The sky was a beautiful blue with puffy, white clouds sprinkled on top, forming some sort of feather pattern. It was a blue canvas for the ethereal beings of the sky to paint on and make obscure shapes. One day, it would be a classic painting of clouds, the other the canvas would be empty, another it would be an eyecatching gradient of orange and yellow and so on. It was truly a magnificent sight to see and you could not get enough of it. Each and every time that you would come to the grassy meadow, which was kept a secret location past the thick vegetation of the forest of your village, you would lie down and enjoy the solemn atmosphere and the serenity of the mixture of nature's sounds. The birds would sing in the trees and dance in the blue changing canvas; the trees would join in too sometimes and dance an elegant waltz with the chilly wind of the night. The night had plenty to offer as well, if not more. The shiny dots of white and the full moon would connect to make a party of lines people called constellations and light up the ever darkening blue enough to allow visibility. During nighttime, it was one of your pastimes to study the sky and try to catch a glimpse of the many intricate figures and symbolisms of those notional lines or try to find new ones which you could possibly name one day and make up a story about it.

The village you lived in was a very quiet place with few residents and everyone knew each other; it was impossible for someone to hide in such low population after all. It was a group of small houses and cottages hidden deep within a forest made of giant trees that some would call enchanted; ents who made sure no one would harm the forest or the various creature that lived in it. The residents were very hospitable towards strangers because they all knew that the forest guardians would only allow the kind-hearted to go deeper into the trees and find the small village. Most houses and markets were built around the plaza, while the farmhouses and barns were stationary in the giant fields in the open valleys and the sheep would graze with their herdsman in the meadows. You were the only daughter of the village's doctor, or well, the closest thing there was for a doctor. Your father was an expert in treating external injuries while your mother practised herbalism to treat illnesses. The two of them owned a small building near the plaza, where they would take care of the ill and wounded. Their services were free to the villagers but they priced them quite heavily if it were a stranger who seeked help; it was a way to keep them from going broke and continuing to be on good terms with the other inhabitants.

Normally, you would try to help out as much as you could in the mornings by gathering materials for them, going on trips to retrieve herbs and cook supper when your mother was busy with other chores. Out of all the places you would go to find the therapeutic plants, that meadow that had the blue canvas for a roof was your favorite one to visit and you would always sit there for hours, plucking the herbs from the ground slowly and laying them in your straw basket with gentle hands so as to remain in the soft grass just a bit longer. It was sometimes hard to come up with excuses as to why you would return relatively late every other day, especially when you would go back during sunset but you somehow managed to utter a white lie to your parents. One time you had told them that you had thought that you had gotten lost when you were on the right path, another you had told them that a friend had engaged you into a lengthy conversation. Honestly, you did not know how they had yet to lose their trust in you with those amateur excuses.

Today was one of those days. You had dawned a simple dress and saddled up the family horse, Bella, for a small excursion to your favorite meadow with the pretense that you would go pick berries from the lush bushes outside of the village. At least you would actually be picking fruit but not berries, instead, you would be picking pears and apples from the orchards on the way to your destination. You loaded the saddle with a few empty bags which you would be filling, as well as a few snacks for both the horse and yourself; to set up a picnic of sorts. Your parents would be in the fields, looking over their field of cabbages and tomatoes so returning with the fruit you had promised was unnecessary. I'll just say the horse ate them all, you mused as you brought the animal near a high rock, which you used as a stepping stool to climb onto the saddle. It wasn't the easiest to ride in a dress but you made it work by tucking the skirt under your legs and tying the loose end into a knot.

Bella was quite old, having been with your family for as long as you can remember. Her silky fur was a light brown and the strong muscles she had gained over the years from carrying you and your other family members around protruded from beneath. Her legs were dusted with black and both her mane and tail shared two colours; they were half black and half blond. She was like the family dog. Whenever you would visit her in the stable your father had built for her or in the pasture, she would come by to check on you. Even though her mate had long passed away, she was a happy old grandmother of three fast-growing foals and a wonderful mother to her two children as she would help look after her grandkids whenever she would be visiting.

"Let's go, Bella!", you chimed cheerfully and with a few soft kicks, Bella took off in a fast trot, making you and the extra stuff on the saddle bounce with each step. Thankfully, you had learnt to balance yourself on a horse's back at a young age, which taught you to subconsciously grip on the horse's sides with your thighs whilst your hands were busy holding the reins to grab onto the leather strap at the front of the saddle in order to not fall off.

As you rode, you looked at the many flowers and mushrooms that surrounded you and you kept an eye out in case you would bump into one of the magnificent ents. Giants of bark and orange, autumn leaves overlooked the path, branches weaving together above to make a makeshift tent for the travellers who would take the plain, dirt road. Sunshine peaked in from both the thin and the thick strings and shined on the ground beneath Bella's hooves, lighting the way to the meadow. The sky was clear, or the clouds had yet to arrive over the village; you couldn't really see the sky to be sure. At the upcoming fork, you turned to the right and urged Bella into a canter. You didn't want to push her too much, as she was old and you did not want to risk her breaking a leg and putting here entirely out of commission.

