The Warlock is Missing wisoh-7

by Christopher Stasheff

  But Geoffrey's thought came right after: Ah! How fine a thing 'twould be, to ride so fine a mount! And he stepped forward, raising a hand.

  NAY! Cordelia's thought fairly shrieked. Thou wilt afright her!

  And, true enough, the unicorn moved back a pace. Geoffrey froze.

  A frown puckered little Gregory's brow. Was it truly Geoffrey caused her to move? Let me see. And he took a step.

  Thou little lummox! Cordelia fumed. Wilt thou leave her to me!

  The unicorn moved another step away.

  Why, she is not thine! Geoffrey thought, in indignation. Thou canst not bid us not to touch her!

  Yet the unicorn can. Magnus pressed a hand against Geoffrey's chest to hold him back. Cordelia's right in this—we do afright the beast.

  But Gregory shook his head, and whispered aloud, "She is not frighted. "

  The unicorn's gaze riveted on the youngest.

  "See. " Gregory spoke a little louder. "She doth hear me, yet doth not flee. "

  "Then she will let us come nigh her!" Geoffrey took another step.

  Nay! Cordelia thought furiously; and sure enough, the unicorn stepped away again.

  Magnus pushed Geoffrey back, and the younger boy

  scowled, sulking. "I thought Gregory did say she did not fear us. "

  "Nor doth she. " The youngest still sat on his heels in the grass, gazing at the unicorn. "Still, she will abide us no closer than we are now. "

  "Yet she did come nigh Cordelia!"

  Gregory nodded. "And will again, I doubt not. Attempt it, sister. "

  Cordelia stared at him as though he were crazy. Then she frowned, musing, and turned back to the unicorn. Slowly, she stepped toward it.

  The unicorn stood still, as though it were waiting.

  Thrilled, Cordelia took another step, then another and another.

  Still the unicorn waited, unmoving.

  Finally, Cordelia's outstretched hand touched the unicorn's neck, and she stepped close, reaching up to stroke. "Oh, thou hast let me come nigh thee!"

  "'Tis not…" Geoffrey started to yell; but Magnus clamped a hand over his mouth—with the palm cupped, so his brother couldn't bite it. Geoffrey glared at him, thinking furiously, 'Tis not fair! Wherefore ought it to allow her to approach, and not us?

  "'Tis the way of unicorns," Gregory answered. "I mind me, for I read it in a book of a time."

  Geoffrey glared at him. Gregory had been reading for two years now, and it drove Geoffrey crazy.

  "They will allow maids to approach," Gregory explained, "yet not lads."

  Geoffrey turned away, fuming.

  The unicorn lay down, tucking his legs beneath her body.

  Cordelia stared in surprise. Then a radiant smile spread over her face and, very carefully, she leaned forward, resting her weight on the unicorn's back.

  "Now 'tis thou who wilt afright her!" Geoffrey hissed; but Cordelia turned slowly till she was sitting sideways on the unicorn.

  Magnus stiffened. "Cordelia! I prithee, come away! For of a sudden, I do sense danger!"

  "Pooh!" she scoffed. "Thou art but jealous!"

  "Nay!" Magnus protested. " 'Tis more than that! I…"

  So smoothly that she seemed to float, the unicorn stood up again. Cordelia gasped with joy.

  "Cordelia, thou art but mean!" Geoffrey cried in outrage. "Thou art selfish, aye, and spiteful!"

  "'Tis the unicorn's choice, not mine," she returned. "Am I to blame if she doth find thee vile?"

  "Cordelia, I prithee!" Magnus insisted, really alarmed. "Where might she take thee?"

  "Why, wheresoe'er she will," Cordelia answered; and sure enough, the unicorn turned away toward the forest.

  The shouting brought Puck out, rubbing sleep from his eyes and scowling. "What coil is this?"

  "A monster doth abduct our sister!" Magnus cried.

  The unicorn trotted away.

  Puck stared after it. "A monster? Where?"

  "There!" Geoffrey shouted, and he ran after the unicorn. "Thou one-horned thief! Come back with my sister!"

  "Nay, Geoffrey! Fly!" Magnus leaped into the air.

  Geoffrey looked up at him, startled. Then he grinned, and leaped ten feet up. "What ails me, brother? I had forgot!"

