Sky Horses: the Royal Foal

by Linda Chapman

  ‘Chloe?’ she whispered, peering through the cold, inky blackness.

  ‘I’m here,’ replied Chloe, just to her left. ‘It’s really dark and creepy.’

  ‘There are some candles around the walls,’ said Erin, remembering her vision. ‘If we had some matches, we could light one.’

  ‘Who needs matches?’ There was the sound of Chloe fumbling around the walls. ‘Got one!’ she said. ‘Fire be with me!’

  The wick of the candle she had picked up burst into flame. Its flame was small, but it cast just enough light to let Erin see through the gloom. She saw the circle on the floor and her skin prickled as she remembered watching Marianne commanding the foal when he had been inside it.

  She glanced at Chloe, who had dropped her camouflage and was putting the candle back on the ledge. ‘Let’s get the trapping stone as quickly as we can.’

  ‘It’s over here, I think,’ said Erin, flying to the back of the cave. She found the alcove and reached inside. Her fingers felt a bottle, a bowl, a piece of paper…

  She pulled the paper out. It was the piece of paper she had seen in her vision. With everything else that had been happening, she had forgotten about it, but as she read the first line – When the dark one returns, the door shall be reopened – she felt a shiver run down her spine. Her eyes swept quickly down the page:

  When the dark one returns, the door shall

  be reopened

  And danger will threaten all living below.

  If the binding is broken, they can be

  protected,

  But one coming willingly lets the dark’s

  power grow

  Until the first gateway is split by magic

  And he who is trapped is free to go.

  Two gateways now balance the light and

  the darkness,

  One lost in memory, hidden by the sea.

  The dark door is reserved for the hand

  that creates it.

  The other lies close to a whispering tree,

  Deep underground and made from

  moonlight.

  When it is found, then two can be free.

  Yet danger is found with the new

  gateway –

  Beware the dark horse who leaps for the

  sky.

  With arrow of fire and grey feather’s

  direction,

  Two must help here or all hopes will die.

  If the darkest impostor is not defeated,

  Then never again will the cloud stallion

  fly.

  Erin stared at it. What did it all mean? What were the gateways it was going on about?

  ‘Erin! What are you doing?’ hissed Chloe urgently.

  Erin shoved the paper into her pocket. There was no time to think about it now. She reached further into the hole. She felt a glass jar and then… yes, there it was! Her hand closed round a stone. She pulled it out and saw in the dim light that it was the brown trapping stone with the chip of rock through the centre. Her heart lifted. ‘I’ve got it!’ She swung round to Chloe. Maybe things were going to be OK. Maybe they were going to take the stone without Marianne seeing them…

  ‘Let’s get out of here!’ Chloe said.

  ‘We’d better camouflage ourselves again just in case Marianne is heading this way,’ called Erin.

  They both muttered, ‘Camouflagus,’ and disappeared.

  But just as they reached the cave entrance they heard a voice outside. ‘Sky stallion! What are you doing here?’

  Erin froze. It was Marianne.

  There was a wild whinny. ‘I have come to rescue my son!’

  ‘Marianne’s outside!’ hissed Erin in alarm. ‘What are we going to do?’

  There was a moment’s silence. ‘Keep camouflaged,’ said Chloe, thinking fast. ‘And try to sneak out while Marianne’s talking to Tor. As soon as we’re out, we have to get away with the trapping stone. We’ll hide between the rocks down there and you can try and cast the vision to free Mistral.’

  ‘But what about Tor?’ asked Erin.

  ‘We’ll have to start without him,’ said Chloe as they heard another whinny from outside. ‘Come on!’

  The two girls edged round the rock, holding hands. Keep camouflaged, keep camouflaged, Erin told herself frantically.

  She stifled a gasp as they emerged. Marianne was in the sky, hovering only a few metres away from them, and she was facing Tor. ‘You cannot stop me, sky stallion!’ She raised her hands. ‘I am going to get to the fourth stone and I will use your son to do it.’

  Tor plunged forward with a furious squeal. He grew as he leapt, his cloud shape getting bigger, seeming to fill the sky. He struck out with his front hooves.

