The Lost Shell of Mahon

by Casey Phelps

  On the third day, since the conclave began, an elder unicorn came before the assembled court and sought to speak to the princess. “Have you thought my dear princess, that maybe it is the Lady behind the flower?” She spoke cryptically.

  The rest of the court dismissed her ramblings as a warped older mind that had no business to speak before the court. She was removed before I could question her further and find the meaning behind her warning.

  The next day the reports started coming in and we saw that almost all the stories were identical, they were all in the forest, but none remembered going there or remembered why they had gone in the first place and furthermore most knew of the plant and that they should never ingest its poison.

  The Court was getting restless as this point as no new information or even a single culprit had been named. They called forth the king, and said we should withdraw and remove the taint of the intruders. That the people would heal themselves and they could live with the answers we had brought to light in our time, but that no more aid would be given.

  I decided it was time I spoke before the court, “I believe that you are mistaken in your haste to withdraw your support, and I feel it necessary that the princess should be allowed to access the aid that was promised to her.” I could tell they were surprised as I had stood motionless and silent in the hall not bothering to entertain the madness that had overcome the court.

  “Furthermore, I agree that this discussion is important and should be continued, I call for a movement to allow the princess the mornings to train with the Lord Re’em, and any who wish to help her in her magic training, as was promised, and then after we break for mid-day we will convene our efforts here. What say you?”

  The council grumbled and murmured before the king commanded a verdict to be made, the council voted for this change. I was surprised at this; it seemed that the loudest dissenters were in the minority here, and that the unicorns truly did warrant the positive influence of the princess. I noticed to my chagrin that they still refer to me as the Prince of the Beasts but they call her their princess.

  ****

  Chapter 15

  “The night was ethereal as if I floated through a fog, I felt insubstantial as if I didn’t belong in this place. The melody I felt more than heard was hauntingly lonely. I was in a forest glade, peering into a small clearing. In the clearing was a beautiful child, she wore a filmy white gown, tied with flowers and vines, they twined her head in a crown, and fell beneath her midnight locks tangling as she twirled and sang this haunting song.

  The child stooped low and breathed on the earth beneath her feet calling her children to heed her call…

  What rose was shadows, seething and roiling among the fog…”

  Chronicles of the Queen year of the Shell

  Chelle

  I began my magic training the very next morning and I awoke up with nerves. I don’t know where this figure I had become came from; it was as if I was floating through someone else’s mind and living their bizarre life.

  Thinking about my dreams in the night… I’d had another vision and this one was quite unsettling. I woke before I learned the message that was given to the insidious shadows that gathered at the Lady’s bidding.

  I felt mentally bruised at the end of my training with Re’em. I had quite the audience who quickly tired of watching us stare intently at each other while we silently communicated.

  After the training we ate with the king, and his advisors. I sat to the side nursing my headache from concentrating hard all morning, and Artileon seemed content to continue his brooding. At the end of the meal I told him of the dream. He had no idea what it meant, but that he would think on it.

  Chelle found herself once again in the court facing the numerous people who had grievances both for her and for the King and his son to weigh.

  She noticed the lack of the presence of the prince as he had been in her presence since the time she left her world and entered this one. It left a strange feeling in her chest that she couldn’t quite name. Pushing this thought from her mind she entered the fray of accusations and needs of the people.

  Artileon after speaking with Chelle, and hearing the newest vision, he was reminded of the elderly lady who came in to speak before the court. He asked after this lady’s whereabouts and went in search of her.

  As soon as Artileon found whom he was seeking and learned what he was to learn, he knew he must make haste to find the princess. The knowledge he gleaned from the elder woman was that of the lady of the moon and her shadows.

  ****

  Aremi

  After his brother beat him mercilessly, shaming him, he knew he could not face the council. He sought the solace of his lady; he had begun his training to become as the Ladisians. As priest and king he would be the most powerful ruler the land had ever seen, the Lady would bless his rule and together they would bring all of the lands under the mighty rule of the Lion and the Lady.

  He pulled out the trance-inducing drug used by the Ladisians to contact their lady. It was from the poisonous moonflower; he put a single drop and waited for the unconscious meeting to take place. He cleared his mind and removed any emotion from barring the entrance of the lady’s minions, the shadows.

  The lady smiled as the unwitting princeling gave his body and will over to her shadow child. She had charged them to use the princeling as a means to create havoc on the plans to break the curse and re-invoke the Blessing and favor of the Lord Sun.

  Little did he know that every time he allowed the shadow children to possess him, a little more of their essence stayed behind, stripping his will and making the perfect puppet for her master plan to rule the Lord Sun’s creation and destroy the girl he had long foretold would ‘save’ the beasts, humans, and restore peace.

  Aremi under the compulsion of the lady’s shadows went about the woods, and finding a cabin in the woods, he set up a workstation to create the trap the Lady had in mind. In this mindless state he gathered the deadly moonflower creating an intricate bundle, that when lit created a haze of smoke that permeated the forest clinging to its mists and spreading out its compelling fragrance.

