The old man hobbled down the road...

With days a great army shall ride into this town, slaughtering anything in sight! We must act quickly if we are to obtain salvation! We must march to the nearest town and lead an uprising to drive Meilo back into the darkness where he came from! Who is with me?"

Pelias, knowing what kind of a man Aurelius was, complied at once. Slowly, more joined his position behind Aurelius, while others remained resolutely in their positions, arms crossed.

They left those that didn’t want to join the rebellion at the village. Having passed through this place many times during his life, he knew the area better than most of the elders, and so he had a fair idea as to where he was heading with his men.

"Within these woods there is a secret passage that leads to an expanse of land and a wide range mountains. It is hard to find due to the precariousness of reaching the track, and even then, the track is very well concealed, the place itself cannot be seen from ground level, as it is shrouded by the immensity of the trees surrounding it. I believe that this may have been used as a stronghold for a past rebellion, and today we shall make use of it once more. We should make for this location as soon as possible, for it is impregnable and able to be defended by a handful of men."

A cheer rose from the ranks of the men, and silently they began to pack their belongings, mentally readying themselves for the challenge they were about to face.

Dawn came and Aurelius awoke, of half a mind to go for a morning walk. A sound to his right alerted him to company, he turned and gazed out the window to observe a magnificent golden stallion unleashing its strength wildly over the empty plain beside the village. Aurelius watched in wonder as the stallion threw its weight about, its powerful muscular body contracting and kicking wildly.

He made his way out of the hut and walked cautiously towards the formidable creature, a lump built in is throat and sweat plastered his forehead. This was the very image of his old warhorse, Umbricius, which had died not long after the last battle he had waged, and he was astounded by the remarkable likeness between the two.

The stallion had calmed down and walked slowly towards Aurelius, it nuzzled his neck, then licked his hand, snorting. Without warning it reared up and neighed, the powerful call echoing around the clearing.

Aurelius rode his new horse, already christened Umbricius, proudly into the village. All those who saw the horse gasped, and upon sighting it Pelias asked "How were you able to tame this magnificent creature? This creature has been phantom to our village for many years, always appearing from the shadows and helping our villagers if ever we were in need, and once we tried getting a few of our most muscular men, he pointed at the mountain of muscles that was standing not far away, to try and tame it, but it would never surrender, bucking and rearing its powerful body around with such strength that we were forced to let it go.