The storm had passed by the time Labatyd had risen. Before they left, Labatyd had placed a handful of gold in the empty donation box. Spotting the sleeping man huddled in the corner of one of the benches, she quietly approached him and draped the blanket over him that was at his feet on the floor. His hood was drawn back slightly revealing his features, and he was very handsome. With a small smile, Labatyd quietly left with her father and briskly walked over to the stables. The sun had yet to rise, and the streets were bare. The last star in the sky dimmed in the colors of twilight.

As she walked through the semi-clean stables, she gazed at all the different horses of different ages and breeds. Some of them were dozing, others resting their heads on the wooden railings they were tied to. A beautiful black stallion caught Labatyd’s eye. He stood tall, scars across his dark coat showing he had seen his fair share of fights with creatures. His powerful muscles were visible, and his long mane glistened with his coat, a positive sign of his good health.

Walking over to the animal, she gazed into his giant orbs and reached out; presenting him with an apple that she had pulled out of her pack.

Not removing his gaze from her, he sniffed the apple before taking it into his mouth and chewing happily.

“Would you like to come with me?” Labatyd asked soothingly as she slowly placed her hand on his forehead and stroked his mane. The horse shuffled his feet slightly and bobbed his head causing Labatyd to smile.

“I have to warn you, you’re going to be running quite a lot, but you have my friendship.” Labatyd smiled warmly up at him. The horse neighed softly and nodded.

Labatyd was well aware that many people thought horses were unintelligent, but she knew differently. Horses were stubborn, and proud, but they weren’t without their wits and brains. They had reasons behind their actions, and they would play dumb if you believed them to be. Labatyd gave the stallion’s large neck a pat before stroking his mane and removing her pack. Taking a saddle from the wooden post beside the horse, she fixed him up and tied her pack behind the saddle. Hefting herself onto the saddle, she gave the horse a pat.

Ered hopped from the post beside the horse onto the saddle in front of Labatyd. By the gleam in her green eyes, he could tell she was going to test this horse, and he much rather not fall off. He didn’t feel like playing catch up with his daughter.

Labatyd finished fixing the reigns and nudged the stallion with her heels causing him to trot out of the stable. Once they were outside the stable, Labatyd had him prance towards the town exit.

“What the… HEY! THAT’S MY HORSE!” Someone shouted behind her causing her to turn in the saddle, and the horse to slow down.

The same man that she had covered was standing at the church entrance some twelve feet behind her, glaring at her with such ferocity; it caused a chill to travel up her spine. Roughly nudging her heels against the horse’s ribs, she flicked the reigns.

The stallion seemed to smile as he took off running away from his former master. Dashing down the streets, she let the horse take control, seeing as how he had a mind of his own at the moment. Labatyd couldn’t help but laugh slightly, the creature was having fun.

“You know where a different exit is?” Labatyd asked as they ran in the opposite direction of the way she entered the village. The horse nodded as he ran. Racing through the empty streets, he rounded a corner and at the end laid large wooden gates. The two waking guards jumped to their feet at the sight of the racing horse and quickly pushed open the gates.

Labatyd watched as the stallion raced through the narrow opening and out into the forest. Leaning forward so she could mumble into the stallion’s ear, she asked, “Your master is a stubborn one isn’t he?”

The horse huffed and picked up his speed.

Labatyd sat up in the seat and glanced behind her to see the sun rising and a man on the back of a nice brown mare racing after them, “Obviously he was rather attached to you…” Labatyd smiled before facing forward and squeezing the reigns, “You’re playing with him aren’t you? Come on… lets give him a good chase!”

The stallion picked up the speed, racing through the forest, his mane and Labatyd’s hair whipped in the wind as the trees began to thin around them.

“Will you stop?!” The man called behind her.

“No!” Labatyd called back.

The man cursed beneath his breath, promising the horse beneath him that he would turn her into an ugly coat if it didn’t run faster. It obliged by racing hard ahead hard, catching up to the rear end of the stallion.

Labatyd glanced back and quickly raised her bow, loading an arrow, she aimed it straight at the rider behind her. The man’s eyes widened in both fear and surprise as she pulled back on the arrow. His hand slid down to his belt grabbing the hilt of his sword as he prepared to dodge the attack. His eyes widened more when he picked up the sound of claws scraping gravel behind him.

Labatyd released the arrow causing it to whizz past the rider’s ear and hit a large monster running behind him. The monster yelped before tripping over itself and rolling on the road. Labatyd quickly grabbed the reigns and coaxed the horse into slowing to a stop. Hopping off the saddle, she landed quietly and gazed around her. The man stopped a little bit behind them and also hopped off his horse.

