Into the Land of the Unicorns
Page 11
With a flick of her wing, she extinguished the torch. Then she led the way from the chamber.
21
THINGS BROKEN,
THINGS MENDED
Once again Cara dangled from Firethroat’s foot. But this time there was no fear, only wonder, as — safely wrapped in the dragon’s claw — she looked out on the world spread wide below them.
Firethroat had agreed to return Cara, Lightfoot, and the Squijum to the place from which she had first snatched them, with the hope that they might be able to rejoin Thomas and the Dimblethum and continue their journey.
“I would take you all the way to Summerhaven,” the dragon had said, “but even I cannot fly that far carrying both a unicorn and a human.”
They had discussed the matter for a while, Cara joying in her ability to talk to her friends with ease and freedom. Finally they had decided that their wisest course would be to return to Grimwold’s Cavern and try once more to contact the Queen.
“After all,” said Lightfoot, “with the Hunter gone, Beloved’s connection to this world may be severed.”
He paused for a moment when he noticed the tremor of grief that twisted Cara’s face at the memory he had stirred up.
“He would have destroyed us all, you know,” he said softly.
She nodded. “I know. Even so . . .”
“Even so,” agreed Lightfoot.
As they retraced their flight of the night before, Cara tried to pick out some of the landmarks Lightfoot had told her they would pass on the last leg of their journey to Summerhaven: the River Mallow, Chiron’s Tor, Spirit Lake. Each, he said, had a story attached. And each story, of course, was stored in Grimwold’s Cavern.
She longed to know them all.
It was because she was looking so hard for the landmarks that she was the first to spot the surprise awaiting them. “Look!” she cried to Lightfoot, pointing into the distance.
He stared for a moment, uncomprehending, then threw back his head and bugled his delight.
“Oh yeah much good hotcha!” burbled the Squijum, who was clinging to her neck.
* * *
The Dimblethum and Thomas were waiting for them when they landed.
“You’re back, you’re back!” roared the manbear, waving his arms in delight. Then he stood still, embarrassed at his own outburst.
“We are!” cried Cara, throwing her arms around him, at least, as far as they would reach.
He looked at her, astonished that she could speak to him. “How did . . . ?” He paused, then looked at the dragon and nodded. “The Dimblethum sees that you have a story to tell,” he said.
“Well, I’m the one she’ll have to tell it to,” said Grimwold, stepping up beside them.
Cara was not surprised to see him there. But her attention was focused beyond him. There, standing in a rough circle, were at least a dozen unicorns, dazzling in the sunlight, dazzling in their beauty and perfection.
You should not be hunted, she thought to herself.
The largest of the unicorns stepped forward.
“It’s my uncle,” whispered Lightfoot. He did not sound happy.
“I bring you greetings from Queen Arabella Skydancer,” said the unicorn. “She commends you on your courage and thanks you for your efforts on behalf of Luster. I am commanded to escort you and your friends to the court at Summerhaven, where you will be presented to the Queen.”
“Wonderful,” muttered Lightfoot bitterly “I’ve spent the last three years trying to get out of doing just that. Some reward!”
* * *
A week later, after a journey filled with marvels and wonders, Cara entered the court at Summerhaven. It was a place of green splendor, grown, not built, and at its center was a unicorn so old and so beautiful that words could not describe her. She was small and slender, as luminous as a rainbow, as fragile as a promise. You could see through her, as if you were seeing tomorrow.
To Cara’s sorrow, neither Lightfoot nor the Dimblethum was with her when she entered the court. Both had come to her late in the night before they reached Summerhaven and bid her farewell.
“The Dimblethum is not really welcome there,” said the manbear, putting his huge paw against her cheek, where it lay as delicately as a butterfly.
“And I am not ready to return there,” said Lightfoot. “But I will see you again, I promise.”
She wondered if it was true as she watched them slip into the night. She wiped a tear from her cheek.
“Chains,” said the Tinker, coming up behind her. “They bind us, whether we want them to or not. But a heart without chains would have nothing to hold it, might simply blow away.”
Then he held her in his arms while she wept and wept, for her father, for her grandmother, and even for the ever-wounded, ever-healing Beloved, chained to her rage for longer than anyone could imagine.
Together, Thomas, Cara, and the Squijum went to stand before the Queen. When Arabella Skydancer laid her horn across Cara’s shoulder in blessing, the girl whispered, “Are you the Old One?”
“I am,” said the Queen.
“Then I have a message for you. I have carried it from another world, through danger and heartbreak across this world to you. I am to tell you that the Wanderer is weary.”
“Then it is time to bring her home,” said the Queen. “Would you like to be the one to fetch her?”
“I would,” whispered Cara. “Very much.”
“Then so it shall be.”
And so it was.
But that, of course, is another story altogether.
It is recorded, like all such stories, in the Unicorn Chronicles.
About the Author
BRUCE COVILLE grew up in a rural area around the corner from his grandparents’ dairy farm. He considers himself especially lucky to have had a swamp and a forest behind his home.
His writing for children was affected by his own early reading, which included lots of pulp fiction and comic books, but also had a healthy dose of myths and legends — a taste he first developed when one of his teachers read aloud the story of Odysseus.
He has been reading fantasy ever since and has long dreamed of creating an epic series like The Unicorn Chronicles.
He lives in an old brick house in Syracuse, New York, along with his wife, author-illustrator Katherine Coville, and an assortment of cats. You can visit Bruce on the web at www.brucecoville.com.
Praise for
Bruce Coville’s
UNICORN CHRONICLES
Into the Land
of the Unicorns
“Coville combines all of the known myths about unicorns into one smooth retelling.” — School Library Journal
“Coville weaves traditional unicorn myths into his accessible fantasy.” — Booklist
Song of the Wanderer
“Readers eagerly awaiting the second book in Coville’s Unicorn Chronicles will be richly rewarded for their patience with this volume. Into the Land of the Unicorns was excellent, and this book is even better.” — Booklist
“[F]illed with magical creatures, strange encounters, and dramatic confrontations.” — School Library Journal
“Readers will thrill to the story of Cara, an earth girl who becomes both ward and savior of the unicorns.” — amazon.com