//------------------------------// // Chapter 12. // Story: The Desert Prince // by Sparky Brony //------------------------------// “Stymphalian?” Nisran says, his saddle bag opening and a book floats out to hover in front of him. “I’ve never heard of that, what is it?” The pages blur as he flips through the thick tome with his magic. This close, I can feel his strength, it’s not much, but it’s enough to have the fur on the back of my neck rise. He gets to the end and slams the book closed before looking back at me. “What’s going on?” I look at the book floating between us. “You were trained in magic?” “I’ve been called to it. I spent years in the City of Gardens learning the magic before returning home." "I don't know, I just remember something about it, I remember Stymphalian birds, and something about Andromeda." I shake my head and sigh, "I can't remember anything about my life before but... I remember that. WHY?" His glasses fly off his face and a cloth emerges from his saddle bags. He starts cleaning his glasses. "Actually it’s not as strange as you think.” He looks at me as he floats his glasses into position. “You remember how to speak, you remember the meaning of and use of words. You might not have known how to use magic, but you knew what magic was. I would suspect it’s like this. You know the words, the descriptions, and what’s associated with them, but not how they apply to you." I take a step back, narrowing my eyes. “So the memories are there? I just don’t know how to associate them with what’s going on now, so I can’t understand them enough to recall them?” He nods. “Exactly.” He narrows his eyes at me. “You are a pretty smart one. For a pony.” He turns and starts walking along the field. “I must beg your pardon, you know my name, but I do not know yours.” “It’s Ki.” He looks sideways at me. “Ki? Well, that name doesn’t really seem to suit you.” He shakes his head. “Though, it’s funny you mention birds. We have had a new flock of birds take roost in the area. They first fed off the trees, and at first, before they started withering, they didn’t take enough to really bother us. We grow enough food here. Plenty for the town to eat, along with selling a good amount to some of the other coastal towns.” He tosses his head to indicate the village. Though as I get a good look at it, I can see this was a prosperous town, now fallen on hard times. The woodwork and stonework is top notch, as good as anything in the City of Gardens. While nearly every horse varies from skinny to downright emaciated, some wear clothing just like back in the City. This is definitely a prosperous town normally. Perhaps Ghaliya would make a decent profit with the occasional caravan out here. He’s been talking while my mind was elsewhere, but something he said snaps me out of my reverie. “Hold up. I grumble. What was this about a djinn?” He actually smiles at me. “Oh, the water djinn, she set up her own little enclave about ten miles north of here. When she attacked a group of foals, I went with a group of the town watch and we drove her off. I don’t have a huge amount of magic, but I was able to scare her with a few spells. Let her know we didn’t want her around, and she took off.” I grin back at him and recount our first encounter with the fire djinn near the city. As I’m finishing up that story, his ears flick behind him, and he turns his head. A horse is running towards us as fast as she can. She skids to a stop. “Ealim Nisran, come quick. Naziha needs you.” He sighs, “I know she’s been having a rough pregnancy, but the tea that I’ve given her…” “She’s in a huge amount of pain, and one of her foals doesn’t seem to be moving, while the other is moving a lot more than usual. There is something wrong.” Nisran glances back at me, before nodding. “I’m on my way.” He looks back at me again apologetically before streaking off. I stand there for a long time, looking at the field. Then I glance back at the running horse. I can help, I have magic, it is oriented towards life. What is more exemplified of life than a horse about to give birth? The sides of my robes shift as I bring out my wings and I streak into the air. My time flying with Guerina has got me enjoying that part of me. I smile as the wind of my flight pushes the cowl back, the flight only takes a few seconds, but I am enjoying my heart beating harder, my lungs working with my wings, taking deeper breaths as my wings are on the upstroke, strong exhalation as the downstroke takes effect. I land and prance a few moments as I fold my wings back under my robes. “He’s an alicorn?” comes from dozens of voices. Nisran canters up to me. “Pardon me, Prince. I did not know, I am not worthy of your advice.” He