Star Stable: The Lost Legend

Chapter Eleven: The Headless Horseman

As nighttime fell upon Jorvik, four riders (Erika, Skye, Rania, and Linda) had lit lights and held onto them. It was late in the evening, though the stars were so bright and clear like distant diamonds on the dark blue velvet. 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 land. But Erika was holding an aflame torch in her left hand and was holding Nemain's reins in her right hand. The fiery amber light reflected into her bright blue eyes, almost making her eyes glow against the fiery light. After her friends had gotten the fireplace ready, Erika has set the fireplace aflame with hardly any trouble with her flaming torch. The fiery amber light had helped the four riders set up their tan-colored tents on top of the mountain. The buckets are filled with either apples or oats and the troughs are filled with fresh water for the horses. They started roasting hot dogs, marshmallows for s'mores, and apples. The lights from the red and amber lanterns flickered warmly in the night. Erika felt warm inside, something about this ride was doing her good.
Linda cleared her throat and smirked at them, while her hazel eyes gleamed and said, "This is the tale of the Cursed Rider known as Galloper Thompson!"
While the other girls shuddered at the sound of the name, Erika just raised a curious eyebrow and thought, Galloper Thompson?
"He was originally a warrior in the fleet of Jon Jarl, and his name back then was Gunnar Thrymson." Erika's eyes widened with horror as she thought, Gunnar Thrymson? But that means... Oh no. It just has to be him. She shook it off and continued listening to Linda's story. "During the long and terrible voyage, pirates from the baltic attacked the Jarl's fleet. During this epic sea battle, Thrymson rose into becoming a hero. In return, Jon Jarl gave Thrymson freedom and promised him riches."
"Imagine buying a whole stable with those riches," Rania whispered to Erika.
"One can only dream," Erika whispered back to the other girl.
"In time, the Jarl began to see Thrymson as the most trusted member of his court. The Jarl brought him everywhere as bodyguard and advisor."
"Fair enough." Erika shrugged and started to feel unsure about this story.
"But it wasn't long till the Jarl's men discovered runestones carved in an unfamiliar language and other signs of human presence."
Erika remembered when she had came across her first runestone and coming across the witch around the same time.
"Jon Jarl ordered Thrymson to destroy the runestones as he couldn't allow these monuments to challenge his claim to the island. Thrymson was nervous about destroying the mysterious stones in case he would offend some foreign gods, but his loyalty to Jon Jarl led him to follow his orders anyway."
"Wouldn't blame him for that," remarked Erika and sighed in disappointment of Jon Jarl as she thought, Didn't he have a saying in this? Even she knew removing runestones will get you cursed, that's what Avalon had told her.
"Thrymson was sent out with a group of men to destroy the rune stones. After one of his men mysteriously died, the rest left out of fear. Thrymson tried his best and managed to topple a stone on his own. He then noticed he was being watched by a mysterious woman. She took an interest in Thrymson and promised him A Gift — he would never die by human hands."
Everybody shuddered and Erika felt a little unnerved by this.
She narrowed her eyes and thought, Sounds more like a curse than anything else.
"But when he returned to report his lack of progress, he found the Jarl speaking to a group known as the Druids. Jon Jarl made peace with the Druids, and Thrymson was no longer the favored companion."
I can imagine how that must feel, Erika thought quietly and smiled as Nemain nuzzled her.
"It wasn't long till the construction of Jarlaheim and Jorvik Stables were called to order. Jarl was favored by the Druids and gifted many horses. Strangely, no horse would let Thrymson near. At first, it was a joke among the men that he couldn't find a horse while everyone else came to bond with these amazing animals.... But one of the Druids said that Thrymson carried a mark that made him unclean in Aideen's light."
Erika felt sympathetic towards the lonely man who probably had no friends, no purpose, and so forth. She knows very well how that feels like, it's bitter and sharp like ice and it calms down into boiling water, waiting to blow.
"Eventually, he found a horse — a wild black mare that everyone else thought unrideable and dangerous. She would let no one else handle her, and could not be stabled with the other horses."
