August Story Contest

In the Land of Craella: Chapter One
 By raennior49 and her trusty steed Serena  age 14
 
This is the first part of a long fantasy story about a mare called Tinsel. Please read and enjoy!

   Tinsel cantered along her green pasture. She was a large Belgian mare, but she wasn’t as clumsy and lumbering as the other drafts at her farm. Tinsel was a carriage horse, and she was driven often in parades and contests with Candy, another Belgian mare that looked exactly like her, but Candy was very old so speed was not an option. This was the only time that Tinsel could stretch her legs and fly, and it was the mare’s favorite time of the day.
   Tinsel came upon the pasture’s small river and stopped to take a drink. She had never been on the other side of the river, because there was a very dense forest crawling with cougars. The only thing that keeps the cougars out is Gretchen, a llama. Whenever Gretchen smells their scent, she rushes over, ready to fight. No cougar would ever pick a fight with a llama.
   Knowing this, all of the drafts could drink freely without any fear of the nasty wildcats, but today, something was different- Tinsel could feel it. She looked over at Gretchen, who was calmly chewing away at the fresh spring grass. When she turned back, the Belgian mare was overwhelmed by the scent of cougar. Tinsel panicked, and she trotted away downstream trying to get away, but the scent seemed to follow her.
   An ear-splitting scream resounded. Tinsel turned around, and right behind her was the largest cougar she had ever seen! It was so large, that the cat could have walked over a miniature horse without a problem. Tinsel reared in fear, and bolted. All that galloping will come in handy now- maybe she could get away! But no, the cougar was hot on her tail.
   The Belgian could feel the cat’s warm breath on her hocks. He was getting closer and closer…then Tinsel had an idea! She glanced at the river and spotted a clearing on the opposite side. Taking advantage of the situation, the mare leaped with all her might and landed on the other bank. The cougar leapt with her. Tinsel jumped to the other bank again, but was followed by the cougar.
   Tinsel did this three more times, and almost a fourth, but her muscles were screaming at her to stop galloping and give up! But the mare couldn’t give up! She wouldn’t forgive herself if she did, and survived.
   The world started to spin. Tinsel began to get dizzy. The Belgian mare told herself not to fall down, but alas, it was not enough. The poor horse buckled her knees and collapsed to the ground. The cougar circled around front and stared at the mare. Suddenly, the cat’s eyes began to glow a fierce green.
   “I’ve been waiting for you, Tinsel,” the big cat hissed.
   Tinsel’s head swirled with questions. What does he mean? How can he talk? Why aren’t I dead yet? And most of all, How does this cougar know my name? The cougar’s eyes continued to glow brighter and more intense, until it hurt the mare’s eyes. Then everything went dark. There was no sound.
The confused mare’s last thought was how calm and serene it seemed, then she passed out.
 
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   The Belgian mare awoke to a bright and shining sun. A waterfall was present somewhere nearby. Shadowy shapes towered over her. Tinsel’s eyes slowly adjusted to the light and she gradually began to see who exactly was watching her. To much of her dismay, Tinsel realized she was surrounded by several abnormally large cougars. The Belgian mare groaned fearfully.
   “Do not be alarmed, young maiden. You are among friends,” a cougar calmly soothed. Tinsel recognized it as the one that chased her down back at home. The Belgian mare stood up.
   “Then where am I!?” Tinsel demanded. She glanced at her surroundings. As far as the eye could see there were rolling green hills, except in this one area with a sheer cliff and a waterfall with a pond at the bottom. The Belgian mare turned to the group of maybe 8 different cougars and stared at them with confused and angry eyes.
   “You, Tinsel, are at the land of Craella (pronounced cray-ELL-uh). It is very far away from what you may call Earth.” This time, it was a female cougar that spoke. She seemed very wise and understanding, so Tinsel decided to ask her all the questions.
   “Exactly how far…um, ma’am?”
   “First of all, you can call me Shren. Second, we are in a whole other gilst (jilst), which is kind of like another dimension, but you access gilsts through sleep.”
  So many questions! Tinsel thought.
   “Enough chit chat, Shren, we have to tell this youngling why we brought her to Craella in the first place!” a large, muscular cougar growled.
   “Yes, I guess it is so, Marleek,” Shren sighed. She looked to Tinsel, “M’dear, you have not been brought to Craella because of some trivial reason. There is a war going on between the horses and the wolves. This war sprang from a remnant of a previous war two centuries before.
   “There were three kingdoms- the Tessans, us, the Nimians, horses, and the Sarliths (SAR-leeths), wolves. They all lived in a quiet and peaceful harmony, but unfortunately, the Sarliths began to become power-hungry and wished to be the greatest of the three.
   “A great war broke out, but the Sarliths lost miserably. Creatures started to call the mangy wolves the Snarliths instead, and the name stuck. This outraged their leader, Crimpin, who swore that one day he would destroy the Tessans and the Nimians, but the tyrant didn’t follow through, and died the humiliating death of eating a diseased rabbit. Crimpin’s death marked the beginning of an age of Stillness. Everyone knew that a war was brewing very slowly, and a month earlier the Snarliths engaged in a small, but deadly battle with the Nimians.
   “We Tessans knew that the Nimians were hopeless without any gilstees, which are creatures that can travel to different gilsts. A gilstee can bring back many important war items such as battle boats and cannons to aid in combat without the trouble of finding out how to build them.
   “Nemor (NAY-more) was sent on a mission to find and observe a horse from the Earth Gilst and take note of their mental status. He found you. Nemor watched you, Tinsel, for six sunrises, and discovered that your brain harbored several traits that are unique to a gilstee, so he brought you here to Craella. You are to begin training under me and Marleek to master the art of gilsting and fighting. THAT is why you are here, Tinsel. To try and save the Nimians from the evil paws of the Snarliths.”
   Tinsel tried to process all of this. She understood the story, but why did they choose her to rescue the Nimians? Why not someone else with an even stronger mind? The mare then wondered what “traits” she had, and was going to ask, but another thought popped into her head.
   “Why not do some gilsting for the Nimians if you seem to have so many gilstees around?” Tinsel questioned. Nemor stepped up to answer the question.
   “Because the Nimians don’t trust us. They think that we will help them in war, but then turn around and destroy them back. It happened once to them, they don’t want it to happen again.”
  It almost sounds like these cougars are nicer than the horses are! Fancy that- the scourge of the forest is a better friend and ally than your own species. Tinsel thought. Well this isn’t exactly the most ’normal’ place you’ve been to. Wait till Cherry hears this!
  Cherry was Tinsel’s best friend. She was a plucky little Shetland pony, but she was like a sister to the Belgian mare. In fact, it was Cherry that gave Tinsel her name.Suddenly another question formed in the mare’s head.
   “Hey shouldn’t you change my name so the Nimians don’t get suspicious or something that I came from the Earth Gilst and might be working for you?”
   The smallest of the Tessans seemed to appear like she knew the answer even before Tinsel asked the question, let alone arrived.
   “Yes, young’n we have decided to rearrange the letters in your name to Nistel(nih-STELL), the name of a legendary horse who was the leader of the Nimians during the time of the Stillness. She supposedly overthrew a colony of bears on Elib Island.
   “Nistel.” The mare rolled the name over her tongue several times and immediately loved her new calling. Nistel turned to the cougars and proclaimed as loud and strong as she could, a speech like none other. “I shall be great like my name suggests. I shall rescue the Nimians. I shall become the greatest gilstee there ever was. I shall help defeat the Snarliths, or die trying.”

Nistel