“As she gazed into the dense greenery, Molly couldn’t believe what she saw. Then again, she never believed what she saw these days.

Situated in between the large, thick tree trunks was a beautiful mare. Her coat gleamed a brilliant white and her tail looked very well brushed even though she was on an island that had no civilization. The most intriguing thing about her was her eyes; round silver orbs that reflected the moon. Her coat shimmered and she reared up. It was a breathtaking sight and Molly itched for her drawing pad; there had to be a way to capture the soft glow outlining the horse. She reminded herself sternly that her sketch pad was gone, buried forever under mounds of burning sand, broken in the biggest dessert in the world.

Behind the mare was a small mountain. It too had a silvery sheen, gleaming with the stars. A perfect coating of snow rested on top. Molly shivered. Things were a little too perfect and ideal around here; she had a feeling there was something supernatural was going on. As if her day wasn’t bad enough.

The horse started to trot, and Molly’s trance was broken. She began to step after it when something snapped. She looked down and saw she had stepped on a twig.  The mare was still as stone except for her ears, which were twitching slightly, trying to pick out if the creature who had made the noise was a predator or some small forest animal. Molly didn’t think any small forest animal would come here though; no gentle creature in its right mind would dare step here.

Thinking it was nothing, but cautious all the same, the horse sped into a canter. Molly rushed after her, not wanting to lose sight of something so magnificent. It was difficult to make her way through the forest without a sound; her feet kept crunching the staggering amount of leaves. The process was annoyingly slow too. Every time Molly stumbled, the mare stopped and suspiciously sniffed the air. She was becoming increasingly edgy and Molly had to be more and more secretive in order for the horse not to bolt.

They seemed to be going in the direction of the mountain. The horse stepped confidently through the forest like she had been there many times before. She kept speeding up and neighing joyfully as if excited. Despite Molly’s stumbles, she didn’t seem to notice anymore. They were now close to the mountain. Suddenly, the horse did bolt-very, very fast. There was only a trail of dust in her wake.

Molly stood still, eyes wide, and stared after the only amazing-but-not-horrific thing she’d seen on this lone island so far vanish. She felt anger bubbling inside of her. Nothing was fair. She’d politely told an ancient ruler to let her friend go and her head instantly had a price. She had trodden across a sweltering dessert only to have the only thing she really loved that she owned-her sketch pad-swallowed up in a sandstorm and then she herself had barely been saved by bandits who were also wanted from the same dessert city.

Great.

Molly blinked away her tears and ran after the horse. She looked to the ground for footprints and any clues as to where it went but could find none. That was weird. It had rained only last night. Molly’s feet were already sinking fast into the mud, coming up with loud popping noises before slamming back into the disgusting mud. But there were no hoof prints on the ground. As if the horse wasn’t really stepping on the ground at all.

As if it were flying, instead.

From Winged by me, which is not finished yet but will be, soon!!!!!!