The jungle had come full blast at the now party of four, and though her zebra friends and newly acquired monkey butler seemed nervous as the ape poled their river barge up the Zengo River, the familiar sounds of a thick, luscious rainforest was calming to the pegasus. The din of insects buzzing, the caws and cries of birds as they flew between the thick jungle canopy, it all seemed delightfully familiar. So similar to the Southern Jungles south of Mexicolt that it made Daring sigh with slothful relaxation.
The soft swish of water came again and again as Jack the chimp pushed the boat up the Zengo River. For what knowledge Daring had about ape society, the chimp seemed unnaturally quiet, at times even stoic. Timur and Zecora stayed quiet as well, sharpening blades, grinding herbs and doing other things to pass the time.
Resting on a pile of ropes, Daring leaned back and sketched once more. Doing a sketch of her new chimp companion, Daring wondered why she never heard much about apes before. The libraries in Canterlot just seemed devoid of them, only mentioning them in books of zoology and ecology. But she never knew apes could have such a complex society, with a government far more complex than her own. Lightly shading the fur on Jack's sketch, Daring felt eyes upon her. Turning around, she caught the ape's prying eyes whipping back up to stare down the river.
"Whatcha lookin' at?" asked Daring.
The ape tried to look innocent, keeping his eyes down the river. "Oh nothing, nothing." He waited for a few moments, biting down on his lip, his simian tendencies for curiosity making him almost sweat. "What you drawin' there?"
"You," Daring replied, a touch of laughter in her voice.
Jack took a more intent look at the drawing, nodding his head in approval. "You got my good side, props for that. Fur is a bit too thick though. You do pretty good for someone without fingers."
"Thanks, I took a few biology classes back in college. There was an entire two week course on properly drawing anatomy of a subject."
"Huh, didn't know zebras had colleges."
Daring chuckled a bit. "Well there's your problem, I'm not a zebra. I'm a pony from Equestria."
"Really? You look an awful lot like a zebra. You know, except for the lack of stripes, that gaudy color and those wings of yours. The mane is about the only thing that is vaguely zebra-ish about you. At first I believed you to be a genetic aberration and some kind of mutant. But you're too efficient and cancer free to be a mutant."
Daring's eyes shot open, looking down at her sepia pelt. "Gaudy?! I beg your pardon, sir! I was born this way! And I'll have you know that yellow is a very attractive coat color for ponies! And who are you calling a mutant? If anything those agogwe I laid into were mutants."
Jack let go of the pole for a moment, spreading his arms and looking to the sky. "Thank you! Someone finally agrees with me!" He resumed pushing the boat up the river. "If I were Prime Minister, there would be some serious changes about our relations with those freaks. That's my entire political platform; get rid of those walking herb gardens, then worry about trade agreements with the gorillas or the poor harvest or even the depressed economy. Too bad convicted felons can't run for public office."
At that last comment, everypony/ape went very silent for a few moments, Jack regretting ever opening his blabbing mouth.
Daring felt the permeating awkwardness, and felt prompted to break the ice again. "So....Jack....why do you hate the agogwe so much?"
The chimp breathed a sigh of relief that the question hadn't been about his criminal record. "Well, there's the fact that they killed my sister, my aunt, and my dad all in separate raids over the years. That, and they are unnatural. They were created by magic, and the holy word of the Allgood says that us chimps, bonobos, and gorillas are creatures of pure natural selection."
"Natural selection?" asked Daring.
"Yeah, evolution. We great apes evolved over hundreds of generations to become the epitome of intellect, strength and sophistication. It was only after the Allgood came and bestowed knowledge on us that we rose above the beasts and monsters of the world to claim our spot by her enlightened side."
The mark on Daring's head tingled, and she felt the urge to argue theology with the ape. "But what about me? I'm a mammal with bird feathers on her back. Not everything about that makes much natural sense."
Jack peered a discerning eye over Daring. "Eh, you're excusable. You're what the philosophers and biologists of the Zaius College call a 'Class 2'. Class 1's are just natural creatures like me or the zebras over there. Class 2's are creatures that might appear in nature, but show some magical influence or alteration, like you or an abada zebra. And Class 3's....they're the unnaturals like agogwes, kongomatos, and grootslangs. Class 2's can reach the Enlightenment, but not as fully as Class 1's."
