The Guardian Herd: Landfall

by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

  Then a slapping sound reached her ears, and from the corner of her eye, she saw a shape charge her. It was long, flat, and fast. She screamed, letting out the rest of her air, and was face-to-face with a crocodile. It snatched her wing in its mouth. Forgetting Frostfire, she surged out of the water, still screaming, but the crocodile quickly yanked her back under.

  Brackentail followed and struck the reptile with his hooves as it carried Morningleaf into deeper water. She pushed her nostrils to the surface, taking a deep breath. Then the creature flipped her over and rolled her. Morningleaf twisted around and around, sinking deeper toward the swamp floor. She saw the crocodile’s wide smile, but its eyes were cold and flat, even in the heat of the hunt.

  Morningleaf pushed against the reptile, kicking its underbelly. It paused, and she lunged for the surface. When her ears and nose broke through, she took a breath and heard neighing—it was Shadepebble and Frostfire, arguing with each other. Then the crocodile dragged her back under and pushed her into the soft mud, resting all its weight on her.

  Morningleaf struggled, terrified and about to drown. The crocodile let go of her wing, probably to get a better mouthful of her. Hooves appeared, beating the crocodile—it was Brackentail trying again to free her—but the monster ignored him. Then a huge splashing occurred around her, and she spied another crocodile. Her heart took flight. The second crocodile attacked the first, and it rolled off of her—leaving her suddenly free!

  Morningleaf swam to the surface and erupted into the warm night sky, but her feathers were too wet and her wings were too tired to lift her. She bobbed in the water, gasping. Below her the crocodiles thrashed each other, fighting over which one would get to eat her. In seconds they would be after her again.

  Something sharp clamped her tail, and her body rocketed backward, creating a small wake. She glanced behind her and saw that Brackentail had grabbed the base of her tail, and he was pulling her toward the shore. When her hooves reached the shallows, she galloped out of the water and onto a mangrove island. “Are you hurt?” Brackentail whinnied.

  Morningleaf couldn’t answer; she was busy coughing up water and mud. She couldn’t feel a thing. Her muscles were numb.

  Above her, Morningleaf heard Shadepebble neighing at Frostfire. “You are the destroyer!”

  Morningleaf stared into the sky where Frostfire and his aunt, Shadepebble, hovered and argued.

  “Why don’t you help us instead of helping Nightwing?” Shadepebble asked.

  Frostfire’s patrol steeds surrounded the pair, and none of them were looking at Morningleaf.

  “I am helping you,” Frostfire whinnied. “Nightwing is going to destroy Star, if he hasn’t already, and then he will rule Anok. Who would you rather have by Nightwing’s side? Me or Petalcloud?”

  “Neither,” Shadepebble snapped.

  “I’ll make sure he’s good to the herds,” Frostfire argued.

  Shadepebble snorted. “Oh right, you’ll control him.” She whipped her tail from side to side. “He’ll use you to hurt us, Frostfire, just like Rockwing used you. You can’t control Nightwing.”

  Frostfire pinned his ears.

  “We have to go,” Brackentail whispered into Morningleaf’s ear. “We have to get to the Swallows and follow our plan to trap Frostfire and his patrol. Shadepebble can try, but she won’t convince him to let us go. Trapping Frostfire is our only hope of getting away.”

  Morningleaf panted, regaining her breath. Droplets of her blood leaked into the water, and she watched nervously as new crocodiles swam toward the island. “What about Shadepebble?” she whispered.

  “Once Frostfire sees you, he’ll forget about her. You’re the target.”

  “Okay,” Morningleaf agreed.

  “I’ll get his attention.” Brackentail reared and leaped into the sky, flapping his big orange wings. “You should listen to Shadepebble,” he whinnied to Frostfire.

  Frostfire glared at Brackentail with his mismatched eyes and flicked his tail, enraged. “You again!” he rasped. Frostfire had kicked Brackentail nearly to death twice—once when he’d expelled Brackentail from Mountain Herd and once when he’d kidnapped Morningleaf in the north. It was clear from his ferocious expression that he meant to end the brown colt’s life for good this time.

  Morningleaf flew up beside Brackentail, showing herself. Her wing ached where the crocodile had bitten her, and she was terrified of Frostfire, but all she had to do was imagine Star’s injured body and rage blazed through her like wildfire, giving her energy.

