The Guardian Herd

by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

  Nightwing glided toward him and hovered, his wings creating wind that blew back Star’s forelock. Nightwing nickered, and sparks popped between his teeth. “Here we are again,” he said. His eyes turned from brown to silver as he opened his mouth and blasted Star with his fire.

  Star sprang his shield. The starfire split around it, unable to touch him. Star watched the clouds drift by, waiting until the black stallion shut his mouth. When he did, Star retracted his shield, unharmed. “Let them go.” he repeated, keeping his voice calm and steady.

  Nightwing roared and dived toward the pegasi in the valley. Screaming erupted as they stampeded, and Nightwing unhinged his jaws to blast them.

  Star tucked his wings and tore after Nightwing, flying under him and then darting upward and ramming him in the belly. Nightwing spun across the sky, then fell, slamming into the grass and skidding across it. He rolled to his hooves, his chest frothing. “Anok is mine!” he neighed.

  “Anok is theirs,” Star answered. He landed and faced the dark stallion. They circled each other, heads low, ears pinned. Star willed Nightwing to attack him. If Frostfire was correct, Star’s defenses would multiply in strength.

  As if sensing a trap, Nightwing closed his wings. “I don’t have to fight you,” he said.

  Star’s hot blood turned cold. What did that mean?

  Triumph blazed in Nightwing’s eyes. “I have her.”

  He was talking about Morningleaf, and Star’s feeling of dread returned.

  Nightwing nodded toward the woods, his expression smug.

  Star followed his gaze. Frostfire emerged from the woods followed by two Ice Warriors who had Morningleaf in their grasp. They dragged her by her newly healed wings as she thrashed, trying to get free.

  Star bolted toward her.

  At Frostfire’s command, an Ice Warrior twisted her left wing. Morningleaf shrieked as the small end bones snapped.

  Sweat erupted between Star’s ears and he halted, choking on the air as though he were drowning. “Let her go,” he whinnied to Frostfire, his eyes pleading.

  Guilt washed over his uncle’s face, but he gave a small shake of his head. He had chosen sides.

  Star turned to Nightwing, begging him. “Please. This is between us.” His heart thudded so hard he thought it would break through his rib cage.

  “You can challenge me and lose her, or submit to me and save her,” Nightwing neighed, his voice floating across the valley. “It’s your choice.”

  Star blinked rapidly, trying to think. The pegasi of Anok stared at him, waiting. He held their fate and Morningleaf’s in his wings.

  Morningleaf’s eyes bored into his, willing him not to save her, to save the herd instead. How had it all come back to this, a choice between saving one or all? It was a repeat of the night he’d received his power: when Frostfire had Morningleaf gripped tight in his jaws, and Rockwing had offered to spare her life for Star’s. He’d chosen to save her, and then she’d thrown herself into the path of the deathblow meant for him. And she’d died anyway.

  Star’s feelings twisted, making him dizzy. If Star let Nightwing execute him to save Morningleaf, none of her sacrifices, none of her bravery, and none of her faith would equal anything. He returned her gaze. Understanding flashed between them. Star would save the herd. Morningleaf would have to save herself.

  The pegasi in the valley, Petalcloud, Frostfire, and the Ice Warriors—they all quieted, waiting for his decision.

  Star arched his proud neck, flexed the powerful muscles he’d developed building the tribute, and stood to his full height, shadowing Nightwing. “I challenge you,” he said, and then he brayed the battle cry of an over-stallion over the valley until it echoed from the land to the stars.

  Surprise flickered across Nightwing’s face.

  Star drew his golden starfire and shot it throughout his body and into the sky like an erupting volcano. His power healed the damage he’d endured building the tribute. As the pegasi watched, Star’s battered hooves turned smooth, his dull hide glowed black, and his tattered feathers lengthened into glossy plumage.

  The pegasi in the valley cried out as one, in an ear-jarring cheer for Star. They rattled their feathers and grouped into the formation of an army—all of them—down to the elders and the walkers. They splayed their wings, and ferocious energy blazed through them.

  Nightwing shook his head as though he didn’t believe his ears. “Break her wings and drop her from the clouds,” he ordered.

