The story of Faeone (Thunder Prequel)
"I can't get this stupid thing to work," Connie Hill complained. The twelve year old flopped back in the tall chair she sat in, pushing back the twelve inch glass sphere she had been staring at.
Gulthar the wizard tugged at his beard, trying to hide a smile as he remembered his own youthful frustration at learning to use a crystal ball. "You're trying too hard, Connie," he said as gruffly as he could. "You cannot force a seeing stone to work like a television set. Nudge it gently with your mind." Connie closed her eyes for a second, then reopened them. An image appeared, faintly and cloudy at first, then solidifying into that of a green shuttered white house surrounded by a tall fence. "There, you see? Your home on the human's plane."
Connie looked at the image with rapt fascination. "It's my house. But how can I see onto that plane from here?"
"The same way that you travel here, through a rift," the wizard replied.
The image vanished. "Why do you live here?" Connie suddenly asked.
Gulthar was taken aback. "Because I do."
"But why?"
"What do you mean? This is where my castle is, my keep and my land." Gulthar leaned forward, a slight frown on his face.
"You could live on the human's plane, or the elves'. Why do you live here, on the demon's plane?" Connie asked.
"Why did you live in Wisconsin, where it gets cold in the winter?" Gulthar shot back. "Why not live some place warm and nice, like Iraq or Panama?"
"Because that's where I'm from," she said.
"Exactly," Gulthar said.
"But you could go to the human plane, and be real powerful," Connie said. "Nobody knows how to do magic there, hardly." She picked at the velvet tablecloth that was under the crystal ball, then looked at Gulthar. "Why don't you go there?"
Now Gulthar leaned back in his tall backed wood chair, closing his eyes. "I suppose you will need to know eventually. Do you like history?"
"I hate it," she said. "Miss Ming was our substitute in that class, too, and she didn't believe me when I told her about the war that the giants and the elves had. Thunder told me all about it."
Gulthar had a half smile now as he thought about Ming, the human woman who had fallen unknowingly into the magic realm, finding herself permanently changed to a unicorn. "So would you prefer to know what happened, or the silly and confused meandering tale of some unicorn?"
"Thunder never lies to me," Connie almost shouted.
"But Thardor only knows what he wants to know, and not all that was," Gulthar said, calling the unicorn that was Connie's usual companion by his elven name. "Unicorns are that way. They are distracted by the facts and the truth, and not the subtleties that create them."
Now Connie was confused. "I don't understand."
"Then listen carefully, and watch." Gulthar waved his hand over the crystal ball, and a sharp and crisp image formed of a large and open field, where a firey red sun cast stark shadows from huge and fearsome creatures. "This is the world as it once was."
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Citorn Gwilellen looked with slight distrust at the shadowy creature that hovered across the table from her. Though there had never been any problems between the etherial demons and the corporeal elves, she still could not comprehend the utter coldness of their being. "Haron, I welcome you to Gwilellen Fane," she said formally, though her tone betrayed her. "What business does the master of the demons have that brings you to my keep?" She shuddered involuntarily as the light from the torches about the great hall made the demon's shape flicker and seem larger than it actually was.
The cloudy figure had red glowing orbs where a human might have had eyes. The sleeves of the cloak that Haron wore twisted slightly, in a manner that would have been impossible for one that had actual limbs with joints. "I come to discuss the fifth plane, from whence the mortals spring," the demon hissed. "Should the elves and demons join, we could purge it of the human filth, and in league with the giants make it a place fit for the immortals to inhabit."
"The giants are mortals as well," Citorn replied uncomfortably. She didn't particularly care for the rough humans either, but felt it best to ignore the short lived creatures. "What of them?"
"The giants are weak minded and will bend to our will." The demon's sleeve bent again slightly, making more of a curve as he gestured. "The trolls and the goblins are such as well, and we have fettered them to our will on our plane."
"Why would you need the human plane as well?"
"Living space," Haron replied. "Many on our plane, and no doubt yours, wish their own fiefdom. Join with us, and we can crush the humans."
It made sense in a way- the humans' plane, though not as attractive as that of the elves, was clearly going to be wasted and overrun by the humans, who tended to breed like flies. "And what of the dragons and the unicorns?" Those were the two other powerful immortal creatures that held their own planes. The leprechauns were disorganized and almost irrelevant, spread among the three planes of the humanoids. Unlike the other immortals, the leprechauns also did not possess the power to travel between planes on their own and had to rely on other immortal creatures to open a rift to take them through.
"The dragons are already allied with us," the demon said. "And the unicorns are ridiculous fools. They are as unimportant as the leprechauns, and will do nothing to oppose us."
Citorn hesitated as she thought. The human plane was a crossroads- elves, dragons, and demons could travel between their own planes and that of the humans by opening a magic rift. Only the unicorns and a few very powerful wizards could open rifts between all of the planes, and anyone that could bend the unicorns to their side would be able to use their ability to travel between the planes to quickly move to almost any spot on any other plane. "But what if the unicorns support the humans?"
"The unicorns will not dare oppose us," Haron declared. His etherial hand drifted across the table, making the sleeve of the robe writhe like a snake. "What say you, Citorn Gwilellen, leader of all elvenkind? Will the elves stand with their fellow immortals and crush the human menace?"
She thought of the crude humans she'd seen, their rough and boorish mannerisms and frequent cruelty even to their own kind. "The elves will do what is right and just."
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"What does she mean by that?" Connie said, her eyes wide. "Are the elves gonna kill everybody?"
"The crystal ball allows us to see not only things distant in space, but distant in time as well," Gulthar explained. "What you are seeing happened a very long time ago."
"You mean even before King Arthur and the Egyptians building the pyramids?" Connie asked. "Or before they invented television?"
"Yes, even before then," Gulthar said. "Now watch more."
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The fat man pounded an ornately cast silver spear on the wooden stage, pointing with his other hand at a small figure inside a steel cage. "The leprechaun stands charged with stealing, fraud, and general mayhem," he shouted at the large crowd that stood in the town's square. The crowd roared back, making an angry noise. "Does anyone speak for his defense before we carry out justice?"
He raised the spear, readying to thrust it into the cage and strike a fatal blow, but paused when the crowd's approving roar suddenly dropped to a quiet murmur, then became silence. The crowd parted in silent awe as a magnificent creature strode forward, a tall silvery unicorn. "I will speak," the unicorn said as he slowly walked to the stage. Ignoring the steps to the raised platform, the unicorn sprung easily to it, walking to stand a meter away from the fat man, who now turned and held the spear in a cautious manner.
"Speak your peace, then," the fat man said, his voice not quite as certain as before. "Thought it will do this rogue no good."
The unicorn looked at the man, flicking an ear half back in a gesture of contempt and disrespect. "Falguf is a leprechaun, and is as he is," the unicorn said. "He has broken none of your laws, not that your laws are of any merit."
"He swindled us of our gold," the fat man shouted, turning to the crowd to look for support. "In the tavern, with his wine and trickery with cards."
"If you are so foolish as to gamble with a leprechaun while in a drunken stupor, then you deserve to lose your gold." The unicorn looked harshly at the man. "Eward, you tried to cheat Falguf in cards, but were so incompetent as to lose anyway."
The fat man trembled. Rumor had it that unicorns could see into one's soul, and knew the truth about everything. "I only wanted back what was rightly mine," he cried out.
The unicorn flicked his head, and his alicorn sliced into Eward's sleeve, cutting his arm. The man howled in pain as a crimson stain appeared on the sleeve, and the spear clattered to the stage as his now useless hand released it. "Faeone, don't kill me, I beg you," Eward babbled as he fell to his knees.
The unicorn stepped past him. A quick slash of his alicorn sliced through the door of the steel cage like butter, and the leprechaun stepped out. "Faeone, you have my gratitude forever," Falguf said, bowing slightly.
The crowd was beginning to mutter again, still wanting to see a lynching and moving forward toward the platform. If not a leprechaun, then seeing Eward's death would be adequate entertainment. "Kill him, unicorn," someone shouted.
Faeone considered for a moment leaving Eward to his fate, but the unicorn's fundamental kindness won out. "Eward, get on my back," he said, dropping to his hocks and knees.