  Gregory sped toward his two brothers like a stone from a slingshot. Together, they darted after the unicorn.

  With a crack like a gunshot, Puck appeared right in front of mem, hovering in midair. "Halt, younglings! Where dost thou think to go?"

  "Why, after the beast who doth bear off our sister!" Magnus said. "Do not seek to bar us, Robin! She's endangered!"

  "Endangered! Nay, speak sense! Ne'er hath a unicorn offered harm to a maiden!"

  "If 'tis not from the beast itself, 'tis from something it doth bear her to! I tell thee, Puck, I feel dread in every bone!"

  Puck hesitated. He had some idea of Magnus's powers, but nothing definite; not even the boy's own parents knew the limits of his abilities. He could do things that no Gramarye warlock had ever been able to do—nor any witch either, for that matter. Why might he not also be able to see the future? Puck was sure the boy's father had one of his nonsensical words for the power—as though the talent would not be there if there were no word for it!

  But whatever danger there was, Puck was quite sure he could handle it—unless it were something that needed a score of elves. And if it did, why, he had the score at hand. He weighed that chance of manageable danger against the exasperation of trying to keep four young magic-workers occupied

  for another day, and decided that the danger was definitely the lesser risk. "Well enough, then, thou mayest pursue. For if there's any slightest danger…"

  But he was talking to empty air. While he had hesitated, the three young warlocks had disappeared with a thunderclap.

  "Owls and batwings!" Puck cried in exasperation, and darted off after the unicorn.

  Chapter 2

  Through the forest went the unicorn, so smoothly that she seemed to glide. Dabs of sunlight lay here and there about, making the green of the leaves seem darker, but filling the woods with brightness. Cordelia rode blithely through the cool shade, singing with joy, happily ignoring her brothers, who flitted through the trees to either side, calling for her to stop.

  Puck had vanished.

  Then Cordelia rode out of the trees and into a village.

  It was very small, perhaps a dozen houses, set against the foot of a rocky slope, with open meadow between itself and the forest. Cordelia called out happily, expecting people to look up in amazement when they saw her astride her unicorn.

  Only silence answered.

  Cordelia lost her smile. She stared ahead, realizing that she could see no one in the village, not a soul.

  Gregory swooped toward her. The unicorn shied, and he swerved away, calling, "Cordelia, none live in that village— and there hath been fire! Turn back!"

  "I cannot," Cordelia answered. " 'Tis the unicorn who doth go where she wist, not I who guide her." Though, truth to tell, she suspected that her mount would have turned aside, if Cordelia had asked it of her.

  Now that they were closer, she could see the remains of the fire Gregory had spoken of. The walls of the cottages were scorched, their thatched roofs burned away, leaving only charred timbers. A huge black blemish hid the village common; what was left of its green field was brown and brittle grass. Doors swung ajar; bowls and tools lay scattered where they had fallen.

  The deserted village lay silent; the only sound was the sigh of the wind. A shutter clattered against a window, then sagged open again. In the forest behind them, birds sang—but none here.

  Magnus hovered near a roof-beam, reaching out to touch it. He snatched his hand away with an oath. " 'Tis yet hot, and embers glow. This fire burned not long agone."

  Geoffrey nodded, landing near the square, looking about him. "The doors may swing in the wind, but none have torn from their hinges—nor are the wooden bowls and tool-handles weathered."

&nbs
p; "They have left with no plan aforetime." Gregory stared about him.

  The unicorn halted, nose pointed toward the mountainside.

  "'Tis here that she hath meant to come, I think." Cordelia's voice was low. "And she did intend to bring us here."

  "'Tis reason enough to go, and quickly," Gregory whispered.

  "Nay!" Magnus's heels jolted against the charred earth as he landed. "I would we had not come—but now that we have, we must discover what hath happed in this place. There may be folk in need of such aid as we can offer."

  "Nay!" Puck popped up from a burned-out bush. "Thou must needs go back, and quickly! For the elves of this village have told me what hath happed this night past!"

  "Then say!"

  "What was't?"

  "Tell, Robin!" The boys clustered around him.

  "A dragon."

  The boys only stared. Cordelia watched, wide-eyed, from the back of her unicorn.

