We followed the guard along the path until we came to a large grass-covered knoll. Atop the knoll rested the King of the Dahns Unicorns. I could see the resemblance between him and his son and as I knelt into a low curtsy a whinny to my left caught my attention. I raised my head and saw Feddrah-Dahns enter the courtyard. He lumbered over toward us and, without thinking, I leapt up and went racing across the grass, laughing.
“Feddrah-Dahns! It’s so good to see you again!” I threw my arms around his neck and his velvet coat tickled my skin.
He let out a snort, then a soft chuckle. “Lady Camille, it’s good to see you again. How fare you and your sisters?”
I suddenly realized that I’d turned my back on the King and quickly stumbled back a few steps, whirling to face the larger unicorn. Feddrah-Dahns wasn’t fully grown, that much was evident, but his father was, and the sire was staring at me with a look of amusement in his eyes.
“You were right,” King Upala-Dahns said to his son. “She’s impulsive and unpredictable. But also charming, as you said.”
“I’m sorry,” I stuttered. “I meant no disrespect. I was just so happy to see your son again—”
“No matter, nothing harmed. Not even my sensibilities,” the King said in Melosealfôr. Switching back to the common tongue, he included Trillian and Morio in his gaze. “We must talk about the unicorn horn. And about the magic you are learning from this young fox.”
Morio looked confused.
“Excuse me, Your Highness, but Morio doesn’t speak any of the Otherworld dialects. Do you, by chance, speak English?” I couldn’t fathom why the King of the Dahns Unicorns would have bothered to learn an Earthside language, so it was a real shot in the dark.
King Upala-Dahns whinnied softly. “Yes, to some degree. William Butler taught us when he stayed with us for several years.”
I smiled softly. “Yes, Feddrah-Dahns and Mistletoe explained about him when they visited Earthside.” Glancing around, I added, “Speaking of pixies, is Mistletoe around? I’d like to say hello to him.” One of the few pixies I could ever imagine liking, he was Feddrah-Dahns’s assistant.
“He’s off on an errand, but he should be back soon.” As the King switched to English, his voice took on an archaic air. “We haven’t much time, so I’ll be brief.” He paused. “Are you understanding me now?” he asked Morio.
Morio nodded. “Clear as a bell.”
“Bell? What should be clear about a bell?” With a shake of the head, Upala-Dahns snorted. “No matter. While it may have seemed foolhardy for you to bring the horn of the Black Beast with you, it was actually a wise decision. The Black Unicorn himself awaits you in the forests of Thistlewyd Deep. He traveled up from his lair in Darkynwyrd and has sent for you.”
A cold chill raced down my spine. What the hell did the Black Beast want with me? It was an honor—and a pain in the ass—to be given his horn, but to actually meet him, a creature straight out of dark legend? Not fun . . . not fun at all. A vision of a huge stallion with a crystal horn, rearing up as he breathed flame from his nostrils, filled my mind.
“Crap.” The word was out of my mouth before I could help it. I blushed as everybody stared at me.
“Excuse me?” the King said.
Stammering, I tried to gracefully backpedal. “I mean, it’s just . . . the thought is rather intimidating.”
“It should be,” Upala-Dahns said, not helping matters any. “The Black Unicorn is the father of the Dahns Unicorns. For him to summon a mortal to meet him—one who is not of his race—is almost unheard of. Most think he’s legend, though the Dahns Unicorns know better. As far as I know, the only Fae or elf he’s had truck with in the past hundred years is Queen Asteria.”
On one hand, I felt flattered. How could I help but be? Big Black Beast wanted to see little ol’ me? On the other hand, I was scared spitless.
I glanced at Morio, who shrugged, keeping his mouth shut. He was more taciturn than I. Probably a good thing, considering how lacking in diplomacy I could be at times.
King Upala-Dahns waited as if he expected an answer, but when I didn’t speak, he added, “He not only wants to see you, Camille, but your mate Morio.”
Now Morio jumped. His eyes grew wide and he nervously glanced over at me. “Me? Why me?” Though his voice was steady, I could sense the rush of fear beneath it.
