Through Small Eyes
December 11th, 2005 by Salem
Chapter 23 – The stables were full of activity, trainers and animals everywhere. Pawn stands on a table next to Need A Smoke and Brother In-law. Pawn had been here since Salem put him there and gave him a kiss on the head to wish him luck. Rook was twisting her head left and right trying to see all of the action at once. Pawn knew that he will be riding a horse in a race, he had to ride Blackfrost many times in the past, but that was never in any race, and he was familiar with Blackfrost. Suddenly, Mal entered the busy stable and was making his way to them when he bumped into a blonde woman who was walking to her horse and rider. Pawn had seen this woman before. It was Arian, and she was taking a soaked cloth to a black horse and a very cute looking female ferret. Arian continued on her way as Mal stepped back to let her pass then continued to walk to them. “Your masters wanted I to wish ye two luck, and now to get ye guys strapped in for the race,” said Mal as he lifted Pawn and placed him on the back of Need A Smoke. Mal began to tie a small leather strap to Pawn’s rear left ankle. “This be incase you fall off, but a word of caution I be giving ye little one,” said Mal as he looked down to the floor, “It is a long way down for ye.” Pawn looks down and gives a big swallow when he saw where the ground was.
Mal walked over to Brother In-law. “Rook, get down here,” called Mal. Rook flinched as she always did before jumping off of anywhere. She glided down to land on Brother In-law’s saddle. The voices of the announcers could be heard echoing outside as they talked about the history of the race. “Ye be holding onto this leather bar and peck at these three pads to tell Brother In-law where ye want him to go.” instructed Mal, “Ye will not need a strap since ye can fly. A word of caution, I not being sure ye understands but ye can leave the saddle from time to time, but ye must return to the saddle before too much time passes or else Brother In-law will be disqualified or he will fall for an obstacle.” Pawn was very interested in what Arian was doing. She was talking to the horse and strange yet, the horse was responding like a human. No one else seamed to notice this. Mal returned to Pawn and Need A Smoke and handed Pawn the reins, “Hold on real tight when Need A Smoke makes those long jumps.” Pawn gave a squeak as Mal pulled a soft strap over his rear paws to help him stay on the saddle. A brown horse with a spider monkey on his back started to make his way to the exit that led to the track. An official stood at the door and was waiting for the cue to let them through.
“Look there little one,” said Mal as he pointed to a red horse with a silver like streak of fur on his sides with a strange looking chipmunk on his back. “That is the one ye have to beat, they are your rivals,” said Mal. There was something glinting over the chipmunk’s left side. Pawn took a good look at it and realized that it was a Blade. Pawn had seen this Blade before when he was on his master’s shoulders and she was busy adding the finishing touches to it. It was the LightningBlade. Of all the Blades for a rival to have, it had to be the one not only made by his master but one that could shoot powerful bolts of lightning down a long wire. Rook knew what it was as well. What was on Pawn’s mind more then the LightningBlade was the falling. The thought of falling that far and landing on the hard ground was not something Pawn wanted to do. Pawn jumped off of Salem’s shoulders many times before, but she is not this tall. Rook gave a call letting Pawn know if he did fall, she would be there to catch him. The official at the door let the first horse out as another horse with a dachshund on his back makes for the door. “They are letting the racers out to the track, ye guys are last to leave since ye are the guests of honor,” said Mal as he fixed the blinders on both Need A Smoke and Brother In-law, “Good luck.” Mal turned and left with the rest of the trainers so they would be at their seats when the race begins.
Race officials came up to Need A Smoke and Pawn to lead them to the exit. Pawn was still looking at Arian who was standing at the door watching the red horse and chipmunk being lead to the exit ahead of them. Arian was leaning back on the door jam when another Arian came through the door and began to talk to the first one. Pawn was use to seeing people who look alike, there have been days he had mistaken Selene for his master. Two Arians was nothing big for him. Pawn turned to the exit his horse was being lead to and began to watch the one Mal said he had to beat. The red silver streaked horse entered the light of the suns as the announcers could be heard. “Out comes Dominator with his chipmunk rider named Nuclear-Chipmunk owned by Lady Slambrawn. Dominator is the odds on favorite to win,” Pawn heard Ed say. “So his name is Nuclear-Chipmunk and the horse is Dominator,” thought Pawn. “Last but definitely not least, the Lost Champions. Need A Smoke and his ferret rider Pawn followed by Brother In-law and his falcon rider Rook,” announced Joe. Pawn looked up at the people who were there to see the race but could not find his master. The stadium was huge, even more so to his small eyes. The race official let them out on to the walkway that let to the starting gate. Pawn could see that they were starting three fourths the way on a long stretch of track meaning that the end of the race was to be here. It is going to be a race of speed to win. Suddenly, Pawn sees the LightningBlade land on the ground in front of them then shoots up into the sky. Although the wire was too thin to be seen, Pawn knew that it was there and it was about to become a lightning bolt. Pawn pulled on the left rein to get Need A Smoke to turn his head. Rook had also seen the LightningBlade and had jumped on top of Brother In-law’s head and covered his eyes with her wings. A lightning bolt hit the ground before them. “Whoa, that was a direct challenge is if I ever saw one!” yelled Joe. Pawn knew that they would have lost the race before it had started if they were blinded by the light from the lightning bolt.
