#Lore24 – Entry #176 – Wild West Month #25 – The Horses that Go Up in Flames

As told by Kumiko Stalks-Amongst-the-Stars, shaman of the Midnight Panther tribe of Kerra-Kerra

To the east of the Peaks Reaching to the Sky, north of the Plains Which Stretch Forever, and west of the Hills of Coal, there lies a stretch of cursed land where little grows, and few animals live, the very rock of the area painted in the shades of blood where they are not burnt black.  But, unlike so many places, the Burnt Lands are not cursed by the Devil Wardens, but by the spirits themselves.  Here is the land of the Horses that Go Up in Flames.

From the distant hills and mountains that surround this region, in the darkness of night, you can see the Horses that Go Up in Flames from many miles away, for they leave fiery trails stretching behind them.  Most often you will see but one, but on some nights, you may see a half dozen or more running together, not stopping even for the mesas, running up and over them as if they were not there.  For those daring to venture closer, you can see that the horses are spirits of fire, their skeletons visible and the color of charcoal, wreathed in billowing flames.  Their pained, angry cries can be heard before they are seen, but by then, they are likely already upon you, for they move with the speed of a wildfire.

The Horses that Go Up in Flames are a mystery to the Kerra-Kerra and the Horse People.  They do not seem to wish to speak with us as other spirits do, and may not be entirely of the spirits of the elements.  Horses that have strayed from our tribes as they travel around the Burnt Lands sometimes end up there.  Tales speak of these horses running as if possessed by a spirit, not fearful in the least as they drive headlong toward the Horses that Go Up in Flames.  As they approach, they cry in agony as their bodies erupt in flame, and in moments, they join the flaming herd as if they belonged there all along.

It is best to cross the Burnt Lands on the outside, for the Horses that Go Up in Flames do not stray from the area they have claimed, though what it is they may protect or guard we do not know, though in times of great need, you may dare cross through these lands; it is best to do so in the day, for the Horses that Go Up in Flames are less active then.