ARaceToFriendship

A Race To Friendship

The race was more arduous than Broddika had originally anticipated. She knew that it would be extremely dangerous and difficult but this was on a whole different level of danger and difficulty than what she had anticipated. The terrain was unlike anything the elven warrior had ever laid eyes on before. It was an unusual blend of two extremes. Parts of the lands were volcanic, full of fire-geyser and even raining golf ball-sized fire-balls. Other parts of the land were like a frozen tundra, complete with a raging blizzard and chilling hurricane-strength winds. Broddika had no idea how two polar opposites were uniting so harmoniously but her eyes did not lie. She saw what she saw. This land was real as you and me. Fortunately for the wise elf, her noble steed, Kryoseflare was no ordinary horse. Kryoseflare, or Kry for short, was a mix of a Night-Mare and an Elemental-Stallion so he was unaffected by these elements. Broddika however, was not immune so she had rubbed a salve all over her body before the race had even begun. She had made the fire resistant salve out of unique herbs found only in the jungles of her homeland. The translucent substance was meant to keep her sensitive elven skin from suffering burns. Broddika also donned attire to protect herself from the harsh cold. She felt ready as she could ever be.

The brave elf warrior did not have a regular flagpole to hold up her symbol because her flagpole had accidentally snapped in half, but yet Broddika was sure that her colours flew high and waved proud. She was not the strongest hero but little Broddika was very resourceful so she was inventive enough to turn her spear-like weapon into a make-shift flagpole. Kry was mighty and agile, evading many obstacles by dashing to the left and to the right depending on where the obstacle was located. He even performed many amazing jumps over lakes of lava and sharp masses of ice jutting out of the ground. Kry ran and ran and ran.

Broddika was chosen by the village chief, Elder Grey as a gifted child when she was just 12 years of age and was given Kryosfare on the same day that she was selected as a gifted child. There was a 50 percent chance that the pony would reject her and burn her hand to display this choice, but there was also a 50 percent chance that Kry would deem her worthy to be his rider. She was the youngest ever to be hand picked as a gifted one in her village. And Kry also saw something special in the tiny elven child so to Broddika's surprise the pony snuggled up against her, emitting only cool blue flames instead of burning her with hot red flames.

On the day of revelation, a day in which the chief told a select few youngsters what they were meant for in the world, she was told early on by Elder Grey that she was destined for greatness and fated to become a great and noble warrior. A hero. And the best rider in the land. Broddika took those words seriously despite being a bit of a runt. She was very small in stature even for being an elf, a perfect match for Kry who was smaller than most horses of either of his breeds. Her peers often mocked her and her equine friend for being tiny in frame during class time, but Broddika remained unaffected and focused on becoming a the best of the best.

Broddika trained tirelessly until she was at the top of her class in every skill category that was taught in the village training school and then he strove to surpass even that level of greatness. When she had gotten as strong and battle-ready as she possibly could, Broddika left home. It was with a heavy heart for she did not like leaving her dear old grandmother behind but she felt the call of destiny and could ignore her call no longer! So Broddika set out into the big wide world to seek out adventure and find her purpose. She did many quests, rescued those in need, entered many battle competitions in arenas all over the lands, partook in jousting and lancing tourneys, and of course her favorite, horse races.

Today's race was different though. This was clearly no ordinary horse race. Both Broddika and Kry could tell. It was like something out of make-believe except here it was right before their very eyes. As they reached the second half of the course, things only seemed to become more difficult. The terrain was even more treacherous than before, there were huge elemental creatures of the fire and ice variety that seemed intent on doing away with the daring duo, and worse of all, Kry seemed to be running out of steam, both literally and metaphorically. Broddika had to find a way to keep her horse's flames burning. She decided it might help to fan the flames, but how? And with what?

Fortunately, the little elf was great at thinking on her feet, so to speak so she did not take long at all to think up a plan. “Kryoseflare! Halt!” she shouted. With that simple command, the Elemental Night-Mare steed came to a screeching stop, his hooves skidding across a puddle of magma as he did so. Broddika was very cautious while she dismounted her horse, being careful not to step in any lava. She then walked around to the other side of Kry and removed the spear-flag from the spherical compartment which held onto it as a sheath would a sword. The compartment had the same symbol of a golden gear within a burning ring as the waving flag did.