Pawn was now passing the full slots of the starting gate until he found an empty one and Need A Smoke instinctively entered and waited for the starting bell. “The horses are moving into the gates and we are ready to start this ten million collon race!” said Ed. Brother In-law found the empty slot on Need A Smoke’s left side and entered, ready to start the race. “Twelve horses, one and a half miles of pro class track, Ladies and Gentlemen, this IS the Lysts Downs Equestrian Grand Prix!” yelled Joe. The bell rang and the gate in front of Need A Smoke fell to the ground. Pawn grabbed his saddle with every inch of claw on his feet as Need A Smoke took off. Pawn found himself facing a torrent of wind as the deafening sound of hooves hitting the dirt track covered him like a cloth. The horses began to pull out of a side-by-side formation and into a line with Dominator and Need A Smoke leading the way. Brother In-law had other plans, he was to conserve his energy and go at full speed at the end. Brother In-law fades back between Patriot with and eagle rider named Freedom and Scooby Fun Forever with a parrot rider named Darkhood. “Looks like it’s true what they say, Ed,” said Joe. “What is that, Joe?” asked Ed. “Birds of a feather do flock together,” said Joe. “We have Dominator and Need A Smoke fighting for first with S & M and Bad Boy competing for third.” said Ed, “The three amigos Scooby Fun Forever, Brother In-law, and Patriot hanging back in fifth, sixth, and seventh, leaving Dungaree, Silent-Alarm, I’m A Winner, and The Master behind.” “Wait! Feeling Lucky hasn’t even left the gate!” said Joe. Feeling Lucky’s rider, a cat named Felix, climbed down to find a small rope tied to the rear right leg of Feeling Lucky. The Master’s rider, the ferret named Miss Behave, squeaked with laughter.
“The horses are making the first turn off the starting straight-away and into the first obstacle in the race,” said Ed. “A series of blind sharp turns will keep them guessing,” said Joe. Dominator and Need A Smoke both make the turn into a maze. The horses bump together with Pawn and Nuclear-Chipmunk using all of their strength to hold on at the turns and gave each other the stare down. The LightningBlade was flying just behind Nuclear-Chipmunk and doing a very good job staying in place at the turns. Nuclear-Chipmunk seemed to threaten Pawn with the LightningBlade. S & M’s rider, an iguana named Whip, was living up to his name as he took a few shots with his tail at Bad Boy’s rider, a chimpanzee named Player whenever their horses bumped into each other. Brother In-law and Rook were being sandwiched by Scooby Fun Forever and Patriot, however they were not attacking each other. They knew that anything done now would be almost pointless. The three started to take the turns almost looking like a fast moving army doing some quick formations. The last four were going all out, Dungaree’s rider, the spider monkey named Razgriz, had jumped on the back of I’m A Winner and started to slap the rat named Zippers around. Silent-Alarm’s rider, the dachshund named Dementia was barking at the two.
The Master started to pull ahead of them. Seeing this, Razgriz jumped from I’m A Winner to his own horse and then onto The Master. The Master’s ferret rider, Miss Behave, turned to face the spider monkey. Razgriz was two times taller then Miss Behave. Razgriz was about to strike Miss Behave when he noticed that she was holding a cord with a hook tied to the end. Razgriz turned his head to see where the other end was and saw it ended at another hook now dragging on the track. The horses made a sharp turn and the hook snagged on a bush. Razgriz looked back at Miss Behave as she gave him a smile and let go of the hook. The hook got flung back by the cord and snagged on Razgriz’s leg pulling him off of The Master and slamming him down on the track. Dungaree stopped to allow Razgriz to get back up to the saddle but Razgriz was knocked out when he hit the ground.
