//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 // Story: Tales of an Equestrian Mare // by Durandal //------------------------------// It was only by the movement of the stars overhead that Green Wind’s crew could tell that they had completed a full circuit of the island. Every scrap of the coastal cliffs shared a single pattern, an endless ring of identical coves and steep rock walls “We will have to scale it,” Audir the Brave announced, after some thought, “Even without the storm hounding us, Green Wind will not survive the open ocean. Up there is where we will go, to find what we need.” Greybrawne the Nimble volunteered, boasting that he was the best climber in the village, and had once scaled one of the crawling, mobile walls of ice that ground their way across the frozen ice fields. The crew drew lots for who would accompany Greybrawne on the dangerous climb. There was no question that Audir would be going, and Hearthfire and Tobba each drew short straws, along with Osk, and no sooner had Tobba drawn his lot than Tofa announced that he, too, would be going. Skirlaug, as Audir’s most trusted crew member, was left in charge of Green Wind in the captain’s absence, and with iron pitons and stout rope the six began their ascent. The ascent proved no easier than predicted, and perhaps was even harder. Up close, the cliff was a most unusual formation, even aside from its unnaturally repeating pattern. It was smooth to the touch, almost like polished, finished cut crystal, but when a lantern was held close, it revealed a faint grained pattern just below the surface. It was strangely warm to the touch, and free of ice; a single piece of good luck, given the intense difficult that driving a piton home proved to hold. Greybrawne ruined three spikes beneath his mallet until he spotted the slight grooves that ran through the cliff face and aimed his efforts there. Up and up they went, roped together and clinging spiderlike to the sheer surface, Greybrawne leading the way, forging the path as he climbed. To everyone’s surprise, the climb became easier as they rose. The cliff was divided up into segments by the grooves, and the incline of each segment was a hair less steep than the one below it. “It’s a huge dome,” Tobba announced, eventually, “It must become flat at the peak.” “Good. That is where we might find supplies, if we are lucky,” Audir said, with a note of satisfaction. Sure enough, as the slope reached an even diagonal, dark shapes began to appear to the left, and the right, and up ahead, and when the climbers turned their lanterns on them, they proved to be spindly trees, all but bereft of leaves, but nevertheless clinging doggedly to the island. “How do they grow?” Osk wondered, “There is light here only a few days a year. Surely there is nothing to nurture them, this far north?” “A mystery, to be sure,” Audir agreed, but no one could offer any kind of solution, so they kept climbing, grateful that there was likely suitable timber somewhere on the island. As they approached the peak, the space between the stunted trees lessened, until they reached the border of a wood, or perhaps a forest - there was no way to tell just how wide or dense the trees became further in. By now, the slope was gentle enough that they were no longer climbing, but walking almost normally. They did not untie the rope, however, for the ground was still treacherously smooth, and a slip of a hoof still had the potential to send the careless explorer slithering back down the slope. “These trees make less and less sense,” Osk complained. “They grow without light, and their roots pierce nothing by solid rock. Where do they draw sustenance from?” “Do you think there might be animals living here, too?” Tofa wondered, eyeing the surrounding gloom warily. Hearthfire couldn’t hold in her nervous giggle. “I never thought I would meet a nothern cow who was afraid of the dark.” “It’s no the dark I’m afraid of,” Tofa argued, hotly, “It’s the things that might be lurking in it that worry me.” “All right, all right, it was just a joke, no need -” “Shh.” Audir held up a hoof for silence, “Do you hear that?” Everyone froze. The wind rustled the barren branches of the trees. A hundred meters below, the waves crashed against the cliff. And that was all. “I don’t hear anything,” Osk whispered. Audir motioned for her to be quiet once more, still listening intently. More waves, more rustling branches. “Oh come on, there’s nothing there! What could possibly live on this island? There’s nothing to eat, except these dying trees, and hardly any shelter!” “I know what I heard,” Audir countered, “but it’s gone, whatever it was. Be on your guard.” They moved ahead, Audir composed but alert, Tofa visibly shaken and glancing around nervously. Greybrawne and Osk were messing about, clearly not taking Audir’s warning seriously; Hearthfire, too, was having a difficult time believing that there could be anything living out here. Surely Audir was just being overly cautious, or intentionally putting Tofa on edge as some kind of joke... Something moved. It was a tiny flash, a wisp of a shape between the gnarled tree trunks. She stopped, and Tofa walked into her flank. “Ow. What is it? Is there something there?” Scanned the tree line. There was nothing. “Just my imagination. Sorry, Tofa.” It was getting darker and darker. While the trees were spindly and leafless, they were getting closer and closer together, their twigs rattling a rhythmless background noise over the wind and the water. Even the meagre light from the moon and stars was slowly being filtered out, and the light from their lanterns seemed to fade with it, casting deeper and deeper shadows through the trees. Hearthfire found herself looking around, constantly, watching for that elusive flicker of movement she had seen before. Over and over she fancied that she saw it, but it was just a shadow thrown by the sway of a lantern, or the movement of a branch with the wind. “Stop it,” Greybrawne chided her as she startled at yet another shadow. “You’re making me nervous now.” “Sorry,” she mumbled. After that, it got easier to remind herself that she was just being a jumpy foal in the dark. It was always dark here, for Heavens’ sake! There was nothing to be afraid of. That was when the ground lurched beneath her hooves, shaking as if under the force of an earthquake. She lost her balance, and pain shot through her shoulder as she hit, hard. She shook her head, trying to clear the dancing lights that were filling her vision, hearing the groans from all around as the others began to pick themselves up. Her lantern had fallen nearby, had gone out; she looked around desperately, trying to find it. For a moment, she was too disoriented to remember that she didn’t need a lantern for light. She shut her eyes, and concentrated, and felt the reverberation inside her soul as she drew upon her magic. Opened her eyes again. The... thing rushed from the trees, directly at her, a piercing, keening wail filling the air as it leapt with bloodied talons aiming for her throat. She squeezed her eyes tight shut, and waited for death. There came a drumming of hooves, and a furious lowing, a battlecry, tore from Audir’s lungs and echoed around the forest as the huge cow hurled herself into the air, slamming bodily into the creature in mid-flight. Locked together, the pair tumbled backwards down the incline, and vanished into the darkness between the trees. There was silence. Then, shaking, still waiting to realise that she was dead, Hearthfire tottered on to her hooves, and picked herself up. The others were rising, too, and everyone was staring down the slope in the direction Audir had vanished. “Audir!” Greybrawne was the first to move, barrelling into action as he thundered down the slope, heedless of the danger of losing his own footing and flying head over hooves. The other four followed more carefully, calling the captain’s name through the darkness, and shining the light of the one lantern that had remained lit between the trees. They found Greybrawne kneeling beside Audir, maybe a hundred meters back from where they had been attacked. Audir had come to a halt in a heap of smashed branches and other wood debris, resting against the first tree to survive her striking it. She was breathing laboriously, and her thick layers of clothing were ripped all over, blood seeping through where her own hide had been torn. “Is... everyone all right?” “Everyone but you, Audir,” Greybrawne said, shoving a restraining hoof against the captain’s chest as she tried to get up. “Did you see what it was?” Audir shook her head, her gaze slightly unfocused. “No. It was fast, and strong, and it was like trying to catch smoke. As soon as I managed to get a hold of it, it was gone.” The six of them could not help but glance around, expecting to see movement at any moment, but there was nothing to be found.