Orn turned to see a chestnut roan coloured horse with its chin tucked, baring down on him. He stood still, more surprised than afraid.

The horse skidded to a halt, and eyed the adolescent man warily. He moved his snout toward Orn, and took a couple of tentative sniffs, and then whinnied, as he knocked Orn to the ground. It stood over Orn, nuzzling him, making strange, delighted noises as Orn laughed and scratched his chin.

“BULLHEAD! You stop that! I am so sorry sirs, and ladies, I wa- OH MY GODS! Your Majesty!” It was Finn, the wiry dockhand. His face had gone pale with fright, and he dropped to his knee as soon as he saw his king approach.

The read headed, rotund harbourmaster came over, and said in a stern tone, “Finn! What have you gone and done now? A thousand apologies your majesty. I shall discipline this uncouth whelp, on my word.”

Orn pushed the young horse’s face to the side, and got back to his feet, and said, “Not to worry. No harm done.”

Sir Uhter appeared from behind King Ulden and gasped. “That is of Ohlsbachi breading! Where did you come upon such a fine specimen?” he asked the ashen faced Finn.

“It were a trader that sold him to us, your lordship,” said Finn. “He told us it were foaled from a plough horse breeder.”

“I think you were lied to. This is an Ohlsbachi warhorse, I am certain of it. We do not sell them, so it would seem your trader is a horse thief. Theft of these horses carries the death penalty, you know,” said sir Uhter in a matter of fact tone.

Finn lamented, “I swears, I didn’t know! I can’t tell one horse from another, I-”

“Well, fortunately for you, it would seem this horse has taken a liking to the young prince, there. So let’s say he take custody of this wayward beast, and we put this behind us. What say you?” asked the Ohlsbachi knight.

The harbourmaster chimed in, “Thank you kind sirs, and we will be more diligent about the origins of any future horses we purchase.”

Orn, patted Bullhead’s neck, and then turned and said, “We can’t just take him. Surely we must give them-”

“They keep their lives, Your Highness. That is compensation enough,” said Uhter as he moved to stand next to Orn. He then made as if to pat the horse and leaned in to speak into Orn’s ear. “Worry not, Prince Orn. These dock workers earn more than enough on the side to make up the loss.”

Orn thought about it for a moment, and then on a whim, looked into the horse’s eyes and pictured in his mind the two of them walking together, as he asked in the voice, “Well, boy? Do you want to come with me?”

Bullhead scratched at the wood on the pier with his hoof, and nickered at him happily, “Yes, yes! Come!”

Incredulous, Orn asked in the voice, “You understood me, boy?”

The horse nickered more excitedly, as Orn heard in his mind, “Yes! I hear! With you! With you!”

“Well all right, then. Let’s go,” said Orn, smiling.

Bullhead turned his head toward his rear twice, to indicate for Orn to get on, then looked expectantly at him. Orn shrugged his shoulders, and mounted. As he settled into place, Bullhead nickered, “Away, away!” and tossed his head as he pranced on the spot.

The onlookers were shocked at what they were witnessing. Even Uhter was taken aback. Despite being around horses most of his life, he had never witnessed anything like what had just transpired.

The Ohlsbachi knight approached Orn, and said, “Since you and Erik are going to be doing some training with us, I would say you have found your horse.”

“But don’t knight’s horses need to be trained for what we are going to be doing?” asked Orn, a little unsure.

“Well, yes. But somehow, from what I just saw, that won’t be an issue. I guess we’ll see you back at the palace. Take him for a run and put him through his paces.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Mother, Father, I’ll see you later. I need to-”

“It’s fine, Orn. You go. We’ll see you later,” said Vylder, having recovered from his shock.

With that, Orn said to Bullhead, “All right, let’s go. But slowly through town.”

The noise Bullhead made in response was akin to a grunt, one which Orn was certain to be a sound of annoyance.

Orn then said, “We can run when we are out of town. You’ve caused enough mischief for today, don’t you think?”

Bullhead lowered his head and sulked as they trotted toward the west gate of the city. It was around a half-hour later they cleared the gate, when Bullhead whinnied, “We run! We run!”

“Sure, let’s run.”

At that, the chestnut roan lowered his head and leaped forward, pelting down the road. Orn steered him off to the left side of the road into a field that lead down to a beach, and they ran along the edge of the water.

Orn could sense the overwhelming exuberance of the young stallion, as he strode along the beach. The wind rushing past made Orn’s eyes tear up, his heart pounding as his exhilaration matched that of his mount.

After several minutes, Orn pulled back slightly on the reins, and slowed down to a canter. Both he and Bullhead were panting slightly as he reined in. Orn reached down and patted Bullhead on the neck and said, “Shall we rest a bit before we head back?”

“I can still run, we run!” replied the enthusiastic horse.

“I know, boy. I know. But I would like to enjoy this spot for a little.”

“Then we run?”

“Yes, then we run,” Orn snorted, as he dismounted.

Orn walked down to the water and sat down on the sand as he looked out to sea. As an afterthought, he said, “Bullhead, have something to eat, but don’t wander too far.”

The horse snickered his response and began grazing on the grass and daisies in the field between the shore and the road.

As Orn was wool gathering, he saw a shimmering in the water, and a scaly head, about twice the size of a horse’s, breached the surface. Orn’s eyes widened as he stared at the blue-green wyrme regarding him through its golden eyes with reptilian slits for pupils.

Orn, on an inspiration since communicating with Bullhead, decided to try and talk to it. “Hello. How is the water?”

The wyrme’s eyes widened, and it snapped around, diving back under the surface as it raced away.

Orn sighed, as he thought ‘Well, I guess it doesn’t work on everything’. However, no sooner had he thought this, than the head breached the surface again, only this time it was not alone. It was accompanied by two larger ones.

The one on the left made a strangely bird like warble, which to Orn’s surprise, he understood.

“How is it that it speaks?” the largest of the three wyrmes queried.

“Briga gifted me with all languages. I didn’t know that animals had language until now,” Orn replied, using the voice.

“Animals?” the wyrme asked, tilting its large head.

“Forgive me, I meant no offence. When we refer to beings that aren’t human, we refer to them as ‘animals’.”

The slightly smaller one turned to the largest and said in a feminine voice, “It is polite, this land dweller.”

“Are you a family?” asked Orn.

The smallest one finally spoke, “Family? What is family?”

“They are your parents, are they not?” asked Orn.

“Ah. I see. Yes, this one is our offspring. We are mated,” said the female as she indicated the smaller of the three with her snout.

The male wyrme said, “This is most strange, to talk with one that is not of us. Normally you hunt us. Our offspring told us you spoke, so I wanted to see if he was true, or mistaken.”

“I would never hunt you. I only hunt for food,” said Orn.

“Ah, you survive by the flesh. We survive by the green which grows in the sand of the water. We are mostly safe here. The land dwellers on this land only drive us away. The land dwellers of that land-” The male wyrme looked to the south, then faced Orn once more, “-hunt us, so we rarely go near that land.”

“My brother will soon rule the land dwellers around this land. I will tell him to make it law for us to leave you be.”

The three wyrmes closed their eyes and dipped their heads, and then looked at Orn, “We would be grateful. You spoke of Briga, she is the shining one. She plays with our young ones often, and warns us of danger when she is around. How is it you know that one?”

“She is to be my wi- er, we are to be mated when I am older.”

The three wyrmes again, closed their eyes and dipped their heads. “We go now. Warm sun for your back, and plentiful waters,” the male said by way of farewell, before the pair looped upon themselves and disappeared beneath the water.

The young one raised it’s snout, tasting the air, before following its parents beneath the surface.