Aryo & the Missing Prince

CHAPTER ONE: THE HORSE

Aryo breathed in the crisp, morning air and looked out over his peaceful flock, completely unaware of the fact that he'd never do it again.

The little boy loved days like these and so did the sheep. The sun was shining, the grass was green, and the sky was blue. He and his sheep had just come from the city to wander the rolling hills that lay just outside of Denzilli. The sheep grazed noiselessly on the dewy grass and Aryo followed, staff in hand. He let the sheep wander where they would, but kept a watchful eye on the surrounding countryside.

This close to the old forest, you never knew what might happen.

Aryo wasn't afraid of the old forest like most people were. He'd heard all the stories the other shepherds told about the it-how creatures of unspeakable horror lurked amid the massive trunks, waiting for the next fool to enter the forest and become their victim-but he didn't believe any of it.

The old forest was definitely creepy, and those trees that climbed into the sky seemed to hold a terrible secret, but Aryo wasn't afraid of them. They were only trees.

CRASH!

Aryo jumped. Trees didn't make noises like that on their own. He looked around. Even a few of the sheep ambled away from the forest in alarm. They'd heard it, too.

Aryo stared into the murky blackness that lingered between the trees.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

Aryo felt himself take a step back, his heart's tempo rising and his body reacting by instinct. The crashing was getting louder. And louder. And louder.

CRASH!

A brown blur exploded out of the trees, headed right for Aryo. At the last second, he dove out of the way. In an instant, he was on his feet and had raised his staff in front of him, ready for anything.

But everything was just as it had been. Having moved to what they thought was a safe distance from the forest, the sheep grazed once more. The sun was still shining, the grass was still green, and the sky was still blue.

But there was a horse now, too.

It trotted around in frantic circles, nostrils flared and eyes wide. Something was wrong. It was a good-looking horse, deep chestnut brown and muscular and big. Its saddle shimmered blue and gold and looked very expensive. And very empty.

"Well, that's weird," Aryo said to the sheep, who didn't answer. They never did. Then again, nothing ever came out the forest either. But now something had. "Where did you come from?" Aryo asked the big animal.

The horse didn't answer.

Nobody but nobody went into the forest. Everyone knew that. Why? Well, because everyone knew about the monsters that lived in it. Everyone knew that whatever did go into the forest would never return.

Except, of course, for this horse, and that was weird.

Because the horse offered no explanation, Aryo decided to investigate. He went to the horse and patted its neck and found it wet with foam.

"You've been running a long time, haven't you?" Aryo asked as he moved to the horse's shoulder, still rubbing it down. Then, he looked at the expensive-looking saddle and gasped.

***

Barin Lancington was a man without a cause.

He was an old hero, men said, come from a foreign land. He was fighter, they said, but only to one another. Everyone knew you didn't talk to old Barin, you only talked about him.