  Puck nodded. "A great, vile monster it was, fifty feet from nose to tail-tip, with fangs of steel and fiery breath!" He whirled, pointing to the mountainside. "Seest thou where it did crawl away?"

  The children looked and, for the first time, noticed a broad trail of scorched earth that led away from the village and up the rocky slope, winding away out of sight around the curve of the hill.

  "And it lurks up there still?" Geoffrey whispered.

  Puck shrugged. "Who may say? Never have the Wee Folk seen the monster aforetime. Mayhap 'tis gone again."

  "Or mayhap it doth lurk about the countryside," said Geoffrey, "awaiting the unwary passerby."

  Huge feet pounded the dusty lane behind them, and a massive body clashed against a burned-out wall.

  The children spun about, hearts hammering; the unicorn

  whirled to face whatever came, and Puck leaped out in front of them all, arms poised to hurl his most dire spell.

  An enormous black horse came around a cottage and out into the village square.

  The children stared, frozen.

  Then they whooped with relief and ran to leap onto the animal, throwing their arms around its neck and drumming their heels against its sides. "Fess!"

  "How good art thou to come!"

  "We should ha' known thou wouldst follow!"

  Fess was their father's horse, and a very strange and wonderful horse he was. Papa said he was made of steel, and that the horsehair covering him was only put on with something like glue. Papa said he was a "robot," but the children weren't sure what that meant. They knew it was something magical, though, because Fess could do things that no ordinary horse could—and one of them was talking. Only to Papa, usually —but he could let Mama and the children hear him if he wanted to. Inside their minds.

  "You should have known I would not let you wander without me, children," he scolded. "And you were very naughty to stray off by yourselves."

  "But we are not alone," Gregory assured him. "Puck is here."

  "And this!" Cordelia whirled away, suddenly remembering her unicorn. She threw her arms about the beast's neck, as though she were afraid it would get away. "I have a new friend, Fess!"

  The big black horse stared at the unicorn for a moment. Then his knees began to tremble. "But… unicorns do not… exist…" Suddenly, his head dropped like a stone, and his legs locked stiff. His head swung gently between his fetlocks.

  "We should have warned him," Gregory said.

  "We should indeed." Magnus heaved a sigh. "Ever doth he have such a seizure, when he doth encounter something that he thinks cannot be real."

  Puck nodded. "So he did when first he did espy an elf. Yet I should think he would have become accustomed to the sight of strange new beings."

  "Papa said 'tis one of the nicest things about Fess," Cordelia explained, "that he never doth grow used to strange new sights."

  Magnus groped beneath Fess's saddle horn for the big lump

  in his backbone. He found it and pressed hard. Something clicked, and Fess slowly raised his head. "I… had a… seizure… did I not?"

  "Thou didst," Magnus replied, "because thou didst see a unicorn."

  Slowly, Fess turned toward the snow-white animal. "Unicorns… are mythical…"

  "Mayhap she would think the same of iron horses," Cordelia said, irritated.

  The unicorn was eyeing Fess warily, and her nostrils were flaring.

  "I can comprehend her feelings," Fess murmured.

  Geoffrey exchanged a glance with Magnus. "Ought we to tell him?"

  "You surely must!" Fess's head swiveled, the great eyes staring at him. "What should I know?"

  "We are not sure thou shouldst." Magnus avoided Fess's eyes. "It might cause thee to have another seizure."

  Fess was still a moment, then said, "I have braced my system for my senses tell me things that I know cannot be true. Since I am prepared, I will not have a seizure. Tell me, please."

  Magnus exchanged one last glance with Geoffrey, then gestured about them. "Dost thou see signs of fire?"

  "Of course. This village has suffered a major conflagration. No doubt that is why its people have fled."

  "But it has burned out." Gregory tugged at Fess's mane in a bid for attention. "Would not they have come back?"

  Fess was still a moment, then nodded. "One would think so, yes. Why do you think they have not?"

  Gregory exchanged glances with Magnus, then said, " 'Tis because of what did cause this fire."

  "And what was that?" Fess's tone hardened.

  The boys locked gazes with one another, and Magnus said, "There is no easy way to say it." He turned to Fess. "It was a dragon."

  Fess stood very still. They all watched, waiting in apprehension.

  Finally, the robot said, "I have accepted the idea. I do not understand how a dragon may exist, but I recognize the possibility."

