Chapter 1 Part 2

The beach was covered with fine white sand. It is shore curved gently in either direction hinting that the island was not very large. On the other hand, the inland part of the island contained a variety of subtropical deciduous trees and plant life. Inland, rising above that greenery was a solitary volcano. Reassuringly there was no hint of volcanic activity.

"How big do you think this island is?" Ruk wondered

"It would appear that the island’s a shield volcano. It probably has an igneous base," Ultrecht said. "Usually an idea of the size of an island like this can be gotten if you imagine the volcano as being in the very center of a circular land mass."

"In this case, it’d make a comfortably large island, but not one so big that you couldn't keep track of what was going on," Avery remarked.

"And somewhere on this island," Armegon said looking at the shoreline to his left, "is a unicorn."

"I’ve never seen a unicorn before," Calista said. "How hard are they to find?"

Avery ran a hand through his hair. "Well, for the most part they are fairly smart. If we were back home," he paused and glanced at Calista and Ruk, "our home," he added, "we’d simply just let them know we were here, and they’d pay us a visit if they were interested in what we had to say."

"There’s only one in this case," Armegon said. "But, I think we can assume he’s not a dumb animal."

"I never met a unicorn that was," Avery remarked. "If he’s a typical unicorn, then he’ll pretty much have cleared this island of any enemies. We’re probably safe here."

"That assumes that he doesn't consider us and enemy," Ruk pointed out. "I stand corrected," Avery admitted.

"He probably won't show himself immediately," Ultrecht said casually. "We can bank on that. He's going to watch us for a day or so first."

"He might show himself to someone if they’re alone," Avery suggested. "He’ll feel less threatened and might try to get some information."

"So you think that if we all just wander about aimlessly, we’ll make contact?" Ruk asked.

"In your case I doubt it," Ultrecht said. "Even if he’s certain that you’re not a threat, he’s more likely to pay a visit to, say Cal, here. He’s far more likely to visit her if anyone at all."

"Either her or Avery," Armegon pointed out. "Unicorns are generally on good terms with rangers and druids. And, out in the woods, it’s not too difficult to tell Avery’s a ranger."

They talked a little longer before it was decided that they should move to the edge of the beach and set up a camp under the trees. Avery and Ruk left in one direction, while Calista and Armegon went in the other looking for food and firewood. Ultrecht stayed with the raft and watched the packs and gear.

Calista and Armegon walked for an hour before they decided to turn around and head back. They began picking up wood as they walked. "Do you really think I’m the one the unicorn will speak to?" Calista asked.

"Probably," Armegon answered. "Don't worry. Unicorns are generally very polite. I recommend you look forward to it."

Calista smiled as she rearranged her armload of wood. "What should I say to him?"

"The truth, Cal. Tell him the truth."

There were no visitors that night. The next morning, Avery sent everyone off into the island to search for a fresh water source. He urged them to all go out separately since the chances were that there were no dangerous creatures on the island, and they could cover more ground that way. "But, try to remain inside shouting distance of each other," he added. "If you get in trouble, yell. We’ll come running."

Calista had wandered inland about three miles. She had seen no sign of fresh water. At the thought of water she felt a pang of thirst and took a sip from her water bottle. Though the temperature was still the same as always, the effort of walking had made her hot, so she sat down and leaned back against a tree near an open meadow. It was very pretty there. She closed her eyes and saw Sam's face. She remembered his fuzzy cheeks and his sharp pointed canine teeth. His golden skin and his long braided hair had been a joy to her touch. She could almost feel the heat of his body as if she were in his arms.

Calista sat up quickly. She had fallen asleep. How long she had slept she did not know. That was the problem of not having a sun to tell time by. Calista got to her feet and headed back to camp.

She hoped the others had better luck in their exploration than she did. She was halfway back to the lake shore, when the feeling came over her. At first it was a nagging at the edge of her vision that something was moving in the bushes, but every time she looked, she saw nothing nor any sign that there had ever been anything there. But, the feeling persisted. She was certain she was being watched. At first she thought it might be Avery playing one of his ranger games, but the longer it lasted, the more she was convinced the halfelf was no where near. Then as suddenly as it had started, the feeling was gone.

Calista decided not to mention her anxiety or her nap to the others. Though it had made her nervous, the feeling in the forest had not frightened her nor had it given her any reason to feel threatened. She was left only with a sense of curiosity.

