Riders of the Realm #3

by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

  The rebel Landwalkers donned their makeshift shields and spears, and Echofrost rattled her feathers. Hazelwind moved closer and touched his muzzle to hers, making her heart thud harder. “Are you ready for this?” he asked, brushing his wing against her healing wound.

  “I’m ready,” she answered.

  Storm Herd collected, watching the Landwalkers with mounting excitement.

  Windheart and Thornblaze scampered from beneath Dewberry’s wings, chasing insects. Echofrost gaped at the pinto. “You brought the twins?”

  “What was I supposed to do with them?” Dewberry asked. Feathers shed from her wings like emerald tears. Stress creased her forehead.

  Echofrost had never seen Dewberry look frightened before. “Take them to the coast. Wait for us there.”

  Dewberry shook her head. “I spent the last few days training the sky herders, but they’re not ready to fight without me. I have to lead them.” She stamped her hoof in frustration. “In Anok, the elders would watch the twins for me, but we have no elders.”

  Echofrost closed her eyes, thinking. Who could watch the foals? Then her eyes sprang open. “Lutegar will protect them!”

  Dewberry snorted. “That old swamp buffalo?”

  “Lutegar adores them and they trust her. They’ll be safe in Darthan’s barn.”

  At that moment, a fast breeze rushed through the jungle, almost knocking Windheart over. “They can’t stay here,” Echofrost whinnied.

  “All right,” Dewberry agreed. “I’ll take them now. It’s not far.” She gave a low whistle and the twins lifted off and glided obediently to her side. They soared toward Darthan’s barn, flying low with their hooves skimming the underbrush. The foals’ tiny wings flapped at twice the speed of Dewberry’s.

  Echofrost turned her attention to the Landwalkers. They were speaking rapidly to one another; gesturing toward the Ruk. The rebels adjusted their branch-woven shields and lifted their wooden spears. When they were ready, Brauk whistled the command to go. The Landwalkers and the pegasi marched forward, treading as softly as possible.

  The group crept between the trees, heading directly toward the Ruk. A calm settled in Echofrost’s heart, as it always did before battle. Pegasi were born warriors. Even Dewberry’s foals knew how to bite and kick and rear, and unlike most hooved animals, pegasi did not run from danger.

  Echofrost’s muscles stretched and bunched as she assessed her health. She felt rested, strong, and alert. Her threaded scar was flat, the skin closed tight. She drew a breath, filling her lungs. It still hurt to breathe deeply, and she swallowed the slight gasp that rose to her lips.

  Dewberry soon returned and caught up to them. “The twins are safe,” she said. “You know, if that Lutegar had wings, she’d make a pretty good warrior.”

  Echofrost nickered, imagining Lutegar’s large body flying with Storm Herd. Meanwhile, the sun rose in the east and tried to poke holes through the heavy wet clouds.

  “Follow Brauk’s lead,” Echofrost instructed Storm Herd. “Fight his enemies.”

  The pegasi rattled their feathers and flattened their ears as they all marched toward the Ruk.

  31

  The Ruk

  IN THE HUSH THAT PRECEDED DAWN, THE REBEL army reached the Ruk. Echofrost spied Harak’s Sky Guard patrolling over the eastern forest, too far away to easily notice them.

  “So this barn is where the mares and foals are kept?” Dewberry whispered.

  “Yes,” Echofrost answered. “And the Fliers of the imprisoned Riders we freed are also inside.”

  Brauk dismounted and forced open the huge sliding wood doors. He, Tuni, and the others slipped inside, followed by Dewberry, Echofrost, Hazelwind, Shysong, Redfire, and Graystone. Muffled cries arose from the Sandwen grooms who worked at the Ruk. Tuni, Ossi, and Mut snatched the grooms and clapped their hands over their mouths. “Shhh,” Tuni warned them.

  When the grooms saw how many rebel soldiers had entered the barn, they ceased struggling and the Landwalkers released them. “Your Fliers are that way,” one said. He pointed down an aisleway. The eldest groom flattened herself against the wall as the Landwalkers and the wild steeds marched past her.

  A jungle breeze blew through the doors, carrying the pegasi’s scents deep into the Ruk. The Kihlari breeding stallions reacted first, blaring piercing challenges to the strange steeds in their midst.