bows before me. I can feel my cheeks heating as the other horse bow in front of me. “Oh, stand up. I’m no prince.” I mutter. “I’m just a pony, I’m not from Equestria.” Nisran stubbornly stays prostrate. “Alicorns are royalty, it matters not that you are not from Equestria. That does not remove what you are.” I seek the void and in an instant, my horn is glowing. I reach out gently with Air and pull him to his hooves, a small grip at the bottom of his jaw has his eyes looking at me. “I don’t need, nor do I desire, any of this. Treat me like any other horse.” I raise my voice. “I’m the same as any other horse here. Nothing special. Understood?” The prostrate horses all around talk softly, their words become a jumble as I look around. “I mean it, all of you, stand up!” Nisran is shaking in my magic, I let him go and he takes a step back. “Forgive my forwardness. Naziha doesn’t need to be your concern. She has a vivid imagination, she’s not always the most reliable…” “Nisran, I’m here to help. Let me help. Including this mare, Naziha. Okay?” He ducks his head down. “As you wish, Prince.” He backs himself towards the small house. “If my Prince will follow me.” I sigh. “Stop calling me Prince. I’m merely Ki.” “As you wish, Prince Ki.” I roll my eyes, this one is going to be stubborn. I follow him through the door and we head through the house and up a set of stairs. Soft grunts and moans of pain lead us into a bedroom. On a hay filled tick on a low platform is a young mare. Her body covered in sweat. “Oh, Ealim Nisran. Please, it hurts.” He leans forward. “Have you drunk the tea I gave you?” She nods. “Every four hours as you’ve told me. I swear!” He looks back at me. “This might be worse than I thought.” I can feel him pull on his magic, and for a long moment we stand there letting his magic flow as he examined her. Finally, he pulls away with a sharp jerk and shakes his head sadly, “Your foals are in distress. I may be able to save one, but I fear the other will not survive. You have a few weeks left. Though with this much distress, I don’t think either will survive if you take them to full term. I think we should make you birth them now.” I kneel down as she starts wailing. “One won’t make it?” I say softly to the scholar. He nods. “There’s nothing I can do, it’s beyond my help. All I can do is help the other and the mare.” I find myself growling, “No, not if I have anything to say about it.” I light my horn, as I look down at the mare, the draw of magic coming easier. Dawn Shimmer has taught me many spells and spell forms. While not a healer, Dawn knows the mechanics of delving to determine sickness. I form the weave modifying it on the fly, mainly comprising spirit and essence. Taking a deep breath, I lay the magic over her distended belly. Within my mind, information begins to flow, forming picture in my mind of what is going on, “The umbilical cord has wrapped around the filly’s neck,” I murmur softly. I can’t see exactly what’s happening, so I have to do with what I can feel in the delving.” Farlim Nisran blinks. “What?” Spreading my legs for stability, I draw on more of my strength. “Okay, just stay as still as you can, Naziha.” I pour my magic into her. I can feel the thick cord, pulsing with life, though it’s tight around the foal’s neck. Her struggles under that impediment has weakened her, nearly to death. I grimace as I draw deeper. “Prince,” comes Nisran’s voice. I ignore him, opening my eyes, the light flows from them as my mane and tail begin to dance with energy, blowing and flowing in an unseen ethereal wind. Within moments I have got the cord in my grip, I can feel where it’s connected to the mother, and to the unborn foal. I enfold the entire little filly in my magic, shifting her slightly so I can get enough space to move the cord. “Prince Ki.” Nisran’s voice has a bit of alarm in it. I can feel something brushing against my legs, but I ignore the distractions, if I let the magic falter, I could kill both foals. “Busy,” I murmur in response. This. Filly. Is. Not. Going. To. Die! Neither of them will! With a surge of my magic, the cord has been pulled from the small form’s neck, she gives a weak kick, but its taken to much from her. She’s still fading, her life draining away. Was it too much blood loss to her brain, was I not fast enough? As I can feel her heart frantically trying to pump the vitae but its not enough. I reach out and help it, drawing from the oxygen and nutrients in the cord to replenish what she’s lost. “Come on, little one,” I moan. She’s so close. I focus on her head, and the brain within, it needs blood, it needs the life the cord provides. Nothing is dead in there, just weakened. Another day of this, and she’d