The Crystal and the Horse

Aidan was a hard working alchemist. He had spent the whole morning looking up in all sorts of books where to find the legendary Moon plant, which was said to turn copper to silver. Now he was tired and decided to take a stroll outside for some fresh air. He stepped out into the chilly night and let the cold air fill his lungs.

As Aidan trudged through the desolate snow filled park, he heaved a sigh of relief. It was so nice being outside after a whole day of being cramped in his small and stuffy house.

There was a scream. Everything went quiet. Even the birds stopped their usual scrabbling around. An eerie silence filled the night air, followed by a scratchy noise in the bushes.

Aidan ran, but he didn’t know where he was going. All he wanted was to get away from the creepy park. Soon afterwards, Aidan found himself in a dark forest. The trees were covered in lichen and moss and the ground was littered with damp leaves. The smell of decomposing twigs wafted through the air. Aidan stopped to catch his breath, and that was when he heard footsteps behind him. He barely had time to turn around when a figure dressed in a black hooded cloak started to chase him. Out of nowhere, another one appeared and the sound of footsteps doubled.

Aidan started to run again. He ducked under the low branches of a very young oak tree, leapt over a stream and almost tripped over a log. He couldn’t go on for much longer.  His legs were aching and he was nearly out of breath.

Before very long, Aidan was forced to stop. He could hear the footsteps of his pursuers becoming louder and louder but he couldn’t run any more. All of a sudden there was a whinny. A white riderless horse with a sleek coat appeared and walked up to him. Without a second thought, he climbed onto the horse’s back. The horse didn’t need to be told; he galloped away as fast as lightning. After fifteen minutes of running, the horse slowed into a canter and then stopped in a clearing.

As Aidan dismounted, he collapsed. He was tired, shocked, confused. Also, he didn’t know what to do. After a while, Aidan muttered a quick thanks to the horse, expecting him to ignore it. Then Aidan heard a voice. It said, “You’re welcome.”

Aidan looked around for a person but there was nobody there.

The voice repeated itself, “You’re welcome.”

This time, he saw the horse’s mouth move.

“What did you say?” the tired man asked.

“Can’t you hear me?” exclaimed the horse.

Aidan was astounded. The only time he had come across the concept of talking horses had been in books, but never in real life. Aidan walked away. He needed to have some time to think and get used to things. Weird things are happening. I’ve been chased for no reason that I know of. There’s a talking horse. Where am I? When will I get back? Questions buzzed through his head. After a long time, Aidan walked back to the horse and sat down next to him.

“What happened?” Aidan asked at last.

The horse paused. “A few hours ago, a knight --Don Orogoth was his name --  was seated upon my back; we were riding to a party. Then, we reached the forest that you and I met in. We stopped for a drink by a tiny stream and just as Don Orogoth stooped down to drink, he tripped over something and fell half into the tiny stream. When he got out, he saw what he had tripped over. It was a big crystal, about the size of an ostrich egg. After admiring it for a while, he decided to give it to the host of the party. Don Orogoth placed it in a sack, got onto me and we began our journey once more. But no sooner had we started, a figure dressed in a black hooded cloak, jumped out of the bushes, he (or she, we couldn’t see its face) could run amazingly fast. I galloped away as quickly as I could. I could sense that the figure intended to do us no good. Unfortunately, the figure some how managed to capture Don Orogoth. I tried to kick our attacker but it split into two, one half defending itself, and the other dragging the poor knight away. After that, the half that was fighting me, disappeared into the trees. At the time, I did not know what was happening but now, I presume we were attacked because someone else was looking for the crystal. Luckily I have it with me.”

“Then shouldn’t we give it to them?” Aidan asked.

“What are you talking about? It’s dangerous! They’re evil! They will cast a bad spell with the stone,” replied the horse.

“So what shall we do?” asked Aidan. “We’ll find a place to sleep for the night and then hide the crystal,” answered the horse.

They trotted for a while till they reached a small farmhouse. Aidan knocked on the door. A man opened it and when Aidan asked if he and his horse could stay for the night. The man replied, “Of course.”

It turned out that the man who opened the door, was not the farmer. In fact, he was the farmer’s son. He told Aidan to wait at the door while he told his father that they were staying for the night. A few moments later, the farmer’s son reappeared with his father and introduced Aidan to him. The farmer’s name was Arthur.

That evening, the horse slept in the stables and Aidan slept in the spare room.

Unknown to Aidan, at midnight, there was a knock at the door. The farmer, Arthur, put on his dressing gown and crept downstairs. Cautiously, he opened the door. A strange person dressed in along black hooded cloak stood at the doorway.

“If you see a man and a white horse, let me know. I will be here.” The stranger handed Arthur a map and pointed to a small patch of land. The stranger then turned and left.

Arthur was quite shocked at the visit. He sat down at the table and wondered what to do. He didn’t know whether to trust Aidan or the stranger who came to the door. The stranger did look a bit scary but then again he had just met Aidan. Arthur stared at the map.

Finally he made up his mind…

When Aidan came downstairs the following morning, Arthur told him the someone had come to the door last night asking for Aidan and that the person had told him that he would be in the forest. Aidan thanked the farmer and walked to the stables. He spoke to the horse and they discussed where they should go.

Aidan reported to the horse his conversation with Arthur. “Lets go in the direction of river opposite the forest,” suggested the horse. “That would be the most obvious thing to do, but we can’t totally trust the farmer,” Aidan replied. “ true, but where can we go then?,” asked the horse. Aidan told him that it would be possible for them go in neither direction, and instead go to the meadows and hide the stone.

It was not long before they got there, but Aidan was still tired. They sat down to rest for a while. After some time, the horse got up and stretched his legs. “Come on Aidan, we better hide the crystal before its dark,” he said.

Aidan stood up and yawned. “Alright,” he mumbled. A few minutes later, Aidan and the horse were talking over where to hide the crystal. Aidan thought that they should hide it in the bushes but the horse thought it would be better to bury it. In the end, they went with the horse’s plan.

That night, Aidan made a shelter out of sticks and leaves to sleep in. It was not much but it would give them protection from bad weather.

They woke up early the next morning. Aidan offered the horse to live at his house because the horse had nowhere to stay. The horse said yes. The journey back was very long and they got lost several times; otherwise they were unharmed.

When they got to Aidan’s house, Aidan made the horse promise never to speak to or in front of anybody except himself; you never knew whether people meant to do you good or not. He was worried someone would come asking for the crystal.

It was not long before the horse settled into his new home. When Aidan ever went to feed the horse, they would always chat about their adventure. This time it was something different that they talked about. The horse had just finished a mouthful of hay. All of a sudden he asked “What about Don Orogoth?” “Well, That’s another story…” Said Aidan.