Jazmyn followed the Butterfly for the next hour until they came to a stream. The Butterfly left the road and began to head upstream into the forest. Prinziana turned her head and followed.
The stream eventually became narrow and rocky and Jazmyn found herself once again surrounded by the forest but through some breaks in the branches she could see the eastern mountains.
The sun was now high in the sky and Jazmyn thought it best to rest Prinziana and have herself something to eat. She found a clearing beside the stream and climbed down from Prinziana’s back. Even the Butterfly had stopped to rest. Jazmyn opened the satchel and found some bread and cheese for herself and an apple for Prinziana. While she sat and ate she looked further into the satchel. There was a flint for starting a fire, more bread, dried meat, cheese and fruit, and another smaller bag. She pulled the small bag out and opened it. Inside was a handful of small stones, the same colour as the one in her necklace. It was a bagful of embers.
Jazmyn stashed the bag back into the satchel, laid back in the sun and closed her eyes. She must have fallen asleep for a few moments, she dreamt of her mother brushing her cheek and woke to find the Butterfly sitting on her nose.
“Yes. I know. We have to go.”
Jazmyn got up and put the satchel over Prinziana’s neck and climbed up onto a log and finally onto the horses back.
“Ok lead the way.”
Both Prinziana and the Butterfly headed off upstream again. Once they left the small clearing the path became very rough. Boulders large and small littered the forest and Prinziana had to weave in and out of them. The going was very slow and it did not seem that they had travelled very far when the sun began to get low in the sky.
“We need to find somewhere safe to spend the night.”
Jazmyn had no sooner finished her sentence when the Butterfly turned away from the rocky stream and headed deeper into the forest. Prinziana followed.
Over a small rise, down a dry gully and through a stand of huge ferns and they came to another clearing. This one was surrounded by tall trees, the branches of which almost completely covered the clearing below. In the centre of the clearing was an old fire pit. This had been a campsite for someone else but not for a very long time.
Jazmyn climbed down from Prinziana and placed the satchel on a stump beside the fire pit. There was plenty of wood amongst the trees and Jazmyn headed off to start collecting it.
Prinziana whinnied loudly and stamped her front foot on the ground.
Jazmyn looked back at the horse. “Don’t worry I’m not going too far. Just getting wood for a fire.”
Prinziana snorted and put her head down and began to chew on some grass growing at the base of one of the trees.
It took only a short while for Jazmyn to collect a large pile of sticks and branches. The flint that Lady had put into the satchel made it easy to light the fire and well before the sun disappeared the warmth of the flames made the dark forest seem a little less scary.
Jazmyn fed Prinziana another apple and then dug into the satchel to find food for herself. Dried meat, cheese and bread tasted delicious after travelling all day and she washed it all down with cold stream water from her flask. Deeper in the satchel she also found a little jar of honey which she spread onto another piece of bread. The Butterfly flew over, landed on the bread and shared dessert with Jazmyn.
“I’m guessing tomorrow will be another big day. We should all get some rest.”
Prinziana seemed to be already sleeping and the Butterfly had folded it wings and tucked itself into the hollow of a small branch overhead.
Jazmyn fed more wood to the fire and laid down on the carpet of leaves on the forest floor. She did not think it would happen but within minutes she was asleep.
She awoke suddenly to what she thought was a noise, but when she sat up it was just the opposite. The forest was silent. No insects, no frogs, no night birds. Not one single noise.
Prinziana broke the silence as she snorted and whinnied loudly. She reared up on her hind legs and landed heavily, cracking a dead branch beneath her hooves. Jazmyn fed more wood into the fire and watched as the flames grew high.
She looked out into the flickering shadows that the fire had created. Something was moving in the trees. Things were moving all around her camp. Shadows sliding between the trees.
Jazmyn hurriedly reached into the satchel and pulled out the bag of embers. Lady had said the embers would keep away harm. She held the bag in one hand and gripped her necklace in the other.
“Leave us alone.” she yelled.
