The Guardian Herd: Landfall by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

Author:Jennifer Lynn Alvarez [Alvarez, Jennifer Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2015-12-09T16:00:00+00:00

23

THE SWALLOWS

MORNINGLEAF SOARED BEHIND BRACKENTAIL. They dodged trees and skimmed the crocodile-infested water, luring Frostfire and his patrol toward the Swallows, where Brackentail planned to trap him. Her breathing filled her ears, and her heart raced away in her chest. The distant volcano Firemouth belched again, causing the water below her hooves to ripple. Morningleaf’s wing throbbed where the crocodile had bitten her. In her peripheral vision she saw Frostfire gaining on them. Shadepebble had fled. “Hurry!” she whinnied to Brackentail.

He flapped his wings faster.

“I won’t lose you two again,” Frostfire neighed. He pinned his wings and shot forward, aiming for Morningleaf.

Morningleaf tucked her tail, imagining Frostfire’s hot breath on her flank. She peeked over her shoulder and gasped. His eyes gleamed, and his lips curled back, exposing his big white teeth. He drew back his front hooves to strike, and the moonlight reflected off their sharp edges.

She tucked her wings and plummeted, dropping altitude to gain speed. Sweat erupted between her ears and dripped down her face. The pain from her injuries sapped her strength, and she leaked a trail of blood and sweat into the swamp.

Ahead of her, Brackentail swept under the thick layer of trees he’d pointed out to her from the cloud forest. A small island appeared in the middle of the swamp, and its center was clear of trees. “Here it is,” Brackentail hissed. “The Swallows.” He landed and motioned her toward him.

Morningleaf touched down with a hard stumble. Brackentail trotted forward and pointed at an expanse of flat, treeless mud. “We want Frostfire in there,” he said, panting and pointing. “We’re going to lure him and his patrol into the sucking sand.”

Morningleaf nodded. Brackentail had explained to her that the dark mud called the Swallows would sink their enemies and trap them, but the flat ground looked harmless to her. She and Brackentail whipped around to face Frostfire and his small patrol as they landed behind them.

“I’m surprised to see you back in the jungle,” Frostfire said to Morningleaf, winking his one blue eye. “Did you miss me?”

Morningleaf pinned her ears, ready to charge him, her mind spinning with horrific memories of the lava tubes where he’d held her prisoner. Sometimes at night she dreamed about the tubes, and the dreams were so real she could feel the claws of the rats as they skittered over her body, and she could smell the putrid bat guano on her feathers.

Brackentail blocked her, holding her back with his wings and whispering into her ears. “No. Stick with the plan.”

She trembled and her gut churned angrily, but Brackentail’s words reached her, and she took a deep gulp of warm air, calming herself.

Frostfire stepped closer, followed by Larksong and his patrol. Larksong pricked her ears, ever curious and utterly fearless. “Where is Star?” she asked Morningleaf.

“I’ll never tell you.”

“If she’s here, Star must be close,” Larksong said to Frostfire.

Frostfire pawed the soil and advanced toward Morningleaf. “I can make you tell me. Where is Star?”

Morningleaf fought the urge

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