At camp, she was happy to hear that Avery had located a source of fresh water. He gave everyone directions on how to reach the small waterfall and pool not far from the base of the volcano. He further informed him that the water was clean and good for both drinking and washing. With a wrinkled nose, he added that the latter was something they could all use. "We might have a better chance of meeting the unicorn if we don’t offend his sense of smell."

Ruk had acquired some large hard round objects called coconuts and demonstrated to the others how to eat them. They tasted very good and made an excellent meal. The fresh water Avery found washed the meal down, and for several hours, they lay in the fading light talking quietly among themselves.

Once again, though certain that they were safe, Avery insisted that someone stay awake and maintain a watch throughout the night. Calista was stunned when he chose her for the second shift. Avery had never assigned her a watch that she had not volunteered for, but she took the order in good faith and turned in early. Since there were no stars or moons to mark the passage of time, Calista had no idea how late it was when Ruk woke her from her sleep.

The first thing she did was splash a little water from her bottle onto her face. That helped a little. Then she took a long drink. Ruk was unbuckling his breastplate to make sleeping more comfortable, while Calista temporarily excused her self. She walked along the shore several dozen paces to get out of the firelight so that she could attend to bodily functions.

When she returned, Ruk was fluffing his backpack into a pillow. Calista watched for a moment or two. She had never really noticed that the minotaan always slept on his back. It was no wonder that he did so. It was probably very difficult to do otherwise with a sizable set of horns atop one's head. She smiled and Ruk bade her good night. She returned the wish and settled down.

The fire ate slowly at its fuel. The improvised time keeping device, Armegon had suggested earlier that evening was to reload the wood on the fire twice before waking the next watch. Ruk had re loaded the fire just before waking her. That had been nice of him. All she had to do now was stay awake until the fire died down, add wood to it again, and then let that die down.

It was at times like this that a person had time to think and reflect. Calista missed Sam. She knew as she sat in the dark that she was not alone. The others were there. They were her friends, they trusted her to watch over their safety, but they were not Sam. She needed her mate. She needed that special someone to reach out to her and touch her in that special way. In that, she was indeed alone.

Calista surveyed their group. Avery lay against a tree. Though his eyes were closed at the moment, she wondered if he ever really slept. Many were the times when she would glance at him to see those odd yellowish eyes return her stare. Often during the nights, when she would be on watch, she would swear that he was awake as well. At first she had found it irritating that he might not trust her to keep watch alone, but Ultrecht had disclose to her one day that most rangers were very light sleepers.

Ruk, the minotaan was beginning to snore lightly. The ebony skinned creature was very difficult to see at night, even when there were stars and moons to help. Ruk had become her friend as well as a traveling companion. They shared something that she did not share with the others. That something was that half the time Ruk didn't know what Avery, Armegon, and Ultrecht were talking about either.

She remembered when Ultrecht had taken the time to explain the rocket thing to her. Though no none else may have noticed, Ruk was just as confused as she had been, and during the explanation, he was paying more attention than was warranted by idle curiosity. Calista smiled. Ruk was just as uneducated as she was. He was, however, more experienced at hiding the fact.

Ultrecht rolled over and mumbled something in his sleep. He was also an enigma. There were times when he seemed so powerful that she would swear he could put and end to the gods and the Godking as well. The things he knew were phenomenal. Magic and science--whatever that was--were his bag.

And yet she could tell that he struggled sometimes just to lift his pack onto his back. For all that power, he was weaker than she herself was. Not that she was weak, she thought to herself as she flexed a biscep. The recent months had put strength in her limbs and honed her mind. Not just from hanging about with powerful men like these, but by forcing her to face new challenges and deal with unexpected situations, life was making quite a woman out of her.

Of them all, Armegon and Ultrecht had been the first ones that she had met. Armegon had raised Sam and had delivered her lover the day he was born. She could see some of Sam's mannerisms in the mage from which they originated. Calista almost considered Armegon as a second father.

Father. The word brought back memories of the gentle face that had comforted her throughout the years. She missed her father deeply and wanted so much to tell him one more time how much she loved him. She would never forget that night on the stage when she had become an eligible maiden and no suitor had come to her. She would always remember the night when only her father had proclaimed his love for her.

That was the night she had met Sam. That was the night her life had changed. She thought that it had been a change for the better until that scoundrel, Tyson, had... She couldn't think it. It hurt too much.