The fat man looked incredulously, but saw the crowd pressing in and pulled his bulk onto the unicorn's back. Faeone sprung lightly to his hooves. "There will be no killing today," he proclaimed, and he leapt from the stage. The crowd pushed apart in confusion and fear to avoid being crushed by the large creature, and Faeone galloped from the square, bearing the still bleeding and confused Eward from the town and into the countryside, leaving the crowd staring at his departure.
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"I'd a' let them kill the fat guy," Connie said. "He was a rotten crook and was gonna kill the leprechaun. Why'd the unicorn save him?"
"Because Faeone is a unicorn, and unicorns don't think, not even old ones," Gulthar said. "They just react on their instincts. It would have been just and proper to let the townsfolk kill Eward, but if Faeone had not saved him that day, the world that you know would not have been."
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The road led out into the countryside, which was filled with the huts of farmers. Humans hadn't lived here very long, and the farms were frequently interspersed with dense forests. After a half hour, they'd passed into a thick wood, and Faeone slowed to a trot, then stopped. "Well, Eward, I suppose this is where we should part ways."
Eward remained still on the unicorn's back. "Faeone, I'll bleed to death if you leave me here," he whined.
Faeone turned his head to the left, turning his ear back and regarding the man with one eye. "I didn't cut you that deeply, Eward."
"The forest creatures will eat me. It's full of lions, and wolves."
"That's true," the unicorn admitted. "They probably will smell your blood, and come and tear you to shreds after they chase you down. You might climb a tree, but a lion will climb up after you, and wolves will circle it until you starve and fall out."
Eward let out a mournful howl, then began to cry. "Unicorn, I beg you. Don't leave me here."
Faeone was annoyed, and stomped a hoof. "Where would you have me take you? Back to the human village? They'd kill you."
"Why did you save the leprechaun?" Eward asked. "Unicorns have to save the innocent, right?"
"No," Faeone replied. "That's a human legend. Falguf probably does cheat and steal from drunks."
"Then you knew I cheated him, from looking at my soul," the man replied. "You can look at my soul, I'm not that evil that you'd leave me to die, am I?"
"I have no idea what your soul is like. That's another silly human legend." Faeone looked up at the sun, dimly visible through the leaves. "You'd have about four hours of daylight left before the wolves come out to hunt. Lions usually hunt at night, too, but sometimes they do during the day." As if to confirm this, they heard a distant roar as a lion brought down a kill.
Eward started to cry again. "Then why did you save the leprechaun and you won't me?"
"Because I like Falguf, and he gives me ale," Faeone replied. "And I don't like you."
"At least take me somewhere there's no lions or wolves," Eward begged.
Faeone considered. "I can take you to the plane of the dragons. They ate all the wolves and lions."
"No! No one ever comes back from there!"
Faeone lowered his head slightly. "The plane of the elves?"
"They hate humans, they'd kill me or make me a slave!"
"Demons plane?"
Eward almost fell from the unicorn's back, having to grasp desperately to Faeone's mane. The unicorn stepped to the left, recentering the man's balance. "Demons eat your soul," Eward said.
"They actually don't," Faeone corrected him. "They take over your body, so that they can have a solid form, then discard it when they find one they like better or you die. But you can protect yourself from demons."
"How?"
"This will only hurt a little." Faeone bucked suddenly, sending Eward spilling to the ground. The unicorn stood over him, then tilted his head down, slashing again with his alicorn on Eward's good arm, barely cutting the skin. A series of faint scratches began to bleed. "There."
"What did you do?" Eward said, looking at his arm. Strangely, the bleeding stopped almost immediately, a scar already starting to form showing a symbol that looked like an inverted V with a crescent through it's center.
"I've marked you with a glypth of protection," Faeone replied calmly. "No demon will take your body now. They might kill you, but they can't take your body."
Eward touched the strange marking with his hand. "What is the plane of the demons like?"
"Get up," Faeone commanded. A faint bluish haze had appeared nearby.
"What's that?" Eward asked, staring.
"An interplanar rift," the unicorn explained. "Follow me." The unicorn walked to the bluish haze, followed by the human. Through the misty swirling color, they could see a field. "The demon's plane."
Eward paused. The distant lion roared again, and the fat man stepped into the rift. Faeone suddenly whinnied loudly, then stepped through himself. On the human plane, the haze lingered for a moment, then vanished, leaving only a set of hoofprints and footprints that abruptly ended as if their creators had vanished- which indeed they had.
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The field they stepped into was covered by a sky that can only be described as an angry color of orange, much like the sunset one might see on a summer's day, though it was near noon. The sun that hovered above the field itself looked almost pale, making the green grass of the field reflect more of a brownish hue. Faeone watched Eward gawk about. "Where are the demons?"
"Far from here," the unicorn said as he began to walk toward a road. "Come with me." The two reached the road- unlike the rutted dirt path they'd seen on the human plane, this one was of cobblestones, clearly well cared for, and stretched off into the distance in both directions. Despite the short distance they'd walked, Eward was already puffing from exhaustion, and the unicorn looked at him, both ears half pinned back. "I suppose if we are to travel any distance at all, I'll have to bear your weight."
"Where are you taking me?" the fat man asked. Faeone carefully lay on his belly beside the road, allowing Eward again to climb to his back, then the unicorn stood, pressing his weight first to his forelegs then gathering and standing with his powerful hind end.
"There are humans that live here, though not many. Most are under the sway of the demons, who they worship," Faeone said as he broke to a trot. Eward clumsily grabbed the unicorn's mane to keep from falling. "Try to sit a little straighter and spare my back."
"Sorry," Eward said. "I don't ride many horses."
Faeone snorted. "A boon for them, then. We will be going to see the dwarves." Despite the cobblestones, the unicorn's hoofbeats were almost inaudible, as he pushed to a faster trot, then a canter. "Though they may also refuse you refuge, if you will do as I say, they may tolerate you for a time before killing you or worse."
Eward began to blubber again. "Unicorn, I thought you promised me safety."
"I promised you nothing," the unicorn replied. "What do you know of dwarves?"
"They're small?"
Faeone, turned his head slightly and snorted again. "You humans have an abundance of ignorance about everything, don't you?" When the man didn't reply, he went on. "Dwarves live here, on the demon's plane. Like the giants, and the goblins and the trolls. But the dwarves aren't like the others." Faeone brought his head up, looking far down the road, and slowed his gait for a moment, then resumed it. "Dwarves are not fundamentally evil, like goblins and trolls and demons, nor are they as stupid as giants. They are meant to be kind and fair, as no others on this plane are, so that the horses here can have someone good to care for them." The unicorn slowed, then stopped as they reached the top of a hill. A small settlement of buildings, much like the one where Faeone had rescued first Falguf then Eward, stretched out, it's streets widely dispersed. Homes were each surrounded by small plots of land featuring gardens, and wash hung out from many buildings, arrayed from their eaves or draped over shrubbery to dry. Many dwarves, looking much like humans though shorter and stouter, moved about on various tasks. "The town of Uank," Faeone stated. "The dwarves here may welcome you, but you must remain silent, and not speak to them until you first listen. Dwarves have solid hearts, and unicorns trust them more than any others." Faeone began to trot, and Eward again had to grasp his mane as the unicorn suddenly broke into a full gallop, racing into the town as the townsfolk who were unfortunate enough to be in his path had to leap desperately from the way. One fell, and Eward let out a cry as he desperately held to the unicorn's neck as Faeone leapt over the dwarf. Finally, the unicorn threw his hind legs forward, sliding to a stop in a cloud of dust. Townsfolk came running from all directions, attracted by the commotion, and crowded about. Most stared not at Faeone, as they had seen unicorns before, but at Eward.
"He's not a giant," one said wonderingly, "yet so much larger than a dwarf."
"What is he?" another asked.
A dust covered dwarf carrying a large basket ran up. "He let out a shriek like a banshee, and flew over Pelgos, I saw it with my own eyes," she said, pointing.
Faeone bowed slightly. "Good folk of Uank, bring forth your mayor Airn."
An older dwarf with one ear missing came up, pushing the others aside. "Well met, Faeone." The tone of his voice seemed somewhat suspicious as he said this, as he eyed Eward.
