I was flying! For the first time of my zebra life, I was high in the sky. The sound of the wind whistled in my ears, the cool air violently brushed against my coat and mane, ruffling it into a mess. But I do not care, because I was flying! I looked down from the carriage, watching the desert ground below me quickly passed as we moved in great speed.
“First time flying, huh?” Ivy yelled over the sound of the wind gushing, grunting as she pulled the wooden carriage with me sitting inside.
“Yes,” I yelled back, sounding amused as I watched the far away clouds floated lazily. “But,” I started, looking at the griffon with a questioning eyebrow. “Why are you doing this again?”
“You remember when I said that I want to kill you?” she asked, looking over her shoulder with a grin. I nodded, confusion plastered over my face. “Well, if you die out here in the desert, I won’t have the chance to kill you myself,” she explained, looking back to the direction she was heading.
“You could have ended my life when I was asleep,” I replied, looking back onto the desert ground.
“Yeah, but it wouldn’t be as fun. I like my victims to go down fighting,” she explained, chuckling as her head scanning around for something.
“Do you even know where I was heading?” I asked, looking over the horizon to search for any landmarks.
“You’re heading west, right? Judging by the direction that you were going, you’re heading to Port Osglen,” she answered, looking at me with an amused grin. “I didn’t even know that you have the balls to even go there.”
“What do you mean by ‘balls’?” I asked as I am not familiar of such terms before. She looked back with disbelief in her eyes as she raised a question eyebrow at me.
“Are you serious?” she grunted. “Courage, dumbass,” she explained as she let out an annoyed sigh, despondently shaking her head. I crossed my hooves in return, glaring at her for her insult with my brows furrowed. She gave her wings a series of mighty flaps, increasing the speed of the carriage. I felt the winds started to get stronger against my coat as we zipped through the wide blue sea.
It has been a few minutes since then. The sounds of the wind whistled in my ears were such an amazing experience. I felt a smile tugged on the corner my mouth, touching a nearby cloud with a hoof. Its coolness caressed and dampened the fur of my hoof, filling me with bliss in every experience. I might be the first zebra to touch the sky. I closed my eyes, extending my hooves to my sides as I imagined that I had wings on my own. I felt the wind brushed against my sides, shivering by the coolness. I filled my lungs with fresh air, smelling the scent of fresh water wafted into my nose. I hollered into the sky, thanking to the gods above the great sky as I felt a smile tugged the corner of my mouth once again.
“Hey, Stripes,” Ivy called out. “Look down.” I slowly opened my eyes, seeing the golden glow of the sun above. Then, I scooted to the side of the carriage, looking down. My eyes widened upon what I saw. Tall stone buildings with arching tilled roof clawed the sky. There were mazes of street below that was filled with life, not only ponies but also griffons and a handful of zebras walked along the stone streets below. I cast my gaze slightly up and saw something that I never seen before.
The wide blue sea stretched as far as the horizon would go. Massive ships floated to and fro slowly at the town’s port. I looked down once again, seeing ponies and griffons unloading crates onto the harbor, the sound of barking orders resonated from the port. “Who are they?” I asked, looking at Ivy with a questioning eyebrow. She chuckled.
“Most of them are traders and merchants,” she started, looking down towards the port. “But some of them are slavers and pirates,” she explained, looking at me with an amused smile on her face. My eyes widened as I felt my stomach churned.
“You’re dealing with slavers and pirates?” I asked once again as I was unsure what to feel at that moment. The feeling of shock and disgust flooded my mind; my eyes darted in confusion, frantically to find an answer for this... this madness.
“Hey, it’s not we have anything else to do,” she answered, giving me a casual shrug as indifference plastered across her face. “This place is a paradise for murderous mercenaries and corrupted bastards from all over the world,” she continued with amusement beamed in her eyes. “Welcome to Port Osglen,” she concluded by waving her hands in a welcoming gesture, chuckling. I prayed to the gods for my safety.