  Hazelwind could not resist their calls to battle and he bugled back at them, stamping his hooves. Echofrost exhaled, sensing how fast this situation could unravel.

  “These wild Kihlari are upsetting our sires,” a groom said, full of concern for his tame charges. Thunderous pounding filled the Ruk as the breeding stallions kicked their stall walls.

  “We’ll be quick,” Brauk said. He hurried to release the trapped Fliers. They nickered with joy when they saw their Riders coming.

  As Echofrost passed rows and rows of Kihlari stalls, her heart twirled in her chest. She counted fifteen foals, each bright eyed and well formed with perfect wings and glossy feathers. They watched her, bleating curiously. Some reared to better see over their stall doors. The mothers whickered and pranced, nervous at the influx of wild steeds.

  “Look at them,” Dewberry whispered. “They’re beautiful.”

  Unlike the foals in Anok, who were lean and dusty and feather crumpled from playing—these grain-fed colts and fillies were round bodied and sleek. Their dams had clear, soft eyes. They seemed gentle yet fearless. Their physical conformation was perfect. In Anok, any mare could have a foal. Here, only the best were allowed.

  The angry stallions kicked their doors so hard the walls shook.

  “Come for our mares, have you?” one stallion blared at Hazelwind. “You’ll have to kill us first.”

  Hazelwind pranced side by side with Graystone and Redfire. Their feathers had puffed, making their wings appear twice their normal size. Their muscles rippled like hot fluid beneath their hides, and they could not tear their focus off the braying challenges of the foreign stallions.

  Echofrost nudged her friends. “We’re not here to fight with these steeds.”

  Redfire blew hard out his nostrils. “But they’re calling us out!”

  “No they aren’t,” she assured him. “They’ve never lived in a proper herd. They don’t understand what their challenges mean to us.”

  “I think they do,” Hazelwind snorted, but he lowered his wings.

  Outside, Echofrost heard many pairs of boots tramping through mud.

  Tuni heard them too. “Soldiers are coming,” she warned.

  The oldest groom shouted at Brauk and the rebels. “Get your Fliers and get out of here before our sires tear down the Ruk!”

  The Landwalkers quickly freed their trapped Fliers and chose several retired Kihlari to fill out their ranks. The thumping boots moved closer. Shouts sounded and Echofrost heard the clang of metal. “We’re going to get trapped in here if Brauk and Tuni don’t hurry up.” She glanced at Dewberry. “If you want to free the dams, you’d better do it now.”

  Dewberry reared and whinnied to the breeding mares and stallions. “Steeds of the Ruk!” she called. “Listen to me. You descend from the ancient Lake Herd pegasi of Anok, the legendary wind surfers of the Flatlands. You aren’t meant to live locked in stalls. Your ancestors lived free. Come with us and join our herd. Live untamed, as pegasi are meant to do!”

  The stallions quieted and the Ruk went still. Echofrost lashed her tail, ears pricked toward the Landwalkers approaching the Ruk. She heard low voices outside.

  Dewberry continued. “With us, you can choose your own mates, fly when you want, and raise your foals. You don’t have to watch them get sold when they’re yearlings. In our herd, mares and stallions join for life. You’ll always have protection and you’ll never be alone.” All ears pricked toward Dewberry. “But you have to want freedom. It’s your choice.” She glanced at Hazelwind and he nodded to her.

  Using her wings, Dewberry began unlatching stall doors and flinging them
open. “Go!” she cried to the mothers. “Live free!” Then she dived out of their way.

  The Kihlari breeders blinked at her from inside their open stalls.

  “Go on,” Dewberry urged. A colt bleated and hid behind his mother’s wing. Not one steed moved.

  Dewberry faced Storm Herd and shrugged her wings in disappointment. “I was expecting a bigger moment,” she nickered.

  Hazelwind shuffled his hooves. “The soldiers are rounding this barn,” he whinnied.

  “Think about joining us,” Echofrost finished, glancing at the pampered Kihlari foals. “We’ll teach you our ways.”

  A soldier’s voice sounded, giving orders. “Surround the barn,” she commanded. She and her patrol had approached the Ruk from the south.

  “Let’s go!” Echofrost whinnied, and the urgent tone in her voice electrified her friends. They galloped toward the exit.

