| Alright. time to start a library in here. I will start posting all of my stories. I am only glancing through them so if there is any objectionable content please let me know and I will change the story. Enjoy.The Clan of The Horse by Wayne Keisler.The horse people. They were rumored to have the finest horses that the worldhad ever seen. Only one thing was wrong with that. They were also the mostclosely guarded animals on the face of the earth. Almost no one had ever reallyseen one of these wondrous animals. The Clan just didn't sell any of them, nordid they let anyone near the upland meadows where they were bred. It was afavorite sales pitch of normal horse merchants, that their horses alone had theblood of the Horse Clan in them. This could have never really been farther thanthe truth. Not only did no one know very much of these horses, but very fewpeople had contact with the people either. Jason, to put it lightly, lovedhorses. He got his first job in the village, helping out at the stable. Thisway, he could be near a wide and varied kinds of horses. Visitors to thevillage often rode these animals and they were from both near and far. Jasonhad spent most of his first wages buying a horse of his own, that the owner ofthe stable allowed him to keep there. It was nothing special, just a retiredwar pony, that had seen its better days, years ago, but still had some lifeleft. Jason rode his horse any chance that he got. He longed for an animal thathe could call his own, that were as wonderful as some that stayed in thestable. He loved his old horse, but it wasn't very fast or spirited any longer.Every time a visitor came in, Jason would rush out to take the reigns from himand lead the animal inside and groom and feed it. One of the things thatendeared him to his employer, was that he gave equal attention to each animal,whether it was a prancing race horse or a broken down plow horse. The patronsof the stable, raved about the care that their animals received at Jason'shands and Jason became known for his ability. The one secret desire that Jasonharbored, was to see a Horse Clan horse. Rumors of their exquisite size, powerand stamina, caused him many a restless night. He could almost imagine whatthey would be like. He would have given anything to be able to see and touchone. He could imagine also, that he would go there and they would recognize hislove for horses and let him see them. The one thing that brought him back toreality, was that many had tried to steal one of them or even so little as seeone, had disappeared, never to be seen again. He thought he knew what hadhappened. The animals were so closely guarded, that the thieves had been caughtand killed. He had many times, thought of seeking out these people and tryingto see these horses. To put it bluntly, he was scared. Jason had never beensomeone who took undue chances, but he wanted it so bad. He thought of a planthat might just get him what he wanted and let him return alive. The problemwas, that it would be incredibly dangerous. Oh, he wasn't scared of what theClan would do to him if they caught him. What he was scared of was the weather.The only way that he could even think of going there, was in the winter. Thatwas the only time when their vigilance might relax a bit. If he timed it right,he could be in and out before they even knew. It was the arrogance of the youngthat made him try it. Besides, he could be the only one to ever really see oneof their horses. Jason had no real family. Mr. Parker had taken him in when hewas very small and taken care of him. Jason couldn't remember his real family.Mr. Parker was the only person that he ever cared for, but he wasn't family.Jason bought and gathered his supplies and got ready to leave. He couldn't tellMr. Parker what he was going to try, because he was afraid that he would stophim. He gathered his things in secret and got ready to leave. He would leavetonight, after everyone was asleep. Jason saddled his old horse and put a packon him and led him from the village. Only after he was out of earshot, did hemount and ride for the far land. He felt bad about leaving Mr. Parker for solong, but knew that he would get by. The neighbor's son, that sometimes helpedout, could take over for a while. The last thing Jason had done was to write a note to hisbenefactor, explaining his dream and how he had to try. By the time that it wasfound in the morning, he would be far away, he hoped. Jason knew that it wouldtake nearly a month for him to get there and had packed plenty of food for thetrip. Most of the trip would be though plains and forest where there weren'tany people. He took a sword, that some traveling mercenary had left at thestable years ago and hoped that he could protect himself and his horse fromanimals. Nearly a week into the trip, Jason noticed that the leaves had startedto fall at a rapid rate. He knew that he had to be through the pass and intotheir valley, before the first snow began to fly. As he neared the mountains,Jason realized that it was getting colder. He would wake each morning andshiver, even though he had a blanket. Farther and farther into the mountains hetraveled. Sometime soon, he would have to leave the trail and make his own. Heknew that they would watch any known entrance into the valley. The air up herewas thin and Jason was having some trouble adjusting to it. He had to get offof the horse and lead it sometimes. The animal path he followed was simply toorough to ride any longer. At least he didn't have to carry the pack, althoughit was much lighter that it had been weeks ago. He made camp for the night,thinking that he could make it into the valley its self tomorrow. He had eatena cold supper, afraid that some one would see or smell the smoke from a cookingfire. He lay down to sleep, thinking that the horse would warn him of potentialdanger. During the night, Jason was