Keeper of Life - NaPoWrMo Entry

Coal looked up as the light of the moon filled her with warmth and for the moment, hope. The contrast to the day before was startling, she was ready now, renewed. To be so close with the barrier towering over them, it made their mission seem all that much more real. She knew they would get here, for they had to, failure was not an option. She... they had sacrificed so much just to get here. All in the hopes that they would just 'figure something out'. It was difficult working off plans and maps that ended at the barrier wall.

She knew, of course, the two walls surrounding the city, and could only safely assume another perimeter of some sort around The Tree. They had marked everything they could as they leafed around the barrier. The number of guards, shift duration, defenses, ages, everything they could. Everything down to the color of the cobblestone underfoot. She didn't know if they had the energy to shapeshift, and wasn't willing to find out. Any expense of energy at this point could get them killed, they were all weak enough as it was. But ah, in the city they would find strength. The city had food, water and life. She could feel herself hunger for it, they all did. Watching the guards with zealous eyes like one looks upon a buffet from the store window, it was painful turning away when so close.

It had taken almost two moons alone to find a suitable entry point. The walls were high, but inside the barrier and here there was no gate, door or entry point; in other words it was practically unguarded.

“They've grown complacent,” Lance had said, and she had agreed.

“They're ready,” Brother Fang told her.

“Good.” She meant to tell them to keep low, to stick to the plan, and what was at risk but was reminded of Scar, an old broodling that had first taken her into the sands; “Give as few orders as possible," he had said. "Once you've given orders on a subject, you must always give orders on that subject.”

The change in atmosphere inside the barrier and the outside world made it glow with an almost malevolent aura. It reminded her of blood spreading around a wound, the sands trying to cauterize itself. The city was here, before them. She tried to count the amount of times others had walked to this barrier, and how many since the war was declared over. 'How long has it been since we stepped hoof inside?' Coal wondered as the barrier towered above her.

Their progress was slow, almost unnoticeable, but that was the point. Without their cloaks the cold rendered them all unstable but they had gone too far to be reckless now. If they were detected they would be picked off like sand-lice. Being cornered in the sands now would be as much a death sentence as one could get. The Tree was capable of too much, it was protective indeed. And the spawn that suckled from The Tree's fruit would flock to its defense. The last thing the guards needed to find or see were cloaks and supplies scattered around. There was no other attempt though, this was the last. If they failed here then she had failed her whole race. She would bring it down.

She pushed all unnecessary thoughts from her mind, and tried not to let the massive scope of the city overwhelm her. It felt as if she were getting smaller, rather then closer. As if she was but a bug waiting to be swallowed whole and digested. Just more fruit for The Tree, more energy for The Tree. No, it would not be this time.

They were inches away, guards shuffled too and fro reminding her of cave lizards after they'd been in the sun for too long. Even she was growing impatient, her underlings fought off chattering teeth. She was here, right here and yet couldn't advance. The guard they had watched was still there, he was off time, lazy. She watched as he slouched against the wall, how his eyes drifted inattentively. Still, she needed him to move.

The sun would tip the far dunes soon, and they would lose the cover they had waited for. Out here they would be lucky if the guards finished them. The tent was now buried in the sand, along with their cloaks and supplies. It was unnecessary weight and bulk that would have given them away. They had no more food or water anyway, everything from Talon's body had been used in preparation for this moment. Only the tube still strapped to her leg would enter with them. She knew what they all knew, there was no turning back.

Finally the guard lumbered around the base of the tower and further down the wall. The blind spot was clear. They still wouldn't have much time.

Her underlings nodded as she turned to them, ready. They closed the distance to the barrier. Short sparks trailed from her bent horn as it lit. Sweat instantly dripped from her muzzle leaching the only moisture that was left in her body. Her head twitched as if an invisible force was twisting her away but perhaps it was. She fought it and pushed back, grooves in the sand marking her slow advance as she forced herself forward. The barrier warped and distorted as if bending glass. Her lungs filled with fire the night air wouldn't cure, her underlings stuck low to the ground behind her despite their frantic need to get warm. The barrier pushed back and for a moment she feared she wasn't strong enough utnil there was a moment of give. With a push she made a small tear then brought her horn down and opened a crack. With one last heave she pushed forward opening the rift, 'Through!'

The wind twisted as sand rushed in, heat immediately stuck them seemingly bringing them to life like a reptile on the rocks at dawn. 'Hurry,' she commanded in her mind. They didn't need to be told, they were already through. She pushed inside and sealed the barrier with far less effort then it took to seal.

Fang caught her as she collapsed. “Let go of me, I'm fine,” she ordered, but he waited until she found her legs anyway. If not for Talon's sacrifice they might have still been standing in the sands with nowhere to go back to. A quick death would have been mercy.

