They never stray too far from the Mother Tree, Emmerly and her adopted son.
She’d told him about it when she’d first brought him to live near the others. How it’s sweeping, graceful arms were stronger than they’d looked. How it was a gift and a defender and magical all at once. She hadn’t trusted the Chamber when they’d given it to them all those years ago. At the time, Em was certain some hellish fate would come to pass because they had accepted a boon from the once-dark kingdom. But over time, when nothing sprang from the bark or split the tree open to reveal its sinister innards, even she grew to love it.
When the acrid smoke fills her nostrils, she thinks she already knows what is burning.
But the tree is no longer one of her first concerns.
“Eldrian, stay very closer.” They’d been relaxing in the willow forest just beyond the great tree, a favorite spot of theirs’ and in close proximity to everything else. Now, she looks to the mostly brown boy who is already showing hints of gray in his coat. He’s growing, too, no longer the leggy colt that had been born somewhere near the border when she’d chanced upon mother and newborn son. His eyes are luminous and wide; he does as she says, though, and melts against her side. Already, the pair can hear the shouts of some skirmish brewing just beyond their copse. The sounds of both foreign and familiar voices join the smoke on the wind, reaching their ears and noses.
She leads him out of the protection of the forest, not knowing how much longer it will really protect them if war has broken out. Besides, she is a warrior. If something is amiss (apart from the loss of the Mother Tree) she will need to defend her home. Em takes the most direct path she can to the open meadowlands, her pace quickening as the shouts grow louder and closer. Who would be attacking them, and why? As far as she knew, none of the kingdoms have a problem with the peaceful, quiet Gates. Was this just an opportunity to raid they couldn’t pass up?
When the last tree disappears behind them and the scene opens in front of them, she can see the why of the whole thing. Chaos, pure and simple. There is no line of army horses, no blockade intent on breaking them down. There are only individuals set to their own tasks. One works on the tree, though she cannot see what he is doing. He is soon joined by another who belches fire over the wilting tree, condemning it to a scorched end. That action alone makes her furious, but she worries more for the people. Where is Fiasko? Mast? A few Gates horses approach the raiding party (from where, she doesn’t know just yet) but still, they are vastly outnumbered. A sudden shout from a young girl draws her attention away from the action for a moment. She cries to the others loudly, calling the youngest horses to retreat from the violence. “Go with them,” Emmerly says to Eldrian, the urgency in her voice enough to spur him on and away.
Only once she sees his tail retreating over the nearest hill does she turn back to the raid. The buckskin tobiano races down towards the lot of them, moving in to help a chestnut paint she had seen around the kingdom lately. He barely avoids an attack by a bigger, spotted woman. Emmerly catches what he says to the apathetic buckskin who seems fine with letting their home suffer. But there’s no time to reprimand him further. She nods at Kronk even as she moves in to finish his attempted attack on Gryffen. The pegasus is smaller than she is, though with his wings as a barrier, he’s more of a challenge than she might have thought. Em runs along his left side, plants her front feet in the ground and aims her buck-kick at the man’s left wing. That’s one way to deal with those tricky appendages, she thinks. With any luck, it’ll snap off.
He’s talking of them losing hope and whatever else his motivations for attacking them are. As a woman of action, she doesn’t really care. But when he mentions the garden, her head snaps up and she looks towards it. Losing the Mother Tree was one thing, but their garden was still so new. The mare circles back, intending to battle whoever was now further destroying the growing plot around the Tree. But as she gallops towards it, a great wall of water descends upon it. The surge comes out of nowhere, and the force of it would likely stun or kills anyone directly under it. Perhaps it will be enough to save the garden, if not the tree. Em wheels back towards the fighters, ready to help out in any way she can. In the back of her mind, she hopes the king and queen are far away from the violence here.
Emmerly
walter x valien