“We’re gonna’ land, hold on,” she called out as she dived dangerously towards the ground. I quickly held my belongings tightly onto my chest as I bit the edge of the carriage to secure myself. The wood tasted moldy and old, causing me to gag, but I kept my concentration off the taste by mentally preparing myself for the town that we were descending into. Mother, I reminded myself, keeping myself ready and prepared for anything.
“Fuck,” I heard Ivy grunted as she tried to pull up, flapping her wings rapidly. The carriage was heading towards the ground in a deadly speed but Ivy’s effort was effective as we slowed down. The carriage landed unceremoniously with a thud. I let go of the wooden edge, spitting the moldy taste out of my mouth. I looked outside and saw we landed in front of the large gateway of the town –which was blocked by a steel gate. The gateway was surrounded with guards of different races who wore heavy silver armor that covered themselves from head to toe, diligently patrolling the wall surrounding the town.
I quickly noticed that one of the griffon guards slowly glided towards us. Then I swiftly wore my maroon hooded robe and wrapped my hooves with bandages in attempt to conceal my stripes. I fastened my saddlebags and strapped my stone spear onto my back, silently prayed to the gods.
“Halt, who goes there?” a gruff voice echoed from the armor as the guards landed next to the carriage, his armor let rattled upon landing.
“Easy, Gratul, it’s just me,” Ivy replied nonchalantly, releasing herself from the carriage’s harness.
“Hey, Ivy, what you got here this time?” the griffon that I assumed was known as Gratul asked, looking through his helmet to get a better view of me. I lowered my head to avoid his inspection.
“I got myself a pony slave, that’s all,” she answered in a relaxed tone, opening the carriage door. “Move, slave!” she barked, violently pulling me out of the carriage. I unceremoniously dropped onto the dirt ground.
“Heh, you going to sell him?” the guard chuckled, looking at the young griffon.
“Nah, he’s going to be my toy to play,” she answered with amusement crept in her voice. “Stand up, you idiot,” she barked again, pulling me onto my hooves, but I kept my silence. I don’t know what she’s trying to do, but it does kept suspicion off from me. I decided I’d play along. I slowly walked towards the gateway with my head hung low, avoiding eye contact with anybody. I heard the guard and Ivy slowly followed from behind me.
“So, where’s Brutus?” I heard Gratul asked.
“He’s dead,” Ivy answered glumly.
“That bastard’s dead, huh? Good riddance.” He chuckled.
“Yeah,” she sighed.
“Well, I’ll tell the other guards to let you in,” he offered.
“Thanks.”
“No problem,” he replied, flying passed me. “Open the gate,” he barked towards the other guards.
“Open the gate,” I heard another guard barked and another guard from somewhere that was out of my line of sight barked the same thing. Then I heard a loud grinding sound of metal against metal as the steel gate slowly lifted off the ground. I heard Ivy’s wings flapped as she landed next to me.
“Don’t do anything stupid, you got that?” she hissed, keeping her eyes forward.
“Why?” I asked, gazing her with my eyes.
“If they know you’re a zebra, they might take you away,” she explained, hissing.
“Why?” I asked again, confusion started to cloud my mind.
“Those guards there,” she started, nodding towards the ponies, zebras and griffons who wore metal armor that stood in front of us. “Those guards are assholes like the rest of us, but they got the official power to be assholes by the town’s mayor,” she explained, her eyes darted in every direction.
“What would they do if they know I’m a zebra?” I whispered, lowering my head as we got closer to the gateway.
“They’ll probably sell you for profit... or worse,” she answered in a serious tone, looking at the griffon guards who hovered above us.
“Why? I saw a handful of zebras walking around the town earlier,” I whispered back as we reached the gateway. I felt the stares of the guards bore into me, my ears twitching as I heard whispers echoed in the walls and adrenaline slowly pumped into my chest.