awakened by a scream of pain. He jumped upout of his blanket and grabbed for the sworn. There, where he had left the horse, was a huge brown bear. The horse was downon its side, with the bear attacking it. Jason approached the bear and stabbedit with the sword. He immediately took all attention from the horse and itattacked him. Jason never even had time to move. He could have never dreamedthat an animal that large could move so fast! He brought the sword up justbarely before he was trampled. The sword hilt stuck into the ground and theshaft of the sword went into the bear's chest and in fell right on top ofJason. He felt as if the mountain had fallen on him. That much dead weightlaying on him was making it hard to catch his breath and the rank smell of thebear wasn't helping.He struggled for quite a while and managed to get out from under the dead bear.He was dirty and smeared with blood, but thank the Gods, that it was none ofhis. He heard a wet sounding noise from the horse. He had forgotten about itfor a moment. He went over to it and almost cried. There was a huge gaping gashin its chest and Jason could see bubbles coming from it. He knew then, that itwas doomed. He did the hardest thing that he had ever had to do. He took thesword and put it out of its misery. Jason, exhausted and beaten, made it to thestream and took off his clothes and bathed. He shivered in the cold, but atleast he was some what clean. He had packed some spare clothes, which came ingood now. He felt somewhat better after that, but he had to change plans. Hepacked and repacked his packs with only what he thought was very necessary. Itnever occurred to him to go back, but he just didn't think at the moment abouthow he was going to get back home with out a horse. Even though he was tired,he trod onward. He needed to get away from the scene of carnage. He longed tobury the old horse, but realized that it was impossible. As he started down themountain, Jason knew that something unusual was happening. It had grownsteadily colder as the day wore on. The gray clouds hung low in the sky andbegan to spit ice pellets. Jason began to look for somewhere to hole up for awhile. There was a heavy copse of trees ahead and he thought that this was whathe was looking for. As he approached the woods, he heard a sound. It was ashrill whinny of terror. Jason looked around for what had made the sound, butsaw nothing. Again, he heard the scream and stumbled forward. In a clearing,there was a muddy hole and stuck in the edge of it was a mare.Jason could immediately see that she was in real trouble. She had been tryingto get a drink and slipped in the mud and in her state of terror, onlysucceeded in getting more and more stuck. On top of everything else, Jasoncould see that she was very pregnant. Suddenly, he heard a snarl. There werewolves coming from the woods towards the mare. They were looking for a freemeal. He didn't even think. He threw off the pack, grabbed the sword and ran tothe mare's side. He laid about him with the sword and the wolves attacked. Hesomewhat sympathized with them. It was winter and they were hungry, But damnit, he had already lost one horse and was not about to loose another. He had one advantage. They could only approach him from the front. The mare wasat his rear and she was surrounded by muddy water. He nicked one wolf, thatseemed to be the leader and the rest backed off, knowing now that he was trulydangerous. They circled the bog, looking for a way, but the only way to a meal,was through the sword. Then, after what seemed hours, they whimpered and fadedaway into the forest. Jason collapsed at the side of the horse, breathing hard.He lay there for a while, catching his breath, then forced himself to get upand try to help the mare out. Jason was so tired. He looked at the situationwith hopelessness. The task seemed impossible. He needed several teams ofhorses to extricate her. He took the sword and started to dig. The ground wasalmost frozen and the temperature was dropping. Jason was desperate! He dug anddug. The mare kept trying to lunge forward, but was held by the vacuum of themud. She finally gave up and waited. Jason dug out from around her and scoopedmud out from around her also. The sword wouldn't work, so he used his hands. Shoulders ached and his back screamed for mercy, but Jason was driven.Fingernails tore and blood flowed, mixing with the mud around him and still hedug. He grabbed her tail and tugged. She managed a weak whinny ,but didn'tmove. Jason knew that if he couldn't get her up soon, there wouldn't be anychance left. He got into the mud by her side and took her ear in his mouth andbit hard. She squealed, but started to struggle again. Jason pushed and pulledwith all of his might and with a sucking noise, she started to move. They hadfinally managed to break the hold of the mud. She managed to get up out of thehole and stood there trembling with fatigue. Jason knew that she would bealright now. He collapsed to the ground and lay there completely done in. Leftto his own, he would have never gotten up again, but the mare shoved him againand again with her nose. She wouldn't leave him alone. Jason, cold andfreezing, got to his hands and knees and crawled towards the trees. He gotunder their cover and couldn't go any farther. He lay there drifting in and outof consciousness. He never felt the weight that pressed against his side,bringing life saving warmth. Jason descended into blackness, where there was nocold and pain. Jason was aware of warmth and sounds, much before he could see again. He forcedopen his eyes and saw through bleary eyes, that he was in some kind of tent. Heand friends had made a tent when he was younger, but nothing like this. Thisthing was huge. All over the insides, that he was looking up at, were paintingsof horses running and jumping. He was fascinated. Then he heard," so you arefinally awake?" He looked up to find a woman standing by the skins on which helay. He asked," Where am I?" "You are in the camp of the Horse Clan," shereplied. Jason was startled. These were the people whom he had started out tofind. He never expected to wake up in one of their tents. He remembered whatothers had said and a look or intense worry came over his face. Noticing this,the woman told him," You do not have to worry young man, you are our honoredguest. "Others who came to take what was not theirs, were dealt withaccordingly, but we know that you did not come here for that." "Now that youare awake, the chief will want to speak with you." The tent flap was tossedback and a huge man entered. He was dressed in similar style as the woman whohad been talking with him. "You are the young man that we found with one of ourmare's," he stated. 