by Paula Boer
Ayiana joined in with her thanks and praise. “Our older people should return to their villages and restart their lives. There is much to be done.”
Yuma stroked Diamond’s neck. “Will you go back to Goose Fen after you’ve visited all the waterways?”
She looked at Fleet. “No. I’ll go to Shimmering Lake. It’s been too long since I’ve seen my daughter. I can help relocate the animals to repopulate the territories where the slaughter has been worst.”
Fleet avoided her gaze. “I don’t think Gem will want to see you. She believes she’s ugly, which is why she ran away from you.”
“Of course she isn’t!” Diamond threw up her head, tossing her silver forelock out of her eyes. “She’s the most beautiful creation I’ve ever seen.”
Yuma calmed her with another stroke. “We agree, but she believes unicorn mares must be white and that her spiral horn is disfigured. You must have told her tales of Jasper and his temper when he had a contorted horn. She believes she carries the same bad blood, which is why she works so hard to care for all the animals.”
Echo pawed the ground. “Is this why she never answers our calls?”
Diamond cried in anguish. “All this time she’s been under a misapprehension! Aureana decreed each generation of unicorn would be more powerful than the previous. My daughter’s colouring shows great strength, and a spiral horn is the sign of the second generation. I must go to her. It’s well past time I taught her all she needs to know.”
Yuma held out a handful of oats to Fleet. “What about you? Will you return to Gem when our work is done?”
Fleet arched his neck and raised his tail. “No. I must get rid of the poison in my veins, and stop Shadow from creating more of his beasts. You’ll have to find another horse to ride. I’m going back to Obsidian Caves as the goddess demanded.”
Chapter 25
The grass blurred beneath Fleet as he galloped north through Streak’s territory, Echo thundering alongside him, each lost in his thoughts. With no need to pause to eat or stop for the night for Yuma to camp, they made good time. They expected Diamond to translocate to Watersmeet after the women completed her harness and the men had loaded parcels with jade dust.
The journey so far had been mainly uneventful. Only once had Fleet’s rump warned of a nearby bloodwolf. He’d outrun it with ease, the crimson beast giving up the chase after a short sprint, its ribs protruding and eyes dull from starvation. Few animals remained in the rolling pastures; even birds were scarce, with any nests on the ground raided before the young had a chance to hatch.
They found a shallow crossing over the river coming east from Greenslopes, taking care to step only in clear water. A fresh flow from rainfall burbled over the stones of the broad causeway, but no silver fingerlings flashed in the sun, no reeds held croaking frogs, and no flycatchers darted to sweep up the clouds of hovering insects.
The village of Boasville lay deserted as before, the cluster of buildings fallen into disrepair, the same looming sense of doom emanating from the empty huts. Fleet stepped carefully to the river’s edge and called Echo over from inspecting the people’s abandoned homes. “This is where Yuma and I encountered the scorcheel.”
Echo joined him and sniffed the muddy water. “I agree, this is a good place to test the dust. There’s something foul in there.”
“Don’t get too close. Remember I told you Jasper and I found evidence of the scorcheels crossing land in Great Forest.” Mentioning his sire’s name renewed Fleet’s pain. With his worries of Tress, and Gem, and the bloodwolves, he’d pushed away thoughts of the cliff breaking under Jasper. Now he had too much time to dwell on the past: the loss of Sapphire who had been his one true companion, Cirrus who he’d barely met, and Thunder who he’d known only in stories.
“Our timing has been good. Diamond messaged to say she’s being loaded now.” Echo trotted away from the river and rolled in a sandy hollow.
Fleet didn’t have the heart for such pleasures. He stood on the edge of the forlorn village, waiting, thinking, and stewing.
The air shimmered, silver fireflies dancing in a beam of light. Diamond appeared, gradually becoming more solid, her familiar shape deformed by leafy packages hanging from her neck and shoulders, across her back, and down her flanks. “Is this the right place? Let’s hurry up and get this over with. I hate feeling trapped.”
Fleet led her closer to the water’s edge. “Hold still while we bite the ropes.”