She took a few steps back then holding the flag up to waist level, Broddika began waving the flag with all her might so that it would fan at Kryosflare. That surprisingly did the trick, making Kry's flames burn brighter and higher. The only unfortunate results of stopping to do this was that the flag caught on fire and all the other racers had just enough time to pass by Briddika and Kry.

Broddika was about ready to get back into the action of the fierce race when her horse spoke to her telepathically to remind her of a fact which had slipped her mind. “Broddie.... you have forgotten something very vital about this race....” At this Broddika quirked a thin aqua brow, giving Kry a questioning look. “The rules state that you must never, ever stop until the end no matter what....” At that reminder fro her horse, Broddika felt her heart sink.

The little elf let out a loud cry of defeat, shouting “GRRRROOOOOOAAAAARRRR!!!!” to the heavens, shaking her burning flag at the sky as tears fell from her pink eyes and rolled down her rosy cheeks. With all her might, she stabbed the bottom of her spear-flag into the jagged ice and then collapsed to her knees feeling absolutely hopeless. Had she failed her clan? All she had wanted was to bring honour to her homeland. “How could I have been so foolish?” she whispered, full of sorrow.

At this Kry began to cool down. His elements were mood based and his rider's moods affected his own moods since they were fated together. Because of this, all of the heartache and loss that his rider felt transferred over to his own heart. Kryosphere had felt all fired up merely moments ago because Broddika had been bursting with excitement, positivity and determination. However, now that Briddika was feeling like an utter failure, Kry's flame did not extinguish but instead they began to transition from burning reds, oranges and yellows to cool blue and other aquatic tones. It did not stop there though. The flames slowly began transitioning to icicles.

Kry lowered his head and gently placed his now cooled down horns against his rider's back in order to offer some comfort to his grief-stricken companion. Both horse and rider looked so depressed. They both stayed there for a long while by their burning flag, letting the acceptance of their loss sink in deep. They were disqualified because they stopped. To Broddika, that was a worse loss that crossing the finish line at last place. As Kryosflare tried to cheer the little elf girl up she at last managed a small weak smile. “Come Kryosflare. Let us hold our heads up high. I do not regret stopping to help you.” came her words when at last she spoke, breaking the silence that had lasted for about 20 minutes.

“But Broddie.... We should have kept going until my fire gave out. You should have pushed me until I was completely out of steam! You should have pushed me to the limit! To my breaking point!” Kry shouted telepathically at his rider, crying frozen tears. “If I had kept going..... then perhaps we could have won and I could have made you proud to be fated as my rider!” he cried on. At that Broddika frowned and got back up on her feet, slowly turning to face her weeping, woebegone horse. The Elemental Night-Mare's head hung low and his gaze was downcast due to his despairing spirit.

“Kryoseflare, I have been proud to be fated as your rider since you ran into me as a pony. And I will always be proud to be your rider and proud to be your friend whether we win or loose.” Broddika began, lightly placing a gloved hand on the side of her steed's muzzle. “And listen to me well Kryosflare because I am only going to tell you this one time.” she said sternly, gazing deep into her horse's dark eyes, her own pink eyes foll of love and no longer sadness. “I would NEVER risk your well-being! Not for all the glory and riches in the world! You are family and to me you matter more than victory!” the petite elf proclaimed, now smiling a big bright grin. Broddika brought her other hand up to rest on the other side of Kry's muzzle and giggled, giving his face loving caresses. “I would hug you face if it wasn't all spiky, dear friend.” she added with a laugh. Kry let out a little horse nicker, emitting a vibrating sound with his mouth closed, from his vocal cords that let his joy be known. “Good boy.” Broddika praised, kissing the side of his muzzle. She left their flag there which was now nearly burned down to nothing and mounted her noble steed. “Come on boy. Let's go home.” And with that the dynamic duo departed for their homeland. It would be good to return home after being away for all these years. Although they lost the race, they left feeling like winners because this loss showed them both the value of friendship and resulted in cementing the fact that they would be friends until the end.