'I wasn't trying to steal her," Jason spouted suddenly."Young man, if you had been, you would have never awakened. We would have dealtwith you as we have with countless others over the years. It was very unusualto find our mare lying besides a human, but when we saw the bog and signs ofstruggle, we knew the whole story." The Chief went on," we saw the tracks ofthe wolves and where the mare was stuck." "I have a question. Why would yourisk your own life for a mere horse?" Jason thought this over and replied," Ididn't even think. I had just lost my own horse to a bear and couldn't let ithappen again. I would have helped any animal, but especially her. I have neverseen her like anywhere. I had to try." "You have shown the one quality that wevalue above all others," the Chief replied. The love of horses." "They are ourlife and reason for being here. They are a gift from the Gods, given into ourcare and we never thought there would be an outsider that showed a love as deepas ours." "We have much to discuss when you are better. I will explain all toyou later, but for now sleep." Jason drifted off to sleep, comforted that onceagain he was safe. When he awoke again, he felt better. Rested and no longerfeeling every ache and pain, he started to get up, when he realized that he wasnaked under the covers. He was embarrassed. The woman said to him," there areclothes for you besides the sleep skins. Your others were beyond hope. Theywill fit, made by my own hand, while you were asleep." She was amused byJason's offended modesty and left the tent while he put them on. He made hisway outside and what he saw amazed him. There were a hundred other tentsscattered across the meadow, but the grass was hardly even marred. His ownpeople would have scraped the ground bare. Obviously, these people were more intune with nature than any he had ever seen. The Chief was on the way over andJason looked forward to talking with him again. He had so many questions."Jason," The Chief said," I know you have many questions about us, but I needto talk with you about the future." "Let me explain a few things and we willsee if your questions are answered." "My people were put here to guard thefavorite animal of the our God. We all share a special bond with our animalsand that is why we never sell or trade any of our animals. All of our tribe, asthey become adults, have to go through initiation. You are a problem young man.There is no other of your age that has not been initiated and you are going tohave to face a decision." Jason wondered what the Chief was talking about, butdecided to wait until he finished the explanation, before he spoke. "Because ofyou bravery in saving the mare, you are being given a choice, that no otherever has had," Jason was told. 'The first choice is to go back to your old life and forget about us. We will put you aboard a normal horse,set you free near your village, but you will retain no memory of us." "Thesecond choice, is to under go the initiation and become one of us. You havealready shown the compassion for horses that we might ask of you and I thinkthat I would be glad to welcome you. It is your choice, but I must have ananswer in the morning. We won't anger our God." Jason was left alone with histhoughts. He had almost said yes, right then and there. It had been his firstthought. He couldn't have asked for more than this, but questions were racingaround his mind. What was this initiation? The Chief would not or could nottell him of it. He would have to take it as a blind trust. He wasn't sure thathe could do this, although he didn't think that they would harm him. Then, ashe thought on further, he realized that the only way he would ever see the mareagain, was to do as they wished. He couldn't get her out of his mind. She hadbeen a creature out of his imagination. With little or no fanfare, Jason wasturned over to the Clan Medicine man and led from the village. It seemed thatthey didn't waste time. He was led to a hill that over looked the meadow wherethe horses were. Jason was amazed at what he saw. There must have over ahundred animals in sight. He just stopped and stared for a minute. The oldmedicine man grabbed his arm and led him forward. Jason saw that up ahead,there was a type of stone altar. It was unadorned and plain, but some how heldan unseen power. He was led forward and the old man suddenly told him to strip.It was the dead of winter and when Jason didn't comply rapidly enough, hereached over and stripped the shirt from his back. Jason was mad at that point,at the rough treatment. The old man then told him to learn the phrase that hespoke. He repeated it only two times, but it seemed to stick in Jason's head.The old man instructed him to lift his arms to the sky and repeat the phrase,putting meaning in it. Jason wanted to ask what it was, as it was in nolanguage that he had ever heard before. He prepared to do as asked, as the oldman retreated to a safe distance. Jason was really worried, but went ahead withthe instructions. Suprisingly, he had no trouble