Freeing a parcel took longer than any of them had anticipated. Finally, the last strand gave way, dropping its burden to the ground with a soft thud.
Echo picked it up with his teeth and stepped to the shore.
Fleet’s rump throbbed. The water boiled. “No! Stop!”
They scattered, Fleet close on Diamond’s heels.
A giant scorcheel slithered and hissed after Echo, the ground burning, trails of acid devouring everything in its wake, pungent smoke coiling above the path it had taken.
Fleet froze with indecision. If Yuma were here, he’d stab it like before. But Fleet had insisted he stay behind; this was his fight. He cut between Echo and the scorcheel, rearing over the slimy beast, bringing his hooves down on its writhing back. Rows of needle-like fangs gnashed at his legs. He dodged, quick as a snake, and attacked again.
And missed.
The scorcheel reared to the height of his chest, slime oozing down its crimson-streaked body, its stench overpowering.
He retreated before it could strike again.
Instead, it squirmed back to the river, its skin peeling and flaking off in rotting slabs where the sun dried the slime. It disappeared without a splash.
Diamond gasped. “We can’t get near enough to shake the dust in the water with that thing there.”
Echo paced back and forth. “This is madness. We’ll never overcome Shadow’s beasts like this.”
Fleet stamped a hoof. “There must be a way. Echo, can you fling the package into the water from here with your horn, like Yuma uses his slingshot? He can bring down a flying bird.”
“I’ll try.” Echo retrieved the fallen package near the river, keeping well clear of the slime trail, and hurried back with the tied leaves in his mouth. After placing the parcel on the ground, he stabbed it with his horn and tossed his head.
The package fell short.
Fleet fetched the parcel back. “Try again.”
On the third go, the laden leaves fell into the river with a plop.
They waited.
Nothing happened.
Diamond peered downstream. “I don’t think the parcel burst open. The jade won’t—”
A spray of mud and blood erupted from the surface of the water. A twist of crimson and grey bodies burst out in a frenzied thrashing.
A single drop of acid burned Fleet’s nose. He leapt away. “Keep clear!”
The three of them watched from a distance. The water churned and swirled like a whirlpool, streaked with slime and blood. A grey mass of flesh washed onto the bank, meat peeling from the bones, fins separating from the skin. Another dead scorcheel writhed its last on the gravel, and another. Bodies cloaked a sandy bank downstream.
Fleet snorted from his vantage on dry land. “I thought they’d revert to normal eels and swim away, like jade transformed the bloodwolves.”
Diamond winced beside him. “I can’t believe we did this to Aureana’s creatures.”
Echo nuzzled her. “Not Aureana’s. Shadow’s. I don’t know how he created them, and don’t care. Good riddance. Now that we know it works, let’s get on and dust the source of all the rivers.”
Fleet gawped at the pile of corpses building up on the sand: images of Jasper being torn to shreds left him no sympathy for the tortured creatures. The jade had transformed the bloodwolves. It killed the scorcheels. It healed the poisoned people. Why didn’t it work on him? The only dif
ference was his tainted blood. Shadow’s blood.
As on Fleet’s first visit to Shadow’s territory, the same sense of nausea flooded him when he passed between the Sentinels. Again the rain poured, but the cold didn’t affect him with Equinora’s power pumping through his body. He tapped into the storm, drawing energy from the clash of clouds, sucking in the force of the wind.
This time Jasper wasn’t here to guide him. This time Yuma wasn’t there to light the way. This time Tatuk wasn’t waiting to aid him on his return. The sooner the confrontation was over the better, one way or another. He broke into a gallop and zoomed along the slippery trail, his hooves gripping the stone with ease, the obsidian no longer cutting his soft soles. Nothing stopped his passage to the entrance where Yuma had lit the way with his meagre torch.
Except that entrance no longer existed.
A wall of black rock faced Fleet, the result of the cave-in caused by Jasper’s power. The only other way in Fleet knew of went past Snag’s web. He trotted around the mountain until he reached the mouth of the cave, hoping the giant spider had moved on.
