Chapter 5
written by Darknezz
Note:
The content of these chapters was written 10 years ago and wasn’t changed since. Writing style differences may occur as the story goes on. Only the translation is recent.
Cheyennes thoughts are cursive.
Encounter with death and future
One goes, the other comes
Lake Bellistra, Luminastrelle
Falconhearts Hooves thundered on the hard ground, dark green fir trees flew by, and the wind rustled into Cheyenne’s ears. She just couldn’t take it anymore. What’s been going on lately? Bad luck seems to haunt me as if it were my own shadow… Not only did the pony die, it’s dead just because of me. And I put everyone else in danger, not only Falconheart and Adocaz, but also, for the second time now, Glaczio. Why did I ride away? I left him standing, just like that, in the middle of the wilderness, he doesn’t have a horse anymore and has to get on by foot somehow. Oh no, what if the knights found out that he helped me and they are now pursuing him too? No… I’m putting everyone in danger… The girl reproached herself enormously and was so overwhelmed by the whole situation that she didn’t know what to do. What would she do now? How would she find Saraley? Would Glaczio fare well, and if they met again one day, would she even be able to look him in the eye?
After a while, the ground sloped down, the three companions came to a stream and Cheyenne stopped Falconheart so he could have a drink, Adocaz also took a few sips. She wiped her tears from her face with her hand and looked around. This place was beautiful. In the place where the stream flowed, there was a forest clearing, behind it stretched the coniferous forest through which she had come. You could even see a part of the Klissave Mountains above the tall fir trees. The sky was full of chromastars and the source of life could already be seen. On the other side of the stream there was a mixed forest, deciduous and coniferous trees grew there in the most beautiful shades of green. Far and wide, however, there was no path to be seen. The girl was completely disoriented and would just ride straight ahead, following the course of the river.
The rippling water of the stream probably came from the Klissave Mountains and may even have originated from the spring water that plunged into the depths at last night’s sleeping place. The river made a curve a few meters next to Falconheart and then went straight into the mixed forest. When the horse and the fairy wolf had apparently drunk enough, the journey continued. Cheyenne had stopped crying and calmed down somewhow, even though she was still reproaching herself and feeling bad. She let Falconheart wade through the river to get to the other side. For better or worse, Adocaz had to swim across. But it wasn’t a problem for him at all; The fairy wolf jumped joyfully into the cold water and kicked through the stream. Once on the other side, he shook himself vigorously, so that many drops of water were thrown through the air. Immediately afterwards, the girl on her horse had also made it to the other shore. She rode Falconheart in a walk along the river, into the mixed forest.
In the midst of the many trees it was dark and quiet. Not even birds were chirping, the only thing you could hear was the babbling of the river. Cheyenne looked at the scratches on her arms. They had already stopped bleeding and some were barely visible. The wounds of her two companions, on the other hand, were still open. She had often become suspicious about this; When the girl still lived in the undercity and she had helped her grandparents in the field, there were often a few cuts. But Cheyenne’s injuries healed much faster than those of her grandparents. The couple had always blamed it on the age difference. They said that a young girl had a better and faster healing process than two older people. They were actually right, but her wounds always healed much faster than Xaver’s too. When she had tinkered with him, for example, on the weapon belts, both had suffered some cuts on their hands. The next day, however, Cheyenne’s wounds had barely been visible, unlike Xavers. The girl found this quick healing ability extremely convenient, but at the same time she also found it a bit strange and extraordinary.
She shook off her thoughts and looked forward again. Through the ears of her beloved horse, she could only see that the river seemed to go straight on forever. The only thing that changed was that the course of the stream became wider and wider.
