Unicorn Keep (17 page)

I don’t mind.

She bit her lip. “Mind what?”

You may pet me if you like.

Her cheeks heated and she smoothed her hand down his shoulder. His softness was unlike anything she had ever felt.
Ginger groaned as she lowered herself to the ground. Jiline ran over but didn’t get the saddle removed in time. She unbuckled the girth so it wasn’t binding, but Ginger had already laid down on the saddle making it impossible to get it off unless she raised up.

She crouched down and rubbed
Ginger’s neck instead as the pony closed her eyes to sleep. A unicorn approached. She glanced up. It was Bylun. He slid the tip of his horn along Ginger’s neck.

It will help her body
recuperate faster. Speed up the healing process of sleep.

“Thank you,”
she said, but he was already moving back to the herd.

Jiline
sat down next to Ginger, sliding her fingers through her mane as she listened to her pony’s steady breathing. The clouds slowly cleared and she could see the sun as it moved to the evening spot in the sky.

She double worried. One that the hunters had friends who would reach them because they rested. And two that Ginger wouldn’t survive this journey.

She is strong.

Bai stood over them as the other unicorns spread out to graze. The magical barrier seemed to stretch out forever and she recalled how the valley floor never saw any snow with the unicorns within.

She nodded slowly in response to Bai’s comment. “She’s always been plucky. That’s what my father said when he bought her. We even thought about calling her Plucky, but she already responded to the name the spice traders had given her.”

She held back the question of when they would move off, but was pretty sure Bai knew what she was th
inking. He didn’t say anything so she laid down in the grass next to Ginger to watch the clouds drift by.

She felt his presence before Bai went
immobile as a statue. Gwyn was instantly beside her as well. Bai snorted a warning and the other unicorns raised their heads.

Jiline
looked around, but saw nothing. “Gwyn?”

Yes, it is your
Herrick. He searches for you.

“I don’t see him.” The presence she had felt in the woods hadn’t been clear then, but it felt solid now.

It is his spirit.

Bylun separated from the herd.
It is time to move.
His horn flashed as his head moved around in a quick dance.

Gwyn watched him unimpressed.
He does not search for us. You cannot block him.

Bylun glared at her.
She must learn to block him.

The herd slowly gathered and star
ted their journey again. Ginger raised her head and shook it groggily. The unicorns had probably roused her. Jiline stood up as action set about her, but she could still feel him. She looked at Gwyn in confusion.

Gwyn brushed her muzzle against
Jiline’s shoulder.
Yes, he is still here. Do not worry, Jiline of Ainsley, he does not search for us.

“But in finding me, he will find you,”
she mumbled.

He does not search for you to punish you or locate us.

She
glared at the meadow. “Go away!”

Gwyn huffed in laughter.
Prepare Ginger, the herd is moving.

Turning
away from where she felt the presence, she started to tighten the girth.

You should still ride me.
Bai said.

She
bit back the protest and nodded before securing the saddle just tight enough so it wouldn’t slip off. “Good girl.” She rubbed Ginger’s neck and was glad to see her walk forward without the drag of exhaustion.

Bai was kneeling down and
Jiline jumped on as she had before. The presence hovered near her. Bai thrust his horn at it and the presence faded away.

17. ORFEOS

Herrick
expelled a breath and opened his eyes as his being floated back into his body. He had located her. He stared at Eachann. She was riding a unicorn. The preposterousness of it hit him deep in his stomach. Madelen was riding a unicorn. Not only was she riding one, but from what he had been able to gather the unicorn had commanded it. She’d gone from preparing her pony to ride to mounting the unicorn.

He stretched out his stiff limbs and got up to
mount Eachann. The rain had slackened which was why he had decided to try to locate her, but it was picking up again even under the shelter of the heavy tree he had found. The meadows around her had stretched endlessly, but it had given him a general area to search. The trees which had shed their winter leaves combined with those that had kept them were his best clue.

Eachann
galloped out of the grove. The weather had not been affected by magic here and the ground was not overly saturated as it had been at the base of the mountain. Still the roads were muddy so he stuck to the grass as he headed west.

****

“Why does he search for me?” Jiline finally uttered the words that had plagued her since night fall. The unicorns had only been concerned about getting away from the presence and once he had vanished they had been satisfied with a small wood an hour past the meadow to rest for the night.

She watched Ginger graze on the edge of the wood. Rested from the afternoon
, she was rapidly attempting to fill her stomach. Jiline’s own stomach rumbled, distracting her from her question. She had rationed out her food and the unicorns’ bolstering had allowed her to go without as much, but she was down to her last few pieces of dried fruit.

She weighed them in her hand
. They weren’t enough to stave off her hunger, but perhaps she should save them.

Eat.
Gwyn scolded.
We shall find some food for you tomorrow.