“Dominator and Need A Smoke have left the sharp turns and are on the first full straightaway,” said Joe. Need A Smoke and Dominator were still neck and neck going into the straightaway until Nuclear-Chipmunk had his LightningBlade fly into Pawn’s side knocking Pawn back. Pawn let go of the reins as his paws slid out from under the strap that was holding him down. Pawn rolled off of the saddle and fell to the track. Pawn found himself being dragged on the ground right next to Need A Smoke’s pounding hooves. Behind him were the eight hooves of S & M and Bad Boy, hitting the ground very hard. If it was not for the strap, Pawn would have been trampled and killed. But right now, it was Need A Smoke’s hooves he was worried about. He needed to get back up on the saddle. Need A Smoke was starting to slow down, worried he might step on Pawn. S & M and Bad Boy were starting to catch up as Dominator was pulling away. Pawn opened his ThievesBlade’s void and out came a Necron wraith. The wraith hit the ground and began to tumble when Pawn grabbed the wraith’s tail and was catapulted straight up. Pawn used the strap to steer himself in the air and landed safely on Need A Smoke’s saddle.
The wraith continued to tumble to a stop on the track but both S & M and Bad Boy did not expect it and ran right into the wraith causing them both to trip and land hard onto the ground. Whip the iguana and Player the chimpanzee went flying off of their horses to land face first onto the track. Brother In-law was still being sandwiched by Scooby Fun Forever and Patriot. The track was cluttered with the newly fallen horses and their riders in the middle blocking Brother In-law’s path and leaving clear track for the other two horses. Jumping was not an option either for they would clear the horses but they may still land on the riders. The stepped on wraith was still on the track ready to trip them before they got to the fallen horses. Rook activated her TalonBlade and began to lift Brother In-law by his saddle. The pair had cleared the wraith, horses and fighting riders and made a landing with Brother In-law not breaking his stride. “I think I just saw a flying horse, Joe!” yelled Ed. “That is what I call some quick bird brained thinking,” said Joe, “They are now making the turn to the jump walls.”
“Dominator has the lead with Need A Smoke closing the gap,” said Ed, “S & M and Bad Boy are out of the race and now Brother In-law, Patriot, and Scooby Fun Forever move up to third, fourth, and fifth respectively.” “The Master is in sixth and closing in on Scooby Fun Forever while Silent-Alarm and I’m A Winner are bringing up the rear,” said Joe. Dominator jumps over the first wall, making it look very easy. Need A Smoke was now approaching the wall at a high gallop when Pawn remembered that his paws were not under the strap and quickly dived to grab it and held on. Need A Smoke made a perfect jump with Pawn holding on tight. They were coming up to the next jump as Pawn slid his feet back under the strap and he dug his claws in the soft material as he reached for the reins that had been caught by a pair of hooks made to prevent the reins from moving out of his reach. Need A Smoke made the next jump and a third one that came immediately after that one. The Master was moving up on Scooby Fun Forever as they made the first wall. Miss Behave took out another cord with small lead balls attached to the ends. The ferret gave one of the balls a spin and let go as the cord went flying in the air and started to wrap around Scooby Fun Forever’s legs. As they came up to the second jump, The Master made a large leap clearing both the second and third walls, however Scooby Fun Forever had difficulty making the jump and hit the top of the wall and landed in the pool of water at the other side. Scooby Fun Forever was in shock as he just laid in the water as his parrot rider, Darkhood, began to cuss like a sailor who had just breathed in helium.
The last wall was a very high jump and it looked as if it took a great deal of strength on Dominator’s part to clear. Need A Smoke saw this and poured on the power to get a good speed and flew over the wall. They had landed on the other side with Pawn being very happy that the jumping part was over. His little heart was pounding in his chest. They had entered the second to the last straightaway. This was the time to catch up with Dominator, but the LightningBlade was on the ground and then shot up. Pawn did not have time to think, he closed his eyes as the lightning bolt strikes the ground. The light blinded Need A Smoke but Pawn had escaped the affects. Pawn knew that he would have to be Need A Smoke’s eyes until he could see again. Pawn held on to the reins and was correcting Need A Smoke’s path as they closed in on Dominator and Nuclear-Chipmunk.
The LightningBlade came up behind Pawn and attached a wire to his back before shooting skyward again. Pawn looked up and opened his ThievesBlade’s void. Rook on Brother In-law was also closing in and saw what the LightningBlade did. Rook left Brother In-law’s saddle and flew to the opened end of the ThievesBlade’s void in time to catch the GunBlade. Rook used the GunBlade to cut the wire as a lightning bolt travels the wire and into the ThievesBlade’s void. Pawn closes the void as rook lays the GunBlade on the side of Pawn’s saddle, then returns to Brother In-law. Freedom the eagle blocks Rook and knocks her out of the air. Rook quickly twisted in the air and returned to the air before hitting the track. Freedom turned to attack Rook again but a loud bang was heard and Freedom’s wing caught fire. Pawn had fired his master’s GunBlade before pulling on the reins to get Need A Smoke to turn into another maze of blind corners. Freedom landed on Brother In-law and put his wing out on Brother In-law’s saddle. He was determined not to let Rook land before they too got to the sharp turns. Rook was about to use her TalonBlade when a lead ball with a cord attached to it flew past Freedom and a hook at the other end pulled him off the saddle and wrapped around him causing the eagle to fall on the track and struggle to get free from the cord. Rook landed in time before they got to the turns as The Master slowly joined them.
