“Do you think this rain will stop any time soon?”
This was spoken by Spectrum Song, who was looking out the window of the carriage. It had begun to rain about a hour after they had left the town. Not a heavy rain, more of a slight drizzle, but it obscured the way ahead and was cold and miserable. Everyone who was not inside a carriage was draped in long, water-resistant cloaks, and the overall mood was somewhat low.
Nightfall Gleam glanced out at the clouds. “Not for a while, Spectrum. This kind of rain is like pouring water through a tiny funnel: not a lot of actual downpour, but it’ll take a long time to drain.” With that said, she went back to her map. “By my calculations, we should be getting close to Stoney Gulch soon.”
“And then we’ll be on to the Kievan terr-ah-tory, right?” Honeygold piped up.
Nightfall nodded. “That’s right. I’m glad we managed to get our transports refurbished back in town. We still have a long journey ahead.”
“Good thing we brought some refreshments, then.” Spectrum grinned and reached into her pack. There was the sound of clinking glass and the squire produced a bottle of wine.
“I’m not sure that’s entirely appropriate,” Nightfall protested, but she was overruled as the three youngsters began pouring out the wine. It wasn’t long before Jewel Pin joined in on the drinking, and soon the inside of the carriage smelled of fermented grape juice.
Barring the occasional bump of the carriage wheels going over rocks, the rest of the journey was uneventful, if a bit boring.
Then, about two hours later when the rain was just beginning to let up, the convoy rolled to a stop.
“Heeh?” Jewel Pin said blearily, for she had fallen asleep on the way. The lack of movement in the carriage jerked her awake. “Why are we stopping?”
The seamstress poked her head out of the window. Ahead was a narrow pass between two steep rocky hills. A battered wooden sign close by read ‘Sotnee Gluch’.
“Whoever put this sign up, spelling was clearly not their strong suit,” Light Speckle observed.
“Well, here we are,” Apple Bean announced. “Looks pretty rock free ta me.”
Emerald, who had been driving the front carriage, dismounted and stared ahead into the dwindling rain. “The pass looks clear. Looks being the key word.”
“It’s kind of narrow,” Apple Bean remarked. “You think the carriages will fit?”
Emerald hmm’ed to herself, then went to the entrance to the gulch. It was fairly narrow, as Apple Bean had said. But there were tall hills and cliffs all around where they wouldn’t get very far with anyway.
“There’s no choice but to go through the gulch,” Emerald concluded, though she did not sound very sure of her statement. “If people take this path, then it must be wide enough for the carriages. Let’s move.”
Posey also dismounted to stand with Emerald. She held out her map.
“There is another way,” the archer said, her finger tracing a line on the map’s surface. “We can go around the gulch, like the landlord said.”
“Won’t that go through some old burial grounds?” Emerald wondered aloud.
“Well, yes,” Posey nodded. “But it sounds safer than getting the carriages stuck in the gulch and wasting more time. Gabriel says that something’s happened at Fort Hayward. I can’t say exactly what, since there’s no perfect translation in bird-speak. But I’m afraid that Canterlot is catching up to us.”
So Morn had reached Fort Hayward. Emerald assumed the worst and that Morn Dread had beaten the three captains and their garrison, and were on the way now. There was no time to lose.
“Your choice, Emerald,” Posey said, playing with her hair. “We can either go through the gulch or around it. But we can’t stand around here all day.”
Emerald nodded and squared her shoulders, then strode over to the opening of Stoney Gulch. Peering into the pass, she beheld a series of narrow cliff-faced roads that their horses could easily fit onto, but not so much their wheeled transports. And she did not want to be stuck trying to maneuver the carriages around tight bends, or worse, be caught in a rockslide or something equally as bad.
“We’ll go around,” Emerald decided. “Morn will probably expect us to go through the gulch anyway, so this way we will have the element of surprise on him.”
Posey rolled up the map and returned to the convoy.
They started moving again, stopping only to change course. The path they were going to take went uphill for a bit, and then leveled out. The area was blanketed in thick fog, and they moved closer together for fear of getting lost in the tendrils of mist.
The fog settled on everyone present, forming a damp, clammy layer on their skin that was most uncomfortable.
