The Guardian Herd: Landfall

by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

  It was Petalcloud.

  13

  CLOSE CALL

  STAR HAD NOT SEEN PETALCLOUD SINCE HE’D offered to heal Snow Herd of the Blue Tongue plague. The illness had ravaged her steeds soon after Star received his power, but she’d refused his help, unwilling to owe him for the favor. Now here the mare was, following her patrol into the Trap and keeping company with the largest stallion Star had ever seen. He squeezed between the trees behind her like a giant moose, and he was dapple gray with no markings. His quick black eyes swept the surroundings, and his black mane flowed to the ground. Star watched his hooves pound the soil like boulders, their edges so sharp they glinted in the dark. Star flattened his ears, taking short, shallow breaths.

  Petalcloud sniffed the trampled moss on the forest floor. “The rebels have been here,” she whinnied to her massive companion. He halted next to her.

  “And not long ago,” he said, agreeing with her, “but there’s no sign of Star or his body.” The stallion’s voice was deep but softer than Star expected from the size of him.

  Petalcloud curled her lip. “We’ll keep searching.”

  “It would be foolish to hide him here, with all the others,” the gray stallion said.

  Petalcloud coiled back her neck and made a hissing noise like a cobra.

  The huge stallion tucked his tail and closed his mouth. Star saw the cold ferocity in Petalcloud’s eyes. “You will leave no thicket unturned, Stormtail,” she commanded, her voice as slick as winter ice.

  A brown mare with white spots across her hind flanks loped through the forest and halted behind Petalcloud, who twirled around, her hooves slicing up the soil. “What do you want?” she snapped.

  Star was stunned. Petalcloud had sharpened her hooves since he’d last seen her.

  The new mare lowered her head and spoke quickly. “A spy has brought news,” she said, out of breath. “Morningleaf was spotted in Desert Herd’s territory.”

  “When?”

  “Just days ago.”

  Petalcloud’s eyes softened. “She’s with Star.” Petalcloud whistled for her Ice Warrior patrol. The six steeds returned at a gallop and bowed their heads to her with expressions of sheer devotion, and Star wondered at it. This mare inspired them like no other. Was it her beauty or her ambition? Star guessed it was ambition that inflamed their hearts for her. If Petalcloud was anything, she was single-minded and pure in her quest for power, her dedication absolute. Any steed following her could expect results.

  “We leave for the desert tonight,” she whinnied.

  Petalcloud reared and galloped away, toward the edge of the Trap, with her steeds trailing behind her.

  When the echo of their hoofbeats had faded, the hiding pegasi exhaled in a long, collective breath. Several collapsed right where they stood, others paced nervously, and others rattled their feathers in triumph.

  “That was close,” Bumblewind said.

  “Your feather!” Star gasped. “I thought they would see it.”

  Bumblewind shuddered. “I never liked that feather.”

  Star nickered, and then his knee finally buckled and he fell down.

  “Are you okay?” Bumblewind asked.

  Star nodded. “It feels good to lie down. Did you see the size of that stallion with Petalcloud?”

  “The beast with rocks for hooves? Yeah, I saw him.”

  Sweetroot stumbled forward and lowered her head, sniffing Star. “I’m glad Clawfire found you.” She gave Bumblewind a sharp glance. “You two should not wander so far on your own.”

  Hazelwind and Silverlake approached. “Morningleaf’s plan is working,” Silverlake said, her eyes glowing. “Sightings of her across Anok will confuse the armies.”

  “She’s smart,” Star said, his voice barely a whisper. But he wished she were here, with him.

  Silverlake took a deep, shuddering breath. “I met with the United Council last night. Now that you’re awake, we’ll move you soon, and we’ll keep moving you so you won’t be found.”

  Star shook his head, wishing he had the strength to stand up. “No.”

  Silverlake paused, flicking her ears and staring at Star. “What do you mean, no?”

  “Just what I said. I’m going to stay here and fight with all of you.”

  Bumblewind gaped at Star, and Star knew how he looked—defying the United Council’s decision from the ground because he was too weak to stand up—but he also understood it was time he made some decisions. This wasn’t an issue between herds; this was an issue with a destroyer who threatened the future of Anok. “I know what you’re thinking,” Star continued. “That I’m injured, that I didn’t defeat Nightwing like everyone thought I would, and that maybe I’m still a dud, a useless black foal.”

