The waves crashed on the seashore. Where once birds squawked was now the silence that made my bones quiver. My hoofprints on the damp sand engulfing with salty water. Calming tide to a tear, after rolling of my cheek, intertwined. My hands ached as I gripped the pocket watch so fiercely, I thought it might collapse between my fingers. I would have shared no distress if it happened, I held such a loath to this defenseless inanimate object that all my energy up to this point was engaged into this single action. In a powerful and quick thrust, I threw the watch so off the coast into the sea it was almost invisible by the time it hit the water.
As the red sun set in the far horizon I quietly sobbed, as if my weeping emission could cause an unwanted reaction. At this point, let them come for all I cared. I trembled, almost exploding, until I finally did. Out of my mouth came a deafening scream, almost agonizing.
Definitely agonizing.
Thoughts of pain, were released though my blaring, trying to keep the good joyous memories in. Yet, what good where those in this moment of harrowing pain? Maybe I could start all over, find new kin. But, maybe that's not something I want. I put my hands to my face, remembering the sweet caress of Sera's reassuring touch. Her scolding sounding so sweet in that moment. "Avoid passing community limits, Myriad!" but once I found someone to cut that tether with, possibility was common language.
Exploring the once inhabited plains was such a thrilling and outlandish experience, I yearned for it in the cotidianity of the dullness that was my life. Collecting produce, keeping surroundings clear and clean, keeping watch, all boring tasks I had to pursue like a hellish routine.
Right now I regret that I didn't take them more seriously.
I wish I could still feel Leeway's pull on my arm through the tall grass that scraped my legs like amorous fingers. Our gallops as separate as two wild streams yet as intertwined as the lake that unites them. We never got caught, by our harras nor by those obscure semiaquatic leviathans raveging every corner of the land. Just thinking about those abominations now sent a shiver through my spine. Those things took everything from me, took everyone from me, leaving nothing but deep dirt canals and destruction in their crawled paths.
On my head he had placed a garland of wildflowers he made from the extensive vegetation that still grew in these plains. They swayed to the gentle blow of the air right before Leeway snatched them carefully from their place in the dirt. Poppies and lavender's essence rested on my hazel hair never to be awoken. With interlocked fingers our hands were one, watching the red sun rise from it's bed behind the horizon. But before the clarity of the sun reached every shadowy crevice, we flew back to our harras in the safe stronghold of the mountains we were forced to ebb to.
As always, we arrived to our alcoves before the rest of the pteros had risen, yet I found rather strange that my caretaker was already awake. She asked where I had been but I just told her I was taking some fresh air before my errands were to be done. If one does not take lull once in a while one is sure to go mad in the constant state of labor and tension of uncertainty that came with living in this hell haven. Yet, I couldn't be ungrateful for being alive after a great deal or even a majority have perished in the attacks. Now of course, there are measures to avoid this, considered the most important task and the one that every ptero wanted to have because it required less labor. However, I despised it, and naturally, this was my task for this day. Vigilance.
Stuffing my mouth with berries for breakfast, I then prepared my bag with resources to last me the entire day I would be willingly held captive at the vigil tower, almost seventy feet above ground. Embracing Sera in a farewell for now, I latched onto my bag across my chest, bow and arrows at hand, and flew up to the vigil tower. I arrived to the usual haypile and blanket that stayed in the tower for the next ptero to take on the task could use for convenience. Still I always brought my own blanket, if I didn't know any better I would say previous pteros use that blanket to cushion their derrieres.
