Where He Went

Chapter One

I can feel the muscles of my horse's chest expand with her breathing, pressing the Comanche coil into my leg. I lay back with my head on the point of her hip, looking at the stars. She doesn't seem to mind my stargazing position as she grazes, taking a step to two every now and then. I can hear the crickets chirping and the occasional snapping noise of grass being torn from the ground, followed by chomping. It's times like this I wish I could play my guitar whilst on my horse. Strumming the strings, picking them one my one then melding them together. Moving from Legato to Staccato, mixing and matching sounds and clashing them pleasurably.

My thoughts are cut short as Torva jerks her head up, her ears flattening down. She steps back ever so slightly, putting her weight on her back feet. I sit up, readjusting myself on her bare back. I grab a fist full of her black mane in my hands, ready for her to either rear or run. She licks her lips in a submissive action towards the aggressor I cannot see. I can feel all of her muscles rigid and tense like a rock underneath me. She looks as if she's carved in stone, the harsh lines of her chiseled body pressing up against me. Chills run down my spine as I hear nothing but eerie silence. The crickets have stopped their chirping and the lack of sound is louder than the most wicked screams of despair erupting from the chests of the most tortured souls. I press two fingers slowly to my horse's flank, just behind my leg, giving her the cue to back up. The muscles don't even flinch beneath my fingers, they simply have petrified. I urge her to move using many different cues, but it's as if she's hypnotized by something in the distance. Something I cannot see. I feel a presence, as does she, but the darkness envelopes our surroundings. Looking for someone in front of us would be like looking for a black rose in a can of black paint. We'd have to feel our way through and try to avoid the thorns.

A low warning sound that resembles a growl is emitted from my mare's chest, sending vibrations through my legs. Her withers tighten and within seconds her weight is on her back feet, her top half launching in the air. I squeeze with my legs, leaning forward ever-so-slightly as not to fall off. It seems as if we're suspended in air for a moment as a shrill sound escapes her, and suddenly we're falling backwards at an alarming velocity. I try to pull my legs from the Comanche coil, but I only manage to twist slightly so that her side falls on my leg. We hit the ground with a sickening thud, my horse no longer moving. I can't hear her breaths, nor can I feel the expansion of her chest against my leg.

"No, no, no!" I whisper harshly into the air. I pry my leg out from under her, managing to escape the Comanche coil. I lean over her, running my hand along her chest. She is still warm and her coat is soft, however I cannot feel her heart any longer. I run my hand from her chest up her neck only to feel a warm, slick wetness crawling down her neck. Blood.

"Oh, Torva. No. This can't be happening." I whisper, hoping in the last moments that her brain could still be working she hears me. "I love you, girl."

I feel hot tears rush down my face, dripping onto her coat, but I don't care to wipe them off my face. My lip trembles and a soft sob escapes me, surprising me. I'd have to return in the morning and bury her properly.

I'd been so busy mourning that I hadn't thought about what had caused the injury to my horse. That is, until I heard a deep, ominous laugh behind me. It rumbled like thunder and made shivers run up and down my spine.

"Torva, huh?" The deep voice teased in a menacing manner. His voice was like a chainsaw, unpolished and raspy. His enunciation was precise and the way he said my horse's name was perfect, accent and all.

"She didn't seem very fierce." He snarled into the darkness. If I couldn't see him, perhaps he couldn't see me? I got to my feet and rushed away, hearing slightly the insults he was throwing at me and my horse, but they vanished into air just as I did.