Star Stable: The Lost Legend

Chapter Ten: The Blazing Skies

Erika looked around warily too see that she wasn't camping in the forests of Firgrove anymore, but Erika seemed to be riding Nemain in the shadowy woods. She could see that a massive amount of dark clouds were blocking out the moon and stars. Not a single sound could be heard from the undergrowth. The trees were extremely still and not a single rustle from the still wind could be heard. It was incredibly eerie to Erika. She and Nemain was surrounded by complete darkness from all over the place. It was like all of the woods were holding their breath.
After a while, Erika saw a faint orange glow in the distance. She made Nemain to pick up her trot into a gallop. It didn't take long for Nemain to pick up speed to a determined, but steady gallop. The pace didn't slow, and it felt as if Erika was riding a brave hawk in a calm and determined rhythm. Trees and long grass flew past underneath them. She glanced over her shoulder to see that the woods was darkening behind them. It wasn't long till dark thunderclouds had rolled into the twilight sky and started blocking out the moon, making everything become darker and more ominous than before.
Erika tightened her grip on the reins and Nemain slowed down for a moment, long enough for her to regain her balance again and calm down her excitement. Erika took a deep breath, calming herself down and nodded to Nemain, who understood and they both continued galloping.
That's when the dark clouds had slowly removed itself from the full moon and shone down on the orange glow. Standing in the circle of trees was a horse. The mare's coat is black as a starless night sky, though her mane and tail seemed to be set ablaze with fire as well her hooves that seemed to be putting her hooves aflame and her bright amber eyes glowed like a pair of fiery suns in the sunrise.
"Sister!" cried out Nemain, taking Erika by surprise. "What has become of you?"
"I've finally found my Fire Rider," Nemain's sister said in a calm, but strong feminine voice. The mare looked at Erika and met her gaze, making the girl felt as if her soul was being read by the mysterious mare. "You shall find us soon I believe."
But before either one could say anything, they were both blindsided by a sudden white explosion of light when Erika and Nemain had quickly covered their eyes...