have died. But she’s free of that strangling cord now. I provide energy into her, and her little body soaks up the energy and magic like a sponge. I open myself as much as I can, spreading my wings wide I give a firm nod. She needs what I can provide, so I’ll provide every bit I can to her and the other foal. For a long time she’s absorbing the magic I’m pumping into her. Her brother seems to calm as well, no longer moving erratically. It seems like hours, but is likely only a few minutes, I bolster both the little foals, and for much of that, they feel like little black holes, sucking the energy as fast as I can provide it. But finally, they seem sated, and aren’t soaking up the energy as fast as they were. I back down on my magic, it’s only seconds before they seem happy and I pull my magic away, letting my horn go quiet. I look around, every horse is bowing prostrate before me, with the exception of the prone mare, she has passed out. “What?” Nisran’s eyes are focused on the floor. “Truly have we been witness to a true miracle. We are humbled by your presence, great Prince. Truly the Padishah and all of his mages, nor even Celestia herself could do what you have just done.” I feel a wave of exhaustion roll over me, looking down I see I’m standing in a bed of flowers and grass, “I just used magic just like you. Only a bit more of it than you have access too, though I may have overdone it a tad.” He shakes his head emphatically. “No, great Prince. you didn’t simply use magic, you tapped into the life essence of the world.” I think back, it did feel much how when I fought the djinn, pulling life from everywhere too entrap him. I take a step back. “I just did what I had to. I couldn’t let them die.” “You are a miracle worker, I was certain at least one of the babes would die. You saved them both!” I am out of energy. I sway a bit. “I’m going to need to rest after this, some food would be good.” I pant. I glance down at Naziha. “She provided some of the energy herself here. Please, make sure she’s well fed, umm.” I struggle to my hooves, but flop over. “I think I overdid it again.” As the world slowly turns black, I can hear Nisran moving, calling out to the others. *** Consciousness returns slowly though a gnawing ache is wracking my middle. I’m starving, my stomach is demanding food so much I can feel it gurgle. I lift my head a bit, but it flops down bonelessly. I wince a bit. I need to eat. I assume the void and reach for my magic, but trying to embrace it is like picking up a greased eel. Magic chimes and my head is gently lifted. A cup is pressed against my lips, I open my mouth and the life giving liquid flows down my throat. A warm vegetable broth, I smack my lips as the empty cup is drawn away. Only moments later another cup is brought up and offered. I drink the warm tea greedily, it’s sweetened with honey and tastes delicious. As I finish the second cup and it’s brought away. I murmur softly. “Thank you Nisran.” A feminine giggle causes my eyes to open wide. “Dawn!” “Yeah, it’s me!” She tilts her head to the side with a huge smile that closes her eyes. “What are you doing here?” She nods her head towards the single window in the small room. “When the sun set and you didn’t show, we waited. But Ghaliya started getting really nervous. So I popped over here and heard about your miracle. You overextended yourself, Ki.” Hearing her admonishing tone, I flinch. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t let those foals die.” She sighs softly, “I know, of course you couldn’t. That’s your cutie mark, that’s your passion.” She runs a hoof along my cheek. “But you have to understand your limits. The horses here don’t really understand your needs. I’ve never heard of an alicorn dying, but you could be the first. I don’t want to risk that you can die of extreme magical exhaustion. Nisran was able to get some water in you, and he tried some broth. He does understand the needs of magic users in such situations. But he was overwhelmed with you.” I grunt and struggle, trying to get to my hooves, but Dawn puts a hoof on my withers, and with gentle pressure, keeps me from gaining them. “Ki. I’ve already let Ghaliya know that you need a night or two of rest before anything else. You saved three lives today, be thankful for that and let the horses here take care of you. Lady Ghaliya was very clear that I am to keep you in bed and tend to whatever you need.” I see her haunches bristle. I remember her standing offer. I struggle for a moment longer before finally relenting. Dawn’s magic brings some sweet rolls over, and I munch on them with great gusto. Though it seems with every bite, I feel a jolt of energy helping to perk me up. Dawn brings