Chapter 138 Death in the Nest
In the tower of the royal castle.
Victorino looked at the Pegasi that were above the nest. His eyes detected movement to the right, and he turned his head. He immediately realized what was happening and that he could not do anything to help. His eyes followed the red Pegasus until she crashed into the ballistae. He watched the arrows fired from the third ballista. He followed their trajectories until they approached the formation of Pegasi. He bowed his head and thought of his father, the king.
Near the nest.
Red Sunrise felt great pain in her legs. She was falling with her wings folded over her rider. In the mind of the rider, the image was of the Pegasus landing with her body between him and the ground so that he could survive. Corsino imagined the creature flying very close to the earth. Then he pushed the image of the two of them lying dead on the ground. They exchanged thoughts so quickly that she twisted her body in mid-air to try to save them both.
The rider had told her: We will fly or die together.
The Pegasus spread its wings fully to slow her descent. The rider leaned onto its back and offered a prayer to the goddess of the air. Red Sunrise had a very specific vision. The man thought of nothing else. If they did not act in unison, nothing would be possible. The Pegasus was closer to the ground than in any other dive she had ever performed in her life. The image entered his mind, and he whipped his body backwards with all his might as she rotated her body and wings, positioning them parallel to the ground.
A single flap of its wings would determine whether they continued flying or crashed to the ground. At that speed, if her feet struck the ground, she would somersault forward and fall onto her back with the young man underneath. A beat of wings to live.
In the air.
Seven Pegasi flew with their right wings pointing towards the ground. The riders leaned to the right with their safety ropes fully extended. The Pegasi could not see the arrows flying towards them. With their bodies perpendicular to the ground, their legs and bellies were exposed to the arrows. Each of them was descending in altitude, but slowly. The arrows flew quickly, but their speed decreased with each passing second. The arrows were flying in a circle, a circle that was getting slightly larger with each passing moment. Two Pegasi were in the circle when the arrows were very close. Two arrows were aimed at White Stockings and Floriano. One arrow flew towards Little Feather and the queen.
Close to the ground.
Some bushes brushed against the knees of Red Sunrise. But they were flying. Corsino moved closer to her again. She needed as little resistance to the wind as possible. With a strong flap of her wings, they rose a little higher. A second powerful flap, and they rose even higher. Slowly, she rose into the air above the astonished soldiers. By the time she was flying over a neighborhood of the city, she was high enough to be safe. She turned west to fly toward the forest.
In the air.
The arrow whizzed past the wing of Little Feather and so close to Olivia that she screamed even louder in fear. The Pegasus turned to fly level after that, and the queen took a moment to find any sense of her surroundings. Floriano watched as an arrow that flew past them. The arrow missed by less than the length of his forearm, narrowly missing the head of the Pegasus. Another arrow flew past behind them at a similar distance. White Stockings became level as well. The formation was more dispersed but all seven were safe.
The images were imprinted on their minds so quickly that the bipeds could not comprehend them. The Pegasi had minds that processed information with great speed. The Pegasus with Danilo and Little Feather, turned west to follow Red Sunrise towards the forest. The other five received different images of the All-Mother.
Golden Arrow and White Mask flew directly towards the archers who were standing on the stone path. Grey Wing flew further east and turned to approach the last ballista. Snowfall and White Stockings flew down and to the west, circling around.
In the nest.
The captain shouted at his soldiers to prepare the last ballista to fire again and to raise the other two. The ballista was heavy and difficult to reload. They still had a minute before they could fire again when Grey Wing flew over them and, with her hind legs, delivered a powerful kick to the last ballista. The machine tilted forward and slowly toppled from its position, crashing to the ground a few seconds later. Two men who were standing in front fell along with the ballista and died.
The groups of archers were ready to fire at the Pegasi flying directly towards them. Their captain ordered them to wait while he assessed the distance.
The captain: Wait! Wait! Shoot!
The Pegasi lowered their heads and dived at great speed. They were able to change direction easily and quickly. Sixty arrows flew towards an area above them. The two flew towards the large supports of the nest and passed between them. The archers ran to the other side to shoot downward at the Pegasi.
White Stockings and Snowfall flew over them and began kicking the men as they went. More than twelve men fell off the road, and several others fell onto the road with serious head or neck injuries.
Golden Arrow and White Mask flew again between the supports and then over the road, attacking the soldiers with their hooves and wings. White Mask struck the captain with his spur and tore off a large portion of his face from his head.
Grey Wing flew back to the nest and attacked the soldiers who were fleeing for cover. In three more passes, she knocked down the two ballistae that were on the nest, and they lay destroyed on the ground, just like the first one.
Ninety-three men were in the nest when the Pegasi arrived. Thirty-four died from falling, and another eleven perished the following morning. Many others suffered permanent injuries. The captain was so disfigured that he chose to throw himself from the nest rather than continue living.
Victorino punched the stone wall in frustration and fear of what his father would say. But he did not cry. The ability to cry had been beaten out of him when he was nine years old.
The five Pegasi flew west when they were so tired that it was necessary. In the more than three hundred years that the Pegasi had served the bipeds as mounts, none had ever killed a human being in an act of war.