"Well met, Airn," Faeone replied, bowing slightly. "And I present your champion, Eward the Demonslayer, who will protect you from this day onward from the demons and deliver the elves to freedom." Faeone felt the man suddenly relax, then Eward's weight suddenly shift as the man fainted.
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"Is all that stuff true?" Connie asked Gulthar. She'd forgotten about the lesson in using the crystal ball and was instead absorbed by the story that unfolded.
"That Faeone said? Not as we understand truth," Gulthar replied. "But truth to a unicorn is very different than that for us."
"Truth is an absolute, what happened has actually happened," Connie said. "Miss Ming told us that."
"Miss Ming is a human, or was." Gulthar tugged his beard, then twirled it a bit. He wore it only because he thought it made him look a bit older and more powerful. "All of the planes once were in the same place, but the truths of each made them drift apart, only held together by a common magic."
"How can truth be different?"
"You call them 'laws of physics'," Gulthar said. "Most are the same, but a few are different, and the immortal creatures- the elves, the demons, the unicorns, the dragons, and the leprechauns- each had their own truths that in turn made them age to only a certain point very slowly, then not at all."
"So they lived forever?"
"Only until a magic weapon might slay one, or the teeth and claws of a dragon, or the alicorn of a unicorn, or the mana of a powerful wizard," Gulthar said gravely. He leaned slightly on the table, seeming suddenly tired. "So among the planes, only the magic is the same. For the demons, their truths hold on their own plane and that of the mortals, so demons might step unaided only there. With elves, and dragons, the same- their truths held on their own plane and that of the mortals, so they might step only between those two. The unicorns, in their acceptance of everything as it is, were able to believe all the truths, even those that were in conflict, so could step between all the planes." He shook his head, still amazed. "How unicorns can remain so happily ignorant is amazing to me still."
Connie started to pout at this statement, then ignored it, driven by curiousity. "What about leprechauns?"
"Leprechauns are quite the opposite of unicorns and believe in nothing." Gulthar again regarded the crystal ball. "So again, the only common thread is magic, and the magic trailing between the planes opens rifts that the immortals might step through, or bring others through."
"How can Thunder go long distances in one plane by going into another one?" Connie asked.
"We will see that later," Gulthar said. "Do you want to watch more?"
"Yeah, this is a lot better than TV," Connie said enthusiastically.
********************************************** Eward squeezed his eyes tightly shut as he awoke. "I'll never drink again," he said, wondering about the awful nightmare.
"I doubt that," an unpleasantly familiar voice said as Eward opened his eyes, gasping slightly. He was in what seemed to the man an incredibly luxurious room- though the bed he was in was a bit too short, it was covered with a fine red velvet comforter. A nightstand, hewn from fine oak, held his clean and neatly folded coat, and a matching chest sat against the far wall. Draperies made of the same red velvet as the comforter hung in the windows. Though they were drawn, a bit of light leaked about the edges, revealing that it was late afternoon- or early morning.
His eyes, though, settled not on all the finery but on the unicorn that stood in the room as well. "It wasn't a dream, then," the man moaned. "You brought me here for the demons to kill."
"I brought you here to save you," Faeone said, turning his head slightly to one side and regarding Eward from his right eye. "And to perform a small task for me in return. I need you to slay a demon."
"I'm not a warrior. A demon would kill me."
"Maybe so," Faeone admitted. "But at least it won't eat you, like the wolves would have."
"You tricked me into coming here," Eward said accusingly. "This is all your doing."
Faeone snorted, bobbing his head and pointing his alicorn directly at the man. "I was not so foolish as to gamble with a leprechaun." The unicorn paused a moment, as if lost in some memory. "Well, at least not for anything of particular value."
Squeezing his eyes tightly shut again, Eward pulled the comforter over his head, hoping still to wake up. "What's so important about slaying a demon, anyway? Why don't the dwarves just do it?"
"They don't know that they can." The unicorn lowered his head slightly, his ears half back, and he began to pace, his hooves echoing slightly on the wood floor, their resonance changing slightly as he trod across the fine carpet. Though the room was quite large, Faeone's tail kept coming precariously close to a large and ornate vase every time he passed it. "The dwarves have been subjugated by the demons for as long as I have lived."
"Then just tell them that they can," Eward said, pulling his head from beneath the cover. "Tell them, and leave me out of it."
"I need you to show them that they can do it," the unicorn replied, stopping and turning to face the human. "Besides, there is a particular demon that is a... problem for me." Faeone's ears came erect, and he turned his head slightly to the left, critically evaluating the balding Eward. "Do you believe in fate?"
"Like magic, you mean?"
"Fate. Fate, fate, fate. Not magic," Faeone snorted, tossing his head slightly and sending his long forelock drooping to one side of his alicorn. "Magic is something you do. Fate is something that is."
"I don't understand," Eward whined.
The unicorn stomped his hoof. "I was looking for a human warrior to fight the demon." The unicorn swished his tail, missing the vase but sending a book tumbling to the floor. "I found you, waving that spear about, and hoped that you were the one. I'd not intended to go to your town, but I was told of Falguf's predicament."
"But how did you know I'd cheated?"
The unicorn seemed surprised, and brought his head up. "You were so careless as to brag about it, and humans can keep nothing secret."
The covers went back over Eward's head. "So now I'm going to die here, killed by a demon, just for cheating at cards. Just leave me here, I'd rather die in bed. Maybe the demon will kill me when I'm sleeping."
The velvet comforter tore almost silently in two as Faeone's alicorn slashed it, and Eward wimpered slightly as the man touched his face to make certain the razor sharp horn had not cut him again. "You cannot fail," the unicorn said. "And to die would be to fail." He pulled at the man's sleeve with his teeth. "Get up." The unicorn's ears came back, pinned against his head. "Get up, now."
Eward slowly sat up- the hypothetical death from a demon was one thing, the very real possibility of the unicorn killing him was quite tangible, and the coldness of the unicorn's voice sent chills into his spine. "I don't understand," the man said, his voice faltering. "Why do you want this one demon killed?"
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Most living beings would have found Haron's castle cold, damp and clammy. For the ethereal demon, temperature and humidity did not matter at all- he could grasp the concepts, but did not feel these as other creatures might- but he could feel the discomfort of those not of his kind, and for him their slight emotional disturbance was quite pleasing, much as the scent of roses or of a fresh spring rain might refresh a human or an elf. Virtually nothing would grow in the rocky soil in the rough terrain, nestled in a box canyon, and the food for the dragons who loitered about as well as the giants and dwarves that toiled ceaselessly had to be brought in from the valley and farms nearly twenty miles distant. The demon looked out with pleasure at the scene- soon, the armor and weapons would be complete for the army of giants, who along with the dragons he'd soon hurl onto the humans' plane. "And then, unto the elves," the demon hissed aloud, thinking of the future.
"A risky plan." Agulith floated into the room. Among the demons, Haron was supreme, yet he knew Agulith was his equal, and he listened to her counsel. "How certain can you be that the giants and trolls will be able to outfight the elves?" The stupidity of giants and trolls was something that Haron had to admit was the sole weakness to his plan. Dragons were lazy, but intelligent enough to be motivated, but an army of giants might be diverted by a single clever leprechaun. "You will accompany the giants, and be certain they do not waste themselves," Haron replied. The trolls would be expended, along with the elves, fighting the humans. Then, weakened and tired from the battle, the elves would be easy victims to the fresh and strong giants, wielding the magic weapons that he'd painstakingly researched. It was not easy, as the weapons were forged by dwarves who had no magical ability whatsoever, but Haron had finally made his breakthrough- throwing living creatures into the molten vats of iron had resulted in the blackened steel, and writing magic runes on the weapons forged from this- using the blood of an immortal creature- had resulted in a weapon that would kill an elf, or leprechaun, or even a unicorn, even though a mere mortal creature like a giant might wield it. It had not been too difficult forging the steel; any living creature would do, though Haron found great pleasure in having dwarves tossed into the vat- charging them with laziness, it inspired the others to work harder, and the demon fed on the agony and pain of the victim, getting a feeling of euphoria.
