Prologue
“I can't take it anymore,
Phen,” elf princess Éadra told her best friend. The pair stared
outside the castle window watching the sun set beyond their forest
home.“Our troops are tired, our people are tired, and I'm tired.
I'm tired of healing our soldiers day after day, only to see them go
out to fight again, or even get killed. A war fought entirely on the
defensive can never be won.”
“I'm
tired too,” Phen replied, “but how can we ever take the fighting
back to Erron if we can't even find his fortress?”
“That's the question, isn't
it?” Éadra's voice was bitter. “I'm about ready to explore
those mountains myself, see what Erron's hiding in there and how he's
keeping us out.”
“Don't
even think about it,” Phen said. He took Éadra by the shoulders
and looked her in the eyes.
“What?” she said. “You
know I wouldn't really.”
“Yes, you would.”
Éadra hung her head. “I just have to do something, Phen.” She
fiddled with the diamond that hung on a chain around her neck. “I
wonder what mother would have done?”
“She
would have put your safety first. Yours and Learé's. That's what she
always did. She wouldn't want you risking your life like that.”
“I know, I know.” She paused
for a moment, then changed the subject.
“I found something interesting
in my chamber the other day,” she said. “I dropped this necklace
behind my bed, and when I moved the bed to find it, I discovered a
mural of a unicorn.”
A teasing look crossed Phen's
face. “You don't think it's hiding a secret passageway, do you?”
Éadra laughed. “Phen, we're not kids anymore. I'm not going to go
running through the castle looking for secret tunnels.”
“We wouldn't be running
through the castle,” he replied, voice innocent, “just checking a
single room.”
“Come on, Phen, why would a
mural of a unicorn be hiding a passageway?”
“Why does that diamond have
'Heloth Uniqa' engraved on it?”
Éadra shrugged. “My mother
was obsessed with that mountain. She believed there were unicorns
still living there on its unreachable peak.”
“And your chambers used to be
your mother's. Maybe she knew more than she let on.”
Éadra chuckled. “You're insane.”
“Please?” said Phen. “Humor
me?”
“Fine,” said Éadra.
They walked to her room and
shoved the bed aside again.
“Good grief,” said Phen as
they pushed, “this bed is heavy.”
“It's a big bed, and the
canopy doesn't exactly help. Why do you think I'd never moved it
before? Come on, one more push and we have it.” They shoved and
the bed moved, exposing the larger-than-life rearing unicorn that had
been hidden by the canopy.
Phen immediately ran up to the
wall and began to study it. “I don't see or feel anything that
suggests this is anything other than a wall, but that doesn't mean
there isn't something here.”
“Well hurry up; I can't spend
all day here.”
“Oh,
lighten up, Éadra,” he said with a smile. “That meeting isn't
for another few hours.”
“Maybe there's some kind of
magic password,” she suggested.
“Maybe,” said Phen. “Now,
what could it be?”
“I don't know, there are
probably thousands of possible combinations.”
“It's probably something
related to unicorns.”
“Like what? Horn? Hoof? Heloth
Uniqa?”
The
wall opened, and Éadra and Phen stumbled back in surprise.
“You
have to be kidding me,” said Éadra.
“Wow. We have to come back
later and explore it.” But Éadra was already stepping into the
tunnel. She turned back to Phen.
“This could be the answer to
everything,” she said.
Phen looked confused. “How?”
“If this leads to Heloth
Uniqa, if mother was right and there are unicorns there, maybe they
could help us. Unicorns were supposed too be vicious fighters. Who
knows? They might even be able to get into Erron's mountains.”
“Now you're just being
unrealistic. Besides, if they could help,don't you think your mother
would have asked for their help long ago?”
Éadra sighed. “Maybe, but I
still have to try.”
“This is the kind of impulsive
thing we were just talking about, Éadra.”
“Says the one who insisted on
checking for a secret passage.”
Phen shook his head. “I was
just having fun, I didn't think there was really something here.
Look, at least go to the meeting first. Tell your councilors about
the tunnel and see what they say.” Something in his voice made
Éadra pause.
“I don't know that I want to
take this to the council,” she said. “They bicker and debate for
months on end sometimes, and our need is urgent. Besides, if I wait,
I'm going to talk myself out of this. sIf I'm going to go, I have to
go now.”
“Don't you at least want to
tell your sister?”
Éadra shook her head. “I
don't want to get her hopes up. I'll tell her if it works. Just make
up an excuse for me, okay?”
Phen took a deep breath. “Fine,”
he said.
Éadra gave him a peck on the
cheek. “Thanks Phen. You're the best.” She took off down the
tunnel, leaving her friend behind.