Again, the ape's terminology went right over Daring's head. "So, I take it that religion is a big part of your society? Even bigger than the zebras belief in Yeye?"
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Prying much?"
"It's my job to pry, I'm an archaeologist and anthropologist. I live to seek answers about society and civilization."
Jack smiled wide. "Yes, ape society pretty much owes everything it is to religion. When the Allgood came down from Ingull And to teach us about the ways of being civilized, the apes were beasts and brutes. And only through her holy teachings about kindness, civility, and deep thought were we able to become what we are."
Again the mark on her head tingled a little bit, and Daring had the sudden thought that not all was as it seemed with the chimpanzee's prophet. "So, your prophet, was he a chimp like you?"
"She was the wisest of the Cousins."
"Who are the Cousins?"
"Who were the Cousins, you mean. The Cousins are the angelic race that were the forerunners of apekind. They transcended this world with the Allgood many millenia ago. When an ape dies, they go to join the Cousins in Ingull And."
Daring leaned back on her pile of rope, smiling and tipping her helmet forward. "Boy, it sure would be a contribution to society and history if I could learn more, maybe I could even reach Enlightenment," she said jokingly, knowing that she already possessed the enlightened touch of one deity.
The boat slowed to a stop, Jack leaping over to Daring and tipping her helmet. "You mean, you want to hear the Gospels? Every other race in Zebrica just kind of blows us off when we try to tell them about it!"
Caught between a zealous ape and the keel of a boat, Daring had no choice. "Uh, sure. I'd love to hear it. By why don't we wait until tonight? You know, so we can rest while you teach."
The chimp quivered with excitement at a potential new convert to his religion. "Splendid idea! Do you think your friends over there will want to join in on the Gospel studies?"
"Um, I think they're fine with their own god. Firm religious belief and all that."
Slumping over at the prospect of not converting the zebras, Jack ambled to the back of the boat, grabbing the pole and shoving off the river bottom again. "Oh well, the Allgood does preach tolerance of thought, including separate ideas of theology."
Tipping her helmet back over her eyes, Daring wondered what she had done and what the consequences of diving into an ape religion might be. Oh well, at least Jack wasn't going to sacrifice her to something or drag her off to a separate dimension of reality and plaster a tattoo on her head. The disapproving stares of Timur and Zecora seemed to confirm that.
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Dusk began to fall over the jungles, the true creatures of the night taking over for the day shift of birds and animals. Throwing a rope over a secure branch, Jack tied off their boat to a sandy shore. Though he said it was alright to get out and stretch on the sand bar, they would still have to sleep on the boat. Crocodiles liked to come ashore at night and bask in the sun's residual heat on the sand.
But Daring had little fear of crocodiles. Broadcasting her power of influence into the river, she told all reptiles to stay clear for the night. Almost as soon as she finished, the water was sliced by the tail scales of a titanic crocodile leaving the area, the swirls of water around him telling Daring that this was a very popular stretch of shore for crocs.
The shear size of the departing crocodiles astounded her. She ran into a lot of caiman down in the Southern Jungles, but nothing over ten feet. That brute was pushing twenty, and still growing. Staving off a shiver, she didn't care to know what other monstrously huge creatures inhabited the jungles.
Stretching out on the warm sands with Zecora, Daring sent the boys out to the woods to gather some wood for a fire. Male bonding and all that. But the argumentative shouts and ape shrieks that drifted in told the two mares that things weren't so dapper between the stallion and the chimp.
The sun was shining its last rays of daytime by the time the boys got back from the simple task of getting some firewood. Piling the kindling and setting it ablaze, Zecora placed a pot of tea on for the group. Scratching at her mane, Daring felt something crawling around. Noticing her plight, Jack ambled over. "I'll get it," he said with a grin. Dipping his fingers into her mane, Daring experienced something completely new, having the back of her neck being poked and prodded at by a set of unwashed primate fingers.
Triumphantly fishing the offending bug from her mane, the chimp nodded approvingly at it, bringing it closer to his face.
Ugh, please don't tell he's going to eat that, Daring thought to herself. Instead, the ape brought out a hook and threaded the beetle onto it. Walking over to the boat, he put on some string and cast it out into the river. After waiting a few moments, the chimp hooted excitedly, pulling in a flopping, silver scaled fish from the river.
