Josie and the Unicorn

by Mandy Martin

  “If we knew where the Goblin King was based, we could go in and stop him playing the game. Unplug him.” Even as she said it, it sounded hopeless. There were no plugs in Rainbow Valley. How was he even playing the game, never mind projecting it onto the magical world? She thought through what she knew. Dylan would have figured it all out by now - he was a master at DelveBuild. But her brother wasn’t here: it was up to her.

  “He must have a Charming table, and somehow he’s made it real. If we could destroy it, that might work.” She sucked in a breath. “But I’ll need armour.”

  “See! I said you were a warrior!” Lumpy exclaimed. His grumpiness vanished and he pranced around the clearing. “Can I have armour too?”

  “Why do you need armour?”

  “I’m coming with you, of course. You didn’t think I’d let you go without me?”

  It felt as if a giant balloon was expanding in Josie’s chest and warmth spread through to her fingertips. She’d never had a friend before.

  They worked all day, with Amber Evergreen spinning enchantments. She wrapped weeds around Josie’s arms and legs. The sliminess chilled her through her leggings and cotton top. But then the sprite murmured a spell and the weeds became solid, yet still flexible, like the wetsuits Mum made them wear when it was cold.

  “Will it stop an arrow?” she asked nervously.

  With a mischievous glint in her eye, Amber turned a neat pirouette and threw her arm towards Josie. Before she could react, Josie felt a gentle tap on her chest. On the floor was an evil-looking arrow, its razor-sharp point shining in the sun.

  “Wow,” Josie whispered when she could breathe again. Then she stared at Amber. “Hang on, how did you know it would work?”

  The sprite shrugged. “I trust my magic.”

  A shiver prickled across Josie’s skin. This was not someone to mess with. “Why don’t you face the Goblin King?” It wasn’t an accusation, just a question.

  Amber looked troubled. “I trust my magic, but I do not understand these creatures he has created. They act strangely. It will take maths and magic to beat him.”

  “You keep saying that, but I’m useless at maths!” Josie wailed. “I can’t even remember what six times four is.”

  “Maths, like magic, comes in many forms.”

  Josie pulled a face at the sprite’s cryptic answer but let it go. She was happy not to think about school right now. If Amber Evergreen wanted to call DelveBuild maths, that was fine. Maybe she could try that one on Mum when she got home. If she ever got home.

  “Okay,” she said instead. “I have armour. Now I need weapons. Let’s just hope I’m a better shot than I am in the game.”

  Amber Evergreen furrowed her brow in concentration and then plucked a handful of grass. As she passed the blades to Josie, they became a sheath of arrows.

  Before long, Josie was armed with a sword, bow, arrows and an axe. She shuffled them all in her arms and dropped the arrows all over the floor. “This stuff is awkward. I guess I never thought about how I would carry it all.” Her mouth felt dry. This no longer felt like a game.

  “Carry them like this,” Amber said gently. She slung the bow and arrows over Josie’s shoulder, and fashioned a belt for the sword and axe. The weapons were surprisingly light and, with a little practice, Josie was able to move and unsheathe them. She ran at a tree and swung the sword at it. Suddenly the tree shimmered and the sword bounced off, stinging her hands with the impact.

  “Whoa! What happened?”

  “You must not attack the trees,” Amber Evergreen murmured. Her voice was soft, but Josie still felt the disapproval.

  “Sorry.”

  “Only the Goblin’s creatures can be attacked. I feel no life-force from them.”

  Her words lessoned an ache in Josie’s chest. Killing zombies in a computer game was one thing, but she hadn’t been happy about attacking real things, not even for a good cause.

  “Can you do that barrier spell on me? As extra protection?”

  The sprite nodded and wove her hands in a complicated movement. Josie felt a tingling run down her body and the green armour sparkled briefly in the sun.

  “Are you ready?” Amber asked, her eyes deep pools even in the daylight.

  Josie gave a little shrug. “I guess. Are you coming?”

  “I cannot.” Amber Evergreen shook her water-weed hair forlornly. “My strength is tied to the water.”

  The sky seemed to darken with her words, although the sun shone brightly above the trees. “I understand,” Josie murmured, but her knees quivered.