The two demons were interrupted as the gate of the castle crashed open. A wagon piled high with dark iron stock and pulled by a team of a dozen sweating and exhausted horses rolled into the central yard. The gates crashed back shut; the trolls who guarded it not grasping the concept of closing it slowly, and there was a dull thud as the gate came half off one hinge. Shouting trolls began to push on it, a group of dwarves snatched up blocks of wood and timbers and headed to repair it, urged on by one of the lesser demons.
A dragon casually walked lizardlike to where the wagon sat, the horses still puffing with exhaustion. Sitting back on her haunches, she reached out with one of her strong claws and plucked a bay gelding from the wagon's traces, much as one might pick a grape, and stuffed him into her mouth. The horse's terrifying shrieks suddenly and abruptly ended as she snapped her jaws shut, one of the horse's legs falling out of her mouth to the ground as she sloppily chewed the rest.
The weight of the crosstree, no longer held up by the gelding, almost pulled the sorrel mare that had been hitched beside him to the ground, but she struggled to stay on her hooves. She knew that any horse that collapsed was likely to become a meal for the trolls, and she shuddered as she thought how close she'd come to being a meal for the dragon. Enduring the moments, she waited as the dwarves unhitched the team and led her and the other ten horses to the sparse building that served as a stable. It's cold, rough stone floor was uncovered by any straw- the horses, desperately hungry, had long ago eaten the little that was there. The dwarf that led her tied her to a ring in the wall, then began to gently brush the sweat from her coat, using his hands- there were no brushes spared for the horses. "Easy now, mare," he said soothingly. "I'll bring you a bit of water and hay. There's not much, and it's spoiled, but you deserve better." He paused in his grooming. "We all do. Not that you understand a thing I'm saying."
[i] But I do, [/i] she thought.
She reached back with her nose, as far as the slack in the rope would allow, and gently nudged the dwarf's shoulder with her nose. He began to rub her flank, trying to wipe the foamy sweat away. "I won't stop, then." He touched her flank, and she twitched involuntarily as the foal insider her kicked in reaction. The dwarf stopped again. "Poor mare. The damned trolls will take your colt for supper."
She trembled again, not from the colt's kicking but from knowing that what the dwarf said was true. Her dream had turned to a nightmare of the worst kind, her wish to live as a horse in a fairy tale land having suddenly turned into a horror tale.
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"So who was she?" Connie demanded. "Was she from the same town as Eward? And why did Faeone take her to the demon plane?"
Gulthar shook his head. "A unicorn was involved- they cannot seem to resist taking advantage of lonely humans. She was not from Eward's town, or even his time."
Despite her age, Connie immediately grasped the implication. "If she was from another time, how did she get there?"
"Watch," Gulthar said. He was pleased, as he watched the image again coalesce in the crystal orb- Connie was now so engrossed that she was controlling the magic device entirely herself, without thinking, and her mastery was quickly growing.
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"But my project..." Anna Prentice looked across her desk, scattered with tiny unicorn figurines, printed technical schematics and printed circuit boards at the head of engineering.
"I'm sorry, Anna," he said gruffly. Nathan Wood pressed his lips tightly together. This was part of the job he hated the most, but it was becoming more and more common. He'd still not gotten used to it, even though this was the fifth time this week he'd had to break the news and the twentieth- or was it the twenty-first- since the year had started.. "I know this is a bad time, for everybody. But the 3000 project's been cancelled, and everyone that's working on it..."
He didn't have to finish. Anna cast her eyes to the side, looking at a large electronic device that dominated the lab. "Will anyone else finish it?" she asked hopefully. Like all engineers, seeing her creation come to life was more of a reward than her paycheck. "Is it just postponed?"
Wood stood up. "Strategic Planning decided to can it. They don't see it as being likely to add to our profit this year, so..."
"I know. All the research units will be destroyed as a tax writeoff." She opened one desk drawer, then slammed it shut. "Nate, we're so close. Can't they just give me another week? I'll work for free, defer my severance..." She looked up hopefully. "Nate?"
"Decision's been made. I already asked." Wood was sincere- he'd begged, made the same offer himself. [i] Damned idiots have no more vision than the instant bottom line. Laying off the best theoretical physicist in this company, maybe the entire industry, and canning a program that could change society...[/i] He looked over at the burned out prototype sitting on a nearby workbench. They'd known it would only work for an instant, the forces involved straining the edge of the technical envelope, but for an incredible instant they'd managed to open a hole in space- they weren't sure where it went, and it was only the size of a dime, but the implications of their 'artificial wormhole' were incredible. That had been a year ago- and Prentice's team had labored since, building a better unit, one that would- in theory- remain stable and hold the portal open, perhaps for a minute. Long enough to find out where it went- or when it went; Prentice had theorized that the most likely case was that it led somewhere nearby, perhaps a few miles away, but there was a tiny chance that it could stretch across time- or in the more farfetched explanations, into an alternate dimension. He reached down, picking up one of the small unicorns- he thought it might be ceramic, but was surprised at it's weight. [i] Must be a metal casting. [/i]. "Go ahead and take the rest of the week off. You're still on payroll until Friday, just have to be back Friday afternoon to see Personnel for your exit interview."
"I think I'll stay here...clean up my desk," she replied morosely.
Wood left, leaving her staring at the desk, and she felt tears in her eyes. She'd thrown her life into physics- her parents and teachers pushed her hard, insisting that she give up her childhood dreams and desire to ride horses, instead pointing to her aptitude tests. "There aren't many girls so good in math and physics," they'd said, "you have to be an example." She picked up the tiny figurine that Wood had held, replacing it on the spot of her desk he'd picked it from. Some people called her 'anal Anna' for that reason; despite the seeming disorder of her desk and workspace everything, from the figurines to bent paperclips, had a precise spot that she insisted on. She'd overheard it in the hallway, or in the lunchroom, but tried to ignore it. It was one reason she'd stayed single, not grown close to anyone in her thirty eight years [i] Fine example for others to follow.. Follow me to failure, to be cancelled like a bad television show. 'This episode of Anal Anna's life was brought to you by the visionaries at Megalith Corporation, where research in how to make your toothbrush change color in hot water is more important than something that could end world hunger or provide infinite energy. [/i]. She started to wonder if she should have taken the assignment to the project to change toothbrush colors- at least she'd still be employed.
Again she opened the drawer, this time taking out her handbag. Looking at the unicorn figurines, she picked them up and placed them in, saving the heavy metal one for last. She'd found it on a trip to Germany, to visit Megalith's Flensburg branch, in an odd junk shop. It was her favorite, mainly because unlike the other ones, it was unique and seemed very old and special. She regarded it for a long moment, then slid it into her pocket and snapped her purse shut.
The '3000' prototype was her next item of attention. It was almost complete- the generator coils that had taken months to hand assemble, the fine precision of the fiber optic transfer circuitry, the custom computer processor core that rivaled anything that NASA possessed. All that was lacking was the shielding that would protect the operators if something went wrong and the field destabilized. "Well, we'll never know that, will we?" she asked herself aloud as she ran her hand almost lovingly across the control unit.
[i] Or will we? Everyone will be going home at five, morale is shot. [/i] She glanced at the clock- 4:45. Her heart pounding, she slipped her purse back into the desk drawer and silently - as if someone would hear her- walked to a storage closet and stepped inside. Turning out the light, she felt foolish- what if the security guard looked in, found her standing there? But he, too, had seen his coworkers terminated, and had become sloppy- she heard him open the door to the lab, then close it. She waited a few more minutes, then came back out, touching the unicorn in her pocket as if to find some kind of reassurance, and stepped to the master control unit.
