by Kate Gordon
“I will let Brökk tell you,” rumbled the unicorn king, “for something unexpected happened when you freed Xanthe.”
Lily and Sasha turned to the herd’s darkest and oldest unicorn. He looked different somehow. Bigger. And more powerful.
“Well, as Ambrosius said, something unexpected happened.” Brökk looked at the girls. “Abellona is a strong and forceful witch in her own right, and we knew that she drew extra power from Galen and Xanthe, for Galen told Guilio. We didn’t know she drew power from the rest of her captive armies as well. The zilants, rocs and fighting cats she bought here. Dragons, other unicorns and pegasuses at home. She had some way of enhancing their enslavement spell so their enforced allegiance to her also created trickles of magical power. Many trickles of water make a great river at some point, you understand?”
“Wow,” Sasha breathed. “So the bigger her army got, the stronger she became.”
Brökk nodded. “Although we unicorn mages also grow in power as we age, she was growing much more powerful than my colleagues and I working together. From what we were told by the zilants, who are remarkably intelligent creatures by the way, freeing Xanthe also broke the enslavement charm. The leader of their flight, Zax, says they were also freed and can now choose to share their magical powers with whomever they wish.
Lily looked at Brökk in wonder. “And they choose you!”
The mage nodded. “They do. Until we are home or until such time as we may need to forge an allegiance again.”
“That’s amazing.” Lily grinned. “Fantastic! You all get to go home! I wasn’t sure that was ever going to be possible.”
“Neither were we, Lily,” Ambrosius replied.
Then something occurred to her. “Chloe won’t see you!”
Ambrosius looked around for Mikaela nearby. “Mikaela, it is your connection with a human. Do we stay another day so you can see Chloe again?”
Lily was stunned into silence again. Would the unicorns consider doing that?
As usual, Sasha’s brain worked quickly. “We’ll ride home right now and go around to Chloe’s to get her. Then you can leave at dawn as you planned.”
“Can’t you use your phone devices?” Sigvard asked of his favourite human.
“Chloe’s mother doesn’t let her have her phone in her bedroom,” Sasha explained. “We’ll have to try and wake her up some other way. It’s not that I want you to leave, of course.” She hugged Sigvard. “But I know you want to get home and see if you can find Celestina.”
Lily’s mind clicked back into gear. “Okay, we’ll throw pebbles at Chloe’s window or something to wake her up. But we still have only two ponies.”
Ambrosius spoke. “Where does Chloe live?”
“Along the main beach, around the headland from the small beach where you made the chasm.”
“We will take your forest track as we can’t pull Abellona’s wheeled cage through the forest. I presume we can cross your farm to go down to the beach.”
“You can, but you’d be seen from the house if anyone was looking.”
“How likely is that before dawn?”
“Possible but not likely.” Lily looked at Sasha who looked worried. “Mum or Dad could be up if Liam wakes, and Kuia often wanders around if she can’t sleep.”
Sigvard asked, “Is it far, from the forest gate where we have been meeting you, to the beach?”
“Not very far,” Lily replied. “Around the lower slopes of the horse paddock and down the beach track.”
“Do you think that a herd’s worth of hooves would be audible by your people?”
Sasha said, “If the wind’s blowing in from the beach like normal, it wouldn’t. And obviously none of you would show your glow.”
“So,” Ambrosius jumped in, “the reason I asked where Chloe lives is, none of you really need to ride a pony to meet us at the forest gate, do you?”
“No,” said Lily. “We can easily walk.”
“Good!” His voice was brisk. “Off you go and get Chloe. We’ll meet you at the forest gate in two hours’ time. That will give us time to decide who will pull Abellona’s cage first.” He turned to look out over the unicorn herd gathered around them. “I suggest you all graze hard on this fine pasture and ensure you drink before we depart.”
Mares and their foals started trotting off to fresh parts of the paddock. Lily could hear their teeth ripping the grass as they chewed as fast as they could.
“Go!” He instructed the girls. “Isak, accompany them to the gate!”
The tall sentry unicorn trotted up as Lily swung up onto Angel. “How are you feeling about them leaving?” she asked quietly as Sasha settled into Tommy’s saddle.
