The Legends of Lore

by ChaosDragon

Prologue

The mare breathed heavily as she ran. She had to reach him. He would know what to do. The stream of blood running down her side didn't matter now, there would be time for it later. At least, she prayed there would be. Her hoofsteps echoed eerily through the empty stone corridors as she ran, a grim reminder of what they had already sacrificed, and what was still left to lose.

As she careened around a corner, the entire mountain trembled violently, throwing her off balance and slamming her against the wall. A bolt of searing pain raced up her side, and she gasped as the world spun and dimmed around her. No, not now. She was so close. She couldn't stop now.

Through sheer willpower, she straightened and fought back the encroaching darkness. She took a step. Pain shot up her side once more, but she refused to yield to it. She gritted her teeth and moved down the hall. There was more pain, but the darkness did not come; she would not let it. This physical pain was nothing. It meant nothing to her. How could it compare to the agony she already carried inside her heart? People were dying, her people, and she could not save them.

She had not wanted to come. She had wanted to stay, to fight by their side. She was 'sacrifice', not them. It was her duty. But they had forced her to flee. They had become sacrifice for her, and she had let them. Tears clouded her eyes as she rounded the next corner, though from pain or sorrow she did not know. It didn't matter. She had to continue, so she did, as did the bloody trail she left behind.

The mountain shuddered again, but she stood firm this time. She would not be delayed again. Her pace quickened as her goal drew near. Descending a flight of stairs, she came upon her destination at last. She set her uninjured side against the large outer door and heaved. It swung open slowly and she staggered into the small room. The two guards flanking the door opposite her stiffened. As she moved towards them, they crossed their spears, barring her entry.

"Step aside. I must see him," she commanded.

The guards responded but did not move. "He meets with the elder ones."

"All the better, for they would wish to hear the urgent news I bring as well. Now stand aside!" She stamped her hoof with the demand, sending small droplets of blood splattering over the floor. She stood tall before them, remaining defiant even as she swayed unsteadily.

The two guards looked her over, then silently nodded to each other as they lowered their spears and stepped back.

She rushed forward and hastily flung the doors open. Inside, a stallion stood conferring with three elders. The room grew silent as she entered and everyone turned to face her as one. Under their appraising gaze, she suddenly remembered who they were and who she was. A blush bloomed across her face and she hastily bowed to them. "F-Forgive my intrusion father, elders, but I bear an urgent message that cannot wait."

One of the elders nodded slowly and gestured for her to rise. He spoke slowly, but his voice was light and gentle, like the rustling of trees in the wind. "Then perhaps it is best that you not let formalities delay you further, child."

She blushed deeper and nodded again. "O-Of course elder. Forgive me." Turning to face the younger stallion amidst the elders, she gave another bow. "Father, I bring you news from the front." She paused as the mountain trembled again. A small stream of mortar fell from the ceiling, but everyone's attention remained locked on her. She composed herself, then took a breath and launched into her report fully. "They have broken through our western defenses on the fifth ring and taken the gate. All companies have sustained heavy casualties and are falling back through the streets. They delay the enemy where they can, but it is only a matter of time until they reach the sixth ring. It may have already happened." Her right foreleg began to tremble. Her bleeding had lessened but not stopped, and the pool of blood around her hoof was slowly spreading, but she ignored it. She still had more to say; her injury could wait. "It has become clear that they are making for Ultokauraxoth. You must leave before they arrive. We will not be able to keep them out for long."

The stallion looked at her sadly and shook his head. His eyes were tired and sunken, and his voice was heavy with the burdens placed upon him. "No, my daughter. We will not flee, for there is nowhere left to go. What little that remains of our people is here. If it is our time to move on from this life, then we shall do it here."

His calm acceptance of death shook her more than the mountain ever could. She had never imagined her father as someone who could die. Death was something that happened to other people, not to him. To hear him say it with such calm assurance suddenly made the possibility real to her. She had thought there could be no greater pain than the sorrow she already carried in her heart. She was wrong. His words pierced into her like a hot iron, grabbing her heart and slowly squeezing it tighter and tighter. A tear ran down her cheek and her voice shook as she tried to keep her composure. "Then, I shall stay as well. If we are all to pass through the veil, then I would do it by your side, father." As she spoke, the mountain trembled again, then subsided into a low, continuous shivering.

The stallion smiled and gently wiped the tear from her cheek. "Do not mourn me yet, my daughter. While we live, there is still hope. The great circle of magi may yet complete their work in time."

Shock spread across her face and she recoiled from his touch, staring at him in horror. "Father, what are you saying!? Tell me you have not done what I fear!"

Her father's eyes filled with remorse, and he looked away from her in shame.

She spun wildly, desperately searching the faces of all assembled. Her eyes pleaded for someone, anyone, to tell her it wasn't true. But as she met their gaze, each turned away in shame. The world reeled around her as she trembled. Her chest felt tight, she couldn't breathe. If the thought of her father's death had squeezed her heart before, then the knowledge that he was capable of doing something so vile ripped it from her completely. Tears began to run freely down her face. She spoke as if in a daze, her voice hollow and empty. "How could you have done this?"

