Keeper of Life - NaPoWrMo Entry

To have broached the walls was one thing, to get to The Tree was another. Somehow this wasn't going to be as easy, but Coal knew this before they even set out. The city was large, they could hide anywhere, disperse into any home, any building and merge with a seemingly endless amount of disguises, yet, life was never that simple.

She had separated herself from the others. It was for naught they'd rush the inner sanctum anyhow, and she wouldn't risk it before the winter solstice. There was a chance the poison would work but she was not about to waste years of effort, and their closest victory on a chance. No, she thought herself smarter then that. Yet oh how she wanted to.

The trolly bumped away in the distance, skirting around the districts each with their multicolored fanfare, and sporadically altering building sizes. The districts themselves were easy to tell apart. Apartments and, closer to the center, standalone homes filled District Two with even set rows that spread as they distanced out, yet not seeming to get any more roomy the further they went. There were a few large houses that sat near the center but those were far and few between. District Six, which she could only see the edges, held trees and parks, small yards where benches were set, and markets, stores, and merchants sold their wares.

Coal had a hard time tearing herself away from what could only be madness, yet a chaos that somehow aligned itself into a functioning system. They needed not venture out for weeks to kill prey only to haul it back one limb at a time. There was no need to cut yourself open to bleed the poison, to hide in the darkness of caves for fear of the sun. If they wanted food it was there, right there and all they needed to do was walk up and take it. They mingled around in the streets with such transient ease, there was nothing to fear here, nothing that could, at an unseen notice, leap out and take them. No, not one knew anything of true survival, of strife and hardship. Outside this barrier was a different world and they didn't even know, they didn't care. She would change all that.

Guards were stationed near the ring, their posts meshing with each other in crossing arcs. 'Smart,' she thought then realized why. These were not the guards of the wall, their armor was different. The silver ivy helmets were buffed to a matte luster that somehow only seemed to make them brighter and they stood with an aura that told Coal they were ready. As the city remained safe the guards had simply been reduced to glorified grounds keepers and gardeners, but these were real soldiers. Coal could tell from how they stood, how they looked into the crowd, from conversations and smiles that spoke of training and discipline. Yet there was more there, they seemed... cocky.

Coal made her way around the cloverleaf walls gently, shifting her disguise several times and not daring to get too close, caution had to be observed. Her goal was right there, all she needed to do was run in and pierce The Tree. 'Patience Coal,' she told herself again. There had been price to pay for her brash attitude in the past, a price that was paid with the lives of her underlings and fellow sandwalkers. Not again.

As she made to turn away she convinced herself into making one more pass, and as she did so, at a distance she noticed her scales shift, her magic flicker and she distanced herself quickly. The mingling commuters didn't seem to notice, neither did the guards, yet any longer and she would have broken cover. A shudder of fear ran through her as she thought of her underlings and the scouting mission they were given. 'Damn detectors,' Coal cursed the guardian.

Almost reluctantly she turned her back on the earthen obelisk and returned to their meeting point. The house was quiet, and it unnerved her. Skillfully she slinked through the levels, then out to the back, nothing. It both eased her, and caused dismay. They should have been back by now.

When the door opened she shifted her weight and braised the doorway with arching bolts at the ready. Death hovered over a disguised Fang who only paused waiting for magic to rain on top of him.

“Are the others not back Lady?” Fang asked once she dispelled the threat, obviously aware of her apprehension. Her head shifted and she sighed. “There's too many variables, it'll do naught to worry,” he said.

“I know,” she returned. “We'll proceed as planned, we must be moving positions soon.” Fang nodded in approval.

When the sound of hooves approached the door they both made ready, yet Lance appeared and they both relaxed. Lance dropped his disguise and looked around, his eyes unfocused.

“Lady?” he asked as if under water.

As the walls came down around them Coal pushed them back. The house exploded and stone shrapnel rained into the streets. Screams and yelps barely came back to her through the ringing in her ears. When she saw the figures surrounding her she made ready. One look to Fang and she discarded the steel tube and flung it at him.

“Run!” she ordered. He lingered a second as purple streaks bounced off her shield. A roll to the side allowed her to remain unfrozen, the ground cracking as the ice spread like time-lapsed moss. “That's an order!” she screamed. Fang picked up the tube and scrambled out the remains of the house.

They moved around her quickly but she would have none of it. She raised her forelegs and brought them down with a thunderclap. Emerald waves rolled into the walls beside her. They cracked the walls and brought stone down with them. Another scream exited her lungs as the earth behind her rose up carrying the rubble and blocking them from the alleyways. Fang was gone now and she stood surrounded by twenty guardians and one who wore brazen armor that seemed to carry the sun with it.

They all stopped and waited for the unicorn in the head. Coal panted trying desperately to get air into her lungs, to ready her legs that begged to fail, and to hold for anything that might come. There was no longer any notion in her mind of escape, of success for her. It was in Fang's hooves now. Her eyes parsed for only a second toward Lance who stood unmoving. 'Delay Coal,' she thought, hoping to bide as much time as possible for Fang.

“What have you done to him?” she asked and the lead unicorn smiled. “Who are you?” she switched questions.

“One, I am Matriarch Valor leader and commander of the Guardians, defender of The Tree. And two,” she said pacing toward Coal. “Two, I merely pacified the evil in his heart.” She looked to him as he drifted back and forth. “Though it doesn’t look like there was much left, well, we can fix that.”

Coal lunged, intending to incinerating all before her, yet in the moment her hoof twitched she was brought down. Her whole body felt like iron, no muscle could move, not even her head could be raised to see what was suppressing her. They all moved around her, their magic pressing her against the ground until she was sure she heard the cobblestone crack. Or was that her bones? The ringing in her ears intensified and her remaining vision shifted and blurred. It took five guardians alone to hold her still.

“Enough,” Valor ordered, “don't kill her.” Through the pain, static and cracking of magic, Coal could hear the venom drip in Valor's words. “Bring her to The Tree, and do something with that one will you?”