Suddenly a brutal, ear-splitting screech viciously pierced the silence of the night. What felt like a tornado of terror swirled and suffocated the air around the trio. Neither Hiccup, Rapunzel or Merida could ever remember being so completely frightened in their lives. Hurtling towards them were creatures that were so.. well how could these creatures be described? They were like nothing else any of the three had ever seen, never even imagined in their wildest dreams.
They were midnight black horses. Although nothing in the slightest like Merida's own beloved shetland, Angus, she thought strickenly to herself amidst the unbelievable chaos. These horses seemed to have a deadly mind of their own and surged ruthlessly forward, striking their hooves high up above them under the moonlight, screeching with brutality. But there was something else strange about them, these monstrous horse-like creatures had a coat of jet black and they seemed inky and transparent, almost ghost like around their outline. With every swift movement they left behind a trail of blackness in the air, like an ebony watercolour paint spreading across parchment.
For the first time in her life, Rapunzel felt that her heart had stopped beating. What on earth were these creatures? The first night she'd ever stepped foot in the outside world and this was what she had came across. These onyx horses of the night were more terrifying than anything Rapunzel could have ever imagined. She stood there, frozen to the spot, unable to think or even move while the air surrounding her swam with inky darkness. 'Why did I ever wish to leave my tower?' a melancholy voice at the back Rapunzel's mind wondered. Maybe Mother Gothel was right all along.
Merida meanwhile, bow and arrow in hand, fleeted through the dark clouded air. Somewhere in the darkness she felt Hiccup's hand grasp her wrist, and a fluttering feeling of reassurance pulsed through her.
She too, was terrified, she couldn't think of a single person she knew who wouldn't be terrified in this situation. Circling around her were these things that were more like beasts rather than horses she supposed. How many were there? Four? Five? ..More? It was impossible to tell. Merida's surroundings kept disappearing and reappearing in a dizzying haze of cloudy darkness. This also made it near impossible to make any sort of precise aim with her bow and arrow, Merida had already fired a dozen arrows randomly into the swirling mist, hoping to scare off these creatures.. whatever they were.
Through Hiccup's eyes, all of this seemed to happen in slow motion, as if time itself was distorted and each second lasted a lifetime. Hiccup saw everything happen as slowly as the sun rising into the sky, and everything in perfect detail. He noticed it all.
Every single lock of crimson hair swirling around Merida's head, like a flamed halo. Every leaf on the surrounding trees trembling with fear. The betwitching movement of these horse-like creatures that emerged from the darkness. And the way the breath in Hiccup's throat seemed catch at the sight of them.