One of the dark shadows suddenly lashed, as if responding to her scream. Something long and dark knocked Prinziana off her feet. The horse lay on the ground snorting, something black and large holding it down. The Butterfly flew into Jazmyn’s face and Jazmyn heard the word ‘Climb’.
Jazmyn ignored and ran toward Prinziana. Then she saw what was holding the horse down.
It was a shadow, a living shadow. It turned to her and Jazmyn screamed. The shadow moved away from Prinziana and began to crawl toward Jazmyn. Prinziana jumped up and reared up on her hind legs, her nostrils flaring and her eyes wide open in fear. The horse ran toward Jazmyn, its hooves knocking wood from the fire as it fled into the forest.
Jazmyn swung around back toward the fire. There were more black shapes behind her and they were all crawling slowly in her direction.
The Butterfly flew into her face again, “CLIMB!”
Jazmyn did as she was told. She tucked the bag of embers into her top, jumped up and grabbed the nearest branch. She pulled herself up into the tree. The branches were strong and she was able to climb them easily. She pulled herself out onto a branch that was almost directly over the fire and looked down.
The fire was dying down and unless she could get more wood to it, it would go out within minutes. The shadows seemed to avoid the fire as if they knew it would do them harm.
Jazmyn broke a branch from the tree and threw it at the fire. It landed nearby but not close enough to catch in the fire.
Soon the fire would be nothing but smouldering embers.
‘Embers’, she thought, ‘Embers are magical protection from harm’.
Jazmyn reached into her top and pulled the bag out. She held it tightly in her hands and hugged it to her chest, but something was wrong.
The stones were moving, sliding. Too late Jazmyn realised that the bag was upside down and the stones were falling to the ground. Within moments the shadows would be on her.
Jazmyn watched in horror as the embers fell, fell directly into the fire. Now what little hope she had to be saved from these creatures lay in the power of the stone in the necklace around her neck. She closed her eyes, held the branch tightly and wished that her parents would save her.
In the fire below, the ember stones crackled like popcorn for a moment and then went silent. Smoke from the fire seemed to stop in mid-air and then it was suddenly sucked back into the flames. The fire exploded in a gigantic ball of white light. The light spread out into the forest in every direction. The shadows in its path disappeared instantly. Their smoky shapes turning to dust and falling to the ground.
Jazmyn opened her eyes as the last of the white dome of light died away. She lowered herself from the branch and quickly added more wood to the fire in case they came back. A snap of twigs made her jump but she sighed in relief when she saw the shape of Prinziana step out of the woods. Jazmyn ran over to hug the horse and was surprised when the Butterfly landed on her head.
“Oh I was so scared. Prinziana did they hurt you.”
Jazmyn looked the horse over but could see no wounds. The Butterfly landed on the bridge of Prinziana’s nose and looking at both of them she could tell that both of them had been just as terrified as she had been.
The Butterfly flew away from Prinziana and began to hover in front of Jazmyn’s face. Its wings brushed against Jazmyn’s eyes.
‘Butterfly Kisses’ she thought to herself
and suddenly began to laugh and cry at the same time.
A few moments later Jazmyn looked around the forest and up into the sky. The night was still dark and it would be several hours till the first light of morning. She looked at both Prinziana and the Butterfly and spoke in a calm voice.
“I think we should move now, I know morning is hours away but I don’t want to stay here any longer. Butterfly….can you please lead us. I know you have plans but I just want to go home. Maybe Father is home or even Mother. I just want them.”
The Butterfly flew into the air, it flew in a circle for a few moments as if it were looking for something and then darted into a nearby bush. It was back within seconds but now its wings were glowing, coated in the dust from beneath a fern.
Jazmyn quickly put out the fire and gathered her belongings. She climbed onto Prinziana’s back and together they set off once again. She was a bit saddened to see that the path the Butterfly took was still toward the mountains but by now she had grown to trust it and patted Prinziana on the neck as they moved on through the night.