  The two Ice Warriors darted into the sky, with Morningleaf dangling between them.

  “No!” whinnied Silverlake. She and Redfire and their friends rocketed after Morningleaf.

  But Star kept his eyes trained on Nightwing, even as his heart broke into a thousand pieces for Morningleaf. “You will never win this,” Star said; then he lifted off and glided to the top of the tribute. All eyes followed him.

  Star found the special feather he’d tucked into the rocks—a long and beautiful flight feather that was golden in color, with a dark-brown tip. It still smelled of his friend. Star lifted the feather over his head and trumpeted across the valley and the grassland, his voice carrying for miles and miles. “For Bumblewind!” he brayed.

  Sweetroot trotted forward and raised her wing over her head. “For Bumblewind!” she whinnied.

  Behind Sweetroot, the nearly twelve thousand pegasi all raised one wing over their heads and repeated her words. “For Bumblewind!” And Star’s heart pounded at the sight of them spread across the green valley, their bright feathers fluttering in the wind, crying out the name of their fallen friend.

  Nightwing choked on his silver fire and whirled, facing Star. “What is this? Are you mocking me?” he neighed.

  “This is freedom,” Star answered.

  Then the nearly twelve thousand pegasi lifted off, in battle formation, and swarmed Nightwing’s army of Ice Warriors.

  35

  TOPPLING DOWN

  THE DESTROYER WOULD NOT BE DISTRACTED from his rival. He wove out of the advancing army of pegasi and hurtled toward Star. Petalcloud sent her newborn filly, Riversun, into hiding with her guard, Stormtail, and then she tucked herself against the side of the tribute, watching as the Wind Herd steeds overwhelmed her warriors. The pegasi tore apart the clouds as they drove her Ice Warriors out of the sky.

  Silverlake, Redfire, and their friends attacked the two stallions holding Morningleaf, kicking them in the legs and wings. From the corner of his eye, Star saw Morningleaf break free. She spread her aqua feathers and caught the wind, flapping erratically because of her broken end bones.

  “You’ve doomed your friends,” brayed Nightwing, charging toward Star. Bright sparks shot from his mouth.

  Star sprang off Bumblewind’s monument and soared toward the Destroyer. They clashed over the heads of the battling pegasi. Nightwing shot a stream of fire, but Star deflected it with his shield. “You can’t hurt me,” Star reminded him.

  Nightwing snorted, his eyes glinting. “Maybe not you.” He turned and sailed toward Wind Herd.

  “No!” Nightwing was supposed to attack him, not his friends.

  The pegasi met Nightwing head-on and surrounded him, their teeth bared. The Destroyer stalled in midflight and dropped beneath them, then he flew circles under them, panting, and drawing up his silver fire. It streamed behind him, growing in power the faster he flew. He was spinning it into a tornado, inspired no doubt by the recent storm. The pegasi stared, shocked. And then Nightwing released the supernatural twister.

  Star gasped as hundreds of pegasi were whipped into the cone of fire and did not come out the other side, their souls cast into the Beyond.

  Star dived toward Nightwing, avoiding the silver cyclone. “Get out of here!” he called to the herd.

  “No. Don’t flee!” neighed Silverlake. She soared toward Nightwing, and Star wondered what had happened to Morningleaf. Knowing Silverlake, she’d ordered her daughter to hide, and maybe for once Morningleaf had obeyed her mother.

&nb
sp; Silverlake raised her wing over her head, fanning her flight feathers. “For Bumblewind!” she blared, glancing at Star.

  Wind Herd saw her and rallied, re-forming their battle lines.

  Star exhaled. Silverlake was right. The time for running was over.

  Nightwing vanquished his tornado, his expression nasty. “For Bumblewind? What does that mean?”

  “The tribute is ours,” answered Silverlake. “Our friend is buried under it. And you . . .” She paused, lifting her chin and setting her jaw. “You don’t deserve honor. You’re a coward.”

  Nightwing reared back, his fury rippling in waves, and he exhaled a puff of silver steam, so light and gentle it seemed harmless, but it was starfire. The mist enveloped Silverlake.

  “No!” Star cried.

