The Secret Of The Unicorn Queen - The Final Test

by Dory Perlman

  She spotted frail Lianne looking bewildered as she stood in the middle of the square holding her bow at her side. Sheila saw a soldier aiming his spear in Lianne's direction. "Behind you, Lianne!" Sheila screamed, but it was clear Lianne hadn't heard her over the roar of battle. Sheila galloped in her direc­tion, and just as the soldier was about to let his spear fly into Lianne's back, Sheila wounded him in the leg with an arrow that whirred from her bow.

  Lianne spun around to face Sheila and went pale. In a flash she raised her bow and fired in Sheila's di­rection. Sheila froze with fright as the arrow whirred past her left shoulder.

  Thwump! Sheila pulled Morning Star around and saw one of Dynasian's soldiers fall from a balcony di­rectly behind her. Instantly she knew he had been aiming his spear directly at her.

  Her hands trembling from the close call, Sheila waved to Lianne. The dark-haired girl returned the wave with a smile of pride.

  The wild unicorns had rallied around Quiet Storm and were attacking Dynasian's army, beating them back without mercy. Sheila had seen unicorns in combat be­fore. They were fierce and inexhaustible, and their flying hoofs and sharp horns never missed their marks.

  To the left of Sheila, Nanine and Pelu fought side by side on foot, each of them taking on two guards at once in a clanking battle of swords.

  Nanine had worn her golden powder even into battle. Now it ran down her sweat-covered face in golden rivulets that made her look like a tigress.

  Pelu's always-neat hair had come completely un­done and hung around her shoulders in wheat-colored waves, sticking to her wet forehead. Her thin, well-muscled arms bore down on her opponent, sending his sword flying out of his hands. Sheila knew the gentle woman could hold her own, but she had never seen her fight this relentlessly before.

  To her right, Myno, astride her unicorn, routed a group of soldiers with a bullwhip she had yanked away from the soldiers themselves. "Ya, hah!" Sheila heard the burly woman cry. "Run for it, you mangy dogs."

  And now Dynasian's guards were boxed in. Illyria's warriors and the freedom-hungry citizens held one front while the unicorns held another. The eagle fight­ers continued the assault, some as eagles, swooping down on the enemy from above, and others as men on the ground.

  Sheila sized up the situation and quickly realized that the emperor s forces were going down! A rousing battle cheer swept through the mass of fearless fight­ers—man, woman, eagle, and unicorn.

  Sheila raised her bow yet again, aiming to shoot. She realized that it was becoming harder and harder to tell friend from foe, even in the firelight of the burning platform. The night seemed to be growing darker.

  Looking up, she saw the full, round circle of the moon disappearing. "The eclipse!" she shouted hoarsely. In all the turmoil she had completely forgotten about it and all it meant to Laric and his men.

  The eclipse had come and there was no potion for the eagle warriors to drink. There just hadn’t been time to do it all. The eagles had decided it was more important to rescue Laric than to spare even one war­rior to search for zanga nuts for the magical brew.

  They had decided to gamble on the hope that they could seize Mardock before the eclipse and force him to give them the potion. They hadn't counted on what a tough and slippery opponent Mardock really was. Now they would be eagles for who knew how much longer . . . maybe forever.

  It can't be, Sheila thought desperately. There must be a way. Suddenly Sheila noticed that something strange was going on at one end of the square. She squinted in the darkening night and saw that the fight­ing had stopped there and everyone—even Dynasian's soldiers—was fleeing the area, shrieking in horrified terror.

  What now? Sheila wondered. In the next second she discovered what it was the crowd was trying so frantically to escape. Easing its way through the part­ing crowd was a sky-blue Ferrari convertible. Behind the wheel sat Dr. Reit, his longish white hair blown into a mess by his trip through the Molecular Accel­eration Transport Device.

  "Dr. Reit!" Sheila cried. What a time for her old friend to show up! "I'm over here!" she called over the deafening sounds of the battle and the fleeing crowd.

  Kara rode up alongside her. "What sort of beast is your friend riding?" she asked, amazed.

  “It's not an animal, it's a car, a machine," Sheila tried to explain.

  Kara's dark eyes widened. "He divined the perfect moment to show up once again. Look, his magic is working already."