  Marianne recoiled. ‘Bind him!’ she snapped out, pointing her hands at him as he landed in the space where she had been flying.

  White cobwebby ropes of mist appeared out of nowhere and wound around the stallion. Tor struggled, lashing out with his forelegs, but the ropes coiled like cruel snakes, holding him fast.

  Marianne twisted one hand in the air and the ropes got tighter and tighter. Tor struggled, but one of the ropes slithered around his neck, behind his ears, and then down between his legs, pulling his head low.

  Erin couldn’t bear it. She flew forward.

  ‘NO!’ hissed Chloe in her ear, pulling her back hard. ‘We can’t help him, Erin! Marianne is too strong for us to fight.’

  ‘We can’t just leave him!’ cried Erin, watching in despair as the ropes pulled Tor down to his knees in the sky, and Marianne laughed harshly.

  ‘We have to!’ Chloe squeezed her hand hard. ‘It’s what he would tell us to do! We have to free Mistral!’

  The next thing Erin knew, Chloe had grabbed the stone from her and set off!

  Erin hesitated. Tor’s ears were flattened against his head, his eyes furious. She hated leaving him, but Chloe was right. She had to try to break the trapping stone! It was the only way to end this.

  Erin raced after Chloe, down towards the rocks at World’s End. The three mysterious stones seemed to sparkle in the starlight. Two tall and one round – the gateway through which Tor and Mistral would hopefully escape back to their own world.

  But only if I can break the stone, thought Erin.

  Erin saw Chloe’s camouflage drop briefly as she landed in the shadows between the two tall stones. It was a good place to hide. They could only be seen if someone flew directly above them and looked down. She joined her and let her own camouflage drop too.

  ‘Here!’ Chloe thrust the trapping stone into her hands. ‘Do the spell!’

  Erin felt panic rising inside her. ‘But I don’t know what to do. Not really.’

  ‘Just do as Tor told you,’ said Chloe. She looked at her confidently. ‘You can do it, Erin!’

  Erin knelt down. What had Tor said earlier in the woods? Water made the trapping stone what it is and water can also destroy it… You must use your stardust magic to call up rain. You must make the rain flow through the hole in the centre of the trapping stone… When the stone splits, I will do the rest.

  But how can he when Marianne’s got him? she thought.

  She shifted position uncomfortably. The shingle was cold and wet beneath her knees. Glancing up at the sky, she saw that Marianne was still taunting Tor, but for how much longer? If she went to the cave, she would quickly realize the stone was missing…

  Erin put the trapping stone down in her lap and took the seeing stone out of her pocket. She had to start the spell. She had to do her bit and then they could worry about Tor later. Fear clawed at her stomach. But what if she couldn’t do it? What if Marianne somehow sensed she was doing this and came into the vision and stopped her?

  Erin bit her lip. She felt just as she had that morning when she had been about to get on Kestrel – she was scared.

  But I did get on him, she thought. I was scared, but I did it. I stopped Tango and I rode Kestrel later too.

  Shutting out the noise of the sea and the feel o
f the shingle under her legs, she stared at the hole in the seeing stone.

  I want to break the trapping stone, she thought. I don’t care about Marianne. I just have to do it.

  A wave of blackness swept instantly over her as though it had been waiting for her to make that decision. When the world went dark, all the sounds stopped too. She was suddenly surrounded by a velvety-soft silence, just as she imagined the silence would be at the bottom of a deep, dark well.

  The darkness cleared. To her surprise, she realized she was in exactly the same place, kneeling on the spit of land beside the three rocks of World’s End with the trapping stone in her lap and the seeing stone in her hands, but there was no noise and no one else there. The sea was flat and still. The sky was a deep black without a single star.

  Erin’s hands shook. She was in a vision. And this was her chance to break the trapping stone. She remembered what Tor had said, and looked at the skies.

  ‘Rain be with me!’ she called loudly.

  Overhead a cloud formed and rain started to fall.

  Erin looked at the hole in the trapping stone. She had to send water through it. She concentrated on the rain and imagined it streaming down like a jet of water instead of falling as raindrops.

