The Secret Of The Unicorn Queen -The Dark Gods (10 page)

    "Sheila, I . . . can't let you go off into danger without-" He stopped short as he suddenly became aware of the others. "Without wishing you good luck," he finished lamely. 

    Sheila sighed. ''Good luck to you, too." 

    "Uh . . . wait." Looking uneasily around to be sure no one was watching, Darian leaned down and gave her a quick kiss that landed more on her nose than her lips. "Be careful," he murmured, gently brushing a strand of auburn hair back from her face. And with that he turned and hurried off. 

    Sheila watched him go, not sure whether to laugh or cry. "You be careful, too, Darian," she whispered. 

    Leaving their unicorns with the others, Sheila, Pelu, and Dian drew aside to watch Myno's diversion. 

    And what a spectacular one it was. Whirling hastily improvised torches about their heads, Myno and Nanine shrieked like demons while Darian shouted what sounded like a particularly savage war chant. Sheila nearly choked when she realized what he was yelling at the top of his lungs: the words to a rock song she had taught him—in English of course! 

    The unicorns, wild with excitement, thundered back and forth in a frenzied gallop, raising so much dust that, half in darkness, half illuminated by the whirling torches, they really did look demonic. Sheila didn't blame the startled guards for hesitating to leave the security of their city walls. 

    What if they don't dare come out? she thought. What do we do then? 

    But she didn't have to worry. All at once the guards came pouring out of Erech-ban. 

    Myno and Nanine quickly hurled their torches away, plunging themselves into darkness. There was the thunder of hoofs, and Sheila, Pelu, and Dian dashed out of the way as their friends went streaking past in the middle of the unicorn herd. They were followed after a nervous moment by the guards on their hastily saddled horses. 

    "Now is our chance," whispered Pelu, "before they shut the gates!" 

    It was easy for the three women to slip into the city during all the confusion. But then Sheila heard the sound of the gates being slammed shut again behind them, and winced. They had gotten into Erech-ban, all right-but how would they ever get out? 

    There was one thing about Erech-ban, thought Sheila as she, Dian, and Pelu scurried through the dark, narrow streets that reminded her very much of Campora. Something she was beginning to really dislike about cities in this world: nobody seemed to have figured out a way to light the streets at night! 

    It wasn't for the lack of any really clever folk; Sheila suspected that wizards here could solve by magic pretty much the same problems inventors like Dr. Reit solved by science in her own world. No, the people here just didn't seem to see the need for street lamps. 

    Everybody goes to bed early and gets up early, and that's that. But the darkness didn't make finding the road to Kumuru's palace an easy job. 

    Sheila could see the palace easily enough. That wasn't the problem. It was difficult not to see it, the way the building and its supporting mountain loomed over Erech-ban like a great, brooding beast, darker than the night around it. But none of these crazy, twisting little streets— some apparently no more than alleys cut by the stonecarvers to separate the rows of sandstone houses—seemed to go in the right direction! And they could hardly knock on somebody's door and say, "Excuse me, we're trying to break into the royal palace. Can you show us how to get to it?" It was such a ridiculous thought that Sheila had to fight down a fit of giggles. 

    Stop that! she scolded herself. It isn't funny! 

It really wasn't funny. Precious time was passing while they scrambled to find a way out of this maze. And they didn't want to waste too much more of it, because they only had this one night to get Illyria out before it was too late. Besides, just because they hadn't yet seen any guards patrolling the streets didn't mean there weren't any such patrols. Worse, who knew what supernatural means Kumuru might have to guard his city? They didn't dare attract anyone's attention! 

    Still, that ridiculous image of a startled Erech-bani housewife staring at her while she politely asked for directions kept popping back into Sheila's mind no matter what she did. 

    Think of something else, fast! Or you’re-- "Oh, no." Pelu's voice was a soft groan. "Not another dead end! And I was so sure we were finally going the right way.” 

    That stopped any urge Sheila had to laugh. For a moment the three warriors stared in silent dismay at the blank wall blocking their path. 

    Then Pelu sighed. "There's no help for it. We'll just have to retrace our steps and try again." 

    "Yes," whispered Dian urgently, "but which way did we come?" 

    "Why, down that way. I think." 

    "Uh, Pelu," cut in Sheila softly. "I thought we came that way. 

    "You see what I mean?" Dian's voice shook. "There aren't any straight streets here, or even any right angles. I don't know where we are! And neither do you!" 

    "Softly, Dian! Don't worry. We'll find our way out." 

    "How? Pelu, no one in this city bothered to paint us any street signs. And even if they had, we couldn't read the signs in the dark!" 

    "Why don't we just see if we can climb over the wall," suggested Sheila. 

    Pelu shook her head. "It's attached to that house. See? We'd only wind up in someone's garden. Besides," she added, peering up at the top of the wall, "it looks as if that someone has studded the top of the wall with bits of glass. A nasty way of keeping out thieves. And us. 