“Those are the lucky ones who proved themselves as warriors in the slave pits, as well as other griffons and ponies who are lucky enough to prove their worth in this goddess forsaken town,” she whispered, eying the guards movements. I clenched my teeth in my mouth in anger when I heard her answer, keeping myself silent.
As we passed the gate, the sound of metal grinding echoed within the walls again as the steel gate slowly blocked the entrance once more. I looked up towards wall over my shoulder, inspecting its height. The wall itself was not the tallest thing in the town. In fact, I’ve seen taller buildings while we were on the way towards the gateway. I turned to look at Ivy who stood silently next to me. “Why can’t we just fly over rather than walk into the gateway?” I asked, confusion riddled on my face.
“Sure, we can do that when we want a spear lodge into our throats,” she replied sarcastically, shrugging nonchalantly. I gave her a glare, my brows furrowed. Sure it might sound like a ridiculous for her but to me, this is the first time I’ve seen civilization since I left my tribe, my father. “Look,” she started, brushing the feathers on her head. “This place is already shitty enough with the whole corrupted justice system thing. Because of that, this whole town is filled with paranoid bastards who would kill if you even look at them in a funny way. So, if anything that will go over the gate without going through the gateway is a body bag,” she explained, looking at the darkening sky.
What is wrong with this place, I thought to myself upon hearing the dark truth of this place. I looked at the windows of the homes nearby and noticed they were barred with metal grids. I peeked at the edge of my hood and saw most of the residents here had weapons strapped onto their backs – ranging from crude handmade knives to sledgehammers. Then, I heard my stomach let out a grumble. I quickly hold my it, lowering my head to hide my blush.
“We better get something to eat,” Ivy suggested, scanning the streets for a place that sells food. “I know, follow me,” she said as she walked down a dark street.
It has been hours of walking and the moon already loomed above the town yet we still haven’t found a place to eat. Both of our stomach grumbled as we scanned the streets. Gruff laughter filled the streets that we were in, smelling the delicious scent of freshly baked breads wafted into our noses. Then, my nose suddenly itched as I smelled something unfamiliar; it was a strong and overpowering scent.
“Mmm... hard apple cider,” I heard Ivy muttered, her eyes rolled in pleasure. As we were walking closer towards the scent, I stopped, my ears twitched. I heard singing. The voice was beautiful and enticing, a voice like velvet that wrapped around my ears. I walked closer and listened to the words.
“Set me free into the sky, for I wish to fly.” I took a peek from the window next to me and my eyes widened upon seeing the sight. It was a unicorn pony mare that had a light pink coat, and a long flowing golden mane. Her eyes were deep grey, looking into the distance. My eyes lingered onto her flank, looking at her cutie mark; a white dove sitting on a red cross. But that was not the thing that made my eyes widened. The thing that pulled me into a state of shock was the mare who was singing was put inside of a cage that dangled in the middle of the room.
The griffons, zebras and even ponies that sat on the table around her were enjoying her singing as they shoved food down their throats. I clenched my teeth at the sight, my heart burning with anger. “What are they doing?” I hissed silently towards Ivy, keeping my eyes onto the cage.
“They’re just eating, why?” she replied, looking at me with confusion on her face.
“I mean, what are they doing locking a mare into a cage in the middle of the room?” I hissed back, reaching for my spear. I guess she noticed the anger in my eyes and quickly pushed me against the wall – away from the window.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she hissed, pinning me against the wall with her claw on my throat.
“I have to save her,” I whispered back, struggling to free myself.
“Why in hell you want to do that?” she hissed again, pulling me closer to her eyes. “There are probably two dozen mercenaries in that room.”
“I don’t care, I have to save her,” I hissed back, glaring into her eyes.
“This is a suicide mission, Stripes,” she growled. “You’re about to fight against mercenaries who had years of experience.”
“I’m not planning to attack head on, I’m planning to sneak pass them,” I admitted, hissing.
