A/N: Ahn-Li: Wow, you're right. It works exactly like this.

Valura: Oh... When Dally read this she warned me that certain parts could be interpreted as "slashy". I guess she was right. But don't worry. Not every tenderness in this story will automatically lead to the protagonists getting it on. LOL Still it says something about our expectations when reading fanfiction, doesn't it?

Guan: Thanks. I think I can say so much: Thakisis is not the (main) villain. There are so many stories about Thakisis and Raistlin out in the net, I decided I needed another evil party... But whom did you mean with the dwarf? Maybe you mistook something because there is no dwarf in the story so far.

Dally: Look Dally, horses! (I've done it and put the "horse-debate" in the end.)

18 - Hit the Road, Jack

Nima opened her eyes slowly. It was a bad idea, since the cursed sunlight had a very agressive quality today. She blinked twice and shook her head to clear her sight. The next bad idea. Her head spun even more now and felt as if a tiny dwarf had moved inside the last night and had begun to excavate her brain for gold with a little persistant hammer. She groaned. That earned her attention from Dalamar who looked up from the scroll he had been reading. He elf sat cross-legged on the lower end of her bed, eating some fruits and studying while he had waited for her to wake up.

"How do you feel, Shalafi?"

"I feel like draconians made a landing spot for black dragons on my stomach."

Was she mistaken or did his eyes sparkle amused for a second at her response? Dalamar took a carafe from the nightstand and poured the content into an earthen mug. He handed the mug over to Nima, who had made it to bring herself into a sitting position in the meantime.

"Water will help you."

Gratefully, she took the cup and swallowed the liquid greedily. Then she fell into a musing silence once more. Dalamar applied himself to his scroll again. Out of the corner of an eye, he saw his Shalafi pulling his left leg close and moving it carefully as if it was hurt. Aching muscles? But Raistlin didn't comment on it and Dalamar wasn't very eager to ask.

"I had a strange dream." Nima pondered after a while. "I met Rai-"

"Whom?"

"Err... Rai... ders. Yes. Raiders, they... err... tried to ambush me and they were... err... strange." she ended lamely. Too bad she couldn't tell him of her dream. She had dreamt of HIM again. And she remembered a fascinating conversation. Actually it had rather been a hot argument most of the time. That was strange, since she couldn't remember the last afternoon clearly, lest the evening. But the dream was present like it had been burned into her mind.

Silence encompassed them and the young kender savoured it for the first time in her life. Sitting here with Dalamar was so peaceful, compared to the last afternoon. She new she had to continue with the journey sooner or later, but how was she to bear the terrible sight? How could Raistlin bear it, anyway? Well, if the grumpy mage had found a possibility to cope with that, there had to be a way for her. Nima clenched her fist refusing to give in to depression again. Still...

"If I leave this room, everything will start anew. Reorx' Beard, even that potted plant over there looks like an undead ghost to me!"

Dalamar raised an eyebrow at his master calling Reorx' name. He had gotten a strange liking for certain deities of Good and Neutrality lately.

"How I am supposed to walk with these eyes from here to my brother's town without becoming a nervous wreck? How did I do that in the past?"

Dalamar shrugged helplessly.

"I guess you were used to it."

"Used to? Oh great... in that case..." Dalamars Shalafi sat up clenching his right fist, eyes turned to the ceiling, "I have to do it again!" Raistlin nodded at himself, confirming his own statement. "But walking all the way to that city- what's it called? Solstice? Solace? Ah, that was it. Walking all the time to Solace will be... tricky."

Dalamar leaned back on the bedpost, not so much as the hint of a smile in the corners of his mouth.

"We don't have to walk the whole way." he said expecting a surprised glance from his Shalafi which promptly followed.

"But you said we couldn't teleport!" Raistlin asked confused. Dalamar nodded affirmatively.

"Yes, Shalafi. I said so. Though I have to admit that we could. I just won't recommend it. Since your memory loss was presumably caused by a magical overload, the worst thing we could do is to put you under another spell. The consequences could be severe. Your mind needs time to heal. I even regret invoking true sight and other investigation-spells on you. I don't think we should take any further risks as long as it is not an emergency. I fear we have to do it the same way as those not gifted with the privileges of spellcasting do it. Still there are faster ways to travel than simple walking. I hope you remember how to ride, Shalafi. While you were sleeping the last evening I summoned horses to this inn. It is still an early morning. If you feel you're in travelling condition we can leave Palanthas before it gets too crowded."

