Chapter 107 To Fight Another Day
In the nest.
White Stockings remained very still so that the duke could mount her. Like the queen, he was wearing a leather vest borrowed from one of the candidate riders.
Floriano: Duke, are you ready? The rain has eased up a bit. We are unlikely to have a better chance.
Wulfhelm: I think so.
Floriano thought: Beautiful lady, you know that you have a noble on your back. Please, do not kill him.
White Stockings: Do you know that it is mad to fly right now?
Floriano: Yes, but this biped is important.
In his mind there was an image of Chara, three times larger than the image of Wulfhelm. Sometimes, the riders were glad of the fact that other people could not receive the thoughts of their Pegasi.
The Pegasus ran without leaping, like her father. Her strides were long and fluid until she approached the moment of taking flight. Her legs accelerated with shorter steps, and she extended her wings in anticipation. When she began to fall, her wings were fully extended. She glided toward the ground and then soared upward with powerful wingbeats. The two of them heard some men shouting something. The next sound was even worse.
Floriano had heard that sound before. Crossbows.
White Stockings received the image from the mind of her rider and transmitted the thought to her sisters and her mother. The effort caused headaches for both the Pegasi and their riders. Transmitting an idea through multiple minds was difficult. True magic always came at a price.
White Stockings quickly turned southeast and increased her speed. The soldiers fired in small groups and with limited visibility. Their efforts were wasted. She changed direction two more times after a suggestion from her rider.
Floriano in his mind and in voice: I think we are far enough away that we are safe.
Nestor whispered something to his rider and the priest.
Danilo whispered: Are they shooting arrows at the Pegasus?
Nestor: Yes. They have no respect for the goddess. Be careful, Ernando.
On the stairs of the nest
Volker listened to their footsteps until they were very close. He lit the matches with his torch and set fire to the pitch. The stone staircase was engulfed in intense flames and a large amount of smoke. Volker climbed the stairs quickly. He knew the smoke was more dangerous for him than for them, but they would not be able to go any higher for several minutes. The soldiers had no choice but to wait. The fire did not last long, but the heat and smoke were poisonous to their lungs. They retreated to wait for it to clear.
The stone nest.
Snowfall knew little about weapons, but she noticed that her rider and the holy man were frightened.
Hernando plaintively: My precious girl, if you can do any trick to confuse them, that would be welcome.
Snowfall: They are trying to harm my sister.
A rider could fly with a Pegasus for their entire life and never see a true display of anger from her. Snowfall was very angry. She wanted to fly so low that she could kick those bipedal creatures.
Hernando: Please, my flower. We must fly carefully. They are very dangerous.
Snowfall: Ready?
The young rider and the priest thought of the same word. Snowfall ran along the path, amidst flashes of lightning and moments of darkness. After reaching the middle of the stone path, she began to take long leaps. She landed very close to the edge and looked at the men, illuminated by a flash of lightning. She jumped diagonally to the left and fell in an unexpected direction.
The soldiers fired again, this time in unison, but they were shooting towards a position where she was not located.
She twisted her body in mid-air and spread her wings, forming wide arcs. She used the wind to her advantage, like the great Pegasi of the mountains. Once she had gained enough speed, she flapped her wings with powerful strokes and soared over the land, flying directly away from the archers. Some men shot at her a second time, but she was too far away for them to see her clearly. Again all of the bolts fell harmlessly.
The gate of the hunters in the defensive wall.
Every summer, until autumn, many hundreds of hunters would leave through the westernmost gate of the city wall to live and hunt in the Greenwood. They had returned two weeks earlier to sell all the animals they had hunted. The week before the Unification Day festivities brought many coins to the hunters.
The gate was guarded by guards loyal to Esteban, so they offered no resistance when the Blue Knights arrived and took possession of the gate. Squires and soldiers were stationed in the streets that crossed the main road to the west. They cleared any traffic from the main road from the castle to the gate,
To the south lay Colina Verde and its soldiers loyal to Count Octavio. To the north were only the villagers, who willingly fled as armed men began to appear in the streets. The soldiers blew their horns upon seeing any enemies, and units of war unicorns charged at them to scare them away rather than kill them. They were less interested in battle and more in a clear path.
Their orders were to keep the road open for as long as possible. The first carriages carrying nobles and servants passed through the gate as the rain intensified. Knights and soldiers on horseback escorted the groups of people.
Well more than a thousand people, hundreds of horses, and two hundred and eighty-six unicorns crossed through the gate during two hours of great tension. The forces of Valero and Octavio tried to stop them, but the strength and intimidation of the royal Unicorns were too much for them. The royal army of the queen had lost its first battle, but it had not been destroyed. An army loyal to Olivia fled west as the storm moved east.