“You know I can leave you by yourself if you planning to go with... this suicide mission, right?” she asked, glaring at me.
“If you want to leave, be my guest. I’ll stand on my decision, with or without you,” I answered, looking into her eyes. I saw the muscle of her jaw tighten and her eyes darted as she internally weighted her options.
“Fuck,” she growled, releasing me from her grip. “What’s the plan?” she hissed, glaring at me. I felt a smile tugged on the corner of my mouth.
“Let me see first,” I whispered, slowly peeking at the window. I noticed the lighting of the dining hall was mainly due to torches that sat along the walls. The spaces between the tables were wide enough for me to sneak pass without bumping to the patrons and the patrons themselves seems to be intoxicated by the alcoholic beverages. I changed my gaze onto the cage, the chain that held the cage onto the ceiling was still in perfect condition but the lock was rusting away in age. I quickly ducked back into the shadow.
“Can you fly super fast?” I asked as I rummaged through my saddlebag for something.
“Is that a challenge?” she asked, looking amused. “I can fly faster than anything,” she bragged as she stood with her chest puffed in pride.
“Yes,” I whispered triumphantly, taking out a bottle from my saddlebag. I quickly opened the lid with a pop, shaking out a yellow seed.
“What’s that?” Ivy asked, looking at the seed with an inspecting eye.
“It is a battle enhancing herb,” I explained as I put the bottle bag into my saddlebag.
“You mean like ‘combat drug’?” she asked, sounding amused with a smile on her face.
“I don’t know what is a ‘combat drug’ is but if you think they are the same thing, then yes,” I answered, nodding as I put the seed into my mouth. I gave it a bite, gagging at the bitter taste but I felt its effect immediately. I blinked and look at a dark area. My vision glowed and I was able to see in the dark, I smiled in satisfaction.
“What did you eat?” she asked, looking confused at my sudden smile.
“It’s a seed from a plant called 'Cat’s Eye' It will grant me an ability to see in the dark for a period of time. This is great for midnight ambush against an enemy,” I answered. I saw amusement and interest beamed in Ivy’s eyes as she learned the effect of the herb.
“Can I have one?” she asked, extending a claw. I nodded and quickly gave her a seed. She popped it into her mouth and gagged. Then a smile etched on her face, noticing the effect taking over. “This is fuckin’ rad,” she commented, smiling.
“Now, I want you to fly in as fast as you can and blow out each and every torch,” I explained, peeking through the window. “Then, when I open the cage, you quickly grab the mare and fly out of here and find somewhere safe,” I continued, looking at her. She nodded in response. “Good,” I whispered. I took a deep breath, mustering my strength as I grabbed my spear. I looked into the moon, praying to the gods above for the success of this mission.
“Now,” I whispered, signaling her to make her move. True to her words, she jetted inside the room and in just a split second, the room succumbed into darkness. A wave of shocked and confused voices broke inside.
“What the fuck happened?” I heard a mare voice asked from the far back of the room. Without another second longer, I swiftly jump through the window. I saw various races of patrons walked inside the room in confusion, trying to find the exit. I carefully dodged every patron as I approached the cage; the mare looked relaxed in such dark state. I jumped on a table below the cage and reached for my spear.
“I’m here to help,” I whispered, seeing the mare’s face which had a mixture of disbelief and gratitude. I gave my spear a mighty thrust onto the lock, breaking it with a loud clang that resonated in the room.
“Somebody’s opening the cage!” I heard a gruff voice called out from behind me. I quickly whistled towards the window. Ivy swiftly flew back in and carried the mare into her claws. With a nod, she jetted out into the streets, seeing that she had turned left.
I quickly strapped the spear onto my back and leaped from the table across the room. I successfully somersaulted out of the window and swiftly dashed down the streets where Ivy went. I had a knowing smirk on my face as I successfully accomplished the mission in a way that could make my father proud. I looked into the starry sky above, thanking the gods for listening to my prayers.