by Gwen Hansen
Still worrying about the unicorn, Sheila felt her eyes grow heavy. She slept long and deeply—so deeply that she didn't hear the arrival of Laric and his eagle warriors, who sometime near dawn appeared from out of the sky. She slept so deeply that when she finally did wake, the wolves had disappeared, the eagles had transformed into men again, the riders were packing up the camp, and the unicorns were gone.
She stumbled out of the blankets, trying to figure out what was going on. "What happened to the unicorns?" Sheila demanded.
"The same thing that's been happening to them for the last two weeks," Nanine answered. "They're on their way to Ryudain. Only now they're almost there. We'll catch up with them"—she gave Sheila's disheveled state an amused look— "if certain people around here will get ready."
"Right," Sheila said, adjusting her tunic, which had somehow gotten twisted and now seemed to be about two inches shorter on one side.
Nanine, who even in a dirty tunic managed to look regal, clucked her tongue and laughed. "We'll have to do something about that when we get you back to Campora."
Sheila looked at her hopefully. "Then you think that after tonight we'll be going back and everything will be the same as it was?''
"I think we'll be going back," Nanine answered slowly, "but nothing ever really stays the same."
All that day Illyria led the riders out of the valley and up the mountain. For Sheila it seemed very strange to be traveling with all of the riders—and all of them on foot. It was even stranger because no one really knew where they were going or what would happen when they finally got there.
As Illyria led them farther up the mountain, she also led them closer to the river; it wasn't in sight, but Sheila could definitely hear it. The riders kept climbing. The evergreens were growing thinner, the air cooler, and the land steeper. Sheila couldn't even imagine what the elevation might be, but it felt like the top of the world was in that forest. And still they climbed. Laric's men helped pass the time with stories and gossip from Campora.
Late in the afternoon they reached what seemed to be yet another ridge. Sheila was at the tail end of the group who stumbled wearily to the top, and so she was the last to see it.
On the other side of the ridge the mountain fell away into a sheer, breathtakingly deep gorge. Its sides were carved of a jet-black rock that seemed to fall to the bottom in sheer vertical drops. It made Sheila dizzy just to look down, and yet she couldn't take her eyes away. For pouring down into an emerald green pool at the bottom of the gorge was the highest waterfall she had ever seen. White water crashed down and sprayed into the air with an uncontrollable force that could be felt clear across the ridge. And with a surety that mountain goats might envy, the unicorns were calmly making their way down the sheer side of the gorge to the base of the falls. Sheila didn't need to ask. This was Ryudain.
The riders and Laric's warriors all gathered around Micula, who was explaining that their mission would not be over until the renewal was completed. "Tonight we shall join the unicorns at the falls,'' she finished. "We must offer them our protection until the end."
Sheila chose not to concentrate on what "the end" might mean. Instead, she shot another quick look into the gorge, and muttered to whoever might be listening, "How are we ever going to get down there?" She was relatively sure that unless you happened to be a unicorn, there was no way down.
Illyria, apparently, was concerned about the same thing. She held a hurried conference with Laric and Micula, then turned to the riders. "Prince Laric and his men have graciously offered to take us to the base of the fails,'' she announced.
"How?" Dian asked.
"On our backs," Laric said matter-of-factly. Sheila had a terrible vision of each of the riders piggyback on one of Laric's men, and all of them falling through space into the emerald-green pool.
"As eagles," he added with a smile, and she relaxed.
"The final part of our journey will begin at moonrise," Micula said. "Until then I suggest you all try to rest.”
But no one could rest. For an endless afternoon Sheila and the other riders prowled the top of the ridge, helpless to do anything but watch the unicorns descend to the base of the falls. Occasionally one of the beasts would lose its footing; and while the unicorns always managed to right themselves, Sheila found it almost painful to follow Morning Star's progress down the treacherous path.