The images of Nikki and the monstrous Mirfak came into her mind. She thought for a moment she could envision them standing guard over the sleeping form of Sam, her sole reason for living. Calista recalled the secrets she had shared with Nikki. While Sam had slept, and Armegon and Ultrecht were in Allentown, they had conspired to make Avery's life absolutely miserable. He hadn't seemed to mind too terribly much, especially when the reddish blond haired elf woman would take him by the hand out into the forest. Calista wondered it the ranger had any idea at all that he would soon be a father. It had been Nikki's plan to present him with a child upon their return. And though she had not said it, Calista knew that it was also Nikki's contingency to keep a part of Avery with her in the event that he did not return.

In some ways, Calista was disappointed that she, herself had not conceived. It would have been a lot easier to face the possibility of Sam's death if she had been able to cling to a part of him within her. Calista absently munched on a piece of the coconut. The fire had begun to die down, and she added more wood to the coals and embers. She sat back and stared into the dancing colors as the snapping pyre brightened.

Her shift was half over. She drank again from her bottle when she suddenly had the feeling again that she was being watched. She slowly lowered the bottle and peered over its top. Only darkness could be seen beyond the fire. She quickly turned about and was treated to the exact same sight. She wondered if she was being silly or if something was really out there. If she spoke, she would wake some if not all of her companions and probably drive whatever it was away. On the other hand, she did not feel any sense of danger, so she was not alarmed.

Just as she was about to speak, the feeling disappeared. And, though she listened, striving to detect a clue of a presence in the darkness, the feeling did not return. Her shift ended without incident. She woke Avery and helped him restock the fire before going back to sleep. She slept deeply with dreams of a cottage in the forest passing the time.

When she woke, it was morning. Avery and Ruk snoozed still. Armegon and Ultrecht were preparing coconuts and dates for breakfast. Calista sat up and nibbled on a small date and drank some water. Armegon's long white hair was wet and pulled back. It lay down across his shoulders and the tiny little antenna that allowed him to understand the villager's language could barely be seen sticking out of the top of his head. When his hair dried again they would not be visible, but at the moment they made the halfelf look rather comical.

Ultrecht was wearing a clean robe and had hung his old one up in a tree to dry next to several articles of wet clothing. Calista concluded that the mages had bathed and laundered their clothes that morning. The thought of a bath was appealing and she announced that she intended to do likewise. Armegon handed her a pouch of powder he claimed would help her clean herself. He explained that it was the crushed leaves of a bush Avery had found near the pool. He called it soap.

Calista accepted the gift and gathered her own clothes sack. She only had two complete sets of clothing. There were one or two extra blouses, and a pair of stockings, but only two pair of trousers. These had both gotten rather dirty since the last washing in the village.

With soap and laundry, she skipped off across the sand to the forest. The trail was easy to follow as the others had made enough tracks and brushed against enough plants to mark the way well. Between the directions she had gotten and the new path, she soon arrived at her destination.

The pool was a scene of total serenity. A small waterfall fell from a height equal to that of a small tree, and splashed into the crystal clear pool of water below with a spattering cascade of silvery droplets. The sandy bottom appeared deceptively close in the clean blue water. Calista fervently removed her clothing and piled them on a rock at the pool's edge. She sat on the rock for a moment, naked, enjoying the feel of the open air on her body.

She then took a deep breath and waded into the placid waters. The water was cold. Bumps rose on her skin as the water washed up her thighs and crossed her flat belly. She hesitated at the cold before gritting her teeth and diving forward into the deeper water. She let her momentum drive her under the water and she dove deeply until the pressure on her ears began to increase before angling her path upward again. She broke the surface about halfway to the waterfall.

It was too deep to stand on the bottom, so she lay back and floated above the water letting the water play throughout her hair. She paddled on her back in a small circle before rolling over and swimming back to the rock that held her belongings.

She retrieved the leather pouch with the Armegon's powder in it. Then she swam back out to the waterfall and washed herself thoroughly. Clean and feeling better than she had in a long time, Calista returned once again to the rock, replaced the pouch and then took her clothes into her arms.

She waded to a shallow area and sat on the sandy bottom, spread her legs and dunked her clothing under the water. When the garments were well soaked, she closed her legs around them to keep them from drifting away. Then she took one piece of her attire in one hand and some of the white sand in the other and proceeded to scrub harshly at the apparel.

By the time she had worked her way through all of the laundry, her hair was almost dry. She pulled at it irritably. When it was short it would have already been dry. Now that it had grown out a bit it was holding water longer. Calista pulled her hair back into a ponytail and tied it with a bit of string. Then she climbed back up on the rock and lay out.

Never so much as then had she wished for the suns to be in the sky. She would love to have been able to soak up some sunshine as her clothes, also spread out on a nearby rock, dried. She lay on the rock for the better part of an hour dozing when once again the now familiar feeling that she was not alone came over her.

