The Darkest Unicorn

by Alice Hemming

  “Shift your weight back and put your legs behind her wings,” said Sander.

  Somehow, Thandie managed to do as he had instructed and her position instantly felt more comfortable as her weight shifted into the correct place.

  Kemi stood up, front legs first, followed by back legs, and unfolded her beautiful wings. Thandie was close enough to see the pattern of feathers, smooth and even, without a mark or a gap. Then Kemi lowered her rear end and Thandie slid back, lying flat and clutching Kemi’s shoulders.

  Then Kemi jumped.

  At least that was what it felt like: a jump. Not even a high jump, but a travelling jump, like a frog’s, that would take them maybe another wolf’s length across the ground. At first Thandie was disappointed and wondered what she had done wrong, but then she realized that Kemi had not landed. The jump continued. It turned into a glide, which swept them off the mountainside into nothingness.

  Thandie clung on as Kemi soared faster. The cold wind whipped her plaits around her face. Thandie gasped. She couldn’t see, or hear. The scenery around her blurred into a swirl of greys, whites and dull greens. Sounds stopped making sense. She squeezed her eyes firmly shut and gripped as tightly as she could with her arms and legs. Kemi tilted to the left and she slid suddenly and shrieked. She wished she’d watched Sander more carefully when he was riding Conan because she felt as if she was doing something wrong; she might fall off or hurt the wolf by gripping too forcefully.

  Then Kemi slowed. The wind stopped roaring in Thandie’s ears and she dared to open her eyes. They were in the air above the mountains, gliding in and out of the clouds.

  They were flying.

  Kemi threw back her head and made a high barking sound as she had done on the ground. Thandie did the same, yapping and barking along with her. It felt like the right sound to make: somewhere between laughter and excitement

  Thandie breathed in deeply, relishing the exhilarating cold air. She no longer felt too heavy for Kemi. Thandie loosened her grip very slightly, confident that Kemi wouldn’t let her fall. She felt as if she herself were flying. Wouldn’t that be something – to be able to sprout wings and fly whenever the mood took her?

  She heard the beating of another pair of large wings behind her and then Conan and Sander swept into view. Conan came as close to Kemi as their great wings allowed, and she could hear the male wolf panting loudly.

  “You’re a natural!” called Sander.

  “Thanks to Kemi,” answered Thandie, patting the she-wolf on her side.

  The two wolves flew companionably alongside each other at a relaxed pace. The wolves seemed to know where to go – possibly Sander was steering Conan – and Thandie was able to admire the view below. There was the circle of mountains, standing like a group of friends sharing secrets in the schoolyard. Between them were the lakes, and the little villages. Thandie looked for places she knew, tried to plot out the route they’d taken, but it was all so small, she wasn’t sure she could identify anything.

  “You and Conan look good together,” she told Sander.

  “I’ve known him since he was just a cub,” said Sander. Sander said it as though that had been years ago.

  “Has anyone ever flown on Kemi before?”

  “I don’t know,” said Sander. “Many years ago, the villagers from Wending tried to tame them – to keep them in stables like horses – but that didn’t turn out well. They are wild creatures, meant to be free.”

  “They don’t seem so wild now,” said Thandie, stroking the short fur at Kemi’s shoulder.

  “True, but this flight is on their terms only. If Kemi wanted to throw you off into the valley then she could without too much trouble.”

  Thandie held on a little tighter and Sander laughed. “You know what I mean: they are not tame. The people of Wending know that and keep a respectful distance. But I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the more adventurous children trek up here and fly. I know I would have done at their age.”

  Thandie nodded. She could well imagine children daring one another to approach a wolf, just as, back in Essendor, they had dared one another to break the curfew. But that wasn’t quite what she meant when she had asked if anyone had flown on Kemi. “I meant the stolen ones. I wonder if any of them reached the castle this way.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” said Sander, looking at her sharply.

  Thandie hoped that she was the only one to have ridden Kemi, although she wasn’t quite sure why. Perhaps she wanted to feel that Kemi was her wolf, just as Conan was Sander’s.

  They flew higher into the clouds, the features below shrinking, until Thandie could make out nothing at all. It was colder too, with flakes of snow blowing in the air. Thandie’s cheeks felt raw and she had to narrow her eyes to stop them watering. “How far is it to the castle?”

  “Not far now,” said Sander, reassuringly. “That’s Opacus, just up ahead.”

  But Thandie hadn’t asked because she was impatient to get there. She had asked because she wanted to stay up here, flying on Kemi’s back, forever. The closer they got, the more this difficult mission became a reality. There was so much that Thandie still didn’t know. Somehow Sander seemed to have avoided talking very much about the unicorn or the castle. But now she needed to find out.

  “Sander, does the unicorn speak?”

  “No, he uses an interpreter. Another powerful sorcerer – a woman. It might seem strange at first but you will quickly grow used to it.”

  That did seem strange. But at least Sander had answered her directly this time. And there was so much more she wanted to know. “Why is the unicorn taking these people? I know you said he takes their memories, but what does he use them for?”