They hurried against the wall in the direction she noted and waited. The barrier pulsed slightly, sending dark reflections up to the top. 'Not good,' She thought as they held their position.

Finally she had what she wanted, the sound of hooves against cobblestone. With a twist of her head a body came skidding toward them. In seconds they were upon him, their fangs glittering with hunger. “Feed quickly,” She ordered and closed her eyes.

“What's going on?” a voice called from around the bulge in the wall the guard tower base created, she cursed. She stepped out, nervous. “I... uh,” she stammered and slouched slightly. “Well you see...”

“Straighten up Rollic, you're a guard for bucksakes. And I expect to be addressed by sergeant, I think I've earned that much. Did something happen?” he asked with stern authority.

She straightened up, now having the information she needed. “Sorry Sergeant, I, well you see. I thought I saw something, and... I kind of shot at it,” she said, her eyes cast aside. Her underlings crouched against the wall, hidden from the tower above still. They hinged, waiting to see if their gambit would play out.

The sergeant scoffed and shook his head. “What am I going to do with you? You already shot Pa... Wait, your eyes, they...” Black bodies pounced from around the edge with viscous speed. She lanced forward, her magic stifling his cries.

“Don't kill him,” she commanded. His body collapsed on the ground and she saw how hard it was for them to refrain.

Her teeth grated against the breaking night. How foolish she was! After all this time, after all this distance how could she be so stupid! She scolded herself. This would cost them all.

“Grab the other body,” she said already shifting to a new identity, making sure to get this one right. Two bodies wouldn't be easy to hide along the wall, and any opening of the barrier would only get them noticed. Besides she hardly had the energy to hold form right now.

“Don't mar their bodies too much, assume a fake appearance,” Coal ordered. They did and she was glad. “Brother Fang, take Son Fury and Son Gave further along the wall, remember your timings and enter through the south door. We'll meet on the inside,” she commanded.

“Same code words Lady?” Brother Fang asked. She nodded. He knew already, it was for those under him. They split.

When they reached the gate they carried two bodies. The guard towers hung over too far to see inside the barrier. They didn't have much time before another shift brought a guard out here.

She held up a hoof as she entered the small gate. A hall stretched inside the outer wall, and a hallway had been cut through forming a long tunnel that disappeared around a long bend. She called them through. Steps could be heard echoing through the tunnel and it was hard to distinguish direction. She closed her eyes and tried to visualize what direction they were coming from, how fast and how many. 'I need Talon now...' She thought and chose to travel left.

She checked the doors as she passed them, being more quiet as she progressed. They housed beds, garrison quarters for the night shift it appeared but she could only speculate. She found she already missed the sands, this grave uniformity left nothing to her. In the sands a body would be purged within the day, and that was if nothing else got at it first.

Finally she found a food storage room. Cobwebs slung off the corners and the mortar grooves were deep. 'Looks older then the rest of the wall,' she thought and commanded them to place the bodies down. They did so and eyed the supplies that lined the shelves. There were old containers of food that despite their age filled them with a hunger she could actually hear. The sand had stripped taste from them long ago, but perhaps out of the things the sand took that was a mercy. Containers were easier prey then sand dogs anyway.

She went up to the dead guard and bent over, analyzing him. 'How are we going to hide this?' she thought then turned to the sergeant. “Stuff it somewhere, we don't want it found,” she told them and readied herself.

The dust of the room filled her lungs yet it felt clean compared to the outside. She found now she could smell the hardened blood her face. Her legs already trembled, and doubt filled her mind. 'You don't have the strength for this,' she told herself. 'Shut up,' she shouted back.

The room glowed with her magic and the sergeants head flicked. Slowly he rose like from the grave. She opened her eyes, they filled with a crimson hue from popping blood vessels. “You're going to tell me some things,” she said her breath hot and hard.

“I'm going to...” she pushed harder. “I'm going to tell you some things,” he repeated.

“Where is the exit through the outer-” a sharp pain bit into the side of her head and her vision distorted. “Exit through the outer and inner wall,” she demanded.

“There are one hundred exits from the inner wall, they are located along the wall. The first is-”

“Enough,” she said, she didn't have time for that. In other words all they had to do was keep going until they found it. She fought her own muscles and remained standing. “The inner wall.”

“There are main gates located at the south, east, north, and west,” he said.

“I need guard shifts for the space between the two walls,” her words were already weak and fractured yet she remained until he was done talking. There was more that she wanted, but she could hold on no longer.

As she released her grip stars once again burst before her until she could no longer focus. Claw approached her his words no more then a jumble. Her blood seemed to slow to a still and she fell, her head contacting the ground sharply. The world around her grew black.