Trustfall || Sanders Sides Equestrian AU

Chapter 16 - A Question of Bonds

Last time Roman had checked, he wasn't made of glass.

Every sound wave surrounding him drilled into his translucent ears like an agonized soul, and an overwhelming weight sat on his shoulders and pushed him to the ground with all its might. Every single one of his senses was painfully heightened, to the point where he discovered new ones he didn't know of. When the announcer spoke into the megaphone, the sound made Roman's brain feel like it was being set on fire.

"I'm sure you've heard of this pair before... Roman Windsor on Pull the Trigger!"

An explosive applause rose from the audience, and the cheers only dug into his ears more. Roman blinked the fuzziness of his vision away and looked down at his companion. Why is Trigger made of glass, too?

The sound marking the beginning of the round wasn't late to arrive. It rang in every atom in Roman's body and caused the tips of his nerves to sting. A terrifying fatigue settled in his limbs. How would he stay on?

No time to worry about that. Trigger was now shooting forward. Roman was aware of the commentator's voice in the background as they approached the first obstacle, but the words were jumbled and distorted. Countless pairs of eyes bored into his flesh. Is no one going to address the rider and horse made of glass? Though the sun stood in the very centre of the sky, a January chill rushed through Roman, and no ray of sunlight captured in his transparent skin.

They flew over the first obstacle, earning a round of applause from the hungry audience. Trigger's glass legs quivered when they met with the ground in the landing. They proceeded towards the second obstacle. Why is the shrieking in his ear becoming louder? Even the chirp of a nearby bird felt like a drill boring into his skull.

Another jump. Another quiver. Another applause. Crippling fear. Another drill.

Roman had stopped counting the jumps by the time they approached it.

The obstacle was like a portal to the underworld in the very centre of the ring. It towered above them like their looming doom come plant a kiss of death on their foreheads. Roman's translucent hands clenched around the reins of glass. His heart hammered in every last corner of his body for everyone to see. The pulse visited his throat, and his ears, and between his eyes, and in his knees, and in his back, and in the very pit of his ribcage. Soon to be shattered.

Roman battled his frozen vocal chords to beg Trigger to stop, but they didn't budge. With each stride, the noise grew louder. Louder. He never knew sound could be this painful.

There it is. Their final jump. Only halfway through the course, yet it would be their very last one.

Trigger crashed. And Roman held on. As the horse of glass shattered into him, sending his own pieces digging their way into the ground, for one horrifying heartbeat nothing hurt at all.

-

"Ah!"
Roman's gasp caused a rope of cold air to slide out through his throat leaving his lungs burning. He tore himself out of the nightmare with a frightened mental yank. As his eyes awkwardly gathered the jumbled pieces of the world around him together to compose a proper vision, his heart tumbled in an attempt to recreate a steady rhythm.

And he thought he was already done with this nightmare.

Though it definitely wasn't the first time he got it, this time one detail was a bit different. Not a detail in the nightmare itself – but rather in his awakening. For the first time since he'd started getting it, Roman didn't wake up from the nightmare cold. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he was this comfortably warm.