Star Stable: Wildwoods

Chapter Seven: A Revelation

The morning sun shone down on the great fortress of Jarlaheim. The crowds were beginning to come through the marketplace as the heat of the day begun to rise. The early yellow light made the buildings and balconies gleamed like ancient silver. Locals inspected the produce and goods. But among them wandered foreigners in unique clothes and women with equally unique makeup.
But a little away from the crowds of the people was Erika on Geist. But after she and Geist was done resting up at Moon Crescent Village, Erika mounted Geist and rode back to Jarlaheim.
The girl and her horse scanned the crowd curiously, but a faint look of curiosity entered her blue eyes as gazed at the crowds of people. The girl sighed wearily and started walking through the town carefully.
A group of young girls stared at Erika on Geist, some with envy while others gave her looks of old admiration. The looks she received from the young men were less divisive. They stared with widened eyes and mouths opened ajar, some even winked and flexed their muscles. Erika rolled her eyes at the sight and looked away from them.
The children's reactions were more pleasant. They waved and and smiled with innocent enthusiasm. A few elderly villagers and younger people were also friendly. Her eyes softened when she saw an elderly couple sitting on a bench. The husband gifted his wife a rose. Erika felt her heart lifted at the beautiful sight in Jarlaheim. 
The market was more energetic than Erika expected. There were people coming to and from various shops and stands to sell a variety of items like handcrafted jewelry, plates, and pottery, some being made right there next to the stands as a crowd of people watched the artists at work. Jugglers entertained the locals and visitors, minstrels playing on their lutes, accordions, and pipes. The music was infectious, pulling Sierra to join in the group of people who got up to dance in the town square.
People were selling cooked meat and deep-fried kabobs on sticks, cooked fish sliced up and served with lemon at an outdoor restaurant, fresh berries being squeezed into wine for the grownups and juice for the children, and of course sugary treats like caramel apples, pies, ice cream, and bars of chocolate, some molded into the form of animals like dogs, horses, and bears. A few were shaped like dragons or griffins, and even bunny rabbits. Erika's stomach grumbled as she took in the smell. Every aroma intermixing in a way that made her hunger grow with each breath.
Luckily for her, Geist shared her sentiment. Erika paid for her horse and her meals. Erika was amazed by how good the food tasted. The spaghetti and shrimp was delicious and the ice cream she was offered was addictively sweet. The oats was pretty good for Geist and a cone full of blueberries and strawberries with mini carrots.
After lunch, Erika rode Geist out of Jarlaheim. She decided to explore around Jarlaheim (and make sure she doesn't accidentally end up getting lost) at the southern gate and head towards a small island just outside Jarlaheim. She cross an old stone bridge and up a hill. She stopped halfway up the hill and look around. To the left, the road leads to some houses. To the right, the road leads to a cordoned-off island. The wooden bridge that leads to that island has sunk into the water so that she cannot reach the island. On that island are the ruins of a building that once burned down.
She frowned at the sight of the abandoned island and convinced Grist to come to a stop to stare at the island with the burnt down ruins. As much as she wants to explore the island, it seems to be a little dangerous to cross the broken bridge. For some reason, it reminded her of loneliness and her ancestors' past.
Erika was all alone and she felt the familiar pang of loneliness creep into her chest. You would think that after traveling alone for years, she would get used to staying by herself... but she never did. Her nomadic lifestyle was fun and beautiful in its own way; no fights with anyone, no set schedule, she was living off the land, and so on. But she longed for one thing: friends. The people she usually came across out here were either liars or thieves, so there were no real opportunities for friendships.
But Erika had always have a soft spot when it comes to animals, especially horses. She loved horses when she was a kid and loved anything that involves horses. She had seen a lot of horse shows and performances of all sorts as well as cross country races and championship races just as well.
Erika pushed those painful questions back with thoughts of Alex and Linda. They swore that, no matter what, they would not stop being her friends. She couldn't remember what it felt like to have friends. If it felt anything like this then, once again, there was a silver lining to her amnesia. She was experiencing friendship for the first time all over again, and if she never had before, then even better. Her first real friends. She hoped they couldn't come to regret it later on.
As Erika stared at the wreckage of the house, she started searching through the damage from where she was at. But for the brief moment, Erika thought she saw a black Shire horse watching her and it disappeared as quickly as it came. But as the hours passed, her heart has begun to ache from the lack of information about her forgotten past and her family. She continued staring at the burnt down building determinedly. But Erika continued searching through the damage, her eyes is full of sadness and determination. Geist could empathize the human girl's sadness and determination. She's trying to learn what happened to her family, but she only found some small pieces of clues and yet she still doesn't have the full story of what happened in the past.