  “Climb up, Maiden,” Lumpy pawed at the air, his horn gleaming. “We ride into battle.”

  A snigger escaped from Josie’s throat. Lumpy looked ridiculous in the matching green armour that stretched across his round tummy. Then she saw the fear in the unicorn’s eyes and realised he being brave for her sake.

  “Come, my trusty steed,” she pronounced as if she were a knight and not a little girl, missing her mum and her brother. “Let’s ride.”

  Chapter Eight

  Fear gave way to weariness as Josie and Lumpy rode across the never-ending meadow. Slowly the sun slipped away behind them and the air grew chilly. A rumble echoed from Josie’s tummy and she remembered that she still hadn’t eaten more than a few berries. Somehow it hadn’t mattered before, but a gnawing emptiness hurt her insides. She guessed that these zombies wouldn’t drop anything useful when they died. If they died.

  “Are we there yet?” she wailed eventually.

  “I don’t know, little one, but it looks pretty ominous ahead. We must be near.”

  He was right. Dark clouds rolled across the horizon and it looked like it was raining. Yep, it was definitely DelveBuild. It always rained when she played.

  All of a sudden Lumpy gasped and skidded to a halt. “What is it?” Josie shrieked, grabbing on to his mane to stay mounted.

  “Look at the grass!”

  Josie slid off and peered at the ground. At first she couldn’t see anything. Then as her eyes adjusted to the gloom she saw it: a faint line across the earth. On one side the grass waved gently, like Amber Evergreen’s hair. Past the line, it was solid and blocky. When she walked round it, she could see the grass was flat, like paper. Like DelveBuild.

  “Come back across the line,” Lumpy said in a strange voice. She looked over at him. His eyes were wild.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Come back across the line first.”

  Josie shrugged and stepped over the line.

  “Thank goodness.”

  “What, what happened? Lumpy, stop being creepy and tell me!”

  “I’ll show you.” He trotted forwards, his tail swishing as if he was surrounded by buzzing flies. As he clip-clopped past the faint line, he changed. Suddenly he was a DelveBuild creature, his coat made of white squares in different hues. His horn no longer gleamed or even looked that pointy. Josie took a deep breath and jumped over the line. She looked down as she did so, and saw her legs become straight and solid. When she unslung the sword Amber had given her, it looked like it was made of cardboard.

  “Crumbs.”

  “That’s an understatement.” Lumpy’s legs shook and Josie could still see the whites of his eyes.

  “I guess we’re in the game now.” Bizarrely she felt better. She might not be any good at magic, or dealing with rude fairies or snooty unicorns, but she understood computer games.

  “Right,” she said in a determined voice. “If I was a Goblin King, where would I have my lair?”

  Lumpy nodded at the dark clouds hanging low on the horizon. Now they were nearer Josie could see how blocky they were, but still real-looking. Like the game.

  “Then that’s where we go,” Josie said.

  It felt freaky climbing on Lumpy. He was more blocky than lumpy now. It felt like sitting on a box.

  By the time they had ridden for half an hour, Josie was blinking away tears. “I need to walk, Lumpy, you’re about as comfy as a bric
k.”

  “Well excuse me,” Lumpy sniffed. Then, as Josie tumbled off, her legs refusing to bend properly, he snorted.

  “Oh, Sugarlump, don’t be mean. Everyone here has been so mean to me, I can’t bear it if you are too.”

  Lumpy nuzzled her face. “Sorry, child. This place makes me nervous.”

  Josie shuddered as she looked at the lightening flashing like darting fish. “Yeah. Me too. At least it’s not raining.”

  Even as she said it, she felt a fat drop of water splat on her head. “Rats!”

  “You had to say it,” Lumpy sighed.

  Josie hung her head and stared at the rain falling on her hand. Then she peered closer. There was a face staring at her from the droplet. Drawing her hand to her eyes, Josie gave a sudden laugh. “Amber! Is that you?”

  “Indeed, child. I have been watching your progress in the moon pool. When the rain began to fall I saw my chance. Take courage, you are nearly there. I scry a cave mouth a few minutes’ walk ahead.”

  Josie looked around, but the land was flat. The rocky hills were still ages away.