  “It’s the blue-winged filly,” said one of Frostfire’s mares, and Morningleaf recognized her. It was the buckskin sky herder named Larksong, the little mare who’d tracked Morningleaf through the lava tubes. “We can’t lose her again,” Larksong whinnied to Frostfire, beating her dark-blue wings.

  “Now! To the Swallows,” hissed Brackentail.

  He and Morningleaf whirled around and bolted with the five steeds and Frostfire hot on their tails. Shadepebble tore off in the other direction. Now Morningleaf’s friends would execute the second half of Brackentail’s plan, luring Frostfire into a trap. “This better work,” Morningleaf panted, feeling doubtful.

  “It will,” Brackentail answered, and she followed him to the edge of the swamp where, in seconds, she would learn if that was true.

  21

  HERD SECRETS

  THE MORNING AFTER HOOF SHARPENING, STAR, Bumblewind, Dewberry, and Clawfire trotted through the Trap looking for the mare Ashrain to learn the fighting methods of Jungle Herd.

  “I thought you wanted to be a sky herder,” Bumblewind said to Dewberry.

  She shook her head, throwing her long mane in his face. “They don’t fight. They just harass the enemy and squawk in some weird language. I didn’t get it.”

  Bumblewind studied her, but Dewberry wouldn’t meet his gaze. “They kicked you out, didn’t they?” he asked.

  Dewberry huffed. “They thought I was making fun of them.”

  “Were you?”

  She narrowed her eyes.

  Bumblewind nickered. “What did you expect?”

  Dewberry shoved him with her wing. “You talk too much.”

  “I talk too much,” he muttered. Bumblewind edged closer to her and flared his nostrils, drinking in the scent of her tousled mane.

  Star trotted beside them, his eyes trained on the ground. The morning fog was thick and rolling through the forest floor like a hungry cloud, swallowing the brush. Star tripped over rocks and roots hidden in the mist. His hide was damp, and crystal beads of water dripped down his forelock. He wiped his face with his wing and halted when they reached the soft, sloping hills between River Herd’s camp and Mountain Herd’s camp. Star whistled for Ashrain, but there was no response.

  Bumblewind trotted through the trees looking for her.

  “Are you sure you heard Ashrain’s instructions correctly?” Star asked Bumblewind. “She’s not here.”

  Bumblewind halted and nickered for Ashrain, his breath turning to steam in the cold morning air. He flicked his ears, and they all paused to listen. “She said to meet her in the hills at dawn to learn how to fight from the trees.” Bumblewind peered through the fog. “These are the hills, and it’s dawn.” He shrugged, perplexed.

  “Then she’s late,” said Clawfire, staring at the trees.

  “And we’re supposed to meet her today?” Star asked.

  Bumblewind groaned. “Yes.”

  Dewberry defended Bumblewind. “It’s not his mistake; it’s Ashrain’s. She must have forgotten.”

  Bumblewind glanced at her, looking grateful, but Dewberry turned her back on him.

  “Ouch!” Star spooked when something struck his flank, and he crashed into Clawfire. “What was that?”

  Clawfire tensed. “What was what?” Then Clawfire whinnied when he was struck in the shoulder by a flying object.

  “That,” said Star, flaring his wings. Another object whipped through the trees and slammed Dewberry in the neck. She
took flight, hovering over the soil, her teeth bared.

  Star heard excited whispering deep in the forest and then another object, a pinecone, smacked him in the chest. “Over there,” he whispered, pointing his wing.

  Dewberry landed, and the four friends flattened their necks and crept through the fog, slow and steady, letting the mist veil their approach. Another pinecone shattered against Dewberry’s leg, and she trembled with fury. “I will kill whoever is doing this.”

  “Steady,” Clawfire whispered.

  As Star inched forward, facing unknown danger, side by side with his herdmates—he felt again the unfamiliar sensation of contentment. He was just a regular pegasus facing a threat, and he had only his hooves, teeth, and strength to rely on—like everyone else. Why this was comforting to him, he didn’t know, but he liked it. The truth was, his starfire confused him. Maybe he was better off without it.

  Suddenly a flurry of pinecones rained from the heights, causing Star and his friends to scatter. “Come out where I can see you!” whinnied Dewberry, rattling her emerald feathers.