In the forest it was beautiful, but also much too quiet. Not a single animal was heard or seen. It was so quiet that it almost seemed creepy. The strange mood seemed to make Falconheart nervous, for he snorted, raised and lowered his head restlessly, and trembled from time to time, and Adocaz also looked wildly around. Cheyenne stroked her horse’s neck to calm him down and whispered to him that everything was fine. “Falconheart, calm, everything is fine. I also think it’s way too quiet here, but that’s no reason to be so nervous right away, is it? I really hate to say it, but… if Glaczio were here now, I’d feel more comfortable… Oh, what am I saying… It was my own decision to leave. And it was a good one. Now at least I don’t put his life in danger anymore and don’t have to be called stupid nicknames anymore. Right, Adocaz?” The girl tried to speak in a reasonably calm voice and appear cheerful to calm her two four-legged friends down, but she did not succeed. She could not radiate confidence, but only sadness and despair. Of course, this mood was transferred to the horse and the fairy wolf and Cheyenne felt even worse than before.
Suddenly, Adocaz flinched, pulled up his tail, pricked up his ears, raised his antennas, and stared stiffly into the forest. His whole neck fur stood up and he growled softly. Then he made himself a little small and laid his ears very flat. Falconheart stood on his hind legs, barely noticeable, rolled his eyes in horror and fright, and also laid his ears back completely flat. But Cheyenne ignored the behavior of her companions and now drove her horse forward at a trot. The fairy wolf followed the two and looked back every few seconds. The girl knew why the two four-legged friends were suddenly so nervous. They had heard something, and Cheyenne had heard the sound as well. At first it sounded as if something or someone had stepped on a branch, which was then broken, and then the strange silence was disturbed by heavy breathing. The girl didn’t want to be in that forest anymore, she wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. Her heart began to beat wildly, she became nervous and anxious. This breathing did not come from an animal, it had been much too slow for that. It sounded more like a human, but because it was so heavy, it seemed almost inhuman again, almost animal again. Cheyenne did not dare to turn around, she kept her eyes on the river, hoping that they would soon reach the end of the forest.
Again, Cheyenne heard a heavy gasp very close to her, then one somewhere in the trees above her, then in front of her and behind her. The sound of heavy breathing came from everywhere, whatever it triggered, either had to be able to run from here to there quite quickly and unnoticed, or it would come not just from one being – but from several. The wheezing became louder and louder, came closer and closer and seemed more and more threatening. What the hell is going on here?! What is that?! Cheyenne felt that she was shaking all over and tried to breathe quietly and calmly. Even though this was the scariest moment of her entire life, she had to try not to lose her composure. But she didn’t succeed for long, because suddenly it became quiet. All sounds, except for the clatter of hooves and the splashing of the water, fell silent. Nervously, the girl looked around in all directions. She looked behind her and her gaze lingered there. In the far distance, Cheyenne saw the silhouette of a hairy, human-like creature with three tails and bright white eyes staring at her. For a brief moment, her heart stopped and she forgot to breathe. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, right behind Falconheart, in front of Cheyenne’s eyes, a similar creature rushed down and gave the horse huge, deep scratch marks with its claws. The brown stallion rose and neighed hysterically in pain, the girl cried out in shock and struggled to hold on. She turned forward again and challenged her horse to race in a shrill, loud voice. “Run, Falconheart! Run!” When the front legs of the mount came back to the ground, it shot forward like lightning and galloped for its life. The stallion was uncontrollable and simply rushed forward. Adocaz did his best to keep up with the horse’s pace and Cheyenne, scared to death, leaned on the stallion’s neck. Immediately afterwards, she straightened up again and found that these beings were following her. They moved enormously fast and jumping, were above the trees, next to the three companions and behind them. It was now possible to see more precisely what they looked like: The pursuers had about the stature of a human, different colored fur on the back and lower body, they had three tails that looked like purple snakes, had the teeth of a wolf, bright white eyes and instead of hands, sharp, powerful metal claws. Suddenly, one of them jumped up to Cheyenne, but she was able to duck at the last moment and dodge her hunter’s grips. The pursuers began to pant like dogs and whispered almost unintelligibly ‘Kill the girl’.
