Alaia

It was the early hours of dawn, the cold winds grazed gently over the tall grasses of the grasslands causing a gentle whisper from the needle-like plants. The sounds of hooves stomping on the sturdy grounds were like a distance thunder echoing in the ears of the little girl who lay quietly on the ground. Despite the dangerous sounds getting closer, she held her breath and waited, her eyes shining bright as she slowly inhaled the smell of dew mixed with fresh grass. It was a clean smell that brought calm to her nervous heart, a small smile appeared on her lips and her eyes turned determined to succeed.

This was the grasslands a barren area where nothing could grow except grassed for thousands of kilometers. The only way people could feed here was by hunting but they were not the only hunters. In the grasslands were natural predators, savage lions, and gazelles, savage rabbits which fed not only on grasses but on grassed soaked with the blood of their prey. To think that there were herbivores in these parts was a dangerous mistake that many had made in the past only to lose even the chance to feel regret. The grasslands were so wide and long that the people who had taken it as a home could not travel through on foot. Many years ago, there were nomadic tribes, traversing these lands on horseback and hunting meat for food wherever they could find them. That was until the savage horses from the depths grew in numbers.

Indeed, there were differences among predators, the natural predators like the savage lions with claws, teeth, and muscle groups naturally developed for hunting prey, and the adaptive predators like the savage rabbits and gazelles which had only powerful kicks and larger sizes for hunting prey. Despite the fact that the savage horses were adaptive predators, they ruled the grasslands. The nomads were unable to take them, or hunt them, they could only hide from them. They formed tribes and settled down in different places on the grasslands and whenever they heard the thunderous hooves of the savage horses, everyone would get on their tame horses, pick up their tents and run in search of a new home. As for fighting the savage horses, that would be another grave mistake.

These horses were great in number and traveled in herds. They were powerful runners and could go on for three days running at maximum speed which was a hundred kilometers per hour. Their speed was so great that if the nomads noticed their presence too late, they would have to suffer the charge of these dangerous creatures, and many if not all in the tribe would die.

However, although life in the grasslands was difficult, the nomads had adapted also to it! They could be called savage humans! Their strength was far greater than the normal humans and their horse-riding skill and natural talent for archery and spear-wielding made them many times more powerful than any cavalry that kingdoms could cultivate. Aside from hunting for meat on which these tribes depended, from time to time, there would be that one crazy person who succeeded in subduing a savage horse. Today, Alaia would be that crazy person, she was determined and she was certain that her determination was enough.

She was not born in the grasslands, but she was raised in it, she inhaled the dews and fed on hard meat like the nomads, she learned to ride and made pacts with horses like the nomads, and she learned to use a bow and wield a great sword like the nomads. But she also knew technique and etiquette, strategy and courtesy like the civilized people.

Ambition burned brightly in her dispersing the early morning cold. The wind was slow and all life hidden in the grasses was quiet, perhaps fearful of alerting the arriving horses of their presence. Alaia had tracked this herd for two months now, surviving alone in these savage lands. Nothing would quench her will.

Through the sound of the horses, she could tell that they had slowed down and as the sun began to rise, they stopped completely. Alaia understood what was going on, it was just as she had predicted, they were grazing and she had another chance. If she missed again this time, she might lose this herd forever or lose her life. There was no room for error.

She held her breath and slowly got on all fours, taking about two minutes just to raise one limb. If she made a low sound, the horses would hear it and kill her, if she made too loud of a sound, they would run. She couldn't afford either. Soon she could see through the gaps between the grasses with the aid of the dim light caused by the arriving sun. Majestic horses grazing in the field their powerful muscles contracting and expanding as they moved, causing her heart to beat even faster. They looked no different from war horses, except for their glorious manes!

Their manes fully displayed their beauty, full and glistening in the dim silvery light, from the top of their necks to the fortop and down to their polls. The hair on their foretop was light allowing them to see very clearly, but their neck thick and long. Although no one brushed them, their manes were clean and unlocked. The distinction between a savage horse and a normal horse though aside from the better-developed muscles which could not be compared was the marking on their necks. Their manes fell to one side while on the exposed side which was different for every horse was silver marking which was difficult to spot since it appeared periodically. Each of them had one, the more powerful ones had two and rarely there were those with three.

