The Black Army (BVB)

Chapter 1- Fear

Chapter 1- Fear

Abbie's tall, strong, figure raced over the barren landscape. The rapid pounding of her heart was almost as loud as her hooves as they struck the Earth. Her bay body raced against the sun, hoping to beat the sunrise before the dangerous world around her began to stir. She could hear the sound of people waking up and smiled. She must have been close. Only a few more minutes until she was in the safety of the camp. She glanced up at the sky. The sun was starting to peek it's head over the horizon.

"No!" She exclaimed in a loud whisper, increasing her pace. Her cover would soon be blown. The last thing she wanted to be was late.

She could see the black flag in the distance and she slowed. Almost there. Her ears pricked and she hid her smile. Only a few more yards... Safe! She almost neighed for joy, but stopped herself. She had to keep her composure if she wanted to make a good first impression.

She shrank down to her tiny, young human form. She didn't want to give away what she was just yet. Her tattered clothes and skinny frame made her look like a vulnerable little girl, but she wasn't afraid. They seemed trustworthy. She took a deep breath and strode into the camp, looking around for someone in charge.

She received strange looks and glances from the men and women, but no one said a thing to her, almost as if they had been warned of her arrival. She was met by a man that was average in height and looked to be around 29 years old with black hair and eye liner around his eyes. The leather vest he wore was open and a tattoo that said "Outlaw" looked as if it had been glued across his stomach.

"Who runs in the night?" he asked, his dark eyes staring straight into Abbie's. He didn't look like a commander, but she replied anyway.

"The dark mare," she whispered, feeling rather young all of the sudden. The man smiled.

"Follow me. I'm second in command here. The Commander is waiting," the man spoke, walking deeper into the camp. Abbie hesitated, but the man motioned for her to follow him. She took a deep breath and obeyed. She tried her best to hide how nervous she was. She never really liked war, so how she'd even ended up where she was in the first place she wasn't sure. Not to mention fighting scary, demon-like monsters who wanted to rid the world of individuality was way out of her comfort zone.

"I'm Ashley Purdy, but everyone just calls me Ashley. We're very informal here," Ashley said, trying to create conversation. Abbie nodded. Ashley seemed like a weird name for a man that was second in command to an army.

"You don't have to be so up tight. Relax," Ashley said, turning back to Abbie and flashing her another grin. "What's your name? After all, you know mine. Though I did hear that a very," he paused, his smile shrinking into a smirk and his eyes sparkling, "special soldier was coming. One with extraordinary powers."

Abbie looked down at her feet. "My name is Abbie," She whispered, looking up at him with big, blue eyes. Ashley chuckled.

"It's very nice to meet you, Abbie. I don't suppose you'd want to share what that power is, would you?" He said, glancing at her eagerly.

"Oh, it's nothing much," she said with a shrug, unsure of whether she was allowed to share her power with anyone or not. Ashley was about to say something, but they came to a big tent that stood out among the rest. It had a huge, black flag with the Black Army symbol on top of it, and was a deep, jet black that would surely blend in with the night instead of the plain, dirty off-white color the other tents were.

"Wait here," Ashley said, his tone becoming serious. He disappeared between the two tent flaps. Abbie took the chance to look around. The sun was half way in the sky already, lighting the area with a gentle, warm glow. Abbie figured it was about 5:30 in the morning. She was early. That was a good thing.

Abbie jumped when Ashley came out of the tent. She didn't expect him to be back so soon. He didn't speak, but held one of the tent flaps back and motioned for her to enter. She looked at his face, a serious expression painted across it. She took a deep breath and entered the dark tent. The flap closed behind her.

She looked around. There were a few maps that hung around the room, and the far right corner had a mattress with a blanket and pillows messily sprawled across it. She figured it was meant to be a bed. The tent was dimly lit with candles, which gave it an eerie setting. In the back of the tent, there was a chair with what she inferred was the Commander sitting in it. His black hair was shaved on one side from what she could see, and fell on the other side of his head in long waves. He stood up and turned around to look at her. He had a black line painted across his face and he was much taller than he looked in the picture. But, what surprised her the most was how vibrant and beautiful his crystal blue eyes were.

"You're her?" he said in a deep, dark voice that gave Abbie chills. He looked her up and down, a thoughtful expression on his face. She nodded and he smiled a surprisingly warm and welcome smile.

"Good. Let me see you," he ordered eagerly. Abbie knew exactly what he meant, but she hesitated.

"Don't worry, I'm the commander, Andy," He added, nodding reassuringly. She grew into a horse and held her head high and proud. Andy smiled even more and walked around her. He laughed as if they had already won the war. Abbie shrank back down to a human and tilted her head.

"You are the key to winning this war!" he exclaimed. Abbie took a step back, feeling slightly intimidated. She was the only one of her kind left in the unniverse, and the only shape shifter at all in the General's army, how could he have asked for a volunteer and expected something great when she was the only one that was any different from the other soldiers?

"I'm sorry, I just got a little excited," Andy apologized, interrupting Abbie's thoughts.

"It's ok, Commander," Abbie replied, standing tall like she was taught to do.

"Andy. My name is Andy, not 'Commander'," he said, looking down at her. "Though I don't know yours."

"Abbie," she whispered, looking at the ground. She wasn't used to being the center of attention. She perferred to blend into the crowd.

"Andy," Ashley's voice could be heard calling from the other side of the tent, "The rest of the guys are eager to meet our new arrival." Abbie heard murmurs from men outside. She figured they were the rest of the leaders. Andy sighed, as if he was disappointed to share Abbie with the rest of the world.

"Bring them in," he said, after thinking for a few minutes. Almost immediately after he spoke, Ashley and three other men barged through the tent flaps, all grinning at Abbie. Two of them had war paint on. One had a diamond around his eye, the other had an upside down raindrop on his cheek, and they all had long, straight, black hair.

"Abbie, this is Jinxx, CC, and Jake," Ashley said, first pointing to the man with the diamond, then the one with the raindrop, and then the one without war paint on. They all waved and smiled to her. Andy nodded to Abbie, and again, she knew what that meant. She sighed and shifted into her tall, strong horse. She held her head high and proud, her ears perked forward and alert, and her now brown eyes determined. They all looked at her in astonishment.

"If she isn't the best war horse ever, I don't know who is," CC exclaimed. Abbie's fuzzy cheeks blushed, making all of them laugh. She blushed even more.

"She's so innocent," Andy chimed in.

"I'm not innocent!" Abbie exclaimed in a huff, stomping her hoof. They just laughed again.

"You look pretty innocent to me," Jinxx said with a shrug.

"Either way, she looks like she can kick ass," Jake smiled, patting Abbie on the back. Abbie wasn't sure what to say, so she kept quiet.

"She's going to be in the front line next to me, with you four behind us, and the rest of our soldiers behind you during battle," Andy told the other four, then turned to Abbie and said, "This isn't anything like you've seen before. These enemies... they're strong and hard to defeat. it doesn't help that we aren't the biggest army, so every casualty is fatal to our victory. They tend to prefer taking prisoners over killing, which makes me weary. I'm not afraid of dying in the end, but I don't want them near me unless my weapon is piercing through their hearts. But, I'm sure with you we might be able to rid the world of these evil demons!"