She sat up quickly and glanced around now very aware of her nakedness. Nothing could be seen out of the ordinary. Conscientiously, Calista reached for a long tunic and pulled it to her. To her surprise, it was almost dry. She wriggled into it and tied the waist tightly so that her bosom was covered and her lap was sheltered. Still there was nothing visible that could cause her discomfort.

Calista sat up holding her knees for another several minutes until the feeling disappeared. That was the third time it had happened and she considered telling the others about it. She wondered if they had had any of the feelings as well. Calista hastily finished dressing and gathered her belongings. She took one last look at the peaceful setting. Living here would not be bad, she decided. But she would not want to do it alone.

"How do you like my domain, little one?" Calista turned around quickly. The voice was deep and musical. She searched the greenery about her but could not locate the source of the voice.

"Fear not," it continued. "I am not here to harm you."

"Where are you?" she asked. The foliage parted and Calista found herself face to face with the creature they had traveled all that way to meet. It appeared at first to be a horse, but the unmistakable goatee and long horn uniquely identified the creature beyond question. It was the unicorn.

His hide was light green, and his long horn was a deep dark emerald crystalline spike. The unicorn's goatee was deep green as well with streaks of white mixed in. The hooves were flawlessly black, and the long tail and flowing mane matched the goatee. "I am Ganatar," the unicorn said. "I have watched you since you arrived. You are traveling with four others?"

"Yes," Calista answered. "We came to see you."

"I am flattered," Ganatar replied as absently pawed the ground. "I am also curious about why you would come here?"

"My friends would be the best persons to explain that to you," Calista said. She wanted them to handle the discussion. Too much was at stake.

"I am not sure I want to talk to them," Ganatar told her. "Why should I?"

"We can help you escape," Calista answered. She hoped that would interest the unicorn enough to risk a talk with the others. The unicorn was silent for a long moment. "Why would you do that?"

"To save a life," Calista said. "To save the life of someone very special." She went on to tell the unicorn the story behind her meeting Sam, their falling in love and his loss. She broke into tears halfway through the last part. Ganatar waited patiently for her to resume the story. When she composed herself, she went further to recall how Ultrecht and Armegon had traveled to Allentown to find the cure and how the only possible salvation for Sam was the freely given blood of an Emerald Unicorn. Then she told of their long trek westward and their meeting of the Janusian centaurs.

"It is quite a story," Ganatar said when she finished. "It is well you did not waste time searching out my sisters for they would never have allowed you to get near them much less freely give up their blood. Too much control can be given to the recipient of that gift."

He knelt down on his haunches and nibbled absently at a nearby clump of grass. "But, I will speak with your friends as you have asked. I reserve the final verdict of your trustworthiness for myself."

"Do you want me to fetch them, or will you return with me to the camp?" Calista asked.

"Neither," the unicorn stated. "I will visit at a time of my choosing. In that way I may be certain that no deceit is being played."

"I will tell them," Calista said as she gathered her belongings.

"Very well," Ganatar agreed.

"May I ask a question?" Calista asked as the unicorn turned to go. The creature glanced questioningly back. "Were you watching me bathe?"

Ganatar nickered in what could very well have been a laugh. "I did," he said. But, when Calista's face began to redden he added. "It is of no concern, little one. Our bodies are far too different for me to be interested in a human female." He paused a moment then continued. "But from what I understand you are a very well built human female. I am not very sure of how humans view such matters."

Calista smiled and waved. "Until later," she said as he disappeared into the forest. She watched where he had gone for a moment then started on her own trip back to the camp. She skipped merrily along. They had met the unicorn, and he had agreed to talk to them. That, at least, was why they had come to begin with.

Avery and Ruk were awake when she returned to the camp. "Guess what?" she said happily as she stepped from the trees.

"You don't stink anymore?" Armegon teased.

"No," she smirked. "I just talked to a unicorn!" There was a moment of silence followed by an explosion of activity. Everyone gathered around and four eager voices begged her to tell the story. Calista started by telling of her strange feeling during her search for firewood the day before. She took care to describe how at first she was alarmed then calm.

Then she told them about the second occurrence the night before during her watch. Calista could see Armegon fidgeting and Ultrecht bit his lower lip. Well, they had stretched their share of stories and made her wait, now it was her turn. Calista could see Ruk was patiently waiting for the story's conclusion, and Avery was showing what appeared to be amusement as he watched the two mages.