up more food, and I wolf it down hungrily. Though as I’m dipping a biscuit in honey and shoving it into my maw, I look around. “More?” Another of her adorable giggles. Dawn shakes her head. “Now now, Ki, you can only eat so much. We can’t have you busting your stomach because your hunger is magical.” At my pout she nuzzles my cheek. “Ki, trust me, I have dealt with high level magic users many times in my life. I know what I’m doing. Ghaliya won’t be expecting you for a couple of days.” “What are Stymphalian?” I ask of the blue unicorn. Dawn frowns. “I have no idea, Ki. Sorry.” I close my eyes, memories flow. “Birds. Though not like most, they are large, and magical. They have beaks of bronze. Their droppings…something about their droppings seems important.” Dawn snorts. “Birds are like pegasi, don’t care where their droppings land.” I look at her. “First…ewwww. And second, what about flying over a city?” “They do try not to when flying over a city. I think the cities would ban pegasi from them if they did that. But over open country. Nope, no care at all.” I shake my head. Even when flying, I’ve always landed to take care of those necessities. I internally assess myself, I think I’m strong enough to make it to my hooves. Though the moment I try, magic chimes and I’m pressed to the soft covering I’m laying on. I look questioningly at Dawn. She tsks. “Ki, I swear, you are going to drive me totally insane. You need to stay off your hooves the rest of the night, and likely into tomorrow as well. Can you touch your magic?” I narrow my eyes at her. Then I quickly assume the void and quick as a thought, my horn is glowing brightly. I smile. “Just needed a few hundred calories.” She smirks. “More like several thousand, Ki. Everything I gave you I got from back at our caravan, I had the cooks make some serious sweet meals to push what you need into you.” She looks down. “Give yourself an hour, then you can eat more. Don’t want you upchucking all of that and waste everything.” I lay my head down, defeated. “You know, I fought a djinn, and did all kinds of powerful magical things. And all I did today was help heal some foals.” Dawn crawls up next to me, lending her body heat and comforting presence to me. “Ki, healing magic will take the most out of you. I know you are oriented towards life, and that’s not confined to plant life either. But healing somepony who’s injured or dying will take the most out of you. You are functionally living for two when you do that.” “How do I get to where it doesn’t take so much out of me?” She looks at me, squinting a bit. “Increase your stores? Your reserves? What do you want to do, heal the entire City of Gardens?” “If I have to.” She sighs, “Ki, it doesn’t work that way. You don’t store the magic within you, you channel the magic that is throughout the entire world, all of creation, through you. But doing so takes a toll on your body, you are using your own energy to guide the magic. You can do amazing feats, and as an alicorn, you are capable of more efficient usage of your resources than nearly any unicorn or horse. But to increase how much you can channel through your horn, you would have to condition your body to channel that much power. You will find you can handle more the more you consistently use. But there is a limit to that. You have to be careful though. You’ve learned this already, try to use too much, when that pressure in your horn turns to pain, that’s the warning. If you pull too much more, you can burn yourself out. You can break that connection to your magic.” She shudders. “And that’s about the worst thing you can do.” I reach up and touch my horn before shuddering. She nods. “You know what I’m talking about, that restraint gave you an idea, but being severed is even worse, the light, the warmth, isn’t just behind a barrier, it’s gone. Totally and completely gone.” She looks away. “It hasn’t happened to me. But I have known a few former mages, can’t even handle basic telekinesis anymore, much less the advanced magic they were capable of before. Every single one would have preferred death. It would be like never again being able to feel sensations or taste food.” I feel a shiver go down my back. “They couldn’t be healed?” She stamps a hoof on the floor. “No, Ki. They couldn’t be healed. Inside them, they were broken, their connection to the magic severed. And the worst thing is they still have their horns. A unicorn having their horn broken, they can have problems using their magic outside their special talent, a unicorn with a broken horn can still use magic, can still feel that energy moving through them. When you burn yourself out, you still have that reminder of that horn on your head. Other ponies