starting count: 34846
ending count: 37299
new words: +2453

starting line:
“Let’s see if he’ll be reasonable first.” That voice was familiar; after a moment, Thom realized it was Chrys. “If he starts anything, you can do what needs to be done. Just remember, he needs to survive.”

ending line:
Chrys wondered what horse they were so worried about.

darling:
Something rumbled beneath him. An earthquake? No, hoofbeats. Hoofbeats? Thom levered himself up from the ground and looked around. He stood on a hill, looking down into the beginning of a valley that sloped away from him. A small river ran down the center of it, sparkling in the sun. The hill was covered in grass, but wildflowers coated the valley floor, and weeping willows dipped delicate fingers into the slow moving stream. He could still feel the hoofbeats, and turned to look behind him.

There, a forest rose up behind him, draped around the shoulders of a mountain that gazed up to the sky. A road wound around the mountain, a brown cord against the green of the forest, and along that road came a woman on a tall white horse, leading a grey stallion behind her.