“Ah don’t like it here,” Honeygold whispered inside her carriage. For some reason, she didn’t feel like breaking the unnatural silence that this path had brought on. The girl curled her knees up onto the seat and peeked fearfully out the window.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Light Speckle said comfortingly. “It’s just some fog. Bit of fog never hurt anyone-”
Suddenly there was a shriek from near the front of the convoy.
“Ma!” Honeygold jerked up straight. She threw the carriage window open and tried to see what had happened.
It was difficult to make out what was going on in the mist, but there seemed to be some kind of fight going on ahead.
The caravan had stopped. Shouts and growls came from the front, where Honeygold could just barely make out what looked like a big dark shrouded thing fighting her parents. Emerald had left the top of the carriage, already rushing over to help.
“What is that thing?” Guard Streak said fearfully. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“It looks like a g-g-g-ghost!” Spectrum said, taking out her dagger and holding it tightly. “Ghosts aren’t real, are they? Everyone keeps saying they aren’t! I just knew they were!”
There came the sound of blades humming through the air, but nothing seemed to hurt the billowing spectre. It was a strange thing, clad in a dirty and dark cloak, with long arms coming out from under it. It didn’t seem to have any visible legs. Emerald’s sword whiffed through it harmlessly, and a jab from Golden Nugget’s quarterstaff that he had packed for the trip worked just as well, which was to say, not well at all.
The creature, in the meantime, reached out with its shrivelled arms without making a sound. Each hand was tipped with sharp claws. It swiped at Golden Nugget, cutting his quarterstaff cleanly in two.
And then, as if things could not get worse, another one drifted into view from the fog.
“Oh, dear…” Emerald said as she attempted a thrust. It went harmlessly through the creature’s body.
“Spectres,” Moon Tide hissed. “Prench beasts. It is said they suck the life force right out of you. Beware!”
The spectre loomed over Emerald, and she could see it gaping maw under its hood.
Then, just as the monster raised its claws to strike, there came a buzzing noise, and three arrows sprouted from the spectre’s back. It roared and turned around to see who had shot it, only for a fourth arrow to strike it in the face with such force that the gleaming arrowhead poked out the back.
Flailing around, the spectre groaned and began to crumble into dust. Soon there was nothing left of it but a large pile of ashes. The second spectre stopped advancing, seemed to think the better of the situation, then retreated back into the fog.
Emerald picked herself up off the ground. “Good shooting, Posey,” she said.
“Umm…” Posey said timidly. “That, uh, was not I.”
A shrill whistle sounded out of the fog, and from within the mists stepped about a dozen people, all holding either bows or short swords.
“Well, well,” a woman’s voice sounded out, English, and quite well spoken. “Look at what we have here. A merchant caravan, and only one guard?”
“Merchant?” Emerald muttered. They were only carrying what supplies they could, and she didn’t like the tone of the newcomer’s voice.
The leader, who was wearing a hood and a scarf over her mouth, raised a fist. At her signal, every person with a bow nocked an arrow to their bowstrings, taking aim at Emerald and her companions.
She spoke in a slew of Prench that Emerald couldn’t understand. When she saw she was getting no reply, she shook her head. “Now hand over all your goods, and maybe my men won’t stick you full of arrows.”
Emerald tensed. These people were obviously very good shots, as they had proven when taking care of the spectre. Her armor might deflect the projectiles, but she wasn’t wearing a helmet, and the others were completely unprotected. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
“Will you let us go if we give you our goods?” Emerald shouted back, lowering her sword a fraction.
“That depends on if you have anything good,” the bandit leader called back.
“We are not a merchant caravan,” Golden Nugget announced. “We’re just travelers. The only goods we have are supplies that we need for our journey.”
The bandit leader approached, flanked by two swordsmen. “Is that so?” she said derisively. “If you’re not lying, then that means you’re worth even less to me. Only thing you’re good for then is a ransom. Now, how much would your loved ones pay to have you back, hm?”
She pointed to the carriages and spoke in Prench. Some of her men nodded and approached, likely to search them.
“Now, tell me…” the leader commanded. “What are you doing so far from Canterlot? Where are you going?”
“Why do you care?” Posey shot back.
“I’ll be asking the questions here,” the bandit leader snapped. “Now I won’t ask again. What is your business here?”
There came a screech from above as Gabriel circled above Posey and the bandit leader. The eagle spiralled down, but instead of attacking, Gabriel landed on the bandit’s shoulder and nuzzled her face.
