Midnight Rider

Chapter Four : Realm of Infinity

Smoke swirled around the pair of Rider and Horse as Lynette's body materialized out of thin air. At first, her body was just a cloud of sparkling mist, contorting and flowing about shapelessly. Then, slowly, it began to take the shape of Lynette's figure, curling into a more solid shape. At last, the sheen of the mist began to dull, and Lynette's image formed. 

Lynette blinked open her eyes that began to drink in her dazzling surroundings. The scene's beauty calmed her significantly, and it was only when her chest heaved a sigh of relief that the memories of the traumatic experience flowed back to her.

Her body began shimmering, glistening away. Lynette gasped, looking down at what she was becoming : a shapeless cloud of smoke. 

"Stardust! Help! I'm becoming mist!" she yelped frantically as her body transformed into nothingness. But Stardust was already a puff of mystical mist herself. Lynette's eyes began to tear. She hadn't asked for all this "Rider" nonsense. All she had wanted was a happy family and a loyal bestie. Emily. Dad. Was that too much to wish for?

"Bye Earth...!" she called out valiantly as she disappeared.

Nothingness swallowed her up greedily, causing wave after wave of panic and sheer dizzyness to wash over her. "No! No!" she yelled into the blackness, but nothing heard her cries. She tumbled through portal after portal of empty darkness with sudden flashes of blinding light, her lungs practically compressed by the pressure of this ride. She fell to her knees, begging for mercy from this torment. 

But it was to no avail. Her frail body was flung forward again, and she burried her face in her hands as some unknown force uncoiled her legs from underneath her and sent her vaulting forward into another dimension and realm. For the first time in what seemed like eons, warmth and calm washed over her as she steadied herself on her feet in this new land. 

Lynette panted as she relived the trauma of teleporting through time and space as bodyless matter. "Rider," Stardust looked as calm as a summer sea as she dipped her head towards Lynette. "How was the trip? Enjoyable?"

Lynette could think of dozens of words to describe the journey, but 'enjoyable' was defenitely not one of them. She shook her head. 

Stardust let out a playful whinny. "All Riders experience shock and dizzyness on their first trip, so don't worry. It'll soon become second nature to you!" 

Lynette didn't have anything to say to that, so she busied herself in admiring her surroundings. 

The whole land was bathed in a pearly white sheen, and the buildings inside it glowed with a similarly coloured aura. Far in the distance, a shining turquoise tower spiraled up towards the Sun that bathed it in golden light. Turrets and windows dotted the sides of the tower. A few majestic buildings sprawled out over the ground around the tower's base. They all had large ornately decorated roofs, especially one with a large sign of a Horse on the side of it.

Closer to them, a more simplistic town layout could be seen. A large bustling marketplace was surrounded by a circle of houses and utility buildings, everything glowing steadily. People, probably Riders, Lynette assumed, hurried about the townscape, carrying out their daily routine.

And there was much more to observe in the land, like the endless fields of flowers and fresh green grass that seemed to go on forever and the lush forests of trees. 

Lynette's feet felt damp and out of curiosity she took a glance down at them, a gasp escaping her lips as she did so. They were both standing on the fluffiest cloud she had ever seen, their feet gently touching the water vapour that made up the cloud. They were suspended by the clouds above the land. "Can we proceed now, Rider?" Stardust's silvery voice that rang in her head interrupted her dazed state of euphoria and surprise.