A silver web stretched across the opening. At his approach, Snag scuttled round to the front. “You. Man. Trick.”
Fleet halted a short distance away. “I need to see Shadow. Will you let me by?”
“Hungry. Eat. You.” Her legs clattered as she wove an intricate net.
Retreating out of throwing range, Fleet considered his options. The spider wouldn’t be tricked again, even if he had a plan. Shadow! Your beasts are destroyed! Come out and meet me!
Why? What have I to say to you? If you want to see me, come in here where it’s warm and dry.
Pacing a distance from the entrance, Fleet snorted in frustration. He couldn’t risk Snag’s trap, no matter how much strength he could draw from the elements. She was one of Shadow’s creations; the sticky strands might be imbued with power. And the tunnel mouth was small, black like the maw of a gaping bloodwolf.
At least the rain had stopped. Clouds scudded over the ragged mountain tops, ripped to pieces by their peaks. A shaft of sunlight hit his black coat, swelling his sense of well-being. The beam shifted as the break overhead moved, tracing a path towards the lava tube. Fleet watched, entranced, as a spot of light danced over the puddles, growing in size and strength until a perfect circle of gold rose up the wall.
It crossed to Snag’s web, illuminating the tunnel behind in a blaze.
Snag disappeared, her staccato footfalls receding.
The goddess had cleared the way. He had come too far to let his fears overcome him. This was his chance! He raced to the entrance, building speed and increasing his power with every hoof-beat.
Fleet shut his eyes and hit the web at a run, his ears pinned back and his nostrils pinched closed. The web stretched and engulfed him. Threads cloyed at his throat, tightening like they had around Yuma’s broken arm. He choked. Blackness filled his head. He must go back!
But it was too late; he must trust the goddess. He thrust his feet against the stone floor, thoughts of Sapphire, and Jasper, and all the savaged creatures driving him on.
The web tore. The strands fell free.
Fleet’s propulsion flung him against the wall. Ignoring the raw scrape down his side, he charged forwards, towards Shadow’s lair.
Fleet slowed down as darkness closed in. Then, as he neared the large cavern, the glow of lava relit the rock, ominous shadows climbing over protrusions, deep recesses sinister and threatening.
He advanced with care. The stillness after the roar of the wind outside smothered him as if all the air had been sucked away, the only sound the muffled clop clop clop of his hooves on stone. The musty smell of old bat dung penetrated his nostrils, his tongue furred with dread.
Clop clop clop.
He halted at the edge of the cavern, no longer as vast, fresh rock piles strewn across the floor. A trickle of light ran down to the giant rubble heap from what was presumably Jasper’s escape route.
As before, Shadow perched on a broad ledge on the other side of the lava slinking along its channel. “Why have you come?”
Fleet strode to the edge of the burning rocks. “Your beasts are dead or vanquished. You’ve lost. Stop creating bloodwolves and scorcheels. They’ll only be killed.”
Shadow reared. “Lost? I have nothing to lose! Nothing!”
“Then why are you destroying all the goddess created? Why are you poisoning us?”
“Why shouldn’t I? Those useless unicorns can’t even perform their role as protectors. Why should they enjoy life in the sun and warmth when I am incarcerated here in the dark and cold?” He strutted around his platform, his blackness melding with the obsidian around him, his crimson mane and tail outlining his movements like blood smeared on the walls.
Fleet kept abreast of him, matching his strides one for one. “They are protecting Equinora! Who do you think is transporting jade to all the river sources even now?”
“Jade? Is that how you’ve overcome the obsidian? But it didn’t work for you, did it?” He curled his lip and stopped, staring down at Fleet.
“No. No doubt it’s your rotten blood in my veins preventing—”
Shadow leapt across the lava.
Fleet had no time to evade him. His neck stung from a deep bite. His ribs broke from a kick. He saw black and red, smelled ash and fire, tasted rock and blood. He whirled, defending himself with teeth and hooves, dodging and darting, escaping and attacking.
Fury drove him hard. His rump throbbed. A bloodwolf bounded down the spill of light and leapt at his throat. He threw up his head and ran backwards. The molten rock flared. His tail burst into flame, singeing his legs, burning his buttocks.
