Tales Of Earthem: P.O.T.S
Chapter 10

Verse 9–The Not So Benevolent Fox

It was the monthin which the cold climates where present and the whole country of Canta watchedon as snowflakes descended from the sky, the children were out playing in thestreets having snowball fights whilst the merchants doubled their efforts andslashed prices down to attract any possible buyer they could. The Academygrounds seem to cater the snow beautifully, the front ground which usuallyshowed the lavish green fields that stretch far and wide were now buriedbeneath white snow stretching as far and wide. It was the day of the last termand the first years were given a choice of either staying at the Academy forthe winter break or being allowed to head home to see their families, this wasthe only period during the school year where this was permitted, neverthelessmany students went home whilst very few stayed in the dorms, Jyro was of thelatter of course seeing as he had no place to go really. It was midday and Jyrowas gazing out the window watching the students depart off home, Johnny left theacademy grounds a few hours earlier, his family were from a faraway placecalled Dania so he made sure he left as early as he could. “Jyro!” a voice hollered, he looked behind him to replace Tristinecarrying a large stack of books “ be a dear and hold these for a minute nowwould you” she said as she dumped the stack of books onto Jyros arms, “Tristine what’s all this for, I thought you was going home for the holidays”mumbled Jyro under the stack of books that covered his face, “ ah yes I wasplanning on heading back home but then I suddenly remembered something “ saidTristine “and what’s that” asked Jyro, “ my parents annoy me “ Tristine said asshe begun to complain on how much things her parents made her do whilst Jyrowatched on intrigued, “oh sorry about that erm ….here’s me moaning about myparents when you don’t have….” Said the young girl as she slowly felt bad foreven mentioning the topic to Jyro, but the boy simply smiled and encouraged herto continue on with her story. “Ahh yes I was meaning to ask you, how’s yourpreparations coming along for the event” asked Tristine, Jyro had a cluelesslook on his face suggesting he’s not done anything major, “(sigh) I thought asmuch I’m guessing you haven’t decided how your even going to travel by Horse,or vehicle right? “Jyro paused for a second then asked” what’s a horse” he thenimmediately tripped over dropping the stacks of books onto the floor, Tristinecouldn’t help but laugh at him whilst helping him carry some, “dear oh dearJyro what am I going do with you, but fear not I was on my way to the stables soyou may come with me” said Tristine, so the two youngsters headed to the City.

On their way tothe stables the two walked through trinity lane and decided to pay Mongoley avisit at his shop, “well if it isn’t my two favorite kids, aha how ya doingthis chilly morning” said Mongoley whilst he looked around expecting Johnny toappear as well “where’s the other one,ya know one with the big ole glasses and freckles” ,” he’s gone away for theholidays, were on our way to the stables and thought we’d stop by and say hello” said Tristine, “ oh the stables aythat reminds me can you deliver this letter for me at the postbox on your waylad” Mongoley asked Jyro received thebrown envelope which looked tattered and creased. The kids started making theirway on their journey when Liam, Mongoleys assistant and nephew came rushing outto greet the two kids,” well if it isn’t Jyro Thomas , Glad to see you againmate” said Liam as he shook Jyro hands very enthusiastically, “ ahhh looking asradiant as ever Miss Morrowind” added Liam “ ermm thanks I guess…” replied Tristinereluctantly “ we best be off now” she said, whilst Liam let go of Jyros handsJyro noticed Liam’s fingers were in plasters, “Liam what happened to your fingers”he asked, Liam looked at this two handsfirst before replying, “oh just a simple work accident, but you guys take carenow” the kids waved the shop goodbye and left for their journey” ergh that guysa real weirdo done you think Jyro” asked Tristine ,Jyro simply chuckled at herstatement.

Jyro and Tristineboarded the BB mobile and were off to a place called ‘ware’, “how long willtake us to get there Trish” asked Jyro, “oh not as long as when we was comingfrom the plains, only like 40 minutes and since the area from Canta to Ware areall safe zones the journey will be straightforward” explained Tristine, Jyroremembered their first time riding the Beetle Bus and was curious why there wassafe zones and danger zones around the area so he questioned Tristine, “ well ,I did tell you before right about the state are worlds in , well the Royal Cities created a specialmap….hold on I might have one on me” Tristine then went rummaging through herbag and pulled out a brown papered map “here we are, look the places with redareas are the danger zones were Demons are located the green areas are calledthe safe zones and the tiny purple areas are the zones you shouldn’t even dareto go we call them the uncharted zones, that’s why we have to travel on BB’sit’s the safest way around” Tristine further explained, Jyro stared at the map tryingto make sense of it all, “ so why are we going to the stables” he asked, “ wellyou’ll see when we get there, there’s a way to travel which is popular among exorcistsand if you’re going to be staying around here its best you know how to ride”said Tristine, “huh how to ride?” Jyro said to himself.

