The Fire Horse

Chapter 10 - Nina

I was glad to know my friends were on their way. Shadow probably knew the mountains better then any of these horses. I hadn't heard from Thunder for a while but I knew even in ordinary conversations he didn't pay much attention when he was focused on something else. So I continued to lead the group of horses west towards Firgrove. I only knew which way was west from the map I'd seen earlier so I was careful to remember which way it was when we went around things so we wouldn't become hopelessly lost. After about an hour of walking I knew the horses needed to rest and so did I. I had just started to look for a good secluded place when suddenly a blast of wind blew from my left knocking me and the horses off our feet. Ten white horses galloped out of the trees and circled around us. In a panic I blasted ice at them and froze one horse's hoof to the ground. Of course that just made them angry. They stood in a circle around us and who I guessed was their leader stepped forward. The leader was a white Andalusian who stood taller then his companions. He looked first at the one horse's frozen hoof then back at me. "You know the Ice Horse" he said simply glaring at me. Clearly this guy didn't have a good history with Thunder. I had no idea what to say to him, if he had a history with Thunder then I couldn't reason with him. I figured I'd stall him in hopes my friends would arrive soon. I nodded at him and said "I do, but first tell me why your attacking us!" I said to him. "You are in my mountains" he said simply. "Well so is Dark Core!" I pointed out. Before he could respond another voice suddenly yelled "BREEZE!" I recognized it as Thunder's voice. I didn't know how he'd gotten here but I was glad he did. Thunder galloped in between the the horse and me. "Leave us alone" Thunder said glaring at him. The leader, Breeze, replied "Ice Horse, I told you two years ago to stay out of our mountains!" "Well did I listen then?" Thunder said with a fierce gleam in his eye. Breeze and the other white horses stepped forward but Thunder said firmly "Don't. You know what happened last time you attacked me." I was amazed to see Breeze back down. He neighed loudly and galloped off with his group. We stood there for a moment before relaxing. I turned and hugged Thunder, I was so glad to see him! Talking to him in my head wasn't the same as seeing him in person. After I let go of him I asked "Who were those horses?" Thunder sighed and said "Those were the Wind Horses, a group of magical horses with power over wind. They aren't friendly and seem to think the mountains here are their territory. They only don't bother Dark Core because they know they couldn't defeat them. But everybody else who wanders into the mountains, they attack" I then decided to ask the biggest question "How do they know you?" I asked hoping he'd answer. To my surprise he actually replied but was pretty vague about it. "I was hiding in these mountains about two years ago and I ran into them. They attacked but I froze their leader at the time, Blizzard, and they ran off. The next time I saw them Breeze was leading the group and they attacked again. I defeated them and spared Breeze's life when I could've killed him. That's probably the reason why he decided to back down today" this was the most Thunder had revealed about his past. I realized that Thunder had been through a lot more then I imagined. He hasn't even said why he was hiding in the mountains. I assumed he would open up more with time. I was distracted from my thoughts by the sound of something flying nearby. I looked behind me and saw Shadow landing behind us. Jacqueline jumped off her horse and ran over to me. "Nina!" she shouted happily. I was pretty happy to see her too. She is my best friend after all. We chatted about random things while Thunder and Shadow talked. I couldn't help but overhear some of the horses conversation. "Thunder these are the mountains that mom said-" Shadow began only to be cut off by Thunder. "I know. I was hiding here two years ago, it was the only place I knew Ace wouldn't go, and figured out why. The local horses aren't exactly friendly" Shadow nodded and Thunder added "I'm a little worried about leaving Kate and Fox alone, this was a necessary trip but still." "Well My and Sapphire are still there so at least they aren't completely alone" Shadow said although it seemed he was trying to reassure himself too. "Besides what are the chances of anything happening on this one day?" Shadow finished still sounding a little unsure. I checked my watch and saw it was around 5:00 in the morning. The horses came over and lied down next to us for a rest. It took a few minutes but I finally fell asleep leaning against Thunder's side. My last thought before drifting off to sleep was I hope Shadow's right.