Beautiful Lies

Exhaustion - Chapter 2

"Freya, we've been trudging for three days with little food and little water we need to rest!" Socks cried out his sides heaving behind her, "There's nothing but dry earth here! Where are you even taking us?"

Three long days have passed since the terrible event had happened, this left what remained of the herd exhausted and sick. The sun above them scorched intensely against the dry hard sand, it appeared to have been mud at some time as there were large paw marks imbedded in the cracked ground. Stepping besides her mother Pea placed a hoof over the paw print noticing it to be much bigger than a regular wolves paw. It seemed as if the animals tracking them had been everywhere, like there was no escape from them.

Pea lifted her head up to throw a hopeful gaze at her mother and the leader of the herd, the older horse stood strong whilst staring off into the distance. It seemed there was nowhere to go, the entire land was dead here and Pea couldn't see any sign of food or water anywhere. A sandy wind pelted their sides without mercy and the entire herd could feel their bodies giving in. The last foal was having trouble keeping up, its head lurched and the young ones ribs were tight against its skin. In a matter of moments the foal collapsed onto the ground at the mercy of its body, not a struggle was had as it laid there heaving on its side.

"Our last foal is near his last breath we need to stop!" The grey horse with white sock markings continued, "We already lost two of our herd since we left! We cannot afford to keep going!"

Freya swung her hooves in fury at the colt, "Do you see any water or food? We keep moving until we are no longer in bound of the wolves!"

"You're insane, there's no way the foal can make it over this dry land!" Socks hissed back betraying his usual cowardly nature.

"You're being foolish, the wolves scent is still fresh they've been tracking us we can't stay for them to pick us off!" Freya scowled at the younger colt who was less experienced, "These lands used to be full of fresh water. What your hooves are standing on used to be the great lake of reunion!"

Socks backed off resigning from his anger, Pea assumed that he was simply upset and starving so it made him reckless. However he was correct about one thing, there was no way that the herd could take much longer across the land. Melody trotted closer with limping strides, her eyes were tired and weary. The young mule then stood up as brave as her shy nature would let her.

"There is no possible way that this is the great lake of reunion, it's not possible that it could have dried up so fast! We were only here a few months ago?" Melody questioned with great wheezing through her voice.

Freya's voice softened at Melody's calm demeanor, "I have led you all through this route many times and I myself have never seen it like this..."

Melody lowered her head snorting at the searing heat, "We're going to die out here aren't we Freya? You know we're in trouble don't you?"

"I am fearful for my herd, I cannot promise we will make it through these sands together but I will do anything to keep you all safe" The leader explained loud enough for the few horses left to hear.

A muffled voice from the last mare bellowed through the air, "He's dead, he's dead! My baby!"

Hearing the words crackle through the air sent a chill through Pea's spine and the four of them rushed over to her aid. As they stopped at the foot of the foals body Pea could see its tiny frame solid and devoid of any movement, the last foal had died from exhaustion. The mother cried and curled over the young one's body as if waiting for the fact to change. Twisted emotions coiled around in Pea's stomach once again, seeing death had become so common now and it made her sick.

"My dear Daisy, horse of many strengths and faith I am sorry for your loss..." Freya consoled the weeping mother.

However the horse named Daisy was not impressed, "You let him die! You could have stopped, he could still be alive!"

"That's not fair, my mother did not kill your son!" Pea leaped in defense of her mother, "We're all hungry and exhausted if we didn't keep going the wolves would have eaten him..."

"You weren't even there when the 'wolves' attacked! They were Freybugs! Freya, our leader knows very well what they were!" Daisy continued in a tantrum, "That's why their paw prints are so big, that's why they haven't slowed down since they started tracking us! They aren't going to stop until not one of us is left alive, and it's all because of Freya's blue eyed child!"

Pea sank down inside as if she had been turned inside out and destroyed all of her self worth. Gazing to her mother in reassurance she noticed that Freya's face was growing red with pure rage. Freya stepped forward stomping her hooves down hard leaving a loud echo, she whinnied high with anger at Daisy's assumption. Nipping back still hovering over her foal's dead body, Daisy roared loudly with the stamping of her hooves.

"Your daughter is cursed with the omen of the blue eyed one, they want her and they'll stop at nothing until she's dead. If you could have just gave her in no one would have died!" The mad horse roared at Freya.

"My daughter is not a bad omen! Her blue eyes have nothing to do with this, she is pure of heart and a great future leader don't you dare suggest such things to me!" Freya boomed louder than she could have possibly yelled, the other horse's eyes were wide with fear, "You will not continue to travel with us!"