repeating the chant that hehad been given. He marveled at this even as he spoke it. He raised his armsupward, as if in a plea and said the chant over and over. He was shivering withcold, but did not stop. As he stared upward, a huge dark cloud, suddenlydrifted over him. Then, so fast that no human eye could see, a bolt oflightning came from the could and struck Jason. The instant thought of deathflashed through his mind. He was transfixed and paralyzed by the bolt. Thenthings began to happen. The hands that he had before, suddenly went numb andchanged. Arms got longer and were covered with hair. His neck grew both outwardand upward at the same time. His head felt as though it exploded outward, as herealized that he now had a muzzle. He felt his ears intensely now, but in adifferent place. His spine lengthened and curved slightly. Buttocks and legswere gripped in change. He grew rapidly larger and fell to all four feet, theback ones ending in hooves also. A last surge and Jason realized that he hadbecome a horse, tail and all. As suddenly as it had started, it was over. Jasontried to speak and let out a whinny. He had lost the power of speech. Hetrembled as he took his first four legged step. Muscles that he had never hadbefore, surged under new, tougher skin. He could feel every portion of this newform. He was so distracted, that he hadn't heard the Medicine man approach. Hegripped Jason's mane and spoke into his ear. "You are truly the favored of theGods. They have gifted you with horse form, so that you might learn what it isto be a horse," the old man told him. "You have remained a stallion, but youcan and will father a new addition to the herd. It will be your place to helpyour mare raise and protect the young from harm until it is weaned. In thisway, you will make a contribution to the herd and learn what you must, to be aClan Member. All members of the clan, including me, have done so before you.After the young is weaned, you will return to human form, to begin your newlife. Your service to your God starts now. For the last few minutes, as the oldman had been talking, Jason had scented something enticing. Even if he didn'tknow what it was, his new form did. A second member of the clan was leading amare forward. As They got closer, Jason got a stronger scent from the female,and control departed. The horse that he was, knew what to do and Jason couldn'thave stopped himself if he had wanted to. He was immersed in a primal passionthat defied rational thought. He mounted her again and again. After what seemedlike hours, Jason regained some rational thought. He looked at his mare and allaround for the others. He never even knew that the others had left. He movedover to his mare and they went to join the herd. Jason rapidly became used to life in the herd. The days were filled withgrazing and at night, there was the company of the others. He grew used toalways having herd mates around and when the time came for his mare to givebirth, they left the herd to do so alone. The human in Jason realized thatthese were like no horses that he had ever known. They were far moreintelligent and now he realized why. They had been infused with human abilityto reason and intelligence. Soon, there would be a new addition to the herd.Jason was going to be a proud father. Jason's time as a horse came to a close,all too soon. Some might think that it would be bad thing to be an animal, butJason found that it was comforting. You had no worries beyond the moment. Hisson was weaned and Jason, one sunny morning, found himself lying on the wetground. He had a bad feeling, then realized that he was human once more. Hemade his way back to the Clan village. There were people all about, but hisnakedness no longer caused him any concern. He went to the tent of the chiefand as he approached, there was much rejoicing. There was a feast in his honorthat night. They celebrated his return and the fine addition to the herd thathe had fathered. Jason had seen the colt following him, looking confused. Heknew that this two legged being had been his father, but was different also.Jason looked back with a certain sadness at his son. He was no longer part ofthe herd, but as he watched his son prance and run, there was a feeling ofpride. Now, he knew why these horses meant so much to the clan. They werefamily, so to speak. You never sold or traded your own family. He found noregrets as he thought on his time as a horse. He would always look back on itwith wonder. After the celebrations, Jason was given a tent of his own, made bythe chiefs wife. He had never been more proud, because it meant that he wastruly of the clan now. As he was getting it set up, he looked up to see ayoung, quite beautiful, woman walking through the village. Something was sofamiliar about her. He had met no one like her before had he? Then as she camecloser, he scented her. It seemed that something from his experience hadcarried over to humanity. He would know that scent anywhere. It was her! Thismarvelous creature had been his mare. He never even thought that there might beanother human convert in the herd. Upon seeing each other, recognition dawnedat the same time and they ran to each other and hugged. Neither knew it, butthis almost always happened, when two underwent the initiation at the same timeand were mates as horses. All they knew, is that they were meant for eachother. Jason had no thought for the future right now. The moment overruled allthought. He had a true home now, a mate to cherish and he felt complete for thefirst time in his short life. The two young lovers moved in together. The chiefsmiled. Now, he had a daughter and a son! EndThis Story is © 1997 by Wayne KeislerIf you have any questions concerning the archive itself, or are the author of this story and request removal, please jumpover to the Feedback Page, or sendme mail at thomash@t0.or.at |