  “What?” Bumblewind whinnied. “No one is thinking any of that.”

  Star swiveled his head, assessing the dark forest and the pegasi he’d invited here to hide from Nightwing, feeling like he’d failed them. “Maybe not, but it’s what I’m thinking.”

  Star lifted his head and forced himself to stand. He was taller than most pegasi, and he raised his neck so they would have to look up at him. “It’s time I learned how to fight like a stallion—a warrior stallion. Petalcloud’s Ice Warriors and Frostfire’s Black Army aren’t magical; we can defeat them. Nightwing will see that we can’t be conquered by war. And he’s afraid of the Ancestors who protected me on the battlefield—it’s why he’s offering the pact. Don’t you see? He doesn’t want to come after me himself.” Star glanced at each of them. “From now on I’ll battle by your side. I’m your largest steed and your best flyer.” Star glanced at Hazelwind. “Train me. Train every steed in the Trap.”

  Hazelwind gasped.

  The trees swirled around Star as a wave of dizziness overcame him. His body crumbled, and he rested his head on the moss. “But first, please let me sleep.”

  14

  CONFESSION

  AS MORNINGLEAF AND BRACKENTAIL CRUISED the currents over the Sea of Rain searching for Shadepebble, Morningleaf observed Brackentail out of the corner of her eye. Questions that had lingered in her for a long time surfaced now that they were alone. Brackentail had never spoken to her about his and Echofrost’s captivity with Mountain Herd back when they were weanlings, and certainly no steed wanted to hear about it, but now that they’d befriended Rockwing’s filly, Shadepebble, she was more curious than ever. “Did you meet Shadepebble when you were living with Mountain Herd?”

  Brackentail’s head shot up, and he faltered. His captivity was a sore subject, and Morningleaf knew that, so she waited, giving Brackentail time to think and then answer her. Finally he said, “Rockwing didn’t allow me near his filly, but she spoke to me a few times he didn’t know about.”

  “What did she say to you?”

  “She asked if I missed home and if I was being treated well.” He trailed off, and Morningleaf felt a stab of old anger. Brackentail had been treated well, everyone knew that, but Echofrost had not.

  Morningleaf bit her lip, knowing her next question would upset Brackentail, but she’d never understood why Echofrost had been tortured. It was not customary to attack foreign youngsters for no reason. As they glided over the sea, she asked, “Why were the pegasi there so mean to Echofrost? She was just a weanling.”

  Brackentail curved his wings and braked, hovering over the sea, his eyes filling with tears. “I tried to help her,” he said, his voice cracking. “She doesn’t know it, but I tried.”

  Morningleaf hovered next to him, listening, shocked to see his tears.

  Brackentail’s gaze grew distant as he remembered. “Rockwing kept me guarded. He wanted information, about Star. I helped him; it’s true. Everyone knows what I did.” Brackentail’s chest heaved, and his lower lip trembled. Morningleaf felt her anger begin to melt as the colt confessed.

  “But one day I saw Echofrost walking past me, and I noticed her tail.” Brackentail blinked, and the tears rolled down his cheeks. “It was ripped out. And that
—that was just the beginning.” He paused for breath, and Morningleaf nickered to soothe him. “The yearlings made a game of harassing her. I told Rockwing about it, but he didn’t care. So I tried to bargain with him. I said I wouldn’t give him the information he wanted unless he let Echofrost go.” Brackentail winced at the memory and then glanced at Morningleaf with haunted eyes. “But that made things worse for her.”

  Morningleaf’s heart ached at the thought of her best friend being tortured by bigger, older steeds.

  Brackentail continued. “Rockwing led me into a forest where we were concealed by trees. Two of the meanest yearling colts dragged Echofrost into view.”

  “No,” Morningleaf cried, regretting her questions. “Don’t tell me.”

  “You asked,” Brackentail said with a bite to his voice she didn’t expect.

  Morningleaf’s heart fluttered and she felt weak, but she listened as he told his story, realizing he needed to tell it.

