The Chronicles Of The Demascus Crows

A Special Visit

The stable stunk of horse dung and Dusty hay. The clouds barely touched the sky, not that they could, the sky wasn't exactly solid. A small breeze blew through the trees, swaying their emerald leaves from side to side. I stood in the arena, pulling on my horse's reins. My lusitano, Nightshade, was a black color, as deep as midnight, with a white stripe on her nose. She had a long black mane that swayed as she trotted. One thing that was particularly interesting about Nightshade was that she had all black hooves except for her back left one, which was brown. I liked to think that was her lucky foot. I always decorated it with bracelets I would make on boring nights alone in my room.

I opened the gate to the arena and walked Nightshade out, bringing her back into her stall. I loved training my horses, making them faster. I loved the speed. I loved feeling the wind in my hair or the leaves that brushed past my cheeks through the Hollow Woods.

Dundull, Mistfall was a small town full of druids. I loved the peaceful spiritual energy they exhibited. They stayed in the old, but understood the new. I started sweeping an empty stall, making sure it was clean for a horse temporarily staying in the stable. My friend, Lorelei, was on her way for a visit, and she planned on bringing her horse so we could ride and train together. We lived very far away from each other and visits were quite uncommon. But, we were best friends and had been that way for 10 years. No one understood each other more than us.

A large baby pink and white trailer pulled up next to the barn, its wheels squeaked as the brakes pressed. She opened the door of the trailer and ran towards me, giving me the warmest hug I had ever received.

"Adele, it's been so long! I have missed you so much," Lorelei yelled looking at me with a smile.

"I know, I can't stand living so far from you. Come on, let's get your horse into a stall and get your stuff in the house," I said, pulling her along.

We sat and chatted in my bedroom, devouring a bowl of Daritos like wild animals. I have not talked for this long in months. My throat felt exhausted. I could even feel my voice getting a little hoarse.

After dinner we went on a long trail ride, talking as our horses walked. Lorelei's horse was a lusitano like mine, but was gray with dark and light shades throughout its body. He had some white tints on his midsection as well. Spots and dapples of many shapes coated his body, and he had striking green eyes. His name was Evershade. His look complemented Lorelei's silver eyes and red hair well.

"Lorelei, I just had the most wonderful idea!" I said.

"What?" Lorelei replied, pulling on her reins.

"You and I love riding, right? So, what if we started a riding club? There are clubs all over Jorvik. We could become really popular and..." I said with a sudden gasp, "We could make a dressage team!"

"Hmm...I've never really thought about it before, but I think we could do it. We could be really successful. Yeah...let's do it!" She said with hope, adjusting her position to one of confidence on her western saddle.

We rode swiftly back to the house, running up the stairs and grabbing a notepad and pen.

"What should we name our club? It's gotta be more interesting than those cliché names that people usually use. Something better than the 'Rose Riders' or something," I explained.

"Hmm... how about the Crystal Knights Guild? Or the Sapphire Queens?" Lorelei offered.

"I will write those down, those are pretty good," I said while scribbling down a list of names.

We continued to scribble down names throughout the hour, shuffling through word combinations. "There are so many good names, I'm not really sure which one of them to pick," I said.