“Wait…” the bandit leader raised a hand to touch Gabriel, who nipped at her fingers affectionately. “I know this bird…”
“Gabriel, what are you doing?” Posey exclaimed, stepping back. The eagle cawed at Posey, whose eyes went wide. “What do you mean you know this person?”
The leader turned to her, and for the first time since their ambush, she lowered her weapon. “You. That bandana… Where… Where did you get that?”
Posey was taken aback. “It was a gift from… my mother.” Posey’s eyes went wide as the bandit leader reached up and pulled her hood off, uncovering a head of raspberry hair and light amber skin.
“Posey?” the bandit leader gasped. “Tis truly you?”
“Mother?!” Posey shrieked, scurrying backward into Emerald.
“Mother?” the former pegasus said, confused. “I thought you said your mother was kidnapped by brigands, Posey?”
“She was! Prench bandits! I can’t believe… after all this time…? You’re a bandit too?”
The bandit leader pulled the scarf away from her face. What lay underneath was a worn out, but still kindly face that bore little resemblance to the other brigands who were around them.
“My beautiful daughter,” Posey’s mother said softly. “Look at you! You’re all grown up.”
“Mother…” Posey croaked. She dashed forward and embraced her parent in her arms, holding her close. “I’ve missed you so much. Why didn’t you come back home?”
“Oh, Posey. My darling,” the archer’s mother murmured, stroking her daughter’s hair tenderly. “I would have, but I couldn’t just run away. In the beginning, I was a captive too. It took many years to work my way to where I am now, and I thought that if I returned to you as a brigand, you would be ashamed of me.”
She turned around and yelled a command in Prench. The rest of the bandits lowered their weapons and ceased their pillaging of the carriages.
“I am so sorry, my sweet flower. But… I’m glad you’ve looked after yourself well. And Gabriel is still with you.” She ran a finger along the bird’s head. Then she cleared her throat and took a step away from Posey. “Now, I must know. What are you doing all the way out here? And who are you traveling with?”
Posey made introductions, as well as explained the nature of their quest. Her mother listened carefully, not saying a word until Posey had finished.
“So Canterlot has been taken over by one of King Dawn Saber’s own knights? This is terrible news indeed. The king was barely able to govern his own lands properly; I am living proof of that. But should his rule break down entirely, I fear dark times lie ahead not just for Canterlot but for its surrounding lands as well.”
“That is why we are journeying to Saddle Arabia,” Posey agreed. “We must find the only thing capable of stopping Morn Dread and bring order back to the kingdom.”
“And you say your friend, the one with the shiny hair, is the only one who can stop this Morn Dread?” Posey nodded. “Then we will help you get to the Kievan border. My people will guard your caravan from the spectres and other bandits.”
Posey’s mother went back to her clan, speaking in rapid Prench. The rest of her followers understood and spread themselves out around the convoy in a rough circle.
“There’s one thing I don’t understand,” Emerald said once they began moving again. “How come our weapons could not hurt the spectres, but yours did?”
Posey’s mother smiled and took an arrow from her quiver, tapping the bright and shiny arrowhead.
“Spectres are strange creatures that like to congregate around grave sites and are immune to most normal weapons, but their one weakness, is silver. We generally poach merchants and traders around here, so we all have silver weapons on hand in case a spectre should appear.”
“Silver. I shall remember that,” Emerald noted.
“You carry my daughter’s hopes with you, Emerald Edge,” Posey’s mother said slowly. “I wish there was more we could do, but my clan will not venture into the Kievan territories. Their attitude towards bandits are somewhat more severe than those of Prance.”
“I understand,” Emerald said. “I only hope I can end this quickly and restore peace to the land. Maybe then you and Posey could spend more time together.”
Posey’s mother smiled serenely at Emerald. “I would like that very much. As for this Morn Dread, if he tries to follow you, we will make the gulch as unwelcoming as possible should he arrive. Either that, or he will have to travel the burial grounds. In that case, we will let the spectres have him and his men. But no matter what path he takes, we will do our best to slow him down.”
“You are most kind,” Emerald said gratefully. “Not many would do so much for a stranger.”
“I believe in kindness toward my friends and family. It’s something I do not get to express much as the leader of a clan of bandits, but I hope that in the future, someone of my blood will be able to express what kindness really means.
“Now come on; the border is but a half-day’s ride away. Let us make haste! And do watch out for spectres.”