The Beetle Bus driver called for next stop ‘Ware’,“that’s us” said Tristine so her and Jyro exited the vehicle momentarily.Whilst they got off a sudden noise of a trumpet sounding was heard, both kids lookedat each other startled, the sound was heard again this time it came vividlyfrom above them, the two kids looked up and saw a man dressed in fine purpleclothes wearing a very long top hat, the same man they met at the plains, TheGatekeeper. The stylish well-dressed man jumped off the hood of the Beetle Busand landed gracefully in front of the two kids, “ mmmmm Miss Morrowind &Master Thomas how delightful to smell your essence again” The man said, “ Erghnot you again, haven’t you got some students to harass or something” saidTristine in annoyance, , “words that harsh could pierce the hardest of heartsMiss Morrowind, mmmm my soul aches, it aches I tell you” yearned the man as heover exaggerated to being heartbroken,Jyro looked at the weeping man anddidn’t know whether to take him seriously or not, “sorry sir I don’t think shemeant it in a bad way ,what is your name anyway” he asked, “ pfft oh Icertainly did” responded Tristine abruptly ,the man stopped his groans andpeeked through his hands to look at Jyro, “my name mmmm you want to know myname master Thomas? Could it be the warm hand of friendship being extended?” askedthe man, Jyro nervously looked at Tristine not knowing what to say to him, “erm yeah ok let’s be friends” Jyro said reluctantly , the man clapped his hands in jubilation ”Fabulous!” he shouted” “you can call me Mr. Fox” he said .

Mr Fox? Jyro thought to himself what an oddname, but judging by the type of character the man has he knew questioning itwould probably make him cause a scene again, “alright thanks for telling usyour name but what is it you want from us anyway, were in a bit of a rush yousee” as Jyro addressed Mr. Fox Tristine tried to quickly grab Jyros arm anddash off away, “ mmmmm why the rush? Could it be you two are off to thestables…. Wait a minute do I smell the aftermath of cupids arrows from the twoof you” said Mr Fox whilst he smirked at the two of them, Tristine begun toblush and immediately let go of Jyros arm, “w..wait , what do you mean by that,nothing like that is going on” she said whilst trying her best to keep astraight face, but mind you Jyro didn’t really understand the situation andsimply scratched his head in confusion “yes were on our way there, how did youknow?” Jyro asked , “ well why else would you be in Ware aye mmmmm,” the manthen begun to whistle whilst he looked around aimlessly and tapped his cane tothe melody like he was waiting for something, Tristine sighed to herself andshook her head, “ I guess you’re coming with us right” the girl said,” ahhh aninvite , well that’ll be swell , shall I lead the way” replied Mr Fox as hegripped his cane and pranced forwards, Tristine nudged Jyros arm before angrilyfollowing the man, “ouch” said Jyro what was that for? He thought to himself hetoo then followed on.

Not too long fromtheir meeting the 3 of them made it to the stables , Jyro was expectingsomething a little similar to a farm but was instead greeted by a huge buildingcomplex with the letters CRC across the front. They made their way through thebuilding and saw various pictures of horses hung on the walls, Jyro was in aweas he had never seen a horse in real life before only through books, Jyro thenstarted reminiscing his childhood specifically his 8th birthday whenhe took a trip to the village with Mrs. Thomas. “Hello, I’m looking for a mancalled Ned is he around “asked Tristine to one of the employees at the desk, “yeshe should be in the main yard out back, it’s through those doors then the firstright” he replied. The group made their way out back where 100’s of horses weregalloping up and down, some with owners others without, the grass was greenerthat the ones at the academy, and a small stream circled around where thehorses went to drink out of, it was the most beautiful scene Jyro saw in hislife. They entered the garden where an old man attending to the horses caughtthe eye of the visitors and proceeded to them, “well if it isn’t Young Tristine,your growing up every day how’s your mum doing” he said as Tristine quicklywent to hug him “Uncle Ned its great seeing you again how are things and mumsdoing great as always” said Tristine, “and who might these two be they friendsof yours Tristine”? the man asked whilst Mr fox took off his hat and bowed tointroduce himself to the old man, “I’m the guide for these lovely Childrentoday, don’t mind me” said MR fox, “ahem yeah that one’s Jyro Thomas he’s afriend of mine from the Academy that other one is irrelevant he’s a pervert Ithink” Tristine explained which was followed by the sounds of Mr Fox gasping inpanic,” anyway where is she” Tristine then went strolling around the garden lookingfor something when out of nowhere a brown and white colored stead quicklytrotted towards her, “ahaha so you saw me first Buttermell” said Tristine whilstshe petted and groomed the horse. “ oh Jyro this is Buttermell she’s my veryown Horse” she added, Jyro attempted totouch her when the Horse neighed at him shooing him away “ now- now girl that’snot how we treat Friends remember what I taught you” Tristine said, “wow youactually have a real life horse Trish that’s Amazing” Jyro exclaimed , “mmmmquite the lovely animal Miss Morrowind a shame it can’t accompany you back toCanta aye” Said Mr Fox sarcastically which made the young girl scowl angrily towardsthe man, “huh, why can’t you bring it to the academy” asked Jyro “well becausewere not all born with rich families you know” Tristine voiced with a slighttone of anger in her voice , Jyro held his tongue back from asking any morequestions, he could sense that Tristine was rather sad about the wholesituation.

