536 - Promt 1 - LnH-HARPG morte and Iris

#536 - Prompt 1 - "ignorance is bliss"
(tasks 2,3,4 & 5)
for

Iris and Morte had walked quietly together for what seemed like miles. The young woman and her stallion had been in the forest for a long time, too long to be just one day. The murky light of the sky, filtering through the heavy canopy, didn't seem to change enough for Iris to gauge the passing of time. Her phone had stopped working and the clock feature never changed, just gave her a constant "loading" image. The feeling of being watched never went away and while they hadn't heard any screams or growls lately it didn't make her feel any more secure.

She had been leading the stallion with his girth loosened for a while to give him a break. As the sigh of the wind started to get colder and the mist thickened she felt it was time to mount back up. Picking up a sharp stone she made a slash mark in the bark of a nearby tree to mark her place. "Just to make sure we don't get to turned around if I can help it," she told the stallion, who nickered back at her. Morte's ears had stayed pricked and swiveling for their time in the forest and he seemed as alert as ever. not for the first time did Iris praise her choice of horse. She had briefly entertained the idea of borrowing her sister's mare, Nike, for the show but hadn't been sure she could contain the volatile mare under pressure. Nike would have dumped her and left her for dead or gotten them both killed in one of her temper tantrums. Morte was alert but not overwhelmed by their situation.

She tightened the saddle and checked the rest of her tack. After giving the stallion a once over to check for problems she swung back into the saddle. Morte trotted for a few minutes before stopping dead in his tracks. Iris prepared herself for what was coming. Seconds later she heard the crashing of branches and the wild growl of a predator. Morte sprung forward, clearing a fallen tree limb with three feet to spare, and galloped headlong into the forest. Iris let him run, only steering him gently to avoid low branches. when they stopped the stallion shook and pawed at the ground. "it's okay buddy, calm down, whoa there," she murmured and stroked his neck. That hadn't been to bad comparatively to some of their previous encounters.

In front of them were some low old jumps. they were broken in spots and their number flags were torn and patchy. the mist seemed to clear slightly over the jumps and Iris took it as a sign. They had signed up to jump and maybe that's what they had to do to escape this nightmare. She pointed Morte towards one of the lower jumped and cantered his lightly over it, as they cleared the second obstacle and headed for the third a loud crack ripped through the forest and Morte sprung forward like he had been whipped from behind. Iris heard another horse whinny in the trees ahead and a rider trying to calm the frightened animal. "let's go find some friends Morte!" she whispered and set him into the trees.

They continued for a short while at a trot, both of them eager to see who they other voices belonged to. Iris was so relieved to hear normal horse and rider noises she didn't care who they belonged to. she knew other riders had entered the forest before her and now she just might find them. as they entered a cleared path they slid to a stop. A obviously terrified horse and it's equally frightened rider galloped past her and Morte like the devil was chasing them. the horse moved so fast Iris was sure it would break a leg on the branches and stones that littered the path. Iris couldn't see what they were running from but figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to follow them. "Wait!" she shouted and set Morte after them, "Please wait, PLEASE!"

to be continued…

(do you want to be the team Iris is chasing? just let me know in the comments with a link to your arrival picture)