  Sander glanced at her. She felt like he was assessing how much he should tell her.

  “The unicorn knows a great deal about magic but he does not have the energy that it requires. Spells and sorcery sap his natural energy and he needs positive emotions, like love and nostalgia, to direct into his magic.”

  “But if he is collecting memories, then why has he been taking children? Surely older people would have years more memories to steal?”

  Sander shook his head. “Young memories are the best. They are crisper – clearer – and the emotion is stronger. Particularly those people on the cusp of adulthood. As people grow older, the memories fade, details get jumbled and they are not as powerful. They become like well-told stories: memories of memories rather than fresh experiences full of emotion. It is the emotion that the unicorn needs.”

  Thandie knew only too well how powerful emotions could be in a not-quite-adult brain. Particularly when they were kept suppressed. Just thinking of her mother brought all sorts of raw emotions bubbling up inside her: mainly pain and heartache at her loss.

  They were flying through thick white cloud now, and could only see their wolves and each other. They didn’t speak for a time and the only sound was the wolves’ giant wings beating.

  Up here, Sander had told her more about the unicorn than he had on the rest of the journey put together. She felt he would answer anything now.

  “I have one more question for you,” said Thandie. “What was the deal that you made with the unicorn?”

  She held her breath, waiting for the response.

  And after a few seconds, Sander’s voice broke the silence.

  “It’s over there.”

  “What?” The cloud cleared and Thandie looked to where Sander was pointing. The castle. The sight made her temporarily lose her grip on Kemi. She gasped and grabbed back on to her fur, heart beating fast. Any more questions would have to wait.

  Right at the very peak of the tallest mountain were some steps, leading into the clouds up to a castle, which was built in the very clouds themselves, like an impossible drawing that Thandie had seen in the schoolroom when she was small.

  Thandie had only seen one castle before: Essendor. She couldn’t imagine Essendor without its pointed stone turrets. The stone steps at Essendor had been worn down by
countless important people through the ages and the very walls were steeped in story and legend. But this place, this castle that Thandie was looking at now, was different indeed.

  Perhaps it was because they had come upon it so suddenly, but it looked as if it had only just come into being, as if it had sprung up from the clouds themselves. It was white and gleaming, with coloured glass windows and spindly towers. Who would build such a castle? And how? Thandie suspected that magic had been involved. But the big question was why? Why put a castle up here, where virtually no one could reach it? There was nothing to defend and no people to protect. Just one unicorn, living with just an old interpreter, according to Sander.

  What sort of creature would want to live out here in this strange grandeur? Someone who saw himself as literally above the rest of the world. Someone who wanted to look down on people, like a god. Of course, the castle’s main purpose now was as a prison, so this isolated location was perfect. Somewhere in those ice-white towers, or down in the dungeons, dozens of children remained locked away, without even their memories for comfort.

  Sander stared at her, smiling. “Impressive, isn’t it?”

  That was not what Thandie was thinking. The sight of the castle made her feel a little sick. “I suppose it was as I expected,” she said. “It is as you described.”

  Then it crossed Thandie’s mind:

  Most of what Sander said was true. She had been sceptical about flying wolves and a castle in the clouds, yet here she was, flying on Kemi’s back towards the great fortress, just as he had said they would. But he had lied about other things. To Yannick, in his cottage. And to her, when she first met him in Essendor. Thandie could not shake the feeling that something about Sander was not quite right. She felt in her pocket for the notice from the inn door. DO NOT APPROACH it had said about a person who looked a lot like Sander.

  Most of what he said was true. But not all.

  And how did she tell which parts?

  THE WHITE CASTLE

  Thandie

  Thandie didn’t know where Kemi would land, because the ground itself looked like fluffy cloud. The wolves knew better, though, and Conan landed a few hundred yards away from the white castle, with Kemi just behind. There was something solid underneath the swirling whiteness.

  Thandie climbed down from Kemi’s back tentatively. Her legs felt weak and shaky, even though the whole flight must have lasted only a few minutes. Really, all they had done was to head directly up and a little to the east. Kemi lay down and folded up her wings, looking tired and spent. Thandie stroked her down the length of her back. “Thank you, Kemi,” she said.

  The place was eerily quiet. Thandie stared at the castle, and the steps leading up to the front door. It looked strangely unreal, like a model or a toy. They were close to some other steps, one or two just visible above the next layer of cloud. Thandie went over to investigate, walking tentatively. She half-expected her feet to fall straight through the cloud-covered ground at any moment.

  She stepped down on to the first stair and noticed that they carried on, curving around like a spiral staircase. “Where do these go?” she called out.

  “Down,” said Sander, simply. “Back home.”

  That was a strangely comforting thought. Thandie now knew where the escape route was, should she need it.

  She walked back to Sander and the wolves.

  Sander untied the dead grat from his bag and threw it down for the wolves, who were instantly upon it. They obviously needed to replenish the energy they’d used on the journey. Thandie watched Kemi attack the meal, tearing at the flesh. How different she looked to when she was flying: more like a dog now than a bird.