  Kara was right. Something amazing was happen­ing. The battle was coming to a total halt. Dynasian's soldiers were throwing down their weapons and run­ning for their lives at the sight of this strange machine. Further away, the storm still brewed, but Dr. Reit realized the impact he was having and was de­lighting in driving all around the square and sending everyone running for safety everywhere he went.

  Sheila waved and shouted to her friend, but from the way he almost stood behind the wheel craning his long neck in all directions, she knew he was still look­ing for her. His kindly dark eyes peered into the crowd, seeking her out.

  Not waiting another moment, Sheila forced her way through the throng of people and galloped up to the car. "Dr. Reit, here I am!" she cried.

  "So I see, my dear girl,'' said Dr. Reit happily. "You do manage to get yourself in and out of some interesting situations, don't you." He laughed. "Like the car? I'm sure my brother-in-law won't let me hear the end of it if I get any spear scratches on his new pin-striping."

  He let the car idle as he reached into the backseat and picked up a brown cardboard carton filled with small plastic canteens. "I see it's quite dark here, and from that I take it we are now actually in the eclipse you spoke about the other night. Therefore, we will chat later. Right now we must busy ourselves dispers­ing this potion."

  "You made the potion." Sheila cried.

  "I'm not sure of it," he explained hurriedly. "I did my best to find a substitute for the zanga nuts. What I came up with was—Dr. Reit interrupted himself and from the expres­sion on his face, Sheila knew someone was behind her. Sheila whirled around, and there was Mardock.

  12

  The Final Test

  The moon was almost completely blotted out, and an uncanny darkness filled the city square. But the evil wizard was clearly visible by the light that came from the flaming platform behind him. Sheila felt the full weight of her fear as he loomed over her.

  And then he began to laugh, a laugh so full of malice and violence, Sheila wanted to cover her ears and run.

  “Well, my little wizard," Mardock spat out the words with distaste, "it seems I will have the pleasure of dealing with you at last… and with your teacher as well." Mardock looked past Sheila to Dr. Reit.

  "Leave him alone," Sheila said, summoning her courage. But it was too late. Mardock did not hesitate to blast him with a bolt of green fury, as the scientist stood up in the front seat.

  Dr. Reit sat back in the car. In a moment he re­covered himself "Now, see here, Mardock," he said bravely, rising again to confront the evil wizard. "Sheila here is a sweet girl and certainly no one for you to be tormenting in such a rude fashion."

  Enraged by Dr. Reit's assertiveness, Mardock sent another green blast surging from his fingertips.

  Dr. Reit was hit in the chest with a blast so pow­erful it flipped him over the windshield and onto the hood of the convertible.

  "Dr. Reit!" Sheila screamed.

  The scientist struggled to his feet, waving one hand as if to say he was all right—or at least alive. But he was weak, and the blast had knocked the wind out of him.

  "So much for your wizard!" Mardock laughed. "I did not kill him because he may prove useful. He may teach me some science magic. But you…” Mardock stepped closer to Sheila. "You I have no use for."

  Morning Star reared up at Mardock, but the wizard seemed unafraid, Fearing that Mardock would zap her unicorn as well, Sheila quieted the angry animal.

  Sheila glanced back at Dr. Reit and saw him edg­ing his way toward the front seat of th
e car from where he lay on the hood. She had to give him credit for being tough, but his face looked worn from Mardock's attacks. If he could get back into the car, maybe he could gun the motor and at least save himself from being Mardock's servant.

  Dr. Reit had slipped from the hood and crept into the car by way of the passenger entrance. Apparently, he had thought of the same plan as Sheila had and was hoping not to attract Mardock's attention.

  It wasn't working, though. Mardock focused his steely glare on the old scientist once again.

  "Dr. Reit, go!" Sheila yelled when she saw that he was in the car.

  "Silence!" demanded Mardock, a spasm of green flashing out at her. "You have upset my plans for the last time, child. I may not get the unicorn powder tonight, but Laric and his men will be trapped forever in my enchantment. And I will have my revenge on you!" As he readied himself to cast some terrible spell on Sheila, she saw that Darian and Illyria had quietly moved through the crowd and were now standing close behind him, near the flaming platform.