  Brauk and his Riders mounted their steeds, riding bareback. Those who didn’t own Fliers chose retired Ruk steeds to ride, a mix of older mares and stallions. And they all exited the Ruk.

  The female groom flattened herself against the wall again as they loped past. “Land to skies,” she whispered.

  Echofrost galloped out of the barn just as the sun breached a cloud, casting the winged army in golden light. The pegasi leaped into the sky, over the heads of the angry soldiers.

  “Call General Nightseer!” a soldier cried.

  Brauk’s Flier, Kol, trumpeted an over-stallion’s call to battle.

  The final war for the clan had begun.

  32

  Descent

  RAHKKI GUIDED SULA OVER THE VILLAGE AS THE fortress bells began to ring, calling the Sky Guard army. His pulse thrummed and his muscles twitched. The wind ruffled Sula’s purple feathers, carrying their dry scent to his nostrils. She pumped her wings and whinnied, and the sound vibrated her rib cage. She glanced back. Her eyes were dark shining pools. Her teeth were bared. Rahkki gripped her mane tighter, preparing.

  “Head to the fortress,” Brauk commanded.

  Sloppy puddles marked the terrain below and massive cloud drifts layered the sky, tumbling upward in dark billowing clumps that drifted south, pushed by the breeze. It was a perfect day for sheltering by a hearth and telling stories, playing stones by candlelight, or fighting beetles with the other Riders—but none of this was to be. The fortress bells had clanged, tolling the onset of battle.

  The villagers poured out of their huts, armed with shovels and hammers and covered in thick hides to protect their bodies. They cheered when they spotted Brauk. I’Lenna, disguised in her rain cloak, flew beside Rahkki. Feylah flew with Thaan and Tully, hidden by her helmet.

  “Land to skies,” I’Lenna hissed. “My mother has pushed this too far.”

  Harak’s soldiers spotted the villagers. “Get back inside!” They rushed in to escort the villagers to their huts.

  “We won’t hide from you!” shouted the clan blacksmith. He raced toward the soldiers, hammer lifted over his head. The adult villagers charged with him. They swarmed the soldiers, who seemed frozen with shock.

  One of the captains shouted. “Fight back!”

  Another yelled, “But these are our people!”

  “No. They’re traitors to the crown!”

  This got the soldiers going. Not all of Lilliam’s forces respected her, but they were loyal to her throne. Rahkki watched as they lifted their sawa swords and pressed into the villagers, cutting and arresting.

  “Brauk!” Rahkki screamed over the rising wind. “We’ve got to help the people.”

  A curt nod from his brother and then Brauk was descending. The fortress and the queen would have to wait.

  At the sound of Rahkki’s voice, the villagers cheered. “It’s Sula and Rahkki, the Commander of Dragons!” shouted a villager. “They aren’t dead!” The soldiers hesitated, and the villagers gained ground on them.

  Brauk shot Rahkki a triumphant grin. Maybe rumors weren’t so awful, Rahkki thought.

  But his musings were squashed a moment later when Harak’s soldiers attacked with renewed vigor. They lit firebrands and tossed them at the huts, setting thatched roofs on fire. Smoke quickly rose and the Kihlari had to dodge it or risk inhaling it.

  Tuni’s mother, Kashik Hightower, blasted out of her home wielding one of Tuni’s old practice swords. Tuni landed her borrowed Ruk stallion beside her mother and they fought together. “We’re your clanmates,” Kashik yelled at the soldiers.

  Several soldiers focused on arresting villagers rather than fighting them. Others had switched into battle mode and saw only enemies. They struck and parried and burned more huts.

  The rebels landed to help the villagers. They fought the soldiers from the ground. I’Lenna ducked as a sword grazed past her head. “Get into the sky,” Brauk snapped at her. “You’re not protected.”

  I’Lenna, who had no shield or armor, nodded. She and Firo glided out of the melee and joined Feylah, Thaan, and Tully, who watched helplessly.

  Brauk leaped off Kol’s back. He twirled and thrust his sword. Kol reared, clubbing soldiers with his hooves. The wild herd dived from the sky, striking Harak’s soldiers, who were no match for their speed and strength. Coughing on smoke, Rahkki balanced on Sula as she landed and galloped into the fray.

  “Get to the jungle,” Tuni screamed to Kashik and the other villagers.

