Rhapsody struggled against Sultan’s grip. He had her pressed against the wall, bladelike feet digging under her skin and letting blood roll down. Orion carefully inched closer to the back door, the other horses following close behind him. Her body was covered in deep wounds from their fight, and she was blowing with exhaustion.

  “Sultan, if you wanted to kill me, I would be dead already,” she managed to choke out. “What do you really want from me?”

  He licked the blood from his teeth. “I want the truth.”

  “About what?” she asked.

  He slowly dragged his hoof under her chin, right by her jugular. “Tell me, if you ever loved me, why would you leave me to die?”

  “I never wished death on you,” she whispered.

  “Slippery Arab,” he seethed.

  He threw her onto the ground and screeched loudly. Rhapsody’s cheek split on the floor, but she tried to get up again. Before she could, he stamped her head down with his forehoof, and she gasped sharply in pain.

  “What am I to you, really? Was I put on this Earth to serve you?” he roared.

  “I had no choice,” she said.

  He crushed her head into the tile, but nothing spilled out. The illusion started to fade into black smoke. All the while, Rhapsody stood behind him perfectly intact.

  “I know how much you love to see blood. I wouldn’t deny you that.”

  He ran at her and tried to tackle her, but he passed right through her vaporous body, stumbling to regain his balance behind her.

  “Where are you?” he growled. “Show yourself!”

  She sighed. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Sultan.”

  “Nothing but lies ever leaves your lips. That is why no one knows anything of you, Rhapsody. You don’t need magic to make your facade,” he replied.

  She looked at him with tears in her eyes. “The only lie I ever told was that I never loved you.”

  “How am I meant to believe that you could love this?” he said, voice softening.

  She put a hoof to his neck, and he did not try to pull away. “It was you that I loved, Sultan. I hate the way you remind me of my mistakes. I hate the burdens we carry. I hate the blood you spilled. But I could never stop loving you.”

  He leaned into her touch, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, tucking her head against him warmly.

  “You need to fix this. Call upon Laci,” she said.

  In a split second, he grabbed the top of her crest in his teeth and hurled her across the room. She slammed headfirst into the metal cabinet in the corner, sending blood flying. Sultan whined with pleasure at the sound of her bones cracking.

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  “Go!” Orion shouted, rushing them out the door.

  Orion held Ariel against him, her body frozen with pain from summoning Rhapsody. Nathan and Rune barricaded the doorway behind them with a heavy cabinet, and Sultan screamed from behind it, scratching and pounding on the metal. The band of horses sprinted down the hall, trying to find Laci before it was too late to save the living. Sultan’s melody seemed to penetrate every wall, no matter how far away they could get.

  “Oh my Epona. That-creature-it just doesn’t stop singing, does it?” Nathan remarked.

  “You don’t even know the half of it,” Onyx mused.

  Rune seemed absent, Sultan’s anthem distracting him and making his visions stronger. He was drawn near one of the doors almost magnetically, and he picked up the sound of a horse’s hooves on tile, tapping stiffly in a practiced dance. He put his hoof to the doorknob cautiously.

  “Rune? What are you doing?” Orion asked, concerned.

  He opened the door. “Putting out the fire.”

  A bloody grey mare was performing a perfect piaffe in the tiny, dark room behind the door. Sweat soaked her whole body, there was blood smeared across her in odd patterns, and her legs quivered as though she had been doing it for hours. Her teeth ground against each other and her tail fidgeted incessantly.

  Rune put a hoof to her terrified face. “Easy. It’s alright. I’m here.”

  Her expression softened, and her head jerked around as the vision started to leave her. She seemed to recognize Rune, but she didn’t move a muscle, watching him warily. He tried to steady her, but she leaped away from his touch in fear.

  “But you’re not real,” she said unsteadily.

  Rune cocked his head. “I have seen you in my visions. I suppose you must have seen me too.”

  She tossed her head and backed up in shock. “You see these-nightmares-too?”

  He nodded. “You were once the most talented dressage horse on this side of the country. I have been seeing your visions for weeks. My name is Rune. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

  His words seemed to calm her slightly. “I’m Isabel.”

  “If my theory is correct, you also know how we’re going to put out this fire, don’t you?” Rune asked.

  “I do. I’ll warn you, I haven’t used my magic in a long time,” she said.

  Rune smiled. “It’s like riding a horse. You can’t forget.”

  They walked out one of the exit doors together without another word. The rest of the group stood in complete confusion.

  “What on Earth did I just watch?” Orion exclaimed.

  Onyx shook his head. “I thought he was getting married to that lovely spotted mare.”

  “That is not what I was worried about,” Orion whispered back.

  Orion minced his way through the hall of blood, stepping over fallen horses along the way. There was a soft crying coming from around the corner, stifled, as if it were trying to avoid being discovered. He followed it down the hall, turning the corner slowly and quietly. There was a cream mare sitting on the floor, small and forgotten. She was stained with blood all over, and it was pouring out of the side of her head like wine.

  “Alissa,” Nathan gasped quietly, stooping down to her.

  She grabbed his neck and mane with wet, shaking hooves, pulling him close. She opened her mouth, but the words wouldn’t come out. He ran his hoof down the wound on her face, and it closed off with a golden glow.

  “Where’s Chase?” she asked, delirious.

  Nathan looked perturbed. “Alissa-I thought you told me he-“

  “Where is Laci now?” Orion interrupted.

  “I think she’s still down by the arena. Oh, my head, Nathan,” she said unsteadily.

  “Shh. It’s okay,” Nathan soothed. “We’ll get you out of here.”

  Orion carefully laid Ariel down next to them. “I’ll handle Laci myself. Just stay here until I come back, so long as it’s safe.”

  “You’re sure you can handle her on your own?” Lilith questioned.

  Orion nodded. “She doesn’t leave me much of a choice.”