Morning Ride

So here's my first story (that I've posted), but it's also the first story I've written in a long, long time... so yeeaahhh, feel free to be as harsh as your heart desires. (:

There was no moon. Instead, there were stars. Millions of shining dots scattered across the dark velvet sky, each on as bright as the next. The sky itself was full of violets and blues so dark they were black.

Below me, April snorted and pawed at the ground impatiently. With one last glance at sky, I reluctantly pushed April forwards, into the wood. Once we were completely covered by the canopy of the trees, the light from the stars had a hard time reaching us. We pushed forward on the path in front of us.

I leaned forward slightly so I could pat April’s neck. Her ear twitched back towards me. Since I was riding bareback, leaning to the side was limited.

Soon, we were in a clearing, bathed in star light once again. Without hesitation I pushed April forward and she took off in a lope. I let April run around the perimeter of the clearing once before carefully letting go of the reins. I raised my arms over my head and closed my eyes to help concentrate.

I thought about the stars, the wood, anything that would allow me to pull the Power from its ravine and capture it. I smiled when my mind tickled the fringes of it. I reached my mind out, getting a better grip and pulled gently. The Power came, like it was meant for me and only me.

I lowered my arms and picked the reins up, pulling April slowly to a stop. I opened my eyes, expecting to see what I usually see - some form of Power, usually a floating star. Instead, at the center of the clearing was a girl.

She stared at me, and I stared back, slightly shocked that somebody had been watching me. Neither of us said anything. Even April was being unusually quiet, like she could sense something. She stood at attention beneath me, on ear cocked towards me and the other forward, towards the girl.

The light from the stars wasn't bright enough so I couldn't see her face, but she had long, dark wavy hair that reached to her thighs. She wore a white, simple, but beautiful dress.

Finally she broke the silence.

"Haley," she said. "April."

I narrowed my eyes at her, immediately suspicious. Her voice sounded familiar... but at the same time foreign. And how did she know my name and April?

"Who are you?" I called to her, gathering April’s reins.

"You of all people should know. You are the one who brought me here," she replied, her voice chilling. She tipped her head to the side, like she was evaluating me as if I was a lab experiment.

I shook my head. This was a joke, obviously, and I was not one to be messed with. Especially when I worked. When I turned April in the other direction to leave, she reared, so high it felt like we were going to fall over backward. I went tumbling down, and I all I remember before the world faded away was something cool on my face and the smell of grass.