The Rider

         Leaves crunched and twigs cracked underneath her feet.  Nagia was running through the forest as fast as her legs would take her, but it didn’t seem to be fast enough.  The guards were catching up to her.
         Who knew that stealing one little loaf of bread in that city could get her into so much trouble?!  Being a wanderer, Nagia had decided to stop in Estoneia for a time.  She didn’t realize how much expertise the Estoneian law enforcers possessed until she was the one they were chasing.
         It was getting harder and harder to breath, and Nagia’s legs were beginning to feel like they were on fire.  She knew she couldn’t go much farther, but she would absolutely not allow herself to just give up and be put in prison by those guards.
         Coming into a small clearing and wondering how close her predators were, she glanced back in their direction.  Doing so as she ran was a big mistake.  Nagia ran full force into something tall, strong, and velvety, and fell to the ground.
         The jolt was too much for Nagia’s tired body.  The young woman gave up and stayed on the ground panting and waiting for her pursuers to catch up to her.
         “What are you doing?”
         The voice startled Nagia.  It seemed to come from somewhere above her.  For the first time since her fall, she looked up at the thing she had run into.  What she saw amazed her.
         There, standing in a ray of sunlight, was a beautiful, robust white unicorn, and on its back was the most fascinating man Nagia had ever seen.  He was tall and muscular, with long, silver hair and slanted deep green eyes.  Wearing a velvety forest green cloak, he sat on his gorgeous mount with pride.
         “What are you doing?” he repeated.
         “Who are you?” asked Nagia.
         “I asked you first.  What are you doing?”
         Just then, the sounds of Nagia’s pursuers got much louder.
         “Are you running from them?” asked the man.
         Nagia stared.  Could she trust this strange man, or would he throw her to the guards as soon as he found out she was a thief.  After thinking it over for a moment, she decided to take a chance with him.  After all, it seemed to be a better choice than lying helplessly on the forest floor waiting for her followers to imprison her.
         “Yes,” she said.  “Yes, I’m running from those men.  I can’t let them catch me.”
         “Take my hand,” the stranger said, bending down to offer her his powerful arm.
         Just as the guards came into the clearing, Nagia did as the man ordered.
         “Where is she?!” one of the guards shouted.  “I heard voices coming from this area!”
         “She must have gone farther into the forest!”
         “She couldn’t have!  I thought I saw her here just a few seconds ago!”
         “Why can’t they see me?” asked Nagia, still clutching the man’s hand.
         “Because we are invisible,” he answered in a whisper.  “However, they can still hear us, so you may want to refrain from talking until they are gone.”
         The guards continued to argue for a moment, then continued their search by tramping off further into the forest.
         “You may let go now,” the man said after they were gone, for Nagia was still clinging to his hand.
         “Oh, sorry,” said Nagia, letting immediately.  “How did you do that?”
         “I am a mage,” he said simply.
         “Wow,” Nagia whispered amazed.  “Who woulda thought that a plain old wanderer like me would ever run into a mage?!  I’m Nagia.  What’s your name?”
         “I am Rider,” the man said calmly.
         “Nice to meet you.  You don’t talk too much, do you?  Not me, I talk a lot.  Well, that is, when I actually have someone to talk to.  I’m a wanderer so I’m usually by myself.  I hardly ever have any company.  Some people say that’s a good thing because I get really annoying when I start rambling on about nothing.  Do you think so?  Am I annoying you?”
         “No,” said Rider, sounding somewhat amused at the talkative girl.
         “Good, because I annoy most people I meet if I hang around for too long.  So, are you going somewhere?”
         “I am wandering.”  Rider never seemed to be anything but calm.
         “Really?  Me too!  Obviously.  I am a wanderer, after all.  Though right now, I’m not quite sure where I’m wandering to.  I guess that’s why it’s called wandering, huh.  You never really know where you’re going, you just kind of wander.”
         “You don’t know where you are going?”
         “No, but I’m sure I’ll decide soon.”
         “You may come with me for a time, if you like.”  And with that Rider coaxed his unicorn and started off down a path. 
