Be Sure to Wear a Disguise

My eyes open, and the daylight brightens my room from a small cut in the fabric that covers my windows. I sit up slowly, trying to remember everything about where I am and why I'm here. I give up quickly though. There's a pounding in my head that's starting to kill.

"Rin! Open the door!"

I look over at the large oak door. Oh... the pounding was the door. Duh. Smart one you are, not. I get up slowly and almost fall to the floor, my legs are so weak from walking. I groan a little and stagger over to the door, opening it with the metal kay and leaning against it heavily. Caan lets out a deep breath.

"Good." He sighs.

"Morning?" I ask.

"Yeah yeah, good morning. How are you? Are you alright?" He stammers out his questions, and I start to worry if something is wrong.

"I'm fine. Why? What happened?" I ask.

"What? Huh?... Oh.. Nothing. I just... Got worried is all... It's past noon.. and you haven't stirred. So.. Antsy is all." His lips turn up at the corners in a little grin. I smile at him because he cares so much and it shows so much.

We walk downstairs. I stay close to Caan; this place is strange. I was to tired to notice last night, but the place is ancient. This place is magik. There are portaits of people, old painting in shimmering oil paint that seems to dance under the fine covering of dust. They seem more alive than they should. Here is a clatter from the landing and I look away from the unwavering stare to the to the stairs.

My eyes go wide and I dart behind Caan. The wolf, the huge massive thing of fur pads up the stairs. It passes by, so tall that its shoulder is several inches taller than my hip. It's black, white of face and with white hair at the tip of its tail. I watch it go and it looks back at me from the top of the stairs. It has gold eyes.

I clutch to Caan as it trots off. I turn and look up at him. Caan's eyes are calm and he tilts his head to the side.

"Who was that?" I ask.

"Some fugitive. I didn't catch his name at breakfast," He says, then adds, "Don't worry."

I nod and follow him to the dining hall. It's spacious, about to fit many people, or creatures, but looks smallish and cozy. And it's dusty... and old...and it's quiet. The fire crackles but the noise is almost devoered by the large amount of silence. I look at Caan, scared to speak and break the quietness. His eyes turn to meet mine and he smiles softly.

"Ah. There you are." A voice edges into the corners of the room, gently moving the silnce aside and echoing against the walls and ceiling. I turn and Lyris smiles at me. I can't help but smile back. "We're getting rides today, so no more walking."

I give him a blank stare, then raise an eyebrow. "Rides?"



"OH no. No no. No way i'm riding a ... whatever that is." I say.

"Oh come on, Rin. It's only a unicorn hybrid." Caan counters, off to the side with his 'unicorn hybrid'.

I think my concern is well placed. The huge horse beasts are tall and lean; intimidating is an understatement. They're too black, and their hooves are hidden from view by almost smoke like wisps of hair, or maybe it is smoke. They don't have horns though. Instead, their faces are covered with faceplates, almost bonelike structures that stretch over the broad expanse of their noses and foreheads.

Lyris walks over, taking my hand carefully, unfolding my clenched fist and spreading open my fingers to make a flat surface. In my palm, he places grains and moves my hand closer to the hybrid. As its head lowers, I feel myself become like ice; solid and frozen, quivering a little, cracking as the pressure increases.

The massive head lowers and I feel warm breath wash over my hand. Then the softest of velvet brushes against my palm. My eyes fly open; I didn't even realize I'd closed them. The bone plated head has to be longer than my torso, but it tapers off into a cute pink nose that is now gently taking the grain from my hand. I can't help but smile.

The neck turns, making the massive head tilt. The big black eye shines out at me, and suddenly it doesn't seem like a bottomless pit where light can not escape, it's more like the surface of a deep pool, sparkling with life. Its long lashes frame the eyes and flutter as the hybrid blinks. Carefully, I reach out and stroke the cheek, running my hand over the soft hair.

"Okay...," I say softly, "Maybe this won't be so bad."

"That's the spirit," Lyris chuckles softly. He let go of me then, leaving me alone with the animal. It looks huge and scary again. But, then the great long neck stretches out, bringing its cute pink nose down to the hand by my side. It tickles the palm of my hand again, looking for any grain that might have been left behind. I smile again.



It turns out that learning to ride a unicorn hybrid is a whole bunch harder than having to walk all day long. When you walk, if you trip and fall, you don't have that far to fall. While riding, there is a great distance to fall. At the end of the day, I have to limb a little and have bruises here and there. On the other hand, I learned fasted and we'll be able to leave the next day.

"Why was that so hard? You two manage just fine," I ask. Caan and Lyris both shrug. I roll my eyes. Suddenly, I feel an icy stare along my spine. I turn and the wolf from earlier trots into the dining hall. Slowly, his long legs carry him across the floor, long sharp nails clicking against the stone tiles. Then, he turns around in a tight circle, winding his body into a coil before sinking down on the rug and closing his eyes.

I look back at me food, pushing it around and start eating quietly. I look up again, and Lyris is looking over at the wolf, his forest green eyes narrowed like he is trying to solve some puzzle. Caan doesn't seem to care at all, but he looks up at me. His eyes sparkle and his lips turn up in a smile. I smile back and go back to dinner.

At the end of the meal, we all go back to our rooms. I sleep soundly. The light from the slit in the curtain falls over my face, waking me up. It is way too early... The sun should go back to bed. I think before getting out of bed. I shower and change and pull my damp hair up into a messy bun, letting some hang free in front of my face. I unlock my door and walk out with my pack resting on my shoulder.

I don't wait for Caan or Lyris. I walk downstairs and to the dining hall. I have to stop at the door and stare for a while. So many things I've never seen. Creatures and foods and ... creatures. I think I spy a dragon in the back, near the fire, but I don't go in investigate. I only take a relatively safe and normal pastry and a fruit from the table and walk outside.

There has to be magik, because the place is a small cabin in the middle of the woods, but once you enter, it's a large mansion like place and if you walk outside from the side door, there is an open field and a barn. I walk over to the fence, nibbling from my pastry. I stand there, seeing the unicorn hybrids off in the distance. I think I'm starting to like them quite a bit. I finish the small breakfast and whistle out over the field.

I see a single head rise high. Then the huge horse beast starts to move towards me. Slowly, but steadily, it closes the gap and soon it's right beside me at the fence. Its head lowers, and the bony faceplate tilts as it shift its head to the side to look at me and look for treats. Timidly, I hold out the fruit, hoping it will suffice. The cute pink nose sniff at it, moving it around my hand before picking it up and eating it, deep purple juice drips on to the grass.

After consuming the fruit, the horse creature follows me on its side of the fence as I walk into the barn. Quickly, it moves to its stall and pokes its head out and greets me as I walk down the aisle. I giggle when I see the purple stripes on its chin. I walk over and stroke the soft cheek.

"Need any help?" A deep voice echos through the barn and the black ears of the hybrid swivel to catch the sound.

My heartbeat spiked high and I spin around and look at the source of the voice.