  “It plunges into the earth. There are torches.”

  “A mine. Of course.”

  That was what the game was all about. Delving for treasure and using it to build new things. She could deal with a mine: you could back up against a wall and know nothing was sneaking up behind you. Unless it dropped into a cave system. With bats and caverns and lava. She shook the horrible thought away.

  They reached the entrance to the mine too quickly for Josie’s liking. The opening yawned at their feet like a hungry beast. Lumpy eyed the stairs leading down and down and shook his mane. “What a curious tunnel. How do the rocks like that?”

  “They’re stairs,” Josie laughed. “Don’t they have stairs here?”

  “We live in the meadow,” he shrugged. He lifted one hoof and took a step forward, then scuttled back. “I don’t think hooves and stairs mix.”

  “You’ll be okay,” Josie said, hoping she was right. “Just take it slow. Come on, we’ll go together.”

  She plucked one of the torches from the wall – who knew what they might find, and spiders didn’t like fire – and entered the mine.

  Chapter Nine

  Down they climbed. Down and down, and down, until Josie’s legs ached and Lumpy’s head drooped to his hooves. She could feel blisters forming on her feet and wished she was a game character, instead of just looking like one. Being able to rebirth would be handy too.

  At last the steps ran out and they found themselves in a huge cavern carved from granite walls with a perfectly level floor. It certainly wasn’t a natural cave. Josie gazed in awe, wondering out how long it would have taken to make it so vast and square.

  Red light flickered in one far corner and she guessed there must be lava there. The sound of rushing water echoed eerily in the distance raised a glimmer of hope in Josie’s heart.. Perhaps Amber Evergreen would be in the water.

  “Which way now?” Lumpy asked. Way now? Way now? echoed around them, making them both jump. “Sorry,” he whispered. “What a curious place.”

  Josie stared at the empty cube. Which way? It was a very good question which she had no answer to. Before she could decide, a flash of movement flickered in the corner of her eye. She turned just as two zombies came shuffling towards them, arms outstretched, eyes staring blankly.

  Without hesitation, Josie pulled the sword out, growling as it caught in the scabbard. She hissed at Lumpy, “Get behind me!”

  There was no time to think, never mind worry. With a quick jab, Josie stabbed the first zombie with her sword. It flickered and vanished in a puff of vapour. She brushed hair out of her eyes and rubbed her sweaty hand on her leg. With an overarm swing she attacked the second zombie. It took two more swings until it, too, disappeared.

  “You are a fearsome warrior!” Lumpy declared. Josie stared wide-eyed at the space where the zombies had been. They had vanished. Just like that. Would that happen to her, if she met a skeleton or a crawler? The game felt too real now, the stakes too high.

  “I’m not a warrior,” she muttered. It felt like a hippo was sitting on her chest. “Lucky, that’s all. We’d better be careful. There’s no safe mode here.”

  She looked over to where the zombies had appeared and spotted a doorway she hadn’t noticed before. With a silent scowl she stalked towards it, her sword still gripped in a slippery palm. Lumpy’s breath on her neck warmed some of the chill, but it still took every ounce of courage she had to keep moving.

  The doorway led through to another tunnel, this time one without stairs. They followed it slowly, as Josie’s torch threw creepy black shadows across the walls. After a while the ground either side of the path fell away. The path became a long narrow bridge over endless emptiness. Josie swallowed hard and felt a shard of fear lodged in her throat. One wrong step and it would be game over.

  “Careful now,” she told Lumpy with a bravery she was far from feeling. He nodded, his eyes like giant glass marbles in the flickering torchlight.

  Every few paces along the bridge a hole gaped in the path, with torches mounted either side. Don’t look down, Josie thought desperately. Whatever happens, do not look down. But she couldn’t help it. Just as she stepped over the first hole, she glanced beneath her feet and retched. Far, far, below she saw a glow in red and orange. If by some miracle she survived the fall, she’d be burnt alive in the lava. Perhaps she should ride Lumpy? He was too big to get through the holes. But then he might go over the side. No, it was safer to walk.

  Taking a shallow breath, as if anything deeper might throw her over the edge, Josie crept onwards until she could make out the end of the chasm. The bridge connected to a natural cave, with tunnels all over the rock face above them, higher than a ten-story building.

