It was near the end of fall, and the tree leaves were almost completely done falling off. Their bare branches seemed to be like claws that grabbed at the gray, cloudy sky. The sun now felt cold, and no longer carried a warmth. Animals had grown their winter coats, squirrels had made their leaf nests, and bears were set to hibernate. Jonathan felt a cold fall breeze float over his skin.
He blinked his eyes in surprise. He was certain that he had been fast asleep in Apple Bloom's bed. Apparently, he wasn't.
“Huh. This is certainly weird.” He thought. A river gurgled next to him. The water was very low.
Some people in the town had told him that all rivers had a source. A huge group of mountains that held the springs of all rivers. The springs would be dryer during the winter, hence the low water. The banks fell steeply to the water, and he could see smooth pebbles at the bottom. In front of him, there was a village.
It seemed to be a small river village, with a few rich families here and there. The majority of the people seemed to be fishermen, with a few traders in the mix. As always, there were a few poor families.
The village was surrounded by forest, but there was a trail leading to and away from the village. Carts and horses had traveled on the road, as one could see track marks, and hoof prints. The buildings in the village seemed to have been recently built. Jonathan noticed a small girl dressed in rich clothing that was playing with a rag doll. She seemed to be singing to it. Her hair was a rich maroon color, and her skin was pale.
A teenaged girl was standing next to her, washing a window. She had blondish tan hair, wrapped in a high short ponytail. Her skin was tanned from working in the sun.
Her dress was made out of poorer cloth than the small girl. A poorer boy playing with a hoop came near where Jonathan stood. The clothes he wore were patched and made out of poor cloth as well. His hair was orange, and he too had tanned skin. Jonathan waved at the little boy.
“Hello.”
The boy did not answer, only spun around the hoop. “Huh? Uh, hello?” The boy turned to Jonathan but froze. His hoop spun to the ground and lay there.
The boy's eyes widened with fear, and he began to back away. At the same time, Jonathan heard a grave voice growl out behind him. “Run away, you. Run away, you. Run away, you.
Run away, you. Run away, you.” Jonathan whirled around, his heart stopping. One of the pony creatures was standing right behind him. Its green eyes stared at the boy with a raging hunger.
Jonathan felt for his halberd. It wasn't on his back. He looked at the boy. “Run!” He screamed.
The boy remained frozen in place. Jonathan growled, and kicked at the creature. His foot went straight through the creature like a hand through the morning fog. His foot landed on the dirt. Jonathan stared in shock.
“I must really be in a weird place.” A thought struck him. “I must be experiencing the dreams Twilight was talking about!” The creature moved forward, lunging at the boy. He screamed and ran as fast as his feet could carry him to the town.
The creature chased after the boy. Jonathan tried to go after the creature. His feet refused to move. They remained right where they were. The screaming alerted the villagers, and they looked his way.
The small girl gasped and clutched her doll to her chest. The teenaged girl dropped the washcloth and ran into a house. She came out with a wooden spear. Holding the spear in her right hand, she ran over to the boy. With a swift movement, she jabbed the spear at the creature.
The creature dodged, hissed, and stopped. The boy kept running and disappeared behind a house. Villagers gathered into the road, fear on their faces. Some were crying, some were screaming. Mothers were clutching at their children, and fathers grabbed weapons to protect their families. The sound of a bell rang out, fast and loud.
The teenaged girl circled the creature, spear held in hand. The creature's ominous gravely voice grated on his ears. “Run away, you.
Run away, you. Run away, you. Run away, you. Run away, you.” It snapped at her heels with its sharp, jagged teeth.
The teenaged girl jumped to one side, barely missing the teeth. She jabbed at the creature again, scoring a hit. The spear dug into the creature's side. It hissed, and chomped at the spear. The teeth were only able reach a few centimeters from the spear, but scraped off a few bits of wood.
The teenaged girl swung the spear away and lifted it over her head. She crashed it down on the creature's head with a loud smack. The creature shook its head dizzily. The teenaged girl gave a deep breath. Then a look of surprise came over her face.
She sniffed the air again. Then, she glanced behind her.
Jonathan saw a circle on the ground. It was fairly large and was made of fancy symbols. Ones he had never seen before. It seemed to be made of fire, and shimmered with an odd, orange light. A rotten smell came from the circle.
The smell burned his nostrils. It made his gut clench, and his head ache. The grass in the middle of the circle shriveled and burned. The teenaged girl gasped. She quickly glanced around.
More creatures were slinking out of the woods, their teeth bared. The creature she was fighting lunged at her again, only for it to be knocked down by an arrow that lodged itself in its shoulder. The arrow was made out of pure white wood, and the feathers that edged it were white as well. The teenaged girl's eyes widened. She shouted at the villagers that were watching.
“The Exile Legion! They are here!”
Jonathan blinked. “The what, now?” He thought. The shout was a shout of relief and happiness. The villagers cheered, clapping their hands with joy.
The teenaged girl glanced at the circle, then motioned at the villagers. “Hurry, get out of their way!” She ran from the creature and headed into the woods. The villagers followed, running quickly. The mothers hurried their children, urging them to go faster.
The maroon haired girl jumped down with her doll. She ran after them, but her foot tripped on a rock, and she fell onto the dirt. Jonathan suddenly heard a loud hissing sound. He turned around to see the circle sparkling with sparks of fire.
“Uh oh.”
