Sylviianel is a princess, and so she has a pegasus. That is part of the treaty between the humans and the pegasi, the one that has held the two races in a fragile harmony for nearly a thousand years. But when Sylvi and her pegasus turn out to be able to truly understand each other, it starts a chain of events that will destroy the status quo between the two races, for good or for ill.
Pegasus is a 2010 novel by Robin McKinley.
This book provides examples of:
- Body Motifs: Hands. A major motif throughout the story is the contrast between the wings and dextrous-but-weak wing-hands of the pegasi, and the crude but strong hands of the humans.
- Bond Creatures: Each member of the human royal family is magically bound to a member of the pegasus royal family. Normally, this allows for only a very rudimentary level of communication, but Sylvi and Ebon can communicate with each other as easily as they can with members of their own race.
- Cool Sword: The Sword (always referred to with capital letter and definite article), which was won by the first king of Balsinland from a "dark guardian" before he was exiled from his old land. It is sapient, seems to have powerful magic of its own, and chooses (or at least affirms) the next monarch of Balsinland.
- De-Power Zone: Pegasus shamans cannot enter the human-occupied lands without becoming sick and having trouble with their magic. Since humans never visit the pegasus homelands, it's unclear if the same would be true in reverse for human mages.
- Eldritch Abomination: Rocs. They are enormous, at least as intelligent as humans or pegasi, and possess powerful magic of their own in addition to a strange ability to command lesser monsters. They are stated to come from some "other place" and to only rarely intrude into the normal world.
- Hidden Agenda Villain: There appears to be a faction among the magicians that has been working ever since the first contact with the pegasi to ensure that humans and pegasi cannot truly communicate with each other. Why they are working so hard to prevent such communication has yet to be revealed, but considering that the most prideful and manipulative magicians are part of this faction it probably isn't anything good.
- Humans Are Warriors: Type 2 example: the pegasi were being hunted to extinction by their various predators until humanity came along and drove the predators back. This seems to be due to a combination of humanity's strong hands, the tools and weapons that those hands let us wield, and a certain innate drive that humans possess and pegasi do not.
- Meaningful Name: Ebon the pegasus has black fur and feathers. And Ebon isn't a human nickname, it's his real name in the pegasus language.
- Monster Lord: Rocs seem to have the ability to command lesser monsters. Under their leadership, the lesser monster races such as taralians and nourindours will cooperate rather than fighting each other, and the rocs can command them to use advanced tactics and strategy.
- Pegasus: Naturally present. These pegasi are described as looking more like four-legged birds than regular horses, with broad foresholders and vast wings but slender hindquarters. They also have tiny fingers on the forefront of their wings like those of a bat, which are dextrous but incredibly weak. They are intelligent, communicating through a mix of telepathy, spoken vocalizations, and body language.
- Starfish Language: Pegasi language consists of much whuffling, tilting of heads and/or ears, body language/limb placement and gesturing with 'alula-hands' (tiny vestigial "fingers" at the joint of the wing) as well as a modified form of telepathy with certain humans. Humans, leave us say, are not... terribly good at learning it, though it is required for certain ceremonial occasions involving royalty.
- Terminally Dependent Society: Pegasi are dependent on the magical llyri grass, which grows only around the Starcloud Mountains, to maintain the strength of their wings. Without the grass, they would be too weak to fly.