  They had finally reached the other side when a flock of bats swooped down past Josie’s head. As she ducked and squealed her feet slipped from under her. With a swooping lurch in her stomach she felt the ground fall away and she dropped off the edge. Her hands scrabbled desperately at the stone as her feet dangled over endless nothingness.

  “Lumpy! Help!”

  Lumpy hadn’t seen her slip and had trotted off the end of the path. He cantered back, whinnying in terror. Josie stared at him as he peered at her over the ledge. How the jeepers was he going to get her up without hands?

  The unicorn lowered his head. “Grab my horn, quickly.”

  Josie nodded. The movement caused her hands to slip a little further. “I can’t,” she sobbed. “I daren’t move.”

  “Oh if only I were a proper unicorn,” Lumpy wailed. “I could fly beneath you and push you up.” His hooves danced in agitation, shaking the path.

  “Lumpy!” Josie cried. “Stand still, I’m going to fall!”

  With a sudden lunge, Lumpy grabbed at Josie’s top with his teeth. His bite grazed her skin and she winced as he slowly pulled her onto the path. The stone scraped her tummy and tore at her knees but she didn’t care. As soon as her whole body was on solid ground, Lumpy let go and sank to his knees.

  “That was too darn close, child. We have to go back. This is no place for you.”

  “Go back?” Josie shook her head. “No way. We’ve come this far.” Besides, she thought silently, there was no way she was going back across that bridge. There had to be another way out.

  Before she could say any more, a sickening groan filled the air. She knew that sound. Quick as a snake she reached for the sword, but it had gone. She must have dropped it with the torch when she fell. It would have to be the axe instead. It wasn’t her weapon of choice against zombies but it wasn’t like there was a making table anywhere nearby.

  By the time Josie had dispatched the zombie, sweat trickled down her face. Was it the effort or was it getting hotter? Wearily she pushed herself onwards. Without warning, Lumpy brayed loudly, sounding more like a donkey than a magical beast.

  “Don’t do that,” Josie snapped, “You scared me
out my skin.”

  “There’s some kind of creature ahead, I can feel it. It burns.”

  “Burns? You mean a dragon? No, there aren’t any dragons in DelveBuild.” But there were, in some versions, weren’t there? She’d never faced a dragon. Maths and magic were all very well, but she couldn’t help anyone if she got burned alive.

  “Then let’s hope water sprite magic makes this armour fire-proof.” She put away the axe and drew the bow. There was no way she was getting near enough to a dragon to chop its head off.

  Her hands shook as she notched an arrow. She wasn’t a very good aim even in the game and that was easy. Dylan teased her that she couldn’t hit a cow never mind a skeleton. Well, a dragon was bigger than a cow, so perhaps she’d be okay.

  Then the dragon roared. Fire dazzled her eyes as it swept around the corner and her face burned in the heat.

  “Oh crumbs.”

  Chapter Ten

  “We must leave!” Lumpy nudged at Josie, trying to push her back towards the bridge. “You can ride, I’ll get you out safely.”

  “No.” Josie walked forwards, the bow wavering in front of her face. How quickly could she notch a second arrow? At least the armour had protected her from the heat, although her hair frazzled alarmingly around her face.

  Mum’s going to kill me.

  She snorted with laughter. If she got home, she’d have her hair cut short like Dylan’s. Mum’d love it. No brushing, no tangles. No, not if she got home - when.

  Thinking about Mum and Dylan gave her new courage. She squared her shoulders and the bow steadied in her hands. With a quick intake of breath she darted forwards, launched the arrow, then jumped back before she could see if it hit the target.

  A huge roar of pain echoed around the cavern. Josie grimaced. If she hadn’t wounded it, she’d sure made it mad. Her hands were slick with sweat as she dragged another arrow over her shoulder. There weren’t many left.

  “I need a work table,” she muttered.

  “What is that, Josie-child?” Lumpy asked. It was the first time he’d used her name, even if he had still added the annoying ‘child’ bit.

  “A work table. So I can make a new sword and some arrows. And a helmet – why didn’t I think to ask Amber for a helmet?”