He thought. A black snake like substance edged around the circle, turning the orange flaming symbols into a reddish blazing glow. Then it exploded into a column of fire. Jonathan felt himself be lifted into the air by the force of the explosion. The creatures snarled, and growled at the column.
He fell onto the dirt, right in front of the little girl. Her doll was lying a few feet away from her. She was staring at the column, a mixture of wonder and fear in her eyes. Jonathan could barely see what was happening.
Smoke was stinging his eyes, making them tear up. It was difficult to breathe. He could hear the creatures running to attack something or someone. Then he heard the creatures give out high-pitched screams of terror. One suddenly was in front of him, snarling and foaming at the mouth.
A wound was on its shoulder. It looked like a sword had made that. A gooey black substance dripped from it. The little girl jumped, then screamed.
“Mommy!”
A dagger flew out of nowhere and lodged itself in the creature's other shoulder. It gave out another high pitched scream of pain, and looked for the attacker. A hooded figure jumped out of the smoke and onto the creature. The figure was very thin. It seemed to be male, and was wearing a dark brown cloak with a light brown shirt.
He had gray pants with black boots and a golden belt. A second silver dagger was sheathed onto it. He pulled the first dagger out and unsheathed the second. Quickly, the man stabbed the creature with the daggers in the neck and kicked it in back. The creature fell onto its face, dead.
The man kicked it again, making sure it was dead. Then the man glanced at the little girl, allowing Jonathan to see his face. The man had silver gray stubble on his chin. Silver gray hair fell into his silver eyes which carried much sadness and grief. The man's face was sharp and thin.
His skin was the same color as Rayon. Jonathan frowned. The man seemed very familiar yet very different. He couldn't tell why, though. The man's eyes stared at the girl.
She stared at him back, then glanced at her doll. She attempted to reach it but faltered. The man's eyes followed her and saw the doll. They softened. Slowly, he reached out a boot and pushed the doll with his foot over to the little girl.
She snatched it and looked at him. She gave him a nod of her head in thanks and ran off into the forest. Jonathan looked back at the man. He frowned again. “Maybe I just think he looks familiar.”
He thought. He slowly got up onto his feet. The smoke was unbearable. Coughing into his shirt, Jonathan ran toward the forest himself. The villager's houses were being destroyed by the creatures.
More figures, men, and women attacked the creatures with surprising speed and accuracy. He got into a clearing where there was no smoke. He coughed violently and wiped his eyes with his arm. Behind him, a blanket of smoke covered what used to be the village. Then he glanced up and stared. A person was standing near a tree and watching the whole scene.
They were wearing a dark blue cloak, with lighter blue symbols all over it. A hood covered their face, so he couldn't see it. A snake skin belt was at their waist, with a moonstone at the center. Black, sleek pants were on their thin legs.
Leather black boots tipped with silver and jade heels were on their feet. The person seemed very sad for some reason. But also familiar. A gravely ominous voice sounded behind him. “I'll get you!
I'll get you!
I'll get you! I'll get you! I'll get you!” Jonathan turned around to see a creature standing there. It was growling at the person.
There was another creature farther off. The person merely stared at the creature and didn't do anything. The creature took a step forward, only to stop and be knocked to the ground by an armored female that had jumped out of the smoke. She had a helmet on that covered her face. The top half was a dark brown, with the bottom half being a gold color.
Two golden wings were on top of her helmet. On one shoulder was a white cape edged with gold. On the other was a dark brown pauldron that protected her shoulder. A tiny golden skull was on the front. Her arms were bare, showing off her pale skin.
She had an armored suit of dark brown and gold on. She was slender, and quite pretty. A light blue jewel was at her neck. Her hair was brown and she owned pink purplish eyes. On her back was a quiver full of pure white arrows.
A silver sword with a black sheath was at her waist. A light brown wooden bow with darker brown carvings of leaves was in her right hand. Jonathan cocked his head. She also seemed familiar. Gracefully, she stood and drew an arrow from the quiver.
The creature snarled and snapped at her. She jumped away, landing onto her hands, and doing a handstand. She jumped back onto her feet and strung the bow. As the creature moved closer, she did a back flip. Jonathan marveled at her agility.
In midair, she shot an arrow into the creature's chest. The creature stopped and fell to the ground. Dead. The armored female landed onto her feet. The creature in the distance spotted the armored female.
It charged. Another person came out of the smoke and struck the creature down. The person had two long swords, each attached to their wrist. They were wearing a light brown hood, with a golden mask. Tan grayish metal with several holes was where the mouth was so the person could breathe.
The person had killed the creature in one blow. Jonathan did not see anything familiar about that person at all. The person in the dark blue cloak stiffened at the sight of him. The armored female turned and saw the person in the dark blue cloak. The pink purplish eyes narrowed.
Swiftly, she ran to the person with the swords on their wrists. She strung her bow onto her back and placed a slender hand on their back. She bent down and whispered into his ear. That person then spotted the dark blue cloaked person. Jonathan could see the person's dark green eyes.
They were filled with a great mixture of hate, anger, and grief. The armored female drew her bow and strung a pure white arrow on it. She looked at the person beside her for permission to shoot. The person made eye contact with the dark blue cloaked person. For a heartbeat, they stared at each other.
Then the person with the dark green eyes pointed a finger at the dark blue cloaked person. The armored female shot at the person. Swiftly, the person dodged the arrow and ran from the clearing. Jonathan turned to look back at the dark green-eyed person. For the briefest second, he could have sworn that he saw the glimmer of a tear.