BurningRod

Chapter 8

Jackson covered his head. He felt heat all around him, and would be dead if the wing hadn't protected him.

But if he wasn't burning because the wing was protecting him... No point in finishing that thought.

As soon as he felt the heat die down a bit, Jackson jumped out from under the wing. The dragon was gone, probably because it thought they were dead.

Jackson grabbed the dormant horse and dragged him into the cover of the forest. He reached for his bag to pull of the water, but he forgot he had dropped the sack earlier.

"No..." He started. "Buddy, were here... BurningRod?"

The horse reached his head up and laid it in Jackson's lap. Then, he closed his eyes again. The horse's fur was gone in place and the rest of him completely burnt.

He laid down next to the horse and put his head on the animal's stomach. He waited there, hopelessly, until he felt the horse stop breathing. Even after that, he laid there with him, thanking him.

The time he'd given him. A friendship without envy, a beauty without vanity. He'd narrowed the horse's freedom. The stallion's body took the wait of his and he was carried through. He'd given the a loyalty without vanity.

And as he thought, he realized how much the horse had really meant to him, how much not only the horse sacrificed, but gave to him.

It was the strangest thing when realized that he was no longer laying on the horse's fur. Instead, he was on the ground.

Quickly, he got up and looked around.

The Pegasus's body was gone. In it's place was an egg. A blue and white egg.

Confusion fell over Jackson. What happened?

He picked up the egg and inspected it. It was way bigger than a normal egg, matching about the size of a car's tire. Jackson decided to take it home with him.

He walked through the forest with tears running down his cheek. He was almost to hurt to care about the egg that much.

He found his bike right where he had left it. He walked it back so he could still carry the egg. Jackson stopped before he looked around the last corner. This was it. Either the man was right or wrong, and either way, he was going to find out. He took a deep breath and peered out of the woods.

Everything that should have been there in the first place, was there like before. His house, his neighbors, everything.

He rushed to his front door and was about to open it until he remembered what the man had said, that time would have stopped and his mom and friends wouldn't know he had been gone long. It would be like a normal day.

He took a deep breath, wiped his tears so he wouldn't be questioned, and then clicked the door handle. His family was already sitting down at the dinning table.

"Jackson, your ten minutes late!" His mother told him when he walked in. Jackson could only smile at that comment. Only ten minutes.

"What are you all happy about?" She questioned him.

"Nothing." He said almost laughing. "Nothing at all. I need to put something upstairs, then I'll be down for dinner. You may start without me."

Jackson rushed upstairs to his room and locked the door. He looked at the egg. It started to shake.

Jackson dropped it, but the carpet was soft and it didn't break. Suddenly, two tiny wings extended out, popping the top of the egg open.

Jackson watched in utter disbelief as out of the egg leaped a baby horse. Not just a horse, a pegasus, like BurningRod had been. Except this one had short blue fur and a long white mane and tail. Two wings connected to his back. His wings were not feathered this time. Instead, they were like the dragon's wings. A bone frame and white skin covering it. Just the top of each wing was blue.

Jackson smiled. It was as if BurningRod had been reborn again. Except this time, it was his turn to name it. And he called him FiringLine.