would expect you to casually use magic, and you can’t.” She shudders again. I feel that cold presence in the pit of my stomach. To not only never touch the magic again, but to never feel it again. That makes me want to cry. She leans closer to me. “Promise me, Ki. Don’t let yourself go through that. I had a friend burn himself out. He was never the same.” I find myself shuddering again, to never touch magic, to never feel it again? That’s…about the worst possible thing I could ever think of happening. I look over at Dawn. “So, there’s nothing to do to help a pony whose magic has been severed?” She shakes her head, “There are rumors, well, legends really. It was a staff, it had magical properties. I don’t know if you knew, but a long time ago, long before Celestia, before much of civilization, there was a great cataclysm. The sun stopped moving on its own, the moon stayed in place. The unicorns of the time worked so hard to keep the natural cycles going in this world, but without the movement of the sun, those were just stopgaps. We, as a species, were dying. That was until some mages were able to establish a magical connection to the sun first, then the moon. At first, it took thousands of unicorns to establish the connection. Then once that connection was fully realized, a few dozen unicorns could move the sun, we were able to reestablish the day and night cycle. Thousands of unicorns burned themselves out in the connection, and some even were burned out in moving the sun on its daily path, but they had this staff, it was able to mend them, to fix that connection between the ponies and their magic. Some of the legends also say it could be charged enough to actually restore a broken horn. That’s almost as hard as restoring a severed unicorn.” “That’s amazing!” “Yeah, it is.” Her ears splay to the sides. “All of that effort, the unicorns injured, and sometimes it was permanent. No matter any staff or attempt at magical healing. And it was just to have one more day. After each day, it had to be done again, and again. Many centuries passed until Starswirl the Bearded was able to do it with the assistance of a few others. He did that for decades before Celestia was able to do the job on her own. During that time, the staff was lost, for it really wasn’t needed anymore. I mean, the occasional unicorn would be burned out, but they were so rare. So, the use of the staff has been lost, and the staff is gone.” I shake my head. “No idea where it is?” She narrows her eyes, looking thoughtful. “While living and working in Canterlot, among many of my research topics that Princess Celestia had me work on. One of those was the staff. I tracked down rumors, theories, ideas, all through many scholars. Nothing really came of the research. But there are a few viable theories. But I’ve never really galloped them down.” She shrugs, putting a hoof onto her horn. “Well, I know well how to tell my limits, you’re going to learn yours or else. We shouldn’t be chasing fairy tales.” I nod before shifting on this nice comfortable bed. “I think a few hours of shut-eye are the right prescription for me.” In response, the pony mare crawls into bed and nestles between my forehooves. Reflexively I put my wing over her, holding her tightly. “You know, you don’t need to, Dawn. Ghaliya isn’t here, we don’t need…” “I want to be close,” Dawn says softly. “You smell good, you feel good when you hold me. You make me feel comforted, Ki. Please don’t kick me out.” Her ears flatten to the sides. “And they are Ghaliya’s orders. Keep you fed, keep you warm, make sure you rest. And if you have those male needs, take care of them.” She nuzzles into my chest. “The culture of the horses is quite different than ponies. She’s not permitted to comfort you like this, but in Equestria, any mare would comfort a stallion in your condition, with the possible exception of bedroom activities. And you wouldn’t likely have much problem finding a mare for that either. Feemares of the horses can’t do this, but a slave like me can. I have served beds before, it’s no big thing for me. and I really like taking care of you, Ki.” I nuzzle the top of her head. “Thank you, Dawn.” Her hips shift and a feminine mewl escapes her. “I’m a little cold. Make me warm?” *** I wake up feeling cold, my stomach feels as though it’s ready to eat my spine. I slowly open my eyes. It’s still dark, how long have I slept? My soft groans seem to have an effect. “Good morning Ki.” I look over at the unicorn, she’s floating a large platter towards me, and my mouth immediately starts watering. “Food.” I grumble as I embrace my magic. Yesterday I gulped down the food as fast as I could. Now, I’m a little more reserved. Though more