The Legend Of Dazzling Hollow

Whether they were ready or not, the Dazzlings walked through that cold and creepy moor known as Sleepy Hollow.

The moon was high in the dark, cloudless sky; a gleaming crescent of silver against a backdrop of deepest black. The air was dry, and bitingly cold; Sonata's breath hissed between her teeth as she followed. Adagio and Aria on the route back to their home. Leaves rustled beneath them, almost the only sound that could be heard on the moorland.

The silence was awful. It wasn't simply quiet, it was oppressively so. The emptiness of the night drew in on them - even Aria, fierce and stubborn Aria chafed at the cloying weight of the midnight hour.

"A-are we there yet?" Sonata asked. Her words came out as a slight stammer, and she could not quite say it was the cold that made her teeth chatter.

"Not quite," Adagio shook her head, "It's still over the next hill and across the bridge."

Aria half-laughed. "Don't worry, Sonata, we'll be out of the scary dark soon," she teased, with a bit more effort than she would care to admit.

Sonata pouted. "Not funny, Aria!" she snapped, "I'm not scared!"

“Both of you, please calm down,” Adagio ordered, wearily. “It’s cold and dark, but we’ll be out of it soon enough.”

“B-but what about the Horseman?” Sonata glanced back, squinting into the shadows of the trees around the path, “Do you think he’s real?”

Inside, Adagio was screaming 'yes' in fear. But she didn't show it. Instead, Adagio shook her head. “No, it’s just a story,” she said, putting a firm tone into her voice as she said, “There’s no ghost in these woods—"

A shrill scream echoed through the trees. Sonata yelped in terror and grabbed onto Aria’s arm tightly. Aria grimaced, her eyes moving around rapidly as she and her sisters tried to pinpoint the source of the unearthly screech.

Then, Adagio sighed.

“Girls, look,” she said, pointing to a distant branch, where a small shape was perched. The three sisters all gazed at the figure of the owl, silhouetted on the tree limb there. The bird twisted its head around, tawny eyes staring into the dark. It screeched once more, an eerie sound, before spreading its wings and taking flight, vanishing into the shadows so quickly it may as well never have been in the first place. Silence fell in the wake of its departure, but to the Sirens it was a blessed relief now.

Finally Adagio spoke up. “See? There you go. It was just an owl. Nothing to be afraid of.”

Aria lightly smacked Sonata’s shoulder, “Not scared, huh?”

“Yeah, well, you were scared too!”

“Was not!”

Adagio laughed in spite of herself at the idea of the familiar, light bickering of the two sisters.

“Come on now,” she chided lightly, “there’ll be time for that once we get home-“

A sharp, dry snap pierced the night, shutting up all three Sirens once more.

It may have been just the sound of a twig snapping, but in that moment – in the dark and the cold of the midnight hour – it was the most frightening sound on Earth. None of them moved, none of them dared to breathe. The silence descended on them again, heavy as the grave. A minute passed, in awful, total quiet….

Before another sound made itself heard to the three sisters.

Tlot-tlot. Tlot-tlot.

The sound of horses’ hooves, striking the cobblestones of the path. Drawing closer, ever closer…

And then, silence once more.

“H-hello?” Sonata squeaked, in little more than a whisper. “Who’s there?”

Adagio summoned up her voice, and called out, “Who are you?”

Aria matched her call with a shout of her own. “Stay back, I’m warning you!”

Nothing.

Nothing but the chill of the autumn, and the silver gleaming of the moon.

And then Adagio saw it. Almost right there, as if it had always been there, at the edge of the moorland.

"Who... who are you!?"

A great black horse, head swaying from side to side, pawing the ground with a mighty, iron shod hoof. And on its back, wreathed in dark clothes and cloak, was a rider, indeed, as the stories said… A rider with no head.

Adagio’s heart skipped many beats. Her breath hissed out of her lungs and she could not get it back. Sonata whimpered, trying to put forth some sound as the terrible rider and his fearsome mount loomed in the darkness on the moor.

“H-h-headless,” Aria repeated, as if saying it would do anything, anything to make the apparition go away.

Adagio started to lose her voice just from the sight of it. She started wheezing. "Hea... headless horseman, headless horseman..." Adagio’s voice returned to her, and she made it known at the top of her lungs. “HEADLESS HORSEMAN!?”

As if responding to her words, the great black horse reared up on its hind legs, and its rider let out a shrill, bloodcurdling laugh--

And the Horseman and his mount charged, and the Sirens screamed and ran. They immediately ditched

Hoofbeats thundered in the night, as the great black horse and its nightmarish rider hurtled after the three sisters.

“Hurry! Towards the bridge!” Adagio shouted, as the Horseman’s chilling laughter rang through the night.