  The gray mare folded her wings, looking apologetic, and then she transformed into dust. Star darted to where she had been, but Silverlake was gone, banished to the Beyond, where her mate, Thundersky, was also trapped.

  Star stared. He didn’t believe it. Silverlake, his adoptive mother, was dead.

  Nightwing nickered as though amused and glided toward the tribute. “I’ll show you a coward,” he rasped. Then he inhaled, and Star thought Nightwing was going to use his fire, but he didn’t. Instead he faced the tribute and ejected a powerful noise, like the noise Star had used to scare off the dire wolves at the river, only louder. The sound vibrated the ten thousand stones and rippled through the sky, knocking all the pegasi to the ground.

  Star slammed onto the soil, his head spinning. All around him pegasi fell like hail, smacking and bouncing off the grass. Star pressed his wings against his ears, trying to block the awful noise.

  He staggered upright, and his vision sharpened. His friends’ bodies littered the valley in broken heaps, their legs twisted, their wings bent in half. They were screaming; he knew that by their open mouths, but he couldn’t hear them over Nightwing’s blaring. Star remembered when he’d healed the entire Black Army at once, and he drew his golden fire up his long neck and shot it in a wide beam. He doused the fallen steeds in healing light, setting the meadow aglow.

  Behind him the tribute began to crumble.

  Star ignored it and focused on the pegasi. His starfire licked across the grass, healing bones and wounds, and staunching the flow of blood. The Wind Herd steeds lifted off the ground and tumbled in the light. Star saw Petalcloud, who was still hiding at the base of the tribute, watching him—terrified.

  Nightwing continued his assault on Bumblewind’s monument, breaking the clay and splitting the stacked rocks with his horrible noise. The tribute swayed.

  When all the pegasi were healed, Star uncovered his ears and crawled toward Sweetroot. “It’s coming down,” he cried. “You all must leave. Now! Forget the berries, forget fighting him—just go. I need him to attack me, not you, and he won’t do that while you’re here.”

  Sweetroot flared her pink feathers. “We won’t abandon you, Star.”

  “Please go.”

  “No. We’re seeing this through, for better or for worse. We’re your guardian herd.”

  Just then Nightwing paused his attack, and the terrible noise evaporated, leaving Sweetroot’s last words ringing across the valley: We’re your guardian herd.

  The pegasi of Anok, nearly all twelve thousand of them, charged toward Star and slid to a halt, bowing their heads to him. “We’re your guardian herd,” they whinnied in unison.

  Star’s throat constricted, and tears stung his eyes.

  Nightwing threw back his head. “No, you belong to me!” He turned on the tribute and hurled twisting spheres of silver light at it, over and over, blasting rocks and causing explosions of dust. The tribute quaked, and the staggering mountain of rocks leaned toward the valley as the hard clay at the base cracked, creating fissures like spiderwebs that raced up the sides.

  Star heard a scream, and he saw Petalcloud dart out of the billowing dust. She bounded like a deer, leaping over boulders, her black eyes bulging, but she was too late. The tribute quaked and toppled toward her with a mighty groan.

  “Mother!” Frostfire whinnied.

  Petalcloud threw out her wings as though someone might pull her to safety, but no one was there. Star scrunched his eyes as the almost ten thousand stones tumbled over the gray mare, squashing her flat.

  The dust billowed and swelled toward the clouds. Nightwing soared through it, landing where Star had last seen Petalcloud, but she was deeply buried. Nightwing faced Star. “You killed her,” he raged, spitting his words.

  Star didn’t answer, for he had done no such thing.

  Nightwing reared and slammed the grass with his hooves, conducting starfire through the soil. The valley floor rolled and broke open, creating huge rifts in the grass. Some pegasi fell in, but they quickly opened their wings and flew out of the crevasses and up toward the clouds. Nightwing stamped his hooves again, and the land rippled out from under him, knocking down pegasi and felling trees in the forest.

  Star reeled from the explosions, trying to keep his balance. Around him, the lush green grass caught fire, and several fallen pegasi exploded into flames. The rest bolted toward the clouds. Nightwing followed them, sending silver starfire after them, the flames licking their hooves. He flew around the pegasi, herding them into a tight group with his fire. He was going to kill them all.