    "Well, then . . ." Sheila hesitated. Oh, no, she didn't dare! It was too dangerous-and too silly! But if somebody didn't do something, they would be lost here all night! 

    Gesturing to Pelu and Dian to stay back out of sight, Sheila took a deep breath and marched up to one of the houses. She had to knock for some time, but finally someone stirred within the house. The door opened a wary crack. 

    "Who is it? What do you want?" 

    Or at least Sheila thought that's what the voice said; although the Samarnans and Camporans spoke the same language, the exotic Erech-bani accent made it sound quite different. 

    "Please, I-I need directions," Sheila stammered. 

    "What's this? A girl? All alone?" 

    The door opened a crack wider. Sheila saw a woman standing there, candle in hand, night robe wrapped around herself, looking so much like the housewife she had pictured that she had to bite down hard on her lower lip to keep from giggling. 

    "Uh, y-yes." Warming to her role, Sheila continued in a timid little voice. "You-you see, I . . . uh . . . work in the palace kitchen." When the woman only nodded, Sheila dared to add, "I just started there the other day. But I ... Well ... I-" 

    "Snuck out, I take it? To see someone?" The woman's voice sounded a tiny bit more sympathetic. "A boy, perhaps?" 

    "Anyhow," Sheila hurried on, as though embarrassed, "I was trying to get back in without anyone seeing me. But-but I'm new here. And I got lost! Oh, please, can you tell me the quickest way back to the palace?" 

    The woman never hesitated. And she repeated her directions not once but three times, making sure Sheila had them memorized. 

    "Now, you hurry straight there, yes? And tell your boyfriend not to let you go home alone next time! A girl your age has no business being out so late!" 

    "Uh . . . No, ma'am. Thank you. You've been such a help." 

    More than you'll ever know! Sheila added silently, and scurried away. 

    To Sheila's relief the woman's directions turned out to be very accurate, and the three warriors soon emerged from the maze of narrow streets. Ahead of them a wide trench had been dug out of the sandstone, separating the common folk from the royal, and on the other side of that trench rose up the fantastic carvings and columns of Kumuru's palace, one solid, eerie mass in the darkness. To judge from the faint flickerings of light in some of the windows, only a few palace folk were still awake—servants, Sheila assumed. 

    Funny . . . Kumuru didn't seem to have mounted any guards around the palace. Sheila grinned. She wasn't going to complain! Without any soldiers to worry about, it should be even easier to sneak around the place without being seen. 

    A high wall surrounded the front of the palace, merging into the mountain as its rear. There seemed to be only one gate, a massive thing flanked on either side by enormous torches and stone statues of armored soldiers. 

    "Ugly, aren't they?" Dian whispered. "Look, there are more of them placed along the walls. Now, why would anyone want-" She broke off with a gasp. And Sheila gasped, too, staring in sheer disbelief. 

    One of the statues had moved. With a faint groaning of stone, it turned its head from side to side, as though trying to find the three warriors. 

    "They're alive!" breathed Dian. 

    "Not exactly. They're sorcerous constructs," corrected Pelu. "They look ponderous, but for all we know, they can move swiftly as an avalanche." 

    "There don't seem to be any other gates, either," Sheila said softly. 

    And they certainly couldn't try scaling the walls, not with those eerie stone creatures prowling about. 

    "How are we ever going to get inside?" Sheila whispered. But then she nearly let out a yelp as something pulled sharply at her tunic. Her hand already shooting to the hilt of her sword, she glanced sharply down. 

    What-? An imp! One of the little desert creatures had somehow followed her all this way. 

    "Shoo," she said softly. "Go home.” 

    The imp danced up and down impatiently. 

    "Look, I can't play any music for you now, so why don't you just move along. Hey, stop pulling at me!" 

    "I think he's trying to get you to follow him!" whispered Pelu. "He's pointing from us to the palace. Maybe he knows a way inside!" 

    Sheila hesitated. Sure, the imps were fun and all that, but they were tricky little thieves as well. Could this one possibly be trusted? But, then, what other choice was there? 

    "All right, pal. Lead on." 

    The imp gave them a pointy-toothed grin of delight and scuttled forward.

    The hole was dark, and narrow, and smelly. 

    "You mean, we've got to go in there?" asked Dian weakly. 

    Pelu sighed. "Looks like it. This drain comes right out from the palace itself." 

    Sheila didn't care for the idea, either. But the imp was waiting impatiently, so… 

    "Well, here goes nothing," Sheila murmured. She took a deep breath and entered. 

    Yuck! It was really disgusting in there—slimy, filthy, and thoroughly gross! Sheila took one deep breath by mistake and immediately wished she hadn't. The air smelled like something that should have been buried a long time ago. As if that weren't bad enough, the drain was so cramped and narrow, she couldn't even crawl on hands and knees, but had to wriggle her way along on her belly. The sides of the drain were slippery, too, though Sheila refused to even consider what might be squishing beneath her.