I condemned this drab task but one thing I did enjoy about it was the breathtaking view. Under the giant red star's gloomy shine, the plains looked as always so peaceful. The leaves in the trees whispered their daily to the wind as she grazed them as persuasion to their secrets. The grass praised the sky in bows of reverence, waiting to be graced by her nourishing essence. Behind the plains and barely visible laid a beach that no one in the harras was known to come back from, the distance to it was grand and the harrowing leviathans are said to come from it. But from here, the beach looked as peaceful, or even more, than the plains. The ocean's only concern to constantly embrace the sand in her pearlescent arms. I wished to visit it with such desire, I even asked Leeway once, but even his rebel heart refused my longings. Surely I understood the reason, though the origins of the leviathans were just rumors, the risk was a vast one to even consider, so I pushed my desire to the back of my consciousness because I knew that it was impossible.
After a few hours of lounging and walking back and forth in the confined space of the vigil tower, staring out into the horizon for those beast to show themselves (though I knew that the time they were most active was at dusk), Leeway flew up to the tower on his break as a visit to my lonesome task. Boasting his dedicated harvest he handed me an apple. He seemed to be, in part, alleviated that not only he but his whole harvest horde had found such a big gathering. After the attacks, those beasts have ravaged every bit of resource in the land, we were fortunate if we could even find oats to farm. Yet, an ease of mind came to us owing to the results. In this moment, this apple was the most juiciest and most crisp I've ever had. I remember the hug he gave me, his chest against mine, his beating heart a rhythm that now mine followed in coordination. The kiss on my forehead before he released my hand from his and merged back into the flock as they flew by, ready for another shift of gather.
Because I arose so early from sleep to calm my adventuresome covet, currently my lethargy was getting the best of me. Getting my blanket, from my bag I took a small watch, that, if the desired time was given, it will announce when this time has arrived. Setting it at an hour around dusk, I laid on the bench and covered my broad equine body, placing the watch on my chest, under my hands. My consciousness was saturated so quickly I had no recollection. It was so profound it took me some time to perceive the chaos that ensued down below.
I woke up to an avalanche of screams of agony. The dying star was beginning to set where distant suns flickered in panic in her place. The watch laid on the floor, the drop must've broken the warning because it never went off to wake me. I instantly sprang up from the bench grabbing the watch from the floor, and peered down out to the alcoves, my heart withered like a blossom under flames. Quickly, I ran over to the alarm and spun the crank as fast and hard as I could, the warning waves bursting through ears as if the sounds of screams of terror hadn't done the task already. The noise seemed to irritate the beasts because once they heard it they charged towards the tower, their huge long slithering bodies destroying and knocking everything out of order. Their seemed to be about three of them but just one was enough to cause a number of casualties; who knows how many there have been already.
As two of them reached the tower, one began to climb it while the other seemed to be hacking at it, trying to tear it down. I held on to the railing as the whole vigil tower shook under my hooves. Arrows flew all around them but, as always, none of them pierced their armoured skin. I watched as the creature that stayed behind strangled a ptero with one of its many tentacley tongues and in an instant chew her to mush before everyone's eyes. Tears began to leave my eyes, without even noticing I was sobbing amid my panic. It was me. This was all my fault. Yet, Sera's only responsibility is herself and I but if i'm on vigil duty she was to evacuate immediately so all I had to do is survive.
Survive and... Leeway, I have to save Leeway.
In all this chaos I could have avoided if I just completed my task correctly, I needed to save him. It was my duty.
Before I knew, the whole building began to collapse. Spreading my wings, I jumped off of the tower's unsturdy floor before it made an impact on the climbing leviathan's body.
I saw as a few pteros flew away but I still saw carnage on land, and still out of nowhere came another beast and followed them as it watched them in the sky. One of the pteros was snatched from the air by a wayward tongue, tight around the torso, and gobbled up so quickly in a downpour of red that I was forced to look away in horror. Sera and Leeway were my only concerns. I flew as fast as I could to my alcove, the leviathan who had toppled the tower slithered behind, ready to attack, yet I was out of reach of it's long tongues as it tried snapping at me.
A thought rushed through my mind.