To the horror of all three equines, he tossed the fish, whole and live, straight into the hot embers. "Anyone else want one?" the chimp asked.
"Okay, I would have preferred that you ate the bug," Daring said as the fish gave its final flops before going still in the fire.
Jack waved them off. "And waste a perfectly good piece of bait? Tempting, but no. You herbivores don't know what you're missing out on." After a few minutes of cooking alive in its own skin, Jack carefully pulled his meal from the coals. Trying to ignore him while taking their own dinner of cooked grains and a special tea, the two zebras stood up and walked away in disgust as the ape tore into the fish with his bare teeth. Jack ripped into the fish flesh with the gusto Daring had seen some ponies tear into a daisy sandwich after being starved for two days. And it didn't help with Daring's appetite as fish bones landed near her.
Licking his fingers with glee, Jack wiped them off on his fur pelt, going back over to the boat and retrieving a square parcel bound in water resistant cloth. Unwrapping it, Daring got a close look at the chimpanzee holy book. Deciding it was lesson time, she pulled out her own notebook and pencil. "Okay Daring Do, are you ready to be Enlightened?"
Out in the forest, Timur and Zecora got far enough away to where they could still see the glow of the campfire, but not smell the roasted fish. Sitting down on a rock, Timur was rather surprised as Zecora took a place next to him. Looking up to the night sky, Zecora gave a small grin. "A beautiful night, is it not? That we should take rest while Daring is taught."
"Yes, I forgot how good the skies are here in Zebrica. In Equestria, there are different constellations in the sky almost year round. And there are always so many clouds," Timur replied to the mare, staring up at a clear patch in the forest canopy at the endless stars in the sky. Even in such a small patch, they were uncounted in number.
Minutes passed with the two zebras watching nothing but the small patch of stars, the slow flash of fireflies in the surrounding jungle trying to give their own light show almost as a challenge to the stars. "Timur, do you ever feel regret? Did Zebrica leave your heart upset?"
Timur considered Zecora's words. "Well, of course I did. I didn't go a single day without feeling some kind of homesickness. Equestria may be more peaceful, more serene and more civilized, but it is not Zebrica. And nothing could ever be Zebrica." He resumed his watch of the stars, his eyes tracing the familiar constellations of the warrior and the serpent. "Zecora, do you ever have regrets about....well, us?"
"Ours was a marriage of convenience to be. Other than not uniting the tribes, no regret do I see."
"I know you don't regret not getting married to me, but what about before? Before we knew that it was to be forced upon us? Back when we were younger, and you and I would sneak away from our father's councils and share those special moments under the moon."
Zecora averted her gaze from the stars, taking a deep breath and thinking. "Yes, I do miss those days. Back when love was in our gaze. A proud, young warrior I saw in you, handsome to behold with a softer touch than I ever knew." Zecora looked Timur deeply in his sapphire blue eyes. "But those days are done and gone. You broke my heart like the sun breaks dawn."
"I was trying to do the best I could for my people," Timur replied quietly, "they needed me to learn as much as I could before I took on the mantle of chieftain. And I know that tore us apart, both on the Earth and in the heart. I still feel for you, Zecora. After all the years and the shame of leaving my tribe for a more peaceful land, I still feel something for you."
The mare turned away, holding back the small tear of sorrow, yet the tear of joy that she had not been forgotten. "And I still feel something deep within myself for you. But our day has passed, and it cannot be true." The mare looked at the handsome stallion in the moonlight, seeing past the shamed and scorned stallion who had run from his own marriage to hide in the pony land. "But, maybe we can relive some of our earlier days. Let's see the stallion whose vigor I used to praise." Zecora slid a little closer to Timur on the rock.
"Seriously? But I thought you sold me off to Daring," Timur said inquisitively, intrigued as to where this was going.
"That mare wouldn't know how to handle this one. Let's do it like we used to and make it fun." Zecora leaned over and planted a kiss straight onto Timur's lips, holding him there for a moment. Standing up, she brushed his chin with her striped tail. A certain gleam in her eye brought Timur to full attention, and a coy smile spread across his face.
"But I thought you were angry that I left you unwed and a spinster."
Zecora chuckled, coming close to his ear to whisper, "Catch me, and I might forgive you."
