Ze next chapter!
Do not forget I redid all the old ones two. :)
Replies:
Seanait: I must admit, that was a rather prompt reaction, reviewing so fast after the story was revised. :P Ya, I had to re-read it all myself, so I just redid all the old chapters and gave 'em new names. I'm going to try and get more content in from now on.
A Warriors Tale
By Saber88
()()()()()()()()()()Chapter Twelve()()()()()()()()()()
Prevaricate
A reddish streak burst through the foliage of the Garliths' hiding place. Red and grayish-blued, two of the creatures turned furious feral crimson eyes onto the mare.
Reacting more violently than the male, Hophotheus, Orphikoss leapt toward her, large jaws wide and teeth glimmering.
Atrasi shied back with a terrified whinny, "No-!"
There was a flurry of feathers, and when the air cleared, the young mare saw both of the Garliths' toothy maws inches from her face.
"What is the meaning of this dissssturbance?" hissed the female in her furious, sibilant voice. Hophotheus said nothing.
With a gulp and a nervous twitch, Atrasi backed away, "Korthee-"
"Korthaeth," growled Hophotheus.
"-Korhaeth… he's injured!"
Orphikoss laughed, "What is this scheme of yours, occultist? Surely you would not expect someone of my intelligence to believe such a blatant lie."
Atrasi grimaced in distaste at the female's passionate wrath. The unicorn glanced pleadingly at Hophotheus, "I do not want to find myself any longer in your debt, Garliths."
She pointedly stared at the pair of them, hoping they recalled the event a while previous in which Hophotheus had saved her life under mysterious circumstances, and Orphikoss had reluctantly and very unhappily agreed to heal the disturbed mare. No doubt there was a deeper plot running through this.
"Where isss he?" demanded Hophotheus with a glare at Orphikoss he didn't intend for the female to see. The Garlith noticed it however, and gave a dangerous growl in response, the two locking eyes briefly, and the male surrendering first, looking back at Atrasi.
Haltingly, Atrasi explained how Haeteh and herself had come upon the wounded Garlith.
"Unicorn peircingsss?" Hophotheus cried, an aggrieved expression on his countenance, "Sssurely not-"
Orphikoss didn't look even slightly stricken. Actually, she maintained the semblance of unholy anger. She had an uncanny resemblance to a squirrel who has just found her acorn thieved. "Get out, wretched ssshhh-t-t-t-thhaasss sssaaat-tsss."
Her voice drifted into a series of mysterious clicks and hisses that Atrasi could not possibly fathom. Based on Hophotheus horrified expression, however, she could probably guess fairly accurately they were a wide variety of colourful curses.
Hophotheus replied in his strange tongue back to the female, who rounded on him viciously. The male shrank back while Orphikoss spead her wings, her scaley hackles coming up like a those on a spitting cat.
Hist. Hist.
Atrasi was aghast. Even though Prince Dellex often exercised more than average control within the Vale, she rarely saw such displays of enforcing dominance. It was surprising to see such an intelligent animal shrinking back in a subordinate manner.
As if reminded he had an audience, Hophotheus snapped his jaws close to Orphikoss' nose, eyes daring a challenge. He knew that Orphikoss would not charge him with an onlooker. She would not ruin her superior image.
Hophotheus did leave quickly, though. Passing out through the bushes near Atrasi, his powerful legs pumped and he ran faster than she could on her best days with apparent ease. When he gained enough momentum, his winged appendages spread and his hind limbs propelled him into the air.
Atrasi observed his in awe. If a bird was amazing to watch, this was phenomenal.
She was not long distracted, rather unfortunately based on her company. Orphikoss made another infuriated sound that a unicorn could never even imagine conjuring. With a wary fear tightening like a snake around her heart, Atrasi galloped off as fast as her four limbs would carry her.
Knowing now she had the knowledge of the speed and power of the Garliths, the mare felt a deep uneasiness stirring in her breast. She wouldn't underestimate them again.
Ignorance had been bliss.
Atrasi was nearly back where Haeteh had been keeping the carrion birds at bay. Sweat glistened on her withers, and her crimson mane and tail were whipping back as her hooves thundered across the plains.
But when she first saw a pinkish haze, like a thin layer of fog, beginning to surround her, she thought her eyes were deceiving her. She struggled to focus her suddenly heavy eyes, stumbling to a joint-jarring halt. Weakness flooded through her limbs, and the mare collapsed to her knees, legs folding under her.
Atrasi's head felt like thorny tumbleweed had been stuffed inside it; her thoughts were tangled and disorganized. Suddenly vivid images began forming before her eyes. They were similar to the ones she had experienced during her dreams.
A new world materialized around her. With a lack of control, Atrasi was galloping through the vale. It was empty and lifeless, trees barren as in winter, but no snow littered the ground. Nothing was green; the earth was a scorched, brown mess.
Mild confusion.
She called out, but her voice did not sound. She wanted to look in one of the caves, but her hooves would not obey her.
A tinge of fear.
A jolt wracked her body. Something flew above her, casting its shadow across the dead Vale.
Horror.
A Garlith of titanic proportions hovered over the Vale, its wings and arms encircling it like a snake coiled around its eggs, or the angry, boilng black clouds surrounding mountaintops. Atrasi was a mere ant in the view of this terrifying creature. It hissed, its breath cold and violent as the northern winds. It nearly blew the mare to the dead ground.
