Fear: The Horse and His Boy

Chapter 1

It was a surprisingly warm night in the dead of winter as a father put his daughter to bed. He had done this every night since her mother had died. For 10 years he had been tucking her in and kissing her forehead before leaving the room and putting the light out.

While he still viewed her as it, she was no longer a little girl. In the 10 years since her mother had died she had grown from a small little 3-year-old to a girl celebrating her 14th birthday the following day.

As the girl fell asleep the world around her began to change. The walls of her room faded away along with all her possessions. Lastly the bed underneath her along with the blankets vanished and she was sleeping in a crate full of damaged fishing nets.

"Remember boy, you must mend and wash all the nets, then clean the house and prepare supper." A man screamed a boy who stood in front of him.

"Yes father." The boy responded and the man turned and left.

The boy walked over to where the nets were and went to pick the first one up. When he lifted it up he saw a girl. The girl sat up and looked at the boy.

"Who are you?" the boy asked her.

"I don't know." She told him honestly. She was rather confused. She had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there. "Who are you?"

"My name's Shasta." The boy told her as he helped her out of the crate.

She was quite a bit shorter than him with her long reddish hair trailing down her back. Her dark eyes flitted around trying to find anything that told her where she was.

"Was that man your father?" she asked him, referring to the man that had recently walked away.

"Yes," Shasta told her looking down. "If you wouldn't mind moving out of the way I need to clean and mend these fishing nets."

"I can help if you needed it." She told him. "Your father doesn't seem like a very nice man and I wouldn't want you getting in trouble."

"I would like that very much." Shasta said to her. "But you might want some proper clothes first."

Shasta had been politely avoiding the topic of the girl's clothes. She was still dressed in the night dress, which although very comfortable, didn't cover her very well.

The pair went inside to find some clothes for the girl.

"Alvina, my name is Alvina." She told him.

"Well it is lovely to meet you Alvina." Shasta said

"As it is you." Alvina responded.

The two go to work Alvina cleaning the cottage, Shasta washing and mending the fishing nets. When Alvina had finished her cleaning, she set to work making supper for the fisherman.

As it started to grow dark Shasta came inside to take over the cooking. He sent Alvina into his room and waited for the fisherman to arrive home.

After a few weeks of this same routine Alvina went outside to get a breath of fresh air before going into Shasta's room for the night when she saw a figure walking towards the cottage quickly she ducked into the stable and waited.

After a what seemed like hours of her waiting in the stable a man arrived at the cottage. Alvina had never seen a man like him before. He rode upon a strong horse wearing chain mail along with a turban that had a spike sticking out the top. He carried a what looked like a curved sword and a round shield. His face was dark like that of the fisherman but he had a long, curled beard that was dyed crimson.

The fisherman kneeled in front of the man and forced Shasta to kneel as well.

The man demanded hospitality for the night and the fisherman allowed him to stay. Alvina could tell the fisherman was scared of the man.