The Sidekick

Chapter 4

-Kyris POV-

Once I finished greeting the carriage horses I hopped onto the carriage. It was huge! I could probably lay across it if I wanted to. The Chosen One got in after me, watching me warily. I looked back at him and tilted my head curiously.  "What's your name anyway?"  He gave me a weird look and replied. "Alec. My name is Alec." I nodded and the carriage lurched forward. I watched as we passed the forest on the way to my village, unable to sleep from excitement. As we approached my village I felt a pang of sadness. It's going to be hard to say goodbye to this place, my home. We came to a sudden stop and I looked at Alec curiously. "Do you need to pack anything? Say goodbyes?"  He asked. I nodded and got out of the carriage to pack.
     After half an hour I had everything packed, from a toothbrush to my journal. I headed back to the carriage to see a few supply crates and a frustrated Alec  "What's wrong with you?" I asked him. "Can you take any longer? I almost left without you!" He exclaimed. I glared at him and said  "It was hardly thirty minutes. Your fine."  He rolled his eyes as I smirked. "Are you always this cocky? Or are you in a mood?"  His face turned red as he looked at me in outrage, then stomping into the carriage. I smiled smugly and handed my luggage to a young boy who seemed to be loading other people's luggage. I went into the carriage and sat down in front of Alec. He gave me a weird look but just looked back out the window. Again,the carriage lurched forwards, and before I knew it we were off.
   "How much longer?!"  I asked Alec. I was getting very soar and kept constantly squirming, wanting to walk. He looked at me and replied. "Three hours. Quit whining would you? I'm trying to think."  His voice was filled with annoyance, so I knocked on the carriage window. The carriage came to a stop as a man held open the door. As I was crawling out of the tiny box on wheels Alec asked. "What are you doing? Get back in here!" 
"I'm going to walk some of the way"
He looked at me as if I'd grown two heads  "Your going to walk? Why?"
I looked at him, eyebrow raised. "Well can I ride a horse?"  He sighed in annoyance and pinched the bridge of his nose. "If your a skilled enough Beast Tamer, there is a wild herd up ahead. You can tame one of those horses."  I smiled happily and closed the carriage door. I started walking next to the Carriage as it moved and looked around at the forest. It was magnificent! Everything was green and alive, with all kinds of different birds chirping in the distance and the bubbling of a stream nearby. I closed my eyes, concentrating on the wild life around us, then felt through all the beating hearts of the birds surrounding us. I then concentrated on a curtain birds soul and called to it. I felt a small tug, knowing it worked, I held out my arm as a large bird of prey swooped and landed roughly on my forearm as if it was trained. The birds claws only pricked small holes in her arm, not enough to hurt, but enough to feel it. She tried to identify the bird, and realized it was a Red Tailed Hawk. She scratched its head as it screeched welcomingly. There was a thump and a grunt in the carriage, probably Alec hitting his head from the loud noise. She stroked the birds head and after a few minutes of pondering, she named him Red. I know, very original, but it suited him. I could always tell an animals personality, gender, likes, and dislikes. That was all, sadly. She couldn't speak to them like the Dryads could. She was thinking of how wonderful that would be, to be able to speak to an animal, when the forest suddenly came to a end and reached the grassy plains. She set the bird off back home, for she knew this was where the herd of horses would be.
     After about a quarter hour of walking the plains the carriage stopped and a man walked to open the door for Alec. Alec stepped out and blinked at the sudden brightness. "I want to watch you tame these horses, and while your at it tame me one as well."  I glared at him and replied. "I don't tame them, I ask them."  He snorted and started walking west. I followed and after a minute or two of walking we saw the herd.  "Which one do you want?"  I asked Alec without looking at him. He looked down for a moment and said. "The paint in front of them all." He said, pride lacing his voice. I rolled my eyes at him and nodded. Idiot. He knew little about horse behavior, if he wanted the strongest horse he should've chosen the horse in the back, the stallion, yet chose the front one , the lead mare. She was beautiful though, a buckskin paint, and had a calm temper. I looked down on the horse I was going to ask, the stallion. He was magnificent. His coat shined like the blackest night and the only trace of color on him was a single white spot on his withers. He also had a very short temper, very fierce. She liked that. Well, here we go...