Alaia knew she could not be greedy, she couldn't wrestle a grown horse so she kept her eyes on the younger ones. Soon she found her target, it was playing around with other horses but she chose it because it was a white horse and it seemed weaker than the others. A savage horse no matter how weak would be stronger than a normal one. She closed in on the group of young horses but they were more cautious than she expected. The playing horses stopped, they looked around and the white one approached her cautiously. The older horses paid no attention to them fortunately and Alaia's heart beat wildly in her chest so much that she could feel it in her throat wanting to leap out.

When the white horse reached her, she leaped up all of a sudden and covered its head in a bag with one hand, and with the other she made a light cut by its neck. The other young horses panicked and rushed closer but she got on the back of the young white horse and tightened the bag around its head. With her now free hands, she took out two stones which she wore on her neck and smacked them together.

A loud bang echoed through the grasslands and both Alaia and the white savage horse below her passed out from the sound.

The other savage horses for a moment were unable to react and as soon as they recovered they stormed away causing a larger storm than when they arrived. Alaia and the little white horse remained hidden in the grass both knocked out, the horse by a combination of the sound and Alaia's blade which was soaked in a deadly poison, and Alaia by the sound alone. Her nine years old heart couldn't handle it. Actually, even an adult human would have also passed out from it.

It was bright in the day when Alaia woke up to a faint sting in her leg. Her eyes opened abruptly and she pulled out a knife from her waist throwing it at the rat eating her feet. The small creature didn't expect her to still be alive and was pinned to the ground. Alaia groaned from pain, she noticed her left leg was under the young savage horse and she could no longer feel it. Taking her time she slowly pulled her leg out and sat on the grass staring at the horse sleeping peacefully. Yes, it was sleeping, she could see its abdomen moving, evidence that it was breathing and still alive.

Her concern at the moment though was not on the horse but on her feet. That rat chewed through her shoe and left her tiny toe mangled. She groaned as she took off her shoe and her face formed a disgusted look. Knowing it was not safe to leave the wound like that she got up from the ground and searched around until she could her leather bag which she abandoned in the grasses when lying in wait. She returned to the horse's side and took out a bottle from her bag and with its contents, she washed her wound with a straight face and covered it in a white bandage after. It was pure alcohol in that bottle, a really expensive thing in the grasslands. It could only be bought from courageous merchants coming from civilized lands.

After bandaging her wound, Alaia wore her shoe again despite the hole in it. It was better than nothing after all. Finally, she had time for the young horse.

Studying it, it seemed to be about 160cm in height, no more than a year old. Alaia walked around it and knelt by its head where she cut it, she gently washed the wound confident that the horse wouldn't wake up. After she was done, she returned the bottle to her bag and waited for the horse to wake. The poison she cut it with was deadly but it was only enough to weaken it, it couldn't kill it.

As she waited she admired its beautiful mane and stroked its neck gently, the bag was still over its head and she had no intention of taking it off. She was stroking its neck when something made her freeze, her proud smile also freezing on her face in shock. There were four markings on its neck, she moved closer and the marking disappeared but she was sure she saw it clearly. Her heart began to beat wildly in excitement and it took a while for her to calm down. She targeted the weak-looking horse, not knowing it looked weak and developed slower than the others because it was a more powerful species among the savage horses.

Soon the young savage horse woke up with a start and immediately got up from the ground in confusion. It didn't react anxiously like one would expect from a horse with its face covered. It circled slowly trying to get the cover of its head as it shook its head and snorted. Alaia would not allow that though, if it saw her face before she bonded with it, it would kill her… there was no questions or doubt about that. She slowly reached out and hugged its head in her hand but the horse became more irritable and moved around even faster, Alaia kept her grip though walking in circles along with it. She leaned her head to rest on it and began to whisper some words.

As she did, the savage horse calmed and soon it was just standing there and listening to her. This continued for hours before Alaia stopped. It was calm now.

She slowly took off the bag covering its head and put some distance between them. As soon as the horse noticed her, its eyes frosted over and it neighed raising its forelegs and marching towards her but she raised her hand to it. And called out.

"Stop ha'feir!"

The savage horse stopped and Alaia smiled knowing she had won this time. She continued to talk and play with it before cautiously getting on its back. With that, it was confirmed, she had tamed it. The technique of the nomad tribes worked magic. Before she could smile though, she heard the thundering of hooves and the cries of soldiers. If it was not her tribe, then she would undoubtedly die, but she was confident in her horse so she stayed put.

"There's a rider!" someone called from among the riding cavalry.

Three horses charged out of the army of about a hundred to approach her and when she saw the faces of the riders, she smiled. They reached her quickly and circled her with coldness in their eyes.