The Secret Of The Unicorn Queen -The Dark Gods (5 page)

     Dian shook her head. "It's not a doorway for people. It-he-Kumuru means to drain magic through it into Samarna! He means to pull the very life-force out of Campora!" 

     The warriors gasped. "Can he really do that?" asked Sheila. 

     "I don't know," Illyria said grimly. "With the power of his Dark Gods behind him, who knows what Kumuru can do!" 

     Now that no one was speaking to her, Dian had settled into silence. And her eyes remained disturbingly blank. 

Shock, realized Sheila suddenly. Of course, that's what's wrong. Dian is still in shock. 

     "Dian,'' said Illyria. "Finish your story." 

     "Oh. If I must." 

     "You must. Come, the sooner told, the sooner finished." 

     "Well, I don't know what warned him. But all at once there was a flash of light, bright as red lightning. I cried out and covered my eyes. When my vision had cleared, I wasn’t alone. An eerie figure all in red was blocking my path." 

     "Kumuru!" breathed Pelu. 

     Dian shuddered. "It was Kumuru. He shouted out some terrible Word of Power. Swiftfoot reared in fright. And I," the girl continued sheepishly, "fell off. Just like Sheila." 

     Sheila bit back a grin. "What happened to Swiftfoot?" 

     "I d-don't know. She ran off into the fog, and I couldn't find her again! I was hoping she was with you . . . ?" 

     Pelu shook her head. "Sorry." 

     "Oh. Well, I . . ." Dian swallowed dryly, then started again. "Kumuru gestured, and his warriors appeared. I drew my sword, but there were just too many for me to fight. So I-I turned and ran." 

     She broke off, red-faced, looking at the others defiantly. 

     "That's all right," muttered Myno in gruff support. "Knowing when to run is part of being a smart warrior—and a live one!" 

     "I see. Well, I ran. And I've been running ever since. Dian grabbed Illyria's hand, pleading, "But forget about me. You've got to stop Kumuru, you've just got to!" 

     "We will," the Unicorn Queen assured her flatly. 

     "Yes, but how?" asked Nanine, her dark face fierce with worry. "We won't be able to get near the circle, not on our unicorns. You know they won't go near any place where sorcery has been worked. And that certainly includes any 'magical portal' to Samarna!" 

     "It doesn't matter," said Dian softly. "You see, all the portal wants is Illyria." 

     "What!" 

     "No, no, what I mean is, only Illyria can close it." She turned back to the Unicorn Queen. "I heard Kumuru himself say it. You see, Illyria, you represent the unicorns' goodness, the very opposite of the Dark God's evil. So all you have to do is boldly thrust your sword through the portal, and the evil spell will be broken. The portal will close forever. Oh, you've got to do it, you must!" 

     The warriors hesitated. 

     "It . . . might work," said Pelu doubtfully. 

     "Sure," added Darian. "Everyone knows the power of cold steel against sorcery!" 

     "And the sword of the Unicorn Queen should have even greater power," murmured Nanine. 

     "Well, yes, I guess it would," Sheila agreed reluctantly, "but the whole thing sounds so dangerous!" 

     Nanine smiled faintly. "Child, you should be used to danger by now." 

     "Yes, but-" 

     "Hush, now. It is Illyria's decision, not ours." 

     They all turned to look at the Unicorn Queen. She was silent for a long, tense moment, stroking Quiet Storm's neck again and again. . . 

     All at once, Illyria nodded. "So be it. Sometimes the simplest methods are the best to combat sorcery. 

     "Oh, but Illyria," Sheila began, but the Unicorn Queen waved her to silence. 

     "I have decided, Sheila. One way or another the portal must be closed. And Dian's idea may just be the best way to do it." 

     The unicorn riders all agreed. 

     All but Sheila. 

     There was something strange here, she knew it. If only she could figure out what that "something" was! And if only Dian's eyes weren't so blank. . . 

     No. Forget that. It was only shock. Of course. Wasn't it? 

    As the unicorn warriors rode on southward toward the stone circle and whatever dark sorcery might be awaiting them, the land slowly grew more and more barren, till the unicorns were picking their careful way through fields of broken rock and dry, cracked earth. Morning Star began to prance uneasily. Sheila reached down a hand to soothe her. 

    "It's okay, girl. There's nothing here to be scared about." 

    That's easy to say, Sheila thought, but who's going to soothe me? 

    Sheila knew Morning Star wasn't really worried about the broken lands beneath them. No, the unicorn was picking up her own nervousness. And no wonder: 

    Something was wrong with Dian's story. Something, for that matter, was wrong with Dian. She was sure of it.    

Well, almost sure. 

    Of course, the trouble could be only in her imagination. But that was hardly likely. After all, Cam and the other eagle-warriors had mentioned the stone circle—and Kumuru! They had mentioned that weird fog, too. 

    Sheila winced. The problem could be simply that she—well, she didn't like Dian very much. Maybe she wanted something to be wrong with the girl. 

    No! Sheila refused to believe that! 

    Besides . . . no matter what everyone else wanted to think, this just wasn't quite the old Dian. For one thing, she didn't seem at all concerned about her missing unicorn. For another, she hadn't once tried to make any sort of snide remark to Sheila! 

    Yes, but that was ridiculous. What could she say? "This isn't the real Dian, because she hasn't been nasty to me?" Wouldn't that make Sheila look silly! 

    Nobody else seemed to notice her uneasiness. Sheila glanced at Dian, who was riding double behind Pelu, staring straight ahead, and frowned, puzzled. 

    "Myno," she murmured, "do you notice anything odd?" 

    “Heh?” 

    "About Dian, I mean?" 

    "Strange? What could be strange?" 

    "She hasn't said a word since she told Illyria about the portal. She just sits there behind Pelu and doesn't look at anybody." 

    Myno shrugged. "Dian did a stupid thing last night, running off like that. She's probably still embarrassed about it, that's all. Hey!" That last word was said to her unicorn, who had taken advantage of Myno's distraction to snatch up a leafy branch. "Silly thing. You'll get prickles in your mouth. And now you've got the branch caught in the saddle!" 

    As Myno dismounted to disentangle the branch, she gave Sheila a wave of dismissal. "Forget about it, girl. She'll get over it." 

    One after the other Sheila approached her companions. And one after the other they dismissed her worries. At last she pulled up alongside Darian. 

    "Do you think there's anything wrong with Dian?" she asked. 

    "Wrong? Like what?" 

    "I'm not sure. But if I didn't know better, I'd say she was possessed." 

    Darian looked at her blankly for a moment. Then he frowned. "There's nothing wrong with Dian," he said simply. 

    "Then why do I feel like we're riding into danger?" 

    "Well, we are!" 

    "Oh, Darian!" Sheila sighed and rode on. 

    At last the unicorn riders stopped on the crest of a dry, sandy hill. Shading her eyes against the late afternoon sun, Pelu said, "There it is." 

    Sheila stared in the same direction. "There what is?” 

    "The stone circle, of course! Don't you see it?” 

    At the back of her mind Sheila had been expecting the stone circle to look something like the pictures she had seen of Stonehenge. That legendary place had looked awesome and mysterious enough to send a prickle up her spine. But at the same time it had been surprisingly neat and tidy; the people who had built it long ago had clearly had a strong sense of order. Those upright stones with their spanning lintels had even seemed somehow strangely modern. 

    "You mean, that's it?" 

    There was nothing neat or modern or even remotely attractive about this stone circle. Maybe the site had been as tall and imposing as Stonehenge once upon a time, but long centuries of wind and scouring sand had worn the stones down to mere gray nubs, barely visible at this range. 

    Pelu glanced at Sheila in amusement. "What were you expecting? A royal palace?" 

    "No, of course not. But you'd think Kumuru would have picked a grander site." 

    "I doubt he was interested in pretty surroundings," Nanine cut in dryly. "Only in the Old Magic, which that ancient place no doubt still holds in plenty." 

    "Sure." But Sheila just couldn't get excited. "Well, at least the stones do form a circle. Maybe they look more impressive up close," she said doubtfully. "Maybe-" 

    A sudden shift in the wind carried off the rest of Sheila's words. As a strong gust blew in from the direction of the circle, Morning Star curveted restlessly and Sheila had to struggle to keep her balance. The unicorn was saying as plainly as any words, I don't like this place! I want to get out of here! Sheila knew just how she felt. 

    "Hey, take it easy, girl!" 

    But Morning Star refused to calm down. Helplessly, feeling renewed stirrings of unease, Sheila glanced around. To her surprise she saw that all the other unicorns, even the calm and usually fearless Quiet Storm, were acting up, too. 

    But Illyria didn't look at all amazed or disturbed. "This is it," she said with a sigh, jumping lightly to the ground. "This is as far as they'll go." 

    "I'm surprised we got as close as we did," added Pelu. 

    Illyria nodded. And turning to Sheila, she explained, "Unicorns always become nervous around places of ancient power.” 

    Sheila frowned, puzzled. "But why should that be? All the Old Magic can't be evil!" 

    "Oh, it isn't! I suspect the problem is that unicorns feel the aura of Old Magic in some uncomfortable way.” 

    "Like a cat that's jumpy because a coming storm prickles its fur?" 

    "Something like that. Of course, now, with sorcery having been worked here as well . . ." Illyria shrugged. She patted Quiet Storm in quick affection, then turned away. We're wasting time. Come, my friends. We walk from here."

    The clear desert air made distance deceptive. After the unicorn warriors had been walking for what seemed, to the panting Sheila, like ages, the stone circle still seemed no closer than before. 

    "I wonder if we'll get there by nightfall," she gasped out to Myno. 

    "Maybe, maybe not." The burly woman was striding along as though distance and heat and rough footing meant nothing to her. "I'd rather not get there after sunset, though." There was just the faintest hint of unease in her gruff voice. "Night being the time of sorcery.”