sweet rolls, along with eggs, and quite a few other dishes disappear down my insatiable gullet. When I finally push the empty platter away, I float a new cup of tea over. “So, what time is it?” “About an hour ‘til sunrise.” Her eyes flick back to the entrance, then back to me. “Ghaliya is expecting me back, we haven’t had much need for a mage or a fighter during this trip, but we are about to go into some rather rough territory. She needs me, Ki.” I smile brightly. “I am feeling a lot better. You go do your job.” The blue mare nods then trots towards the exit. Then she pauses, one hoof in the air, finally she turns back and rushes towards me, grabbing me tightly in a hug. “You scared me, Ki. Don’t do that again. And you might want to wait a day or two before coming back to the camp. I had to tell Ghaliya what happened, she’s liable to give you the rough side of her tongue over this.” She flees as I pull myself to my hooves. I nose my way through the door and look around. The smells of a town waking up greet my nose. Early risers are moving around, my ears flick in the direction of the fields, and I pick up the sounds of the horses working the fields. I need to fix this, these horses are seeing their entire livelihood wither and die like the crops they’ve been trying to grow. I walk slowly towards the field, then I pause when I feel a strong surge of magic. I shake my head, it wasn’t a huge amount, but definitely enough to get my attention. I take to the air and scan the fields as I fly. Only moments has me landing next to Nisran. He is standing there, head down, panting. “Nisran, what are you doing?” He looks over at me, then he scuttles back and drops prone. “Sorry, Great One, I did not intend to disturb you or your consort This humble scholar is simply trying to help the horses of his home.” Quick as a thought, I’ve embraced my magic and pulled him to his hooves. Yesterday was bad enough. “You stop this. Right now. Yes, I’m a mage. Yes, I’ve got wings in addition to my horn. But I am not of the royal family here, and I have no association with Princess Celestia. Treat me like you would any other horse, understood.” He stands there, trembling in my magic. He remains silent. “Nisran, please,” I say plaintively, “I can’t really do anything with all the other horses here bowing and scraping.” I look back at the town, then at him. “I don’t even like all the horses in the town doing this, but you…I need your help to make this work. I need your help to save this town. I’m not all powerful, I nearly killed myself, or worse, burned myself out, trying to save that mare and her foals. Yes, I can do things that most magic users can’t. But you can do a lot of things most of the horses here can’t. You have magic, at least treat me like an equal here.” “I could never treat one such as you as an equal, you are very nearly a god.” I want to shake him. Instead I release him, though he doesn’t fall prostrate again, he does stand there and continue to tremble, looking down at my hooves. “Nisran, please,” I say plaintively. His eyes are downcast, though as the silence continues, he eventually raises his eyes to look at me. He sees me looking back and flinches. “I could never be so forward, Great Prince.” That gets me to roll my eyes. “Nisran, in this, we are both mages. You likely have more education on magic than I do. I only have a few months of learning under my command. You have years. I’ve barely learned to read your books. You have years of experience doing exactly that. Please, Nisran, you are a scholar, you are a learned horse. You need to help me. Let us find these birds you were talking about, see if they are connected to the problems we’ve been having.” He stands there, though his trembling is less. Though it makes me wonder as to how the horses are treated by the Padishah and his guards, if they react so strongly to one they perceive as royalty. “Nisran, I can’t do this without you.” Finally he looks up, briefly meeting my eyes before flinching away. He steels himself then looks at my eyes again, he fights his urge to flinch away again, but he keeps eye contact. That gets me to smile. “Better.” He offers a tremulous smile. “I went into my library last night, Great Prince. If this humble horse may offer some little bit of knowledge to his highness, there certainly may be a connection to the new birds and the sickness in our fields. Apparently there are kinds of birds in the world, they are magical creatures, but their droppings can infect the land around them. They are nasty things, and the recommendation is to kill them as swiftly as possible to prevent their plague from spreading.” He stops for a moment. “Truly you are wise, Great Prince, your mention