  Star lifted his wings, but the trees were too tight here for him to fly. He turned in a slow circle, baring his teeth. Then he heard nickering. His friends heard it too, and the four of them galloped toward the sound, which was coming from the treetops.

  Star burst through the fog and halted near the voices coming from above. He looked up and saw Ashrain. The warrior mare’s eyes twinkled with mirth.

  Dewberry, who was small enough to lift off in the dense forest, darted toward the voices and hovered near Ashrain. “Very funny,” she neighed, and Star knew Dewberry wanted to strike the mare, but Dewberry’s curiosity distracted her. It appeared that Ashrain was standing in the tree. Behind her, several more trainees were also standing on the branches, many wing lengths above the ground.

  “How are you doing that?” Clawfire asked Ashrain.

  The Jungle Herd mare sobered. “If you hadn’t been late to my training, you would know.”

  Dewberry whirled, staring down at Bumblewind. “So we are late,” she whinnied.

  Bumblewind chewed on his lip. “She said ‘dawn.’”

  Ashrain flicked her ears. “I said ‘before dawn.’”

  “Well, we’re here now,” Clawfire snapped. “How are you standing in those trees?”

  “Come up,” Ashrain said. “We broke some branches over there, making a path so you can fly.” She pointed to her left.

  Clawfire, Star, and Bumblewind found the path and flew up to Ashrain. They hovered, examining the four contraptions Ashrain had built in the trees.

  “In Jungle Herd we call them hoofholds,” Ashrain explained.

  Clawfire flew closer. “Are they like your nests?”

  “Not really,” Ashrain said. “Our nests are much larger. You see these branches I’ve woven together? Each one holds a hoof, so I can stand in the trees and keep my balance.” Ashrain flew off of them so Star and his friends could get a better look.

  Star did not fully understand what he was seeing. The branches were stuck together in unnatural shapes that were strong and the perfect size to hold a hoof. “How did you make them?” Star asked.

  “That part will remain a secret,” Ashrain said. She glanced at her fellow Jungle Herd steeds, and they nickered to one another, thrilled to know things that River Herd did not, and Star felt heat rise in his chest.

  Ashrain glanced at Dewberry. “I will say it wasn’t easy,” she huffed. “There are no vines here in this home you call the Trap.”

  “This isn’t our home,” Dewberry snapped, clenching her jaw. “It’s not our fault there are no vines.”

  Clawfire interrupted. “So you won’t teach us how to make a . . . hoofhold?”

  Ashrain shut her mouth, thinking, and then she spoke. “No. I can’t show you, but I’ve made you each a set so I can teach you something else.”

  Star peered around him and noticed dozens of empty hoofholds. He flew to a set and placed his hooves in each gathering of branches that formed four perfect hoof supports. The footings were solid, and he folded his wings, amazed. He was standing in a tree.

  “Wait,” Clawfire said. “Why can’t you teach us how to make them?”

  Dewberry interrupted. “Who cares? I’m not hiding in any stupid hoofholds during battle.”

  Star and Bumblewind gaped at her. Dewberry pinned her ears, staring at her set like it was a poisonous snake.

  Ashrain nickered at her, unoffended. “You might change your mind after I show you how to use them.” She glanced at Clawfire. “And it’s not that I can’t teach you. I won’t teach you. Construction secrets belong to Jungle Herd, just like jet stream secrets belong to Desert Herd.”

  Clawfire considered Ashrain’s words and decided not to argue. He flew to an open set of hoofholds and settled in. “Okay, so how do we use them?”

  22

  OUTBURST

  ASHRAIN EXHALED, ANSWERING CLAWFIRE’S question about how to use the hoofholds. “I will show you.”

  The rest of her trainees had become antsy, shifting from hoof to hoof. Now they all settled and paid attention along with Star, Bumblewind, and Clawfire. Dewberry refused to take her place; instead she hovered, waiting, and Ashrain ignored her.

  The Jungle Herd mare picked up a stone in her wing. “Our territory is similar to the Trap in one way: we have a lot of trees. We’ve learned to use them, like the animals do. They hide and they wait. We also hide and we wait. When the enemy comes, we kill them with rocks.” She lifted the stone for all to see.

  “You kill with rocks?” Dewberry sputtered, suddenly interested.