But Erika closed her eyes, a million thoughts in her mind. She doesn't know how to feel towards the situation. Emotions rolled around inside Erika like a whirlwind. She don't know whether to feel sad or angry or scared or curious. Behind the history of the destroyed building, Erika doesn't want to feel at the mere sight of it.
But crossing the bridge to Paddock Island was Imane Highcantle on a young adult chestnut Arabian stallion named Flame. She was trying to find a new mythical story for the Jorvik Gazette. Imane had suddenly spotted a secretive blonde girl on a seal brown paint horse, gazing at the abandoned island with the destroyed building. She encouraged Flame to stand next to the girl and the horse. "Excuse me?" The girl remained silent and kept her eyes on the destroyed building. "Do you know the story of this place?" The girl closed her eyes and let out a quiet sigh, but she still didn't say anything and her expression was very hard to read. Imane sighed as Flame had started to step back, giving up at encouraging the quiet girl to reveal the story.
"Yes. I do." Imane stopped Flame from leaving and turned to look at the girl who'd decided to speak. "My Dad told me the tale of it before I left for the countryside."
"Can you tell me?" Imane asked her, her notepad and her pencil in hand. "Please."
The girl was silent, but she nodded and the two girls both turned to look at Broken Tooth Island. "It happened around nine hundred years ago, a few years after Jorvik have been founded by Jon Jarl and his fleet. You probably know the legend about Galloper Thompson (to which Imane nodded at). But there's a lost piece of the legend that not many people know about and tried to forget over the years." The girl's eyes rested on Broken Tooth Island, as if she was seeing the history happening on the island. "There was a mob, frightened and superstitious about Jon Jarl's former bodyguard. They had surrounded the stable on that island. They were full of fear and anger. Soldiers move through the milling mob to take Gunnar away. Galloper Thompson or rather, Gunnar Thrymson, was saying his farewells to his closest companion, the fierce black Shire mare he had bonded with. It is just Gunnar and his horse facing Jarl's men. He was forced to surrender to the soldiers and face the judgement of his Jarl. As he was taken away by the soldiers, his mare had became agitated and started hitting the walls of the stable which scared the soldiers and the mob. But, that's when it happened..." The girl's eyes seemed to be set aflame, almost as if she was seeing the story coming to life. "Out of nowhere, a fire had broken out in the stable." Imane's eyes widened with horror. "Nobody knows how it happened. But the horse was trapped inside of the stable. The soldiers struggled to smother the flames. The mob had fallen back, stunned by the spectacle. The mare's screams of terror could be heard from the flames, matched by Galloper's howls of horror." A look of grief and sympathy had went into her eyes and kept her gaze on the abandoned island, as if she was seeing the story unfold before her eyes. "But once the flames had been extinguished, the damage has been done. Gunnar's mare has been assumedly killed by the flames. A stunned silence had settled amongst the people. Some smoke and cinders had floated in the air. Gunnar had collapsed, overwhelmed by grief and shock. After the death of Gunnar's mare, Jon Jarl had came to Paddock Island and saw the destruction of the stable before he confronting Gunnar." The blonde girl had let out a sigh as she gazed at the destroyed stable on the abandoned island.
"Th-Thank you," said Imane, recovering from her shock. "But how did you know this?"
"This tale has been told through my family for many generations," the girl revealed. "We had a diary of one of our ancestors who had mentioned this and somebody with the name 'Gunnar Thrymson'." The girl closed her eyes and drew in another breath, as if she was gathering her silent strength. "I only told this missing tale to reveal the truth of what really happened here."
Imane's eyes softened. "You were brave enough to reveal the truth and be your own person, despite what others say. You did the right thing."
The girl bowed her head thoughtfully when she opened her eyes. The blue in her eyes seemed to grow softer, like that bright haze of blue just above the horizon as the sun continued to rise. But a gentle breeze soon blew and caused her hair to cascaded behind her, scattering golden gleams of light. "The wind is blowing. Me and my partner must take our leave." The girl spun her mare around and started riding away from the sight of Broken Tooth Island.
"Wait!" The girl encouraged her mare to stop a few feet away from Imane and Flame. "What's your name and your horse's name?"
The girl didn't say anything and her expression was very hard to read from where Imane and Flame were both at. But she spun her horse around to look at Imane, though her secretive eyes made Imane freeze in place. "My name is Erika Warrior and this is Geist." She gently patted her paint horse's neck.
Imane smiled at Erika, feeling intrigue about the teenage girl. This missing piece of the legend will catch many people's attention.

By the next dawn, the sleepy town had started to awakening. In the sleepy town, a drowsy girl named Linda opened the front door of a limestone house. She took off her large glasses and rubbed her, blurry with sleep. As she looked into the small, neat garden with the blooming roses. But when she picked up the newsletter and the Jorvik Gazette, Linda had suddenly found an interesting column about Broken Tooth Island aka "The Atlantis of Jorvik" that was told about by Erika Warrior. Linda was stunned by Erika's truthful revelation and impressed by the truth of her family's stories. Something tells her that Galloper Thompson and his mare might have a bit joy of the mythical revelation to show his innocence.