Cheyenne closed her eyes, she was terribly scared, she couldn’t even think anymore. Then the heavy breathing of the pursuers was masked by another sound. It was the river, it was getting louder and louder, the splashing more and more wild. The girl forced herself to open her eyes again and look ahead. The wide stream disappeared between bushes and trees, behind it rose dense, light blue mist. Then Cheyenne realized the situation she was in. Fog? What? No! A waterfall! It was already too late to stop, and even if the horse had stopped, her pursuers would have killed her. The girl desperately tried to turn Falconheart to the right with all her strength, but he stopped responding. The stallion jumped over the bushes with her, followed by Adocaz and all three fell down into the depths. During the fall, Cheyenne fell unconscious, the last thing she heard was the frightened whining of her faithful fairy wolf and the shrill neighing of her beloved horse.
It was already evening. The chromastars slowly dissipated and their glow became paler. The source of life disappeared on the horizon. In the sky there were some pale and colorful, darkening clouds. It would still be light for about two hours before the black night would fall over the land. It was getting colder and the wind was increasing. He played a lovely song on the leaves of the trees and the grass, to which some birds sang and splashing water set the beat.
Cheyenne was lying on a grassy floor and slowly woke up. Her whole body was trembling in tremendous pain. Some bones felt broken, she almost couldn’t breathe, and was exhausted and weak. Never in her entire life had the girl felt so miserable. It seemed to her as if she had been run over by a huge rock. She slowly opened her tired eyes and tried to sit up with difficulty and in great pain to get a better breath. What… happened? It felt like she had an enormous amount of water in her lungs. Water… Yes… After all, I fell.. down the waterfall…
Unable to sit up, Cheyenne lay on her side and coughed. In the process, she spat out vast amounts of water. After that, it was easier for her to breathe, but then she felt stabbing pains in the chest area, with every single breath. It was so agonizing that her eyes started to water.
“Oh, you’re already awake. How are you feeling? I can imagine that you are miserable after this fall… I’m actually quite surprised and amazed that you survived this. It’s almost a miracle. After all, you fell down the Bellistra waterfall. Well, I guess you just came up luckily.” Behind Cheyenne sounded a never-before-heard woman’s voice. She gathered all her strength to talk to the stranger. “Who… Are you? What… What happened?” The woman came to her side and knelt in front of her. The girl could now see who she was dealing with. A young woman, barely older than herself, slender, pretty, with mint green eyes and tied hair, in various shades of purple, lateral forehead fringes and strands of hair that covered her ears. The stranger introduced herself. “Well, my name is Sasha and I just happened to be around here when I saw you fall down the waterfall. Apparently you were chased, because some weird mutant-like monsters stood up there and watched you fall down. Then they retreated and I ran to the shore as fast as I could. When I saw that you didn’t show up anymore, I jumped into the water and fished you out. Yes, and now I’ve been waiting for you to wake up for a few hours. What’s your name?” Cheyenne tried to answer her. “My name is… Cheyenne… Thank you, Sasha…” The young woman smiled and seemed pleased that the girl was grateful to her. What a luck… that she was nearby… and saved me and Adocaz and Falconheart… Wait. Adocaz? Where is he? And I don’t see Falconheart either! Panicked words came out of her mouth. “Where are my… Companions? Adocaz… Falconheart?” That’s all she could say, she was too weak. Then Cheyenne felt a warm, rough tongue lick her ear and heard a soft whining. She turned in that direction as best she could and saw the fairy wolf sitting next to her. “Adocaz…” The girl was relieved and she became calmer. Sasha seemed to sense her relief and grinned. “Do you mean this one? So this fairy wolf belongs to you and is called Adocaz? Beautiful. He’s also been pretty lucky. But this breed of wolves is very tough. However, I think he has done something to his spine, his hind legs don’t move well, he drags them behind him more than he lifts them. I have already applied a healing herbal paste to his back, but this will not be enough. It at least relieves pain. You probably have some broken ribs and you will get quite a lot of bruises. I also put a herb paste on it. But I’m afraid the pain you feel is very difficult to alleviate… As soon as you feel able to get up with my help, we will set off for the next village from here. It’s not far away and I’m sure there’s a doctor there who can help you, yes?” Cheyenne nodded and thanked Sasha for her help, but still she couldn’t see Falconheart anywhere. The young woman hadn’t said anything about him either. The girl looked into her eyes and tried to speak again. “Thank you… but… where’s Falconheart? My… Horse…” Sasha averted her gaze, and Cheyenne had a bad premonition. No… No. No! Her rescuer’s gaze wandered upwards, to a rocky ledge emerging from the waterfall. “Your horse… I’m sorry, but it… fell on the ledge up there and didn’t survive… I’ll spare you exact details, it wasn’t a pretty sight… Everything that was inside the saddlebag, I got and put it here, because I thought you still needed the stuff. I’m sorry…”
