For some reason his dreams had escalated in their violence. They had always been bad, always tormenting him to the point where he would find himself exhausted and staring at the sunrise, his eyelids not once closing. Since his father’s return, he thought he would finally be able to sleep and not dream. He had been wrong. They had intensified, Chernobyl who was always the star in these nightmares, was now joined by another. This stallion is gray but his eyes are black and filled with stars. He never says a word but just watches with amusement written on the lines of his face. Almost silently egging the murdering stallion on. Tonight he awakens shaking violently, for in this dream the other stallion had finally spoken. The words filled him with instant dread. ”Tonight. I’m coming.”
Pupils are wide, showing the whites of his eyes as he looks around him fearfully. His chest heaves as he scrambles to gain his bearings and rises off the ground. No, he’s back in reality. His gold flecked eyes take in his surroundings as he tries to catch his breath, not realizing that his chestnut coat is covered in a fine sheen of sweat and that he is still trembling. Everything is calm. The moon is full once more and the Gates is bathed in a cool silver light. The world is silent. He sighs softly, closing his eyes and trying to calm his still racing heart. It had felt so real. As if the stallion had been standing over him and breathing right into his ear. Like he had really been there but when he had awoken, there was nothing. Still he can’t shake the feeling that someone is watching him, that he’s not alone.
Trying to lose the unease and fear that wraps around him, smothering him, he moves across the kingdom and sets out towards the Meadow. It’s not the first time he has taken these nighttime ventures and it usually helps settle him. For the first few minutes of his journey he is so distracted by what has happened that he doesn’t quite realize that something is off. Suddenly his legs slow and he looks around him cautiously. The night is still silent…. Too silent. No crickets singing or frogs chirping their lullabies. Not even a single owl hoots in the distance. No wind rustles through the leaves of the trees. There is nothing but absolute silence. A growing sense of dread begins to spread through his body and he breaks into a trot, the sound of his hoofbeats sounding unnatural in the still air. Drawing attention his way, a moving target.
Just get to the Meadow, there will be others. All will be well. He focuses on this mantra and as he repeats it, the moon seems to be blotted out of the sky. Blackness surrounds him. He comes to a stop and gives a nervous whinny. Wheeling around, he tries to turn back but he can’t see the path. He is lost in blackness. Why is this happening to me? He thinks…. And then a voice seems to pop up in his head with an answer. A gravely amused voice. ”Why does it always happen to you Ledger? Because you deserve it.” ”No!” He cries out, wheeling again as he tries to find some escape from the shadows. ”I don’t deserve this at all!” His outburst is met with silence and he thinks maybe he has chased it away. That’s when the growls begin to surround him. One to his left, one to the right, and one behind him. Straight panic courses through his veins as he turns around to see what is making the noise. The moon slips from the blackness and he can see three sets of glowing red eyes. As they break from the shadows, his panic grows. They look like wolves but are much larger than an average wolf. Their snouts are long and semi German Shepherd esque. Their fangs are yellow and sharp and are currently exposed as the Hellhounds snarl at him and start to close in. Spittle flys from their curled lips and there is only one thing he can do. Run.
With a shrill whinny of fear escaping from his lips, he sets out in a blind gallop with the hellhounds hot on his hooves. Branches claw at his sides and back, slap in his face and threaten to take his eyes out but he never stops galloping. Dirt explodes beneath his hooves as he races through the forest, at any moment he could stumble and fall. He could break a leg and that would be the end of him. There’s nothing for it, he simply launches over dead logs and avoids the branches and brambles as best he can for he can hear the snapping of their jaws behind him. He almost feels their hot breath on the back of his legs, hears their howls expressing their glee of the chase. Then suddenly they fall back, he can hear them slowing their pace. He’s not convinced and doesn't stop till he is forced. Not realizing where he had been headed, he has now come to the base of a mountain and there is nowhere else to go.. Or is there?
Looking over his shoulder, he can see the three predators circling behind him but they don’t come towards him. Instead they simple watch. He looks in front of him again and now sees the large dark opening on the rocky side of the mountain. It is dark and ominous, a putrid smelling come from it’s depths. There’s no way he’s going in there. He turns to try and escape and the hellhounds instantly block his path with snapping teeth and snarls. Backing away from them, he assesses the cave mouth again. Either he goes into the darkness or gets eaten by the pack. ”Dad…” He calls out hopefully, fearfully. His plea is met with silence, Magnus is nowhere to be found. Of course nobody would find him either, nobody knew he was even gone. Gold flecked eyes stare at the black hole as he tries to gather some sense of courage about him. He was a grown stallion now, not that fearful colt that watched his mother die on the beach. He had lived through worse things and still came out in one piece. Standing in a cave and waiting for the hounds to leave pales in comparison to everything else he has been through. Besides, it wouldn’t be forever. The hounds would eventually get bored and find easier prey elsewhere. Reluctantly he steps towards the cave and takes a deep breath of fresh air. It was the only way. His hooves clatter on stone and the dankness overwhelms him, his nostrils wrinkling at the smell of something rotten. Another step, then another until he is completely in the cave and the darkness has swallowed him whole.
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