//------------------------------// // Chapter 16 // Story: Tales of an Equestrian Mare // by Durandal //------------------------------// “We should find what we came here for, as quickly as possible,” declared Osk, “This island was queer enough without... whatever that was.” “Agreed. We are not here for a fight.” Audir hauled herself upright, pushing Greybrawne easily aside as he tried to stop her. “But by my ancestor’s horns, we will not be driven out. We will take what we need, and only then will we leave.” They set off once more, making up the ground they had lost and then pressing further into the forest. Audir was almost silent, and more terse than usual. She managed only a curt nod when Hearthfire tried to thank her, and did not join in when the conversation turned to discussing the creature that had attacked them. “Every calf knows that restless ghosts of dead cowfolk can haunt the place they died. Could be it was a vengeful, jealous spirit.” “Don’t be daft, Tofa, the only reason every calf knows it because it holds no water with grown cattle,” Greybrawne scoffed, “Besides, did you ever see teeth and claws like that on a cow?” “I thought you didn’t get a look at it, hmm?” “I saw enough to know it wasn’t shaped like any cow I ever saw.” Hearthfire squeezed her eyes shut again, as fragmented images scattered across her mind’s stage, and shivered. “It’s probably just a wild beast, ekeing out a living on this forsaken rock. If it comes again, we’ll be ready for it, and we’ll send it down to the depths of the ocean.” “Hah! Are your horns going soft? Like trying to catch smoke, Audir said. It’s a ghost, I tell you. Right, Audir? Like smoke, right?” Audir span, snout to snout with Tofa, almost headbutting the younger cow. Their freshly rekindled lanterns sent crazed pools of shadow dancing in the captain’s eye sockets, and the sticky, slowly freezing blood glistened slightly where it leached down her features. “All of you, knock it off! Pay attention rather than arguing about useless things, and maybe one of you will spot some decent timber!” They walked in silence after that, each with their own thoughts. Say what you like for the cows’ constant pickering, it had been doing a good job of keeping the paranoia at bay. Without it, Hearthfire had nothing to do but stare at the shadows and imagine what might be hidden inside; by the looks of things, the others were feeling much the same, save for Audir, who strode a dozen paces ahead with angry hoof-falls. She probably feels like she’s been made to look like a foal, Hearthfire realised. Still, their fearless leader’s aggressive attitude was somehow comforting, and Audir carried with her an aura of indomitable strength, despite her injuries. Hearthfire could think of no one she would rather be hunted by a murderous monster on a barren island alongside. “Um.” In the tense silence, that was enough to get everyone, except Audir, looking her way expectantly, “No one’s mentioned anything about the ground shaking. You know? Right before we were attacked.” “Oh. That. There is probably a burning core of molten rock inside this island, where fire spirits live,” Tobba supplied. “Huh?” Hearthfire’s eyes went wide as she realised what he meant. “You think it’s a volcano?” “It explains why the ground is slightly warm. And the shaking. We have visited several, and the tales tell of some very large ones, though, I’ll admit, none this shape. Normally they are tall spires, with crevasses and channels running down their slopes.” “And this doesn’t bother you? Wouldn’t the ground shaking mean it was going to erupt soon?” “We are not intending to do anything to anger the fire spirits, so why would it?” “And you’re not worried that the thing trying to kill us or drive us away is a fire spirit, huh?” That got her four exasperated stares. “It did not look anything like a fire spirit, and regardless, a fire spirit wouldn’t stoop so low as to outright attack us. They would simply fan the molten rock, and cause it to go surging to the surface and annihilate everything close to the island.” “Right, of course, sorry.” The cows didn’t seem to pick up on her sarcasm, “We don’t have many of them in Equestria, that’s all.” “You should hope to see one of the fire mountains erupt. It is a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle.” “Just so long as it’s not this one, I hope...” The ground was almost level by now, and the going was easier too, but the trees were becoming ever more dense. If it had been an ordinary forest, by now the undergrowth would be so thick that it would be all but impenetrable, but here it simply forced them to make slight alterations and corrections as they went, stepping around twisted tree trunks and ducking beneath grasping branches. It was as the slope vanished to be almost imperceptible, and the six were sure that they must be approaching the heart of the island, that the noises began. They set Hearthfire’s heart to ice in an instant. They were distant, but there was no mistaking them, the same sound she had thought she heard in every unexpected rustle of branches or whisper of the wind. The cry of the beast. It seemed to come from every direction at once. She tried her best not to imagine, but she could already picture it; a whole pack of them, circling, out of sight between the tightly packed trees, calling to each other, preparing to surround the interlopers in their territory. The cows had halted, were staring about even as she kept her eyes pointedly fixed directly in front of her. Audir’s front hoof scuffed the ground with a dull scratching sound. Spoiling for a fight. “Audir...” “Don’t be afraid, child. We know you pony folk are not built for the crash of battle. We will protect you.” “I’m not afraid,” Hearthfire lied, though it must have been as transparent as day, “but this isn’t a smart place to fight. You have no space to move.” “If you mean to suggest we should retreat, don’t waste your breath,” Audir snorted, tossing her head derisively. “I said we would not be driven away, and I do not break my promises.” “Push ahead then. Try to find a clearing, if we can. We’ll be torn apart if they attack us here.” None of the cows looked willing to argue with Audir in her current mood, but to Hearthfire’s great relief, she nodded. “You speak sense, little pony. If they come at us, we will crush them, but that is no reason not to seek an even stronger position. I am not afraid, but neither am I stupid.” Just stubborn, Hearthfire added, in the privacy of her own head. They pressed on, not making any movements to provoke the creatures that were hunting them. Their unseen stalkers were drawing closer, Hearthfire was almost certain. She glanced from cow to cow: Audir seemed no less intent on forging ahead, and fighting if she had the chance; Osk and Greybrawne looked rattled, but alert and ready to defend themselves; Tofa and Tobba brought up the rear of the group, the Tofa sticking close to his father’s side, and both had the same sick-scared look which Hearthfire was sure she was sporting. “Hold. I see a light ahead.” Audir was right. There was a glow visible through the trees, a clear, pale light, made indistinct by the intervening trunks and branches. “You don’t think someone’s... living out here, do you?” Hearthfire asked, and swallowed nervously, “I mean, aside from the monsters.” “Wait here. I will see what I can see,” Audir announced, and made to stride ahead, but Hearthfire snatched at her leg, halting her unless she wished to drag the unicorn along with her. “Ahahaha, no. How about, we stay together? What if this is what they are trying to keep us away from? Or they just decide that they should attack while we’re split up?” Audir turned, and opened her mouth to make some counter-argument. The beast flew from nowhere, jaws stretched wide and dripping saliva, to strike the cow in the neck in a spray of dark blood. Big, bigger than a pony, and lean, starved, straggling fur hanging off meatless bones. The eyes blazed the beast’s hunger like a torch. Hearthfire couldn’t stop. She bolted, her lantern cast aside in her rush, smashing to the ground and extinguishing itself as she fled. Didn’t see what became of Audir after the big cow toppled, the beast riding her to the ground as if she was no more than a fawn. Didn’t see who was caught, as more of the creatures glided from the black with desperate snarls. Barely saw another, darting ahead to cut her off, and dodged, altering the course of her mad gallop. Lost her footing and skidded madly across the smooth rock as the shape sailed overhead, snapping furiously as thin air where she should have been. She was through, galloping towards the light, as the sounds of battle hounded her through the darkness, the snap of jaws, shouts and cries of pain. Osk was shouting something, something she couldn’t make out. She shut them all out, put her head down, and ran.