The Water Horse

Jacob was watching from his balcony as the vast grand sea threw around waves at nighttime. The stars were shining and a crescent moon lit up the sea. Jacob was in his PJ's. It might have been a trick of the light when he saw the shape of a large horse, grey and blue furred and dripping shining magical-looking water emerged from the sea and whipped its majestic head around, searching the beach for something. Then it spoke in a voice that was defiantly male, and kind of demanding: "Where is it?" Jacob blinked and rubbed his eyes childishly. The horse did not disappear, as he'd half-expected it to. It just stood there, now its stunning blue eyes fixed on Jacob. "Where is it?" The horse repeated.

"I... don't know!" Jacob yelped, terrified. The water horse cocked its head thoughtfully.

"The stone." The horse said in a voice that echoed in Jacob's ears. Jacob rummaged around in his pocket for the odd blue stone he had found at the beach yesterday. He found it and held it up high.

"This?" He asked the horse. The horse nodded. Jacob cupped his hands around the glowing blue stone and he examined it. The actual rock was blue, but deep sea-green moss covered the outside of it. There was a drop of water engraved in the stone, right in the middle. It looked mysterious and made Jacob curious. Jacob gathered all his courage and asked,

"Why do you need it?" The horse neighed impatiently and lashed its tail.

"To save the herd. You wouldn't understand. Give me the stone." The horse growled.

"I can help!" Jacob protested, "Just give me a minute!"

"I don't have a minute. Besides, my brother would burn you to ashes in a second." The horse made a neigh that sounded oddly like a sigh. "Fine. Hurry up."

"Hold your horses!" Jacob joked, slipping on a pair of sneakers and a jacket. He put the stone in his pocket and wondered for a moment if he'd need his swimsuit. He decided against it and dashed out the front door onto the beach, running as fast as he could toward the dripping horse. When Jacob got closer, he realized that the water dripping off of the horse was as bright and dazzling as liquid crystals. The horses tail and mane, Jacob also noticed, were made of crystal-like water that defied gravity. The horse looked Jacob over with a bored expression and then crouched low enough for Jacob to get on it's back. Jacob swung his leg over the horse and braced himself for some sort of magical teleportation, but the horse just dove headfirst into the freezing ocean water.

Jacob discovered that while he was on the horse, he could breathe just fine, as if he had gills like the horses'. The horse was also swimming at impossibly fast speeds, sending fish flying through the water. Right when Jacob might puke, the horse stopped and spun in the water three times and the entire setting changed. They were now inside of what looked like a volcano. About a dozen dogs made of ash and coal turned their heads toward the newcomers, the dogs eyes burning lava. A hissing was coming from the middle of the pack of dogs. It was another horse, this one was the opposite of the water horse, it's coat was jet black with streaks of intertwining orange and red. It's mane and tail were flaming and it's eyes were coal-black and forbidding. The horse hissed again, like a snake. As Jacob was looking over the Fire horse, he noticed the stone on the horse's chest. It was a black rock with veins of lava and a flame of fire engraved on it. The fire horse touched it's muzzle to the rock and said in a raspy voice,

"Brother,"

The coal dogs growled as the water horse ran one of his front hooves over his empty chest where the water stone should be. Jacob grabbed the water stone and laid it against the water horse's chest where it snapped into place and immediately veins of crystal water shot across the horse.

"Enough of this." The water horse spat. Flicking his tail. "This volcano used to be water. You used to be a water horse, until the black dogs." The fire horse just hissed again in a kind of chuckle.

"Things can change." The fire horse rasped. Scraping one of his front hooves against the rock beneath him. "Let's talk about your little friend."

The water horse scowled.

"He is not 'my little friend' I just met him today, only because he had the water stone and I needed it."

"Of course. Because you lost your own stone." The fire horse mused.

A black coal dog bolted at Jacob, slicing its claws neatly across his left arm. The injury burned and any blood turned immediately to ash. Jacob yelped in pain and surprise and dodged another attack. The water horse sprang into action and swept its tail across the dog's muzzle where the coal dog fell and evaporated into a harmless mist.

"Stop them!" The water horse shouted at the fire one.

"I can't." The fire horse said. "I don't control them." Then, one by one, the dogs attacked, ripping at them with their claws and launching at them, jaws open. Jacob leapt back as a black dog narrowly missed him. Jacob gasped breathlessly as the last dog launched himself at the water horse where, at the horse's touch, it evaporated just like the first. The fire horse galloped at them, straight for Jacob. Jacob was frozen in place, suddenly unable to move. With one, swift move the fire horse leapt into the air and was about to land its scorching-hot hooves on top of Jacob when he involuntary stuck his arm up and snatched the fire stone from off the fire horse's chest while he was still in midair. The horse froze in time and shifted, hair by hair, into a water horse identical to the one standing beside Jacob. The new not-fire horse twisted in midair and landed neatly beside the original water horse.

"H-how..." Jacob stuttered, watching the fire stone turn to ashes in his hands.

"Is now the time to say 'I told you so'?" The water horse asked the not-fire horse, who shot him a 'oh-FINE' look. Jacob dropped the ashes of the fire stone onto the volcanic floor. The volcano rumbled and a small river of lava shot from one of the walls.

"Can we do the amazing family reunion outside?" The not-fire horse said. "The volcano is about to erupt." Jacob swung himself onto the not-fire horse and the three darted from the volcano, leaping into the river outside and swimming again at the impossibly-fast pace. Then, this time only spinning once, they teleported back to Jacob's house and the familiar beach.

"Thank you." The water horse said, bowing his head. Jacob nodded, startled into silence. The two horses leapt back into the water and their shadows beneath the surface faded away. Jacob wandered back into his bed and laid down, staring out the window at the gleaming stars above. This must be the most epic dream, Jacob thought to himself, Or the best day of my life.