Unicorn Quests - 22. Chapter 22

“Oh, thank the spirits. You found him, Tera!”

“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” The locus poked his head out of my cloak, and his eyes couldn’t be any bigger. Those ears were unrolled and standing up straight, quivering.

“Who are you? What have you done with our son? If you harm him, nothing will save you from a torturous existence before a gruesome death,” a female hissed.

Their faces were larger versions of the little Being’s in my arms, the female’s features leaner with a sharp chin. I couldn’t tell their coloring, since they were appearing in the flames. But the young in my arms knew them.

“Mama!” The locus nearly squirmed out of my arms.

The witch’s story must be true. I lowered my knife, sheathing it so I could hold the excited locus safely. “I have not harmed your son. I rescued him from trolls who were holding him captive along with many other Beings, including my own foals.”

“Your foals!” the witch exclaimed.

“Yes. My son and daughter, who you left with my mate. You tampered with their memories. Why did you do that?” I asked.

“I… thought they were your captives, with the locus. I knew you were a Being, but I didn’t know what kind. I know now you have pure magic, but not until you came close. I saw you through the flames and only from a distance before you left for the town. This is beside the point.” Sweat broke out on her forehead. “I can’t hold the farseeing forever. Tinn, Serai, this… Being is a unicorn.” The witch’s voice expressed her shock.

“A what? No he’s not. He’s a human.”

“I am not a human, despite this form. I have suffered much at their hands looking for my young; when I discovered yours escaped with us, we decided to try and find his home.”

The locus started chittering, making all the sounds and calls he’d made when we’d traveled. The pair in the flames were silent for a moment.

“It… seems what you say is true. Tinn’il likes you and your mate. He says your magic fizzes in his belly.”

“What?”

The witch swayed and the flames flickered, the faces losing their shape around the edges. “I can’t hold this much longer,” she gasped out. “Tinn, Serai, I will bring Tinn’il to you, as I promised. He is safe.”

“Thank you, Tera,” Serai said. “The spirits watch over you and grant you safe journey back to us.”

“Be good, Tinn’il,” Tinn said. His voice was already fading away as the flames fell to knee height and then died completely, leaving just a scorched ring of earth in the vegetation around me.

The locus cried, his ears rolling. “Daddy? Momma?” He reached out, then started to curl up.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. Tinn’il? Is that your name?” I stroked his head with two fingers.

He looked at me, his eyes shining. “Tinn’il? Tinn? Daddy?” He chittered, and tilted his head, then his expression dimmed when I didn’t respond.

Did he speak another language? Was that what he was trying to do this whole time? He didn’t speak Common, or more than a few words it seemed, but his parents had said he told them about me, about Londe and the foals.

“You’ll be okay. We’re going to go see your daddy. Soon.” I needed to get back to my young and my mate. I didn’t like being separated from them, especially after humans had followed me from the town. It only took one getting lucky to put my family in danger again.

“Tell me where his family is, witch, and I will take him to them.”

“My name is Tera, and no.”

“No?” I narrowed my eyes. Had she really been trying to steal him? She’d just said she’s return him, but now she said no?

“We will take him back to Serai and Tinn. Together. So I will guide you to his home, but I will not tell you how to get there.” She managed to look stubborn as a boulder even while her skin was deathly pale, and she wobbled on her feet.

I sensed it would take more time than I wanted to waste to try and change her mind, and I might as well try to move a boulder on my own than sway her. “Fine. First I must get my family. You can wait here and recover.”

The expected argument didn’t come, and I promptly left. I did not leave Tinn’il with her; she might know his parents, but he didn’t seem to know her, and he wanted nothing to do with her after the way she’d stolen him away from my mate and run from me. That much was evident from the way he refused to look at her and squeaked when she came too close on her way to spot she could comfortably sit and wait for me to return.

“Stay awake, witch, there are humans nearby,” I warned her.

“My name is Tera,” she snarled at me.

Turning my back, I ignored her. I knew her name, but I would not let myself forget what she was. A witch. A dangerous being who could harm me and mine. Wary was not even close to how I felt in her presence.

It took even more convincing to get Londe to take the foals with us to meet her. He kept them back, taking up the rear guard and making me stay between them and her. Few witches could be counted as good, and we wouldn’t risk harm to our young or Tinn’il.

Two nights traveling brought us to a small lake. A path wound around it, the end lost in a weird mist that hung about even in late afternoon. Londe stomped his foot nervously, and Marces nudged my back.

“There,” the witch said. “Through the mist.”

“Of course it’s through some mystical mist. Can’t just be a cave or a tree or a house, can it? No,” I complained.