“Sad, but happy if that makes sense.”
“Yeah. Same.” Lily sighed as she turned to watch the silvery unicorns under the moonlight. Isak touched noses with Angel, then spun away towards the driveway.
“Come on.” Sasha pushed Tommy into a canter. “We don’t know how long it’s going to take us to wake Chloe up. You know how deeply she sleeps. Even Liam crying in the middle of the night doesn’t wake her at your place.”
Lily let Angel follow Tommy. “True!”
They made it back in record time, the ponies’ hooves thundering through the pine trees behind Isak.
At the gate, he said, “I leave you now.”
“Thanks.” Sasha leaned to pat the tall Isak, but he spun out of reach and galloped back into the trees.
Lily slipped off Angel to deal with the latch. “I’ve never thought about the sound of hooves being carried out of the forest to the house. I wonder if the wind has always been blowing so it didn’t carry.”
“Who knows?” Sasha nudged Tommy through. “Come on, I’ve got to get all the way home and walk back before we can go to Chloe’s.”
“I’ll bike beside you, then you bike to Chloe’s too.”
“Good idea.”
Angel got a thankful pat as they slipped her saddle and bridle off at the yard gate. The pony wandered off to find Gracie almost before they led Tommy into the yard by the barn.
“I’ll keep going,” Sasha hissed. “See you soon.”
Lily put Angel’s tack away, being as careful as she could with the creaky barn door. Then she crunched quietly across the gravel yard to her bike leaning by the garden gate.
As she pedalled after Sasha, she couldn’t decide whether she was more worried about the possibility of the unicorns being seen or heard as they headed for the beach, or the risk of waking Chloe’s mother or father.
“Crikey, if one of Chloe’s parents catch us, all our parents will know we’re out in the middle of the night anyway,” she muttered to herself. “There’ll be hell to pay whichever way you look at it.” She pedalled into Sasha’s drive. “We’ll just have to make sure they don’t hear us.”
“Shssh!” Sasha hissed as Lily’s brakes squeaked to a halt next to the shed Sasha’s dad had built for Tommy’s gear and hay.
“Okay, okay!” Lily hissed back as she waited for Sasha to shut the gate to Tommy’s little paddock. “Where’s your bike?”
“Up at the house.”
“Come on then.”
They walked silently on the tar-sealed drive.
Sasha whispered, “Lucky I remember to turn off the automatic sensor lights when I come out at night, eh?” She picked up her bike where she’d left it lying on the lawn.
“Good thinking.”
Seconds later they were pedalling out of the driveway, heading back past Lily’s and on to the main beach road where Chloe lived in a fancy house looking out to the ocean. It felt so weird, biking past dark and silent houses.
Lily’s heart thudded as they stopped outside the imposing gates. She lay her bike down on the grass, Sasha copying her actions before holding a finger up to her lips. “I know,” Lily mouthed.
Sasha fumbled with the latch on the small person-sized gate set into the big iron gates. With a clank loud enough to make Lily jump, she finally got it open.<
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“Thank goodness it wasn’t locked,” Sasha muttered as they stepped through.
They stuck close to the shadows as Sasha led the way around the house and looked up at Chloe’s bedroom window.
“Her parents’ room is around the front, right?” Lily whispered.
“Yup.” Sasha looked around for a pebble on the immaculately swept path.
“There’s some in this planter.” Lily grabbed some and passed them to Sasha. “You try. I’m worried I’ll smash something if I throw too hard.”
“And I won’t?” Sasha flung two little stones up to the second-floor window. Ping, ping! They bounced off the glass. “Chloe!” she hissed. Ping, ping went two more pebbles.
The curtains moved inside, then Chloe’s head appeared as she opened the window.
“I’m amazed she woke up,” Lily murmured.
“What are you doing?” Chloe whispered loudly.
Sasha replied, “You have to come. The unicorns are leaving.”
Chloe didn’t hesitate, even though Lily knew she’d be worried about sneaking out of the house again. “I’ll meet you outside the gate.” Then her dark hair swung inside, and the window closed silently.
Sasha tugged Lily’s arm, and they walked carefully back through the shadows to the gate and onto the path.