  Rahkki watched in horror as Sandwens attacked Sandwens. Young mothers sprinted away, carrying their babies into the rain forest. The jungle should not be safer than the village. This was wrong, all wrong. But at least the soldiers didn’t bother to chase them there. Animals had broken free from their pens, and Sula leaped over a squealing pig as it scrambled across their path.

  Anger, hot and pulsing, roared to life in Rahkki’s chest. “Stop fighting your own people,” he screamed at the soldiers. They ignored him.

  Brauk leaped aboard Kol and flew him over everyone’s heads. He raised his hand. “Halt,” he commanded with such bloodborn authority that everyone obeyed him.

  The bleating of animals and crackling of flames provided the undercurrent for what he was about to say. Beyond him, Rahkki heard the Kihlari stable’s ceiling opening. The Sky Guard would be upon them in seconds, but in this breath of a moment, Brauk spoke to the villagers and soldiers alike. “Queen Lilliam sends half your tithes to Queen Tavara of the Second Clan. She’s stealing from you.”

  The villagers gaped at him.

  Harak’s battalion leader shifted and her armor creaked. “Prove it.”

  Brauk’s gaze was indulgent. “You know it’s true. You’re living it. Why can’t Lilliam afford to feed her army? Why does she charge for medicine? Why can’t she afford war with the giants?” His jaw muscles fluttered angrily. “Lilliam’s own general turned on her. Have you wondered why?” His golden eyes swept across everyone present.

  His words sent shock waves through the villagers and the soldiers.

  “Don’t fight us,” Brauk implored Harak’s battalion of soldiers. “Help us.”

  Sudden hollering and whinnying filled the sky. “Incoming!” Tuni shouted.

  Rahkki snapped his head toward the noise and watched the Sky Guard Riders fly up and out of the Kihlari barn, Harak in the lead. The villagers sagged at the sight of them.

  The Riders, fresh and hostile, were well fed because they’d been hunting off the backs of their winged steeds, which was much easier than hunting on foot. Now, with their squeaky-clean armor sparkling and their weapons gleaming, Rahkki’s heart sank.

  “Well?” Brauk urged the battalion leader. “Which side are you on?”

  Her eyes bounced from the poorly armed rebels to the glossy and well-fed Sky Guard army. The battalion leader heaved a breath. “I’m on the side of the throne.”

  Brauk twirled his songsword, creating a soft yet violent hum. “Lilliam is using that throne to rob the clan. Help us take it back.”

  The woman shook her head. “No. We’re not traitors. We fight for the queen.”r />
  Just then a shining bay steed dropped from the clouds and Brauk grimaced. It was his sister, Feylah. She was supposed to stay hidden and safe until the battle was over. She glided toward the small battalion of soldiers and ripped off her helmet. “My mother was the Pantheress, Reyella Stormrunner,” she said, sweeping her golden eyes over them. “I am Feylah Stormrunner, her heir and your rightful queen.”

  The soldiers and villagers gaped at her, confused.

  Brauk rushed his sister, his face hard with anger. “Put your helmet on, Feylah. You’re only the queen if you’re alive. I can’t fight Harak and protect you at the same time.”

  “They need to know I’m here.”

  “Not at the expense of your life!”

  Feylah thumped her helmet angrily back onto her head. At a nod from Brauk, Tuni flew up and whisked her into the center of Brauk’s army while Brauk faced the battalion leader. “If you won’t fight for me, will you fight for her?”

  “The Pantheress had a daughter? When?” she asked, staring at him openmouthed.

  Harak and his Sky Guard soared closer.

  “I don’t have time to explain,” Brauk shouted. “But I tell you the truth, that is my sister. Now you are either with us or against us. Which is it?”

  The battalion leader glanced at her soldiers, read something in their eyes, and made a decision. She nodded. “We’re with you, Stormrunner.”

  Brauk grinned. “To Fort Prowl.” He rallied everyone. “Down with Lilliam!”

  The attack on the villagers ceased and Brauk’s forces, combined now with one of Harak’s battalions, marched and flew to the iron gates that protected the queen.

  Rahkki glided to I’Lenna’s side. “Get to the rendezvous spot we talked about last night. I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.” They had formed their own plan that Brauk knew nothing about, and Rahkki’s heart raced thinking about it. He reached between their two mares and grabbed I’Lenna’s hand, squeezing it gently.