With one hand on his sword, he made to march towards her when he heard the sound of another creature sprinting around the trees towards them. At least two more, maybe three. Slowly drawing his sword, he stepped into the middle of the road, noting the woman was doing the same.

“When I’m through with these, I’m going to turn on you and obtain my horse once again.” He growled through clenched teeth back at her as she placed her back against his.

“It’s unwise to reveal your future moves to your enemy. You can try, but you will fail. I’m quite attached to that horse now.” With that being said, she smiled slightly and quickly loaded her bow, “There are three of them.”

“I know.” He snipped back as he watched the figure draw closer.

“I wonder what species they are…” Labatyd wondered out loud.

“I’m not from here, I wouldn’t know.” He replied in a low voice.

“I’m Labatyd, just thought you should at least know my name in case you don’t live through this.” She smiled as she aimed at one of the creatures darting towards her.

“Quinn.” The man smirked as he raced away from her towards the closest creature.

Labatyd shot three arrows in succession slaying the monster before her as she heard Quinn quickly dispose of the one behind him. Turning around, she closed her eyes and listened to the forest, searching for the third beast. She heard Quinn step quietly; he was also looking around for the third creature. A snap of a twig obtained their attention and Labatyd quickly aimed her bow towards the sky as the final monster dove down at the swordsman from the large trees. Labatyd aimed carefully and took a shot as the swordsman quickly rolled out of the way. The monster landed hard onto the ground, an arrow to the heart.

Lowering her bow, Labatyd sighed and glanced at the swordsman, who was now glaring in her direction.

Taking a step to the side, she stood in his path to the stallion, “You can get back on your mare now and leave.” Slowly pulling an arrow out, she placed it against her bow and glared at him.

“Nori. Come.” Quinn growled pointing to the ground beside him with his sword.

The stallion, Nori, shook his head and stomped his foot. Ered slowly stood from the saddle his hair standing on edge.

Labatyd opened her mouth to speak when she heard a strange sound that she only heard in her nightmares. It was the odd sound of a heavy wind that was so quiet it was almost silent. It was the sound of shadows mixing. The sound of something forming in that shadow. Something that played through her mind night after night. Something that was fogged in her memory. Her hand shook in fear causing her weapon to quiver slightly as she turned her attention from the man before her.

Hearing nothing, he took his chance to race forward to reach out and grab Labatyd’s cloak taking her by surprise. Ered hissed loudly and dug his claws into the saddle.

Labatyd’s attention drew back to Quinn, surprised by his speed. Sensing he had no intention to kill her at the moment, she gazed back behind her with wide eyes, “Don’t you hear that…”

“I don’t hear anything. Now you take this horse, and-” He was cut off when he heard the sound of something large wheezing behind him, he could feel the hot breath travelling down his neck.

Labatyd’s head whipped around and her eyes widened in shock and fear as the creature she had shot down earlier stood on its hind legs, raising its claws in preparation for a blow that was sure to be powerful enough to kill.

Quinn’s grip loosened as he turned to see a flash of a large orange creature slam into the monster. In the blink of an eye, the monster’s neck was crunched under the jaws of a giant orange feline. Releasing Labatyd, he took a step away from the feline as he released the monster, its blood dripping heavily from his jaws.

Labatyd gazed down into the green eyes of the orange monster and smiled slightly, “Nice.”

Ered licked his muzzle clean before padding past Quinn and shifting back into his smaller form. Hopping up into the seat of Nori, he stretched and sat down, receiving a bob of approval from the stallion.

Quinn pointed at the cat as he stepped away from Labatyd, his horse, and Ered, almost tripping over the carcass of the monster Ered had just slain in the process, “Wh-What kind of creature is that?!”

Labatyd chanced a glance into the forest feeling something in the shadows watching her. A chill ran up her back causing her to hop onto Nori and tighten her grip on her bow. With a bow of her head in his direction she smiled, “Thanks for your help Quinn. I wish you a safe journey.” With that, she clicked her tongue and Nori began trotting.

“Ohhhh no. I’m NOT letting you steal my horse.” Quinn clumsily stumbled over the carcass of the creature as he sheathed his sword. Mounting the shocked mare, he hurried after the woman, “I’m going to follow you wherever you go until I get back my horse! And I’m not good company!”

“That’s nice.” Labatyd replied as Nori galloped down the path.

“How about we trade horses? This is a good horse.” Quinn tried to sound convincing even though he knew the horse beneath him could never match his stallion.