The lab was long and narrow, with a fairly large space behind the unit's field projector. That was where it would generate the anomaly. The original had made a near explosion when it had blown out, shattering windows throughout the building, and Prentice wondered if this much larger unit might do the same or worse. She considered for a moment leaving- just walking out, telling the guard she'd been in the ladies' room, but the temptation and knowledge that this might be her last and only chance to find out if the wormhole generator would actually work. This was it- if it didn't, her life was wasted. She thought of what might have been- if she'd ignored her parents and teachers and pursued the joy she'd found so briefly when taking riding lessons, in the unquestioning and undemanding companionship of a horse who'd been sold to help pay for math camp. Holding her breath, she moved the main power switch from 'off' to 'standby' and watched the LCD readouts as the computer methodically energized the coils one by one. As with the prototype, small bursts of static began to jump between the coils, and she worried that the guard might hear and return, but focused instead on the data pouring across the LED readout screens. [i]Power is stabilizing properly... odd, there's a lot of feedback, almost like there's a machine on the other end...[/i] for an instant, she wondered if there was - perhaps an alternate dimension, her duplicate was performing the same experiment and the two wormholes would connect. Her eyes went back to the readout- the coils were approaching full charge- then back up to the projection field.
It was much larger than before, and was forming a purplish haze. She thought of stories she'd read as a child, of wizards stirring up storms, and let her mind fantasize for a moment. Again her hand slipped into her pocket, touching the unicorn figurine, and impulsively she spoke aloud. "I wish a unicorn would come and take me away from this life."
As if on cue, half the readouts on the panel turned red- the field strength was surging out of control, just as it had with the prototype. Her hands flew to the master disconnect, shutting off the power feed, but she realized with a growing panic that the field was rolling back into itself and had become it's own power source. In theory, the field would continue to grow until the coils could no longer contain it, and the subatomic particles would then scatter in all directions in a rough approximation of a nuclear explosion. Already neutrons were releasing in random directions, and she could feel the unicorn in her pocket growing hot. [i] Gamma radiation- oh God, what have I done? [/i] She tried reversing the polarity of the modules, but it was no use- the field no longer was controllable by the puny capability of man's technology. It was now governed by the laws of quantum physics, had gone beyond even her brilliant theories, and was...
It was stabilizing. Impossible, but the readouts showed that something was stabilizing it from the other end. The field began to coalesce, the purplish haze shrinking into a defined shape, and something- something large was coming through. She looked up from the panel to see what visitor would come through- whoever, whatever it was, this was going to change human civilization; some visitor from another dimension, from the future, or from some alien planet whose technology dwarfed our own. She shielded her face as the purplish glow became blinding for a moment, then faded, the room silent save for the rhythmic click of superheated metal in the half melted coils contracting. She took her hands down from her eyes.
A tall creature stood regarding her quizzically. It was silvery white, and if not for the gold horn on it's forehead she would have mistaken it for a horse. It was the last thing she would have expected.
"A unicorn," she said almost in a whisper. She walked forward, entranced, stretching her hand out. The unicorn stood, calm and fearless, as if he visited science laboratories every day, watching her approach, his ears forward in curiosity. She touched his horn- it was called an alicorn, she remembered, and found it smooth and cool; it didn't feel quite like horn, but felt strange, almost a metallic substance like gold, but not quite unnatural either. Her hand slid down the unicorn's face to touch his cheek- his hair was soft and smooth, much like her horse's face had been after a thorough brushing. She was standing close, felt the creature's breath, and felt an incredible thrill. Her project hadn't exactly produced the results she'd expected, but now no one could possibly refuse continued funding to repair and upgrade her generator, and open a path to wherever the animal had come from. "Wait until everyone sees you," she said aloud, excitement in her voice. "You'll be on the front page of every newspaper in the country."
Prentice then got the second enormous shock of the hour. "Fair maiden, what is a newspaper, and how would I stand on more than one?" the unicorn replied.
"You can talk!" she gasped out.
The unicorn tilted his head slightly to the right, then down, regarding her with his left eye critically. "Have you ever met a unicorn who could not, save a newborn foal?" He picked both ears up, turning his head more. "Where, pray tell, are we?"
"You can talk! I've never met a unicorn before," she babbled excitedly. "We're in Chicago, at the main research facility for Megalith, and I'm Anna Prentice, and I brought you here!"
Looking back amused, the unicorn replied, "I beg to differ, Lady Anna. Never have I gone through a rift involuntarily, yet the one I stepped through is not one that leads here. Are we on the humans' plane?" He looked around. "I fear I have never heard of this place. Is the king of Chicago far from here?"
Her mind shifted back into physicists' mode. [i]So there are other planes. And if he has traveled through them before, they must have technology to open stable rifts. [/i] "The rifts- do your owners control them? Why do they send you through?" Obviously there was no way that a unicorn could build the complex machinery needed to control a rift, and she was already theorizing that the legends of unicorns likely were partly true- whoever was in the other dimension had likely bred the animals specifically to masquerade as horses, and sent them through to investigate and report- like a kind of a space probe.
The unicorn was less amused at this question, pinning one ear all the way back. "I wear no one's collar, Lady Anna, nor does any unicorn, and no one directs our comings and goings." He half bobbed his head. "Perhaps I should be going now."
"I'm sorry...forgive me, please don't go," she stammered, and wrapped her hand around his neck, burying her face in the unicorn's soft mane as she had done so many years ago with her horse. "Please. Stay and talk with me," she pleaded, suddenly realizing that she'd had a longer and more personal conversation with this strange visitor than she'd had with anyone else in the past decade.
The unicorn brought his muzzle down gently, touching her back as he heard the emotion in her voice, and feeling a growing attraction for this human woman that he knew was dangerous. Clearly she must be a powerful wizard, if she had been able to bend the destination point of the rift that he'd stepped through.. "Forgive me as well for being rude and not introducing myself, Lady Anna. I am Faeone, And from your strange manner of speech and these peculiar magical devices I believe I must be in a strange place, indeed."
"This didn't happen long ago, did it?" Connie demanded excitedly. "She's in Chicago right now, right?"
Gulthar rubbed his chin, tugging on his beard again. "You can look through time and space, if you master your art, and you can tell 'when' something is as well as where it is."
Connie held her hands against the crystal ball, then looked at the wizard who sat watching her patiently. "This is going to happen in a month...what if we went there and told her what was going to happen?" Connie knew enough of the powers of unicorns to guess how she'd become a horse, laboring in duress for the demons in the far past.
"Then things would be very different," Gulthar replied. "Even if she didn't believe us she would still do things differently than she will, and it is very possible that the outcome of what has happened in the past would be different- and unpleasant for many more people and creatures. You must remember this , Connie."
"What about Faeone?"
"For Faeone, this happened a year before he saved Falguf and Eward." The wizard paused, seeing Connie's confusion. "Moving through time is possible for unicorns, though fortunately they do not realize it. For Anna Prentice's device, through crude mechanical means, twisted a rift that through chance Faeone was stepping through, or will do so in a month's time."
"Let's watch some more," Connie urged. "I want to see what happens to her, how she ended up as a horse, and why Faeone didn't go rescue her or something." She returned her gaze to the glass ball.
"Time enough for your voyeurism later," Gulthar stated.
"Please, just a little more?" Connie's tone turned to pleading.
"Well, a tiny bit then," he relented. "But then, back to the history of Eward and Faeone. The story of Faeone and Anna Prentice is for another time." Gulthar was glad that Connie was staring at the crystal ball and not watching him as he brushed back a tear. He knew Faeone and Prentice's story already.
Faeone was already feeling a strange empathy to this human woman. It is rumored that unicorns cannot resist a virgin; which is not true- they are, however, attracted to those that are pure of heart. Whether Anna Prentice was either is irrelevant; the two were lonely for reasons that were both the same and incredibly different. They stood together for a moment, her hand stroking his powerful neck, her face still pressed to his mane, when he suddenly brought his head up with slight alarm.
"The rift is closing," he said.
The scientist in Prentice awoke again. She walked over to the machine's readouts. "You're right...how do you know?"
Faeone tilted his head and snorted. "I'm a unicorn. We can feel rifts."
"But how?"
He was puzzled. "We just do. How else would we open them if we could not find them?"
"You can open them?" she asked. "With no machinery?"
"How can a machine open a rift?" Bemused, the unicorn tapped his forehoof. "I must be going," he said, his voice tempered with reluctance.
She walked slowly over to him, reaching out again as a pounding came on the door. "Security- open up," a deep voice commanded, followed by more pounding.
Faeone looked at the lab's wrecked machinery, snorted and lowered his head slightly as if contemplating. A purplish glow began to form, faint then coalescing rapidly. He looked at Prentice, turning his head toward her. "Good bye, my lady," he said softly, their eyes meeting; his mirroring the pleading he could see in hers as he started to step into the rift.