"So, this old game? What did we call it, Lion and Gazelle?" Zecora nodded to the stallion before taking off into the brush. "I love this game," Timur said quietly, leaping from his seat and bounding through the jungle to chase down his prey.
***********************************************
The night passed with Daring actually learning much from the chimp. She expected a load of bigoted, ape supremacist propaganda. But many of the lessons taught in the ape holy book by the prophet Allgood actually rang with civil truth. Most of it seemed like common knowledge to Daring, like being considerate of others and giving more than you receive. But other lessons seemed to strike a chime to Daring, like cherishing knowledge and knowing the connection between things. And something about the ape's respect of the Allgood and the Cousins seemed to tingle Daring's mark and make her think of something familiar.
That seemed to be happening quite a bit lately. Things in nature just seemed to set it off. Was it warning her, or was it just reacting to her own feelings and instincts? Who was really in control here; the touch of a god, or the pegasus endowed with it?
The night dragged on, the preaching chimp finally deciding that they needed rest for the evening at around midnight. Daring wondered where the zebras went, but relaxed when they both walked back to the boat around two in the morning. With a slight smirk from her bed of blankets, she noticed how chivalrous Timur was acting, offering his hoof to Zecora as he climbed aboard.
********************************************
Oh how disappointed the warlord was with his windriders.
They had been doing so well, scouting the jungles like the good little monkeys they were for N'dutu's foe and competition, Daring Do. Grimhide dragged in the surviving kongomato pilot, tossing him on the dirt floor of the warlord's temporary tent. The plant covered wretch sniveled and tried to scamper away, Grimhide stomped a foot on his back. Grabbing his leg, the gnoll tossed the agogwe back to the foot of the throne.
N'dutu looked down at him with disdain. "A simple task...."
"It's not my fault!" shrieked the shamed rider.
"How is it not? From what your surviving crew tells me, you stopped to take potshots at chimpanzees. Yet, even attacking unarmed farmers, you still managed to get annihilated. You had the simple task of finding and capturing Daring Do, yet you lost it all to shoot at monkeys." The warlord nodded to Grimhide, the gnoll's smile splitting his face as he grabbed the windrider by the foot and began to drag him out.
"NO! She was there!" screamed the rider in desperation.
The warlord raised a hoof, his interest piqued. "Wait, Grimhide." The gnoll scowled, letting go of his prisoner.
Crawling back to the throne, the agogwe prostrated himself. "A gold zebra with wings. She was there. She fought like ten warriors, and somehow turned our own mounts against us! She just flew between the last two kongomatos, and then they started fighting! They never fight each other, not when mounted!"
The warlord placed his hooves together, staring down his failed scout. "So, you are saying that not only did you alienate a possible ally, lose a wing of my aerial corp, but you also failed to capture a weakling pony from Equestria and lost control of your mounts at the same time! Grimhide, do as you please!"
Grimhide bowed to his alpha, grabbing the simian monster by the leg and dragging him out of the tent. Standing from his throne, N'dutu left the tent. As he walked towards the edge of his encampment, the three wild cats provided by his ally fell in around him, along with a squadron of his elites. He had an appointment to make, and it would not do to be late.
Picking up to a canter, he and his torch bearing warriors passed through the lowlands of the night jungle, on their way to rendezvous with a possible ally. The jungles had slowed his army significantly, the beasts and the artillery were holding back the main force of foot soldiers, who would have made the journey much quicker had it not been for the more cumbersome units of the army. And not only that, many of his soldiers were starving from the cut supply lines and bore wounds from the ever increasing raids from all sides.
The armed group came to the rendezvous point, spreading out in the forest clearing to check for any hidden traps. Satisfied with their meeting place, they fell into a circle around N'dutu. The warlord waited, the crackle of torches and the hum of night insects being the loudest noise.
His sharp ears caught a strange noise, the crack of a twig in the brush. His loyal warriors aimed their spears out into the dark, expecting an ambush. N'dutu motioned to them to sheathe their weapons, and slowly his guards did as he told them to. Out of the dark came a chimpanzee covered in wooden armor, then another.
Out of the forest brush came an entire squadron of the wood armored apes, spreading out in the clearing and warily watching the ring of zebras and gnolls. Believing the scene to be all clear, one hooted back to the forest. A chimp in much finer garb than his companions slowly sauntered into the clearing, past his guards and towards the warlord. N'dutu also broke through his own ring of guards, approaching the chimp in the center of the clearing.
