The Dark Legend (Star Stable) (Under Editing/Re-Write)

Chapter Seven: The Headless Horseman

Erika walked into the stables, heading into the stables where the horses would each get their own clean, spacious, sawdust-scented stall and have the feed and water. Erika brought Nemain to the borrowed grooming stall and started get to work: she hanged her feed, poured water into her trough, currycombed her mare, cleaned out her hooves, and combed her tangled mane.
Once she was done, Erika heard some voices and saw a circle made out of carpets and pillows. She could see Justin in the back of the circle, while the Bobcat Girls, Maya, and Jenna were on the cushioned area with their horses standing over their riders in their stalls. Erika could see some snacks and drinks in the center of the cushioned spot, surrounding alit lantern.
"Hey, Erika." She jumped in place when she noticed that Justin had spotted her. "Come and join us. We're telling scary stories."
Erika hummed thoughtfully and met Loretta's sharp glare calmly, only for Loretta to be nudged by Tan and snapped out of her bad attitude.
"Okay." Erika led Nemain into her stall next to Saga and sat down next to Maya.
Justin cleared his throat and smirked at them, while his hazel eyes gleamed mischievously. "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 stiffened at that. Thrymson? But that's my father's and my last name. She shook it off and continued listening to Justin'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," Margaret 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 a stray rune stone. She smiled when she remembered meeting and helping Sonja.
"Jon Jarl ordered Thrymson to destroy the rune stones 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. Didn't he have a saying in this? She knew removing runes stones will get you cursed, that's what Jade 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. 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 them. 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. Even Nemain was wild, but she allowed Erika to become her new riding partner.
"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 Jarl 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?" Stephanie 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, neighed and reared, and carried Thyrmson away."
"I bet that's going to leave a few scars," whispered Tan.
"Hey." Erika gave Tan an offended look, since she's the one with a scar and the mentioned scar gleamed boldly in the light.
"No offense," Tan said apologetically with a smile, to which Erika shrugged offhandedly.
"The headless Thrymson disappeared, but would show up in the frontiers of the north, where he would attack the Jarl's men before disappearing into the night."
"Imagine seeing that every night," whispered Jenna and earned some spooked looks from the others while Erika looked weirded out by it.
"If you you hear his horrifying headless roar, don't turn around. Ride for the light, to your head becoming the next one to roll!"
Everybody shuddered and seemed a little freaked out about the tale. But Erika doesn't seemed scared at all and listened to the tale with an even look and had a sympathetic and empathetic look in her eyes that was hidden underneath her solemn expression.
But everybody stiffened as the stable's door had suddenly opened and cried out in fear as lightning flashed over a shadowed figure leading a dark Shire horse. Erika and Nemain were the only one who were calm during the panic and glared at the figure warily.
"Hey, did I miss the party?" The others calmed down once they realized the person was Thomas Moorland and took some deep breaths to calm down their already shaken nerves.
"Hi Thomas," greeted Erika.
"Hey Erika," Thomas said. "I need you to deliver something to Carin, the owner of Goldenleaf Stables."
"Sure thing." Erika gotten Nemain ready and she placed the package into one of the blue saddlebags. But she noticed how dark and cloudy it was outside.
Just my luck, thought Erika annoyed.
🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙
It looks autumn had came early to Goldenhills Valley early, figured Erika as she rode past the South Iron Gate.
They set off as soon as the sun had begun to dip toward the tree line behind the stables. Lit torches had lined up the trails. Erika remembered Thomas telling her something about witches, but she doesn't remember what it was. Anyways, the ride covered many miles so they mostly walked to conserve her horse's energy. In the distance, she spotted a vast vineyard and a beautiful, gray stone manor.
The farther she rode on, the more Erika felt it like she and Nemain were traveling out of time, away from the modern world to a mystical place where anything was possible. She rode toward the western part of the Northern Mountain Range, just beyond the large Silverglade Manor. From the summit, there was a view of Everwind Fields and a glimpse of the lights from Silverglade Village beyond it. On the clear night, Erika could see the lights in the castle windows. She prefer the moon and the stars guiding her way towards the campsite, but it was blocked by the dark thunderclouds. The castle served as a kind of beacon for the riders traveling through the rural southwest corner of Jorvik.
Erika looked around, eyeing the black patch known as the Cauldron Swamp warily. She knew the dangers and secretive rumors about the swamp, so she's planning to stay out of that place for a good long while. But she's dazzled by the sparkling colors of the red, orange, and yellow forest.
But it wasn't long till it started raining very hard and Erika rode Nemain onto a trail that should have led them to Goldenleaf Stables. She mentally cursed herself for not taking a shortcut or getting a map of the area. The wind was still and birds didn't make a single sound, but Erika felt an unsettling chill go through her. Nemain sensed the uneasy feeling and snorted warily when she and her mare both heard cold crackling.
She looked over her shoulder and saw about a dozen of shadowy witches flying overhead on brume sticks. She could see their dark, soulless eyes and they were all glaring at her like a pack of hungry wolves. Hungry wolves makes wolves angry and the anger makes them hungry. Erika felt the chill of the Shadow Witches on her back and their crackling voices was from her worst nightmares. Erika knew it'll take a while for her to recover from her trip to Goldenleaf Stables.
A collective shudder ran through her. The woods felt even colder now. The wind whipped against her cheeks as she galloped wildly onward. The barely dodged the sleeping potions that had been thrown by the Shadow Witches overhead.
Nemain's hooves thundered against the grass, pebbles, and leaves. Erika's eyes teared up from the force of the wind as she raced along.
Erika took a cross-country position and pushed forward. Nemain galloped even faster than before. Her breathing was rapid and rhythmic. Every time Erika and Nemain splashed through a puddle or followed a narrower trail, they were getting farther away from Scarecrow Hill and the Shadow Witches. The witches' life force was within the Scarecrow Hill, the witches will eventually fade away.
She could see the narrow stone bridges up ahead. She tightened her grip as Nemain jumped across the first broken bridge, but the second broken bridge's has a bigger break in the center of the bridge. She looked towards the fields as Nemain had taken another flying leap over the second broken bridge. It was a huge and dramatic jump which almost made the bottom drop out of her stomach and her limbs tingled with electricity.
But Erika suddenly heard roaring cries of anger and the scent of fire was in the air. She looked over her shoulder and Nemain came to a stop to see that the Shadow Witches had disappeared and saw a faint figure riding away on a dark horse. But Erika could have sworn smell the faint scent of fire and smoke in the air.