Tristine mountedher horse and begun riding it up and down the garden dashing passed the otherhorses like a gazelle , Jyro watched in awe as he marveled at her movinggracefully through the garden, “ well don’t just stand there” she said “pick a horse and lets have a race” the younggirl said, Jyro was suddenly stunned by the words of his friend, he then turnedtowards Ned, “ well it’s alright with me son, but take it easy not all these steadsare friendly to strangers” said ned . Jyro strolled through the garden filledwith horses looking for one to choose, Black ones, beige ones, white ones alltypes of all sizes where around him and he was somewhat spoilt for choice. Theyoung boy walked on around the garden where he found the sleeping stables forthe horses, he heard feint sounds of neighing and proceeded inside, When Jyrowas inside all the stable gates were opened all accept for one, one horse wasstill behind the gates neighing in frustration and thrashing around, his furystartled Jyro who fell back onto the floor. He slowly got up and looked at thehorse closely, it was coated in thick black with a white star on its brow, whenJyro looked closely the horses eye where two different colors as well, one wasdark brown the other was dark blue, Jyro sensed its frustration and unlockedthe gate, the moment the gates unhinged the horse immediately burst through andran towards the garden. Jyro chased after it as the horse dashed through thegarden causing a frenzy , the rest of the other horses eventually began actingthe same and started fleeing, “OH NO” shouted Ned he then quickly brought outhis lasso and readied it to be thrown, “ that horse was caged for a reason boy,since he got here he’s been nothing but trouble none’s been able to tame him”he voiced, Ned threw the lasso towardsthe Black horse it caught the rope in its mouth and pulled Ned across theground making Ned let go of the rope. The black horse continued his rampage so Jyroquickly ran in front of it and stood in front with his two arms out , the horserose up on his two hind legs at the boy who held his ground staring at the it,Jyro moved closer to it then shouted”CALM DOWN NOW”, the horses rage died down, it begun to snare and neigh at Jyrowho slowly approached it even more, he took hold of the loose rope and tied itaround the horses neck, the horses anger rose up again “ SHHH its ok it’salright now I won’t hurt you” Jyro softly said, the horse slowly begun to relaxand slowly steadied itself next to the boy. Everyone around looked on inamazement as the black horse began obeying the boys words, Jyro then mounted itslowly while still relaying instructions to it. When Jyro fully mounted theblack horse he began to slowly rub its sides, “see, there’s no need to beafraid this is my first time as well so let’s try figure this out together ok” hesaid, he kicked his feet and the horse begun to trot, mind you he still hadn’tmastered riding the thing so he tried his best to remember everything he sawTristine doing. Tristine and Ned looked on in amazement “…No way h..h..how didhe manage to tame it who in heavens is that boy” asked Ned in shock, after afew moments of being in shock Tristine then started laughing to herself,“that’s Jyro uncle and trust me he’s been surprising all of us since we methim” said Tristine whilst she smiled on at Jyro and the black horse bothnervously trotting through the garden.

few minutes later Jyro and the black horsewent from trotting to running across the garden whizzing through the air at atremendous speed, “ pfft there is no way I’m letting a newbie have this muchfun” said Tristine as she rode alongside the two trying to out match theirspeed, the two kids and their horses raced around the garden laughing and playingamongst each other whilst the sun beamed down on them from above, MR fox and Ned simply looked onat them both and admired,” mmmm too be young again it’s a great feeling isn’tit,” said Mr Fox as Ned simply nodded his head who mind you was still in shockat what he witnessed “ have you everseen it before sir, someone who’s never rode a horse in his life tame a wildstead and almost perfectly master it in a matter of minutes?” said Mr. Fox, “ofcourse not that’s not even possible … but There was one guy who came down heremany-many years ago I was still an apprentice myself and he claimed to havenever even heard of a horse but he grabbed the toughest one to tame and made ithis in seconds…. Now that I think about it he looked just like…..” just as Nedwas about to continue Mr. Fox quickly interrupted him, “ohh its best you don’tfixate wild theories together dear sir and I suggest we let nature take its course”said Mr Fox whilst winking at Ned, ned turned around and looked at the man whothen begun to walk away “Who exactly are you?” questioned Ned,” mmmmm who am i?I’m simply a spectator sir, just playing my part in this play eagerly waitingfor the prince’s return” replied MR Fox, and just like that he disappeared,that would be the last time the kids saw MR Fox for the rest of the schoolyear.