         Nagia had been staring at a bird’s nest in a tree and didn’t realize that Rider was leaving her. 
         “Oh boy!” she said.  “That’d be great, traveling with a mage and his unicorn!  Hey!  Wait for me!”
         Nagia ran after the handsome man, and when he saw she was following him, he helped her onto the back of his unicorn.  The pair rode through the forest on the magnificent beast for a few hours.  All the while Rider said almost nothing, and Nagia left almost nothing unsaid.
         “And that’s how the birdhouse was built on top of the sleeping elephant.  It’s quite a bizarre story if you think about it…”
         “Nagia,” said Rider after a while.
         “But not so bizarre as—yes?”
         “Be quiet.  Something is coming and I need to hear.”
         Just at that moment, a raging color-changing tiger came roaring through the trees.
         “I believe I should take care of this.  You should be quite safe here, Nagia,” said Rider, motioning for her to stay atop the unicorn as he dismounted gracefully.
         The tiger bore his teeth in an intimidating fashion.  It paced the leaf-covered ground, growling constantly.  The many colors of its fur seemed to shift and glitter in the patchy sunlight that shown through the treetops.
         Rider stood calmly in his place.  He did nothing, as though he were waiting for the magnificent cat to make the first move.
         His wish was granted, for the giant feline pounced at the next moment.  There was no way this tiger was a simple animal.  It leaped a far greater expanse than was possible, and its roar was more like a raging war cry.  This animal obviously had some sort of magical powers.
         However, this was no matter to Rider.  He simply waved his arm and the tiger was thrown back in mid-leap. 
         Falling back against the tree, the tiger’s appearance started to shift.  Within moments, the fierce beast that had pounced in an obvious fury had turned into a young boy with pointed ears.  His hair and clothes kept changing colors.  His facial features were seething with anger.
         “I’ll get you one day, you stupid mage!” screamed the boy.  “I’ll avenge my father’s death, you’ll see!”
         “That you may do someday, Hue, but not yet.  You are still far too inexperienced in the ways of magic.  I implore you, please cease your attacks on me until you are a worthy opponent,” Rider said as calmly as ever.
         “My father was a much better sorcerer that you are!  You’ll never live up to his name!”
         “If your father was better than I am, how is it possible that he died by my hand?  I killed your father, the most powerful sorcerer in the Kelpian Forest, and thus took his title when he died.  You must realize, Hue, that I am more powerful than your father ever was.”
         “My father was good!  He was going to colonize the world and lead them to—”
         “Your father was greedy, Hue.  He was taking over the world.  I killed him to stop his evil plans.  Surely you must know that.”
         “My father was not greedy!  He was—”
         Rider held up his arm.  “Silence, Hue.  Be on your way and do not trouble me any more until you have had sufficient training.”
         The boy was magically quieted, and he turned and ran away with tears streaming down his young face.
         Rider turned to look at Nagia, who was still sitting on the back of the unicorn.  Her mouth was hanging open in awe.
         “Wow that was amazing how you beat that tiger with a stroke of your hand!  Well, I guess it couldn’t have been too hard.  He is just a boy.  But that was still so amazing!” yelled Nagia.
         “Hue is a very talented boy.  He could easily wipe out an entire city with his powers.  He is just not suited to fight me, as I possess many times the power inside him.  I hope one day he will forget his anger and stop attacking me.  He could make a great mage.  I just hope he does not follow in his father’s footsteps.”
         Rider stopped and looked around at the trees.  He seemed so deep in thought that Nagia dared not disturb him.  After a while he said, “I’m afraid I must leave you here, Nagia.  If you travel with me further I’m afraid your life will be in danger.”
         “Oh, okay.  Well, it was nice having someone to talk to for at least a little while,” she said as Rider helped her onto the ground.  He then mounted himself and rode off into the forest.
         As Nagia watched the magnificent man ride away on his great white beast, she reflected on the day’s adventure.  She wondered if he had lied to her when he told her she wasn’t annoying.  She wondered if he thought she was the strangest girl alive.  But most of all, she wondered if she would ever see the mysterious mage called Rider again.