Nori snorted loudly making Labatyd smile and shake her head. Labatyd cocked an eyebrow in his direction, “I don’t think he appreciates you downgrading him in such a manner.”

Quinn and the mare glared at her as they followed them in silence.

Labatyd rode at a fast and steady pace until the uneasy feeling of a being watching her from the shadows wore off. Sighing heavily, she glanced behind her to see Quinn following her. She would give him until early afternoon.

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Labatyd brushed her hair quietly as the horse trotted through the large grove of apple trees. After grooming herself, she brushed Nori’s hair gently making him neigh happily. Once she was finished, she put her brush away and leaned back on the saddle, admiring the gentle breeze and the cloudless sky. The large apple trees provided enough shade so they weren’t overheated, and overall, it was a beautiful day. It would have been better if the swordsman wasn’t still following them around, but Labatyd had chosen to ignore him.

That was, until she heard him grip the reigns tightly behind her. He only did so when he was about to tell his horse to hurry. She had to thank the elf in her blood for giving her such wonderful hearing. It came handy in battle.

Her eyes widened when she picked up the giant flapping of wings. One all too familiar to her ears. Quickly grabbing the reigns tightly in her hands, she quickly gazed up at the sky as a large red dragon flew overhead. A little too close for her liking. Quickly dismounting the horse, she gave his behind a pat after telling him to hide and stay quiet. Her father, who had been dozing, awoke and nearly fell off the horse when it rushed into the cover of the grove. His eyes widened in fear when he saw the dragon land in the clearing a good thirty feet away from him and his daughter. He hated dragons.

Labatyd hurried into the grove stepping backwards, her eye on the dragon the entire time. One thing she learned when she was instructed on dragons was to never loose sight of them, they could disappear in a moments notice and attack you when you least expect it. They were very dangerous creatures. Her foot stepped on something soft as her back bumped into the warm chest of that persistent swordsman. She was upset that he didn’t keep on riding towards the dragon. At least his mare had enough sense to stand off the path, but she wasn’t completely out of sight.

Then she remembered she was standing on that swordsman’s foot and had her back up against his chest, but she had been told not to take her eyes off the dragon, so she side stepped quietly to around him and kept backing up, stopping when the dragon turned its head her way. Her heart raced in her chest as its giant emerald orbs scanned the groove around him. His front claws raking the earth beneath him as he opening his mouth, tasting the air with a hiss.

And then she saw him stare straight at the horse, which was ten feet away from her and the swordsman. Another thing she learned at an early age was how fast dragons were. Her only escape was to hide. Knowing the dragon’s target, she took her eyes off the giant red creature only to gasp silently when a strong arm wrapped around her waist and she was lifted off the ground. The swordsman silently scaled up the tree and stood on a sturdy branch within the foliage. Labatyd felt his arm tighten around her stomach pressing her closer to his body as the dragon flew into the air only to swoop down and snatch the horse in its jaws and land close by.

A chill ran up Labatyd’s spine as the dragon snapped his jaws killing the animal’s loud cries of pain. Blood dripped from its jaws as he lifted his head, holding his meal in them. Glancing around him, he dropped the animal onto the ground, using his front claws to aid in tearing the horse to shreds, eating almost in the same manner as a wolf.

Labatyd paled slightly as she watched with wide eyes. She had seen many things loose their life to other larger creatures, she had seen other things dine on their prey, but she couldn’t remember seeing something so gory, something so blood thirsty. Instinctively, her hand moved back in an attempt to help her slide away from the dragon, only to land on the knee of the swordsman behind her. Closing her eyes, she opened them only to look for her father. He was watching with wide eyes within a bush not too far from their tree.

As the dragon noisily tore the carcass limb from limb, Quinn leaned forward to whisper softly into her ear, “We’re down wind of it. As long as we don’t move, and we don’t make any noise…” He paused when the dragon fell silent for a moment as if hearing him. The dragon sneezed before continuing with its meal, and Quinn finished his sentence, “…he won’t attack us.”

Labatyd shivered at the sound of his whisper, it was gentle, and so was his hold on her waist. He had grabbed her earlier and had carried her to safety. Her entire life, the only person who had saved her when she was in trouble had been her father, and the man behind her held a strong aura of protection. It made her wish to relax and trust him… but she couldn’t afford it. She couldn’t trust anyone… no matter how good they smelled.

Quinn turned his gaze from Labatyd’s raven black hair that smelled of a sweet forest morning, to the dragon that was licking his jaws clean. He watched as the dragon stretched, and he smiled slightly as the dragon stretched its wings… it was going to leave.

