"...And this beauty's name is Isabelle." Said the little man, stopping and turning to face his audience of two. He grinned proudly as he patted the stall door of "Isabelle."

"And what kind of animal is Isabelle?" Inquired Joshua, taking a step closer and peering over the wood, into the darkness.

"A huppowump." Trick replied, standing on his tip-toes and leaning over the door, making a clucking noise to call the beast over to them.

The small group heard a great shuffling and some small trills as the animal pulled itself up and lumbered over towards the light, the Keeper taking a step back as Isabelle lifted her head and brought it over the edge of the door.

Trick reached a hand up, rubbing her muzzle affectionately. "Isn't she just the sweetest?" He cooed, now scratching under her chin, eliciting a content trill from the animal.

Joshua turned to notice the butler "inconspicuously" sneaking towards the door. "Going somewhere?" He questioned, quirking a brow.

"Oh, you know," The man let out a poor excuse of a cough. "Allergies and all. I'll be here when you get back." His grin was unconvincing.

"Right..." A likely excuse.

Trick cleared his throat, though Joshy only spared him a glance before turning back to face Brendon, who had already disappeared. Joshua rolled his eyes at his "guide," before returning his full attention to the smaller man.

Joshy took the time to give the- the huppu-whatever it's first good look. It looked almost as if a fox could be horse-shaped. It had a coat of shimmering dark blue, that gleamed and rippled beneath the soft light of the stable. Though everything but it's head was shrouded in darkness, Joshua thought he could just make out... yep. Those were wings, weren't they? The creature's antlers were the most impressive, though. They were quite big, with many spindly branches gong every which way.  They were also impressively wood-textured. The most interesting part, however, was what seemed to be a great vine growing up each one, with small leaves and little white flowers scattered haphazardly. While he had taken his fair share of biology classes, Joshua had absolutely no clue how this animal created.

"Shall we take a ride?" Trick asked, Joshua's head snapping back to face him.

"R- Ride?" He stuttered. How would anyone be able to ride that? Why would anyone want to?

"Yeah, ride. This girl's a workin' one." Trick grinned, giving the creature an affectionate pat. Before Joshy could protest, Trick started to unbolt the door, slipping in and grabbing Isabelle by the antler before leading her out.

She truly was a beautiful creature- deep, shimmering blue, long, slender snout and keen, sharp eyes. And yes, those were wings Joshua had seen. They were magnificent, even folded, he could see how breathtaking they were. The base was the same blue as the rest of the body, but the color slowly lightened to a vibrant turquoise on the tips. There were silver feathers sprinkled throughout, the whole thing tying together to look like twilight. It was just astounding.

So awestruck, Joshua almost forgot that this was absolutely not normal! Snapping back, his eyes widened and he started to back towards the door. His breathing sped up, his face flushed and his gaze flitted this way and that. Once he had reached the opening of the barn, preparing to make a run for it while Trick was distracted with Isabelle, he stumbled and bumped into someone.

"Miiilk!" The creature yelped, before scuttling away. Joshua was scared out of his wits. This time he leapt back, landing flat on his bum.

The commotion must have caught the attention of Trick, who left Isabelle and walked over to Joshy. "Really, Joshy," he tutted, though helped him stand to his feet. "It's not that hard- just accept things as they are." And that seemed to be the end of that. Quite a big ask, in Joshua's opinion.

Trick pulled Joshy, and rather forcefully at that, into the barn. Isabelle was standing there patiently, and while Joshy didn't understand her, he was at least impressed with her manners. If he'd just left any of the horses he'd ridden alone in the barn, they would have darted off without a moments notice.

"Alright, I'm going to be giving you a basic lesson in huppwumpary today." Trick introduced, letting go of his hold on Joshy and going to stand by Isabelle. "It's really quite simple," he continued. "You sit on her back, close to the neck, and mainly use her antlers to steer. However, if you decide to further educate yourself in huppmanship, there is a way to control her using her wings, and feet, and-" He caught himself going off on a tangent, and quickly brightened up again. "Ahem! But you needn't worry about that, it really is quite simple." He assured, making a clicking noise and nodding his head towards the open barn doors. The creature trilled in response and stalked out. It took him a moment to realize it, but it seemed she made no noise as she walked. Not even on the hard concrete. He looked at the animals feet- they looked more like paws than hooves. And even so, they were covered in a long, shaggy fur, the same color as the tips of the wings, like a blue-colored bay. Most confusing. The two men followed her out into the cool night air.

"Er, and, what exactly are we doing out here?" Asked Joshua nervously.