It felt like ages as they watched Chloe’s dark and silent house for any sign that she’d made it safely outside. A dozen scenarios played through Lily’s mind, and she half expected Mrs Cho to come charging out of the gate, demanding to know what was going on.
Chloe suddenly appeared as an inky shadow, making Lily jump.
“What do you mean the unicorns are going?” Chloe whispered as she closed the gate without a sound. “How?”
“Let’s walk.” Sasha grabbed her bike. Once they were away from Chloe’s house, she spoke quietly, filling Chloe in.
“That’s amazing about Brökk’s magic.” Chloe’s grin shone in the streetlights as they walked quickly along the beach road back to Lily’s. “But I’m sad they’re going so soon.”
“I know,” Lily sighed. “But the main thing is they are safe and are able to return home.”
“True, but...” Chloe echoed Lily’s sigh. “I wish I’d had the chance to get to know Mikaela better. To understand this connection we feel.”
“I’m the same about Ambrosius,” Lily said. “Isn’t it crazy to feel happy and sad at the same time?”
“I know!” Chloe smiled. “They’re so beautiful. I’ll never forget them.”
“Me neither.”
“Me three,” Sasha laughed. “You know what’s really crazy – that we each formed a connection with a unicorn. That there were three unicorns in that one herd who would be extra special to each one of us.”
“Sure is!” Lily grinned. “I’m so glad I decided I had to tell you both about the unicorns. I could never have kept them a secret from you, but you wouldn’t have believed me if you hadn’t seen them yourself.”
Sasha shoved Lily’s arm in a friendly way. “You mean we would never have forgiven you for not telling us! Come on, let’s jog. We didn’t think to tell Chloe to bring her bike.”
“I could double Chloe.”
“No, thanks!” Chloe was quick to respond. “My own feet are fine.”
The girls jogged along the long stretch of Beach Road before turning into the rural road which led to Lily’s and eventually Sasha’s and the back route to town.
“Keep to the grass edges if you can,” Lily said as they turned into her drive. “And we’ll climb over the fence into the horse paddock, rather than going over the gravel in the yards.”
Excited and nervous, Lily led the way over the fence and across the silver-lit pasture.
“It’s quite weird being out at night without the ponies,” she said quietly once they were partway across the paddock.
“Isn’t it?” Chloe replied. “Was Angel good for you earlier?”
“Perfect.” Lily smiled. “Thank you for letting me ride her.”
“No worries. Thanks for coming to get me when you knew the unicorns were going.”
“Of course!” Sasha exclaimed in a hushed voice. “How could we not?”
They reached the forest gate and waited, leaning on the gate to look into the darkness of the pines.
Little sounds of the still moonlit night seemed loud now that they’d stopped walking through the long pasture. Away through the trees, a morepork called, then something rustled in the grass nearby.
“What was that?” Chloe grabbed Lily’s arm.
“A mouse or something, probably.”
A harsh cry sounded in the trees.
“Gee, Chloe, don’t squeeze my arm off.” She eased Chloe’s hand away and held it. “It’s just a possum.”
“Are you sure? It’s not Abellona.”
“I’m sure, right, Sash?”
Sasha nodded. “We didn’t get too close, but Abellona is safely locked in the cage she used to keep Xanthe in. Brökk said the zilants helped him with some kind of spell so she can’t move or speak. Or do magic, obviously.”
Chloe sighed with relief. “Okay.”
“Listen,” Lily peered into the pines. The tread of many hooves sounded loud in the stillness of very early morning.
“Let’s open the gate.” Sasha dealt with the latch. Together they pushed the gate wide open, flattening the long grass growing up around it.
Ambrosius, Sigvard and Mikaela appeared on the stony forest track, leading the gilded herd towards the girls.
Chapter Nineteen
Lily smiled as Ambrosius and his herd came closer, her heart filled with happiness to see so many of them looking well and strong. Brökk and Mikaela must have been busy with their magical healing over the past couple of hours.
Their three special unicorns stopped at the edge of the trees, Ambrosius calling a halt to those behind.
“Come!” he called softly to the girls, who ran up the track to meet them.