She instantly decided. "Take me with you," she said stepping up and throwing her arm around his neck.
The door burst open as the security guard forced the lock open. Unicorns act and do not think; Faeone, with Anna Prentice holding tight to him, pushed the rift open with his mind and stepped in.
The image faded. "So what happened next?" Connie asked.
Gulthar glanced at the window- it was late afternoon. "That is a story best told when you are a bit older," he stated.
"I know where babies come from," Connie retorted. "And I know what unicorns can do. He changed her into a horse and then he..."
Connie suddenly stopped, seeing a scowl on the wizard's face. "Faeone was a young unicorn then, yes. And like Thardor young unicorns sometimes do not not show much self control, nor do human women at times, either. Anna Prentice and Faeone were very special...you will have to see their story, but once you are older, when you can appreciate and understand. But for now, let us return to the story of Eward and Faeone."
Eward sullenly followed the silent unicorn down a hallway, where Faeone stopped in front of a large and heavy door. "Within this room is a horde of treasure that the dwarves have collected," Faeone said, tilting his head and neck to watch Eward's reaction.
Despite his fear, a tiny glint of greed showed in Eward's eyes. "How much treasure?"
Faeone snorted, tossing his head slightly and sending his forelock over his left eye. The unicorn shook his head again, but some of the hair still lingered. "The sort of rubbish that humans and dwarves and leprechauns value so much. Rocks and metal, but also some items that we will need to defeat the demon."
Eward pushed the door open, finding a large room filled with piles of gold coins, jewelry in a variety of styles and design, and armor and weapons in various states of repair. "There's a king's fortune here," he said softly. "All the gold, the gems..."
"Like I said, metal and rocks." The unicorn walked in, his hooves making slight crunching sounds as he walked across the coins. "It seems so foolish, to labor so much in exchange for some bits of gold that one cannot eat, does not keep one warm, or make one happy."
"Don't you own anything?" Eward asked, as he picked up a handful of coins and let them drip through his fingers.
Faeone pinned his ears back in annoyance. "Only things of true value." He walked to a slightly battered suit of armor. "This appears your size."
"It's dented," Eward protested. "What about that set over there?" He indicated a shiny set that glinted a mirror finish.
The unicorn reached with his alicorn and flipped the armor over, showing a huge rent in it's back, still stained dark with blood. "It did little for it's last user, but if you would prefer to look pretty instead of be safe..."
Eward was already pulling the dented set over his head. "It's light," he said in surprise.
"It's magic armor," the unicorn confided. "Made by the elves."
"How did the dwarves get it?"
"Probably they stole it," Faeone replied. "Now, do you know how to use a sword?"
"Uh, I think you'd just swing it," Eward said as he tried on a helmet that sported a lizardlike noseguard.
"Take that off at once." Faeone lowered his alicorn threateningly.
It clattered to the ground, Eward's knees shaky from the unicorn's abrupt anger. "Why?"
"It's evil. Dragons are evil." The unicorn walked over, plucking another helmet from the ground with his alicorn and bringing it to Eward. "This one will do."
The human shrugged, putting it on. The bulky man had been somewhat transformed, the armor camoflauging his fat and making him look more muscular and soldierly. "Now what kind of sword should I use?" He looked hopefully at some jewel encrusted blades. [i] One of those swords...I'll take it with me, once the unicorn loses interest. I could buy an entire city, or a castle with the gold I could sell it for.[/i] He reached over, picking one up and feeling it's heft in his hand, but carefully put it down when the unicorn stared at him, pinning an ear back in warning.
"Only a magic weapon will work on an immortal creature like a demon, so do not think of how garish it is," Faeone said, sending chills through Eward's spine as the man again wondered if the unicorn could indeed read his mind. "True beauty is measured from within, and from the essence of being." The unicorn walked to a corner. "Come here," he commanded.
Eward walked carefully, to not slip on the loose piles of gold. The corner featured old jewelry and crowns, both plain and ornate. Faeone reached down as if to graze, instead gently picking up a rather short blade- one could even call it a knife- with his equine lips, carefully placing it in the man's hand. "This one."
Again Eward marveled at the lightness of the blade. It felt more an extension of his hand than a knife. Though mostly plain, there was a very fine engraving in the silvery blade, one that caught even the dim light of the room and sparkled. The hilt was made of some unusual material, unlike anything that the man had ever seen, and Eward suddenly realized that the weapon in his hand, as the unicorn had implied, was of more value than all of the gold and silver swords in the room. "What is this handle made from?" he marveled. "What manner of material is this, smooth and light and so perfect?"
The unicorn didn't answer for a second, as if looking somewhere far away, letting his head sag slightly. "Something from another time and place, very far away." The unicorn brought his head up sharply, so close to Eward that he could feel the warmth of the unicorn's breath on his face, as Faeone brought his left eye next to the man's face, leaving him uncomfortable as if the unicorn stared into his soul. "This weapon was forged for one purpose only, Eward. It was made by the leprechauns, at my behest, to slay a demon."
Eward's head spun. "Why would a unicorn have a...I don't understand. Unicorns can't use a knife, and they can slay demons with their alicorn."
The unicorn flared his nostrils, his face still beside Eward's. "Do this for me, Eward. Slay the demon with this blade, and I will be in your debt, and the dwarves will give you more wealth than you can imagine."
The fat man was flabbergasted. To have a unicorn in one's debt... "this demon must be incredibly powerful... why cannot you do this yourself?" he quizzed. His fear was growing slightly again. Perhaps all the gold, and the unicorn's gratitude, would be meaningless as he'd not survive the battle.
Again Faeone hung his head. "I suppose it is fair you understand." He began to carefully walk toward the door. Eward followed, sliding the short weapon into a too big scabbard and grabbing a shield as they walked from the room. The unicorn began to walk down the hallway, and the smell of food cooking met Eward's nostrils; the man realized that they were to eat and he realized his hunger.
Walking into a area filled with tables, conversations suddenly stopped or became muted, and Eward felt uncomfortable as a dozen dwarves stopped eating and stared at him. "Why are they watching?" he awked the unicorn.
"You are their champion," Faeone replied as he walked to a table. He stood beside it, and Eward plopped heavily into a chair, puffing slightly from exertion of carrying even the relatively light armor.
"Why don't they kill the demon?" Eward quizzed. A lovely young dwarf woman had brought a tankard of ale to the man, and a bucket of ale for the unicorn. As Eward took a drink of the cool liquid, he could see others bringing them plates of food, and he noted with surprise that instead of hay or oats they brought the unicorn a plate of bread.
Faeone picked a roll up and began to chew it, then took a deep drink of ale from the bucket. "Trolls came to this village while I was away with the menfolk of the town," the unicorn began. "Off to chase wolves from the forest, who had been raiding their flocks. My mare was staying here, with Airn the mayor's wife."
"What did they come for?" Eward asked, bumping his face as he tried to wipe food from his face on the metal sleeve of the armor.
The unicorn bobbed his head slightly. "Demons and their minions take, without regard or pity," Faeone said. "They meant to loot the town, and likely do evil things to the dwarf women as well."
"So why is the treasure still here?" Eward asked.
"The trolls found that dwarf women are not weak and helpless," the unicorn stated. "Nor had they expected to find a unicorn."
"Your mare?"
"No." Faeone took another drink of ale. "My mare was a horse."
Eward started to laugh, but thought better of it. Faeone pinned an ear back, but went on. "She was not, as you assume, an ordinary mare, but was a human woman who was transformed."
"By an evil wizard?" Eward, despite his limited imagination, was becoming absorbed by the tale.
The unicorn stomped his hoof, pinning both ears back. "No, by me. At her request." Faeone was silent for a moment, then brought his ears forward, his head dropping again in sorrow. "I was her chosen, and she will ever be mine."
Eward knew little but tales of unicorns, but he knew the enormity of what Faeone had said. "But you can have a herd of mares. That's the way unicorns are, right?" The lusty ways of unicorns, both stallions and mares, were well known, and Eward had heard many stories in the tavern of unicorns tricking or beguiling some unwary man or woman into being transformed to a horse for the unicorn's pleasure.