  He set about making these bundles and traveled through the forests lighting them and letting the forest disperse its poisonous cloud. The shadows went through the mists with their own magics to aid in the demise of the unicorns that would fall into this foul snare.

  He made his way through miles and miles of forest until his mind snapped and his body no longer functioned, and the shadow knowing his host was rendered useless to continue, exorcized himself and returned to the lady. The body was left in the heap in the woods, in the middle of the forbidden lands.

  Aremi woke to find himself in the caress of a soft cocoon. He heard the crooning of a woman, and the noises of a fire crackling, and food preparations being made. He struggled against his blankets but found he was unable. He wasn’t sure about what had happened, but his mind seemed muddled and confused. A strange woman who, hummed and never spoke slowly nursed him back to health. Never being released from his cocoon and his frustrating silence he was trapped within his own mind. No recollection of who he was, what had happened, only this prison of blankets and smothering attention of his saving grace and ironically his captor. The only thing he knew was that his brother would surely come to save him.

  ****

  Cian

  Most of the young unicorns knew of the danger of the forest; know which plants to eat and which not to eat. The children would dare each other to enter the forest if you dare and bring back a poisonous moonflower to show that they really did enter the depths of the forest. Cian was the younger brother of the village bully, and so when he was ridiculed he fled the countenance of his brother and his ruthless friends. Into the forest he ran to show them once and for all, he was not a baby. They wouldn’t call him that if he brought back the moonflower. Cian went deeper and deeper into the dusky forest. He jumped at every twitter and creak, and at last found himself in a clearing
. Entering cautiously, he went forward to pick the moonflower at the far edge. As he left the relative safety of the trees, he noticed a vapor coming from the same direction as he went to retrieve the flower. It was sweet smelling faintly of… and that was all he remembered until he woke up feverish and weak upon his bed.

  ****

  Chapter 16

  “The beast shall carry her shadow, if she begins her reign, fire will fall, and shadows will consume” I heard the collective voice saying.

  (Yeah, for more ominous poetry that doesn’t make sense, I thought.)

  Jada- the wise ones

  We worked endlessly on making my mind stronger, until I surpassed Re’em’s skill and we started on projecting. I caught on pretty quickly. I had done this before in the court, and I had commanded the attention from that day on, showing my ability was not one of the smartest things as many of the dissenters in the court were poisoning our efforts to bring the death bringer to justice, because they were afraid of my skill.

  The court had taken a recess today and the two princes accosted me in the hallway outside the courtroom. Both looked as though they couldn’t wait to share so I waived both of them to follow me; I had to have some water.

  We were in the kitchens and away from any courtly ears. Of course the prince had also told me it was easy enough for him to stuff the ears of the staff of the kitchens with water and it would muffle their conversation. It was all safe and no harm done, it would simply dissipate and they would return to normal hearing.

  I looked between the two, and chose Artileon to go first to the dismay of Re’em. He had gone off and I was wondering what he was up to so my interest in the matter was peaked. Re’em I had been with all day and couldn’t have anything too pressing to share.

  Artileon went on to tell us of the older woman that had come in before and was dismissed as senile; she described the shadows and the lady’s use of them. I knew immediately that this had something to do with my dream. As we had discussed we kept this gift to ourselves and hadn’t shared it with the unicorns. So I added this knowledge for a further more private discussion. Then I addressed Re’em to tell me of his news. He told me that the unicorns had scholars in their midst much like the Beast’s had theirs. The Unicorn scholars would read the skies and then interpret them. He wanted to take me there to show me anything they had on mind speaking and its uses, and to see if they had anything about the prophecy.

  He had spoken to the king, and in turn the king had given the court a recess until we returned to the court after seeking the scholarly unicorns.

  So it seemed we were headed off yet again to seek out a path for our quest. Or an answer to our current set of problems, I’d take whatever I could get.

  Luckily, we did not have far to go. The Jada, as the scholars of the unicorn realm call themselves, live under the stars and call no place their home. They stay close to the outside world of course, because they do not have time to waste on the menial tasks that living requires, so they barter their information and wisdom with those who would take care of their other needs.

  So I was told to look forward to a day of brushing a giant unicorn until their coats were shiny, and untangling the furry mess around their hooves. Curling their manes and tails and brushing perfumes throughout, in order to get the information we needed.

  A lady scholar met us; we addressed all the scholars by their title of Jada. The Jada brought us into their midst and we set about to tell them our business, they would only address Re’em, as though the Prince and I were beneath notice. It was quite annoying. Soon, we set about our tasks for the Jada, I began grooming, and Artileon, was sent to stack wood and cut more for the coming winter months. Re’em was sent to carry water back and forth from a stream to their camp, a trough was set along the camp and he filled it to the brim with fresh water. As night fell, we were told our efforts had indeed earned us favor and we would be rewarded with a reading from the stars.