Lily stroked the unicorn king’s cheek as he lowered his head to her. Sasha had Sigvard’s neck wrapped in a tight hug, and she could hear Chloe murmuring to Mikaela.
He spoke in his rumbling voice. “We have stopped here to be out of sight of the house. Thank you for opening the gate. We want to be ready to move quickly and quietly through it and across the paddock to your beach track. Now, come over to this bank so you can climb on my back to ride down to the sea.”
“Really?” Lily looked at him.
He nodded and edged himself alongside the bank as she scrambled up. “Jump on. The others are waiting to do the same. It’s a small treat in an effort to show you how much we appreciate your help.”
“Wow, thank you!” Lily leaned out to take hold of Ambrosius’s mane, then jumped. She was astride the huge unicorn once more! She stretched her legs down and inched forward to sit in the natural curve of his back. She felt like she and Ambrosius could conquer all the bad witches in the world.
Ambrosius stepped aside for Sigvard as Sasha got up on the bank, who grinned as she leapt onto the dark dappled grey warrior.
“You’re letting me ride you after saying you wouldn’t!” she exclaimed.
“True,” Sigvard concurred, “but only because I agreed with Ambrosius that it was appropriate in such special circumstances.”
Sasha laughed. “You’ve been wanting to do this as much as I have!”
Chloe slipped gently onto Mikaela’s back. Her face lit up as she settled, taking a careful hold of the mare’s long silvery mane.
Lily looked at her friends. All the worry of sneaking out at night, the intense fear of the battle with Abellona. None of it mattered now to see their smiles, to feel so happy herself. Like this was predestined in some way, what she was on this earth to do.
“Now.” Ambrosius’s voice brought her back to the present reality that the unicorns were leaving. “Sigvard and Sasha, please ride at the front to lead the herd in the most direct route to the gate down to the beach. Mikaela
and Chloe, if you can ride near the middle of the herd to keep an eye on young Tymek, Lily and I will close the gate and make sure those pulling Abellona’s cage for this stage of the journey are comfortable. Remember, everyone trotting as quietly as you can. Make your feet light on this blessed land which helped us free ourselves from tyranny. On your command, Sigvard.”
Ambrosius moved past the warriors, mares and foals, murmuring words of encouragement to several as they prepared to follow Sigvard in treble file.
They reached the four strong soldier unicorns harnessed to the wheeled cage containing the silent, spellbound witch. It was hard to believe that the small figure lying so still within the wooden bars was the same creature who had terrified them with her vicious lightning bolts just a couple of nights ago.
“All right?” Ambrosius asked of his soldiers.
“Yes, Sire,” replied one at the front, lowering his voice to speak directly to the king. “She’s given us no trouble, now that Brökk and Zax got that captive spell right.”
“Excellent.” Ambrosius glanced around at his human rider. “Are you okay, Lily?”
“Yes, Ambrosius. I’m not even very frightened of Abellona now.”
He looked at the witch as Sigvard gave a silent signal for everyone to move forward and the unicorns pulled the cage away from them. He then started to trot a short distance behind the cage with Lily holding onto his curly silver mane to stop bumping around too much with his prancing stride.
It didn’t take long for everyone to turn into the paddock. Lily slipped off Ambrosius’s back to pull the gate shut, then climbed the gate rails to jump back on again.
“Lily,” Ambrosius said solemnly as they followed Abellona’s cage, “it is most important that you never underestimate her or her brother Perseus. At this moment, she may be mute and unable to move, but that doesn’t mean she’s not watching and listening.”
A chill trickled around Lily’s neck, making her shiver. Oh, yuck, she might be watching me like she did before! She wrenched her eyes away from the wicked sorceress and looked for Chloe and Mikaela riding further up the column of unicorns.
“There are two things I regret,” Ambrosius continued in a hushed tone. “One, that we asked so much of you personally in the end. It required you to be dishonest with your parents and resulted in Rainbow being injured, and now you cannot compete in the competition that means so much to you. And two, that our combined actions to disable Abellona mark us forever as her enemy. Although we are used to this status, if you could call it that, I do not yet know what the implications for you might be. And this worries me.”
