1) The Wild Hunt

Once there was a legend, of the Fate of the 6. It was a creepy myth that never got told out loud, as everyone feared bad luck when talking about it openly. It was just a faint whisper in the shadows, scribbled in old notebooks, lingering in the back of people’s heads. Nobody ever dared to bring it closer to reality, to make more out of it than it was: just an old, faint whisper. But what happens when 6 friends are at the wrong time at the wrong place? I fear we will find out very soon...

The wild hunt

Halloween night in Oaksworth was always the highlight of the year. The little village was surrounded by thick creepy forests and many creepy stories. The humans visiting are talking about Movie-Locations, Legends and Ghost hunting. But for us humans and horses living here, it was just a normal little Village, with nothing more supernatural happening than dangerous shadows in the corner of the riding area and plastic bags on the trails. But on Halloween the whole Village got decorated spooky, with everyone being dressed up and visiting for all the activities. The humans had their own traditions with candy, stories around the campfire and silly games. The horses of Oaksworth on the other hand, get dressed up with creepy costumes and then run in a big parade called "the Wild Hunt" through the village and forest as the main Event. It was the biggest Event of the year, and there was nothing more exciting for us, than being able to run the wild hunt.

And so was it today too, on the 31th October 1994. The Horses chosen for this year’s parade were only 6, and consisted of 4 locals, and 2 visitors. I, Aska, was one of the locals. My owner had been very lazy with my decoration this year. She stood next to me for a good hour, painting a glow in the dark skeleton on my body. I’m unsure how accurate it actually turned out… Next to me in the barn stood Khaos, who had a black cloak around him with a hood, that hung low into his face and made him look even creepier than ever. I’m guessing his Owner, the even creepier Raven, sewed it himself, because it fit Khaos perfectly. Next to him, nervously trotting on the spot, was Müsli. He got thin lines drawn on his body, making him look as if he was made out of patches and stitches. I will never understand why his owner, Peter, thought it was a good idea to visit Oaksworth at Halloween with such a nervous horse. Then there was Arctic and Astoria, the always fighting ones, who’s owners matchingly dressed them up as witch and wizard with cloaks and herb-necklaces. I look over to them, watching them cobbling around trying to eat the herbs off of each other’s neck while having their ears pinned and snapping at each other. I sigh, looking at Namir who has been the nicest visitor to be around since quite a while. He grins at me, asking “Ready for the hunt soon?” I nod and take another closer look at his costume. “What was your Owner trying again with you?” He laughed a bit stiff “She tried a Vampire-look.” He shook his head and the cheap plastic-y accessories in his mane dangle around. I couldn’t hide my laugh, he did looked very ridiculous and the red paint on his face and overly large fangs didn’t made it any better. “I heard steps, it will start any minute now.” Said Khaos, who suddenly just stood behind me. “Does anyone know why exactly Gravity wasn’t allowed to come with us?” Asks Astoria, who seemed to be fed up with Arctic by now, whom was now standing a bit useless next to Müsli. “Well maybe we should discuss that later if it starts every minute now-” started Khaos, but Arctic crashed in saying “I told you, Gravity is limping! She hurt her hoof. And there seemed to be no substitute for her, we all know nobody here would leave only 6 of us on the Hunt if it wasn’t an emergency!”. “Why not? What is wrong with us being six?” screeched Müsli, being audibly scared and stumbling over a pumpkin over closer to us. “The Fate of the 6.” I say silently, not planning to elaborate further. Astoria and Arctic stopped fighting around and started at me, how I could dare to even say the name on Halloween. Khaos seem alarmed, but decided against commenting on it. Namir and Müsli blinked at each other, and Namir asked after a moment of silence “What is the Fate o-“ He got stopped by Astoria grunting a warning and swishing her tail. “We never talk about it. It’s an old Legend, nothing to worry about” I inform our visitors shortly, with my tone making clear that I won’t be happy to answering questions. “Quiet now. Are you all ready?” asked Khaos, head carried high, with his ears listening to the outside. There were steps, and then the big barn doors got opened.

Light flooded in, and we started sprinting out of the barn. With two big strides I was halfway over the main village square, Khaos very close next to me, with his ears pinned back and the creepy hood looking at it would fly back onto his back every second now. Behind us followed Namir and a very panicky looking Müsli who stared with big wide-open eyes at all the people who were standing along the stacked-out path, cheering, clapping, and waving around sticks with lanterns at their ends. Their light reflected in his eyes and he tried his best to run even faster. Astoria and Arctic were following Namir close behind and all three did a few happy jumps, with Namir neighing excitedly, and the other two trying to snap at each other’s capes, which were flapping around in the wind. I look around, my look meeting Arctic’s, who shot me a grin and a nod. I grinned back, focusing back on leading my 5 companions the last stretch through the village. After passing the last houses, I heard Müsli’s panting come closer and closer, till the shivering horse was right next to me. His nostrils were wide open, and I could see the white in his eyes. “Müsli, calm down” grunts Khaos, letting himself fall back a bit to be at his other side, which seemed to calm the visitor down a bit. “WIILD HUNT!! FINALLY!” yelled Astoria exuberantly while snapping at Arctic’s hair, which was constantly in her face and view. “Into the forest we go!!” said Namir with excitement gleeming in his eyes, who rehearsed the route with Arctic and Müsli before the official Event. As soon as we passed the edge of the forest, the noises of the cheering people in the village started to die down. If I would have put my attention onto it, I would have noticed that it got quiet unusually quick. Much quicker than the other years. Khaos seemed to notice though, as he immediately jerked his head up, nearly running against Astoria who had happily chased with Arctic up to the front row. I saw out of the corner of my eye how Khaos’ eyes and ears seemed to scan the forest around us. “Is something wrong?” Namir yelled to Khaos, but he never got a response. I looked around at the others, Müsli’s nostrils weren’t as flared anymore, his eyes were calm and focused on the way ahead of us. Astoria was jumping and bucking around and I assumed that I was probably not running fast enough for her liking. Arctic sped after her, trying to bite her witch-cape, which was fluttering in the wind. Namir seemed still slightly alarmed of Khaos behavior, but seemed to have given up to reach his attention. Suddenly there were very loud sounds echoing through the forest, which managed to make my blood freeze and panic shot through my body. It was very loud and very recognizable. Howling.