The Iron Badger

Chapter 3

Much To Discuss (Part 1)

1

"I noticed the clouds thinning as the dull of the moon's glow shone through a thin veil of the clouds. I noticed a strange horror thing. The clouds took shape, appearing as if they were stretching and moving, forming patterns like a coiled serpent ready to strike. It had greyish scales, as I looked at it in awe of amazement. It was its face that nearly made my heart stop beating. The head was a head of an old man!"

Rye—

The winds shifted slightly, allowing the snow to slow up ahead. Rye, my father, found a dark patch just above the horizon. It gave my father hope, hope to rid himself of the blasted storm and create a fire to warm his old bones, and rest before falling asleep entirely. Equinox gave a loud neigh, as Rye lovingly stroked Equinox's long red mane. "Not yet," was the command gave to his horse. But there was something puzzling within the clouds themselves that caused such distress, causing my father to pull up on the horse's rein, forcing Equinox to halt. My father tilted his head towards the sky. The clouds themselves made themselves like scales of a snake. "Ah, it was a mere trick of the clouds and nothing more." Scoffed my father as the clouds broke away, giving Father a sense of relief. But the lull of the storm quickly vanished, sending high gale winds and blinding snow, wiping out any feelings of relief that father might have had.

Rye gave a quick snap of Equinox's reins, giving permission to the horse to speed up, but a quick trot was all the snow would allow. Rye raised himself up from the horse's saddle, nearly standing on the balls of his feet. With a whisper, father spoke into Equinox's ear. "It is now time."

Without delay, Equinox's skin crackled. A blue aura formed around Rye, as Equinox's skin turned red like smoldering embers like that of coal when on fire. An oil-like substance leaked out of the pours of the horse's skin, igniting Equinox's body entirely. The blue aura kept Father safe from the swirling flames around him. But Rye still felt the heat of the flames causing his brow to sweat. My father cared little, for his destination was up ahead.

Equinox galloped with frantic fervor with flames dancing behind him, melting the snow in front, thus creating a path in the snow like a hot knife through butter. It was the Dragon's Root that caused Equinox's blood to burn like a thousand sun!

The patch up ahead took on form and shape as they came closer to it. It slowly became something of importance—it became a cluster of trees, dense enough to keep out the snow and shielding them from the blasting winds. But Rye knew there was much needed work to be done in order to survive.

With only on Dragon's Root in Father's riding pouch, it was enough to create a small campfire, but not enough to get them home through the blinding snow, so Father would have to use the gifts of his horse wisely.

The aura around Rye slowly thinned, causing Father to feel the coldness returning before vanishing completely. The shiny black skin replaced the flames of Hades that Equinox possessed only for a short while. When Father knew he would survive the storm, seeing the dense woods in front of him, Rye pulled up on Equinox's reins to tell him to stop.

"I must confess that I was at a loss. Si, now dead and gone. I found myself alive and well. A bit of guilt filled my heart... I did not know to shout for joy or cry over the loss of my now fallen friend. So, I ended up doing a little of both. This is the part of the story that saddens me. It is not of Si, but when I fell asleep."

Rye—

2

I was not naïve to believe that Father would burst through the door with the wind yelling behind him, while snow blow into the house, as he hand out gifts to Mother and I. Telling use how sorry he was on his late arrival. Instead, Mother kept looking out through the frosted window with hopes of seeing her love coming up from the distance. But all she saw was blinding snow and fierce winds.