The Black Horse - a star stable story

Chapter 6

     It took me about two minutes to realize I wasn't dead. Then I realized I wasn't falling. I opened my eyes and couldn't believe what I saw. We were flying. I looked and saw my horse now had wings and we were heading across the gap the bridge crossed. We landed on the other side and trotted over to the bridge. I was speechless. I had no idea what to say at all. "I told you I'm not a normal horse" Shadow said. "How did you keep that hidden?" I asked him. "I can disguise myself magically" he explained "it takes a bit of energy so I can't run as far as when I'm not disguised but it's good camouflage" "Wow" I said still amazed. Suddenly I heard hooves pounding and turned to look. The others were coming across the bridge. "I though you were gonna wa-" Alex said suddenly stopping when she saw Shadow's wings. "What happened and how does he have wings?" Nina asked sounding shocked. I told them what had happened with the dark brown horse. "Well then" Lisa said "we know this is definitely not a normal horse attacking you" "He's not" Shadow said sounding kind of sad "but I can tell you about him" we started walking again and Shadow began to tell his story. "That horse's name is Ace. He is a very powerful horse who fights with dark magic. He wants to conquer the world with his darkness. The only thing that held him back-" he paused a moment as if he was upset by the memory "the only thing that held him back was my mother" he paused again before continuing. "My mother fought with light magic and she kept the balance. But she couldn't fight forever. One day it seemed as if Ace was winning, dark clouds covered the island and my mother was injured. But she managed to get up and attack again. She destroyed the darkness covering the island but used the last of her strength. It stopped Ace from taking the island but it didn't destroy him." Shadow stopped looking upset. "I've never told that story to anyone" he said and he almost sounding like he was about to cry if it was possible for a horse to cry - I had no idea. I leaned forward and stroked his neck "It's alright" I whispered to him "you don't have to say any more" he seemed reassured by my words. We walked in silence for the next hour. Shadow's words whirled through my mind. If his mother had battled this dark horse with light magic then did Shadow know how to use it? Shadow's mother had left him a powerful legacy if he did. My thoughts were interrupted by Nina saying "Is that Steve's Farm?" "Yup" Alex replied "this is where we will stay tonight and we should reach Valedale by lunchtime tomorrow." We put our horses in stables and made sure they were settled in for the night. Steve had a couple spare rooms he lent us. I opened up the door and saw a simple two bed room that I would be sharing with Nina. As I lay in bed that night something hit me. Shadow would have to live up to his mother's legacy, Ace would never stop attacking us otherwise. That meant one thing. The fate of the world was in our hands. Realizing this, my last though before falling asleep was What have I gotten myself into?