  “They took turns kicking her with sharpened hooves, leaving trails of blood dripping down her beautiful coat.” The warm winds took his words and cast them across the sea, but not before Morningleaf heard them, absorbed them, and they pricked her heart like thorns.

  Brackentail continued with a shudder. “I galloped toward her, but Rockwing clubbed me and knocked me down. He said her beating was my punishment for thinking I could bargain with him. He said if I threatened to withhold information again, he would kill her.” Brackentail looked at Morningleaf. “When the yearlings finished kicking her, they dropped Echofrost in the grass and left her by herself. Rockwing forced me away.”

  Brackentail choked on his words, blinking back a waterfall of tears. “But as Rockwing dragged me through the trees, Echofrost looked up and saw me. I wanted to whinny to her, but Rockwing had warned me not to speak. We just left her there, alone, and . . . and I will never forget the look she gave me.” Brackentail groaned and his legs stabbed the sky, and Morningleaf saw he was tortured too.

  After a moment he regained his voice. “Echofrost is right to hate me. All of it—all of it—was my fault.” Brackentail eyes widened, bearing the weight of his guilt. The information he’d given Rockwing had helped the over-stallion defeat Sun Herd in the battle that followed. It was only Silverlake’s intervention that had saved them from a worse massacre.

  Morningleaf had no idea of the depth of Brackentail’s guilt and sorrow. She tried to soothe him. “Rockwing was coming for us either way.”

  “Maybe,” Brackentail agreed, sniffling. “But I helped him—I will never forgive myself. And it’s my fault Echofrost was hauled into it. No one hates me as much as I do.” He said this last bit while peering at the horizon, his neck arched and his eyes softened. He took a deep breath, as though resigned to his burdens.

  Brackentail’s confession dissolved the last of Morningleaf’s anger toward him. “You were a weanling too,” she said.

  Brackentail exhaled. “There’s no excuse for what I did. But I was wrong about Star. I’m dedicated to him now. I believe he’s the healer and that he’ll unite the herds.” He peered at Morningleaf, leaving the rest of his feelings unspoken.

  Morningleaf glanced around them. “I still see no trace of Shadepebble.”

  They resumed flying and searching. “At least there’s nothing out here that can hurt her,” Brackentail said.

  Just then Shadepebble’s terrified screams carried to them across the sea.

  15

  STRENGTH

  MORNINGLEAF AND BRACKENTAIL BANKED INTO the wind and dived toward the sound of Shadepebble’s screams. Morningleaf racked her brain, ticking off the dangers that might have befallen her friend: foreign pegasi, wing cramps, or more turbulence. She flew as fast as she could, scanning the sky and the sea.

  “There!” Brackentail whinnied. “In the water.”

  Morningleaf looked down and saw Shadepebble bobbing in the waves, a circle of blood expanding around her. Morningleaf sucked in her breath, and tears sprang to her eyes.

  Brackentail dropped into a nose dive, and Morningleaf followed. Six large sharks with odd-shaped heads coasted around her, slow and lazy, until bursts of excitement caused them to dart spasmodically. Their jaws snapped in short, fast bites. They were tearing at pieces of white flesh floating on the surface, and Shadepebble was staring at the creatures, paralyzed with terror.

  Morningleaf scanned the yearling filly and whinnied to Brackentail. “The blood’s not hers.”

  Brackentail soared closer to Shadepebble and neighed in her ears. “Fly!”

  Shadepebble snapped her head toward them, and her expression melted with relief. She fluttered her wings, and Morningleaf understood the problem. On land, Shadepebble needed a running start to fly. Taking off from a motionless position was impossible for her misshapen wings.

  “I’ll distract the sharks,” Brackentail called out. He flew low and kicked at the water, splashing and drawing the sharks’ attention toward him.

  Morningleaf hovered over Shadepebble. The sharks had killed a large fish, and most of it had been eaten. “You have time; don’t panic,” Morningleaf encouraged. Her friend’s eyes were blank with shock.

  “I’m so tired,” Shadepebble said. She grit her teeth and flapped her wings, but could not lift herself out of the water.

  “Swim then,” Morningleaf urged, keeping an eye on the feeding frenzy. “Let’s get away from this blood.”

