalina's brownish hair whipped behind her in the wind as she leaned over the animal's neck, mingling with the horse's flying mane.
He was so engaged in watching Avalina and her horse, he did not notice that everything seemed to be getting lighter.
It came as a total shock when a single beam of sunlight appeared from nowhere out of the reddish-black clouds to rest on the galloping horse and rider. The brilliant ray shone off his glossy black coat like a victory blanket as he thundered toward the drawbridge, outlining the pair of them in gold.
As they thundered over the drawbridge and into the courtyard, the gwythaint above them, Avalina slowly brought her horse to a halt, turning him back towards the drawbridge and looking up to the sky.
The ray of sunlight seemed to have followed them into the courtyard, and as they stood there, more golden spears struck through the moody clouds above the castle to come down to rest on the cobblestones below, covering the place in brilliant light.
The Horned King turned away for a moment, the sunlight blinding him, before shading his eyes and looking all around outside.
'What is the meaning of this?' He thought in confusion and shock. 'The sun never shines in my presence. Ever. It never shines here. What is happening?'
Looking down, he saw Avalina and the horse still there, frozen in the courtyard, as the sunlight covered them.
He saw the girl lean over against the horse's neck in a hugging gesture, but he could not make out her face from this distance.
Raising his spyglass again, he saw the faintest glimpse of her smiling face before she turned her head away to the other side of the horse's neck.
Her eyes were closed, but it looked like she was crying.
Generalhyna was the only one to guess which song I used two chapters back, and she was right. Its "April Showers" from Bambi. Congratulations girl! :D