of the birds sent me in research directions that I had never even considered viable.” I smile, getting him to flinch, but he doesn’t look away. “Okay, then we need to find the birds. Are you able to teleport?” His eyes widen. “Oh, no, Great Prince. Even the strongest horse magic users, the ones with magic inborn, don’t have that ability. That is for the strongest of unicorn ponies.” That gets me to sigh. “Okay, I hope you are in good shape to run. I’ll fly around the fields, first we deal with the birds, then we deal with their droppings.” Some of the spells that Dawn has taught me do help with nullifying magical effects, I hope they apply when it comes to…poop. The thought of that gets a grimace from me. I trot over to the edge of the field and strip off my robes, they are fine for flying short distances in, but if I want to spend a long time in the air, any encumbrance is good to shed. A few moments with my magic has my robes carefully folded up, and I stand there, my wings spread. This is a beautiful valley, the land has rich soil, I could tell that easily with my nose. The sea breeze keeps the sun from being overbearing, the sun is low in the east, heralding a beautiful new day. Maybe today will be a day where the plant life that sustains these horses can be allowed to flourish as it should. A few experimental flaps as I head in the direction of the rising sun before I pull on the magic in my wings, the magic of flight, to leap into the air. I tuck my legs comfortably up and bank to the north. It’s time to find the source if this problem. Hours later, I land, prancing a bit as I flap my wings a bit for airflow to help me cool off. Nisran, who has been keeping a steady pace on the ground to keep up with my flitting around, gallops up to me, obviously in a lather. Our work seems to have attracted a bit of a following, as two mares come up, large barrels of water strapped to their sides. A large bowl is offered and I take it in my magic, drinking deeply. Nisran does the same, after a few minutes, he’s able to get his breath. “I’ve found some of their droppings, my Prince. They are imbued with magic.” My eyebrows rise. “Show me.” He keeps the walking pace up, but not enough to wear us out. It takes a while before he slows. “I think these birds move on after they damage an area, they can’t get food at a place anymore, so they find the next place to infect. But can you feel the energy?” I can feel something, feels like an itch inside my horn. I glance around. “Where?” He points and I follow where he’s pointing. In moments I’m standing before what looks like simply bird droppings. Though the smell isn’t all that offensive, the itch in my horn has amped up. I steel my stomach, knowing that picking up the droppings will certainly increase my knowledge of them. As I reach a flow of Air to pick them up, the flow dissolves. I take a step back in shock, snorting a bit. I glance at Nisran, the look on his face tells me that he’s tried the same thing. I bolster the flows, the cords of the magic more like cables than simply wisps of Air. I’m not even able to get the flow to actually touch them. “Sorry, my Prince, they seems to corrupt all magic around them, even the imbued magic that the horses put into the fields to make everything grow.” I sigh. “If it corrupts all the magic, can horses approach it safely?” He tilts his head. “We are close enough to touch it, do you feel any ill affects?” I shake my head. He continues. “I would think the smartest thing would be to gather it up with a shovel and put it in a cart to move it off the fields.” I nod. “Can you get the farmers to help with that cleanup?” At his nod something gets my attention. A large bird, but what bird has four wings? “I think I see one. I’m off the ground in a streak as Nisran heads back to the town, I know that my instructions are going to be followed very closely. I push harder and keep going, the bird doesn’t seem to be aware of me as I keep on its tail. We go along several low hills and push out several miles along the coast, then the bird starts to lose altitude. I glance ahead and nearly lose my wing’s rhythm, a large copse of trees, but they are twisted, and dark. I can feel the wrongness from up high. The bird angles towards the creeping branches. I slow to a hover, keeping my eyes peeled. More birds seem to be among those diseased branches. As I’m watching, I don’t pay all that much attention to my horn. A surge of pressure warns me as a blue ball of some kind of energy streaks from the trees, I don’t have any time to react when the energy strikes my right wing. Searing pain overcomes my wing as it snaps to my side. Oh damn. I fall towards the ground, letting out a loud scream.