The Secret Of The Unicorn Queen -The Dark Gods

by Josepha Sherman

  "Illyria," Pelu began, but the Unicorn Queen shook her head.

  "If she is to remain one of us, Pelu, she must act like one of us. Come, Dian. Speak."

  Dian sighed. "I didn't mean to desert, truly. I didn't mean to run off like that at all. What happened was… Well, I had a fight with someone last night. Someone I thought cared about— Never mind." She shot Sheila a quick, spiteful glance, but added, "I would rather not say with whom I had the fight."

  Illyria waved that off impatiently. "I believe I can guess. But forget that for now. Continue your story."

  "Oh. Yes. Anyhow, the fight made me so angry, I guess I just stopped thinking. I just wanted to get away from there, so I…”

  "Rushed heedlessly off?" Pelu prompted gently.

  Dian nodded. "Oh, I left a note. I didn't want you to worry about me. Then . . I didn't bother with a saddle. I just jumped onto Swiftfoot's back and rode. I didn't know where I was going. And I really didn't care. We rode on and on, I'm not sure how far. Pretty soon Swiftfoot started insisting she wanted to go back. And I . . . Well, by that point, I had forgotten all about being angry. I just wanted to get back to the estate, too. But I couldn't find it!"

  "Why didn't you simply let Swiftfoot find the way?" asked Illyria.

  "I tried that. But she didn't know which way to turn, either."

  "Come, now, I can't believe-"

  "It's true! You see, even though the night had been clear up to that point, all of a sudden, there was a weird fog all around us, a thick, dank, evil-smelling fog."

  "So," murmured Illyria, and Sheila shuddered, recalling Cam's account of that vile fog. "Continue."

  Dian bowed her head submissively. "Ahead of me I could hear voices. I wanted to call for help, but . . . something made me hesitate. Instead, I rode cautiously forward through the fog. And suddenly I realized the truth: those voices belonged to King Kumuru and his followers!" Dian broke off with a sob, staring fearfully at the Unicorn Queen.

  Fearfully? thought Sheila. That's funny. She looks scared, all right. But her eyes are so—so blank! Nobody else seemed to notice, though, so Sheila didn't say anything. Dian continued, trembling, "Oh, Illyria, I overheard all their plans! Kumuru has worked some sort of mighty sorcery. He's opened a magic portal in the stone circle, a sorcerous doorway."

  Sheila tensed, thinking of Dr. Reit and the "magic portal" that had first brought her to this world. "A doorway? To where?"

  Dian shook her head. "It's not a doorway for people. It-he-Kumuru means to drain magic through it into Samarna! He means to pull the very life-force out of Campora!"

  The warriors gasped. "Can he really do that?" asked Sheila.

  "I don't know," Illyria said grimly. "With the power of his Dark Gods behind him, who knows what Kumuru can do!"

  Now that no one was speaking to her, Dian had settled into silence. And her eyes remained disturbingly blank.

  Shock, realized Sheila suddenly. Of course, that's what's wrong. Dian is still in shock.

  "Dian,'' said Illyria. "Finish your story."

  "Oh. If I must."

  "You must. Come, the sooner told, the sooner finished."

  "Well, I don't know what warned him. But all at once there was a flash of light, bright as red lightning. I cried out and covered my eyes. When my vision had cleared, I wasn’t alone. An eerie figure all in red was blocking my path."

  "Kumuru!" breathed Pelu.

  Dian shuddered. "It was Kumuru. He shouted out some terrible Word of Power. Swiftfoot reared in fright. And I," the girl continued sheepishly, "fell off. Just like Sheila."

  Sheila bit back a grin. "What happened to Swiftfoot?"

  "I d-don't know. She ran off into the fog, and I couldn't find her again! I was hoping she was with you . . . ?"

  Pelu shook her head. "Sorry."

  "Oh. Well, I . . ." Dian swallowed dryly, then started again. "Kumuru gestured, and his warriors appeared. I drew my sword, but there were just too many for me to fight. So I-I turned and ran."

  She broke off, red-faced, looking at the others defiantly.

  "That's all right," muttered Myno in gruff support. "Knowing when to run is part of being a smart warrior—and a live one!"

  "I see. Well, I ran. And I've been running ever since. Dian grabbed Illyria's hand, pleading, "But forget about me. You've got to stop Kumuru, you've just got to!"

