Chapter 5.

Sophie had been in the forest for days now without a trace or a hint to find the way to the hut when she heard the distant barking of dogs behind her. "If I'm lucky they are just simple hunters but that would be unlikely because I have never seen hunters in this forest. Or it is my father's guards who want to lock me up again. As fast as they could they ran along the path to follow To look for a shelter in which one could not find her so quickly. The barking of the dogs got louder and louder and she could hear the voices of the men now. Somebody helped me out and I can already guess who it was. "Heard her calling out." That doesn't matter now because if we don't find her that's our death sentence. "Said another.
Sophie ran as fast as she could because she was really scared now. She knew who her pursuers were and they certainly weren't easy hunters.She crossed an old narrow wooden bridge when she saw a bright light on the other side. "What is that against now, I hope something good because I really don't need any more trouble at the moment." She thought and ran towards the light. The moment the light touched her, she felt an unprecedented warmth around her closed her eyes.
She emerged from the light again and found herself in a huge courtyard that belonged to a snow-white palace.

Dawin slid through the night on the stallion's back, looking for a clue to Sophie, but couldn't see anything except the black shadows of the tall trees that surrounded him. On the back of this horse and freed from Ivanhoe's ring, he felt a lot more comfortable and yet he felt that something was missing, and that was her. He also felt the danger that was in the air but he was not afraid of it. He was ready to face any opponent who wanted to dissuade him from his plan.He had the certainty that Lyria was at his side and that alone gave him strength.
After a short time the stallion slowed down his pace and now walked leisurely through the night and it almost seemed as if he was also looking for her. He stopped and raised his nose in the air as if to isolate a certain smell from everyone else. He bowed his head and shook himself so hard that Dawin was almost thrown from the saddle.
"Hey what's this going to be, I thought we were friends." Dawin whispered to him and sat up straight again. He looked at the stallion questioningly at his behavior astonished him. The horse stood there and didn't move a step. "Come on, we'll never squirm Sophie like that. We can't search if you just stay here." Dawin said a little louder now. Again the stallion shook himself and wanted his head back to look at Dawin. He looked into his eyes and saw the fear in them. Dawin looked around but couldn't see anything that could scare him.He was about to get off and pull the stallion on when he heard a noise above him. He looked up with a jerk and at that very moment a large owl rose from the tree above them and flew away into the darkness. The only thing he could see of the owl were her eyes, which glowed yellow in the dark. A shiver ran down his spine when he saw that. He knew who he had seen and yet it was unclear to him why he had not felt it earlier that Ivanhoe had been near him. He took a deep breath and stroked the stallion's neck. This did not seem to feel any further danger because he had set himself in motion again and was now trotting calmly through the forest.

At dawn they reached the old hut in which Dawin had already been and he decided to take a rest before continuing the search. He dismounted and freed the horse from the saddle and bridle so that it could move freely. Dawin already knew that the animal kept coming back and that he didn't have to lock it up.The stallion reared up and trotted around the yard looking for a spot of lush grass. Again and again he lowered his head and sniffed the grass only to look for a new place where the grass was better. Dawin watched him smile for a while before he went into the hut to lie down.

He couldn't sleep, but just because he was lying down his body recovered. He thought of Sophie and how she was doing. He still worried and reproached. After a few hours he got up and went outside. The sun was bright and warm that day as if it wanted to welcome him into the world. He looked around and couldn't find his companion. He wanted to call for him but didn't know what to call because the animal had no name. "Great and how am I supposed to get him here, I can't call a horse, right?" he seriously toyed with the thought when he heard hoof noises behind him.He turned around and there stood the white stallion and looked at him with wide eyes. "There you are, we should think of a name for you soon so that I can call you when you are out of sight again," he said, laughing to him. and as if he had understood what he said, he listened happily and lifted his head a little higher.

Sophie wondered where she had ended up again and went to the great doors of the palace. "What's going on here, how did I come here all of a sudden, I was still in the forest on the curse of my father's guards and now I'm standing at the gates of a castle that I've never seen before. That can't be , that's just not possible. "She thought and began to doubt herself. She couldn't explain it any other way than by being crazy. Again she went towards the castle and, strangely white, she didn't feel the slightest fear in herself but rather a feeling of anticipation for what was to be expected in the building.With trembling hands she opened the heavy double doors and stepped into the great hall that revealed itself in front of her.
The room was propped up by a dozen tall white pillars on which strange creatures were depicted. She had never seen such beings and also doubted that they really existed. On the pillar closest to her, for example, was a white horse with a long horn on its head and powerful wings on its back. “It doesn't exist, but it has a calming effect on me, strange.” She thought and walked on. Her steps echoed back into her from the walls of the hall, but Sophie didn't mind. She went to the second pillar on which a dragon was depicted. She only knew such beings from stories told by the old people in the castle. But they were considered extinct for a long time and so she paid no further attention to the dragon. She didn't find the other pictures very interesting either, so she quickly arrived at the other end of the hall.The door that she now had in front of her opened by itself and gave a view of the most beautiful throne room Sophie had ever seen. Also this one
The room was made of white marble. At the end of the room was a large glass throne on which sat a woman who was wrapped in long white robes and who gently waved her long blond hair around her shoulders. She smiled at Sophie and waved her over. A little hesitantly, she went up to the stranger and forced a smile that this person didn't seem to want her to feel sorry for. "Hello Sophie, I'm happy to finally see you personally, my name is Lyria and I watch over you people. I have something to talk to you about."

"So what name do I give you now." Dawin asked the stallion and looked at him but he just tilted his head and looked at him curiously.
At the sight Dawin had to laugh out loud and the stallion just snorted contemptuously. "It's good, I'm already thinking about it. So how about Darus?Dawin said again he just snorted and looked at him. “Well, you don't seem to like the name, but I can't think of a better one.” Dawin was just considering a new name when he heard a wailing howl from the forest. “I've never heard that sound like that before.” Dawin exclaimed, surprised, and looked around. There was nothing to be seen nearby and yet he was sure that the source of the noise was not far away. He decided to postpone the name for the horse until later and set off for the forest.
The stallion trotted along beside him and scanned the area as if he had never seen them before. He nudged him again and again carefully as if he wanted to tell him that he was still waiting for a name and didn't want to leave it at being called "horse". They weren't long on the road when they found what they were looking for. Near the small lake, under a large spruce tree, sat a young wolf in a trap set up by poachers.If there was anything that upset Dawin more than the existence of Ivanhoe, it was certainly people who hunted animals for the lust to kill. Behind him he heard a quiet puff and when he turned around the stallion stood some distance from him and looked at the bundle of fur that lay in front of them and made squeaking noises with great interest. It didn't seem possible to him that such a small being could make such loud sounds. Dawin paid no more attention to him and grabbed the knife he wore on his belt. Gun in hand, he walked up to the wolf and tried to free him from the noose.
Carefully he began to cut the rope with which the animal was held, but as soon as he approached the puppy's leg it tried to bite him. It took some effort to free the wolf and at the same time not to be bitten, but in the end Dawin succeeded and he was able to give freedom back to a poor animal.The wolf got up and away and disappeared into the bushes. Presumably he would run back to his mother.
Dawin didn't worry about him because he still had other problems. He still had no idea where Sophie was or where to look for her and he still had his real job to do and that should be anything but easy. They went back to the hut and that night Dawin finally found the sleep he longed for, which he needed if he wanted to find her. And he wanted that at all costs.