Discoveries

Prologue

The owl slowly opened her large amber eyes, and stared straight at me.

I froze.

In stead of flying away, she started to groom her milk and coffee feathers with a cloud-grey beak. I slowly crept closer, and reached out a trembling hand. Just as I was about to stroke the tiny bird, she lashed out, and I pulled back my bleeding fingers with a curse. Her beak had torn a long cut through my skin. I held the cut to my mouth, and the iron flavour of blood flooded my taste buds.

The owl continued to calmly put each feather in its place. This time, she looked up when my hand got close, and stepped onto it. Her talons' grip was firm and cold, the scale-like texture of them unfamiliar to my skin. She stared at me again, a I stared back. With a silent flap of her wide wings, she left.

After a moment of baffled silence, I followed my tracks back to the path. A sturdy pearl-coloured pony pricked up her ears as I got closer, and turned her head to me when I patted her neck. I swung a leather-clad foot over Jasmin's bare back, and the moment I was steady, she broke into a canter. The aroma of musty leaves and mushrooms drifted through the damp trees, and I closed my eyes. The beat of Jasmin's hooves was one with that of my heart, and I let her lead me.

We came to a clearing where the morning light had found a way to creep through the colourful leaves, bathing the diamond-covered grass in a warm light. Jas lowered her head to the cloak of bright green, ripping loose mouthfuls with a shake of her head. I lay down on her back, closing my eyes to the rays of sun that dappled the ground.

I sighed. Wasn't this wonderful?

Suddenly Jasmin bucked and ran. I grunted as I hit the ground.

Thanks Jas.

Two horribly innocent blue eyes stared at me saying, What did I do wrong? Really, it wasn't on purpose!

"Jasmin Curzyon! Why on earth did you do that? You are now sentenced to a day of stable for harming Her Royal Highness Princess Alyssa Iolanthe Violet Curzyon of the Kingdom of Lena!" I said in my most strict and regal voice, trying not to laugh.

You're a really bad actress.

Yeah, I know.

We rode on through the half-bare trees, Jasmin's hooves crunching the blanket of coloured leaves. Everything was so peaceful, so still.

After stopping at a pool to drink, we took a path I had noticed a few days earlier. After about seven or eight minutes the forest thinned out, revealing a plain I had never laid eyes on before. I did, however, faintly recall noticing it on a map during geography lessons – not that I paid too much attention to those.

It was ideal.

Jasmin could read my thoughts and galloped of.

There is no proper way to describe what it is like to move at that speed. You feel the noble creature's muscles tighten, a spark of excitement ignites in your chest. And you're off. The surroundings blur, the wind dances with your hair and tears stream down your cheeks. Time is gone. Worry is gone. You are simply one. One with a magnificent creature, and through her one with the world.

A saint's own drug.

"Whooohooo!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, throwing my arms up in the air. Gods, it felt good.

Something in the distance caught my eye. A tiny dot at first, getting bigger as we moved closer. Jasmin slowed down. It was a plump little tree of which the branches all pointed in the same direction – presumably caused by a lifetime of southeast wind. A lone apple hung from a thin twig, a single leaf on the stem. I plucked the deep red fruit and shared it with Jas. It was the most delicious thing I'd ever tasted. A rush of energy filled my body, forcing me to run a few steps and jump high into the air – but not to land. The first thought I had was, was I flying? But a second later my stomach told me the truth: I was falling, and fast.

Really fast.

Into what? I never saw a thing. The wind rushed past my cheeks, my surroundings blurred. A rush much like that of a good gallop, yet many times more intense. I closed my eyes. Thirteen short years of life, gone like that. But it was ok.

Both excruciating pain and oblivion raced for the winner's crown, but only oblivion had the pleasure of wearing it.

#

A blurred image of something coming towards me appeared. A winged something. Was I with the Gods? The wings belonged to a horse.

Jasmin.

Oh no. She'd followed me. Now we were both dead. I tried to call to her, reach to her, whatever, but I was paralysed. She landed by my feet, looking down at me.

You're going to be all right.

Somehow I was sure Jasmin had said that, but how? Not like just my imagination, as usual, but really as a direct message to my head.

Her wings spread over me, kissing my eyelids with oblivion's tender lips.

#

A pink nose caressed my cheek. I lifted my hand to push it away, but the movement made my whole body throb deeply. Sitting up didn't help, on the contrary; I closed my eyes to fight the feeling at the back of my throat..

Oof.

At least nothing was broken. Seemed to be.

How did I end up here?

Suddenly it all came back to me.

How.

Did I.

Survive.

This.

This couldn't have been dumb luck. I'd fallen a hundred meters down a cliff. Humans didn't survive things like this. They weren't supposed to. Not without a single bone broken. And how did Jasmin get down here unharmed? Remembering my dream, I turned to look at Jasmin. No sign of wings or slits where they could have been. None. It must've been a hallucination.

Jasmin lay down for me to stiffly climb onto her back.

I scanned the surroundings for a way out, but high walls made only two directions possible. The widest option appealed most to me. Shadows went from long to deeper as the sun steadily neared its depart. Darkness consumed the trees as thoughts flooded my mind – how was I to explain this? What would be greater, the worry or the scandal?

So deep I had dove that it took a long moment for me to realise that Jasmin had come to a halt. I looked up.

Great. Looked like I was going mad now. Maybe no bones were broken, but a few connections in my brain.

I closed my eyes tightly and waited ten seconds before opening them again. And yet there he stood, tall and fair, his pearl black coat shimmering in the silver moonlight. A challenge in his eyes. He really was a– no, this couldn't be.

Yet there really was a horn on his head.