Nearby an angelic youth was putting her hulking warhorse through his paces. The pair tromped around the small clearing, the lithe figure of the albino guiding the stallion through tight figures and complicated movements. A long willowy branch was positioned in her hand as an extension of her leg, tapping the brute’s mahogany sides when he became dull to her aids. Her brows were knit above her crimson eyes in a look of stern concentration as she laid a sequential pattern of aids from her weight, seat, legs, and hands upon the stallion. Quickly the bay beast obliged and leapt to the air, striking out suddenly with his thick hind legs. Landing with a surprising softness, the young woman reached up to stroke the stud’s cresty neck.
“’Atta boy, Ye’Dar,� she cooed before returning the praising hand to the reins. Placing a leg upon his side and opening the opposite hand, she led him onto a circle. Smoothly, she asked him for sharp transitions between his paces; trotting energetically forward a few strides, then leaping to a round and uphill canter for a few more. The stallion’s ear’s being finer tuned than those of the pale woman’s upon his broad back; Ye’Dar heard the faint music wafting through the trees first.
He came to an abrupt halt, nearly tossing his rider over his ears. The brute’s neck was upright, ear zeroed in on the notes on the air. After getting out her fair share of curses mainly directed at the heavy horse beneath her, Gabriella shut her mouth and tried to catch what her keen horse was listening to. Just as the soft music began to reach her ears, it ceased blatantly. “You silly boy,� she jested. “There’s nothing there.� Collecting her reins and seat, she tapped the strong hindquarters of the stallion; attempting to snap him from his entrancement. However, being young and fresh, Ye’Dar answered her question with an unexpected buck, snaking his head between his knees and popping his back forward. This motion unseated the young woman, who landed in a crumpled heap next to the warhorse. Leaping to her feet, Gabriella hardly had time to open her mouth before the stud was off like a rocket.
Ye’Dar hightailed it through the woods in the direction the music had come from; his youthful yet naïve mind swimming with curiosity. His large ears cocked back slightly as he heard his master call after him, but he paid her no heed; his mind was set currently on running, and he was executing the thought quite well.
“Hey!� the albino screamed as she ran, brandishing the sapling branch like a sword. “You better get back here you lazy brute of a horse!� Her legs pumped after the animal, spurs jangling madly as her booted heels thudded against the plush ground. He’d tire soon enough, she thought hopefully as she gasped. But instead of gaining on the stallion, his form before her began getting smaller and smaller, until he disappeared into the underbrush. “Stupid beast,� she cursed to herself. “When I get my hands on you I swear I’ll skin you alive! I’ll make a rug out of you!� Her pace slowed and she eventually stopped, her eyes focused on the direction she had last seen her mount gallop off to. Heaving breaths in heavy gulps, Gabriella spotted the young man sitting nearby.
“Hey,� she called out breathlessly. “Have you seen a horse gallop past?� She questioned, pointing the makeshift crop in the stallion’s general direction. “He’s about yea tall and would be galloping like a spaz,� she said, raising her hand above her head to denote the height of Ye’Dar.