The elder who had spoken to her before, now lifted his head and met her gaze. His voice was barely a whisper and tight with emotion. "It was necessary..."

"It was forbidden!" she shrieked back at him, making him flinch. "Our people refused to consider it! The council voted against it! They specifically forbade you from doing this!!" she shouted as she turned on her father.

The stallion stiffened and whirled to face her, tears running from his eyes as he shouted back at her, "The council is dead! Our people are all but gone! We had no other choice!" The soft shivering of the mountain began to grow steadily stronger.

Her tears flowed freely now, falling from her face to mix with her blood on the floor. She slowly stepped away from him as she shook her head. "There is always a choice, father. What you have done is wrong. It is a thing of evil."

Guilt gave way to anger in the stallion, lending heat to his voice. "What I have done, I have done for you! For our people! I have saved us!"

"But at what cost?" She shook her head more vigorously. "No, father, you have damned us, not saved us. We are no better than they are now."

The mountain's shuddering grew stronger. Dust and mortar began to trickle from the ceiling as the buildings began to shake. Decorations rocked on their pedestals, a glass vibrated off the table and shattered against the floor. The angered stallion and the elders forgot her momentarily as they clutched at the table for support.

She saw her chance and seized it. Before she could change her mind, she spun around and raced for the door, pushing the dull pain from her foreleg out of her mind. As she reached the hallway, she shouted back to the room over the sound of the trembling mountain. "Forgive me, father, but I cannot let you do this!"

"Come back! There is nothing you can do! It is too late now!" The stallion tried to follow her, but the shaking mountain threw him off balance and he fell to the floor. He could only watch helplessly as she turned the corner and disappeared out of sight.

She moved like a thing possessed, stretching her body out to its fullest to gain every spare inch of ground she could with each stride. Her injuries opened anew and ripped wider as she pushed herself. Her body burned, screaming in pain, begging her to stop this insanity, but pain didn't matter anymore. She had already survived the worst agony the world could throw at her; everything else paled in comparison. Speed was all that mattered now. She must stop this before it was too late. She dodged around broken pots, jumped over fallen tables, and leapt down entire flights of stairs in her mad dash.

She was getting closer now; she could feel it. The air was heavy and practically hummed with magic. The Caurabarak would be on the floor below her, she was certain. She barreled around a corner at top speed, practically running along the wall with her momentum. There was the staircase. She surged forward and leaped. The earth began to writhe beneath her as she soared, and it seemed as if the entire world was going mad. The intense violence of the shaking threw off the balance of her landing. Her left forehoof twisted sideways as she came down hard, then let out a sickening crack as her full weight landed on it. She let out a scream of pain and crumpled to the floor in a heap. Stars exploded before her eyes and the familiar darkness tinged the edges of her vision as she fought to remain conscious. She couldn't stop here, not now. She had to keep going. She had to stop this madness.

Battered and broken, she struggled to her hooves, keeping her left foreleg tucked in tight against her chest. She was allowed to stand her ground only for a moment before the roiling earth threw her back to the floor again. She clenched her teeth and began to drag herself forward with her good foreleg. Nearly there, just one more corner. Her breath was labored and ragged as she finally pulled herself into the small adjoining hallway. A pair of carved stone doors greeted her. This was it, it had to be. The air grew thicker, crackling with magical energy as she pulled herself closer. She reached for the door and a soft white light began to spill from beneath it as a long, high whine started to vibrate out of the very air around her. Not just the air, the sound seemed like it was coming from everywhere at once; the door, the walls, even the stone floor beneath her. She knew she had to hurry, there wasn't much time left. She froze for a split second as she thought she heard the sounds of battle echoing through the halls. That tell-tale ring of metal against metal, stallions roaring, screaming. Had they already forced their way through the seventh ring, or was she just hearing things? The whine began to grow steadily louder, pushing the thoughts from her mind and deafening her to all else. She had to focus.

She gripped the handle of the door and the light spilling from beneath it grew brighter. It was heavy, so heavy, and she was so tired. She pulled and strained at the heavy door, dragging it open inch by inch. The light grew brighter and brighter as she forced it open and dragged herself closer. She could barely see anything, it was so bright, only vague shapes. She held out her hoof towards them and screamed at the top of her lungs for them to stop, but they couldn't hear her. A pillar of white light suddenly shot up from the center of the room, and the world screamed. The deafening noise was more terrible than anything she could have imagined. It was as if the very universe itself cried out in agony. The light grew in intensity as she raised her hooves to try and block out the noise, but nothing could stop that horrible sound. As the blinding light spread out and engulfed her in a sea of brilliant white, her heart sank, and she knew she had failed.

Author's Note:

Don't bother asking what language those odd names are in. I'm not telling. You'll just have to wait and see. However I will say that yes, they actually do mean something and aren't just random letters thrown together despite what you might think. Kudos if you can figure it out though.