Nova Cove: The Portal of Arx (chapter 2)

Chapter Two: The Scouting Tree1

Many Days had passed since Annali had the discussion with her father about the race. She had since become eager to start it, and to prepare she and Sasha had been racing each other to the Scouting Tree for most of their free time. Sasha usually had an advantage over Annali but recently Annali had been determined to win. So much so that she was running with disregard of her own safety. She would jump over rocks instead of going around them. She jumped so high one time that she could have jumped right over Sasha if she had tried.2

The Scouting Tree is a very tall white birch tree that lives atop a hill overlooking a cliff side at the farthest point from the camp that they were allowed to go without supervision. It was used as a scouting point in the time of magic. In that time when the threat of the Darkness was eminent. Now however, since the Darkness was no longer a threat, no other horses went to the tree. Annali and Sasha had never known the Darkness growing up because by the time they had been born there was no magic left in Nova Cove. 3

The two of them discovered the tree one summer when they were very little. Sasha, who had always been the explorer of the two, was never very supervised growing up. Sasha’s parents were lost to the Darkness shortly after she was born. The herd had all put in an effort to help raise Sasha but this meant that unlike normal younglings she was not as well monitored. Annali had made it her task to make sure Sasha did not get into too much trouble. The two of them had always had a connection because of the fact that they were both orphaned at a young age. The day that they discovered the tree was one of the several occasions that Sasha had run off on an exploration quest. Annali had tried to keep up with her but the rain that day was the worst anyone had seen in years and Sasha was faster. Sasha still does not remember what it was that possessed her to run so carelessly into unknown area during a storm, but she learned her lesson that day. When Sasha had run too far for Annali to see her, she saw the Scouting Tree for the first time. The rain made it very hard to see and Sasha did not notice that the tree was perched on a cliff side overlooking the forest. When Sasha approached the tree, the slippery rocks below made it impossible for her to stop and she lost her footing. Her weight and speed from running carried her over the cliff before Annali had gotten to the tree to see it. When Annali arrived at the tree she looked around but could not find Sasha. Sasha had been knocked unconscious from the fall to the ground below. Annali looked for several hours to find her, when she could not, Annali ran back to the herd to find help. If it was not for the tree being placed in such a memorably abstract way, young Annali would not have been able to lead the other horses back to the spot where Sasha had been lost. From then on Annali always looked at the tree as a beacon to ground her sense of direction. 4

The tree had since become Sasha and Annali’s favorite spot. In the spring time the white outer bark of the birch tree would peal off in little flakes and catch the air. If you see it at the right time it is like a warm snow falling and dancing in the wind. It had become a standard routine that as soon as they both woke up in the morning Sasha and Annali would run back and forth between the camp and the Scouting Tree.5

Sasha was a great training partner for Annali because Sasha was stronger and a little faster. This meant that Annali had to work very hard to keep up. Annali constantly pushed herself harder and harder each day that they trained. The distance between the camp and the Scouting Tree was not nearly as far as the length of the Curriculum. Most horses complete the Curriculum in three days and two nights only resting briefly during the day time to keep the pace. Both of them knew that no matter how much they practiced, nothing could truly prepare Annali for the long endurance run. The best Annali could hope for was to condition her muscles so that they could handle the stress of the Curriculum.6

One day on the second week of her training Annali came around the bend to see what she thought was another horse at the Scouting Tree. The horse was jet black as far as she could tell from where she was. However when she began to get closer and get a better look, her forehead started to tingle and pinch a bit. She stopped trotting and paused for a second to shake off the feeling. When she looked up again the strange black horse was no where in sight. This was one of the times when Annali was leading the race from camp to tree, so Sasha did not see the strange horse. Annali would have just brushed it off and forgotten about it but if she was not mistaken the horse she saw was one solid color and had no fur over its hooves, like her.7

“Your not going squirrelly on me right before the big race are you?” Sasha asked in a joking tone.8

“Only if you will admit to being beaten by a squirrel in that last match!” Annali exclaimed as she started to run back towards the herd as fast as she could.9

Annali had gotten so good at jumping around and over obstacles that she was making up for her size in sheer agility. Others had seen the two racing and had begun to talk about how interesting it will be to see the outcome of her Curriculum. Talk had spread so fast and far that on the day of her Curriculum all of Annali’s herd and even several others from neighboring herds had come to see her off. This just added to Annali’s nervousness because she wasn’t quite sure if they were here to see her complete it or to see her fail. Regardless of the spectators motives she was excited and charged. Not half as much however as Sasha who was positively jumping with anticipation and seemed to take no notice of the crowd surrounding them at the start point. 10

Analli’s father walked up to them and asked.. “Are you feeling up to it Annali?” Annali paused for a second looking around at the crowd.11

“I think so..” She said in a falsely confident tone.12

“There are a couple rules that will help you.” He began to say “Firstly if you see the mountain on your left and the river on your right then you are on the right path. Secondly and most importantly never stop to rest at night. Only take your breaks during the daylight. All of the creatures that would do you harm will hunt at night and you don’t want to be caught off guard.” 13

This alarmed rather then consoled Annali because no one had ever discussed the possible dangers with her before. 14

“Creatures?!” She exclaimed. “What creatures? No one said anything about any creatures. Did you see any creatures on your Curriculum Sasha?” 15

“No. But then again I followed the rules.” She said with a big sister smile.16

The sun had now reached the highest point in the sky which meant it was time to start the race. Sasha decided to give Annali a pep talk at last minute. “The best part about this race will be that you don’t have to compete with me which means you have a greater chance of succeeding.”17

“But that means I will be racing against myself and lately I am a tougher opponent to beat.” Annali said with a show up smile.18

“Well if confidence is all you need then you already have the race beat!” Sasha said laughing. “Either way I will be cheering for you.” 19

Sasha rejoined the crowd next to Annali’s father. It was now time to start the race.20