"Weee, you've thought of everything, didn't you?" Soon, Raistlin's expression changed from impressed to contemplating. "Do I remember how to ride? Do I? I DO!"

He cried his last enthusiastic statement so suddenly that the elf winced slightly in irritation. Without any further comment, Dalmar rose.

"I will just inform the innkeeper of our leave, I'm back soon."

He left, the door closed softly behind him.

Nima had never rode much in her life, but they had a pony in the Travelling Carnival Show and her friend, Tiomar the half-orc, had sometimes put her on the pony's back and had given her riding lessons. Tiomar was a good rider himself of course. And he had his own horse. It was very big. And Nima had loved to play with it and feed it from time to time. Timoar's horse was even more interesting than the lovely rabbits in the Snugglepucks' wagon, or the big dogs Knoblar's mama commanded. Ah, her home. How much she missed it. What were they doing now? Where they looking for her? Did they miss her, too? Surely they would travel from one end of the world to the next in search for her. Anyway, when she was back home she would have stories to tell that would even impress the old Hrongar. Doing magic and having a mage's staff and riding horses and making friends with an elf... This was so exciting.

While waiting, Nima decided to get dressed and do some exercise. Both were not the easiest tasks since she now had the major headache Dalamar had prophesied. But she was damned if she would let the stupid dwarf in her head win.

When Dalamar returned she was already prepared to go. Two horses stood in front of the house. Both animals looked noble and very elegant with coats as black as their rider's robes. She liked this about Dalamar. The elf had a liking for the dramatic just like she had.

But something about the horses was different. First of all, they didn't seem to age. As Nima touched her horse in order to caress it, the horse seemed to radiate a certain heat. A heat that sent shivers down her spine. The touch was hot, but in another respect invoked a strange cold inside of her. There was definitely something strange about the horse. When Nima's golden hand stroked softly over the smooth fur, the horse turned its head and stared at her. Nima's mouth dropped open. The animal's eyes were completely dark, as of a black nothingness that somehow reminded her of the dreaded endless void between the stars. After a while the kender realized that with every breath tiny clouds of grey escaped the animal's nostrils. This was not normal either since the day was sunny and warm. Full of curiosity Nima petted the horse's mouth. It winced from the touch, snapping after her hand. Hastily Nima backed away.

"Whoah, easy, buddy!" She addressed the black horse before turning towards her Elven companion.

"Did you put the horses under a spell?" she asked irritated.

He gave a dark and somewhat sinister chuckle.

"In a certain way, Shalafi. Yes."

Slowly it dawned to Nima what was odd about the horses.

"They are not normal horses, are they? I never saw horses with totally black eyes and, and, and they don't seem to age."

"Demons, don't age, Shalafi!"

Nima shook her head.

"No, of course, demons don't age. I'm not speaking about demons but about horses, Dalam- Ahhhh! DEMONS?! They are DEMONS???"
She nearly could feel the impact of her sudden realization in a physical manner. It was like being hit right between the eyes. The elf regarded her amused, a smug smile on his lips.

"I thought this would be quite appropriate for us. Their speed and physical abilities are much above mortal mares, as is their robustness. Once summoned, they obey your will blindly. Moreover they don't need food or sleep. They never tire."

Nima tried a chuckle. But she couldn't prevent it from sounding abashed.

"Th- Thank you? Do they bite?"

Dalamar's smile became subtly wider.

"Maybe they are slightly more aggressive than average animals."

"How are they called?" Nima eyed her mare suspiciously.

"They are Noxequus, a species of horse-shaped creatures that roams the Ab- well, another plane so to speak, Shalafi."

"Why are their eyes so strange?"

Again Nima tried to stroke the horse's mouth and again the animal bit after her. This time she only narrowly avoided loosing a finger in the process. Dalamar followed his Shalafi's efforts to befriend the demonic creature with a raised eyebrow.