Jiline
obediently ate the last of the fruit, but didn’t lay back down. Her question was still unanswered.

Bai lay beside where she sat
, watching over her as he had from the beginning. She drew her gaze away from Ginger to Bai’s shining coat.

She guessed the unicorns didn
’t have any better idea as to why he searched for her than she did. But it continued to bug her when she should have been asleep. Even Ginger had come to lay beside her.

Sleep
. Bai’s voice was soft.

She rolled over to look at him
. He had not laid out flat, but was curled up with his knees bent under his body and his chin resting on the ground. She closed her eyes. Her body was exhausted, but her mind continued to spin and jump over the question of Herrick.

****

Thick magnificent trees rose over them as the unicorns approached a forest. Jiline wondered if these were the woods when the unicorns halted, but Gwyn shook her head.

This is an evil forest. Dark creatures abound.

She considered the trees in horror. They didn’t look quite as magnificent, but more threatening. “What way are we going around?”

Gwyn shook her head.
We must go through the woods.

Jiline
bit her lip to keep from protesting. Her fingers tightened in Bai’s mane. He had insisted again that she ride him to let Ginger fully recuperate. Ginger looked as good as she had on their first day, but she didn’t argue with him. She had a feeling Bai felt more at ease in his self-appointed job as her protector if she was riding him.

She glanced at her bag on Ginger’s saddle and Bai sidestepped so she could reach down and untie it to strap it to her
chest. The darts were secure in their case as she tried to figure out how to keep them handy without accidentally pricking herself or the unicorns. Ginger nickered nervously. Bai touched his muzzle to her forehead as the pony sidled closer.

No one could say horses were stupid when it came to danger.

The herd appeared to have coordinated though Jiline had no idea what was going on as they spread farther apart and stepped into the woods. She gripped Bai’s mane with one hand and kept her other on the short sword strapped to her waist.

Bai stepped lightly into the woods, his body moved fluidly as he broke into a canter
and darted around trees. Ginger followed close behind him with Gwyn bringing up her rear. The woods seemed to stretch out forever. The unicorns didn’t make a sound except for an occasional branch cracking beneath their hooves as they traveled.

She
had almost relaxed as they moved through and nothing challenged them. But all of a sudden the air was filled with screaming as creatures dropped from the trees above.

Bai
trumpeted and increased his pace. His command to duck down clear in her head, she laid as flat as she could, her worry about Ginger increasing as a creature dropped at Bai’s side. He flashed past it. But what about Ginger? She turned and sat up. Something hit her back and Jiline fell to the forest floor.

The stink made her wretch as she scrambled away and
tried to draw her sword from its sheath.

Something stepped
on her back, effectively pinning her. The weight abruptly lifted and unicorn hooves danced past her face. Fear gripped her. Ginger neighed in panic. She forced herself to turn and look as a creature sat on Ginger’s back, a wicked spear in its hand. She recognized the drawing of the orfeo.

Eli had said a single o
rfeo had broken into the Keep many years ago and had killed several keepers before a poisoned dart had taken it out. The unicorns couldn’t use their magic against it so had to rely purely on physical fighting skills.

She pulled the dart case out as she lunged to her feet. Her fing
ers trembled over the latch and a dart dropped into her hand. A few feet from Ginger, she stopped and tried to block out her pony’s panicked neigh. Drawing her hand back as Eli had taught, she breathed out and flung the dart forward. It struck the creature in its leg barely missing Ginger’s stomach.

The
orfeo pulled the dart out, his black eyes finding hers as he leapt off Ginger to charge. The dart hadn’t worked. Spinning, she stumbled over a log and ran as fast as she could right into another orfeo. Dropping down, she avoided his ax and rolled to the left. Keep moving. Eli had drilled it into her. Keep moving until you are ready to strike.

And she certainly wasn’t ready to strike. The creatures kept dropping from the trees. The unicorns
’ neighs rang out with the orfeos’ battle cries. Bai was suddenly beside her. He kicked out striking one of the orfeos in pursuit.

Get on!

She reached up for his mane as she ran. His head turned and he thrust her onto his back with his nose before spinning to confront the single attacking orfeo. He didn’t rear, but lowered his head and charged. Jiline flattened herself and prepared for the impact.

No impact came.
Bai danced to the side in an intricate move to impale his enemy and toss him aside with the same movement. She stared at the downed orfeo. Pulling herself together, she glanced around for Ginger as Bai streaked past other fighting unicorns and orfeos. At last she saw Ginger, flattened out, racing through the woods with a unicorn beside her. It had to be Gwyn.