  Ashrain nodded. “We set hoofholds all over the jungle. Our foliage is thicker there, and our feathers match the jungle leaves, so we’re well camouflaged.” Ashrain pointed to a nest of twigs near her front hooves, and Star saw that it was loaded with stones. “In Jungle Herd, we call this a basket.”

  “Basket,” Star repeated, his tongue rolling over the strange word.

  Ashrain continued. “We attack like this.” Ashrain lifted a stone out of the basket and rolled it into the crook of her wing. “See that pinecone hanging?”

  Star looked and saw a distant pinecone dangling from a branch. He nodded.

  “Now watch me.” In a blur of action, the mare cocked her wing and then hurled the rock with such force that it hit the pinecone and exploded it.

  Dewberry gasped. “No way!”

  Ashrain grabbed another rock and exploded another pinecone. “A well-aimed rock can kill an adult pegasus,” she said. “We strike between the eyes. We can also break wings and bones with larger rocks.”

  “Show me how,” Dewberry whinnied, her eyes bright.

  Ashrain snorted. “You said it was stupid.”

  “Well that was before I knew I could explode stuff.”

  “Pick a set of hoofholds and grab a rock out of the basket,” Ashrain said. “We call the big rocks bone breakers,” she explained. “You can throw them at a warrior’s legs or wings, breaking them and stopping the warrior. You don’t have to have perfect aim, because the rocks are big. The little stones we call zappers. Zappers are for between the eyes. To kill a pegasus with one—you’ll need perfect aim and maximum velocity.”

  “Nice,” Dewberry said, and she flew to a set of hoofholds.

  Ashrain flung her forelock to the side. “Notice I filled your baskets with bone breakers. There’s no way you’ll learn how to throw a zapper in a short time. It takes years of practice to develop the precision required.”

  “I doubt that,” Dewberry said.

  Star and Bumblewind rolled their eyes, and Clawfire jumped into the conversation. “Let’s see you throw a bone breaker, Dewberry.”

  Dewberry selected a rock out of her basket, aimed at a dangling pinecone, and hurled it. “Ack!” The force of her throw tumbled her out of her hoofholds, and she somersaulted toward the forest floor. She spread her wings before she hit the ground, landed with a stumble, and glanced quickly toward her
pinecone. It was still dangling. She’d missed it completely. “What?”

  Ashrain and the other Jungle Herd steeds nickered at her. “Do you believe me now?” Ashrain asked.

  Dewberry flew back up into the tree, more determined than ever. “That rock was too heavy for me. I want you to teach me how to throw the zappers.”

  Ashrain pinned her ears, her patience gone. “I’m not bargaining with you, Dewberry. I’m already giving up a Jungle Herd secret to protect him.” She pointed at Star. “He’s not even part of my herd. He’s part of yours, and if Thunderwing had killed him like he was supposed to, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

  Absolute silence followed her words. Star’s heart thrummed, and his breathing increased so quickly he felt light-headed.

  Ashrain threw open her wings. “I didn’t mean that,” she said, distressed and looking at Star. “I don’t know why I said it.”

  Star’s sense of belonging wilted, and he felt his mood sinking. He closed his eyes, wishing he could disappear.

  “I’m truly sorry,” Ashrain said gently. “Look, I miss my home in the jungle. Here I’m always cold, and I’m always worried about Nightwing.”

  “You’re scared,” Clawfire stated.

  “Yes,” Ashrain admitted. “I guess I am.”

  Clawfire nodded. “We’re all scared.”

  Ashrain flew to Star, hovering near the hoofholds where Star stood. “I didn’t grow up with you. I don’t really know you at all. I just know you woke Nightwing when you received your power. Sometimes it gets to me.”

  “You’re one to complain,” Dewberry snapped. “Nightwing was born to your herd, you know. If Star is our problem, then Nightwing is yours.”

  “That was four hundred years ago.”

  “So what!” Dewberry whinnied, narrowing her eyes. “The Destroyer is here because your guardian herd failed.”

  “Stop it,” Clawfire neighed. “Neither herd can change the past.” He peered at Dewberry. “Ashrain is helping us. She’s offering us her herd secrets, and this rock throwing will be useful in the Trap. We can hide and snipe our enemies before they see us. It’s brilliant.”