"Where they come from they don't need eyes, because there simply is no light. They are nearly blind, but their other senses are much keener in turn."

"Oh."

His Shalafi didn't look too happy. This time the demon had gotten hold of his sleeve and the material was ripped between sharp teeth that more fit a carnivore that anything else.

"And I guess, there is not much grass, either."

Nima just didn't want to imagine what these things ate, if they ate. The elf saddled his mare and assisted her in doing the same with her own. To her surprise the horse stood still and made no attempt to escape, as long as she didn't try to caress its head. However, she decided, for a demon this thing was... cute. She always had imagined demons to be icky and slimy and have tentacles and horns, but looking like a horse... Finally she felt Dalamar's questioning glance scrutinizing her.

"Shall we?"

The elf helped her into the saddle and Nima adjusted herself on the horse. That felt not bad. And this would add another exciting story to her repertoire. Riding demon horses. Great! Now she felt like a real tough black mage.

The kender cast a last glance to the inn. Behind one window she could see the innkeeper staring at them. Probably he wanted to make sure that they really went away. When his hair developed the first shade of grey and his face gained more lines and wrinkles, she hastily averted her eyes. Just a second later he looked perfectly normal again. That was it! She would just avoid looking at things for to long and everything would be perfectly fine. Nima grinned happily at the newfound solution. Now, nothing could stop her.

"Onward to new adventures!" She grinned at the elf and whirled the staff of Magius around in the air. "Lets go!"

The hardships of the previous day were already forgotten when Nima exuberantly urged her Noxequus to move. Dalamar rolled his eyes in resignation and followed his master who had just disappeared around a corner of the street. No, his Shalafi was absolutely not himself anymore. It was like being confronted with another person that bore solely an outward resemblance to Raistlin. But that couldn't be, could it?

tbc

A/N: (Forgive me, but after turning Raistlin into a women I couldn't resist the old pot plant joke. :D )

And for Your amusement: I have to admit the special horses were only introduced after Dally pushing me through a hole in my own plot. We were not sure at first how the magical transport should look like and discussed several versions. So if you want to take a look behind the scenes, see: "How to Hook a Mage - The Making Of - Part I

(Sentence in question: "While you were sleeping the last evening I ordered horses to this inn.")

Dally: "Well, you know I love Dalamar, but this wasn't his best suggestion I think. I mean, riding a skeletal horse? Creepy."

Petalwing: "Hnnnn??? Ummm... the horses were ordered! Not summoned!!!"

Dally: "One word: sight-impediment..."

Petalwing: (innocent look... blink... blink... blink... ??? ... blink) "Damn!!! You are right!!! Oh my... I need an explanation for that! Um... maybe Dalamar could hope Raistlin gets used to it? No, not too good... Hm thinking about this longer, the horses could be bred by elves and therefore have longevity. With a little bit of magical influence from their breeders, over the generations they could have gained longevity... All things that come from elves last longer..."

Dally: "Uhhh, I think that wine is a bit easier to smuggle out of Silvanesti than Elvish Super Horses..."

Petalwing. "Dough! ... Oh wait, what do you think if Dalamar is a really tough guy and he really DID summon horses? Maybe lovely horse-elementals from the 'plane of eternal riding'?"

Dally: "Plane of eternal riding? Sure, and bunnies actually come from the plane of infinite fuzziness..."

Petalwing: "Well, it was a try... the bunnies made me do it!"

(Pause. Silence. Ping-sound can be heard when Petalwing suddenly has an idea...)

Petalwing: "Oh wait, what do you think if Dalamar summoned EVIL horses? Not undead horses but horse-shaped demons from another plane. Demons don't age... and they go along fine with evil mages. And they look pretty cool! Hm... that really could work and at the same time we likewise remember our readers that our nice, lovable apprentice is a DARK elf for a certain reason... "

Dally: "Sometimes we tend to forget our friend Dally is a Dark elf, not just some random mage. This also shortens the time to get to Solace!"

Petalwing: "And Dalamar can show off with his skill. And they look REALLY COOL!"

Dally: "Yay!"

Petalwing: "Yay!"

And so it came that the species of Noxequus emerged from the melting pot of unlikely evolution in a fantasy universe...