  The raindrops moved together in a ball. Magic crackled through Erin’s body. She could feel it building, rising through her, gathering in her fingertips. She sent it rushing out of her towards the water ball in the sky. Sparks lit up the ball of water and then it started to fall in a straight line, like water coming out of a tap. Erin grabbed the trapping stone and held it up in her right hand. The stream of water headed down from the skies towards the stone.

  A wild shriek shattered the air. ‘No!’

  CHAPTER

  Eleven

  Erin jumped in shock. Darkness fell and she cried out in alarm as real life seemed to rush back at her – the noise of the sea, the cold stones under her legs, the water on her skin…

  She realized that, just as in her vision, there were clouds in the sky and it was raining in real life. Because she had lost her concentration, the rain had formed into drops again. No, thought Erin, instinctively focusing on it and forcing it back into a stream. She swept the trapping stone up again to meet the water coming down from the sky. She had to get the stream of water through it and complete the spell!

  But I’m not in a vision any more, she thought. It’s not going to work. I’m not powerful enough! Tor said I had to be in a vision!

  But she couldn’t give up. She held the stone high.

  ‘Erin!’ cried Chloe from behind her. ‘Marianne’s coming!’

  Erin looked round wildly.

  Marianne was streaking down from the sky. ‘You shall not stop me!’ The dark spirit lifted her hands. ‘Rain be with me!’

  As Marianne’s attention was taken up by Erin, her hold on Tor lessened. He struck out with his hooves, tearing through the misty ropes that were holding him. Marianne didn’t notice; she was too busy turning the rain she had called up into a jet of water.

  ‘You will not do this!’ the dark spirit hissed. She sent the water she had conjured straight at Erin’s raincloud to blast it away. But as it collided with the raincloud there was a flash of searing white light, bright as the brightest lightning, and the cloud exploded! Arrows made of water filled the sky. But they were not made from ordinary water; they sparkled with magic.

  Marianne cried out in alarm. ‘What’s happening?’

  There was a whinny and Tor, free from the ropes at last, galloped down from above.

  ‘What’s going on, Tor?’ gasped Erin as he landed on the shingle.

  But before he could answer, several things happened at once. One of the arrows of water shot straight through the hole in the trapping stone Erin was still holding. There was a loud cracking noise and the brown stone broke apart in Erin’s hand. Mist started to stream out of it as Erin dropped it in shock.

  At the same moment, another arrow of water shot through the hole in the giant round hagstone. It exploded with an enormous bang. Chunks of rock ricocheted through the sky.

  ‘Erin! Watch out!’ yelled Chloe as the rocks started to rain down around them. She pulled Erin to one side just in time as a boulder landed where Erin had been standing.

  Erin glanced up and saw that the rocks were missing Marianne. She seemed to be surrounded by an invisible barrier of protection.

  Erin grabbed her own warding stone from her pocket. ‘Protect us!’ she gasped. The rocks continued to pelt down, but now they seem to fall around her and Chloe, never coming closer than a metre away. Tor seemed unaffected: any rocks that touched him made no impact on his cloud body. He walked forward, his eyes fixed on the shimmering mist hovering above the broken trapping stone that was lying on the shingle.

  ‘No!’ shrieked Marianne, flying towards them.

  ‘Fire be with me!’ Chloe shot her hand out. A fireball flew from the tips of her fingers straight at Marianne, sizzling as the raindrops fell on it.

  The fireball bounced off the invisible barrier around Marianne created by her own warding stone, but it distracted her, making her look round. Tor galloped straight at her.

  Marianne stepped backwards instinctively and stumbled over one of the chunks of rock on the ground. As she did, Erin saw a hagstone fall from her pocket.

  ‘She’s dropped her warding stone!’

  Tor reared up over the dark spirit, his front legs striking out. They lashed down towards Marianne’s head. She cried out and ducked away just in time.

  Tor’s body seemed to swell and grow, a cloud threatening to engulf the dark spirit. Marianne turned and raced away. Tor plunged after her, mouth open, ears flattened, but suddenly she vanished into thin air. Erin looked around in alarm. She must have camouflaged herself. Where was she?