The forestry slowly began to open and sure enough, after about an hour of canter, you had made it into the beautiful meadow. Immediately, the first thing you noticed was the big herd of deer that was passing through the middle, winking at the bushes and licking their lips, teasing the greenery that they would munch on and grind with their teeth. You dismounted Bella and brought the reins to the front, over her head to hold like a leash as you walked towards the elegant animals. Your eyes shined as you gazed upon them, normally, it would only be you and Bella resting and playing in the grass but now you had some company.

"They are so beautiful!", you whispered to Bella, who neighed at you with a raised eyebrow as if to say 'Oh, really?'. A meek sound left your lips as your mouth formed into a thin line. She really reminded you of a human grandma and that alone was spooky.

With a sigh, you passed the reins over her head again, tying them into a knot and letting her walk off and do her own thing; you knew she would not leave your side unless she got spooked -and that feat was hard to accomplish. You sat down in the grass, knees drawn into your body with your elbows resting on them as you gazed at the deer. There were plenty of bucks among the does, though most were adolescents and teens. Some were scratching off the velvet from their fully-grown antlers in the exposed branches and twigs of the bushes and the bark of the trees, others were grazing but none were paying you any mind. There was something that caught your attention in the treeline, though. It was not a deer nor a pack of wolves but something bigger in shape and darker in colour. It was not an ent, it was too short to be one and surely, it was there to cause trouble.

Maybe I should cut this trip short?, you questioned in your thoughts and then nodded in agreement with yourself. You slowly stood up, took note of where Bella was located in the meadow and went off to look for herbs. Whatever that thing was, it didn't move out of the shadows of the trees but it stalked you and the herd like a hawk. It just stood there, staring, though you still could not identify the creature. Bella had yet to react to it, so maybe it was a trick of the light or some weird branch that happened to cast that shape? No, you highly doubted that to be the case because the shape would not distort as you moved back and forth from patches of fresh chamomile and lavender bushes. You had to return with at least something to show for your excuses.

However, as you approached your horse to put the herbs in the sacks hang on the saddle, you heard a choir of leaves throttling accompanied by an uneasy wind. You turned around to find that the deer had ran off into the trees with their nubby tails raised high. You looked at where that creature had been stood at to find it had taken a few steps forward. That was when you realized that it was a horse with black glistening fur and a bridle of silver colour. Its mane and tail were the same mundane colour but water droplets dripped from them. Could it be? There were no bodies of water around the meadow, at least to your knowledge, and you were sure there was no stream either where the animal could have gotten itself wet. Bella looked up alert, her ears raised. She did not move a muscle as she met the other horse's gaze.

"Is that a water horse or are my eyes playing tricks on me?", you murmured under your breath, bringing up your hands to rub at your eyes but nothing had changed when you lowered them. You knew you weren't dreaming since those thorny bushes stang your skin quite a bit. Water horses, or kelpies, had never before made an appearance in the forest, let alone the village you lived in. You had learnt of them purely by chance when a wandering trader passed through the village and you heard him describe the creature to the locals who had been looking at his stock. The trader had emphasized one critical detail about their appearance and it was their mane that looked like seaweed always dripped water whether the kelpie was dry or wet.

Bella nudged your shoulder repeatedly to get you to move. It was then that you realized that you had been staring like a statue at the horse. You were reluctant to climb onto your horse's back because something in the back of your mind was telling you to approach the kelpie and climb onto its back. Something external was urging you to do so and you pondered whether to listen or close your ears and pretend to be deaf. Alas, you chose the latter, the safest option out of the two. You knew so little about the water spirit that you did not want to end up being trapped in some lake or pond.

With quick steps, you mounted Bella and kicked at her sides to signal her to move. She did not need to be told twice before breaking off into a fast gallop. Thankfully, you (somehow) did not fall off from the sudden speed and sharp turns she took to get the both of you as far away from the meadow as possible. Once you had reached the main path to the village, Bella slowed to a walk, panting and hanging her head tiredly which resulted in you dismounting her and walking the rest of the way with her by your side.

"You shouldn't run so fast!", you scolded her but she ignored your words with a huff. You are more stubborn than a donkey!, you thought, referring to the mare. "How did that water horse end up here in the first place?", you inquired but there was no one around to solve the problem.

As far as you knew, there were no lakes or ponds that close to the meadow or the village. In fact, the closest stream of clear water ran a hill away from your village and the water sellers would travel long distances to retrieve fresh water. For that spirit to be so far away from home... It is an augury of death but... You didn't know what to think of it and other than warning the locals about it, you did not know what else to do. The idea of returning to the meadow crept into your mind and stack around for the road. A part of you wanted to see that water horse from up close whilst another scolded you and insisted on you staying far away from there. Needless to say that you did not listen to the latter.