A feeling of wakefulness, urgency, something tugging at her heart, prodding her mind. Calling her back…
The earth shook. The Garlith reared its ugly head, massive jaws lunging toward her; crimson eyes alight with glittering maliciousness. Before she could be hopelessly engulfed, however, and equally large unicorn suddenly stood over her protectively. He was black as night, defiantly confronting the Garlith, as powerful as the unstoppable setting of midnight.
Haeteh, Atrasi thought, awed, he will save me.
The monstrous unicorn looked down at her without judegment, only gentleness in his eyes, despite the fact he was defending her. His obsidian horn was entangled in his yellow mane. It was not Haeteh. A golden streak ran from his forehead to the tip of his nose like some tribal marking.
You should not be here, his voice rang in her mind, deep and reassuring, I will send you back to safety. You will learn never succumb to the darkness of such false visions. They could very well be the end of you.
Atrasi's eyes snapped open. She stared across a flat plain, the starless sky above her and (thankfully) green grass beneath her.
Of course, before the absurdity of the whole situation struck her, two equine noses nudged her, one black with a starlight streak, another golden brown. "How do you fair, young one?" came the voice she recognized from her… dream?
Atrasi struggled upright once again. She seemed to do that too much as of late. "Who are you?" she asked, more awed than afraid. Two plainsdwellers stood before her, and a few lost in darkness lingered patiently at the corner of her vision. They were large unicorns with proud jaws and magnificent, spiralling horns.
The male from her dreams, opaque as the darkness around them, voiced a deep chuckle. "You may know me as Nightsinger. My mate is to be called Goldendawn. And what shall we call you, sweetling?"
Atrasi felt their warm, parental love, and her heart ached for absence of her dame and sire; they had never made her feel so treasured as these two. These two were very kind-hearted; she could see it in their eyes. Perhaps special, as well. Maybe goddess-blessed.
"My name is-"
"Hush! No, sweetling. No one can know your real name. Even ours are ours alone."
With a detached sense of bewilderment and light-headedness, Atrasi asked, "Why?" She felt as ignorant as a young filly.
"It could potentially danger you or those who are in possession of it," answered the beautiful mare, taking a step forward to be seen more clearly in the darkness. "Find a name for yourself until this danger passes." She sounded weary, like a queen who had sacrificed everything for her people.
"I still don't understand," Atrasi replied.
"Shall I choose?"
The roan mare blinked, thoughts still heavy and foggy, "Choose? I - Wh - Yes."
"You may be called…" Goldendawn paused, looking the mare over, "Fireheart."
"Fireheart," Atrasi murmured, rolling the name across her tongue, tasting it. "But I still don't understand."
"We will talk later. Now we must remove ourselves from this area, sweetling," came Nightsong's low reply. "Let us fly!"
With dreamlike deliberation, Atrasi galloped after these strange creatures. Reality seemed distant, and she felt as if she could propel herself into the air and fly as easily as Hoph had.
Other unicorns gathered around her like some sort of weird escort, all in a tightly packed in strict formation. The sun began soon began to ease across the eastern horizon, cascading its rays across the long-stretching plains. Soon the earth turned into gently heaving hills. Topping a new rise, Atrasi peered below her, mystified.
There was a large cave at a within a cliff. They were near the sea, the sun reflecting sharply off its undulating waves. Atrasi was too distracted to feel tired as the unicorns picked their way expertly, but carefully, down the rocky slope to the beach.
The stallion with the gold crest came up close to her again, his body shedding welcome heat in the face of the cold ocean breeze. "Rest here, sweetling. You are still not well." His soft, dark eyes held fatherly concern.
She followed the male into the sheltered cove. She had soon fallen into an exhausted sleep.
Sweet. I finally got writing again. I have the rest of the plot figured out, too.
I know that was strange, but trust me, the next chapter explains all!
Enjoy,
Saber88
Character/Creature Reference:
Atrasi (Ah-tr-a-see)– Beautiful red roan mare. Daughter of Klorn and Pasch.
Goldendawn: A kind-hearted, gold coloured plainsdweller mare.
Orjae (Or-juh-aee) - A stallion healer of the Vale of dusty ash/brown hues with a golden mane. Son of the deceased Jojora and Kleetah
Prince Dellex (Dell-ex) – Prince of the Vale, not king because his mother still lives, though his father has been deceased for a few years. Light brown with white spots. Son of Koran and Leip.
Vex (Veh-ex) – A quarrelsome white mare, Atrasi's shoulder friend. Daughter of Quin and Sevorth.
Haeteh (Hey-tay)– A strange plainsdweller male and a new addition to the Vale, has an ebony coat and odd golden eyes.
Hophotheus (Haw-foh-thee-us) – One of the three Garliths. Claimed to be of the Clan Keathsss, the last survivors of the Garliths. Scales are a grayish-blue.
Korthaeth (Kor-aee-th)– An unexplained companion to Hoph, another Garlith; Male. He has emerald scales.
Nightsinger: A beautiful blue-black plainsdweller stallion with a golden crest.
Orphikoss (Or-feh-koss) – The only female Garlith in attendance. She has red scales edged with gold; the edging on her scales is a trait only female Garlith's possess.
Leoth(Le-oh-th): Six-legged wolf/reptile beast. A threat to all.
Kanth (Kah-nth): A high-backed hyena/dog-like creature. Social and territorial, they attack trespassers with little hesitation or trepidation. (Gar-lith): A reptilian animal with long talons and feathered wings, able to walk on two or four legs.
Saber88