They cleared the heart of the battle, but didn’t slow as they
dashed away. Other single unicorns pulled up alongside Bai and then spread out. Jiline lay flat against his neck. Her head turned so she could keep an eye on Ginger. She ran almost as agile as the unicorns around the trees to where the unicorns sensed the dark forest would finally end.

She looked around when she felt Bai’s stride slow a fraction. They still can
tered, but were no longer charging through the forest. Careful to stay low, she raised up a little and looked behind them. The battle was long gone. She tried to count the flashes of white, wondering if the orfeos had been able to kill any of the unicorns. She gave up counting unsure if she was counting the same unicorns over and over. They had spread out as they had when entering the woods making it difficult to keep track of them.

Bai’s focus was on their surroundings and she didn’t want to distract him with her questions
. She ducked back down and peered forward along his neck. The forest stretched out forever.

****

His panic attack slowly eased. Herrick cursed under his breath as he straightened away from the tree he had braced himself against when it had hit full force. Worried he was going to pass out, he’d flung himself from Eachann’s saddle. He looked around and sighed in relief. Eachann was a few yards away grazing on the thick grass.

He didn’t know what had happened to
Madelen this time, but he was getting sick and tired of the draw incapacitating him. It was tempting to enter a trance again to make sure she was indeed all right, but the attack itself had delayed him too much. Making fists and then releasing them, he walked over to Eachann and mounted up.

The rolling hills looked
similar to where she had been when he had last checked on her, but he knew these types of hills stretched out for hundreds of miles north and south and not quite as far east and west but pretty far. The unicorns were heading west away from the mountains. If only he knew their destination.

Eachann
didn’t seem any the worse for wear considering his owner’s unusual behavior. Herrick considered why the horse hadn’t been concerned. Normally, the gelding was so attuned to his master that all he had to do was think a command for Eachann to respond. He urged Eachann into a canter. They rode hard until the sun had dipped past the horizon.

He rubbed Eachann
down before hobbling him and building a campfire. He was glad the rain seemed to have ended for now though all the wood he gathered was wet. Thankfully, fire starting was one of the first spells he had mastered. Holding his hand over the lump of logs, he mouthed the words for the fire spell. The wood cracked as it heated up and hissed. The fire leapt to life. He pulled his hand back and sat down. The heat warmed him, but he kept his cloak on for now.

Sitting cross legged, he opened his saddle bag and pulled out the small mixture of herbs which would help him induce the trance state to release his soul from his corporal body. Shaking out a palm full, he sprinkled the herbs over the flames.

Inhaling the smoke, he closed his eyes and waited. He floated away. Focusing on Madelen, he zoomed away from the meadow and landed a few feet from her.

She was slight
ly separate from the herd again except for two unicorns which appeared to be her sentries. She lay in the grass next to her sleeping pony. He dragged his gaze away from her to look at the surroundings. He needed to figure out where she was. At least that was the reason he had told himself when deciding to check on her.

A stream bubbled behind them
. He frowned at the double stream and looked past it. Taking off back into the air, he floated up until he could see the woods just out of sight. The strip of forest stretched north and south a considerable distance, but was only half a league east to west.

He dropped back down knowing what had caused the panic attack and completely unable to do anything about it. The
unicorns had taken her through Orfeo Woods. They were northwest of his location. But he guessed they were traveling exclusively west. Would they continue until they hit the ocean?

He was much farther s
outh of the Orfeo Woods. He would have to travel west until he crossed the area of the woods before heading northwest. He stepped closer to where she slept.

One of the unicorns pivoted to stare at him. They had sensed him last time, but appeared to ignore him. This time they didn’t. The one closest to
Madelen stepped forward and his horn waved menacingly in the air.

Madelen
sat up and also stared in his direction. He had been surprised the first time she had felt him, but now he was sure it was evidence of the draw between them.

She rose to her knees, but wobbled slightly. He floated forward with concern,
stopping when the unicorn stepped into his path. In corporal form, he should escape injury, but he wasn’t confident the unicorns being magical creatures might know a way around that.

“Why are you here?”
Madelen whispered.

His heart ached and he wished he could answer her, but all he could do
was watch and observe.

The other unicorn stepped
forward to stand over her.

“But why does h
e follow me? I don’t understand,” Madelen said more firmly. She shook her head. “Why do you call him that? He isn’t mine.”

He looked at the unicorn standing next to her, but he was
hers and somehow the unicorn knew or felt the draw. Madelen shook her head again and he sighed. But Madelen did not. At least from what he had seen at the Keep, the books didn’t seem to dwell on what happened when one mage felt a draw and the other did not, but he was beginning to wonder if it happened more often than it was acknowledged.

He needed to get back to his own body. He had assured himself of her safety and was narrowing their location down, but he was reluctant to leave her. He wished he could speak with her and reassure her. How far
west were the unicorns going? Focusing, he sent his being back to his body.