But then the dragon sat down on its haunches. Quinn’s smile fell, it was going to stay… and take a nap.

A groan of frustration caught in Labatyd’s throat, the dragon was going to take a nap!

As they predicted, it stretched before curling up in the middle of the road, its tail twitching like a cat’s slightly as its breathing slowed down.

‘I can wait. We can wait. We can just sit here and wait…’ Labatyd sighed silently as she quietly moved her hand from Quinn’s knee and ran it through her hair slowly pulling it away from her forehead.

Quinn gazed up at the sun, calculating how much time they had left before sunset. They had four hours. Running a hand down his face, he prayed that the dragon would have a short nap. He really could afford to spend the night in a tree with this girl. Especially tonight.

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The sun barely began touching the mountains in the west when the dragon awoke from his nap. Both Labatyd and Quinn smiled and sat up a bit straighter, ready for it to get up and leave.

The dragon got up, making them silently cheer as it stretched its wings joints. And then it did something neither of them predicted, it grabbed one of the apple trees and uprooted it. Sitting down, it placed the tree above its mouth and shook the fruit from it violently, causing a half the leaves and branches to fall into its mouth. As a person would go about eating sunflower seeds, the dragon spat out the broken branches and smashed leaves and swallowed the apples whole. Tossing the tree behind him, he grabbed another tree and repeated the process.

And it was facing them.

If they jumped to run, the dragon would spot them. If they stayed, they might have a chance of survival, if they held on tightly enough. Labatyd whimpered ever so quietly and scooted back until she was on Quinn’s lap, trying to further the distance between the dragon reaching towards them. Its giant claw grabbed the trunk of their tree, and Quinn grabbed Labatyd, spinning her around as the dragon lifted the tree, he roughly forced her against the trunk and wrapped his arms around her and the trunk of the uprooted apple tree, holding on fiercely.

Tears traveled down Labatyd’s eyes as she gripped the trunk of the tree, “I don’t want to die… I don’t want to die…” She cried quietly, her nails digging into bark.

“Quiet. You aren’t going to die!” Quinn growled into her ear as the dragon held the tree upside down above his huge jaws that could easily hide half the tree and them inside.

And that’s just what he did, to Quinn and Labatyd’s dismay. He inserted the tree into his mouth. Quinn cursed under her breath and grabbed Labatyd with on arm, and his sword with the other.

Labatyd found it pointless to be quiet now, so she cried, “I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die an unkissed virg-”

“SILENCE! We are not going to die!” Quinn snapped at her as he rushed towards the closing jaws of the dragon, slashing foliage out of the way. The jaws shut as they were mere inches within escape causing Labatyd the clutch onto Quinn’s arm tightly and tremble in fear, “I refuse to be digested by some over grown lizard!” Quinn growled through clenched teeth as he thrust his blade deep into the roof of the dragon’s mouth, causing the creature to open its mouth and in pain and desperately try to remove whatever had caused him pain by pushing everything out of his mouth with help of the trunk.

Quinn quickly removed his sword and took the blow of the trunk as he tightened his hold on the girl in his arms. Wrapping himself protectively around her as they were thrown out of the mouth, he took the hit when they landed hard on the ground, and rolled them into the forest. His sword landing in the bushes as he stopped on his back, his eyes wide as he concentrated on breathing.

Labatyd sat up and gazed down into his golden eyes, her teary gaze full of gratitude. She was tackled by a small orange fur-ball that purred loudly as it rubbed against her face.

“Labatyd…. I was so afraid I was going to loose you!” Ered meowed as he clutched onto her shoulder with his small nails.

Quinn blinked up in surprise at the talking cat. Opening his mouth to ask how it was talking, he was interrupted when the dragon roared in anger. It had spotted them. Grabbing Labatyd’s arm, he pulled her down against him as a plume of flames blew where her head had been seconds before. Rolling towards the bushes as the flames died down, he got to his feet and grabbed his sword. Seeing Labatyd had enough sense to get to her feet and start running, he placed his fingers to his mouth and whistled sharply as he ran after Labatyd and the talking tabby.

Nori galloped into view and matched Quinn’s speed, allowing him to climb on.

Glancing back, Labatyd saw Quinn racing towards her on horseback. A smile appeared on her face when he outstretched his hand and she took it, swinging onto the horse behind him.

Ered shifted into his large cat form, his height almost matching the stallions as he raced ahead of them.

