The Balinor Chronicles: The Celestial Herd
Chapter Thirty-Six: Sentinel
Change is an amazing thing. It can happen slowly, taking millions of years as beings crawl from water to land; it can happen quickly, as butter melts in a saucepan; it can happen in between, as Herds are broken and bonded and broken again. But here is the clincher – it always happens. Indeed, it can be said that change is the only victor of all and any wars.
The Band of Twilights has changed. In the course of the week since the First Strike (or the Battle of the Blood-Rose Dawn, as it is now being called), the Twilights have gone from being a Herd to being an army. And does it suit them. They have sentries everywhere. They train, laugh, and mock-battle in their fighting units using horns sharpened on the rocks of the mountains. In their time off, they relax flicking their shorted battle-ready tails to and fro; nibbling on each other's shortened manes. Moral is high…After all, despite high odds, they did not actually lose their first battle. Yes, does it suit them.
The Herd, too, has changed. Though not as regimental and well-commanded and regimentalized as the Twilights; they, for the moment, have the advantage of numbers, superior position, and unlimited resources. Many still think that they are in the old days of peace, but a most have seen that change is needed. They train themselves to fight, sharpening their own horns, pulling out the longest strands of their flowing tails. And the best of these become Sentinels.
The Sentinels are the best of The Rainbow, indeed, of either side. They are proud, strong, and fiercely loyal and protective of their Herd. They act as watchers, and in the weeks following the Battle of the Blood-Rose Dawn, they become a common sight in the darkness of night. Heads arched, haunches tucked, wary and watchful. They take advantage of the terrain, using the highest grounds as the best look-outs. They train the rest of the Herd, lead them in battle, and are admired by all. Even the soldiers of Twilight hold The Sentinels in high regard.
Though overall leadership of The Sentinels is shared jointly by Mulciber and Aeoleus, they are mostly commanded by three generals, who have risen to their positions through courage, bravery, and skill. One is Canis. One is Tren, the burnt orange stallion we have already met. The other is Panthera, who fights alongside Canis, yet still feels guilty. For in the end, was he not the sire of Adonis? He seems an unlikely choice for command, but proves himself time and time, and time again, in the upcoming years.
For the battlestake years. The early battles are much like the first: really, many confuse the Battle of the Fast River with the one of Small Hill, and Small Hill with Flint Mountain, and so on and so forth, and the years progress in much the same way, with no definite victor, with no definite loser.
And so it might have remained, had not Zephyr and Avrinna been overthrown on the horns of their own, and their positions been usurped by Lotaringe.