The Golden Winged Horse

Chapter 20

Much to Tristan's disgust, Aeden insisted on bringing him with us when we walked into the woods. The poor horse couldn't stand up because the uneven ground made Aeden unbalanced and therefore kept knocking Tristan off his feet. When he decided to lay down, he ended up sliding all over the wooden base instead and bumping either his head or his hindquarters against the glass.

If a horse could scowl, Tristan had the expression down to a fine art. His ears were pinned flat back against his head, his soft brown eyes were now hard and glazed over with fury, and every time part of him hit the glass, he'd kick out with his back legs in annoyance.

I had to stop looking at him to curb my laughter. I knew for a fact once he was freed, he'd be after Aeden like a wasp with a point to prove.

Aeden led us straight to the spot where my gran had first met him with her sisters all those years ago. He stopped us near a small clump of blue flowers, flanked by a small bush, and let out a long sigh.

"Who knew that such a thing as a blue flower could cause the ripple of effects that has befallen upon us?" he said.

I stared at the ground, constantly repeating to myself must not laugh, must not laugh. My dad stood to my right, his arms folded over his chest and his eyes sparkling with amusement. Calico stood to my left, a deep frown creasing his forehead and tapping his right foot impatiently.

Aeden spun around and faced us, his happy features now fallen into a dark shadow. "I can almost feel the lines of time, the sands of all that is around us. It is ready, ready to change, for the butterfly to flap its wings and cause another ripple, a ripple that will overtake the last and replace all."

He stared at us with such intensity, I wondered if we were supposed to say something. Just as I opened my mouth to say something, he whipped back around, let out a shriek of joy, and lifted Tristan high up into the air with such ferocity, the poor creature actually floated in mid-air for a few seconds.

I turned around and let out a splutter of laughter. I couldn't hold it in anymore, it was too much. The more I tried to stop, the more it wanted to come out. My stomach ached from trying to hold it in.

"Ok," said Calico. "I think you need to give Tristan back to me."

I glanced over my shoulder to see Calico striding towards his brother, arms outstretched for the glass dome.

Aeden snatched the dome back from the air and hugged it to his side. "No."

Calico sighed. "Aeden, give me the horse."

"He's mine," Aeden said.

I looked back in front of me to see a rather sturdy tree a few feet ahead. I went to it and hid the other side so I could laugh to myself. However, hearing the two brothers go back and forth like a pair of toddlers arguing over a toy didn't help my case.

At the point where my sides hurt, I took a deep breath and calmed myself to an acceptable degree, at least what I thought acceptable anyway. I made my way back over to them, bemused somewhat by Calico stood in front of his brother with his arms folded and a thunderous look on his handsome face, and Aeden smiling back at him with Tristan still tucked under his arm.

"Aeden," I said, saying it slowly so my voice didn't shake from trying not to laugh. "If we're going to pick the flowers then we need to give it our full attention. Don't you agree?"

He glanced over at me and nodded. "Of course." He thrust Tristan out towards me and said, "Here."

Calico's jaw dropped and he turned and stared at me like I'd just grown three heads. I couldn't look back at him because I'd double over with laughter for sure.