  "We will," the Unicorn Queen assured her flatly.

  "Yes, but how?" asked Nanine, her dark face fierce with worry. "We won't be able to get near the circle, not on our unicorns. You know they won't go near any place where sorcery has been worked. And that certainly includes any 'magical portal' to Samarna!"

  "It doesn't matter," said Dian softly. "You see, all the portal wants is Illyria."

  "What!"

  "No, no, what I mean is, only Illyria can close it." She turned back to the Unicorn Queen. "I heard Kumuru himself say it. You see, Illyria, you represent the unicorns' goodness, the very opposite of the Dark God's evil. So all you have to do is boldly thrust your sword through the portal, and the evil spell will be broken. The portal will close forever. Oh, you've got to do it, you must!"

  The warriors hesitated.

  "It . . . might work," said Pelu doubtfully.

  "Sure," added Darian. "Everyone knows the power of cold steel against sorcery!"

  "And the sword of the Unicorn Queen should have even greater power," murmured Nanine.

  "Well, yes, I guess it would," Sheila agreed reluctantly, "but the whole thing sounds so dangerous!"

  Nanine smiled faintly. "Child, you should be used to danger by now."

  "Yes, but-"

  "Hush, now. It is Illyria's decision, not ours."

  They all turned to look at the Unicorn Queen. She was silent for a long, tense moment, stroking Quiet Storm's neck again and again. . .

  All at once, Illyria nodded. "So be it. Sometimes the simplest methods are the best to combat sorcery.

  "Oh, but Illyria," Sheila began, but the Unicorn Queen waved her to silence.

  "I have decided, Sheila. One way or another the portal must be closed. And Dian's idea may just be the best way to do it."

  The unicorn riders all agreed.

  All but Sheila.

  There was something strange here, she knew it. If only she could figure out what that "something" was! And if only Dian's eyes weren't so blank. . .

  No. Forget that. It was only shock. Of course. Wasn't it?

  5

  The Circle

  As the unicorn warriors rode on southward toward the stone circle and whatever dark sorcery might be awaiting them, the land slowly grew more and more barren, till the unicorns were picking their careful way through fields of broken rock and dry, cracked earth. Morning Star began to prance uneasily. Sheila reached down a hand to soothe her.

  "It's okay, girl. There's nothing here to be scared about."

  That's easy to say, Sheila thought, but who's going to soothe me?

  Sheila knew Morning Star wasn't really worried about the broken lands beneath them. No, the unicorn was picking up her own nervousness. And no wonder:

  Something was wrong with Dian's story. Something, for that matter, was wrong with Dian. She was sure of it.

  Well, almost sure.

  Of course, the trouble could be only in her imagination. But that was hardly likely. After all, Cam and the other eagle-warriors had mentioned the stone circle—and Kumuru! They had mentioned that weird fog, too.

  Sheila winced. The problem could be simply that she—well, she didn't like Dian very much. Maybe she wanted something to be wrong with the girl.

  No! Sheila refused to believe that!

  Besides . . . no matter what everyone else wanted to think, this just wasn't quite the old Dian. For one thing, she didn't seem at all concerned about her missing unicorn. For another, she hadn't once tried to make any sort of snide remark to Sheila!

  Yes, but that was ridiculous. What could she say? "This isn't the real Dian, because she hasn'
t been nasty to me?" Wouldn't that make Sheila look silly!

  Nobody else seemed to notice her uneasiness. Sheila glanced at Dian, who was riding double behind Pelu, staring straight ahead, and frowned, puzzled.

  "Myno," she murmured, "do you notice anything odd?"

  “Heh?”

  "About Dian, I mean?"

  "Strange? What could be strange?"

  "She hasn't said a word since she told Illyria about the portal. She just sits there behind Pelu and doesn't look at anybody."

  Myno shrugged. "Dian did a stupid thing last night, running off like that. She's probably still embarrassed about it, that's all. Hey!" That last word was said to her unicorn, who had taken advantage of Myno's distraction to snatch up a leafy branch. "Silly thing. You'll get prickles in your mouth. And now you've got the branch caught in the saddle!"

  As Myno dismounted to disentangle the branch, she gave Sheila a wave of dismissal. "Forget about it, girl. She'll get over it."

