The Horse in the Prince's Stables

Chp. 3

          "Let me lead," Alex dug his heels into my stomach, propelling me forward a few steps. "For your own safety, Philip." He bowed his head respectfully. The prince nodded.

          Stepping forward, a wave of adrenaline wafted through me. This is my very first battle. With Alex on my back, I knew we would be unstoppable. I was incredibly proud to be carrying a warrior on my back. Rearing up, I punched at the air with my front legs and leapt forward and charged down the hill.

            The wind rushed past me, whistling in my ears. Alex leaned low, his face down by my neck, holding his sword close to my body. We flew down the hill, one terrific fighting force. These horse thieves wouldn't to stand a chance. He didn't guide me too much, trusting that I could lead the way for us both to achieve the goal to bring down these men.

          The horse thieves were creating a line and they stood still. There was one man in the front, he looked like the worst of them all. Extra mean, extra cruel, and incredibly heartless. I aimed for him. A long, ugly scar ran from his forehead down to the tip of his chin. His smile was crooked and missing a few teeth. I assumed he was the leader. He raised his arm up, bent at the elbow, his palm facing us.

          Then he closed his fist. We were almost upon them.

          The other three riders spurred their horses on, and they charged us, weapons raised. Startled, I faltered a bit.

          "Don't give up!" Alex's voice carried to my ears.

          Renewed courage flowed into me, and we clashed. I narrowly avoided a collision with a thief riding on a gray mare. I heard the loud clang of swords directly behind me. Alex steered me around and I went after the man on the gray horse. Something silver whistled past my ear and lodged itself in the thief's back. He let out a small groan and toppled off his mount, landing with a dull thud on the ground.

          More loud clashes of steel were heard, and as Alex guided me back around, we saw that the prince and Henry were engaged in combat. Prince Philip swiftly dispatched his enemy, and Henry continued to  engage his own in combat. The prince started for the man with the scar. He grinned cruelly and stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled shrilly.

          Three more thieves appeared from within the crowd of horses, leaping onto the back of random horses and two raced out to attack. The third trotted over to the thief with the scar. He pulled out a crossbow and loaded it, and urged his horse slightly behind their leader.

          Crossbow?!

          The fear I had been repressing so strongly finally reared it's ugly head. I didn't want to go anywhere near the crossbowman. I reared and whinnied in fear.

            "Don't do this!" Alex pleaded. "Come on! Be brave!" He dug his heels into me once again, and I automatically obeyed his commands. I began to run towards the thieves again. The man with the crossbow raised his bow... and the prince ran right in front of him! The prince had just become preoccupied with attacking one of the newcomers that he didn't notice the danger.

          "Prince Philip!!!" Alex yelled.

          In that split second, the prince caught a glimpse of the crossbowman, and threw his head down as the thief pulled the trigger. Then everything seemed to slow down. I felt like I heard the snap of the arrow being released. The arrow headed straight for Alex and I, though I would be the one hit. In a panic, I whirled to the side, taking Alex off guard. I felt his weight shift to the side as the momentum tossed him backwards a little.

          "Whoa girl!" He blurted.

          Then I heard a strangled gasp. Two more soft twangs of a bow and the sound of projectiles piercing ones flesh reached my ears. I turned my head around to look at Alex, my stomach doing flips with dread. The shock in his eyes, his mouth parted slightly as he coughed out a few gasps... his fingers loosened on his sword... it hit the ground... and he slowly slid off my saddle. His body hitting the ground echoed repeatedly in my mind. Alex's head lolled slightly to the side. His eyes, still open, and filled with with astonishment, turned glassy and lifeless.

          "ALEX!!" The prince's scream brought me back to reality. The battle seemed to have stopped, just for a moment. Henry's face contained horror and sorrow. Then with a renewed vigor he began to fight again. The prince.... I couldn't hardly look at him. The anguish in his voice and expression left me feeling dead inside. He glared at the crossbowman, tears spilling down his cheeks.

          "You bastard!" He cried, and spurred Thunder forward. His focus never wavered.

          Henry still fought bravely, but he never saw a second thief sneaking up behind him, a wicked looking club being raised to strike. I neighed loudly as a warning. I couldn't fail twice. Henry broke out of his intense warrior mode... too late. The club swung down, a sickening crunch came upon impact.

          Clover was terrified, and as Henry slumped out the saddle, she took off. Henry's foot still caught in the stirrup, Clover started to drag him away.

          This broke the prince's concentration.

          "Henry!" He yanked on Thunder's reins and started give chase after Clover and Henry. I glanced at the man with the scar, my fury raging inside of me. He was placing a rock within a little leather pocket. Then the raised it over his head and began to swing the pocket around his head.

          No! He can't win!

          I didn't move though. I couldn't bear to tear myself away from Alex's side. It was over. We were defeated.

            The leader snapped his wrist and sent the stone flying. It hit true to it's mark, and struck the prince in the head. He tumbled out of his saddle and rolled in the grass briefly before coming to a stop and laying still in the grass.

          Thunder slowed, and trotted over to his master's body, confused. He leaned his head down and nudged the prince's limp hand with his nose. As the horse thieves approached, Thunder sprang into action. Stepping over his master's fallen body, he reared and struck out his hooves at the men. He charged and attacked, staying close to the prince's side, but still proving that he was a lethal weapon. He screamed in anger and snorted in defiance.

            Part of me admired Thunder for his bravery. He still had fight left in him. He wasn't a coward. He never would have faltered if he had been shot at by the enemy. I lowered my head in shame.

          Then I heard that awful sound again. The sound of the crossbow.

          I jerked my head up, a neigh escaping me.

            No...

          Thunder fell to the ground with a loud thud, an arrow lodged deep into his skull.

          Something lightweight and thick looped around my neck. I was dimly aware that a horse thief had lassoed me and was pulling me along to the other stolen horses. I felt numb. I didn't even realize that I had moved until I bumped into a few other horses. Even then I still felt out of touch with reality.

          Alex... Henry... Thunder... Dead. Gone. My fault.

            I couldn't even think. I thought we could win. I believed that we would.

            I should have never left the castle.

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yea, i know. but it had to happen. T.T

besides the tragedy, what did you think? vote, comment, the works.

PS: the pic on the side isn't really how it looks, it's just a random pic i found. u get the idea.

PPS: the video honestly has nothing to do with the story, although the song is cool... anyways, if you skip to 2:16 then that's the only reason i stuck it on here. i actually just watched that movie, like tonight, and lancelot was how i pictured alex to be. except... red haired... so, i guess the video is like an "R.I.P. alex sort of thing... anyways. the image at 2:16 reminds me of my story :3 

(WOAH, i totally noticed another odd coincidence. lancelot was also shot with a crossbow)