His nightmares came alive. Had they been a vision? Was that how Sapphire saw the future? Memories of his dam renewed his strength. He increased his attack, oblivious now to the pain.
Shadow didn’t waver. His onslaught continued unabated.
Fleet weakened. He couldn’t draw as much power from the hot rocks as Shadow could. He must do something! He had no breath or thought for words, only for fighting, to survive.
But did he want to survive? His job was done. The herds were safe. He couldn’t rid himself of the poison, his blood. His blood was the poison! Always had been.
Only one solution would save the land forever. Shadow had to die!
Fleet gathered all his remaining strength and barged into Shadow’s chest. He didn’t relent. He pushed and shoved.
Shadow’s hooves slipped on the rock, back towards the creeping lava. He reared, his forelegs locked with Fleet’s.
Dragged vertical, Fleet neighed, his scream echoing around the cavern.
They tottered on their hind legs, front legs entwined, gnashing at each other’s necks. Side-on to where the land’s core oozed from the surface, they hovered.
Fleet glimpsed the madness in Shadow’s eye. He had to end this. No matter what it cost him. He toppled to his side, towards the lava, taking Shadow with him, falling through eternity, through all creation, through all life.
Unimaginable heat consumed him. His lungs seared. He lost all feeling in his limbs. His spine melted, only his head left in the sulphurous fumes. “Sapphire! Jasper!”
The molten rock carried him along, as River Lifeflow had when he saved Yuma. So long ago. He swam. He gasped. He thought of Tress, and Gem, and dragons. He thought of Diamond, and Echo, and Tempest. He thought of Yuma, and Laila, and Delsin.
Almost submerged except for his head and neck, he cast his eyes around. He could see no sign of Shadow. The hot rock carried Fleet without burning him, his body intact. No pain assailed him. The only light came from the roiling lava.
Had he died? Was this how he’d be forever?
The world trembled. A huge fissure opened above him. The rock split to the sky. Beneath him, the land tilted. A great power flung him u
p into the void.
Fleet came to on a grassy slope, morning dew clinging to his coat. He blinked to get his bearings. Far in the distance, the Sentinels stood guard—he had landed outside Shadow’s territory.
Shadow! Had he survived too?
Shoving himself to his feet, Fleet tested his legs. No broken bones. No pain. No dark clouds inside his head! The earthquake had saved him, throwing him beyond Obsidian Caves’ barrier. The lava had healed him. Did his ancestral blood from Jasper give him power over fire? Or had the goddess kept him alive?
He didn’t care which. Alive! And free!
Memories of Gem and Shimmering Lake sprang to his mind. His loins heated and his hair tingled as he imagined mating and then swimming in the healing waters. His hooves longed to gallop as he remembered playing with the dragons.
But he was a horse, not a unicorn, no matter his ancestry. What should he do?
Wolfbane may already have gathered many war horses. He had a duty to them, and he desired foals of his blood. He wanted to see youngsters chasing butterflies and bounding over streams. He wanted to protect mares, and spend time dozing and grazing with friends. With Gem, he’d lead a solitary life, meeting only when it suited her. He’d be a consort only.
He made his decision with conviction. He’d take Tress to White Water Cliffs, Sapphire’s original home, and rebuild the herd as king.
Epilogue
Fleet stood sentry on top of a grassy knoll. It had been a long time since any sign of bloodwolves had been seen near White Water Cliffs, but grey wolf packs could still be a threat to the newborn foals. Since becoming Head of Warriors, Wolfbane had been successful in gathering the mares and stallions roaming the hills. When Fleet and Tress returned, a sizeable herd had awaited their leadership.
Watching the fillies and colts gambol in the sweet meadows, Fleet thought of Gem at Shimmering Lake. He had no regrets. A number of the young stallions who fought in the bloodwolf war had talked about trying to find the protected territory. Gem would have another companion by now. Hopefully, Tatuk had introduced himself to Laila too. Yuma had agreed not to mention dragons to anyone. Some magic must be protected.