Thunder shook the foundation, and rain started to slap against the window panes. Just outside, Rune and Isabel had begun to brew a storm. A long, scared screech came from down the hall, one that Orion immediately recognized as Laci’s. He cantered down the tile in search of her, until he finally reached the arena entrance. Slowly, he turned and looked inside.

  Laci was circling a dead horse, flames erupting from her mane. She was streaked with dark blood from head to toe. Her ribs sprung out of her chest and her hips protruded like rafter beams. No part of her was left unscathed by Chase’s torture.

  “Laci!” Orion called out.

  She whipped her head around and stared at him eerily, as though she did not recognize him. Blood pooled on the bottom of her lips and dribbled down quickly as the rainwater outside. She stood stock still, head raised, watching him like a sentry. He wandered closer to her, but she backed away from him when he came in range.

  “Easy, Laci. You’re alright,” he said, reaching for her face.

  She snapped at his arm and laid her ears back. He jerked his hoof away just in time, stepping away hesitantly. She held her tail to one side and stared at him with flat, emotionless eyes. She had him backed up against the wall before he could think.

  “Laci, it’s me, Orion,” he tried desperately.

  She did not seem to hear his pleas. His dark magic would not wrap around her twisted mind. Sultan’s song was somehow still ringing through the hall, growing louder. She had one long ear stuck sideways, listening to it faithfully. Her bare forehoof pushed him into the wall with a loud thud. She bared her teeth and snorted blood in his face. He turned away from her and shut his eyes tightly, black magic circulating around him.

  With a flash of smoke, Onyx grabbed Laci by the neck and threw her off of him. He held her tightly by the mane of her crown, and she screamed like nothing Orion had ever heard. She roared furiously, kicking out and fighting against his pull on her mind. Sultan’s voice was louder than ever, and Orion watched in horror as the red stallion turned the corner into the ring.

  “I’ve been your doll for too long. My joints are failing, my heart made of cotton and plastic. I wish you well,” Sultan whistled.

  Laci’s attention snapped to him, and she found new strength in his presence. With a hoof sharp as a dagger, she sliced away the mane and skin that Onyx held to free herself. Blood rippled down her neck, but she didn’t even flinch or try to brush it away. She ran to Orion and pounced on him, growling and cutting his face. He cried out in pain, the blood running into his eyes and obscuring his vision.

  Sultan laughed with excitement. “Yes, put me on display, if you dare, I promise I won’t mind,” he sang.

  He galloped toward Onyx and reared up, and they locked their forelegs in fierce combat. Sultan reached for Onyx’s neck with his teeth, trying to force his way through the dark magic. His mane was ablaze with wildfire, and he whipped his fiery tail around Onyx’s hind legs. Onyx jumped from the sting of the flames and lost his balance, and Sultan shoved him to the ground.

  Orion tried everything he knew to get a hold of Laci’s mind, but none of it worked. She prepared to drive her bladed hoof into his neck, but something stopped her. She turned her head and listened to something coming from the doorway. Orion could hear it too, the voice of an angel.

  If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  “Outcasts, you and me, they called us monsters. We’re just bleeding hearts with no safe harbor,” the angel sang.

  Laci’s ears flickered with recognition, and her grip on Orion relaxed slightly. Orion was confused. He knew the tune, it was one of those teen pop songs by Stargazer. That blue-eyed stallion who had stolen the hearts of the entire country’s two year old fillies. Before Ariel was captured, she practically worshipped him, humming his music at every covert magical horse meeting and driving Ashley insane.

  A golden stallion strode in through the open door, body lit up with magical energy. His eyes were like beacons of light, shining brilliantly through the ring. While Laci was distracted, Orion reached up and took her by the mane. She screeched and tried fighting him again, but the music had disoriented her. Anxiously, she tried to pull herself loose, but her mind was no longer immune to his spells.

  Sultan had lit Onyx’s body on fire, but when he turned, his eyes burned red with fury at the sight of Laci being tamed by Orion and the golden horse. He hissed with anger and called out to her, but she did not hear him, attuned to the ethereal voice of the horse singing Misfits by Stargazer. He ran his hoof down her neck gently, and Orion used his magic to set her to sleep at last. Sultan shrieked as he was dragged back into the gate by the magic, and Laci collapsed into Orion’s arms unaware. He held her close, breathing heavily, scarcely able to believe what had happened.

  “Are you alright?” the palomino horse said. His glowing color had begun to fade into a dull Thoroughbred’s coat.

  Orion stood up abruptly and thrust his forehoof at him, sending him flying across the ring and into the dirt. He skidded along the ground, sand burying itself in his shoulder. Orion walked over to him and grabbed a thick lock of his mane, letting his magic flow strongly. The Thoroughbred shrieked with pain. The only thing that held Orion back was the scraps of his light magic.

  “What is wrong with you?” he screamed.

  Orion pushed his little yellow head further into the ground. “What’s wrong with you? How do you sleep at night knowing you train a horse that looks like this? I hope you rot, Chase.”

  “Chase is dead!” the horse shouted.

  Orion relaxed his grip. “Then who are you supposed to be?”

  “I’m his assistant,” he choked out. “Gabriel.”

  Orion snorted. “Close enough. You’re coming with me.”

  “I was trying to-”

  With a strong pulse of dark magic, Orion dropped Gabriel on the ground unconscious. “I think I’ve heard enough from you.”

  The sound of metal hinges squealing made Orion’s head turn. Oliver, Nathan and Ariel rushed in.

  “Orion! We’ve got to go. They’re going to send helicopters,” she called out.

  It took all of Orion and Nathan’s strength to lift Laci, even thinned out from her time spent locked up. Oliver and Ariel carried Gabriel out into the storm, which was beginning to dissipate. The pavement outside was still soaked, water running like a river. Slowly, they trudged their way toward the wilderness to lie low.

  “Orion, your head,” Lilith said, jogging toward them. “What happened to you?”

  “I’ll be alright. What are you doing back here? You should be in the woods with the others,” he replied.

  “I’m leading the way to them,” she said. “They couldn’t send anyone else.”

  Orion stumbled into the water, but quickly jumped back up. The world was starting to fade around him. Lilith shoved her little body into his shoulder to pick him up.

  “Come on,” she said. “Stay with me, Orion. They’re not far.”