Pawn opened the ThievesBlade’s void just next to Need A Smoke and let his master’s GunBlade fall in before closing it. They were just behind Dominator, however Need A Smoke still could not see as Pawn pulled left then right and right again then a hard turn to the left. Turn after turn was making Pawn’s arms very tired and he hoped they would be out of the maze of turns soon. “I’m A Winner and Silent-Alarm are closing in on Brother In-law and The Master,” said Ed. “Need A Smoke is in second and Dominator is taking the lead with the last obstacle coming up before the final stretch,” said Joe. Dominator and Need A Smoke clear the maze to find a 45 degree climb before them. It went up as far as Pawn could see and the other end was steep enough to almost be straight down.
Dominator and Need A Smoke were making the climb up when Brother In-law and The Master exited the maze immediately followed by I’m A Winner and Silent-Alarm. Miss Behave pulls out another cord with two hooks attached. Dominator is almost at the top when Miss Behave throws the hooked cord to his leg. Pawn opened the ThievesBlade’s void and sucks up the cord. Dominator starts to slide down the other end just as Need A Smoke gets to the top and slides down after him. Brother In-law and The Master begin to slide down at the same time with I’m A Winner sliding down and Silent-Alarm running down the steep side. Silent-Alarm passed everyone and was heading down at a high speed with the dachshund, Dementia, holding on. Silent-Alarm was going too fast. He hit the ground like a ton of bricks and was a pile of flesh with Dementia barking angrily. “Looks like that dog has found his dog food,” said Joe. Both Dominator and Need A Smoke make it to the bottom at the same time and begin to race the last straightaway to the finish line.
Just as it was at the start of the race, Dominator and Need A Smoke were neck and neck and were now going at full speed. Need A Smoke regained his vision and could see the end was near. Brother In-law was right behind them now giving the track everything he had and slowly moving up to the lead horses. The Master faded back to block I’m A Winner and keep him from gaining speed. “And here it is folks! In a matter of seconds, we will have the winner of the ten million collon prize!” yelled Ed. “We have Dominator, Need A Smoke, and Brother In-law even with each other making this an extremely close race!” yelled Joe. This may be one for the image catcher!” yelled Ed. The horses cross the finish line and slowly gallop to a halt. The Master and I’m A Winner cross the line with I’m A Winner being last. “Well there is something to be said about finishing in this race, Joe.” said Ed. The crowd was up on their feet waiting for the results of the image capture. Ed and Joe were recapping the race while judges gathered around the small room next to the finish line. Pawn was just glad the race was over. Race officials began to walk onto the track. An hour had passed and everyone was holding their breath. King Abbot and the twins with Mal had made their way down to the track along with Lady Slambrawn and Duke Vander. They were led to the infield where the prize was to be presented. Only thing now was to hear the results from the officials at the small booth. A piece of paper was handed to an official waiting outside who then walks to the infield. Arian was also waiting at the stands at the infield. Pawn wanted to return to his master’s shoulders but knew he had to wait until a winner was announced. The official walked up to Arian as other officials gathered around them.
Arian walked up to a cone connected to the sound system, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I am Arian, official representative of Rex Tyrann, President of the Equestrian Society. First of all, Mr. Tyrann regrets not being able to attend this event; important business has him traveling out of the country. So I will present the awards.” The crowd became so silent; a quill could be heard hitting the floor. “In third place,” said Arian as she looked at the paper, “Brother In-law owned by King Abbot, wins the five hundred thousand collons.” The crowd cheered for a very short time and became silent again. I will now announce the winner of the 2005 Lysts Downs Equestrian Grand Prix and the winner of the tem minion collon prize,” said Arian as she looked at the paper once again. “The winner is, The Lost Champion owned by King Abbot, Need A Smoke by a nose.” announced Arian as the crowd cheered. Need A Smoke was moved to the winners circle as flowers were placed on him and Arian handed the 2005 Lysts Downs Equestrian Grand Prix trophy to King Abbot and a legal note made out for ten million collons. Lady Slambrawn was given the second Place trophy and a legal note for one million collons Dominator coming in at second place. King Abbot walked up to Lady Slambrawn and said, “We have to talk. Meet me and my people outside of the Equestrian Arena.” “Yes, my King,” said Lady Slambrawn, trying to be ever courteous to a royal. Pawn was finally able to return to his master’s shoulders and fall to sleep. “You did well Pawn,” said Salem to her beloved pet.