Half the Power

The Shock

I froze immediately. Actually, I didn't have to stop Luke;  like a few moments ago, he sensed my uneasiness and halted. The girl and boy turned to face me, the sister with her hair flying over her shoulder. 

Her features weren't exactly as I imagined. Her eyes were shocking green, but they were almond-shaped. She had side bangs, each strand swept neatly to the right side of her forehead. She didn't have the smile I imagined, but I wouldn't have been smiling if I were her, either. She had small lips, with her mouth opened slightly.

The boy turned like he was called. If I hadn't seen our surroundings, I could've imagined that a friend of his had called, "Hey, look at this!" He had softened features, and his eyes were sea-green, unlike the girl's.

They both had the same locket on as me, just on different cords.

I turned back to look at Mary, but where she was now stood one of the monsters, half wolf this time. I stumbled back in surprise.

The white pegasus seemed to be the only one to come to his senses. Before I could say or do anything, he stomped his hoof once. The monster crumbled to dust, and was swept away by a gust of wind. 

I finally came out of my trance, and turned on the horse. "Look what you've done!" I cried. "You-- You--"

"Please," he said. "Allow me to explain." His voice was calm and controlling, so I obliged. I walked cautiously toward him, much to Luke's annoyance. Great. The horse was probably smarter than me.

When I reached the pegasus, I dismounted. It only seemed right to bow, so I did. His calmness seemed to be affecting me.

"My apologies, but... why did you do that? I understand that it looked like a monster, but surely--" 

"Stop," he said. I obeyed, but he didn't sound angry. "Please don't question me. I understand your confusion, of course. But I must tell you the story first." It sounded like I was a small child being told, "No questions until the end!" in a class.

I stood with my hands folded behind my back respectfully as he spoke. "That wasn't your friend Mary. Since everyone has fallen asleep, you have been deceived. The pegasus you met was working against you. He had no plan for everyone to awake. We, the rest of the pegasi, were supposed to destroy you when you got here. He lead you right to us. When the monster hurt her leg? That was planned to slow you down.  That pegasus was a little annoyed that you called him with the last feather, but he wouldn't stay away. He needed your trust. Also, your cousin Mary is safe at home, so don't worry about her. These"-- he gestured to the boy and girl now beside him, and they bowed their heads respectively--"are your real team members:  Ava and Ryan. They are siblings, elected by all of us." The pegasi bobbed their heads, confirming his statement.

"If I may ask," I said hesitantly, when I saw that he wasn't continuing. "Why have you decided not to... um... destroy me?"

A chuckling sound came from above. "We simply don't want all humans to remain in this state. The world would fall apart with no humans to run it. The pegasus you met felt that we would be better off with no humans to ruin nature."

Ryan had a far-away look in his eyes, like he was imagining a world with no humans. He seemed to suddenly get a horrible picture in his mind's eye, because his face scrunched up in disgust.

Ava shook her head sadly. "I still don't see how it's possible for us to save them. We're just children."

The pegasus seemed amused. "'Just children,' eh?" He turned to me. "You have seen your powers. As have these two." He turned back to Ava and Ryan. "Would you show her?"

Ava nodded and stepped forward. She held her hand out, her palm to the ground. With her eyes closed, I could tell that she was concentrating, sending out signals to the earth. Suddenly, the ground spit out a small emerald, and Ava picked it up. She popped it into a small bag that I  was fairly sure hadn't been there before.  It went sideways, from her left shoulder.

"Very good," the horse said. "Ryan?"

Ryan grinned at held out one hand, his palm toward the sky. He too closed his eyes, and a cylinder of water appeared, floating an inch above his hand. It formed into a miniature wave, then into a piece of kelp, and then to a small dolphin. As a dramatic ending, it morphed into another wave, and when it crashed, it disappeared. I must have looked impressed, because he laughed.

"I'm sorry about my brother," Ava said bitterly. "He's such a show-off." 

It was my turn to laugh. It was true.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself!" the pegasus cried. "I am Orion, leader of the pegasi. Anyway, Amelia, could you present your powers?"

I was nervous about messing up, but I summoned the wind. It shot beneath my feet, lifting me into the air. I stumbled and almost fell, but regained my balance. I landed gently on the ground.

Ava and Ryan seemed politely impressed. I knew that I hadn't done anything to deserve it, and they were just being nice, but I blushed anyway. I didn't expect to be treated like I was as old as Ava or Ryan.

I wondered again how I had gotten the power. Now I also thought about Ava and Ryan too. I wasn't complaining, though. We would need these powers.

The sun was now setting. I would need to make camp soon.

Orion seemed to sense my worries. "Oh, you can pitch your tent here. You'll need all the energy you can get in the morning." I was about to ask what would happen tomorrow, when Orion glanced uneasily at Will. "Of course, we can't keep that monster around." He stomped again, and the dog disappeared in a puff of smoke. "There. He is gone. I sent an identical, normal dog to Mary's house. The real Mary," he added hastily. "Also, you should know that the monster was pretending to help you to gain your trust, so he could turn on you."

I knew I was right about that dog.

"You should start preparing for the night. We can provide you with one more tent. Perhaps a boy and girl tent? Whatever you three want."

Obviously, none of us were used to hearing that we could do "whatever we want." We all stood in shock, until Orion laughed again. "Go! Your time is running out," he warned.

We all set out towards Luke and Susan.