Erika woke up in her tent and placed a hand on her chest, struggling to calm down with deep breaths. It wasn't long till she had gotten out of the tent and gotten ready for the day. She could be seen wearing a blue sweater and t-shirt with her silver amulet around her neck and dark blue pants tied by her brown belt, it's also folded at her dark brown riding boots. She has black fingerless riding gloves onto her hands and her black riding helmet is on her head.
She chuckled as Nemain nuzzled her face and Erika patted the black mare's cheek with a smile. Erika walked towards the campfire and had set it aflame. The fiery amber light from the campfire had helped the lone rider get up from her tan-colored tent in the center of the forest. The bucket is filled with oats and the troughs are filled with fresh water for Nemain. Erika started roasting bacon, and she cracked a pair of eggs and spilled the yellow yoke into the pan. The light from the amber campfire flickered warmly in the warm morning. Erika felt warm inside, something about this camp was doing her good.
Once Erika was done eating breakfast, she gotten went to help Nemain get ready for the day after she was done with her breakfast. She currycombed Nemain, cleaned out her hooves, and combed her tangled mane. Erika had also placed Nemain's riding equipment on the black mare and started packing away her camping supplies.
"Lets get going." Erika mounted her black mare with a small smile and the mare nickered softly as they headed away from the campsite.
Nemain splashed through a puddle and a startled "Oi!" by Erika could be heard.
A little cluster of light rain clouds has passed through the evening, dampening the ground and filling the air with the scent of fresh rain. The distant mountains were delicately sprinkled with the fading mist from the rain, like faint white frosting on cake slices.
They were running together, as though they're one in the same. Erika felt the wind whooshed through her. She was intensely aware of Nemain's movements underneath her. She felt herself smiling and Nemain let out a loud whinny. Erika raised herself up slightly as the grassy ground disappeared underneath them for a bit. Nemain had leapt over a fallen tree. She felt her hair flowed behind her and her stomach lurched. She almost felt as if she and the mare were both flying. She tightened her grip on the reins and Nemain had slowed down for a moment, long enough for her to regain her balance again and calm down her excitement. Erika took a deep breath, calming herself down and nodded to Nemain, who nickered softly with what looks like a smile. She galloped onto the trails that carried them even farther away from the regular trail. The winding paths were flanked by grassy green hills, and Erika could barely make out the sky and sunlight dappled the earth as they continued the ride. The wind in Erika's face was in the same rhythm with Nemain's steady and quick breathing.
But they came to an abrupt stop when they suddenly heard a crash and talking across the trail from where they were at. They looked towards the direction of the noise, but they made no movement to the ruckus. It didn't take long for Nemain to pick up speed to a determined, but steady trot. The pace didn't slow, and it felt as if Erika was riding a brave hawk in a calm and determined rhythm. Trees and long grass had gently went past underneath them.
As Nemain continued trotting, it wasn't long till Erika had suddenly heard trotting hooves coming from the other side of the trees and heading towards the break of the treeline. When the unknown rider and her horse had headed out of the treeline, Erika could see it was a girl rider around her age. The girl has shoulder-length, slightly curly red hair that shimmers in the sunlight. Her amber eyes sparkled with nervous curiosity and warm compassion. Erika could see that the girl has freckles across her nose. The girl was wearing a green sweater with a purple shirt peeking through, blue jeans tied by a brown belt, and black and white shoe-like boots. The girl is riding a slender black mare with a mane and tail that's unusually bright orange, like a pair of flames.
Erika was impressed with the girl's boldness to ride the mare bareback, without a saddle or any riding equipment of any sort. She also rode Nemain out of the treeline and stood alongside the unknown rider. The rider seemed surprised at first, but she spun her horse around to look at them. At first, Erika didn't look at the rider nor the rider's horse and kept her gaze at the other side of Silversong River. Erika kept her emotions well hidden from the other rider, wondering if the rider is friendly and adventurous as the Flying Foxes.
"Umm, hi. I'm Skye Rowan and this is Blaze." Erika watched on quietly as the girl patted her graceful mare's neck. "Me and other rangers needs help with something." Erika raised an eyebrow at Skye and had a light frown gracing her features. "Can you and your mare help us with the situation?"
Erika remained silent before she replied, "That depends." Her blue eyes bore into Skye's amber eyes. "What is it?"
"Follow me." Erika was hesitant at first, but she encouraged Nemain to follow Skye and Blaze down to the Fire Trail. Erika saw a ranger van tugging a gray trailer behind it, but she noticed that one of the ranger van's back tires is flat.
"You have a flat tire," Erika stated bluntly and looked up at a ranger, who had gotten out of the ranger van and had came to join them.
She recognizes the ranger as Alonso, one of the leaders of the Mistfall rangers. She bit back an amused smirk at Skye's warm smile and acknowledged that Alonso is quite handsome. Erika sensed a spark between the two rangers, but it has yet to be blooming.
"Where are you two heading?" asked Erika curiously.
"We're going to Fort Pinta to drop off some safety equipment," Alonso replied.
Erika nodded and caught Nemain's eye, the black mare snorted and nodded her agreement to help the rangers. Erika smiled softly and patted Nemain's neck. Erika encouraged Nemain to spun around and walked backwards to the ranger van till they're a few feet away from the van.
"Lets go then," Erika said to the rangers.
Alonso smiled as he gave two lassoed ropes to the two girls and Nemain has let Erika put the rope around her neck. Skye introduced the rope to Blaze and the other black mare nodded, letting the other girl put the rope around her neck too. Alonso tied the two ropes to the ranger van and had went back inside in the van, he waved to them to start pulling the van.
The two of them had started pulling the van behind them. Erika felt as if she was Nemain pulling the van behind them. She could feel the weight of it behind them, and makes her curious of what was inside the trailer. She didn't talk much, but she listened to Skye and sometimes Alonso's chatting.
"What's your name?" Skye asked her.
"My name is Erika," replied Erika and petted Nemain's neck. "And this is Nemain."
"So, where did you lived?" Skye asked Erika. "I mean I only saw you in the knighting ceremony and..."
"To most people, my past life lies in mystery," said Erika. "But to answer your question, I lived in Frost Village that's beyond the Northern Mountains of Jorvik before I started living at Moorland Stables."
Skye and Erika quietly told each other their stories about their adventures, past and new; about the Druids and Jorvik; about their struggles and history with their horses; about the Flame Steeds of each magical Circle; and about the lost stories the forgotten legends. They answered each other's questions with forthright honesty and spoke about all the past events, both good and bad.
"We're here." Erika could see Fort Pinta was coming to view on a stone bridge and was amazed at the sheer sight of it. It may have been built during the Viking ages, but it still held itself strong. It seemed to be glowing golden in the morning light and looms over the sea with its pride and glory.
Once they had arrived to Fort Pinta, Alonso had untied them from the van and gotten the ropes off of the horses. Erika smiled at them after they had thanked her and Nemain before she left to explore Fort Pinta. In a sense, it reminded her of Doyle's Abbey. She felt the strong feelings of sadness and regret in the air near the destroyed church.
But upon arriving to the party in the beach, the sight nearly made the young girl breathless and her heart full. There were people absolutely everywhere. Various tent-like stands were set up in the streets and colorful decorations were hung. Children played games and battled in the streets, while the adults had their own fun. Her eyes widened when she saw more than a dozen of tents and pavilions pitched all over the place. The pavilions all have sides with blue-green silks, cords of green, tent-pegs made of ivory; and high on the tent and pavilion poles were small blue and green flags of a yellow harp fluttering in the morning breeze. There's picnic baskets and blankets in a few areas. Traditional druid music could be heard in the air from a black-haired woman in brilliant green dress played a skin-headed drum, a brown-haired man in a druid tunic and pants played a set of humming bagpipes, a young man played on a flute, and a younger teen brown-haired girl played on a carved wooden harp on the carpet.
She rode Nemain onto the highest diving board over the swimming pool to see the approaching night sky better. But when Erika looked up, she soon saw something astonishing in the sky.
She could count more hues and shades than in the box of paints and watercolors that she had bought a few years ago. Shades of sapphire, violet, magenta, and amber shimmered and shined, like a giant rainbow had blanketed the sky and stretched out over the land. It was barely evening, but the stars started to sparkle brightly in the night sky. Despite the darkness of the appearing evening sky, they were so bright and clear like distant diamonds sparkling in the night. The stars sparkled like distant diamonds in the sky, while the sky is like deep sapphire blue velvet that sparkled with the beautiful, spring constellations overhead. As the clouds cleared, a silver circle of the full moon had also appeared in the night sky and had casted its soft silvery beams of light over the lake.
But it wasn't long till the lanterns were released into the night sky. Many of the lanterns had started glowing in different colors of the rainbow. It had let out radiant glows from red to blue, and night sky seemed to become brighter than before. To her, it was a beautiful sight to behold.