I can't land, if I do I'd be leading the beast straight to my mother, if she was still here. I flew higher and changed direction, directing myself towards the plains. From this height I saw as more creatures were on their way, slithering and tearing down every tree and patch of grass in their paths. The leviathan under me eventually clicked it's fuzzy tasters around it's agape toothy mouth in annoyance and strayed away from following me now. Turning back, I flapped my wings as fast as I could trying to dive right into my alcove without being spotted.
I dove in, trying to avoid hitting my head on the porch's wooden roof. It was intact which gave me hope Sera was either safe inside or safe away from this place. I called her name once inside, to find the alcove completely empty. I was about to run in when I heard my name at the porch. I looked back to see Leeway hovering in front of the alcove. My heart was light again and my face felt warm with relief. He was safe, and he yelled to me from where he hovered that Sera was safe as well. I spread my wings ready to embrace my family only to be snagged by a leviathan's slimy tongue. It grabbed me by the wings and pulled at me as I gripped on my porch's roof for dear life. I yelled at Leeway for help but he just hovered there. In the struggle to keep out of the beast mouth I couldn't make out his expression.
I yelled for help again, but still he was static in the air. I was about to be worm food, I thought before, with excruciating labor, I managed to pull myself onto the porch amid screams of pain as my wings were quite literally being ripped out of my back. When my hooves were finally on the floor I heard one of my wings snap like a branch as tears made it harder to breathe, filling my nose and mouth. In one last tug the tongue let go of my broken wings, I felt the warm blood trickle down my back.
Running inside I wiped my tears and looked back out before closing the door to glance at Leeway and the view made me hesitate seeing him being strangled by another leviathan tongue. In screams I ran to him being dragged through the dirt, and before he reached the beast's mouth I grabbed on to Leeway's arms and he grabbed back in terror. I didn't dare pull, the creature had a steady hold on Leeway's neck, one wrong move and he would have been decollated.
I implored him not to leave me.
I told him I loved him for the first time ever because I did.
I loved him and I could literally feel him slip through my fingers. Through his enclosed throat he said he loved me back, it was a jumble of sounds but I knew exactly what he meant. In an instant that seemed slow motion, the leviathan took out one of it's other tongues and gripped Leeway by his hind legs for him to be munched down on by thousands of sharp beastly teeth, his blood splattering all around me.
My throat was hoarse in my cries of woe yet without a second thought, I began to run.
I ran so fast even I surprised myself of the speed I had partaken, the flower garland that had lingered on my head midst this catastrophe ballet finally meeting the ground in trampling destruction. When I was about to near the plains, the sound of clicking tasters stopped me when a leviathan stood high in front of me ready to feast, it grabbed me by the torso and in terror I kicked and struggled as hard as I could to no results. In seconds, I saw as Sera came out from some bushes with a sword, slicing the creatures tongue. It fell in twitches on the grass, making me fall a few steps back into the ground. Out of its mouth shot out another tongue, wrapping itself around my mother's neck and with no apparent struggle, she just looked deeply into my eyes.
Like she was seeing her whole life before her eyes. Like she knew that in my eyes, I saw the same, as I had lived and shared everything with her my entire life since my times of filly.
In that deep stare that filled mine with dread she simply said "Run".
Without a second thought, I didn't even wait until she had perished, I didn't need to see it.
I didn't want to.
I sprang up from my place on the ground and ran. Ran through the tall grass that scraped my legs like stabbing fingers. My gallop was a rampant river that each second was time and distance that united me and my ocean of destiny. I never got caught by those obscure semiaquatic leviathans raveging every corner of my slaughtered land.
Standing in this beach that once lined my dreams and desires now only made me ache for the people who are not here to enjoy the bloom of poppies and lavender effusing the zenith. Leeway and Sera's essence incrusted on my hazel hair, never to be awoken. After I washed out the blood of my family off of me, I threw the cursed watch into the abyss. My screams felt like the skin was peeling off of my throat.
They felt like the only escape as I heard the leviathans calling my name as well as Sera, galloping across the plains towards me in alarm and alleviation.