At last dusk fell, and as the sky turned a smoky lavender, Laric and his men began their transformation. Sheila had seen it happen more than once before, and it always left her amazed and somehow shaken; there was something seriously weird about men turning into gigantic golden eagles. The air around them stirred so that it seemed as if each were caught in his own whirlwind. Then the air cleared again, and where there had been a man, there was an eagle.
Sheila saw that there would be one eagle for each of the riders save one. Micula stepped forward at once. "I don't need to be carried," she said. And as they all watched in wonder, she disappeared before their eyes only to reappear seconds later at the bottom of the gorge. Her magic, as always, seemed effortless.
Illyria watched with a smile and then said softly, "It's time we joined her."
The eagle closest to Sheila spread its wings. Hesitantly, she climbed on its back. She knew it would be able to carry her—as eagles, each of Laric's men had at least an eight-foot wing span. Still, she had never ridden an eagle before. She wasn’t even sure where to hold on until she saw Pelu clasp her hands around her eagle's neck, Sheila did the same, and as soon as the eagle felt her securely on his back, he lifted into the air and spiraled out over the falls.
Sheila was dizzy and terrified and thrilled. Beneath her the eagle soared and glided on the air currents, carrying her in a smooth, whirling pattern. It seemed to Sheila that the sides of the gorge were rising up around her, when in fact she was being taken down into the very heart of Ryudain. When the eagle finally touched gently down on the riverbank, she was giddy with the joy of it. No wonder Laric's men had not wanted to completely give up the transformation. How could anyone who had known the exaltation of flight bear to give it up? For the first time since she started working with Micula, it occurred to Sheila that there were some aspects of magic she might actually enjoy.
There was a bit of commotion as the riders assembled and the eagles transformed themselves back into men. The unicorns were gathered together farther up the gorge, keeping their distance from the humans. Sheila stepped back and gazed up the falls. This was true power— torrents of white water cascading down over rock. Something that couldn't be stopped, that would carry everything with it, that would go on forever.
Micula's voice rang out above the roar of the rapids. "The moon is in her zenith. The unicorns have returned to Ryudain. We give praise."
Sheila saw with astonishment that the full moon was shining directly into the center of the pool beneath the falls. It was as if Ryudain were drawing the moon and all its power down into itself.
The unicorns began to call, sounding a note Sheila had never heard from them before. First it seemed as if they were calling to each other, then to the riders to bear witness, and at last as if they were calling to the moon itself. And then, faster than the eye could follow, they burst from the place where they had gathered, exploding in one last race to the falls.
"Get back!" someone beside her hissed, and Sheila was pulled out of the way as the unicorns thundered past. They would have run her down, she saw, for they now belonged completely to the wild. Sheila felt her heart begin to hammer as she realized where they were going. In what she was sure was a mass suicide, the herd ran straight into the river beneath the falls. Sheila caught a quick glimpse of Morning Star's black mane before it disappeared behind the white water. She'll either be battered to death or swept downriver, Sheila thought, fighting nausea. Had they really come all this way to watch the unicorns destroy themselves?
She clenched her fists tightly and was surprised to feel a warm hand close over hers. It was Darian. "
Look," he said, his voice filled with awe. Bathed in a silver wash of moonlight and mist, the unicorns stood beneath the falls, neither battered nor swept away. One by one, each of the unicorns stood on its hind legs, suspended in moonlight and magic as the waters of Ryudain washed over them. For a second Sheila could have sworn she saw a line of silver energy flowing directly from the moon to the unicorns.
The line of silver was gone almost as soon as it had appeared, and after a moment the unicorns dropped to four legs again and worked their way out from beneath the falls. They were still caught in the swirling white water, and they were still calling to the night, but the moment of renewal was past.
"It is done," Micula said, her voice floating eerily above the roar of the falls. As if to confirm her words, the unicorns began to leave the river. "Do not try to get close to them yet," the sorceress warned. "For a while they will be filled with the wild magic.”
Sheila found she was still holding her breath when Morning Star finally emerged on the bank, She wanted more than anything to call to her and might have, had Darian not cried out at that very moment.
