Chapter 137 A Vision of Death
Above the city of Costa Lunas.
The Pegasi flew at a great height. The sun was behind them. They were illuminated with red and yellow hues. When they flew over the farms near Colina Verde, many people saw them. Some shouted, and many prayed. Nestor guided them because he knew the areas of the city better than anyone else. The queen had specified that they should fly over the areas where the members of the Pegasus cult lived.
Whenever the Master Rider wanted to change direction, he would make a signal with his arm to indicate the direction and with his fingers to show how sharp the turn would be. For him, it was like the days of his youth. Groups of Pegasi would leave the nest every day with a leader who would give signals to teach maneuvers to the new riders like himself. A team of Pegasi and riders could fly over an area and detect every soldier, every weapon. With Pegasi in the air and war Unicorns on the ground, the army of Costa Lunas was invincible.
As they flew over the valley of the lime burners, the queen thought of her friends. Lupita was far away, on the island, taking care of a pregnant Pegasus, and Marco was missing or dead. But she felt better when she saw the thousands of people who were in the streets. She could hear a general murmur of so many voices. His friends had said that the cult of the pegasi was very important to poor people like them.
The formation flew over the neighborhood of hunters before approaching the royal castle and the nest. When they heard the bell of the great tower, Nestor thought a message to his Pegasus, and she transferred it to the others and they to their riders. The image showed groups of archers and ballistae, and a Pegasus falling from the sky with arrows and a spear embedded in its side.
Olivia to Little Feather: Be careful.
The Pegasus displayed an image of a lightning bolt striking a Pegasus during a storm: Be careful.
Olivia: Yes! How clever!
The Pegasus made a sound that, according to the riders, meant she was enjoying something.
Behind the formation, Chara and Volker smiled at each other. There was a war going on, and they could die if they were not careful. But they were young, they were in love, and they were flying on their own Pegasi. The woman looked at the nest, her home, and felt a presence in her mind. She thought of one of the dreams she had last night.
The voice in her mind: When the man was asleep, it was difficult to control the visions. Sometimes he would see visions that I was trying to hide from him.
Chara: Why will you not let me see all your visions?
All-Mother: The bipedal mind could not survive that. The man almost died several times because of the visions. I was with him for too long. His mind is now part of mine. I know many things because of him.
Chara: You did not want me to see this vision, did you?
All-Mother: No, but you are young and have a strong mind. Something had to be done to change this future. I think that is why I could not hide it from you.
Chara searched her memory for the details of the dream. She remembered the sound of the bell. She remembered that they were flying over the nest. She remembered the shouts of the riders and the frightened cries of the Pegasi. She remembered seeing a Pegasus and its rider falling from the sky. The Pegasus was Little Feather.
In the nest.
Groups of archers were positioned along the stone path that the Pegasi used for landing and taking off. They were a distraction, but they had their bows ready in case a Pegasus approached. Their captain had a horn to give the signal to the men hidden in the large Pegasus nests.
The ballistae had new wheels, and the crews were twice the usual size. They had practiced several times to learn how to operate their weapons in the nest.
The captain, who was standing in the shadows, looked at the archers and waited for the sound of the horn.
Nestor knew that the queen wanted to show the soldiers that the Pegasi were on her side. He pulled a flag from his vest and held it with one hand so that it would wave in the wind. The flag was longer than his own height. It was the flag of King Gutierre. The queen had brought it from the island to use as a symbol.
Grey Wing watched the archers preparing to fire. She knew they were too far away to hit them. But instinctively, she turned slightly towards the nest so that the formation would move even further away from them.
In the nest.
The horn sounded. The archers fired a volley of arrows to attract the attention of the Pegasi and their riders. The three ballistae were moved from their positions and lined up, pointing at the formation of Pegasi. They were armed and ready to fire. The captain watched the animals with the gaze of a man trained by years of war as an archer and ballista commander.
He thought: Wait one more second.
In the air, slightly to the west of the formation.
Red Sunrise had heard the call of the All-Mother and had implanted the images in the mind of her rider. Corsino was very different. He communicated better with his Pegasus through images. Instead of teaching her words, he learned to understand her images as a language. They acted as if they shared the same mind. She had the sun at her back. No one in the nest could see them. The rider was tied to the saddle with six strong ropes.
Corsino and Red Sunrise saw the ballistae and knew that if they fired, one or more Pegasi would die. They were swooping down towards the nest at high speed, and she was adjusting her aim directly towards the first ballista in the row.
She pivoted at an incredibly short distance. Two men looked at her at the last instant. She positioned her legs and hooves at the precise angle, and all four struck the ballista with the combined inertia of herself and the man.
The ballista fell on its side and struck the one in the middle. Both lay sprawled on the floor of the nest. Many men fell to the ground along with them.
The captain: Shoot!
The ballista located at the end of the line fired its volley of arrows.
In the air.
The image pushed its way into the mind of every person and every Pegasus: Twist your body to one side and descend through the air!
Danilo and Olivia screamed in fear. Hernando and Floriano shouted in anger. Volker only noticed the scream of Chara. She felt like her head was going to explode.
Twelve arrows flew towards the formation, and Red Sunrise began to fall.