With one last deafening stomp of her hooves Freya swiftly turned to the direction they were originally heading and continued to trot against the harsh wind. Pea being one good of heart attempted to push the mourning mother to continue with them anyway, but failed as the mare nipped at her in pure menace. It was obvious that Daisy would not continue with them, her eyes rested angrily on Pea as she felt complete guilt as if everything was indeed her fault after all.

As they proceeded to walk through the dried up lake Pea couldn't help but wonder what Daisy had meant. Flashes of her enraged face and accusations of things being Pea's fault unsettled her. What if this was all her fault, what if all these horrible things were happening because of her? With a sick gut from guilt and hunger she began to slow her pace until she was almost completely stopped. The exhaustion, hunger, and thirst seemed to take no toll on her mother however she stayed as strong as an ox.

Freya noticing her daughter falling behind stopped to talk to her, "What's wrong my sweet pea? We'll see food and water soon I promise."

Pea sighed while pawing the earth with her hoof, "Am I really the reason why we're in trouble?"

"No, why would you even say that? That horse was just mad from exhaustion" Freya claimed nudging her with her head.

Hesitating for a moment she replied, "I don't want lies, just tell me the truth... The horses before said they were Freybugs, they were weren't they?"

"Oh honey... I guess it's time for that talk..." Freya gave in taking in a deep breath, "Sweet pea, none of this is your fault but there is something I haven't told you. All those stories, all of them are true. Nobody really knows that though as the stories have been passed down through generations, but Pea I met the Buraq."

"The Buraq?" Pea gasped in awe, "But the Buraq is supposed to be an ancient being that can take you to the stars!"

Freya nodded slowly while picking up her pace, "I adventured around far and wide, I was told about the prophecy of a blue eyed horse being of great significance. It's only possible for magical animals to have blue eyes, along with red, purple and many more unnatural colors."

"Are you saying that I hold some sort of magic? You're saying that all of these things that I thought were myth, they're all real?" Pea claimed in complete disbelief of what she was hearing.

Her mother smirked a small smile, "Your father, he was never around when you were born. He was a good colt, you would have loved to meet him. If he were here now he would be so proud, and this is why I promised to keep you safe. I love you so much Pea, your my only daughter and you're more important than any other myth or prophecy."

"So that's a yes?" The daughter asked again.

"Yes my dear, it's all real but if whether or not you are the one in the prophecy it doesn't matter, you will always be my top priority" Freya answered giving a last nudge of confidence to her daughter.

With a loving nudge Pea grinned happily knowing that her mother was proud of her, it meant the world to her. She didn't know how to feel initially, she was excited and confused for now but Pea felt that her feelings on the matter would change. Right now she wanted to focus on getting her friends and mother through this disaster safely, there was no reason that she couldn't do her best.

As the sun began to set against the horizon the tiny herd could see trees in the distance, the sweet hovering shadow of a forest. Socks began to trot a little bit faster at the sight of what he hoped to be good food. Meanwhile Melody stayed at a steady pace a little bit behind Pea, but Pea could tell that she was a bit excited by the expression in her eyes. It didn't take long for the restlessness to travel to Freya who had been leading the herd at an easy pace. Even she had begun to pick up her pace, and soon enough she began to laugh and travel in a galloping stride.

Soon everyone was hopping with joy kicking up dust with their hooves on the solid ground. A song of cheering and happy whinnies could be heard from across the dried lake far enough to cause a light echo. Pea giggled and raced close to her friends and mother with glee, she couldn't help but hold a grin on her face. In a matter of mere minutes they reached the end of the desert like area and onto the edge of the forest. However the trees were not at all how they imagined them to be.

All the leaves were gone and many of the trees were dead, the only ones still standing were pines and Pea couldn't recall it being close to winter at all. There was no grass either and the whines of disappointment quickly followed, they had been traveling so far and for nothing. They couldn't travel back though it would lead them straight back into the jaws of the Freybugs. However going off no water was dangerous and Pea could feel her tongue rough and dry like the desert.

"I thought there was food, I swear I saw grass!" Socks complained in a gasp of suffering.

Melody was also upset, "We're going to die, there's no food or water anywhere..."

Freya gazed past the trees in front of her and sighed, "We'll have to keep going until we find a source of food or water, I don't see any Freybug tracks anymore and I can't smell them either."

"That's probably because they're busy eating Daisy..." Melody whined underneath her breath.

The earth near the trees was just as dry and dead as the land behind them. Pea had never seen such a rapid change in environment her entire life, but she was so dehydrated and all she wanted was water. Whipping her head back and forth for a sign of anything Pea searched with all she could try to see. When her eyes couldn't aid her she gave in dropping her head down and closing her eyes, but once she did she could hear something trickle in the distance. It had to be the sound of a stream, nothing had ever sounded so beautiful until now.

Bucking in excitement Pea squealed, "I can hear water, it's close by follow me!"