  They all took a stance in a ring around our uncertain trio, and gazed to the heavens in search of some hidden truth to be told.

  “The beast shall carry her shadow, if she begins her reign, fire will fall, and shadows will consume” I heard the collective voice saying.

  Yeah, for more ominous poetry that doesn’t make sense, I thought.

  The Jada collectively turned their steely gaze to me, and said

  “The child princess has the power to save the world, he is bound to take her to the fire hills and she will be successful, but she must carry a solitary burden. Her heart will be broken, a sacrifice must be made, and her soul will be poured out to save us all.”

  Creepy, they stared and then unexpectedly all turned and went into the forest leaving the three of us standing in the light of the Thunder Moon.

  I was starting to get the feeling that saving the world wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. I was no hero, or a princess, or anything special at all I was just me. Deep down, I was afraid.

  ****

  Artileon

  It was strange to see the princess brooding; he knew the reading of the stars had a distressing effect on her. He wondered at the change in her since stumbling upon his prison, and integrating herself into his world.

  Then he thought to what he had heard at the reading…

  The two cannot fail,

  For the world is at stake,

  Her shadows to over whelm,

  And the people’s will to break.

  He was brought forth from the depths, but her soul shall entwine his nature and thus begins the healing and the curse will be broken. If he does not allow the love entrance, the spell will be broken and she will die.

  Back to the poor guy who was brought from the depths, and love what a folly. His nature did not love, that showed weakness. His kind allowed for favor and a mate was chosen by their nature, not by the man. They were truly beasts, and none could love a beast.

  ****

  Re’em

  That had to be the strangest reading I had ever encountered, the pale light of the moon shone and I know a message was given, both the human girl and the beast heard something, and I heard nothing. Then I felt a sharp tug, and a sliver of my soul snaked from my being, and wrapped around the words that fell onto my deaf ears…

  They were both moody and irritable as we left the camp of the Jada. I wanted badly to know what they had heard, but both seemed lost, and confused with what had been spoken.

  Finally a caw broke the silence and the startled Princess jumped. The trio found that very funny and their fear dissolved into laughter over such a trivial matter. When they returned to the court he realized they had not searched any of the scrolls.

  The next morning, during their training session, the king joined in. He wanted to know of the mental progress we had made, and also of our visit with the Jada.

  The princess also added the sour prince to the mix and we agreed she might practice on a non-mind speaker. She began by telling the three of us her version of the night with the Jada. They were overjoyed at apparent ease she had to communicate with her mind and the imagery she relayed while she spoke.

  Then they asked the Prince his reaction and he said that it was amazing, her voice came through as a waterfall in his mind garbling but beautiful and her version, of the words they spoke are not the same as his. So then he relayed the words given to him, he tried speaking in his mind to the princess, but it didn’t seem to work. They were astonished that the two were given different telling’s, and then Re’em told his version how he heard nothing, but of the pulling.

  They all wondered at what he would be bound to.

  Later in the same week, as they went about doing more of their studies, practice the mind speaking, and of the business with the court, they received a decree from the Palace of the Beasts.

  ****

  To all inhabitants under the Lord Sun,

  We regret to inform you of the death of our beloved King Framond of Dalthimus. His holiness the King has passed from this life and
now walks the eternal lands of the Lord Sun. His two dearly loved sons, the named heir Prince Artileon, and the Princeling Aremi survive him. As well as the L’eonis, who accompanies the Prince Heir at the King’s behest a quest of Royal import. Any who wish to mark the end of the King’s life the memorial pyre will be lit on the rising on the Red Moon. It will be attended and officiated by the Council.

  We request that this decree be read in the general populace and in the entirety of the realm. As the whereabouts of the bereaved Prince Heir and beloved Princeling at this time are unknown; the council will hold court as Regent until the Heir is crowned. Upon the receipt of this letter, let us pass on our deepest condolences in this tragedy and we join you in mourning.

  Condolences,

  Written by Councilman Daltim Quarm on the Behalf of the Court of the King of Dalthimus

  ****

  “Outrageous, they make it sound as this was an approved task set forth with their blessing, and not that they had imprisoned us and had tried to kill us. Much less would love to send out a letter informing the realm of your demise, so they could crown their precious acolyte your brother.” I said quietly to Artileon.

  “I think it is more interesting not only do they assume the power of the throne so easily, but that my brother is not there already. If they have lost him, they have lost their seat of power, and they must be floundering in this mess.” He responded.

  The Unicorn king, dismissed the court, and asked for us and Re’em to stay behind.

  “You do not find this news surprising?” the king asked noticing our lack of outpouring of grief at such news.

  “We learned of his proximity of death, and were headed on our business from his side due to the nature of our quest. It was only a matter of time before it reached us,” said the Prince. “Moreover I am less than pleased that they have named the princess as this will make our quest that much more urgent and dangerous. The court will run whether I am there at the moment or not, and though they thought to draw us out for the pyre, it is from the king, I must not return until the task is completed, or all will be for naught.”