She narrowed her eyes and remembered the wild horses she had encountered on South Hoof, but that one sounded... unsettling for some reason.
"Around this time, a rival Jarl attempts to challenge Jon for control of Jorvik. This challenger has a lot of support among those who felt as if Jon Jarls was forsaking their old ways by joining with these Druids."
Erika sighed and shook her head at the people's harsh judgment. While the others looked scared, as if the past battle was about to happen outside of the stable.
"During the battle, Thrymson was said to be the last man standing after the traitors and the Great Jarl's servants met on a battlefield after a pyrrhic victory left Jon Jarl in charge, but despite his heroism, Thrymson became feared and hated for surviving when so many died. Some even claimed they saw him take a blow that should have killed him. Witchcraft was suspected."
She exchanged a worried glance with Nemain, who'd looked equally as concerned.
"Jon Jarl demanded Thrymson explain how he remained alive after the battle. He confessed his experience with the witch, and Jon Jarl, who had long been obsessed with finding immortality, became jealous and hungry for this gift. He demanded that Thrymson seek out the witch for him."
"Jon Jarl sounded power-hungry, doesn't he?" Skye whispered to Erika and she nodded her agreement with her sympathy on the rise for the cursed rider.
"Thrymson eventually found the witch at Devil's Gap, and she told him that if he cleft a particular runestone by the stable in two, the Jarl would be rewarded."
I have a bad feeling about this, thought Erika with a frown and narrowed her eyes. He's being pushed to his final limit by a greedy Jarl.
"The Jarl did as Thrymson asked, but rather than a blessing, he brought down a curse as the horses in the stable were driven mad, with one exception: Thrymson's black mare."
The witch must of lied to Thrymson for some reason, Erika thought with narrowed eyes. But why though? I don't understand.
"The Jarl, thinking Thrymson had betrayed him, ordered his former huskarl and friend be executed by beheading. When the axe fell, Thrymson's head rolled, but his body stood up! His horse ran up the ramparts, neighing and rearing, and carried Thyrmson away."
"I bet that's going to leave a few scars," whispered Skye.
"Hey." Erika gave Skye an offended look, since she's the one with a scar and the mentioned scar gleamed boldly in the light.
"No offense," Skye said apologetically with a smile, to which Erika shrugged offhandedly.
"After that, Jon Jarl made amends with the druids and committed to serving Aideen with renewed vigor. The headless Thrymson disappeared, but would show up periodically in the frontiers of the north, where he would attack the Jarl's men before disappearing into the night."
"Talk about terrifying," whispered Rania.
Maybe so, but Erika didn't feel terrified or even bothered by the horseman. If anything, he sounded like he was the most misunderstood person she have ever heard. She couldn't help, but feel sorry for the young man.
"Centuries later, no one remembered the true story of Thrymson, but his legend lives on as a sort of Bogeyman in Golden Hills Valley. English settlers mispronounced his name as Thompson, and the name stuck."
Everybody seemed a little freaked out about the tale and had a mix of different emotions. But Erika doesn't seemed scared at all and listened to the tale with an even look and had a faint, sympathetic look in her eyes that was hidden underneath her solemn expression. She couldn't find herself to be angry or upset with Gunnar for not telling her the full truth of his story.
She wandered away from the others with Nemain walked behind her from the campsite and they both stared up at the night sky as Erika's thoughts wondered through the night. She's not sure what felt wrong when she heard Gunnar Thrymson's legend. But Erika wonders if there's more to his story that has been lost throughout history than the haunting stories of a headless horseman named Galloper Thompson.

But in the darkest depths of Hollow Woods, one 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 anyone who might be there. But there's an outline of a hidden lone rider riding a pale horse and looking up at the full moon in the darkest depths of the woods before disappearing quietly.
The lone rider said, "I will have my revenge on you, Galloper Thompson." The ghostly, pale eyes gleamed with a deadly light. "You have my promise on that."