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The rift was strange, and I realized almost immediately that something was very wrong. Instead of being thin and etherial, the rift itself felt almost solid, and I felt as if I was myself a vapor. I knew that Farhain was still with me; I could feel his presence, but he, too no longer had a physical form. I wondered if we had both died...it felt as if we were falling toward something, a pinpoint and...

I was in the Great Hall of Gwilellen Fane again. From my right eye I could see Lydia, sitting on her dais; from my left Ming stood beside me and beside her my brother, quite annoyed as he knew that per protocol he should be next to me. I felt a bit unsteady, and looked over at Farhain. He looked back at me, slightly wide eyed and flustered himself.

Midetmos glanced at the unicorns as if more annoyed that we were moving about, then turned to Lydia, and spoke as he had that day before. "My Lady, I come at this grave hour to offer Gwilellen Fane an alliance with the Leprechauns."

Rifts can go between times as well as places. I instantly knew what had happened, though not exactly how. Farhain and I had fallen back to ourselves the day before the battle at Faeone's Field. Things were already changing, though. Farhain didn't challenge Midetmos as he had that day before. I think this surprised Lydia, as normally her Captain would have spoken up- Lydia was quite skilled at diplomacy and would generally let others argue as she observed and listened. Instead Brinta replied. "We are not at war, and in time of need can call on support of all the other Fanes. Of what value would an alliance with Leprechauns be?"

"Five thousand o' my people to come to your aid, when the Dark Elves in Bacantu Fane falls upon ye," Midetmos replied.

Brinta was not as flustered as she had been. "The Fanes have accepted the Dark Elves in Parley Council," she stated. "There is no reason we should need your aid."

I looked again at Farhain, and he at me. The two of us knew what was going to happen in a day's time and that Brinta was consorting with a demon. Everyone would believe us should we reveal our fall through time; yet it might be more valuable to not yet reveal it. I hoped Farhain would not, though elves tend to be very poor at deceit, Farhain was a sound tactician and would realize the advantage we now had.

Lydia finally spoke; very noncommittally. "The friendship of the Leprechauns would be of value, and we can offer the same in return. There seems little chance that the Dark Elves would march against us unexpectedly, as Bacantu Fane is quite distant and the other Fanes would come to our aid long before they could arrive."

"But nae o' the Dark Elves in their stronghold, not a day's ride from here," Midetmos said. "An' that a day's ride wi' a colt slowin' us down."

Brinta scoffed. "What nonsense is this? We would know of any stronghold."

"Ask th' unicorn," the leprechaun said, looking to me. "He hae been there."

"There are, ten thousand in the old wood," I blurted out. It wasn't exactly what I'd said before, but close enough, and I knew what their plan was now.

"Insanity!" Brinta almost shouted. "The mad ravings of a unicorn, bent on a vendetta!" She slammed her fists on the table, upsetting a goblet that spilled wine. It began dripping on the floor as if to punctuate her remark.

"Unicorns seldom are insane," my brother replied. "It's not in our nature. But destruction of evil is." He didn't mention it, but vendettas were generally not part of our character either. Revenge was slightly different, and both he and I were sworn to destroy those who had brought death to our dam.

Lydia seemed surprised, and turned to Farhain. "Captain, could there be ten thousand enemies so close at hand?"

Farhain knew the answer. "My Lady, I would trust a unicorn with my life, and Thardor doubly so. Allow me to consult with him, so that we can carefully consider our action."

"Should we not ride against them at once?" Lydia asked, a bit surprised. Normally, Farhain would have suggested- as he had before- sending some reconnaissance to determine the disposition of the enemy and not trusting the observations of a unicorn, as we tended to ignore military details.

"That may be what they hope," Farhain stated; knowing that indeed that had been the plan and design of the demons. "Let us assemble our forces, and send word to the other Fanes that we need assistance.

"The dwarves will stand with you," Danzig said boldly.

Brinta looked queasy. "There is no need to alarm the other Fanes, when the Dark Elves only want peace," she said uncertainly. Most of the wine had dripped to the floor, but an occasional drop still made it's way from the table. "Unicorns are not terribly observant, and Thardor is undoubtedly exaggerating some innocent activity. Perhaps hunters, or woodsmen."