  They were going to save her! Sheila felt one mo­ment of hope, then realized she had been wrong. Illyria and Darian were taking this opportunity to rescue Laric, The platform was burning out of control, and Laric's cage was close to the flames. Sheik knew that Illyria would expect her to fight Mardock with "sor­cery” of her own. But Sheila didn't have any magic… or did she? At the same moment that Mardock raised his hands and began an incantation that made her insides twist into knots, Sheila cried, "Headlights! Dr. Reit, hit the headlights!"

  In the next instant the scene was flooded with bright white light.

  "Aaaagg," Mardock cringed, covering his eyes and cursing. Sheila knew it would take only a moment for him to recover. Soon enough he would realize the light would not injure him.

  There was another flash of light, or rather a brighter one. Dr. Reit was flashing the Ferrari's high beams.

  "Enought" Mardock raged. He spun at the blinding beams and shot green fire into them. With a shat­tering of glass, the lights went out. As a last resort Dr. Reit leaned on the car horn.

  "Stop playing with your toys, you're making me angry!" Mardock screamed.

  Mardock flung another blast of energy at Dr. Reit, throwing him back against the front seat of the car. Then Mardock pointed one long finger at Sheila. "You are out of time, my little sorceress," he snarled.

  Sheila shuddered. She had no more tricks. This was the end of the line for her.

  "Caaaawwwwl" A gold streak shot down from above. It was Laric, Darian and Illyria had set him free. Laric dived toward the sorcerer, his talons out­stretched. His dark nails tore at Mardock's black silk cape.

  "Stop this, you foul bird!" Mardock cried, cowering.

  As the sorcerer stumbled out of the eagle's reach, he was attacked again. The Unicorn Queen caught him off guard. She brought the flat side of her blade down hard against the back of his neck. Sheila had never seen Illyria fight with such passion. Her strength was astonishing. Under normal circumstances she would never have gotten close enough to Mardock to hit him. Now that she had him staggering, unable to recover long enough to fight her off with magic, she was unrelenting. Finally Mardock collapsed under Il­lyria's blows. Illyria raised her sword as if to plunge it into the evil wizard.

  "No!" shouted Laric, now transformed to his human form. "Mardock is a mage. You cannot kill him that way. Leave him to me."

  Illyria stepped back and lowered her sword. In the flickering light of the flames Sheila saw that the Uni­corn Queen's face was wet with tears. Her eyes glit­tered. She looked at Laric for a long moment. "It is too late," she said, looking up at the moon. The eclipse had almost ended.

  13

  Freedom!

  Dr. Reit stirred in the front seat of the car. ''That… that beam," he muttered. "If I could figure out what it's composed of, I'd revolutionize science."

  "Dr, Reit!" Sheila cried. “Quickly—give us the potion you brought."

  "Yes, indeed." Dr. Reit took six canteens out and handed the carton with the other six up to Sheila. "I'll hand these out, and you give out the rest. Maybe we can make it."

  Laric was struggling with Mardock, so Sheila passed the first canteen to Illyria, who quickly pulled the top off and put it to Laric's lips. Then Sheila set off at a gallop, throwing her six canteens of potion to the bat­tling eagle warriors, who had transformed into their human form. "Drink quickly!" she shouted. She saw Dr. Reit driving around in the convertible doing the same.

  The eagle warriors were busy fighting the last of Laric's men. When they saw their chance for freedom, they made short work of their enemies and guzzled the sweet liquid.

  The last to receive the potion was Cam. Sheila stopped Morning Star beside him and watched him hopefully. Cam threw the canteen down and closed his eyes. He seemed to tense every muscle in his strong body. He clenched his fists in front of his face and waited . . . waited for feathers to sprout and a beak to form where his nose and mouth had been. He waited to grow talons on his feet and for strong wings to ap­pear where his arms once were.

  Sheila waited, too. She watched for the first signs of the golden glow that indicated the magic transfor­mation from man to eagle was beginning. She studied Cam, not taking her eyes from him and barely breath­ing. The potion had to work… just had to.