"She was very special," Faeone said softly, strangely not angered by the man's coarse statement. "We returned here, and chased the trolls. We killed most of them, and the few that were left hid in the town's great hall."
Eward began to picture what had happened. "So you'd surrounded them here. And didn't want to destroy the great hall?"
Falguf snorted. "No, you idiot. Destroying a building means nothing, destroying the treasure means nothing. They hid here, and brought with them the dwarves' children." Faeone paused, as if reluctant to go on, but Eward simply stayed silent and stared at him. "This building is built upon a rift. They summoned a demon."
Eward shivered. Demons were something very abstract in the human plane, seldom seen by anyone who would live to tell about it. "You were afraid of the demon?"
"Afraid for the children. And my mare." The unicorn shifted his weight, and began to tap his right forehoof on the wooden floor, seemingly unaware he was doing so. "The trolls were servants of the demon, who let the trolls escape through the rift. They took some of the children with them, as hostages."
"And your mare, too?" Eward asked, starting to feel a tiny bit of empathy.
"She followed them into the rift, along with Airn's wife." Faeone's hoof tapping stopped. Eward had stopped eating, absorbed by the tale, and gawked at the unicorn. "Once we realized they had fled, I opened the rift and the dwarves and I chased them through, only to find the demon waiting on the other side."
"So you fought him?"
"The demon claimed parley." Parley was a tradition; most creatures would honor it, and hold a short truce. "He told us that he had the children held by a dragon and the trolls, and for their safety demanded the dwarves of the town labor for him for five years, and that I take an oath to not kill him."
Eward nodded in understanding, but then frowned. "But then how can you try to find someone else to? I mean, aren't you trying to get me to kill him?"
"I did not swear an oath to not find someone else to kill him, only to not impale him upon my horn," the unicorn replied. "So I am not betraying it." The unicorn pinned his ears back again. "And for my mare, I will have vengeance."
"Didn't he release her as well? And the mayor's wife?"
The unicorn suddenly dropped his head to the table, and Eward was amazed to see tears begin to roll down the great creature's cheek. "They fell, slain by the dragon. We found Airn's wife, and one of the children saw the dragon kill and devour my mare."
"And that, Connie, is why it is so important to learn the use of this magic," Gulthar said as the image faded. "Dwarves, like humans, are not terribly observant, and sometimes see and remember what they fear, and not what is."
"So Airn's wife and the mare were alive?"
"Not Airn's wife," Gulthar corrected. "The dragon had indeed slain her, and was about to devour the mare, but the trolls bickered with the dragon as they were hungry too, and she escaped to hide among a farmer's horses."
"So how did she end up pulling a wagon for Haron the demon?" Connie placed her hands on the crystal ball. "Can we see that?"
"Again, that is part of the story of Anna and Faeone," the wizard chided. "We will see that later. For now, let us continue with the story of Eward."
As the unicorn continued to cry in grief, Eward became aware that the room had filled with numerous dwarves, attired like he was in armor and armed with a variety of mismatched weapons. Airn walked up to the table. "Eward Demonslayer, it is time."
Eward looked up from staring at the unicorn. "Time for what?"
"You will lead us in our march to the castle where Agulith hides, and we shall breach the walls and slay the trolls, then cheer you on as you destroy the demon." The dwarves, perhaps fifty in number, all shouted out, raising their weapons over their heads.
Eward looked at the group- the armor, as the weapons, was mismatched, and they looked more a disorganized mob than any kind of army. Some had only bits and pieces of equipment, and a few were quite old. "How many trolls are there?" he asked, to no one in particular.
"No more than five thousand," Airn replied. "The giants number less than half of that, and there is only one dragon."
The fat man's heart pounded. "It will be a massacre," he said, looking wide eyed about the group.
The dwarves cheered again. "Massacre! We will massacre them all!" they shouted out, mistaking Eward's meaning.
Airn looked at Eward and nodded sagely. "The unicorn was right. Your heroic spirit will overcome their numbers, and your blade is good for a thousand lesser ones." He turned to the now energized group. "Victory! Victory and death!" They shouted again, the group beginning to chant.
Eward stumbled to his feet, and as the dwarves swarmed around him was pushed toward the door and into the street. He looked back at Faeone, who still stood by the table. "Unicorn!" he called out, but Faeone didn't look up.
The road was well traveled and hard packed. Besides the fifty or so armed dwarves, several others drove carts filled with folded and wrapped bundles that Eward assumed were tents, food, casks of ale, and a variety of boxes that he could only guess at the contents of. The more they marched, the more that Eward appreciated the lightness of the equipment that Faeone had picked for him, as even some of the hardy dwarves soon were dropping back from exhaustion from the weight of their arms.
Airn was not one. Despite the heavy and ornate armor that the mayor wore and the heavy axe he carried, the older dwarf marched alongside Eward with a grim determination. "How far do we have to go?" Eward queried.
"Only a half day's journey," Airn replied, his voice cold. "Then, we will decide our fate."
"You really think we're all going to die, don't you?" Eward asked. "You seemed so certain we would win."
"Win, yes. Die as well." He turned his gray eyes toward the taller human. "Victory does not always mean for one's self to live. It is measured in many different ways. For some, it is simple, merely the death of one's enemy, but that is quite the shallowest victory. For others, victory is gaining wealth or land, and for them that is the measure. Others, it is the absolution of sorrow, and that is what the unicorn and I seek."
"Revenge?" Eward asked.
Airn dwelt upon his thoughts before carefully answering. "For myself, release from my grief. I have mourned Galea's loss for a year. In the way of our people, I might now find another, yet I cannot. She lives in my heart, Eward, and I yearn to again reach and touch her."
"You want to die, don't you?" Eward blurted out in response. "This is suicide. You and the unicorn have some kind of crazy suicide pact"
"Dwarves do not kill themselves," Airn replied coldly. "If death finds us in battle, then so be it. And unicorns do not understand death, so Faeone could not possibly seek it."
Eward was confused again. "Faeone knows what death is. He knows his mare is gone."
Airn turned away, looking down the road again. "Unicorns know what death is. They do not understand it." Seeing that the man didn't comprehend, the dwarf went on. "They are much like a horse. They know a member of their herd is gone, and mourn the loss, but they cannot comprehend the abstract concept of death- of souls, and an afterlife."
They marched on silently for a moment, the road winding toward a small town, while Eward considered Airn's words. "So unicorns don't believe in souls or an afterlife?"
"Unicorns believe in everything," Airn replied. "They accept what is, the things they can touch and hear and see, and do not as a rule speculate about what could be. So they do not speculate about what might not be, either."
This served only to confuse Eward more, so he decided to change topics. "Should we stop here and rest?" The small town featured an inn whose large cheerful door beckoned.
Airn slowed for a moment, then pressed on as townsfolk pressed to windows and balconies, looking at the small army trooping through their village. "No," the dwarf replied. "We might be distracted from what we need to do, and some hearts may become faint."
For an instant, Eward considered refusing to go on, to turn and go into the inn. This wasn't his battle, and attacking five thousand trolls was sheer idiocy. The treasure that was promised meant nothing if his blood was spilled and he lay lifeless on a battlefield. Yet deep within him, tiny yet stronger than the fear or the greed, was another desire- to be lauded, a hero, known throughout the land. Eward had never had a chance before, to do some incredible deed. He'd shirked away and hidden when volunteers were needed to guard the town's gates against marauders, feigned illness when hunts were made to rid the woods of bears. Those were common things, and commonly there were deaths or injuries that only warranted a day's mourning of the other townsfolk. Yet here was an opportunity to become a true hero, just like in a storybook, and Eward's mind pushed aside the more likely consequence. Totally out of character, he raised the shield he carried, and shouted out. "We will be back to celebrate our victory!"
Airn's heart was lifted. He'd had his doubts about the unicorn's champion, but all were now dispelled.
**************************************************************
Citorn Gwilellen's horse pranced restlessly, snorting as she rode slowly toward where Haron stood- or floated- near the horde of trolls. Most of the elves, all mounted cavalry, stood a ways off, unwilling to approach the stench of the trolls unless absolutely necessary. Only Citorn's personal lieutenants rode along with her, one to either side and a horse's length behind. "Well met, Haron," she said in greeting, but her tone betrayed her unease.