The three of them ran, ran like they never had before, as the pounding hoofbeats bore down on them, the shrill cackling of the headless rider sounding ever louder and ever closer--

Sonata stumbled, her shoe catching on her dress, and she nearly fell as she continued to run. The almost-fall took her off the path and away from the other sisters; she pushed on, still running, even as branches whipped against her face and she could hear horses’ hooves closing in and hot breath almost right at her neck-

She screamed, as something grabbed her arm and yanked her hard to the left. The thunder of hoofbeats rolled past and into the woods out of sight.

“Let me go!” Sonata started to scream, before she recognized Aria’s face before her.

“It’s just us, come on!!” Her sister said, swiftly pushing her along, back onto the path towards the bridge and to safety. Adagio drew close to Sonata’s side, her heart pounding, as she couldn’t help but think of how close she’d been to losing her…

They were at the top of the hill, which led down a stretch of dirt road to the river and the bridge spanning it.

The words from the story crossed their minds:

Once you cross that bridge, the ghost cannot reach you.

“Hurry!” Adagio said, as they ran down the hill towards the bridge.

“I’m hurrying!” Sonata pouted.

“What do you THINK we’re doing?!” Aria snapped.

They had got only halfway down the hill when they heard the thunder of hooves again.

And that awful laugh, drawing ever closer…

The Horseman and his mount came charging out of the dark, sparks flying from the great horse’s shoes as they struck the earth. The headless rider’s cloak billowed out as he rode full-tilt towards his quarry; the cape spreading out like the wings of a monstrous bat--

Bearing down on Adagio, the Horseman grabbed for her as his horse thundered past. The eldest Siren fell to the ground as she dodged away from the specter’s grasp; hitting the ground, she rolled painfully down the slope of the hill and into the cold grass.

Unsteadily Adagio got back up, her dress torn at the shoulder. She hissed in pain, clutching a sore spot on her leg, wondering if she could still run…

“DAGI!!” Sonata’s voice shrieked, as the cackle resounded again, and the roll of hoofbeats drew near.

Adagio whipped around, and she would never forget the sight before her:

The great black horse, red eyes rolling madly, steam puffing from its nostrils, sparks flying as it bore down on her… and the headless rider in black, looming like Death himself, laughing that shrill, impossible cackle…

“No!!”

Aria had never thought she could yell so, but in that moment, she did.

And she and Sonata, forgetting the bridge, forgetting their terror, forgetting everything except their sister, ran at full sprint to their sister, to try and fend off the ghoulish rider bent on taking her from them.

They grabbed Adagio and pulled her back to her feet, even as the Horseman drew up right in front of the three Sirens.

The black horse reared up, hooves kicking out, eyes blazing. Its spectral rider laughed again, even louder than before, and he drew a sword in one hand.

The three sisters all thought the same thing, but only Aria was the one to say it.

They all turned and ran, harder than ever before, back towards the bridge.

Hooves thundered behind them, sparks flying from the horse’s pounding steps, and the Horseman swiped and slashed at them with his sword as he rode up alongside them. Aria pulled Sonata out of the way of a strike that would have had her head otherwise – and Adagio lost a chunk of hair to the hacking, chopping blade.

“Almost there!! We’re almost there!!” Adagio panted as they drew closer, so very close, towards the bridge and the path across the river.

The Horseman doubled his efforts. His horse charged ahead, up to the path. Turning his horse around, the Horseman reared up in the saddle, blade raised high, with one more peal of wild laughter, before charging towards them.

The steel glinted, for just a moment, in the thin light of the moon.

“Down!!” Adagio yelled, and as one, the three Sirens threw themselves to the ground as the Horseman thundered by. Aria nearly rolled into the nearby river, but caught herself.

“Come on, hurry!” Sonata helped her sister back up as they sprinted the final dozen feet to the entrance of the bridge.

Adagio glanced back, daring no more than the briefest glance, to see the Horseman already turning his mount once more…

Then she looked forward, and ran across the bridge with her sisters to the other side of the river.

"Yes, yes, yes!!!" Adagio cheered. "Haha!" She turned around with a shaken up, but admittedly smug feeling. "I'll have you know, we're mythical creatures just like yourself, but we cannot die! And unlike you, we aren't going to vanish!" Adagio mocked with a lot more shake in her chuckle.

The horse let out an angry whinny, watching them. But the horseman wasn't going away so soon. A cackle escaped from the headless neck, and the flaming pumpkin was being raised up.

"Adagio... I think now's the time for us to go!" Sonata said.

"Wait for my signal!" Adagio ordered.

With one last shrieking cackle, the Headless Horseman threw the pumpkin. The jack-o-lantern came flying right at the girls, hurling like a baseball. It only took a few more seconds, and then suddenly, everything just stopped. A bright red flash beamed through the forest, but only for a few seconds. Suddenly, the light died down, and everything was silent.

The Dazzlings weren't anywhere to be seen, and neither was the horseman. All four had vanished from the surrounding area. And all was silent...