Some time later...
Crypt staggered out of the final stall, hands a-trembling such that he was having a hard time not dropping the tainted shovel, legs feeling almost like jelly. The job was done. He had cleared out all of them. Unfortunately, he was unsure of whether it was worth it for just 8 silver mizas a day.
Gods,that was the most terrifying experience of my life, and I've faced the petching Balnag for goodness' sake! I swear, the horses that were housed inside must have eaten something horrible, rather than the hay or the wheat.
Crypt breathed in deeply, savouring the fresh air. More precisely, the clean and untainted air. Yes, it was filled with the scents of quite a few horses, and there were some traces of the dung still lingering in the air, but all that didn't matter. Compared to what he had been forced to breath in inside the stalls, this was heaven! This was a blessing from the Gods!
After spending a minute or two drinking in the wondrous air, Crypt walked leisurely towards a conveniently-located wooden bucket filled almost to the brim with water. He pulled a wooden stool with him, and sat down. The young Drykas spent the next few minutes cleaning himself, removing all the animal waste he could find (and smell). Satisfied, Crypt then started walking at an unhurried pace towards the green pasture where Maras was exercising.
Halfway there, a commotion caught his attention. Curious, Crypt walked over to the stall and stopped dead in his tracks. A young stallion, probably about 2 years of age, was acting up in his stall. Crypt's eyes detected a groom lying on the floor of the stall, obviously stunned while grooming the said horse. Simple inference: He held a body brush in his hands, similar to the one Crypt had wielded about an hour ago. What little Crypt could see of him indicated that he was still alive: his chest was still rising and falling, and his eyes were wide open and flickering every now and then.
The stall door was being pounded on by the horse's hooves. Another stablehand with dirty blonde hair was trying to placate the horse, but was failing miserably.
Flee, you fool! Crypt wanted to shout. Don't stand there, you idiot! You're in danger!
But as he opened his mouth, the door was slammed open, and he was knocked forcibly to one side. He lay on the ground, stunned for a moment. The stallion reared up on its rear feet; if they landed on the stablehand, he would be killed almost immediately.
"No!" The cry tore from his throat.
Heedless of any danger that lay before him, Crypt gathered his Djed frantically and sent the flow towards his legs. Feeling the muscles, ligaments and tendons of his bottom two limbs strengthen, he propelled himself towards the stallion and pushed him back before the two hooves could descend and crush the vulnerable chest of the stablehand, using the inertia generated from his forward movement to do so. He used his left leg to push the stablehand out of harm's way, and faced the stallion alone.
The horse was momentarily confused by Crypt's action. Crypt took advantage of this and, releasing the flow of Djed, allowing the Djed in his body to resume its usual patterns. His legs were killing him, and he knew that he had slightly over-given, but now was not the time to succumb to his weakness.
Let's see if this works out.
Risking life and limb, Crypt tapped the equid on his chest and shoulders with both hands firmly, confounding him even more. Crypt positioned himself directly in front of the horse, blocking him from going out. When the horse started banging around to get out, Crypt held his ground, and tapped him again. This repeated for several instances.
Crypt had succeeded in befuddling the horse completely. The stallion knew instinctively that it was strong, that it could crush a pumpkin into small pieces with its hooves and weight, and as such expected everyone to stay out of his way when he was rampaging, not to mention not touch him. But what Crypt did, though risky, discombobulated him to a large extent. Crypt had remained in front of him even when he was banging around, contrary to his expectations. Crypt dared to touch him when he was raging, again contrary to what he had expected. The combination of this two, coupled with the shock that a mere four-legged creature could actually push back the stallion (albeit he was malnourished from spending weeks in the wilderness without much food, and as such was weaker and much lighter than what a typical stallion would be at his age), managed to stagger the horse.
The confusion clouded his mind, making him forget his reason for acting up. After what seemed like an eternity to Crypt, he eventually calmed down after Crypt's 'treatment'. Other grooms rushed to put him back inside his stall, and others dragged Crypt to a nearby chair, having been unable to stand any longer. He collapsed onto the wooden chair and lay there, exhausted. His legs were experiencing quite a lot of strain. It would be safe to say that without any adequate support, he wouldn't be able to walk back to his room by himself. However, it should heal by tomorrow, though he would be walking with a severe limp for about a month until he fully recovered from the effects.
When Crypt managed to catch his breath and look up, he saw Serena looking down at him, with a grin threatening to spread over her face. Behind her was Maras.
"Well, Crypt," Serena started, "I must say, I'm quite impressed with how you dealt with Seabiccy over there. Good job, I would have never thought of using such an... un-orthodox method to calm a raging horse. You'll be getting paid a gold miza a day now, starting from today. Have a nice day."
Crypt smiled faintly. He patted Maras on his head.
"What a day, eh, Maras? What a day..."
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by Crypt on November 2nd, 2012, 1:24 pm 
