Page 6 of The Study of Storms and Magic
Annika and Endre had stabled their horses, Butterscotch and Gin, at the border patrol’s building. The horses matched their names. As expected, Butterscotch was creamy golden brown. She had a white blaze on her face that resembled a swirl. Covered with a grayish white coat, Gin had a black mane and tail. Once they mounted their horses, Annika and Endre led the group north.
As they crossed MD-7, they switched the three horses every day, rotating who pulled the wagon. Annika and Endre would remain mounted in case of trouble. When Zohav rode Kitty on their third day of being in Ixia, the coiled energy in the big black stallion vibrated through the saddle.
“Are we on this road for a while?” she asked Annika.
“Yes. There’s a travel shelter about ten miles ahead where we’ll stop for the night. Why?”
“Kitty wants to run. I’ll meet you there.”
“I’ll go with you,” Endre said. “Pairs remember?”
“Good luck keeping up!” Zohav leaned forward and whispered in Kitty’s ear. “Go.”
Kitty broke into a gallop, and they flew. The ground sped past as Zohav lifted her body off the saddle, letting her legs flex with Kitty’s up and down motion. She bent over his neck, breathing in the earthy scent of horse. Her heart raced, mimicking the pounding of Kitty’s hooves.
Heli called her an ice queen, and it hadn’t been the first time someone had referred to her nature as cold, aloof, and reserved. Not that she cared. The only people whose opinion mattered to her were Third Magician and Zee’s. Probably Yelena’s as well.
Riding Kitty at full speed, Zohav was exhilarated. Kitty was the best perk of living in Sitia. She would have never ridden a horse if she’d stayed in Ixia. With Kitty she could just…be. Allthe horrors she’d experienced, and the years of living with the constant fear, all disappeared. Kitty calmed her soul.
Zohav gave Kitty full control of his speed. Eventually he settled into a slower pace, allowing Endre and Gin to catch up.
“Wow, you weren’t kidding,” he said, huffing. “For such a monster of a horse, Kitty moves fast. Is he one of those Sandseed breeds? That can do that…” He twirled his hand. “Gust-of-wind gait?”
“No. He was bred to be a plow horse and work on a farm.”
“I sense a story. What happened?”
“He resisted being hitched to a plow or to anything. After frequent escapes, he was sent to the Stable Master at the Magician’s Keep to be taught proper horse manners.” Zohav laughed, remembering the training had the opposite effect. “The Stable Master was at his wits end and considered releasing the horse in the Avibian Plains.”
“Not a bad place for a horse to end up.”
“No. But when I started school at the Keep, I had to pick a horse from the herd in the pasture. Kitty was in his stall. He kicked the wooden door down and raced toward the fence.” Zohav remembered the terror that had rooted her to the ground as the black behemoth approached her at top speed. Recalled the shouts of alarm and the stable staff chasing after Kitty.
“Please go on. I can’t stand the suspense.”
“I knew nothing about horses, but occasionally snow cats would wander into our yard, searching for food. In order not to be the cats’ next meal, you have to make yourself look bigger and make lots of noise to scare them off. When Kitty drew closer, I climbed the fence, stood on the top rail, and yelled at him to stop.” She glanced at Endre. “It worked. Except he’s still a brat and won’t tolerate anyone but me.” Which meant she had to feed him, groom him, hitch him, and exercise him. In her mind, it was a small price to pay for the freedom Kitty had given her.
“Yeah, I tried giving him an apple and he almost bit my hand off.”
“We warned you.”
“Yeah, but with a name like Kitty, I thought you were exaggerating.” Endre paused. “Did you name him?”
“No. That would be the farmer’s three year old daughter. When he was first born, she thought he was a big kitty cat and named him Kitty.”
“You could have changed his name.”
“The farmer tried, but the horse only responded to Kitty.” And by the way the horse’s ears were cocked, Zohav knew he was listening.
They reached the travel shelter. After rubbing down and feeding the horses, they built a fire in the hearth and started cooking dinner. Ixian accommodations lacked…well, almost everything in comparison to Sitia. The structure contained two rows of bunk beds and a hearth. The stable was only three-sided. They had the place to themselves. Not many Ixians traveled during the cold season.
Heli, Zee, and Annika caught up at sunset. It was quite interesting how, after only a few days, they had all fallen into a routine. Each had their own jobs. Heli checked the orbs every night even though if one had broken, they couldn’t replace it. The orbs were constructed from a special glass recipe that only the Stormdancer glass blowers knew.
Once the orbs were filled with storm energy, their pace would go from slow to glacial. If an orb broke, it would destroy the other orbs, and the release of all that energy would kill everyone nearby. However, the Stormdancers had assured them that the orbs were sturdy despite being glass. Going extra slow was just a precaution.
As for the others, Zee and Endre cared for the horses except for Kitty. Zohav enjoyed cooking and, after dinner, she wouldsit by the fire and work on her lessons while Annika cleaned up. Once all the chores were finished, the rest of them swapped stories. She half listened, since the history of magic was quite fascinating. Zohav had stopped reminding her brother about his assignments after he accused her of ruining his fun.
The trip to Icefaren in MD-1 took them a total of twenty-four days. Every storm season, one family in MD-1 volunteered to host the Sitians so they had a warm place for their base of operations. Zohav was thrilled to discover this year’s host was Uncle Karter, her father’s brother. He’d moved into her parents’ five bedroom house when they’d immigrated to Sitia.
