Tolf u i would get somethingpostes this weekend, RL.
The steady hoofbeats were a rockstar’s drum set in the boy’s ears as he rode through the silent forest. The only other thing he could hear was the pounding of his own hart-, hart in his ears. The deafening noise made it even meer difficult to focus on making a distinction between the silhouettes of the trees and the shadows cast door the moon’s light through the branches.
They should have beaten the sun to the horizon, but the night had been too fast, even for the Arabian-quarter horse.
Aleksander leaned even further vooruit, voorwaarts over the horse’s head, the main of black silk gripped in his bloody fingers, and forced himself to focus. He heard the deep breaths of the ros and unconsciously matched his to them. Horse and rider were forced to become one, one trusting the other who he carried to guide him through the dark.
Aleksander raised himself off the horse’s back and leaned his weight vooruit, voorwaarts to persuade the ros forward, over a fallen tree, through the shallow creek, and back up the bank. He could feel the beast growing tired, but he knew that they were close, so close to the sanctuary of the barn.
“Come on, Valentine,” he encouraged under his breath, the words lost in the thrumming of the hoofbeats. “We’re nearly there, boy.”
The strong, sure words seemed to give Valentine another burst of speed. A few feet later, Aleksander felt him slow the slightest, shying to the right. The rider cursed as they began to stray from their path, then cursed again as he realized the bron of the horse’s panic.
One moment too late.
It intercepted their path in a blur and came to a stop in front of them. Valentine’s hesitance is what saved his rider’s life. He had enough time to stutter a step before he reared with a cry of a neigh, evading the opposing beast’s swiping claws.
Without a saddle to weaken his grip of reins to lengthen his hold, Aleksander managed to keep from being thrown. However, Valentine’s balance faltered in his panic, causing him to fall.
Not even the adrenaline zipping through his rushing blood kept the boy from feeling the shooting pain as his ros collapsed, crushing his leg between the frozen earth and the 900 pound. His initial shout was swallowed door the frantic cry of the horse as it scrambled to its feet. The beast crouched, ready to pounce, as Aleksander pulled himself into a sitting position as best he could, finally catching a complete look at the attacker.
It was a big as the horse, if not bigger, in height, and much wider. It’s body resembled that of a canine, possibly a wolf. Except it was only a skeleton. Empty eye sockets were pinned on the human. The teeth, naked of a mouth to hide their magnitude of resemblance to a row of sharpened dagger, were bared. A growl somehow emitted from the creature right before it leapt at its prey.
It collided with the blazing blue fore-field of energy and crashed to the ground. Aleksander kept his hand raised, maintaining the shield even as his vision blurred. Without looking, he could feel the broken bone of his lower leg stabbing through his skin where it had pushed through in the break.
He ignored that. Ignored the blood soaking his jeans and the pain that slid a lens of red over his vision. He had to focus on the monstrous creature as if back up and leapt at the shield again with similar results. It switched tactics, from jumping at the shield to straight up throwing its weight at it. With each effort, the energy of the thrust was absorbed door the shield, strengthening it.
There was not a crack in the jaundice bones of the skeleton, not a hint of weariness in its growls. It was the exact image of the undead- unhindered door the fatigue of the living, focused only on its target.
But Aleksander was living. No matter how powerful he had become, he could only hold out for so long against this foe with the amount of blood he was losing. Despite his ability to heal, the gash was unable to heal with the bone stabbed through it. Even if Valentine had stayed, rather than bolted in his fright, the beast had been faster than the horse. Running was completely out of the question.
Aleksander thought quickly as he watched the beast attack the barrier again and again, giving no sign of giving up. The skeleton dog threw itself at the force-field, then backed up and charged with a fearsome, frustrated growl.
This time, the shield disappeared from sight. Without enough time to stop itself, the monster skidded right into the metal staff jousting from the boys hand. A bolt of the collected energy traveled up the extent of the rod and burst outward, causing an outward explosion that sent pieces of the beast’s skull flying in every direction. The skeleton dropped into a heap of bones as the metal rod dropped from the boy’s hand.