Darkness

Darkness Chapter 9



The boy held on tightly to the seemingly tireless little stallion as it made a swift, steady pace for well over two hours through a dense old dark wood. Then, all at once, the horse turned sharply into a narrow overgrown ravine that appeared to dead end at the mouth of a immense cave. There was just enough light from the rising sun to expose the large, black, gaping cave mouth up ahead. The horse put his feet down carefully on the rocky terrain as he headed directly toward it. Why was the little horse taking him here?



Wait, he was the one who thought about taking flight for a period of time and then going to ground to confuse his pursuers. It was almost as if the strange, spooky little horse had read his mind. Perhaps a fairy steed could actually do that.



Neither the little horse nor his rider needed to lower their heads as they entered as the large, dark cave mouth for it was just high enough for them to ride inside. Almost immediately, as the horse entered the cave, he grew extremely restless. He twisted and wriggled about insistently, as if he was trying to persuade the boy to get off his back.



“Okay, damn-it, Sugar I get the point. You want me to get off your back now. So, hold on a minute already. ” The boy, unused to riding, slipped slowly, stiffly and carefully from the saddle and off the little horse's back. But, momentarily, the boy continued to tightly clutch the animals back for his legs were more than a little numb from the long fast ride. He held on until the feeling came back in his legs then he let go.

The impatient little horse, at last free of his rider, immediately, stamped his feet with pleasure then gave the boy another one of his wet kisses as a reward. Next, the horse kicked a windfall of dry brush and twigs in the young half-elf direction, as if telling him to make a fire.



“Sugar, okay, I’ll make a fire, if that’s what you want, But, first, why don’t you come here so I can get that saddle and my belonging off your back first. Surely, that will make you feel even more comfortable. ”



Almost before the words were out of the boy’s mouth, the beautiful little stallion whinnied enthusiastically, then, instantly, drew up very close to the boy then affectionately began to nuzzle his hair and throat with his soft sensitive nose, while  draped his head over around the boy's shoulders pressing his soft warm body against the boy’s body, almost as if to embrace him amorously like a lover. The youth backed up slowly from the animal's over eager affection, then carefully, unfastened the strap that held the saddle in place. Before he gingerly lifted   the saddle away, placing it, along with the rest of his belongings out of the way, but not before first freeing the most important water skin, for his thirst was great. Hurriedly, he opened the skin and took several quick mouthfuls then promptly filled his hands, again, so the little horse could drink too. Apparently, right away, the smart little horse saw what he did for it came over and drank the water slowly from the boy’s hands 'til it was gone then the horse proceeded to suck avidly on each of the boys fingers, once he even took a careful nip with his teeth as if the boy’s fingers were some tasty treat. It happened again causing the boy to cry out in pain when the second little nip was even harder. The boy was forced to retaliate by harshly pulling on the forelock of the horses mane, in order, to make him stop.



“Ouch! That hurt, Sugar! You’re a very bad boy please stop it now!” Scolded Keylyn.



The strange horse’s big blue eyes sparkled and stared back at him making full eye contact. The boy could almost swear he saw a somewhat alarming, naughty grin come on the stallion muzzle, as if he knew exactly what he was doing. Or, maybe, the boy just was more tired than he thought and he was just seeing things that weren’t there.



To get away from the strange perplexing little Stallion, the boy the left cave to begin gathering a bunch of firewood, for they would need a lot to keep a nice warm fire burning day and night. The half-elf made a number of trips back and forth to the cave  before he was satisfied that he had collected enough. Just as he was setting about to arrange the wood and start the fire, he heard a noise and turned around to see the small stallion approaching the cave, dragging a small dead tree in his mouth. The animal dragged the dead tree all the way into the cave and even back out of their way.



“So, Sugar, my naughty little beauty, you were out collecting firewood too? Here I thought you were just grazing. ” The boy gave into his impulse to hug the beautiful little stallion. In response, the animal   whinnying loudly and licked his ear avidly, which, for some reason, made the boy think of Darkness and how angry the awful man would be at his escape. The truth was, without the help of the feisty little stallion, the boy would still be to frighteningly close to the castle and very likely recaptured by now. He owed the little animal his freedom and, for that alone, he would take very good care of the beautiful blond horse.



So, carefully, the boy went about stacking up the dry wood and kindling in a particular way, so the good size fire he made would last a long time, and the smoke it gave off would filter out slowly through the cave month instead of building up inside. While, at the same time, the fire would give off a great deal of heat. Remembering the drawstring bag with the flint and striker he found in his leather bag, he quickly retrieved it. Before long, he had a good size fire going that quickly warmed up the cave considerable. Even his companion, the little horse, came over stood next the fire to get warm.



The boy noticed that the animal's pale blond coat was still a little wet with perspiration from their long ride. So he grabbed one of the large cloth napkins that he had placed in the pillowcase with the food and carefully rubbed down the little horse’s blond coat along with his slender legs until the animal was left dry and shining. When he stroked and rubbed up and down the little stallion’s slender fragile legs. The stallion relaxed and, definitely, became aroused at his touch for the boy couldn't help but notice that the creature had extended a very large extraordinary organ that made it a stallion. The great size of the organ, for such a small horse, was quite alarming. The boy had never seen one that up close and personal before. To make matters worse, the little horse leaned up against boy with his warm body, rubbing up against him in an intimate way. Just his luck, laughed the boy to himself … First, a horny wizard and now a horny horse. Actually, he preferred the horse for it seemed to know the meaning of 'NO' but the wizard was ardently singled-minded in his wanton intentions. The boy prayed he didn’t fall into the Wizard’s hands again for he feared what the man might do to him both in anger or in his unbridled lust.

When Sugar was at last as clean and dry as possible, the half-elf boy allowed himself to sit and rest by the fire. Only minutes later, the little horse knelt and then completely lay down on his side on the cave floor right along side the boy and the fire. Feeling safe, warm and comfortable, they soon both slipped slowly into a deep restful sleep.