For Cheyenne, the world collapsed. Her beloved, faithful horse, which she had had for so long, which had carried her everywhere and with whom she had experienced so much, should be dead? Just like that? The girl burst into tears, ignoring the physical pain this caused. The pain of the soul was much greater and stronger. The feeling of sadness and emptiness spread again and made Cheyenne despair. No! Why? Why is all this happening? What have I done to have everything and everyone I love taken away from me? Why is all this happening? It’s all my fault, I should have left Falconheart at home, I shouldn’t have let all this happen, I was responsible for him and he trusted me… He trusted me infinitely and I let him die… It’s my fault that he’s dead… If I hadn’t made any mistakes, we wouldn’t be here right now… Then none of us would have fallen down there… Then he would still be alive… My beloved Falconheart… Why? Why… Now I only have Adocaz… I have to be strong… for him… And I have to protect him… I won’t let him die… Never! But… What do I do now… Without Falconheart…
Cheyenne cried many bitter tears and Sasha tried to stand by her and calm her down by stroking the girl’s hair. How lucky she had been that this woman had appeared. Cheyenne was able to bear the situation more easily because she knew there was someone who really empathized with her. In those few minutes of mourning and silence, she began to really like the young woman. Sasha was empathetic and kind-hearted and took care of her. The girl was glad to have met her, even if other circumstances would have been better.
The new acquaintance helped Cheyenne sit up. She then held on to Adocaz and dug her crying face into his cuddly fur. He let the girl go and nudged her, whining and encouraging. Sasha, meanwhile, had fetched Cheyenne’s things and the girl stowed the scroll in her belt and tied the small knife with the ribbons that were wrapped and tied around the handle. She probably wouldn’t have looked at the scroll if she didn’t know my name… Good. Then she seems to be an honest, sincere person… With great effort and pain, she was able to get up with difficulty and with the help of her rescuer. But Cheyenne knew she wouldn’t be able to walk for long. She was just too exhausted and couldn’t take it anymore. Nor did she want to leave the dead horse body of her former companion here, but she probably had no other choice.
Leaning against Sasha, she hobbled off and let herself be led to the village. At the moment, she didn’t care which village they went to, she just wanted to rest and find someone for Adocaz to treat his wounds. The fairy wolf could hardly walk, did not tighten his hind legs and he often tipped to the side and fell over.
After a while, Cheyenne could barely breathe, the pain became unbearable, and her vision blurred. She couldn’t take a single step and collapsed. Sasha knelt beside her worriedly and leaned the girl against herself. “It’s not far off. I know you don’t have any strength left, but we have to keep going…” The young woman seemed to be very sorry that she demanded so much from Cheyenne, but there was no other way. The girl, however, did not notice much more and closed her eyes. All she heard was approaching footsteps and an exchange of words between Sasha and someone the girl knew. The young woman’s voice began the conversation, but she didn’t seem pleased. “You! What are YOU doing here?!” “Hey, good to see you again, Sasha, little mouse…” It was Glaczio. Clearly. Cheyenne’s rescuer continued to speak, but the girl had a hard time hearing anything anymore. “Just get out of here.” “No. I know this girl. How are you going to take her to the next village alone?” “Argh… I can do it…” “Sasha… Let me help… Please. Her name is Cheyenne, isn’t it?” “But… how? So you really know her… Alright, I’ll give you this one chance to help the girl here. But as soon as we arrive in the village, you disappear, do you understand? And if you come up with any stupid idea, you know what’s going on.” “Hehe, yes, then my last hour has struck, huh? Don’t worry, I just want to help the cutie.” Cheyenne felt herself being lifted up and carried before she finally lost consciousness.
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