"Well met, Citorn Gwilellen," the demon replied- his tone sinister and almost mocking. "The army of the elves is impressive, indeed."
Citorn didn't look back- she knew well, with every elven soldier mustered and accompanying her for this foray, that behind her was the mightiest force ever assembled, and combined with the trolls would be near invincible. The only of the demons' servants that was missing were..."Where are the giants?" she asked, suspiciously.
"My lieutenant Agulith will bring them and the dragons through a separate rift," the demon hissed. "So as to not crowd this one, or strike fear into your horses."
It seemed a logical enough explanation- Citorn's mount was already nervous merely from the odor of the trolls. "Very well. Let us get on with this."
Haron waved his staff- it was not necessary, but the demon appreciated the dramatics of the act. The air began to shimmer blue, then a rift began to form; one that led into the human's plane. The trolls began to march through, the demon watching- it took nearly half an hour for the trolls to march through. As the last entered the rift, Citorn nodded, and one of her lieutenants removed a horn and blew it, signaling the elves to move forward. They galloped up in pairs, leaping into the rift and into the humans' plane as well. Finally, only Haron and Citorn remained, and she paused a moment to speak with the leader of the demons. "I feel grave misgivings about this endeavour, Haron," she told the demon.
"We are immortals," Haron chided her. "The humans are mortals. Nothing more than animals. Do not weep for them, any more than you might mourn the death of mold scrubbed from a pot. We will make the plane clean, and a fit place for us to dwell. Elves and demons, together."
His words made sense, yet Citorn took little comfort from them as she urged her horse into the rift. The colt resisted, rearing, as if to remind her that he, too, was mortal, then the black horse leapt into the rift, followed by the demon.
*****************************************************************************
Thirty leagues away, Eward was having second thoughts about not stopping at the tavern. It was raining and starting to get dark, and the dwarves showed no signs of stopping for rest. To make things worse, his feet hurt, they were going up a steep hill, and he was getting a blister. "How much farther?" he asked Airn.
"No more than another six hours march," the dwarf replied.
"Perhaps we should stop for the night," Eward said doubtfully, looking about for shelter- there was none besides somewhat ragged trees.
"When we reach the top of the hill, we should be able to see for some miles, and perhaps find some shelter."
The dwarves who were marching in the lead were reaching the crest, but Eward noted with some alarm that they were dropping their packs and readying their weapons. "Giants! Giants and dragons!" one called back.
The dwarves were all now dropping their packs, spreading into a long line, and dashing forward. The ones driving carts turned them to the side, half off the road, and readied their own weapons. Eward stood dumbly, then ran ahead, catching up with Airn at the top of the hill.
In the valley below, a line of giants accompanied by a pair of dragons was walking up to a bluish glowing rift and stepping in. A shadowy figure stood near the entrance of the rift, if 'standing' is the correct description, watching each step through in turn. "A demon," Airn said. "No less than Agulith, the one we seek! Upon them!"
Eward felt a sudden sinking fear clutch him as the dwarves stood shouting and stated charging down the hill, waiving their weapons in the air and shouting. Afraid to be left behind, Eward started running after Airn, trying desperately to keep up- despite being taller than the dwarf, the man was less fit. The giants looked toward them but kept stepping into the rift, following their orders unimaginatively. One of the dragons started to turn toward the dwarves, but the demon gestured, and it, too stepped into the rift, as the dwarves closed to within fifty yards.
Agulith waited until the dwarves were twenty yards away, then, leaving behind nothing but a cold and mocking laugh, the demon also stepped in. The rift closed, leaving angry and frustrated dwarves behind. "Where is the unicorn?" Airn demanded of Eward. "He can open the rift, so we might pursue."
Eward realized with a start that he hadn't seen Faeone since they left the dwarves' village. "The unicorn is gone," he replied. [i] Maybe now, the demon is somewhere we can't follow...[/i]
Eward's hopes were dashed as a familiar voice spoke. "Not gone, just away for a bit," Faeone replied, trotting up. "I needed to make some other arrangements."
"Open the rift," Airn urged.
"To step through, one at a time, with two dragons and an army of giants waiting?" Faeone pinned his ears and tossed his head. "Think, Airn. That might not be a very sound plan."
The dwarf persisted. "How else might we follow them?"
Eward interrupted. "Can we go somewhere close by through the rift?"
"Rifts don't work like that," Faeone replied. "They only connect two points. Well, most of them do," the unicorn corrected himself. "This one leads to a spot on the human plane."
"Then where is another rift," Airn asked, "that we might fall on the demons and their ilk?"
The unicorn carefully considered. "Half an hour's fast march from here, but then another hour and a half back to this one in the other plane."
"Why will it take longer for us to get back?" Eward asked.
"The rifts go where they will," Faeone replied.
"But it should still take the same amount of time to get back here," Eward persisted.
The unicorn snorted. "You do not understand. It is a rift, and it goes where it will."
*******************************************************************
"He was right, it doesn't make sense," Connie observed as the image in the crystal orb faded.
"The planes are not aligned," Gulthar said. "It is quite possible to travel a very short distance between two rifts and find that on another plane they exit hundreds of leagues distant."
"That's stupid," Connie said. "It's like something out of science class."
"Magic and science are not too different," the wizard replied. "Both have their rules of how things work. Some are hard to understand. Think of the planes as being like pieces of paper, one flat and the other curved. If you were on the curved one, it might be a long distance from one point to another, but if you could step from the curved to the flat one, the distance would be less."
Connie thought about this. "I still don't get it."
Gulthar sighed. "Just trust me, it is true. Let us watch more."
*************************************************
The field near the other rift was rutted and trampled, evidence of the trolls and elves accompanying Haron having passed. "Trolls from the hobnails on their boots, several thousand," Airn proclaimed after examining the ground. "And mounted riders, six hundred more."
"Maybe they didn't go through the rift and were just passing by," Eward said hopefully.
The dwarf shook his head, leaning on his axe. "Nae, they did. All the field's soft and fresh beyond this, as if someone stepped through a door."
"Which indeed they did," Faeone confirmed.
"Maybe it was a long time ago." Eward up toward the darkening twilight.
Faeone didn't reply, instead lowering his head near a pile of manure and inhaling deeply. He raised his head, curling back his upper lip. "Six hours, no more," he said. "They have gone through, to the human plane. Unless they stopped and encamped immediately they will be well away, so we might pass the rift safely."
"What if they did stop?" Eward grasped at straws.
"Then we will step into the middle of five thousand trolls, and six hundred warriors," Airn replied calmly. "But come. Let us hurry, lest they escape our blades. Unicorn, will ye' open the rift?"
Faeone didn't reply, but instead stared into the distance, concentrating. The bluish haze began to form, tinged with purple reflected from the deepening twilight. Airn and the dwarves picked up their packs and boldly walked in. Eward stared after them, until only he and Faeone remained, the rest were through to the human's plane. Eward began to speak, but a harsh look from the unicorn made him quiet, and he too stepped through the rift, followed by Faeone.
On the human plane, it was night. Eward and Faeone found the fifty dwarves standing in a sort of semicircle, peering into the darkness. The bleeding corpses of a pair of trolls lay hacked to pieces near the rift, and Eward fought to not vomit. "They were likely left to guard the rift, and were careless," Airn explained.
Faeone looked about, his equine vision and hearing much sharper than that of the human or even the dwarves. "I hear none other nearby," he said. "Nor can I smell their stench."
"The path to the east is trampled," Logath, one of Airn's lieutenants in the motley group, stated.
"That's the way to my village," Eward said. "Are they going there?" He felt a sudden and unaccustomed concern for the well being of the others, his neighbors and townsfolk.
"Almost undoubtedly," Airn stated. "Likely they will camp for the night, and if we hurry we might arrive first. Is there some other way, Demonslayer?"
Eward knew the paths well, as did Faeone. "To the north, along the river. The path is shorter but narrow."
"Too narrow for five thousand, but for our company adequate," Faeone confirmed.