  One after the other Sheila approached her companions. And one after the other they dismissed her worries. At last she pulled up alongside Darian.

  "Do you think there's anything wrong with Dian?" she asked.

  "Wrong? Like what?"

  "I'm not sure. But if I didn't know better, I'd say she was possessed."

  Darian looked at her blankly for a moment. Then he frowned. "There's nothing wrong with Dian," he said simply.

  "Then why do I feel like we're riding into danger?"

  "Well, we are!"

  "Oh, Darian!" Sheila sighed and rode on.

  At last the unicorn riders stopped on the crest of a dry, sandy hill. Shading her eyes against the late afternoon sun, Pelu said, "There it is."

  Sheila stared in the same direction. "There what is?”

  "The stone circle, of course! Don't you see it?”

  At the back of her mind Sheila had been expecting the stone circle to look something like the pictures she had seen of Stonehenge. That legendary place had looked awesome and mysterious enough to send a prickle up her spine. But at the same time it had been surprisingly neat and tidy; the people who had built it long ago had clearly had a strong sense of order. Those upright stones with their spanning lintels had even seemed somehow strangely modern.

  "You mean, that's it?"

  There was nothing neat or modern or even remotely attractive about this stone circle. Maybe the site had been as tall and imposing as Stonehenge once upon a time, but long centuries of wind and scouring sand had worn the stones down to mere gray nubs, barely visible at this range.

  Pelu glanced at Sheila in amusement. "What were you expecting? A royal palace?"

  "No, of course not. But you'd think Kumuru would have picked a grander site."

  "I doubt he was interested in pretty surroundings," Nanine cut in dryly. "Only in the Old Magic, which that ancient place no doubt still holds in plenty."

  "Sure." But Sheila just couldn't get excited. "Well, at least the stones do form a circle. Maybe they look more impressive up close," she said doubtfully. "Maybe-"

  A sudden shift in the wind carried off the rest of Sheila's words. As a strong gust blew in from the direction of the circle, Morning Star curveted restlessly and Sheila had to struggle to keep her balance. The unicorn was saying as plainly as any words, I don't like this place! I want to get out of here! Sheila knew just how she felt.

  "Hey, take it easy, girl!"

  But Morning Star refused to calm down. Helplessly, feeling renewed stirrings of unease, Sheila glanced around. To her surprise she saw that all the other unicorns, even the calm and usually fearless Quiet Storm, were acting up, too.

  But Illyria didn't look at all amazed or disturbed. "This is it," she said with a sigh, jumping lightly to the ground. "This is as far as they'll go."

  "I'm surprised we got as close as we did," added Pelu.

  Illyria nodded. And turning to Sheila, she explained, "Unicorns always become nervous around places of ancient power.”

  Sheila frowned, puzzled. "But why should that be? All the Old Magic can't be evil!"

  "Oh, it isn't! I suspect the problem is that unicorns feel the aura of Old Magic in some uncomfortable way.”

  "Like a cat that's jumpy because a coming storm prickles its fur?"

  "Something like that. Of course, now, with sorcery having been worked here as well . . ." Illyria shrugged. She patted Quiet Storm in quick affection, then turned away. We're wasting time. Come, my friends. We walk from here."

  The clear desert air made distance deceptive. After the unicorn warriors had been walking for what seemed, to the panting Sheila, like ages, the stone circle still seemed no closer than before.

  "I wonder if we'll get there by nightfall," she gasped out to Myno.

  "Maybe, maybe not." The burly woman was striding along as though distance and heat and rough footing meant nothing to her. "I'd rather not get there after sunset, though." There was just the faintest hint of unease in her gruff voice. "Night being the time of sorcery.”

  "You don't really think Kumuru's set a trap for us, do you?"

  "Who knows? If he casts any spells, he'll have to try them against the power of cold steel!" Myno shook her head. "Eh, never mind. Save your breath for walking."

  “Oooh!”

  ''Look at it! Just look at it!''

  "How splendid!"

  "How majestic!"

  Splendid? Majestic? Sheila glanced around at the others in total bewilderment. Had everybody gone nuts?

  Seen up close, the stone circle looked even less impressive than before—just a ring of low, broken stones. Of course, the fading light did give them an air of brooding mystery. But even so, there just wasn't any reason for everyone to be oohing and ahhing like this, acting as though they were seeing wonders. There was nothing here but a bunch of rocks. Unless she was the one who was out of step.. . ?