I repressed a smile and whispered, “Now you know how I feel.”
“Because you and Camille are working death magic together.”
The King had a gleam in his eye that told me he’d gotten the reaction he wanted. Yeah, Upala-Dahns liked to make people jump. He’d be a bear to work for, but fair.
Dreading any further explosive revelations, I jumped when something landed on my shoulder. I jerked to brush whatever it was away when a voice near my ear said, “Watch it!”
“Mistletoe!” I held out my hand and he stepped onto it. The pixie was nearly translucent and his wings glimmered in the daylight, but when he touched my palm, he was as solid as I was.
“My lady,” he said, bowing low. Mistletoe was far more courteous than other pixies. Most were a pain in the ass.
“Mistletoe,” Feddrah-Dahns said, “you will go with Rejah-Dahns and escort them to Thistlewyd Deep to meet the Black Beast.”
“Can we portal jump there?” I asked.
Mistletoe shook his head. “We can take the portal to the edge of the wood, but no portals ever have been able to penetrate the Deep, and so we will go on foot from the tree line. The place we seek isn’t far from the border and we will reach there before midnight tonight.”
I glanced at the sky. The full moon was tonight and I’d be caught up in the Hunt. But one look at the King told me arguing would be of no use, so I sucked it up. “Trillian will come with us. I’m not leaving him here.”
Upala-Dahns didn’t look happy, but all he said was, “As you wish. He will accompany you. From there, after you’ve spoken to the Black Beast, you may return Earthside.”
Feddrah-Dahns stepped up and nudged my shoulder with his muzzle. “I wish I could go with you, but Father forbids it.”
I gazed into those luminous eyes and once again felt teary. I always did around the unicorn and I had no idea why. “Feddrah-Dahns, you are a good friend, and I thank you for the guidance and trust you’ve shown us. We’ll try not to let you down.” I leaned my head against his downy nose.
A moment later, Trillian’s voice echoed through the chamber. “Camille? Is everything all right?”
I glanced over my shoulder. Mistletoe had ushered Trillian into the throne room. “For now,” I said, then quickly filled him in.
Trillian stared at the King. “You’re serious? You’re sending her to face the Black Beast?”
“Not alone,” Upala-Dahns said. “She goes with you. And the fox demon will face the Great Father by her side.”
By his reverent tone, it struck me that the Dahns Unicorns actually worshipped the Black Unicorn as a living god. After all, he was the father of their race, a living legend. He was the phoenix of their culture, shedding his horn and hide every thousand years to be reborn anew.
And the Black Beast had requested that I face him. He’d given me—a half-Fae, half-human woman—one of his horns and a cloak made from his hide in order to fight the demons. And it wasn’t every day that I got invited to pay a house visit to the home of the gods.
I rested my hand on Trillian’s arm. “This is an honor, love, and we should remember that.” And if we could get out of here without anybody making a scene, so much the better. The last thing I wanted to do was to offend the Dahns unicorns.
Trillian caught my thought and bowed to the King. “Your Highness, when should we leave? Are there any warnings or cautions we should be aware of?”
King Upala-Dahns glanced around the room, then motioned with a toss of the head that we should follow him. “Come, let us walk in the garden.”
The clouds had opened up and it was raining as we followed the King into one of the empty gardens. Mistletoe rode on my shoulder, and Feddrah-Dahns walked to my right. Morio and Trillian kept close, a few steps behind me.
The smell of rain-washed grass and hearth smoke filled the air and I pulled my cloak tightly around me.
“What about Iris?” I asked. “Will she be coming with us, too?”
“Yes,” Feddrah-Dahns said. “Though I don’t think the Deep is a good place for her to be right now.” But he wouldn’t explain why.
The afternoon was wearing away and even though I couldn’t see the Moon Mother, I could feel her gearing up for the Hunt. It had been a good two years since I’d leapt onto the astral to run at her side here in Otherworld, rather than Earthside. Although the Moon Mother was the same goddess in both worlds, the energy of the Hunt ran a little different depending on where you were.
