Hmm..

Okay, so I realized that my last post, even though I was excited because it was about the books (I haven't been able to think about them much lately), was more me rambling than it was actually telling you anything constructive. So I've tried to think of a way to better talk about the horses of the Chronicles. In the attempt to come up with some clever way of describing their involvement in the books, I realized that there's really only one way that I know how to explain it: by example. So, sit back and be amused.

Jack first.

Seth's head hung low so that his chin rested on his chest, sitting with the slumped posture of one who's been riding for days on end. The reins were cradled in his hand, the fingers tangled in the streaked mane of the warhorse he sat upon. The horse didn't seem put off in the least by the fact that his rider, the one who supposedly knew the way, was sleeping. If he got them lost, Seth would take care of it when he woke up. Then again, Jack had walked this path times enough to know the way. Perhaps that was why the young man thought it safe to get some sleep.
One of Jack's ears was cocked back, listening to the quiet breathing of his master. The other was drooped lazily to the side, as there was nothing else worth listening to on that empty path. They weren't in the woods or on a stream, or even near any sort of town. It was just wide, open, empty salt flats. Nothing worth thinking about lived here. Except Seth.
The night had been cold, and even now Jack could see his breath. When he'd been a foal, he'd tried to eat the steam as it hit the air. Seth had found that quite amusing. But that was a long time ago, and the both of them had grown a good bit, though not in quite the same ways. Jack had gone from a scrawny, and fairly clumsy colt, to one of the biggest, most formidable warhorses in the eastern hemisphere. Even the Mongols, the great horse people of the north, gawked when Seth passed through one of their camps. "Genghis Khan beware," Seth often muttered to Jack. He wasn't quite sure what that meant, but the pride in Seth's voice always made Jack feel bigger, taller, stronger, and better all around.
The sun finally crested the horizon, and Jack's ears perked forward as he lifted his head. He'd seen the sun rise a thousand times, and it was of little interest to him. However, what the sun revealed was of interest. He glanced back at his master, still sleeping peacefully despite the dawn, then turned his attention back to the figure silhouetted by the sun. He was careful not to get too excited, and stuck to the same slow walk he'd been using before. He knew any change would wake Seth. His master was very perceptive that way.
He didn't seem to have to go much faster, though. The figure up ahead wasn't moving. It was strange to see anything out here, especially something that big. There weren't even any boulders, for the harsh winds had pulverized them all long ago. Seth had said once that there were mountains here once. Mountains, and trees, and streams. But there was nothing now. Except for the silhouette up ahead. As he drew closer, and the sun rose higher into the sky, he could tell it was a person, like Seth, only not like him. A wind came in from the front, and Jack lifted his nose. It didn't smell like his master. It smelled...like flowers. But there was something else under that. He recognized that. "Humans," Seth called them. He had another word for this kind.
But what did Jack need to know those words for? All he knew is he liked the way they smelled, and some of them even carried treats in their pockets. He hadn't had a treat in a long time. The human didn't even hear him coming over the howling of the wind as Jack came up behind her. He reached out his nose and lipped at the folds of fabric falling from the person's waist.
"Ah!"
The figure whirled around, nearly cracking Jack in the face with a knarled staff. Jack jerked his head back and let out a shocked whinny.
The combination of the scream, the sudden movement, and Jack's fuss was more than sufficient to wake Seth. "Wha..? Oi, Jack, hold still." He tightened his grip on the reins and firmed up his seat, and Jack grew still.
"Who are you?! What do you want?!" the figure cried, that staff held out defensively.
Seth frowned as his pale blue eyes fell upon the stranger. "Take it easy, miss. I apologize if-"
"What do you want from me?!" She was searching the air in front of her with her eyes, though they never seemed to find Jack and his master.
Seth's face softened as he watched her, and he slowly dismounted from Jack. The bells that hung from his earings rang with a peculiar chime when he hit the ground, and the sound seemed to startle the woman. "Please, miss. I want nothing from you." He took a slow step forward, but as soon as his foot hit the ground, the woman attacked with that staff, swinging it down with a frightened cry. She sucked in a breath when the staff hit something, but she wasn't able to pull it back. Seth held it firmly in his hand. "My horse is a trouble-maker. I assure you, neither he nor I meant you any harm." He lifted his other hand and rested it gently over hers. "You have nothing to fear of me."
She started to pull her hand away, but stopped. "You speak truly?"
He slowly let go of her hand, and of the staff. "I do, lady."
She hesitantly set the butt of the staff down, searching the air with empty eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"I live here," Seth said simply, reaching out to take Jack's reins, holding them just under the bit. "I should be asking what you're doing out here."
"Live here? But this is the middle of no where..."
"That's quite right, lady. I should wonder how you are even finding your way."
She turned and stretched her staff out towards the rising sun. "I use the sun as compass. I may be blind, but I still see the sun."
His brow arched in interest. "I see. And if the sun is at your back?"
"Then I must turn around often."
He smiled. He liked that response. "Come, might I escort you? These salt flats are unforgiving, and I know them well."
"I..."
"I simply don't want to come across your carcass while I'm out."
Her mouth dropped open, and Seth laughed lightly. She snapped her mouth shut again at that and blushed a bit. "Fine. You may escort me."
"Very well, lady." While he was polite in his words, he was a little less-so in other ways. He pulled Jack up beside the woman and let go of the reins. He then placed his hands on her waist and hoisted her up onto the saddle, as though he were lifting a child onto a pony. She let out a surprised shout, but even before her shout ended, Seth had swung up behind her, his hands taking the reins in front of her, then spurred Jack into motion. He was a big horse, and the second person, especially a woman as slight as this one, was hardly a burden. The day was new, the air crisp, though salty, and Jack had stood still quite long enough. He stretched himself out and broke into a swift canter that carried them like the wind over the flat, colourless ground.

