Chapter One (part 9)

"Echo?" A familiar voice sounded from somewhere to the tiger's left. She turned towards the elf and horse, snarling as she did. Her hackles were raised, fur on end, and her long fangs glinted in the gentle sunlight.

"Echo, it's okay." He whispered, a pleading hand outstreched.

The tiger growled low in her throat as she took a defencive step backwards, just back far enough for her to position herself into a low crouch. Echo analized the Prince and his weapons on him, seeing not much of a danger. She looked over his shoulder at the horse.

The horse looked oddly familiar. Like Echo had seen her in a dream before when she was young. Supprise caught on the horses features as well as in the eyes and she nodded.

Dymetri was looking back and forth between his beloved horse and the tiger, his expression one of utter confusion.

Echo stepped out of her stance, speaking as she did. "Atnela?"

The horse's eyes warmed as she nodded again. And Echo stood on her hind legs. A slight breeze blew past, ruffling the tiger's fur before she shrunk and shifted into a human form.

Dymetri was stunned. It was a very elegant way to change. It seemed almost too much like magic rather than something in a human's genes. He suddenly became alert as the human girl in the long green night gown rushed forward towards his horse. He side stepped so he was standing almost in front of Atnela. But Atnela bumped him with her nose and moved away from him, allowing the woman to fling her arms around the horse's neck.

"I am sooooo confused." Dymetri whined. Atnela snorted at him, a clear sign that he was annoying her. "Atnela? How do you know her?"

Atnela rolled her eyes. Sometimes she was more human than horse. But Echo was the one who answered. "She's a spirit stupid. That's why she cant die. She was my spirit guide. Havent you ever wondered where she went when she was missing? She didn't leave you too often because it isnt the easiest thing in the world to constantly change from spirit form into solid and she didn't want to leave you, but she had to attend to my weakening energies when my other spirit guides couldn't do much for me." Echo didn't continue, instead she laughed.

The Prince's face had uncertainty, confusion, anger, and doubt scrawled over his entire face. Atnela walked slowly over to him and blew in his face, reminding him he needed to conceal his emotions better. "Yeah,yeah, I know." He grumbled to her. Then he looked directly at Echo. "Why did you leave?"

Her face fell a mile. All happiness that had filled her eyes and face at the sight of Atnela faded quickly and she averted his eyes. "Why did you leave?" She asked, avoiding his initial question.

"I needed away. I've only been gone about a week. I left not long after you did." He looked down. "Will you answer my question now? Why did you leave?"

Still not meeting his eyes, she asked. "You werent looking for me were you?" He could see anger and annoyance flicker slightly behind her perfectly trained 'blank' expression.

"No, like I said, I just needed away. My parents are used to me taking off on little trips and I like to be out of that castle. Now answer, why did you leave?" His voice was rising each time she ignored his quesion.

She continued to ignore and not answer. Instead she looked down at the ground, and without seeing, grabbed hold of Atnela's reins and led her to the waterside.

Dymetri called after her. "Hey, what are you doing with my horse?" But his question was answered quickly. Echo sat at the same time Atnela laid down. Both were watching the water moving down the stream, over small pebbles and dragging a few grains of sand every now and then.

Echo was muttering quietly to Atnela, at a volume level the Prince couldn't hear. He watched her conversing quietly with the horse. Concern filled her motherly eyes as she watched the human teenager. Then without warning, Echo collapsed sideways, shaking and clinging to Atnela's neck.