"Have you considered my offer, Prime Minister?" asked N'dutu.
The chimp sighed. "It is a generous offer, ruling over the other apes like an emperor, having all the power and wealth of Zebrica at my disposal. Truly you are a fair and wise lord of your people. And all I have to do is have my soldiers guide yours to the Everguard and beyond."
N'dutu grinned, the chimpanzee nation had been an even easier conquest than the gnolls. "Together, our forces will be unstoppable. With the Eyes of the Demon in my grasp, entire continents will learn to bow before us superior creatures."
The Prime Minister maintained his look of disinterest, even reaching into a pants pocket and pulling out a pipe of tobacco to puff on. "Which is why I must decline your offer," he said as he lit his pipe, taking a deep puff.
The warlord stiffened, his gaze turning to rage at this denial. "And why would you deny me? The zebra who is to be master of all Zebrica?"
"Because, right before your emissary came to me, a golden zebra came with her companions. They wished to know how to get the Eyes, and I told them." The warlord scowled, dragging his hoof through the soft forest dirt. "And this pony came to me, telling me that your forces had come to my lands, killing my people for sport. And you know what else this pony did? She reminded me of the most sacred concepts to apekind. She told me that you would see all the world under your lash and in your slave collars. I cannot ally with you, nor will any of my people or any of the other apes. You treat the most sacred right of the Allgood's teaching like grass to be trampled under your hooves. That pony, she reminded me that freedom is sacred, more so than any petty artifact. And when she finds the Blind Warrior's Burden, I hope she dangles it in front of your nose before bearing that cursed thing away from here."
The Prime Minister spun on his heels, walking proudly off into the forest, his warriors falling in behind him. He was supremely proud of himself, he stood up to the most powerful and dangerous being in all of Zebrica, escaped unharmed and rubbed his nose in the dirt.
N'dutu fumed with rage, turning back to his force, he stalked back towards his own encampment. "When I have the Eyes in my hooves, your nation will be the first I raze, monkey," N'dutu hissed under his breath. As his warriors surrounded him, something foul flew through the air, splattering on the warlord's chest. The horrid stench of excrement drifted into his nose, and N'dutu screamed into the night as the hoots of chimp laughter came from the trees.
**********************************************
The group had resumed their journey up the Zengo River, their progress making leaps and bounds due to Jack's knowledge of the twisting and often labyrinthine maze of channels and off shoot rivers. Daring sat with her back against the stern, resting her eyes from last night's extensive and in depth Gospel lessons. Jack the Chimp seemed more overjoyed than ever, even singing some odd song as he pushed the boat upriver.
And Timur and Zecora, Daring could just say it simply that they were much more comfortable around each other now, even chatting mildly in a zebra language. It only confirmed her suspicions when her sharp hearing caught the word 'ngiri' being used without Timur flying off the handle, instead laughing gently at it.
Fluttering on her wings over to the pair of zebra, she landed as daintily as a damselfly on the prow of the boat. "Whatcha' talkin' 'bout?" she asked like a curious child.
"Nothing that concerns you, little busy bee," Timur said to his charge.
"Where'd ya go last night, Dad?" Daring asked with certain emphasis.
"Just out to the forest for a little stroll, nothing to be overly concerned about."
"Who said I'm concerned? I'm just happy for both of you," Daring said smugly, levitating a few inches off the surface of the water and landing back by Zecora. Giving the mare a friendly look, she tapped her on the shoulder. "Good job, you actually snagged him. Now just holding him down is the main problem."
Zecora blushed. "Were we not so subtle? Is that the trouble?"
"Trouble? No trouble, I'm just glad that you two overcame your differences and did the horizontal mambo. I could feel the tension between you two like the string on a guitar." Daring shrugged eyebrows suggestively. As Zecora opened her mouth to retort, the boat crashed into something, throwing everypony down in a heap. "What was that?!" Daring shouted, taking to the air to search for danger.
Jack appeared unfazed. "Well folks, this is your captain speaking. We appear to have passed the first milestone of the forbidden zone. If you'll look off the starboard bow, you'll notice why nobody comes up here."