  Shadepebble nodded and paddled toward Morningleaf while Brackentail teased the sharks. “She can’t fly,” Morningleaf neighed to the brown colt.

  “Let’s pick her up,” he whinnied, Morningleaf flew low and gripped the root of Shadepebble’s left wing in her teeth. Brackentail took the right wing, and they heaved her out of the water and away from the sharks.

  They flew like this through the night, using the stars to guide them, and Morningleaf struggled to keep Shadepebble out of the water. The pink-winged filly was small but so was Morningleaf. Shadepebble’s hooves skimmed the waves, and she panicked several times when she saw large creatures cruising beneath the surface. Halfway through the night, Morningleaf’s strength gave out. She and Brackentail lowered Shadepebble into the ocean, and Morningleaf floated beside her. “I have to rest.”

  Brackentail flew circles over them, watching for sharks, and the two fillies paddled west. After a while Brackentail whinnied a warning. “I see something under the water. It’s big.”

  Morningleaf clutched her hooves tight to her belly. “I’ve rested enough; come help me lift her.”

  Brackentail coasted toward Morningleaf, and they each took one of Shadepebble’s wings. Soon they were flying again, but Morningleaf continued to struggle with Shadepebble’s weight. The tension kept all of them silent, and Morningleaf became confident they would die in the sea and never be found. Hunger tugged at her gut, and incredible thirst burned her throat. She had not realized Jungle Herd’s territory was so far away.

  Finally the sun rose, coloring the water pink, and her friends were still alive and airborne.

  “There’s the shore,” whinnied Brackentail.

  Morningleaf wanted to cry with relief. She adjusted their course when she saw the strip of sand bordering the ocean and the thick foliage beyond: the jungle. The climate had changed dramatically. The air was warm and heavy with moisture. Morningleaf remembered this from her captivity in the lava tubes. The jungle was the exact opposite of the desert. Everything here was damp and green and wet.

  It was several more hours before they reached the shore, and when they did, the three of them tumbled onto the sand and collapsed.

  “Ahh, that feels good,” cried Shadepebble, grinding her sore shoulders into the sand as she rolled. It was exactly how Star used to rub his back on the banks of Feather Lake when he was a foal.

  Morningleaf rolled too, scratching between her wings, and then led her friends to the edge of the rain forest. She showed them the wide, curved leaves that captured and held rainwater. “This is safe to drink,” she said. “But the
lake and river water will make you sick.” They slurped the fresh water out of the leaves, and it soothed Morningleaf’s dry throat.

  Shadepebble’s chest shook with pent-up emotion. “I’m not as strong as you two.”

  Morningleaf tossed her mane. “You’re plenty strong, Shadepebble.” Morningleaf admired the spotted filly. She’d risked banishment when she refused to return home after Frostfire ordered her to, and she’d committed treason against her sire when she flew to Hazelwind in the Sun Herd lands and warned him of Rockwing’s imminent attack. Morningleaf gasped as a thought struck her.

  “What is it?” Brackentail nickered.

  She reeled in the hot sun, thinking. Both Shadepebble and Brackentail had committed treason against their herds, so why did she admire one and not the other? Both steeds thought they were helping—and if Star had turned out to be a destroyer, Brackentail would have become a hero.

  Morningleaf stared at her two friends, who were staring back at her, and she dashed forward and wrapped her wings around them both. To go against your own herd required more strength than Morningleaf could imagine. “You two are the strongest pegasi I know . . . next to Star,” she quickly added.

  Shadepebble and Brackentail relaxed and leaned into her.

  “She’s lost her mind,” Shadepebble nickered.

  Brackentail nuzzled Morningleaf, tucking his nose under her chin, and for the first time, his close presence didn’t irritate her, and this startled Morningleaf. She pulled away from her friends and wiped her eyes. “Echofrost said Frostfire sent scouts from his Black Army to Jungle Herd, and they could be anywhere.” She glanced at the clear sky overhead. “But I think we all need to rest before we tangle with them. Agreed?”

  Her two friends nodded. They had flown all day and all night without much of a break.

  “Come on; we can sleep in Jungle Herd’s southern nesting grounds. Can you fly now?” she asked Shadepebble.

  The little filly galloped forward, flapping her wings, and then she lifted off.