Well, that was a tad longer than I expected. Lady Inspiration is a tad less fickle at times, it would seem.

The Horses of the Chronicles

My books - that is, the entity that is Rhiannon Kolareny and just about everyone surrounding her - got their start from roleplaying. This is common knowledge with most of those people who know a lot about the story. Some of those people were even the first to meet Rhia and those surrounding her. What isn't common knowledge is that I didn't start roleplaying with Rhia. In fact, I didn't start with people, period. When I was ten, I discovered a number of chat rooms dedicated to roleplaying as horses. The first name I can remember ever making up for a character is Majik, and he was a big black brute of a Fresian.
In recent reminiscing back on my roots, I remembered something that surprised me. During one of the roleplaying sessions, I revealed that my character - it may or may not have been Majik, that I'm not sure of - had a special bond with a woman who lived in an isolated house a short way from the grazing grounds. For a brief time, the mental image of which is still branded - however blurry - in my mind, a certain young lady made her first appearance in the roleplaying world. Rhia was born that day. At least, the name attatched to a face. Kolareny had yet to be created in my mind, and nothing about who Rhia was had yet to be formed. That came a short while later.
I, somehow, stumbled upon a rp message board - I'm partially sure that I found the link being advertised in a chat. It was there that the name Rhiannon Kolareny came to be. A certain horse made a reappearance, as well, though with a secret in store. Rhia rode into town on Majik, and after meeting a young man named Famij, I revealed that Majik's true form was a dark-skinned, fair-haired, cross young man named Kalvin (Yes, believe it or not, when he first got started, Kalvin was a rather nasty, mean fellow, and that's actually how he is in the books until he meets Jason). Throughout my time on that rpmb, I revealed - not only to Famij's player, but also to myself - a great deal of Rhia's history, how Kalvin got his start, and I also introduced Jason, Lemain, and, most importantly, Tobias. One of Rhia's soon-to-be most famous mentor, Ashira, is also introduced in this rp. I'm sure there are other things, but this was not actually why I began this post, as the title indicates.
This post is about the various horses of the Kolareny Chronicles, those equine companions who become very close to the characters - or, as in the case of Majik, are the characters. Thanks to getting my roleplaying start with horses, it's very difficult for me to think of a character's horse as a prop, and not another character. It's even more difficult for me to think of them as just animals because I've spent a great deal of my life around them. I know for myself that each horse has a personality, and many of them can be very clever, sly, and often times disobedient. But, too, if you've bonded to one, they will save your life, even if it puts their own in danger.
My own respect for these creatures is passed on to my characters, Seth especially. It is true that Rhia is very often seen riding a horse, and she quite often seems to have a deep connection with those horses, however those horses tend not to be horses at all, but rather a person in the shape of a horses - again as in the case of Majik.
Majik was Kalvin.
Zaph (from the Drow word for horse, zaphodiop) was Mirshann (for those of you who haven't gotten used to the name changes, that's Romeo or Guardian. Again, mirshann is the Drow word for angel). Zaph, too, took the shape of a black draft horse, though he was much larger than Majik, who was a Fresian. Zaph was more the size and build of a Clydesdale, not quite as bulky as a Shire.
Then there was Liam. His story is faint in my mind, though a clipping from it is somewhere here on the site. Liam was a boy prince who saved Rhia when she was still young from a trecherous river. He pledged himself to protecting her, and for that was given eternal life and the ability to transform into a horse. The catch was that he must always be at Rhia's side. Should he travel too far from her, he cannot maintain his human form, and his life becomes vulnerable to death by injury. I've yet to decipher the cause of his transformation, or when he disappears from the forefront. He'll also have a different name as a horse - what type of horse, too, is something I haven't decided. He'll most likely be black, to support a myth that will exist within the stories about the "Typhoon".
Rhia, too, had her own horse form. She trained under a shapeshifter, and mastered - that is, became comfortable with - three basic forms, those being a horse, a hawk, and a fox. Her red eyes, one of her most striking features, plays a part in those three forms, which are all red, or red-ish. Her hawk form is a red-tailed hawk, and the fox, of course, is a red fox. Her horse form, which I've just now given the name Thiph (pronounced thief, a joining of the Drow words thir'ku for change and zaphodiop), is an Andalusian, with a hint of strawberry roan - that is, her face, feet, mane, and tail have red hairs mixed in with the gray that's throughout. (On that note, Kalvin shares her ability to shapeshift, and that's where Majik came from. He can also change into a raven, and a black wolf.)
Back to Seth. He spends a great deal of his life seperated from Rhia, especially while he's young. During those times when Rhia is trying to protect him by leaving him somewhere safe, Seth lived his own life. Much of that included getting into trouble, and almost none of it involved making friends. At least, not with humans. Horses, however, found a special place in his heart. They didn't talk, or scold him when he did something wrong, or freak out every time he used a little magick. They loved without question, and asked for little in return outside of a little food and freedom to run.
There are only two of his companions that I've defined through rping thus far. There's Jack, a great big dapple gray war horse with an eye for the ladies and a nose for getting Seth into embarassing situations with said ladies. And then there's Claire, a tall horse, equivelant of a Tennessee Walker in build, a darkly coloured strawberry roan. Her edges (as explained on Thiph) are a deep red, and the rest of her is a lighter pink. That's right, girls. Seth rides a pink horse. She's actually quite pretty, and Seth's madly in love with the sweetheart.

