EIPURA by Abby Horrel (Short story

EIPURA by ABBY HORRELL

Footsteps thundered across the forest floor as Eipura fled on her horse. Her ragged breaths matched the snorting of her horse, Cyclone. Hands clenched tightly on the reins, Ei begged Cyclone to go faster. She didn’t know where they were going. They just had to escape. They had to get away. Ei counted her Cyclone’s strides in her head, a way to calm her mind.

"One two, one two... " She trailed o. Ei patted Cyclone’s neck to calm him down and reassure him. She knew they would have to stop soon, so they wouldn’t get too exhausted. Eipura decided they would stop in the next town for the night. After getting supplies and a couple of hours of rest, they would continue on.

Cyclone’s shiny gray coat glistened in the sunlight of the setting sun, clumps of grass flying through the air with every step. His muscles flexed as he ran at full speed towards their next destination. He whinnied when he saw the large stone wall come into view.

As the two suns began to set along the horizon, making the sky bleed pink, yellow, and orange, they made it to the edge of town. She slowed her Cyclone to a walk and pulled her hood over her head. Ei walked Cyclone through the town, weaving through the centaurs, elves, and merchant humans. She sighed in relief when she saw a motel with a small stable connected to it. Her horse could have a place to rest. It wasn’t ideal; normally Cyclone preferred to be in a pasture, but it would have to be just for the night.

Ei tied Cyclone to a post outside the motel and walked to the door. The bell on the door jingled as she opened it, and a small sprite greeted her, zipping around her head. Sprites didn’t speak, so this one dragged her to what seemed to be the front desk of the hotel. The

sprite motioned Ei to wait there, and it flew behind the desk, coming out seconds later with a giantess who was around 7 feet tall.

"Hello, welcome to the Winged Hotel. How may I help you?" The giantess spoke in a deep voice, making the sprite plug her ears.

"Can I get a room for myself and a stall for my horse for the night?" Eipura asked, pulling her sack of coins out of her satchel.

"We do have a few stalls open. Those are 50 gold for the night, and a single room is 45 for the night. " The lady spoke. "I can give you Room 26 for yourself and stall 7 for your horse. Just one night? What is your name?"

"Yes, just for the night. Put the name down as Aeryn. Do you have a dining area for dinner and breakfast? What about my horse?" Ei asked. She had lied about her name since she didn’t know who she could trust. She was being chased by the royal guard and could not aord to get caught.

After figuring out the details of the hotel and purchasing a room and a stall for the night, Ei and Cyclone went to look around town. They viewed dierent shops to see what supplies they needed, as they didn’t know how long they would have to run for. Ei ended up buying some apples for Cyclone and feeding them to him as they continued on their search for supplies.

"Have you seen this elf?" Ei’s head shot up when she heard a man ask that question. Had she been caught? She snuck over to see who the man was talking about.

Her heart was beating out of her chest, and she begged that the ogre was not looking for her. She felt herself sigh in relief when she looked over and saw it was just a little elf the ogre was

looking for. She found out that the ogre had been babysitting the elf and he had lost the child when they were playing hide-and-seek. Although she did feel bad for the ogre and hoped he would find the little elf soon, she couldn't distract herself further. She quickly went back to the streets, continuing on their hunt for supplies.

After about an hour, Eipura and Cyclone had gathered all their needed supplies and had even stopped by a small tavern to eat, so they headed back to the hotel. She stuck Cyclone in the stall for the night and made sure he was comfortable but wouldn’t be caught.

Once Ei got back to her own room, she flopped on the bed, her hood falling down, and she sighed loudly. She honestly didn’t know how she had gotten into this situation, but she hoped she could get out of it soon. Before she knew it, Ei had drifted o to sleep, clutching her satchel in her arms, knowing she might have to make a quick departure in the morning.

As soon as the two bright suns started rising, Eipura was ready to go. She grabbed a quick breakfast at the inn’s restaurant and gave Cyclone a bucket of hay. She turned in her keys once she took Cyclone out of the stall.

Once she got back outside, she made sure Cyclone’s saddle was put on properly. She ensured the girth was tight enough, so the saddle wouldn’t slide. She sighed as she pulled on his bridle and put the reins over Cyclone’s head. She hopped up on the saddle, fixing her hood to make sure it stayed on, and she was o.

Cyclone didn’t start galloping until they were outside the village, far enough away that, if her hood fell, the village folks wouldn’t recognize her.

Cyclone’s large hooves once again thundered along the dirt path, leaving a cloud of dust behind them, the two suns shining down upon them. Eipura fixed her cloth over her face, covering it to prevent dust from getting into her mouth or nose and also to hide her identity.

"You there! We see you’re an elf. Could you tell us about this elf we are looking for?" a deep voice yelled.

Eipura felt her heart rate rise when she heard the voice, and she quickly pulled her hood over her head.

"Halt, in the name of the King, we demand you halt!" another voice commanded.

"Shit, " Eipura mumbled to herself, and turned to see a team of royal guards chasing after her. She knew she could receive the death penalty if she refused one of the King’s orders, so she slowed Cyclone down. She purposefully made him take longer to slow down than usual as she fumbled through her bag.

"Thank you for stopping, '' the captain said,

“I apologize for our inconvenience, but we are looking for this elf and were hoping you had seen her. " The men rode up on their horses, all of the men wearing the King’s crest on their crisp uniforms.

Eipura knew she would be brought back to the palace and placed on trial in front of the King if she was recognized, so she quickly drank a potion before the soldiers saw her face.

"If you could, please pull the fabric on your face down, so we can confirm you are not the elf we are looking for, " the royal guard captain said. He motioned to another guard, who handed him a piece of parchment, which he unrolled, revealing Eipura’s face. On the parchment was Eipura glaring, her brown hair wild in two braids.

Eipura pulled down her mask, hoping her potion had worked. Normally she specialized in dierent types of potions, not ones in appearance, so she hoped the soldiers would be tricked.

"Hmm, you look quite dierent from this image, ” the captain shrugged, “apart from the fact

that you're an elf, I don't see any similarities. " He readied his team to leave.

"Wait, Captain! Can’t you see?” One of the other soldiers spoke up, making the captain stop and immediately turn towards Eipura. “That's exactly how the king described her horse. He also said that she was good at potion-making. Don’t you think it would be a little strange that the horse is exactly like the King described it?" The captain frowned and nodded in

agreement.

"W-what are you talking about?” Ei laughed nervously,

“I just have a gray horse, which is quite common in the elf region. I have to go back to the academy. " She had pulled the fabric across her face, knowing that the potion was meant to only last a few minutes. Considering it was her first appearance changing potion, she didn’t know how long it would take before it wore o, blowing her cover.

"Now wait one minute. We will take you back to the castle to see if you are the elf the king is searching for. " The captain waved the scroll in Ei’s direction.

Eipura tried to get Cyclone to escape, but she was surrounded by other guards. Cyclone snorted and tossed his head. She knew she couldn’t go back to the castle. She contemplated if she could get Cyclone to jump over the shorter horses, but she was soon cut o as a cloth was placed over her mouth and everything faded to black. She had failed her escape.

"Sorry Lyari, I couldn’t escape. I failed you, " She muttered as her body went limp, the images of her best friend flashed through her mind, and Cyclones' whinny faded in her ears.