Diablo III
In contrast to the outward journey, where I always slid back and forth impatiently on my seat, I now sat unusually quiet and let my gaze wander out of the window into the distance. In my hand I held a blue rosette with a golden one emblazoned in the middle.
Melissa looked pretty stupid out of the laundry when she crossed the finish line second.
Most of all, of course, I was surprised by Kai's sentence: "You can be proud of yourself." That was the first time in my life. that I was speechless. But, we did our job really well and we are damn proud of ourselves too. Maybe I should take my grandmother's suggestion and really start training for tournaments like this. Actually, it can't do any harm. As the van pulled up the driveway, I was already imagining myself winning one tournament after another with Diablo. Diablo neighed and I had the feeling that he had read my mind and so gave his approval.Tyson's grandfather, who was sitting next to me, glanced over at me and smiled conspiratorially. I smiled back a little uncertainly, slowly but surely it seemed to me as if everyone was thinking of something against me. I haven't done anything bad. When the car finally stopped I jumped out and got Diablo out of the van. Impatiently he scratched his hooves and when I took him to the small paddock behind the house, he immediately stormed off, looked for a place where the grass tasted particularly delicious and began to eat.
When I got back into the house, Grandma put her hand on my shoulder and said, "You should show the bow to Sher'andil and Mistique."
"Sher'andil and Mistique?" Tyson echoed and looked at us questioningly.
"These are Diablo's parents.", Justin replied.
"I thought they were dead?" Asked Gary, frowning.
“They are too,” I whispered and then said a little louder: “The two are buried under the huge willow further back by the river."Before anyone could say or ask anything, I stormed outside again and ran to the pasture. While running I quickly picked a few flowers. I snuck through the hanging, thin branches and crouched in front of two wooden crosses. Outside I could So nobody see. A small board leaned against the tree trunk and behind it was a small hole in the ground. From there I got two white candles, matches and a vase. I lit the candles and put the flowers in the vase. I filled the vase by the river with water, I kneeled in front of the two crosses.
"Here.", I said and took out the rosette. "Your son won it today."
A gentle wind came up and brushed through the branches of the willow. I sat here for a long time under the tree and kept talking to the graves. So I did not notice the storm clouds that were gathering on the horizon. It rustled behind me. The curtain of branches and leaves was pushed away.
"Are you coming? There is food.", Justin asked, kneeling down next to me." And what do the two say? "
"You're proud of him. Sher'andil knew that something would come of him." I whispered, put out the candles and stowed the utensils back in the tree hole.
"Diablo is also something very special.", He said, put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me with him.

The stars shone like diamonds in the sky and the full moon today had something mystical and mysterious about it.
"There'll be a thunderstorm later," Grandpa said over dinner. "You can leave Diablo outside though."
I just nodded in response and looked out the window. The black clouds came closer and closer. It didn't take long and the first lightning flashed across the sky. The thunder shook the land.
I felt weird somehow. But probably I was only knocked out a bit from the cup. I got up and prepared Strawberry's bottle. I hadn't been with the little girl since this morning, she probably thinks I've forgotten her.From one minute to the next it suddenly turned pitch black outside. Again a bright lightning flashed over the filament. Rio had snuggled up by the stove with the Border Collies, Hunter and Camper. Because he was terribly afraid of thunderstorms.
"I'll go out to Strawberry then, the little one asks." I was interrupted by a deafening crash. Startled, I dropped the bottle and ran outside into the dark night. I prayed the lightning hadn't hit the barn. My prayers seem to have been answered. But instead of the barn, Diablos Corral was on fire. Without thinking about it, I ran off but was grabbed by the arm. I turned around angrily. "Kai !! Let go of me, please!" I yelled at Kai. But he made no move to do so. I angrily poked him in the stomach on my elbow. He let go of my arm and went down on his knees. I seized the opportunity immediately and started running again. Though I stumbled more.It was just too dark to see anything. The only sources of light were the illuminated windows and the burning corral. I didn't know how, but somehow I made it over the burning fence and found myself in the middle of the corral.
Lightning flashed over our heads again, a few seconds later the thunder rumbled through the stifling and hot air. There was no rain.
