Half Blood Heroes: Eternal Rivers

My Regular-Sized Horsies

He pulled out a silver horse charm. "Hold this." He held it out to me. I clutched it while pulling out a small drawing of a horse. "What are you doing?" I leaned over his shoulder. "I'm calling Epona, maybe she'll be nice enough and give us a ride. He cupped the charm and paper in his hand. "O' Epona, goddess of horses and fertility, bring us your creature to take us across the border." It seemed like nothing had happened. But the charm began to glow with brilliant light. Then fade to the normal silver charm it was a while ago. However, in the distance, a figure was approaching. When the person was right in front of us she was on a beautiful brown horse accompanied by two gray dogs. If anything she looked like a hunter, with the dogs and horse. "Goddess Epona, we need a ride across the barrier to South Dakota." The goddess looked down at me, her gray eyes looked timeless. Her auburn hair was tied back. She wore a riders' uniform, she had her hounds tied to the side of her horse. "You're Croix's mom?" She nodded and hopped off her horse. "So you need a way to cross the border?" Arin nodded, still holding the charm. "Ron, you can put the charm down." Arin put the charm into his pocket. Well, now I know his nickname. "I can give you a ride to South Dakota, but in return I need something." She pulled out a scroll from who knows where.

"There is a stable in North Dakota and my poor creatures are suffering there. Free my horses, bring them somewhere safe and I will prepare a ride to South Dakota and wherever else you would need to go. I know the key to Tír Na Anam is in L.A." The offer was too good to turn down. Without thinking I grabbed the quill and signed my name. Arin stood his mouth open. The goddess smiled and disappeared leaving behind the smell of mistletoe. "What was that?!"

"Getting us somewhere, Ron."

"Don't call me that and that was a rash decision."

"It'll be quicker."

"Stop cutting corners, now we have to take even longer and go to North Dakota and find these horses." I rolled my eyes and began walking towards the border. It was easy, there was an underground that ran for a kilometer under the border. After around an hour, we emerged in North Dakota. Now to find the stables. After an hour of walking around, we came across a diner. "Food, I'm starving." Arin walked up to the lady at the counter. The lady had bloodshot eyes as if she had been crying all day. She was pale like a ghost and constantly ran her fingers through her hair. Her ghostly complexion kept me alert just in case. Luckily, our sword can shrink into your pocket. The lady at the counter walked up to the sign that said: OPEN and flipped it to closed. "Everybody out, the diner is closed." The food just arrived and people began leaving. I and Arin stood up to leave but before we could get to the door, she closed and locked it. "Umm, ma'am? We're still here." She turned around and leaned on a table. "Yes, I'm aware of that." Her voice was quiet but began to crack. Suddenly, her hand passed right through the table and she turned around- floating? "A banshee." Arin ran behind the counter. The banshee turned around and let out a screech. I covered my ears and shouted. "Yeah, no dip Sherlock."

"Get behind the counter."

"How will that help?"

"It won't, it'll just keep it from petrifying you."

"I'm sorry to petrify me?"

Once again it let out a screech. I jumped behind the counter covering my ears.

The loud sounds and jumping around triggered our vertigo. "My head." He pulled out pills and a cup of water. We both drank one pill hiding in the janitor closet until we felt it ceasing. "We gotta get out." He kicked down the door and raced to the door. "The darn door is stuck." He kept wiggling the doorknob. "I'll hold it off." I swung my sword which to no surprise passed through it. "Oh right, you're dead," I said sarcastically. She didn't like it. She screeched but it might've backfired. The glass shattered and Arin dragged me out. We ran for a while but we were trapped on a dead end. I could see it, it was going to scream again and for sure it would petrify both of us. "Fág!" A stern voice shouted. The banshee faded away to nothing. A girl who looked like she was part of a swim team was standing there. "Fear not, I am the goddess Cliodhna. Goddess of the sea, love, and Queen Of Banshees." Arin spoke up. "Cliodhna, would you happen to know where the stables mistreating Epona's horses are?" She stared at us and pulled out a map. "It's a little farther down the road, it smells terrible. Can't miss the smell or the look." After walking for a while we saw a rotting wooden sign. It said: MCCORMACK FARMS: HORSE RIDING STABLES AND RANCH. The smell was like a punch in the face. It smelled of horse manure and rotten hay. There was an underlying scent of Bath & Body Works, Japanese Cherry Blossom spray Didn't do much to help the disgusting smell.

Entering the ranch the smell of obvious alcohol and smoked cigarettes was the first to smell. The other smell was Mens' Cologne. A man with a red face sat looking at the newspaper. "Man in North Dakota mistreating horses and- gah! It's stupid." He slammed his fists on the table. "Sir, excuse me." He looked up, he had a bushy mustache. "You one of those girl scouts selling cookies?" Arin looked offended, he had long hair but he did not look like a girl. I stifled a laugh quietly snickering. "What are you laughing at, boy?" Did he just call me a boy? Arin huffed and spoke. "Sir, may we see your stables." The man rolled his eyes. "Do this, do that? I don't give a darn. I'm the owner of this place, Larter McCormac. Go do whatever." We walked out and walked to the stables. The smell was unbearable. But we could see horses kicking their doors. "Kendra, fill this place with clean air and use your water powers to clean it, we'll free the stables and- Kendra?" I was staring at the mess. "I don't know how." He smiled and said. "You can do it." There was a hose and water pump nearby. "Visualize it, that helps me." I closed my eyes and visualized the water rushing in and cleaning the stables.

"You're doing it."

I opened my eyes and saw water rushing in and out cleaning everything. With the smell being half-bearable, Arin freed all the horses. When we stepped out, we heard the clopping of horse hooves outside. "Thank you for freeing them. Epona was on her white horse, she jumped off and called for two horses. "They will take you wherever you want them to go." She brushed her hand over them, they turned into misty projections. "Swift as the wind, take them where they must go, stay loyal my kin." We jumped on and they shot off into the distance. "So why do we need to go to South Dakota?" He looked out. "I'm not too concerned about that, I'm more concerned about the banshee. They're usually a death omen." A lump in my throat formed, my dad. Was he still alive? Was that omen for him? He was all I had. "Arin? Is my dad alive?" His smile faded and he looked back. "I'm sure he is, I mean sure most mortal parents die but that's fine." I held my head in my hands. I tried to blink back tears hiding them from him. He pulled my hands down and gave me a sympathetic smile.

"He's alive, I'm sure."

"Really?"

"Hey, work with me here. I'm not the best person at this job." We laughed until we reached South Dakota.