"That's my cub!" he said in astonishment.
Sheila looked down, and indeed there on the moonlit bank was the little lion cub that had kept them company in the cave, "What's it doing here?" she asked.
"Never mind that," Darian said. "I've got to get it away from the unicorns." Sheila understood his concern. Unicorns and lions were natural enemies, and while a full-grown unicorn normally wouldn't bother with a cub, tonight they were filled with the wild magic, and nothing about them was normal. Which meant it might be very dangerous for Darian to interfere. Still, he started forward, intent on rescuing the cub.
Half afraid to look, Sheila watched the tawny little lion, still wondering how it could have found its way to Ryudain. Had it followed them from the cave? After managing to poison me, she thought bitterly. What kind of cub could have kept up with Morning Star's run? And suddenly she knew exactly what it was.
"Darian, stop!" she screamed. "That's no cub!"
It was not Sheila's cry that made Darian stop, but the cub itself. Before their wondering eyes it transformed itself from a small, clumsy cub to a full-grown lion nearly equal in size to Quiet Storm, the largest of the unicorn stallions. With a roar that seemed to drown out the thunder of the falls, the lion called a challenge.
And Quiet Storm stepped into the moonlight to meet it.
Sheila knew that no one could interfere in this battle, and that it would be to the death. Laric had once told her, "When the lion and the unicorn meet, only one survives." The lion rushed in at once, but the silver unicorn met the charge with lowered horn, and the lion backed off warily, a low growl rising from its throat. They stalked each other then, each trying to prod the other into exposing its weakness.
Sheila looked over at Illyria and saw fear written all over her face. The opponents were far too evenly matched.
With a furious growl the lion attacked again, raking a bloody path down the unicorn's flank. But the attack only served to strengthen Quiet Storm's will to fight. The unicorn answered the charge, rearing up on his hind legs and catching the lion in the side as it came down. Ears flattened, the lion went for Quiet Storm's throat— And then, with a scream of fury, the unicorn caught the lion on his horn, goring it badly.
It's got to be over, Sheila thought frantically. It's just got to be over.
The silver unicorn stood over the wounded lion, ready to deliver the death blow. And that's when the lion, desperate to survive, shape-shifted yet again, this time returning to its true form. Only Sheila was not surprised when Mardock, haggard and bleeding, stood before them.
"I am not done," he promised, gasping for breath. "There's more magic in me yet.”
"Don't be a fool!" Micula cried. "You have ventured into a place of power far greater than your own. It is the moon itself you oppose now. You cannot cross her and win.”
"No, sorceress. I will work one more magic," he vowed. "I cannot be stopped by you or the unicorns or even the moon." He cast around as if looking for a likely victim, but the riders and Laric's men and even the other unicorns had all fallen back during Quiet Storm's battle. Mardock stood quite alone, a pathetic figure in the moonlight. "You see me bleeding and yet none of you will come near?" he taunted. "That is proof of my power.”
"Please stop now!" Micula cried again.
The wizard only reached into his robe and pulled out a small, rectangular box that looked a lot like a TV remote control.
The Tracker, Sheila thought with terror. He's still got the Tracker, and he's figured out how to use it.
Mardock confirmed her theory as he pushed a button, and seconds later Sheila saw the ghostlike shimmering that meant Dr. Reit was about to appear.
"For my last magic," Mardock panted, "the girl will watch her friend die."
No Sheila thought wildly as Dr. Reit slowly materialized muttering, "What a tremendous waterfall!" He doesn't even know what's happening.
Without stopping to think or even ground herself, Sheila called on the moonlight and hurled one last spell of her own, a silver circle of protection that shot out from her body and encircled Dr. Reit.
The last thing she saw before the power circled back to her was the wizard—spent, broken, and babbling wildly. Mardock had gone insane. Moon madness, some would call it, Sheila saw it for what it was—the punishment for anyone who crossed the powers of the moon.