The dragon had given up tearing through the grove to get to them and had taken to the sky in its pursuit. Quinn flicked the reigns pushing Nori to run faster, to put more distance between him and the flying beast. But he knew that even with the fastest horse in the world, you couldn’t beat a dragon’s speed.

Drawing a silver arrow, she placed it against her bow and watched the dragon’s movements.

“You do know that dragon’s scales are impenetrable by arrows and most weapons right?” Quinn asked as he eyed the silver arrow with a wary gaze.

“Oh, I know how to take a dragon down if I need to.” Lifting her bow, she aimed for the dragon’s neck, “There are narrow points that can kill a dragon given the proper weapon… and with precision and proper force-go left.” Labatyd ordered loudly and Quinn surprisingly obeyed just as a plume of fire covered the ground where they were racing a second before. With a shake of her head, Labatyd aimed her arrow once more and took the shot. It hit the dragon’s neck causing it to halt in mid-air. The dragon gave them a glare before flying away in a sluggish manner.

Quinn glanced behind him and watched the dragon soar away. Flashing a grin he commented, “Nice shot.”

Labatyd smiled slightly before placing her bow over her shoulder, “That was my last silver arrow.” She sighed as he slowed down the horse.

Quinn glanced down at Ered before replying, “I don’t know what kind of freaky cat you got there Labatyd but… I have to go, and that thing is big enough to carry you.”

“I refuse to ride my father around. He’s not a horse.” Labatyd crossed her arms, “He doesn’t enjoy running.”

Ered nodded in complete agreement as he shifted into his smaller form, “We’re going to go ahead a little furthers in case the dragon comes back. Then we’ll set up camp.”

“Just as long as we go in separate directions.” Quinn sighed and glanced back at Labatyd, “Off.”

Labatyd dug her hands into the saddle, “No.”

“Look. I really need to get going.” Quinn growled between clenched teeth.

Ered smirked up at the swordsman, “Afraid of a little moonlight are we?”

Quinn’s glared over at him, “Shut it fur-ball.”

Ered glared daggers up at him, “I’d like to see you say that to my face when the moon comes up.”

Quinn’ s glare intensified, “I can’t. I have to go.”

“Are you a werewolf?” Labatyd asked after leaning forward to sniff his cloak, noticing it was sown together in certain areas.

Quinn’s turned in the saddle so fast he almost fell off.

“So that’s a yes.” Labatyd smirked, “All right. Here’s the deal. I’ll watch your horse tonight, and you take me to town in the morning. I’m going to guess that the scars on this beautiful creature,” She paused to trace one of them on the hips next to her making the muscle twitch slightly, “Is a result of you catching up to him?”

Quinn gazed down at her with a mixture of shock and surprise in his eyes.

“I promise not to steal your horse because I don’t want to be tracked down by a werewolf. Rumors are they always find the ones they are after.” With a small smile she got off the saddle and gazed up at him, “Do we have a deal?”

Quinn continued to stare down at her for a few moments longer before sighing and nodding, “Keep riding for a few hours before you set up camp, and travel fast. I cover a lot of ground after I transform.” Slowly sliding off the saddle, he took off his cloak and shirt and placed them on the saddle. Gazing at her for a moment longer, he took off into the forest fast.

Labatyd scooped up her father placing him on the saddle behind her after climbing onto the saddle herself. After giving Nori a pat on the neck, she flicked the reigns and told him to run as fast as he could, “I want you to enjoy it.” Labatyd laughed after Nori started running. Holding out her hands she closed her eyes as the wind blew her hair and cloak back.

As the moon rose over the horizon, Labatyd stopped so Ered could hop off Nori. As soon as the moon had risen, Labatyd looked back to see a man in his early thirties throwing on Quinn’s shirt and cloak. A large scar lay on his stomach, and he had a grizzly look to him. He was tall and thin, but none the less healthy looking. His green gaze that Labatyd had inherited smiled up at her behind his short orange bangs.

“Hey father.” Labatyd smiled as she held out a pair of pants for him. Ered threw them on as a howl sounded off in the distance.

“How about we do some more riding?” He smiled as he hopped onto the seat behind her. Grabbing the reigns from her hands gently, he nudged his ankles into Nori’s ribs and flicked the reign causing Nori to start running again.

Closing her eyes, Labatyd leaned back on her father. It was weird having a cat as a father sometimes, but at least he was his old self on the full moons. After receiving a small kiss on the top of her head, Labatyd fell asleep.

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A/N: ...I want to know how she's able to fall asleep on a horse that's running. Anywho, again, more questions will be answered as the story unfolds. And thank you again for reading!

::glances down at review button::