  The four children heaved a huge sigh of relief.

  Puck frowned up at the horse. 'Tell us, then, O Fount' of

  Wisdom—how shall four children and an elf do battle with a dragon?"

  "Do not forget the unicorn." Fess turned to look at Cordelia's mount. "It is a dragon's natural enemy, according to tradition."

  Gregory stared. "Thou dost not mean to say that, because the dragon came, the unicorn appeared to battle it!"

  Fess was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded. "It is possible. Given the buried powers of the people of Gramarye and the potentialities of the environment—yes. It could have happened as you say."

  "But the unicorn could not oppose the dragon by herself!" Cordelia cried. "Surely she is too delicate!"

  "Do not underestimate her," Fess advised. "The legends say the unicorn had great strength."

  "Yet there's truth in what Cordelia doth say." Geoffrey frowned. "This unicorn knew she stood in need of aid to fight so fearsome a monster—and therefore sought us out."

  "But how could she have known of us, if she is but newly come?" Cordelia demanded.

  They looked at each other, puzzled. As for Puck and Fess, if they suspected the answer, they kept it to themselves.

  Then Magnus shrugged. "However 'twas, she knew of us. Can we not then lend her the aid that she doth seek?"

  "We can," Puck said slowly, "but I've some doubt as to our powers. Mayhap all the elves in Gramarye could overwhelm the dragon—but there would be grievous losses. I misdoubt me an we poor few could bring it to defeat—and I'm loathe to try. If one of thou wast hurt, children, thy mother and father would ne'er forgive me. There might yet be elves in Gramarye, but the Puck would not be amongst them!"

  Geoffrey scowled. "Surely thou art not afeard!"

  "Nay, but I've some small amount of sense."

  "He speaks wisely," Fess agreed. "We are too few to overcome such a monster by brute force—and you, children, might well be killed in the attempt. If we are to assist the unicorn and fight the dragon, it must be by trickery."

  Cordelia, Magnus, and Geoffrey just stared at each other —but Gregory plumped down cross-legged and closed his eyes. />
  Geoffrey frowned. "What doth he? 'Tis no time to…"

  "Hush!" Magnus held up a hand, palm outward. "Let him be!"

  Gregory opened his eyes. " 'Tis his flame. An we put out his fire, he will sleep for an hundred years or more—until one doth give him flame again."

  Geoffrey stared.

  Magnus asked, carefully, "Whence cometh this knowledge?"

  "Why, from Vidor."

  "Vidor!" Cordelia stepped over to him, fists on her hips. "Thine imaginary friend? Are we to go to battle with naught but the advice of a dream?"

  "He is no dream!" Gregory's face puckered in a scowl. "Vidor is real!"

  "Then how is't none but thee ever doth see him?" Geoffrey gibed.

  "Why, for that he's not here."

  Geoffrey threw up his hands. "He is not here. Ever dost thou tell us he is real—yet he is not here!"

  "I've never said he's here!" Gregory insisted. "He cannot be—he's in Tir Chlis!"

  His brothers and sister were instantly silent, staring at him. Tir Chlis was the magical land they had all been kidnapped to when Gregory was a baby.

  "There was a babe," Magnus said softly, "the son of Lord Kern, the High Warlock of that land;"

  "The man who looked so like our Papa," Cordelia agreed, "and whose baby son was the image of our Gregory."

  "He yet is," Gregory said helpfully. "He looked into a mirror for me, and I looked out through his eyes. I might have been gazing at myself."

  "When Mama was in Tir Chlis, she could hear Gregory's mind." Magnus was watching his littlest brother. "She could hear him when she held Lord Kern's babe."

  "Aye," Cordelia breathed, "because Gregory's mind did reach across the emptiness between our world and Tir Chlis, to blend with the babe's."

  "It is all impossible," Fess sighed, "but since you children, and your parents, have experienced it, I cannot but acknowledge that it may have happened."

  "And if it did, then why should Gregory not have continual conference with this Lord Kern's son?" Puck's gaze didn't waver from Gregory's face. "How sayest thou, O Beast of Cold Iron? Is there no absurd word for this?"

  "There is, though it's not absurd," Fess said stiffly. "Lord

  Kern's son is Gregory's analog, in an alternate universe."