Chapter 19: Oh my Lord, there's two of them!!

Maisy slowly stopped racing; my heart did not.

I was groaning loudly and wiped the sweat of my face. My hair was full of twigs and leaves.

I could hear a strange ticking sound coming from my vest. I had no idea what it was, and it became louder as I moved around.

A little bit startled, I started to search my vest for anything that I might have taken for the ride.

When I searched my back I found out what was ticking: it were hard, dried pits falling out of my vest. They looked like cherry pits.

I dismounted carefully from Maisy's back. She was really warm and her sweat was vapourizing on the spot, which made a cloud of steam around her body.

The pony was really glad that I was off her back; the weighted vest was pretty much dead weight for her.

She took advantage of my striptease act by nibbling on some grass that grew on the side of the road.

I grabbed the pit leaking vest at the tear and shredded it as much as I could. There was now a pile of pits on the ground.

I used the remaining rags to wipe most of the dirt and plantlife of my body.

Maisy started to get lively again; we were still in a race, even though I had no idea where we were.

I mounted my trusty steed and gave her the spurs, even though I was wearing only sandals.

Maisy was now dashing through the woods. She was no longer hampered by the tight corners of the mountain road, nor by the entangling undergrowth of the hidden trail.

The forest became less dense and I took the time to see my surroundings a bit. The trees were a lot different here, it was mostly pinetrees with a few oaklike trees in the mix.

There were no birches to be seen, so it appeared to be that those were planted by hand in the Royal Forest.

We now entered the treeline, which made the dense forest give way to a hilly scrubland. It were the foothills of the mountain.

There were big boulders strewn across the landscape. Most of them were black, or really dark gray. It looked like pieces of Vulcanic Rock.

Maisy started to sniff the air, and looked to her right. In the distance was a visible cloud of dust: it was Aereis and Gray Girl.

I tried to figure out where they were going too, untill I saw that there was a wall in the distance. If we could make some good speed we could catch up to them.

''FLY, MAISY, FLY!''

I screamed at the top of my lungs. Maisy bolted off and charged at the wall to our left. We were now in the shadow of the mountain.

Which was good for Maisy, because she would overheat in the sun.

I kept my teeth clenched together, to make sure that I would not bite off my tongue while I was doing my best to stay in the saddle.

My legs were burning up now; I was using muscles that I had not used in a long time.

One thing was for sure; I was going to be sore tomorrow!

The wall was now in full view, and we were gaining up on an unexpecting rider and her noble steed. I gritted my teeth in absolute agony, my thighs were now on fire .

My fingers holding on tightly to the reins. I looked to my left with a big smile in order to see Areis. She gave me a short glans, and frowned in total suprise.

Our two pony's were now neck on neck. And Gray Girl was reaching her limit as well. She was breathing heavily and sweating visibly.

The gate in front of us was opening up and a woman with bright red hair was making wild gestures and motions. It appeared that the gate was not unmanned.

We raced through the open gate with maximum speed, neither of us willing to slow down and lose. The guards dove for cover in order not to get trampled underfoot.

The red haired woman jumped down from the battlements and came running towards us.

Aereis was smiling and declared herself the winner, with me as a very close second. It was my first race and I was still alive. So I gave her the win.

The red haired woman however, was not in a victorious mood; her face was almost as red as her hair. And she was clenching her fists as tightly as possible.

The both of us dismounted, ignoring the Physical Embodiment of Red Haired Anger just 5 meters away from us. I patted Maisy on the head, and hugged her.

She was very dirty, her dark brown manes were covered in black earth and her pelt was sticky because of the sweat.

I ran my fingers through her manes, plucking out the twigs and small branches from her long hair.

The Red Haired woman gestured at a guard. He was almost a head shorter than the rest of the guardsmen.

And he did not wear a cuirass like the other guards, but a padded vest with a spiral shaped mountain embroidered on his chest. Neither did he have a longsword or a halberd.

He smiled at me and asked me very nicely to give the pony to him. I hugged Maisy one last time and she willingly went with the young man.

''He is our Stable Boy, young man. Your mount will be be in the best care that the Dolovian Kingdom can provide.

She will be washed and hugged, fed and cuddled, brushed and coddled as much as needed.''

I looked at the woman; she was tall, with a slender figure. She had big purple eyes, just like Val has. I came to the logical conclusion that they must be related.

I had no time to ask; she formerly introduced herself as Stalward Defender of the Southern Gate of the Dovolian Kingdom, Captain Valeraea the Younger.

It was a confirmed fact that this hot blooded, purple eyed woman was Valeneira's younger sister.

She smiled at me and told me that I would become a great rider one day. Because ''someone'' gave me a pony that was considered to be ''not possible to be ridden''.

While Valeraea said this she looked at Aereistea with a domineering grin on her face.

Aereis laughed awkwardly and said:

''Well, aren't we proven wrong by our brave Heiro?''

She winked at me trying to get me into her ploy; I was unable to cooperate.

The worn tendons in my legs gave out and I fell down on my rear. My mouth was still full of dust and dirt and I spat out a big brown blob on the sand.

I pushed a bit of sand over it, before spitting out another hack of sandy phlegm on my heap of sand and spit.

''And I just brushed my teeth this morning!''

I ran my tongue past my teeth, they felt like dry tombstones on a desert graveyard. The young guard came back with two glasses of water.

He gave one to me and the other to Aereis. I wanted to say thanks, my vocal cords did not allow me to do so.

I emptied the glass in one big chug, realising that I was completely dried out. After drinking my water, the young guardman took the glass.

I laid myself out on the soft, still cool sand. Doing my best to stop my brain from bouncing in my skull.