Lydia was uncertain. "Captain Danzig, the hearts and honor of the dwarves are of the things we hold most dear. Midetmos, I will take your offer under consideration. Captain Farhain, please consult with Thardor and provide me with a recommendation. On the morrow, we will reconvene and continue this discussion." She looked markedly at Farhain, then me, and rose and left.

The rest of the occupants of the hall began to mill about in small groups. Ming seemed pleased that I had not advocated some violent response, though Kallain seemed annoyed. "Brother, should we not have demanded retribution on the Dark Elves?" he queried. As his elder, he had not spoken against me in the council, but I knew that he might in the morn.

"Farhain and I have something to discuss," I said brusquely. "Of the greatest importance."

I backed away from the table, walking around it and past Brinta. She looked at me coldly, with a slight smile on her face, and started to speak to me but I walked by her to Farhain. "Captain?"

"Let us discuss the matter in private," he replied. The two of us walked out of the hall, surprising the other unicorns, Danzig, and the leprechauns by our strange behavior.

Outside, we began walking together toward a large field. "We cannot have all of our friends and allies suffer the same fate as before," Farhain started. "I do not know how you brought us back here, but we now can make things right."

I'd seen enough episodes of Star Trek to know that messing with time was not a good thing. "But that may be what is meant to happen," I replied, stopping. We were in the middle of the field, and little chance anyone might hear us.

Elves didn't watch much television, even when on the human plane, and saw everything in black and white. "We know that the Dark Elves plan to fall on us in Faeone's Field. Should we act differently, none of our company need perish."

This brought up another disturbing fact. "Should they not, then Lydia will never be merged with Ming's foal, Ming will not be changed back to a human, we will not need to travel to the human plane to rescue them, and you will not meet Gina," I stated. "Or we might take actions now that will have even worse consequences. Recall also that Brinta is in league with demons as well as the Dark Elves, and even now they may be changing their own plans."

This disturbed the elf, and I could see the pain on his face. "Gina...you are correct, Thardor. Yet my duty...our duty is to protect Lydia and the Fane from harm. As well as Ming, the dwarves, and even the leprechauns. If we allow the same thing to happen, they will all be destroyed again."

I couldn't argue with that. The field we had walked onto was soft, as if it had recently rained, and I moved about a bit as my hooves were sinking into it. The other problem was that we had already acted differently, and as result the army of the Fane wasn't being assembled, and would not ride off to battle in the afternoon. Worse, Brinta was undoubtedly warning the Dark Elves that they'd been discovered and their plan was probably changing as well. But favorably, Faeone would have assembled the unicorns and they would arrive long before the battle.

Or would they? I was not sure how the unicorns had been asked to assemble. They had just suddenly showed up, like the cavalry in some old western movie. Undoubtedly someone had sent them notice, but I had never thought it would be necessary to find out who. We tend to be quite dispersed, living alone or in small groups, and for Faeone to have summoned the entire herd would have taken some time.

And yet, the die was cast. We had changed what was to be, and something else would now happen. If we were too cautious, what Lydia had feared before might happen- a long war of attrition, where everyone might suffer even more. If too bold, we might repeat the same result as before. I looked off to the west, where clouds were beginning to gather in the sky. "So what should we do? What should we tell Lydia to do?" I asked. "Brinta will warn her allies..."

Suddenly everything became clear as to what I needed to do to prevent the war from happening. Farhain could not act, it was in his nature to think only of protecting the good people of the Fane. Gulthar would not act, it was in his nature to preserve the balance of good and evil. The Dark Elves and the Demons were already set by their nature on their path. There were few variables, yet I could still influence them by what actions I would take, and thus the final outcome. I spun about, lunging to a full gallop and showering a surprised Farhain with lumps of the soft muddy grass. Scarcely I slowed as I passed the keep, then took to the path that led toward Faeone's Field and the old wood. With no rider and without Seregon I was able to extend my gallop. I was starting to heat up,foam and sweat, but ignored the fatigue as I considered what I had decided to do. Gulthar might understand and approve, but I doubted anyone else would.