  Slowly Cam opened his eyes. Finger by finger he unclenched the fists in front of his face. He stared at his broad hands as if he had never seen them before, and then a wide smile broke across his weathered face. "I can't change into an eagle!" he shouted, “It worked! By the gods, it worked!"

  As he spoke, Sheila noticed a line of silver moon­light running down the side of his face. "Just in time," she said with a sigh of relief. The lunar eclipse was over.

  Sheila felt tears of happiness rushing to her eyes. They had done it! They had really done it! It had seemed impossible, but now Sheila was aware of the shouts of Laric's men as one by one they realized the potion had worked.

  She saw Gebart and Atmar hugging each other and laughing. The other warriors, too, sent up cheers from every corner of the square. All twelve of them were shouting and leaping with happiness.

  Two of the warriors sat in the front of Dr, Reit's convertible and honked gleefully on his horn. Sheila caught the scientist's eyes and smiled. He smiled back, his dark eyes crinkling happily.

  In the spreading light Sheila could see that they had won the battle. Dynasian's soldiers were either down or had fled.

  She suddenly realized that she hadn't seen Laric since she handed Illyria the canteen of potion. She turned Morning Star around and galloped back to the place where she'd left them.

  "How's Laric? Did it work?" she shouted when she caught sight of Illyria. The Unicorn Queen turned quickly and held up her hand to silence Sheila. With a quick smile she said, "Laric is fine. The potion worked, but now he can't be disturbed."

  Sheila saw that Laric was standing over the prone Mardock with his arms outstretched. Nanine and Myno assisted Laric by sitting on Mardock's shoulders and chest. Lianne held down his ankles, while Laric recited strange words over him.

  "By the alpha sun and the omega star, shed this form and be what you are," she heard Laric's rich voice finish the magic incantation.

  On the ground Mardock screamed as if some ter­rible acid were eating him alive. His body shuddered violently, and the women had to press with all their might to keep him pinned. He kicked wildly, sending Lianne sprawling, but she quickly scrambled back, aided this time by Darian, who pressed his weight on Mardock's other leg.

  "I curse you for this by the power of Medusa…” Mardock began, uttering one last desperate spell. Re­alizing what he was up to, Sheila slid off Morning Star's back, reached into her backpack, and pulled out her extra pair of gym socks. As quickly as possible she stuffed them into Mardock's mouth, keeping him from finishing his spell.

  Mardock's eyes blazed at her in a fury so frighten­ing that Sheila stepped back away from him.

  "The bag of science
does it again!" Darian said proudly as he pressed down on the still-struggling Mardock. "I told you there was still more magic in that bag."

  "I wouldn't call it magic, or sciences," said Sheila, laughing, "but it did the trick, all right."

  Suddenly a great, green flash sent Sheila and the others staggering backward. The rotten egg smell of burning sulphur accompanied the light, which grew brighter and brighter.

  The warriors gagged and shielded their eyes. When Sheila looked again, a giant water bug was all that remained in the spot where Mardock had been. It flut­tered its horrid blackish wings and flew away, disap­pearing into the night.

  "Mardock has been destroyed!" someone in the crowd shouted.

  "We are free of his evil magic forever!" a woman shouted.

  The square was once again lit by the brightness of the full moon. All around Sheila people were cheering and hugging one another jubilantly. They were sweaty and bloodstained, but they wore expressions of total joy. They had helped to win their own freedom.

  The citizens weren't the only ones celebrating. The herd of freed unicorns mixed with those of Illyria's riders and galloped happily around the square. In the center of them Quiet Storm reared up with pleasure. "I guess you'd like to join them, Star," Sheila said. She hugged her unicorn, who whinnied happily in re­sponse and then, with a pat on the side from Sheila, went to join the other unicorns.

  Sheila waved to Dr. Reit, who was driving toward her in the convertible. He waved back looking exhil­arated despite being zapped by Mardock's blasts. His agile mind craved new experience, and this was the experience of a lifetime.

  "Dr. Reit," Sheila asked when he pulled up along­side her, "where did you ever find zanga nuts?"

  "As I was saying," said Dr. Reit happily, "I took an educated guess and hoped that zanga nuts would be equivalent to our cola nuts. Frankly, with that substi­tution it is basically just a cola drink formula. It was the only substitution that fit. Still, it was a longshot."