We came to a low hedge trimmed in the shape of a spiral, and followed Upala-Dahns into the center. The labyrinth was simple, but as we walked it, my mind settled. There was deep magic in this place. We were tracing a ley line, and it was singing to me, reassuring me that from here, no one could overhear us. Here, we were safe.
Once we were at the center, the King paused and we formed a semi-circle around him. “I brought you here because this is the one place I know harbors no spies, no prying eyes and ears. Listen to me, and listen well. We’ve been doing what research we can into the demon threat, and we’ve uncovered some interesting information that you need to put to use.”
I perked up. Any help we could get was welcome, especially when it came from the Cryptozoid Alliance.
“As you know, the fabric separating the worlds is ripping. Together with the elves—and now Tanaquar’s magicians—we’ve been searching for a way to fix what has been broken.”
“Is that possible, though? I thought the Great Divide created an unnatural state of affairs and that’s why everything is breaking down. The world is trying to right the balance again.” I frowned, trying to remember what I’d been told by the Earthside Fae Queens and Grandmother Coyote.
“You’re right. There’s no way to fix the rip tearing the fabric of space. However, we believe that we can use the spirit seals, along with magic developed since their creation.”
What? How could they do that without risking exactly what we were trying to prevent?
“The original spirit seal was specifically created in order to rip apart the worlds, then it was broken and the pieces hidden. If you bring them together—even with one or two pieces missing—won’t that just reconnect the worlds? That’s why Shadow Wing is looking for them in the first place.” Either I was extremely dense or I didn’t have all the pieces to the puzzle.
The King shook his head, his mane fluttering in the rain.
“That’s not exactly what we’re planning,” he said softly. “I’ll let Queen Asteria tell you herself.”
“Camille, it’s good to see you again.”
I jumped as the Elfin Queen slipped from behind a well-trimmed tree. Her elderly stature seemed to have disappeared and now she stood straight and ancient, her power radiating through every pore. The woman practically glowed. Behind her walked Titania’s old lover—Tom Lane, or rather, Tam Lin. Beside him was Benjamin Welter, a young man with the faintest hints of Fae blood who we’d rescued from a mental institution over Earthside. And behind them . . . Venus the Moon Child? What the hell was the shaman of the Rainier Puma Pride doing here?
“Your Majesty! Tom . . . Ben? Venus?” I started to say, but then fell silent as another figure moved from behind yet another tree. Queen Tanaquar, and at her side, my father. As it sank in that I was standing in the midst of three of the major ruling powers of the Otherworld Fae, I didn’t know whether to fall groveling to the ground, or to break out in nervous giggles.
Morio poked me in the side. As he and Trillian began to bow and I started to curtsy, Queen Asteria waved her hand.
“We aren’t standing on formality here.” She motioned for us all to take a seat on the grassy circle comprising the center of the labyrinth. The grass was wet, but I ignored the chill. Feddrah-Dahns and his father remained standing.
After a moment, Queen Asteria said, “While the seals cannot repair the rifts, we’ve discovered that they can be used and if used correctly, we might be able to stabilize the portals.”
Open-mouthed, I stared at her. “And just who will be using them?” I finally managed to squeak out.
“The Keraastar Knights. The Knights of the Portals. I knew there was something special about Tam Lin, and then Benjamin, when I met them, and so I brought them here. My seers are searching for others with the same qualities. We looked into Venus the Moon Child and he, too, possesses the energy signature we’re looking for. These three have touched the hearts of three of the seals. They are now integrally connected to the gems.”
I began to breathe a little faster. “But they’re all human—well, Venus is a werepuma but . . .”
“And so shall be every one of the nine knights—or ladies. Or rather, they will all be from Earthside. Apparently, the imprinting forges a connection that cannot be broken. Very few possess the ability to imprint with the seals, but there are a few out there . . . And we need them here, to be trained as guardians.”
A thousand questions flashed through my mind. “Do they all have to have touched the seals at some point in their lives? Why can they wield them without worrying about corruption? What about the seal that Karvanak stole from us?”