"Why, we're going on a ride, of course!" Trick beamed, approaching the huppowump. He stroked her neck, before beckoning Joshy over. "Alright," Trick started, facing Joshy, his manner all serious now. "First things first, always stand ahead of a huppowump's wings. They have a tendency to flap out at random times, and, well," He chuckled  "it's not a pleasant thing to get whacked in the head with a huppowump wing."

Joshua laughed awkwardly.

"Okay, you ready?" Trick asked suddenly, a twinkle in his eye. Joshua gulped. He probably wasn't.

"Ready for what?"

"To hop on, of course!"

"Oh, n- no, I r- really don't think I'm ready-"

"Nonsense! I'll go up with you the first time, don't worry."

"Go... up?"

"Yep! Mind your head, now." Trick stepped forward and tapped Isabelle's wing, both of which extended and lowered to the ground. Trick grabbed a hold of one of the lower branches of her antlers and nimbly swung up onto her back. He turned back to Joshua. "Okay, your turn, now!" He grinned, sliding down the other side and walking back around. Joshua gulped, and didn't move a muscle. "Oh, come on, I'll help you up!" Trick offered cheerily.

Well, there was really no way of getting out of this. "Just accept it" he repeated to himself.  "What do I do, again?" He asked, voice small

Trick's eyes softened. With considerably less enthusiasm and a softer voice, he continued, "Just grab a branch, like this." He demonstrated. "Yep, two hands. Now pull yourself up and swing a leg over." Joshua looked at him like he was an idiot. He spent all day giving lectures, in a lab, or doing paperwork, he could hardly do a push-up! "R- right," Trick faltered. "Well, just bend your knee and I'll give you boost, like you were getting on a hawrse." Well, this Joshua could do. With the help of Trick, he was sitting on the creature's back in no time.

Joshua suddenly had a moment of clarity. What the hell was he doing up here?! "O- Okay, this has been very nice and all, but I really should get going-" He started to panic, but before he could clamber down, Trick had swung himself up and landed right behind Joshua, effectively pinning him in place.

"Nonsense." Trick's expression may have been pleasant, but the edge in his voice told a different story. Joshua gulped. "Now, the controls really are quite simple. Grab onto the main trunk of each antler... yep, close to the base... just like that. Okay, to go forward, just push forward. To go back, pull back. I think you can guess how to go left and right..." Joshua timidly followed each instruction, feeling the creature shift under him.

"Is that all?" Asked Joshua, voice small.

"Not quite!" Chuckled Trick. "You don't know how to lift off yet!" Well that didn't sound good.

"Lift... off? Is that really necessary?"

"Well, you want to get somewhere, don't you?" He asked, a twinkle in his eye.

"I- not really?"

Trick laughed. "Oh, nonsense. Don't worry, it's really quite simple. Just..." he reached his hand out, squishing Joshy between himself and Isabelle's neck. He scratched her behind the ear. "Just, give her a little scratch, say, 'Uppa!' And off you'll go!" He demonstrated, a little too excited. "Your turn, now!"

"I- Okay..." Still holding onto an antler with one hand, Joshua timidly gave a scratch to Isabelle's ear. "Uppa." He commanded, though it sounded more like a question.

"No, no, no, with authority!" Instructed Trick, voice boisterous.

"Uppa!" Repeated Joshua, more sure this time.

"One more time!"

"Uppa!" With a great leap, Isabelle lifted into the air. With just two flaps of her mighty wings, they shot above the tree line.

"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

"Oh, be quiet! You'll make Isabelle think she's done something wrong!"

"Aaaaaaahhh!"

Trick smacked him upside the head. "I told you to stop it!" It took all Joshua could not to whimper. He did silence himself, though. "Much better. Now, why don't you look down? The view's stunning from up here."

Gathering his courage and using the numbness of shock to his advantage, Joshua looked over the edge. It truly was breathtakingly stunning. It was a clear night, and there was a beautiful gibbous moon out. There was no light around aside from that of the Midway, looking rather grand with its towering spires and sloping gables, the decorative eaves casting strange shadows. The dark forest beyond the Manor was still foreboding from on high, a mysterious inky blackness, going on past the horizon. The field on the other side of the dirt road was another expanse of nothing, a few trees dotted here and there, something of a marsh down a ways. Had it been light out, a beautiful array of flowers could be seen. It was a favorite riding ground of the Huppowump guild that met at the Midway every other Saturday, in fact. Though for now it was just slightly eerie, shrouded in murk and mist. Everything was still rather impressive though, just the sheer immensity of it.

Suddenly very aware of the height they had reached, Joshua turned to Trick, a tremble in his voice. "Shouldn't we be running out of oxygen up here?" He asked.

"Don't worry, you have History. You were meant to be up here." Was the reply.

//Happy Halloween! I hope this super long chapter makes up for the past couple short ones!//

Published October 31, 2019