Rushing to the starboard bow, Daring peered off into the murky water. What she saw astounded her. An entire ship lay underwater, its hull crushed like a tin can and covered in white sticks. Her jaw dropped as she realized the white sticks were bones. Bones of zebras, bones of chimps, bones of whatever was foolish enough to come up this stretch of river.
"What could have done this?" Daring asked aloud.
"That's not the only one," Timur said, lifting Daring's head to look at the river around them. Crashed boats lay everywhere on the shore and in the river, the pale green of moss covered skeletons showing every now and then.
"What in Tartarus lives here?"
"That's the thing, nothing lives here. Not even mindless animals. They're all too afraid," Jack replied. "There's great magic around here, magic that does not take well to intruders." The further Jack poled them up the river, the more unholy this land seemed. The trees turned from a majestic and powerful stance to that of a bent old pony. Their branches became gnarled and bare, long beards of moss growing down from them. There were no sounds of animals, and what they did see fled before they could lay eyes on it. It felt like the great swamps of southern Equestria, but devoid of life.
The landscape began to change, off in the distance, a grand cliff seemed to rise from the jungle, ending the endless sea of green and life. Though calm on the outside, Daring's eyes were frantic in their search for whatever had made this endless graveyard of ships, canoes, rafts, and barges, their skeletal pilots still clutching the oars hundreds of years after their death.
In the prow, Zecora quietly chanted a mystic ward to keep away the unrestful and evil spirits that must inhabit this foul swamp. Even Jack muttered a prayer to the Allgood, seeking the holy guidance of his prophet as they tread the waters of this unholy place.
The further they pushed up the river, the more destroyed boats they saw. And not only that, in the thinning trees they saw the skeletons of creatures seemingly crushed by some mysterious force. Wagons were shattered into splinters, spears and shields of brave warriors who thought they could fight their way to the Eyes lay strewn about.
Rounding a bend on the river, the forest seemed to end at a line, a cratered plain of hardy grasses and bushes stretching up to the base of the cliff. And as Daring's view took in the gorge that cut through the massive cliffside where the Zengo River lazily flowed from, she saw them.
"What are they?" she asked quietly.
Her companions surrounded her, looking at the strange sight that stood on either side of the gorge.
"I've never seen them this close before," Jack murmured in disbelief. "They're the only known representation of the Cousins."
"The most fearsome of all creatures to ever walk Yeye's Earth. No wonder their image was chosen to guard the Tomb," Timur whispered.
"Wale Mrefu," Zecora said, doing a warding symbol.
"The Everguard," Daring said, making the connection. On either side of the river stood a titanic pair of statues, easily 150 feet tall, depicting strange creatures that looked somewhat like Jack. They stood proud, bearing huge spears that were thicker than the trunks of most trees. Each one bore a oval shield that could have shaded the entire river. Their bald heads, smooth skin, and odd featured faces pulled a thought to Daring.
Reaching into her pouch, she fumbled around until she brought out her notebook. Flipping through the pages, she came to the sketches of Yeye. Holding the book up next to her view of the Everguard, she compared the unknown form of the goddess to these stone creatures. "They're the same. Yeye didn't appear as a chimpanzee, she appeared as a demon. Demon....those are the demons!"
She could barely contain her excitement at this revelation. "I always thought they were some kind of tall pony or some other creature! Don't you all realize!? These are the creatures whose legacy I've been finding throughout my entire life! These are the creatures that Princess Celestia has been hiding from me! Jack, I can see the family resemblance, they look almost like you!" While Daring stared with childlike glee and fascination at the slowly approaching Everguard, the zebras and Jack weren't so excited.
"Jack, doesn't your holy book say that the Everguard are the first line of defense?" asked Timur.
Jack nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving the colossal stone statues. "Yeah, that's right. The Everguard were erected with powerful magic to be the first line of defense against intruders to Talib's Tomb."
"How are statues supposed to defend a gorge?"
"I don't think they're exactly statues."
As Daring kept drinking in the sight of the Tall One Everguards, she noticed something at the face. "Hey, who keeps those fires fueled in their eyes?"
Zecora looked up at the face of the statue, squinting at the eyes. "Fires?" Her eyes grew wide as she realized what was truly going on. "Jack! Turn the boat around! Get us somewhere safe and sound!"