  Sheila froze. The light was really tricky now, eerie, full of deepening shadows. But just for a moment she could have sworn she saw a strange, shrouded figure hiding in the blackness!

  "Someone's watching us!"

  Pelu gave her a dreamy smile. "Don't be silly, Sheila. We're the only ones here."

  "It's true! He—It was standing right . .

  But now the shadows were empty. The darkness seemed to press in all around her, until Sheila found herself chewing nervously on her lip. It might be only another trick of twilight, but a patch of shadow on the other side of the circle didn't look . . . well, it didn't look normal.

  That couldn't be. How could a shadow be anything but normal? Unless it was a sorcerous shadow? Sheila blinked, then rubbed her eyes, trying to clear her vision. Funny . . . she kept feeling a sort of chilly tingle running through her. ...

  She opened her eyes, and nearly cried out. It wasn't a trick! She wasn't imagining things! That one patch of shadow really was too dark, too solid, to be real. Fighting to keep from shouting in panic, Sheila said carefully, "Maybe we shouldn't go into the circle right away. Maybe we should scout around first. Like—ah—right over there, on the other side of it."

  Illyria frowned. "That's ridiculous, Sheila."

  "No, it's not! You told me a warrior should always be cautious, and-"

  "Nonsense." Illyria's voice was soft and sleepy. "I never said anything like that. Poor Sheila, so nervous. Don't you see? How can there ever be anything wrong about such a wonderful place?"

  Wonderful? "But . . ." began Sheila helplessly. She stopped as the woman turned to face her. And a cold little prickle of alarm ran up her spine.

  Why were Illyria's eyes so . . . blank? Like Dian's eyes! Sheila whirled, heart racing, to stare at the others.

  Oh, no! They were all smiling faintly, just like Illyria, smiling as though they were looking at something marvelous. And their eyes all held that same frightening blankness!

  That tingling! It must have been the—the feel of a spell being cast! But why hadn't it caught her, too?

  "Stand aside, girl," said Myno gently.

&n
bsp; "Stand aside," repeated Nanine, just as gently, and Sheila shuddered all over again at the sight of her friends' emotionless faces.

  "N-no, no," she gasped out, stumbling over her words in her haste. "Look, I d-don't know what's going on here, but I think you've all been bespelled!"

  The unicorn warriors all took a slow step forward, unheeding.

  "Listen to me! You've got to fight this! Somebody's got to understand, somebody's got to see. You can't just give in. No!"

  But, as though she hadn't even opened her mouth, the others continued moving slowly forward, into the circle…

  Into the circle that now glowed faintly by its own bluewhite light! Within that eerie ring hung an oval mass of what seemed like swirling clouds. It reminded Sheila of something else, something not of this world. . .

  Of course! Dr. Reit's invention, the Molecular Acceleration Transport Device that had first brought her to this world! Maybe this—this thing couldn't carry someone across time and space like that. Maybe it couldn't reach from world to world. But it was almost certainly some sort of sorcerous version of the device. It was a true magic portal. And who knew what lay on the other side? Who knew if there even was another side?

  "Hey, no!"

  Illyria, face composed, eyes blank, was marching right toward the shimmering oval.

  "Illyria, no! Stop! It's a trap! I know it is: I just realized what was wrong with Dian's story! She described this stone circle—but she couldn't have seen it, not through the fog. Not unless Kumuru had caught her and brought her here! Illyria!''

  But the woman couldn't hear her. Illyria was nearly at the portal. And she was about to step right through it! Panic-stricken, Sheila started to race forward. But someone caught her arm and pulled her to a stop, spinning her around so roughly that she lost her footing.

  "Stop it!" Sheila struggled to get her feet back under her as she suddenly realized who had caught her. "Dian! Let me go!"

  But the other girl was hanging on to her like a bulldog. Despairing, Sheila twisted fiercely about and shouted with all the strength in her lungs:

  ''Illyria!''

  To her relief, she saw Illyria stop, right at the edge of the portal. The Unicorn Queen shook her head in confusion, swaying as though waking from a dream, her eyes no longer blank. Sheila let out a shaky little breath. Her shout must have broken the spell. Everything was going to be all right.