14
The Last Magic
Sheila never felt the power of the magic when the circle of protection returned to her. This time there was no becoming a part of the elements, and there was no burning white fire within her. She was simply knocked unconscious.
She awoke dazed, unable to make sense of the smooth white floor beneath her. Mardock and the waterfall and the riders and the unicorns all seemed to be gone. This was not Ryudain at all.
Dr. Reit, however, had not vanished. He was sitting up beside her, looking every bit as dazed as she felt. The Tracker lay on the floor almost exactly between them. "Oh, my dear girl!" Dr. Reit exclaimed. "You're looking a bit peaked again."
Sheila shut her eyes, then opened them again. She knew this room. She knew exactly where she was.
''Dr. Reit,'' she said, struggling to sit up, ''it's your laboratory. We're back in our world! In your lab!"
"So we are," the scientist said, looking around him with delight. "Sheila, I must say— whatever you did to get us back here has completely blown the roof off all my theories of time travel. It was most remarkable. And I suppose this can wait until later, but I'd dearly love to know how you did it."
"I cast a spell of protection," Sheila said slowly. "And it protected us so well that it carried us back into this world."
"More magic?" Dr. Reit asked with a frown.
Sheila nodded wearily. She had wanted to protect Dr. Reit, but she hadn't been ready to leave the land of the Unicorn Queen. She hadn't even had a chance to say good-bye.
"Well," the scientist said briskly, "magic or not, whatever you did is most remarkable."
"Thanks,” Sheila said weakly.
The scientist stood up, put his hands in the pockets of his lab coat, and gave Sheila a searching glance. "You look tired," he said. "I think it's best you go home right now and get some sleep."
"No!" said Sheila, with more force than she had intended. "You can't just send me home. I mean, I never got to find out if the unicorns are going to be okay and everything. You've got to let me go back," she said frantically. "Just for a little while."
The scientist drew himself up angrily. "Sheila, are you asking me to reactivate the Molecular Acceleration Transport Device? After the Tracker was lost and I spent who knows how long subject to that madman Mardock? Surely, you must realize this is not a toy to be played with.''
"I never thought of it as a toy, Sheila tried once more. "Please, Dr. Reit, just send me back for a little while. An afternoon maybe."
The scientist ran hi
s hand through his frizzy white hair, and for a moment Sheila thought he might give in. "I'm sorry," he said at last. "It's simply too dangerous. Now I must thank you for an extraordinary rescue and ask you to go home and get some sleep. You'll feel differently about this in the morning.''
"All right," Sheila said, knowing he wouldn't give in. She also knew she wouldn't feel at all differently in the morning.
As Dr. Reit had once explained, time was not necessarily parallel in parallel worlds. So even though Sheila had been in the world of the Unicorn Queen for months, in the "real" world only a few hours had passed. In fact, the note she had left on the refrigerator explaining she'd gone to a movie was still there. Her parents hadn't even returned from their evening out. Sheila pulled her note down and wadded it up before dropping it into the wastebasket. Absently she opened the refrigerator door only to shut it at once. The very thought of food made her suddenly feel sick. The only thing she wanted to think about was the world she had left behind.
Slowly Sheila climbed the stairs to her bedroom. She was still wearing the ivory wool tunic that had come from Mardock's house. Mardock's creation.
Her room, cozy and welcoming as it had always seemed, was no comfort now. Feeling weary and heartsick, Sheila sank down onto the bed and closed her eyes. A montage of images filled her mind— Illyria riding proudly on Quiet Storm, Zanara-Ki teaching her to fight, Micula in the tower room, and Darian, that last time on the mountain, when he kissed her. Back in Campora he had told her things would change after Ryudain; she wondered if somehow he had known even then that she would be leaving. Maybe the kiss had been his good-bye.
Restlessly Sheila pushed herself off the bed and began pacing the room. Not long ago, she had ridden a unicorn, fought an evil wizard, and actually cast a magic spell. How was anyone supposed to settle for softball games and algebra class after that? She had returned to a half-life, and she couldn't bear the thought that this was where she would stay.