Diablo ran in circles. His eyes were wide in panic and his ears turned in all directions, disturbed. You could already see the red in the distended nostrils. He seemed to have noticed me because suddenly he fell at a trot and then at a walk. He came up to me hopefully. I stroked his sweaty neck soothingly.
"Stay calm and just trust me, huh?" I whispered to his ear and grabbed a piece of mane at the withers. I swung myself skillfully onto his back. I pressed my thighs firmly against his black body. He galloped willingly.The fire was the lowest at the gate. Maybe I could get Diablo to jump over. It's not much taller than the fallen log this morning.
"We're jumping over it now," I told him.
Like little antennas, he turned his ears back to listen to my voice. I spoke loudly but also gently at the same time. Then he turned his ears forward again. He put all his concentration on the burning obstacle. For a brief moment I thought Diablo would change his mind and break to one side. But he didn't. Before I could really think about it, he started to jump. Like a feather carried by the wind, he stepped over it and came safely to the other side. I was very happy about it. Unfortunately, Diablo made no move to stop. He kept racing. Past the BladeBreakers, Justin, Gary, Cliff, Grandma, Grandpa, and Tyson's Grandpa.
He slowed and trotted toward the river. Weightless, like a ghost, Diablo found his way down the slope.His hooves made no noise now, so that he seemed to float across the ground.
I slipped off his back and slipped into the cold water, Diablo kept walking. The thunderstorm had long since moved on and a starry sky shone above us.
About in the middle, a few meters away from me, he stopped, chest-deep in his own reflection, and turned to me. His fur shimmered with every movement of his muscles as he strode towards me, legs high, through the silver glitter of the water. His hooves scraped over the rocks in the river. For a brief moment he looked sideways, one ear turned in my direction. He was waiting for me to say something. I gladly did him a favor.
"Do you remember? This was the first time I got on you," I whispered.
Diablo blew air through his lips and opened his mouth as if to answer me, then closed it again as if he was too shy. Diablo bowed his head, but he didn't drink, he let out a sigh, asking me to go on."I took care of you when your mother died," I whispered to him.
He still kept his head down, but the angle of his ears told me to continue.
"Do you remember back when you were a yearling and they stole you from the pasture? A year later we found you. Without you I would never have got Deadem," I continued quietly.
Completely unexpectedly, Diablo took a step towards me, put his head over my shoulder, and snorted gratefully. The warmth that rose from his black body enveloped his figure in the darkness like a dark mist. We left the water again.
Diablo shook the water from his fur. The moonlight turned the droplets into a silver haze.
He fielded a burning corral for me again. I looked over and a huge column of smoke rose from there. The fire was out. Grandpa still owned a small, old-fashioned fire truck that he had used to put out the fire.Gary.Justin with Cliff and the BladeBreakers came up to us. Diablo's ears snapped back and he let out a threatening neigh.
"Are you okay?" Asked my brother, ignoring Diablo.
"Yes." I replied curtly and stroked Diablo's forehead. "I didn't hurt you too much, did I?" I asked Kai, although I didn't really give a shit.
"No:" he mumbled softly.
"You are impossible !!", Cliff and Gary thundered. "You'd have to tie a boomerang around your neck !!!!" they continued in unison.
"Will that help?" Justin chuckled and looked over at me encouragingly.
I nodded kindly to him. "Then I'll go take care of Diablo. I'll sleep with him in the stable today.", those were my last words.
Later Grandma brought me a sleeping bag, a blanket and a pillow in the stable. She also offered to give Strawberry her bottle. I thanked her and put my things in Diablo's box.
After I snuggled into the sleeping bag, Diablo put his head in my lap.I stroked his head and neck with gentle, circular movements. I stroked it until my fingers went numb. Then the Sandman visited me and I fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning I was woken up by encouraging snorts and soft whispers. I opened my eyes heavily and squinted into the light of the sun. My muscles were stiff and I was struggling to get up. With a tired sigh, I looked at the pit door. Doart became my ex-team with Justin, Gary and Cliff. Diablo stood over me and looked over at the others suspiciously. My head brushed Diablo's stomach, but that didn't bother him in the least.
"Well, slept well?", Justin asked and came to me in the box.
I nodded as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Next to me he put a tray of steaming pancakes and Max brought Diablo a layer of straw and