  Thandie stretched out each of her legs, rotating her foot at the ankle. Then she untied and re-braided each of her plants, which were coming loose after being whipped about so viciously in the wind.

  “How do you feel?” Sander seemed amused. He had of course travelled on the back of a flying wolf many times. But it was new to Thandie and she may never have another experience like that for as long as she lived. She wanted him to understand that.

  “I feel that … if I never return from the castle in the clouds, then at least I have done this. I have flown on the back of a flying wolf and seen the most spectacular view I will ever see.”

  His smile fell from his face. “Don’t say that. You will return, I know it. And you will see many more spectacular sights than this in your life. You are still so young.”

  “Sometimes you sound like an old man. You are young yourself, don’t forget!” Thandie realized that he never had answered her question about his exact age.

  Sander had that distant, inscrutable look about him once again. “Sometimes I feel like an old man. I have seen so much.”

  Thandie wondered what he had seen. She thought that maybe it wasn’t all good.

  The wolves finished their meal in seconds. They stood side-by side, looking re-energized.

  “They are ready to go home now,” said Sander, reaching out to rub the fur around Conan’s sharp face.

  “To go home? Won’t they wait for us?”

  “No. They need to get back to the cubs.”

  Of course they did. Thandie wouldn’t want to keep them away. But still, it would be hard to say goodbye. And how would they get back again afterwards? She wouldn’t think about that now. One step at a time.

  Kemi gazed at her intently with those amazing saffron eyes. Then both wolves turned their backs to Thandie and Sander, and trotted towards the mountain’s edge without a backward glance. Then they spread out their great white wings and soared into the whiteness of the clouds.

  Thandie’s heart soared with them. Maybe she would never see Kemi again. Maybe she would never see a flying wolf again. But, whatever happened, she had this afternoon to remember.

  Thandie wanted to write about it, so that she didn’t forget the feeling. Her fingers twitched instinctively for her diary in the pocket of her dress. There was no diary of course, just the warning notice that she had taken from outside the tavern. She removed it from her pocket, suspicion rising up in her as it had before.

  “What is that?” asked Sander.

  Thandie silently handed him the notice and watched him smooth it out.

  “It looks nothing like me – apart from the coat,” he said.

  “And is it you?” said Thandie.

  “What do you mean?”

  “What I mean is that if the only person you stole away was Linnell from near Arvale, then why do they have your picture up near Wending?”

  Sander scratched the back of his neck. “Ahhh, like I said, the unicorn must have other people working for him now.”

  “All wearing patchwork coats?”

  He held out his arm, pointing at the coat sleeve, which was faded and frayed at the edges.

  “They’re not actually brightly coloured garments, so they have that wrong,” he said, passing the notice back to Thandie.

  They both stared at it in Thandie’s hands for a little while longer. Blood rushed in her ears. She couldn’t think straight.

  “I thought you couldn’t read,” she said quietly.

  TELL HER EVERYTHING

  Sander

  Thandie knew. He was sure of it. He thought quickly. “I can’t read – not really – I get stuck with longer words.”

  “You said you knew your letters and that was about it.”

  He hesitated.

  Sander could make an excuse, try to smooth things over, but Thandie was not stupid. He felt the sudden urge to tell her everything.

  She stared at the notice for a second or two, then she scrunched it into a ball and handed it to him. She turned to the castle. “There is no time to lose.”

  Sander put out an arm to stop her. “Wait! There is something more I must tell you!”

  A SECOND CONFESSION

  Thandie

  Thandie sighed. A second confession. He could only be about to tell her about her missing diary, or the other people
. Either way, she didn’t want to hear it. She thought of the way he was with the wolves, the way that Conan trusted him. Animals had an instinct for these things, didn’t they? She would rather cling to the shreds of hope that Sander was a decent person.

  Thandie raised her hand in front of her. “No. Don’t tell me any more.”

  She didn’t want to have this conversation. She wanted to get on and do what they had come here to do. She turned away from Sander and continued walking in the direction of the castle.

  She was about to enter a forbidding castle with a self-confessed kidnapper who had brought at least one girl and possibly forty-two other young people to this very spot. Not one of those people had ever been seen again. It was already highly questionable whether she should go any further on this journey, and if there was anything else that Sander had done, any other crimes he needed to confess, then Thandie would rather not know. This was the only way she could think of to protect herself.

  For now, there was no turning back, whatever Sander had done.

  ADVICE

  Sander

  This was usually the point at which Sander would abandon Thandie and leave her to face the unicorn alone. But not this time. Thandie was different and he had to be there with her.

  He wanted to tell her everything, to explain how it had all happened. She didn’t realize the magnitude of what they were about to do. He needed to somehow make her understand – prepare her.

  “Thandie, will you please listen to me for a moment?”

  Thandie sighed. “No more confessions, please. I need to think about the future, not what has gone before.”

  “No more confessions,” agreed Sander. “But still, I want to give you an idea of what to expect.”

  Thandie nodded and he continued.

  “The unicorn is very powerful. He understands the way that human minds work and he will try to trick you.”