A little teaser.

Here's a little something I've been writing, a draft for the climax of my first book. It's a bit vulgar and more than a little depressing, but that's what I write best when I'm stuck on other things. So, enjoy.

The creaky iron door slowly swung open, and the Hunters guarding Rhia retreated from her cell. She weakly lifted her head to get a look at the new arrival, but her eyes widened and her heart nearly leapt from her chest.
Entering the dungeon was a young man, only a few decades older than Toryk. He was taller, and paler. His skin was fair and his hair platinum blonde, and though they weren't close enough to see, Rhia already knew his eyes were the purest blue she'd ever seen. His clothes were made of the best material, and a circlet of gold delicately clung to his head.
"Tobias," Rhia gasped. She laid her weight against the chains holding her so she could stand straighter.
His eyes grew furious as they met hers, a terrible snarl twisting his features. "So you remember me, do you?"
She paled to see his face like that. She'd never seen such fury. "Of course I do..."
He opened the door to the cell she was being kept in and slipped inside. "My pets tell me you're very difficult to hold on to. You make their job very difficult."
Her blood ran cold as that connection became solid. The Hunters were his. How could they be his? How could he hire such monsters? They were trying to kill her -
"They also tell me you're very stubborn about holding on to you life," he said with a wicked growl. "But I think they just aren't trying hard enough. How could your life be any harder to snuff out than the lives of my family? Tell me," he said silkily as he drew closer to her. He lifted his hand up under her chin, forcing her eyes to meet his. "Little flower; how is it you found it so simple to steal the lives of the ancients? You didn't even think twice, did you? How did you do it? Because it looked to me a little like you just," his hand lifted up to her chest, fingertips poised between her breasts, "reached in." He pushed against her chest and sharpened nails broke the skin. She let out a yelp, though it slowly grew to an agonizing scream as he drove his fingers deeper. "And plucked out their hearts. Tell me, little flower," he growned into her ear, with such contempt that hurt far worse than the torture he was inflicting. "Were their hearts still beating as you held their lives in your hand? Or did you not even stop to think of the miracle you were taking away?"
She cried out as the pain became blinding, but she did not ask for mercy. She didn't deserve mercy, for everything he said, even what he assumed, was true. He'd known her too well, her good and her bad. He'd known what she was capable of. If only he'd known that she hadn't been cured. If only... Tears streamed down her face and her scream turned into a sob.
"Say it!" Tobias cried into her ear. "Beg for mercy like my mother did! Beg!"
"I'm sorry!" she finally cried back.
His face melted into astonishment, and his hand halted its advance into her chest. "You're what?"
"I'm sorry! I never wanted it to happen! I wanted to change; I tried so hard! I wanted to be your little flower, I wanted to live with you forever!" He slowly pulled his fingers free, and took a step back from her, as though she were suddenly contagious with some deadly disease. The tears poured from her eyes as she strained against the chains. "I loved you! I still love you!"
In a moment, his face twisted back into that fury. "Liar." Before the word could register, he backhanded her face with his bloodied hand. "How dare you. I loved you. I gave up everything for you: my reputation, my crown, my future, the future of my people. I gave it all up to help you!" He stormed away from her, and Rhia almost thought he was leaving. But he strode over to a wall past the cell, a wall lined with weapons of torture.
"Oh God...help me..."