  Tor smelt the air, his eyes alert. He paused for a few seconds and then with a triumphant toss of his head he swung round and cantered back towards them. ‘The dark one has fled,’ he said. He landed lightly on the shingle and walked towards the broken trapping stone where the mist was still hovering.

  ‘Is that Mistral?’ Chloe breathed.

  Tor did not reply. Reaching out with his nose, he touched the mist gently. It seemed to vibrate slightly.

  Tor breathed out a soft sound, halfway between a whicker and a word.

  The mist shook more strongly. It grew denser and formed a shape, the shape of a miniature grey colt. Suddenly it expanded outwards and a foal was standing there in front of them. His back was level with Erin’s shoulder; his eyes had the same proud look as Tor’s.

  Tor whinnied in delight. ‘Mistral!’

  The foal reared up and shook back his stubby mane. ‘Father!’

  ‘You are free,’ said Tor.

  Overhead dense clouds started to scud across the sky and rain started to fall.

  ‘Mistral, this is Chloe – and Erin.’ Tor’s eyes held Erin’s for a moment and she saw the gratitude in them. ‘They have helped to free you.’

  ‘Thank you,’ whickered Mistral.

  ‘I don’t know quite how we did it,’ said Erin wonderingly. ‘I thought you said I had to be in a vision for the magic, Tor.’

  ‘It would have been true,’ Tor replied. ‘But when the stream of water you were calling down from the skies met the water Marianne was conjuring there was a magical explosion and a release of power great enough to split not just the trapping stone but also the gateway.’

  ‘Why was there so much power?’ Chloe asked, looking at the destroyed gateway.

  Tor looked at Erin. ‘I am not exactly sure. But there is one possible explanation. Do you remember what I told you about family links being very important in weather weaving?’

  Erin nodded. ‘Yes, you said it was better to use my mum’s hagstones because my magic would add to her magic.’

  Tor nodded. ‘That is because there is a link between the magic of weather weavers who are related, the power from one adds to the power of the other. I believe that is what
happened just now.’

  Erin frowned. That didn’t make sense. ‘But I’m not related to Marianne.’

  Tor breathed out. ‘I think you may be.’

  There was silence for a moment. Erin stared at him.

  ‘Oh,’ Chloe whispered. She gazed at Erin, as if seeing her with new eyes. ‘I suppose you do look a bit like her.’

  ‘No!’ exclaimed Erin, shaking her head. ‘I can’t be related to Marianne! I’d know if I was!’ Tor had got it wrong. ‘I just can’t be.’ She went on. ‘My mum was an only child and my gran was too. I haven’t got any aunts or cousins or anything like that.’

  Tor looked at her gently. ‘I do not understand how it can be. I just know that is the only possible reason why there might have been such an explosion of power when your magic met.’

  Chloe squeezed Erin’s hand. ‘Maybe there is some other explanation though.’

  ‘There has to be!’ insisted Erin.

  ‘Look, forget it for now. What’s important is getting Tor and Mistral back to the sky,’ said Chloe, looking at the sky horses. ‘How are we going to do that now the gateway is broken?’

  ‘We must find another gateway,’ Tor said.

  ‘What about the one under water?’ said Chloe. ‘That Marianne was making.’

  ‘It’s raining now,’ Erin pointed out. ‘That’s stopped there being six days of clear sky.’

  Chloe looked at Tor. ‘So? Couldn’t you and Erin work together to make another six days of calm so it formed in the water again?’

  ‘Unfortunately, Erin would need to be with me every hour of the day and night,’ Tor said. ‘Her magic is not as strong as Marianne’s and the effect of sending me into the sky would not last. I would need to be there all the time for six days to keep the clouds away.’

  ‘Oh,’ said Chloe slowly. ‘We can’t do that then. Jo and your dad would want to know where you were, Erin. So what are we going to do?’

  ‘We must find another gateway,’ Tor said. ‘If there is one.’

  A memory was pulling at Erin’s mind. She realized what it was and took a piece of paper out of her pocket. ‘There is! I’m sure. I found this in the cave. Do you remember the prophecy that Marianne spoke the night Mistral came through the giant hagstone? Well, this is the same prophecy and it talks about gateways. Listen.’ She read out the first six lines: