The Secret Of The Unicorn Queen -The Dark Gods (6 page)

    "You don't really think Kumuru's set a trap for us, do you?" 

    "Who knows? If he casts any spells, he'll have to try them against the power of cold steel!" Myno shook her head. "Eh, never mind. Save your breath for walking."

    “Oooh!” 

    ''Look at it! Just look at it!'' 

    "How splendid!" 

    "How majestic!" 

    Splendid? Majestic? Sheila glanced around at the others in total bewilderment. Had everybody gone nuts? 

    Seen up close, the stone circle looked even less impressive than before—just a ring of low, broken stones. Of course, the fading light did give them an air of brooding mystery. But even so, there just wasn't any reason for everyone to be oohing and ahhing like this, acting as though they were seeing wonders. There was nothing here but a bunch of rocks. Unless she was the one who was out of step.. . ? 

    Sheila froze. The light was really tricky now, eerie, full of deepening shadows. But just for a moment she could have sworn she saw a strange, shrouded figure hiding in the blackness! 

    "Someone's watching us!" 

    Pelu gave her a dreamy smile. "Don't be silly, Sheila. We're the only ones here." 

    "It's true! He—It was standing right . . 

    But now the shadows were empty. The darkness seemed to press in all around her, until Sheila found herself chewing nervously on her lip. It might be only another trick of twilight, but a patch of shadow on the other side of the circle didn't look . . . well, it didn't look normal. 

    That couldn't be. How could a shadow be anything but normal? Unless it was a sorcerous shadow? Sheila blinked, then rubbed her eyes, trying to clear her vision. Funny . . . she kept feeling a sort of chilly tingle running through her. ... 

    She opened her eyes, and nearly cried out. It wasn't a trick! She wasn't imagining things! That one patch of shadow really was too dark, too solid, to be real. Fighting to keep from shouting in panic, Sheila said carefully, "Maybe we shouldn't go into the circle right away. Maybe we should scout around first. Like—ah—right over there, on the other side of it." 

    Illyria frowned. "That's ridiculous, Sheila." 

    "No, it's not! You told me a warrior should always be cautious, and-" 

    "Nonsense." Illyria's voice was soft and sleepy. "I never said anything like that. Poor Sheila, so nervous. Don't you see? How can there ever be anything wrong about such a wonderful place?" 

    Wonderful? "But . . ." began Sheila helplessly. She stopped as the woman turned to face her. And a cold little prickle of alarm ran up her spine. 

    Why were Illyria's eyes so . . . blank? Like Dian's eyes! Sheila whirled, heart racing, to stare at the others. 

    Oh, no! They were all smiling faintly, just like Illyria, smiling as though they were looking at something marvelous. And their eyes all held that same frightening blankness! 

    That tingling! It must have been the—the feel of a spell being cast! But why hadn't it caught her, too? 

    "Stand aside, girl," said Myno gently. 

    "Stand aside," repeated Nanine, just as gently, and Sheila shuddered all over again at the sight of her friends' emotionless faces. 

    "N-no, no," she gasped out, stumbling over her words in her haste. "Look, I d-don't know what's going on here, but I think you've all been bespelled!" 

    The unicorn warriors all took a slow step forward, unheeding. 

    "Listen to me! You've got to fight this! Somebody's got to understand, somebody's got to see. You can't just give in. No!" 

    But, as though she hadn't even opened her mouth, the others continued moving slowly forward, into the circle… 

Into the circle that now glowed faintly by its own bluewhite light! Within that eerie ring hung an oval mass of what seemed like swirling clouds. It reminded Sheila of something else, something not of this world. . . 

    Of course! Dr. Reit's invention, the Molecular Acceleration Transport Device that had first brought her to this world! Maybe this—this thing couldn't carry someone across time and space like that. Maybe it couldn't reach from world to world. But it was almost certainly some sort of sorcerous version of the device. It was a true magic portal. And who knew what lay on the other side? Who knew if there even was another side? 

    "Hey, no!" 

    Illyria, face composed, eyes blank, was marching right toward the shimmering oval. 

    "Illyria, no! Stop! It's a trap! I know it is: I just realized what was wrong with Dian's story! She described this stone circle—but she couldn't have seen it, not through the fog. Not unless Kumuru had caught her and brought her here! Illyria!'' 

    But the woman couldn't hear her. Illyria was nearly at the portal. And she was about to step right through it! Panic-stricken, Sheila started to race forward. But someone caught her arm and pulled her to a stop, spinning her around so roughly that she lost her footing. 

    "Stop it!" Sheila struggled to get her feet back under her as she suddenly realized who had caught her. "Dian! Let me go!" 

    But the other girl was hanging on to her like a bulldog. Despairing, Sheila twisted fiercely about and shouted with all the strength in her lungs: 

    ''Illyria!'' 

    To her relief, she saw Illyria stop, right at the edge of the portal. The Unicorn Queen shook her head in confusion, swaying as though waking from a dream, her eyes no longer blank. Sheila let out a shaky little breath. Her shout must have broken the spell. Everything was going to be all right. 

    But before Illyria could catch her balance, Dian rushed up behind her—and shoved her right into the shimmering portal. There was a bright, blue-white flash of light—and then it was dark again. Sheila let out a cry of sheer, disbelieving horror. 

    Illyria had disappeared! 

    Sheila jumped in alarm as her cry of horror was echoed by others. She whirled to see Myno, Nanine, and Darian staring wildly as the mind-fogging spell suddenly shattered. 

    "Oh, thank heavens, you're all okay!" 

    For a second the others stood frozen, too stunned by Illyria's disappearance to move. 

    "The portal!" gasped Darian. "Maybe it's still open! Maybe we can get my sister back!" 

    Swords drawn, they all rushed forward. Suddenly Sheila felt another icy tingle shake her. 

    Oh, no, she thought in despair, not another spell! 

    But nothing seemed to have happened. Maybe this time the spell had failed. 

    Hey, wait a minute! All of a sudden, no one else was running with her! Where was everybody? Sheila stumbled to a hasty stop, almost afraid to look back over her shoulder. 

    The others had stopped, too-as abruptly as though they had run right into an invisible wall! 

    "What is this?" gasped Darian. 

    "I . . . can't move!" Myno wheezed. "What . . . about you, Pelu?" 

    "I . . . can't budge, either!" 

    Nanine's face contorted with strain. "I'm stuck, too. What's holding us back?" 

    "Sorcery!" Darian’s voice was wild. "It . . . has to be ... sorcery!" 

    Bewildered and frightened, Sheila saw the others struggling to move forward even an inch, fighting air that suddenly seemed as thick as glue. 

    "But it's just air!" she protested, waving an arm. "Look, I can still move. Nothing's holding me!" 

    This didn't make sense at all! Everyone else was stuck fast by the sorcery. 

    How can a spell catch everyone but me? Sheila wondered wildly. 

    Maybe the sorcerer was sneaking up behind her? Sheila shot about to face the vanished portal again—But it hadn't vanished! All at once the oval shimmering was bright once more. Biting her lip, she took a cautious step forward. 

    Without warning a dark, shrouded Something sprang between her and the portal! Sheila jumped back with a startled squeak. But then she determinedly raised her sword. She was a warrior, not a frightened little baby! 

    "W-who are you?" she asked, blushing at the quiver in her voice. 

    The figure laughed, and threw back its bat wings. 

    Sheila let out an involuntary shriek before she realized they weren't bat wings at all, but a blazing red cloak. It had only looked dark against the blue-white shimmering of the portal. Now that the figure had moved back a little, Sheila could see by the eerie light of the stone circle that this wasn't a monster, at all, but a man. 

    "Who are you?" she repeated, more sternly this time. 

    "Don't you recognize me, girl?" His voice was smooth and elegant, with the faintest hint of an exotic accent. ''I am Kumuru, King of Samarna." 

    Kumuru! Sheila swallowed dryly, tightening her grip on her swordhilt. But what good would one sword do against the power of the Dark Gods? 

    Kumuru tossed back the hood of his cloak. Sheila stumbled back another step, staring. But this time it wasn't in fear. Nobody had ever told her he was so—so gorgeous' 

    Kumuru was tall and slender, his body rippling with sleek muscles, like some great, golden-skinned panther. His gleaming hair, blacker than the night, was bound back under a crown of red feathers. Released from the hood that had bent them down, the plumes had sprung up into a blazing semicircle around his fine-featured face, making Kumuru look even taller. 

    His eyes, too, were black, and elegantly slanted. But within their ebony depths glinted a certain light: cold, hard, and cruel. And suddenly Sheila remembered. Good as he looked on the outside, there was nothing but evil within him. All at once she knew she didn't want to look into those eyes too closely. 

    Kumuru was staring at her with a sharp curiosity. "Now, how is it, girl, that you have escaped the Spell of Binding?" 

    "I don't know." 

    "Oh, come, surely you can come up with a better answer than that." 

    "I'm telling you the truth!" 

    "Of course," he said sarcastically. 

    Smiling, Kumuru raised his hand to an intricate pendant, a gleaming red stone suspended from a golden chain about his neck. 

    Kumuru murmured something too softly for Sheila to make out the words. Once again she felt that chilly tingle run through her. And once again nothing worse happened. Or, at least, she didn't think anything worse had happened. 

    Kumuru, however, seemed to be pretty certain that this time his sorcery had succeeded. Still smiling, he stared deep into Sheila's eyes, and in a soft, insinuating voice he said, "Now, you will tell me all about yourself, won't you?" 

    Sheila hesitated for an uneasy moment, wondering if she had been enchanted. . . . Ah! She felt no compulsion to speak to him! The spell had failed. 

    "No," she said shortly. "I don't believe I'll tell you anything." As Kumuru eyed her in surprise, she raised her sword threateningly. "But you will tell me where Illyria is, won't you?"