The Ride For South: The Morning After

The unsettling trees shivered at the cold wind that blew before dawn.

It was so early in the morning that even the owls hooted from their roosts, and even though the horses were asleep, so were the eight of them. But not Erik; he was woken up by a brittle rustling and breaking sound of leaves from somewhere behind him. 

"Who's there?" He whispers; the cold made him shiver.

The others were rock-asleep.

Erik twisted his head from left to right in search of where the sound came from. But he only saw the hazy mist that had devoured the woods. 

He heard the sound again, but now it was louder than the first time, almost like it was itching both his ears. 

Erik looked back, and he could see a tall figure, nearly seven feet tall, standing within the gust of mist, its body reflecting metallic armor from just a pinch of moonlight.

Erik's eyes widened. 

"No." He exhaled, and his breath collapsed with the cold air. 

The tall figure approached him; his metallic armor clashed with each other and created noises. Its crushing steps to the ground broke the feeble leaves and twigs, and for each step, the figure grew taller and taller.

And Erik's eyes opened wider and wider, brewing red tears. 

The figure wore a sharp and terrifying knight helm, and it bore an axe. 

"No, no, no…" Erik said to himself with a tone that perfectly defined fright. 

The shadowy figure halted right in front of him. 

Erik looked up at its helmed head, and tears rained.

"Please don't hurt me, you monster." Erik pleaded.

The figure laughed with a deep voice, the armor shaking accordingly. 

The figure sheathed the axe and slowly reached out its hands towards Erik's body. 

"Noo! Leave me alone, Arega! You fuckin' monster!" Erik cried out so loud.

…

Suddenly,

He felt two hands violently shaking his shoulders. 

"Wake up, Erik! It's just us! Wake up!" He heard a voice.

Erik finally opened his eyes. 

He could see a warm and subtle ray of sunlight that had partially escaped through the gaps of the tree's leaves. He saw a face. 

"You're okay, Erik!" 

Both the face and voice belonged to Yin. 

Erik River took a moment to suck in the fact that he had a terrible nightmare of Arega hurting him again. His body was totally drenched in sweat, and his eyes were showered with fresh tears. 

He immediately got up and looked at everyone's faces; each of them dropped in utter confusion and worry. 

"I'm so sorry for causing a scene." He regretted being a burden.

"Shut up about your apology. Are you okay?" Vegas inquired.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. 'Member, about me sayin' Arega haunting me in my nightmares, I had one of those." 

"Oh." They all exhaled. 

"Yin, I trust you, but I don't think Arega will follow you. He's not what you think he is." 

"Hmmm." Yin paused for a long time and went scouting for answers, then stated.

"I will come up with an offer he cannot refuse." Yin said softly with a grin.

"He's not someone you can convince." Erik reacted with a hazy voice.

"Hahahahaha!" Yin ran out of breath, laughing out his lungs.

Erik dropped his head, disappointed and upset.

The truth was, Erik was not concerned about the others. His fear lay with himself and only with him. He never wanted to confront that monster again, though he felt safe and secure around the eight of them. He knew what Arega was capable of. He is fearless and ruthless. He wouldn't give a damn, even if God wanted to fight him. 

"We better start now." Erik spoke, sighing it away into the air.

The nine of them soon scattered to their respective horses and readied them. They all gave a nice pat, which made the horses roll their lips together. Their saddles were tightened, and Erik fed them some carrots and hay that he had brought along with himself from the farm. The soft sunlight of the early morning warmed them out of the cool breeze of the night. 

"You got real lucky with her." Tara said it to Vegas, who was adoring the white pony that looked like her. 

"Or maybe she got lucky with me." Vegas replied without looking back at her.

"Named her yet?"

"Nah." She exhaled.

"You should." Tara suggested, and she paused for a brief moment before asking a rather awkward question.

"Are you like... In love with Yin?" 

"What!?" Vegas turned around immediately, breaking her from her unbothered nature.

"Are you in love with Yin?" Tara repeated herself, but more sharply now.

"Are you insane? How dare you think something like that! Are you dumb?" Vegas fired in rage.

"Woah, chill. If you're not, just say so. Why are you so fired up about it?" Tara calmed her with a casual tone.

"Um… You're right. Um… No, I'm not. I can never be." Vegas said, trembling.

There was silence. 

"Why do you ask?" Vegas inquired with a mix of confusion and nervousness.

"Nothing." She replied casually.

Vegas looked into her eyes, trying to spot if they were lies behind them, but no, Tara's eyes seemed like they were half-asleep, looking as unbothered as they could.

"Are…you…In…"

"Ew. Love's not real. Never was, never is, and never will be." Tara responded firmly.

Before she could give Vegas the chance to react, Tara walked away to her readied horse and got on top of it. 

Only Colt and Tara were ready to ride.

Then it was Neil and the two knights.

Yin calmed and comforted Erik and brought him to his horse, Neigh-Chang. And then they both got on top of it and settled gently on the saddles. 

Lars had a unique way of climbing up the horse since he was the shortest of them all. He first makes the horse bend forward, and then he holds onto its crest hair. He should have probably gotten himself a pony. 

Vegas was still near her tied horse, adoring her like she was looking in a mirror.

"You're the only one I can talk to about him." She spoke to the horse.

She leaned forward and kissed her.

"Heya, Vegas! If you can stop romanticizing with your horse and buckle up, we can leave now." Yin yelled.

Vegas leaped, got on top of her pony, and trotted near them. 

"Let's leave." Vegas announced it and rushed in front of everyone.

The nine soldiers and the eight horses rode fiercely, heading South, cutting down time with the power of the horses.