  Star charged Nightwing, his ears pinned, his breathing heavy, and his heart beating faster, for this was the final hour.

  Time slowed as Star rocketed toward Nightwing in the sky. Nightwing tossed his mane in a wild arc and swung his head like a snake. His jaws gaped open, and starfire roared from his mouth. His eyes gleamed, mad with fury, and his ribs vibrated.

  Star’s golden fire responded, surging through him, crackling along his hide and heating his bones. Sparks tingled his tongue. Maybe Star wasn’t being threatened, but his guardian herd was, and he would defend them.

  36

  DESTINY

  AFTER MORNINGLEAF BROKE FREE OF THE ICE Warriors, her mother had ordered her to hide. “Go into the forest,” Silverlake had said.

  “But I can help you.”

  “It’s for me that I want you to go!” cried Silverlake. “I caused all this when I chose to protect Star as a foal. He woke the Destroyer when he received his power, putting you and the herds at risk. I need to see this through, but I can’t focus if you’re near. You must hide. Please.”

  Morningleaf gazed into her mother’s gray face and saw her determination, and her love. It was Silverlake’s quest to protect Star to the end, a quest that Morningleaf had adopted. But maybe Dewberry was right; maybe Morningleaf had a destiny of her own. “Okay, Mama, I’ll go.”

  Silverlake had exhaled in a quick, relieved sob. “Thank you.”

  Morningleaf had fled to the woods where she’d last seen Brackentail. He and Echofrost had fought to protect her when Frostfire and the Ice Warriors seized her at the tunnel, but the guards had slammed Brackentail into the ground and knocked him out. Echofrost had fled, at Morningleaf’s insistence, to find Hazelwind, Dewberry, and the hundred and forty pegasi waiting on the coast. It was time for them to go, to leave Anok for good.

  Now Morningleaf landed at Brackentail’s side, and when he saw her, he whinnied, “You’re safe!”

  She nodded, flinching at the pain in her wings. She had three broken wingtips, and her injuries throbbed, but they weren’t serious, just uncomfortable. “You’re bleeding,” she said, noticing a wound behind his ear.

  “I’m fine,” he insisted. He glanced toward the valley. “What’s happening?”

  “Star is fighting Nightwing. I escaped.”

  “What do we do?” he asked her. “Help Star or leave Anok with Echofrost?”

  “We can’t help Star,” said Morningleaf.

  Brackentail turned his gaze south, toward the Dark Water, and then looked back at her. “I can’t leave.”

  Morningleaf exhaled with relief. “Neither can I. Let’s go to the blind; we
can watch the battle from there.”

  They lifted off and flew through the trees. “I can’t believe Frostfire betrayed us,” said Brackentail.

  “Oh, I knew he would the moment I saw him in the den.”

  Brackentail snorted. “Then why didn’t you tell Star?”

  She paused, thinking. “Star knew I didn’t trust him.”

  “But if you’d pressed him, he would have gotten rid of the stallion.”

  Morningleaf glanced at Brackentail. “You’re looking at this all wrong. You think Star’s at fault for trusting Frostfire, but that’s his nature, and it’s what I love most about him. Yes, I could have planted fear and suspicion in Star’s heart, but it doesn’t belong there. The pegasus at fault here is Frostfire.”

  “You’re right,” said Brackentail, sounding surprised.

  She flicked her tail at him. “I know,” she nickered.

  They reached the blind and stood together, peering beyond the leaves of the cottonwood forest to the valley. Pillars of smoke drifted up from countless small fires that spread across the grass. The tribute Star built had collapsed, and the almost ten thousand stones—some shattered, some intact—had tumbled across the valley like eggs spilled out of a nest.

  Nightwing and Star faced off beneath the cloud layer, each drawing up his starfire—one silver and one gold—and Morningleaf caught her breath, stunned—not by the smoke, debris, and violence, but by Star’s beauty. His hide glistened like a stone underwater, his hooves and eyes beamed yellow light, and his long mane fluttered across his muscle-bound chest. He held his head high, his neck curved in a tight arch—not with pride but with confidence.

  Morningleaf gasped. “This is his destiny.” And her gut flipped, making her feel weak. “Everything we’ve done has brought him to this moment.”