"No need to tell me twice!" the chimp shouted, digging his pole into the riverbed to stop the boat.
Daring almost laughed at them. "What are you guys worried about? They're just-" A great rumbling and scraping silenced the pegasus. With her eyes wide, she slowly turned around. The head of both colossi turned and stared down at the small boat. Leaning forward, the Everguard lifted their titanic stone feet and took an earth quaking step forward onto the plain and separating themselves from the cliff face. "-statues," Daring finished.
"Sweet Yeye, they're golems!" Timur shouted.
"What are golems?!? How do we stop them!?" Daring shouted as she lifted off, grabbing a chunk of rope in her teeth and futilely trying to tow the boat backward. The giant stone colossi lifted their shields, slamming them into the riverbed. A wave of water nearly swamped the boat, but more importantly the golems had blocked the way up the river.
"Golems are stone creatures! Wizards sometimes have them as familiars! But they're never that big!" Timur screamed as he tried to think of a way to get past.
Grabbing the rope in her teeth again, Daring pulled the boat to the side, right as a pillar of a spear slammed into the river where they had been seconds before, sending a plume of water skyward and a large wave radiating around. Scooping water out of their boat, Timur kept thinking of ways to fight golems. "The only thing that can stop them is their conjurer! And they're all dead!"
"JACK! Try talking to them! They're your cousins!" Daring dove down and pried the shivering ape from the bottom of the boat, setting him at the prow to face down both advancing titans.
"I don't have any cousins! They're long gone! These are just stone impersonations!" the chimp cried before diving back down to the bottom of the boat, grabbing some kind of float. "Abandon ship! Every ape for himself!"
As the Everguard drew closer with their slow, earthshaking steps, Daring's mark almost burned like fire. "Only one thing left to try," she murmured as they both cocked back their arms for another thrust of their huge spears. Standing at the front of the boat on her hind hooves, she spread her forelegs and wings, pulling off her helmet and letting the mark shine in the light. Shutting her eyes, she waited for the death blow, expecting the mountain of stone spear to come and crush her like a gnat.
Moments passed in utter silence. Sweating hard and panting, she cracked open an eye. Hovering mere inches from her face, the weapons of the Everguard hung motionless in the air, as still as the stone they were made from. Their bearers stood still, the magic fire in their eyes taking on a different color. The two golems retracted their weapons, standing back to their full height. The one closest to them leaned back down, opening his massive stone fingers and grasping Daring by her jacket collar as gently as a giant stone monster could do.
Lifting her to its chiseled face, it stared at her with magical eyes. Daring raised a hoof and waved it awkwardly. "Um, hi. Can you understand me?" The massive golem nodded. "So, you're not going to hurt me?" Again it nodded, each nod loosening a torrent of dust and loose stone. Placing her gently on his shoulder, the Everguard golem leveled its spear to once again attack the boat. "Woah! No! Stop! They're with me. They're cool, alright?" The golem hesitated, lowering his spear. It turned to its eternal companion, seeming to convey this message that this blessed one did not want them hurt.
The other golem nodded, reaching down and pulling his shield from the river. A torrent of mud and water fell as it stepped back towards the cliff to take its place once again on its pedestal. Leaning down, the golem deposited Daring in her boat, taking a step back and placing a fist over its chest, bowing slightly to Daring. Its companion did the same.
Looking back, Daring placed a shaky hoof over her heart, warily returning their obeisance. The Everguard grabbed his shield from the river, stepping back onto his pedestal to become a facade of a stone statue. Turning back around, Daring beheld her companions shivering, clutching one another like frightened foals. "Okay, I think we just got the all clear."
"I'm not moving a damn inch," Jack said, the zebras nodding frantically in agreement.
"Move it, or I'll have my new friends throw us there!" Instantly the other three were on their feet, scrambling for a pole, an oar or a long branch to paddle with. Paddling themselves into the gorge, Daring had a thought. Flying back to the Everguard statue, she hovered in front of its face. She scratched the back of her neck with a hoof. "Hey, I know this might be asking a little much, but there's an army following us. Do you think you could maybe slow them down a bit? You know, it's just a request, you don't have to do it if you don't want to."
The stone face slowly nodded, its lips curling into a smile. Though wordless, Daring felt the implied message.
With pleasure.