Calista continued her oration. She told them of her outing to the pool and her meeting with Ganatar. When she reached the part where they had conversed, Armegon could not wait any longer.

"Did you make our offer?"

"I told him that we’d help him escape," she answered, "but I’m not sure he trusts us. He mentioned something about giving blood was giving control."

"That’s essentially correct," Ultrecht remarked. "Any competent mage who has a blood sample of an individual creature can gain absolute control of that creature."

"You mean that if we get unicorn blood, we could conceivably control all the unicorns?" Ruk asked astonished.

"Not at all," Ultrecht quickly responded. "That’s not what I said. You can gain total control over the creature you get the blood from, but you don’t get total control over the whole species."

"You can," Armegon added, "get a certain amount of influence over the rest of a species though."

"Right," Ultrecht agreed. "So if I took some of Cal's blood here," he said patting the girl on the shoulder, "I could gain total control of her, but not of another human. However, I could gain a significant amount of influence over another human. I could probably convince him that copper was more valuable than silver or something like that, but I couldn’t make him kill himself."

"That’s why the unicorn’s so careful," Avery observed. "He’s not stupid. We’re going to have to convince him we intend him no harm before he’s even going to consider such an act. If he gives us his blood, he gives us the power to make him our slave."

"So when is he going to drop by for this visit," Armegon asked Calista.

"Whenever he’s ready I’d guess," Calista replied. "I got the feeling he wanted to make sure we’re not going to try to ambush or trap him or something."

"That makes sense," Avery said. "I’d do the same thing."

"Well I guess we should just go on about our daily routine," Armegon kicked at the dirt. "The next move is his."

"That’s fine with me," Ruk said as he picked up his own laundry. "I. for one. am anxious to clean up a little."

"Fine," Armegon said. "You do that. And take Avery with you. He’s beginning to get very fragrant." Avery frowned then sniffed mockingly at Armegon.

"And I suppose you have already bathed?" He shook his head. "Could’ve fooled me."

"That’s not as difficult as you’d like to think," the mage parried back. "You’d be the last person to know," the ranger said as he too gathered his laundry.

"About fooling you?"

"About thinking." Avery grinned as turned and followed Ruk. Ultrecht and Calista snickered together.

"You know," Ultrecht whispered secretly, "I think that’s the first time Avery’s ever gotten the last word."

Ultrecht and Calista left the camp a few minutes later to gather more dates and coconuts for the day. Calista had originally wanted to stay behind in the event Ganatar would drop by, but Ultrecht convinced her that the unicorn probably would not appear until they were all together, so there was no reason for her to hang around doing nothing when she could be useful.

Armegon was inspecting the beached raft when Ruk and Avery returned a few hours later. "Where are Ultrecht and Cal?" Avery asked.

"They went foraging for supper," Armegon replied. Ruk knelt down next to the raft. His huge frame dwarfed the mage's own. "How bad is it?" Armegon stood and brushed the sand from his hands.

"Well, the wood’s undamaged, but the tar layer has been almost entirely stripped away. We need a substitute."

"Any suggestions?" Avery asked as he too inspected the raft's underside.

"Not at the moment," Armegon said. "I don't suppose you’ve seen any pine trees on this island, have you?"

"Not really," Avery said. "But, then again I haven't really looked for any either. Until now we’ve been preoccupied with finding the unicorn."

"That," Armegon stated, "has been done. And, hopefully within the next day we’ll be able to conclude our business and focus on returning home."

"We still don’t know how to go about that either," Ruk pointed out. Armegon sat on a rock by the forest edge. "I guess we’ll just have to wait and see," he said.

Later, Calista sat on a log and began waiting for the appearance of the unicorn. She fretted for about an hour before Armegon could stand it no longer. "A watched pot never boils," he said. "Why don't you find something else to do?" Though it unsettled her greatly, she assisted with the gathering of firewood. At least it helped pass the time

Later that evening, they were sitting around the fire talking about the raft and escaping. Armegon and Ultrecht had come to the conclusion that the volcano at the center of the island could be one of the Towers they had been told about at the village. If that was so, they might be able to work some magic within its walls if they could locate a way in. With magic they could conjure an epoxy or resin that would see them safely back across the lake.

They talked long until Avery yawned and suggested getting some sleep. He recommended the same watches as the night before, but added that should the unicorn appear, whoever was on watch should wake everyone else. He also asked Calista to wake him if she should have that strange feeling again during the night. He predicted that if the unicorn arrived, it would do so during her shift since it was familiar with her already.

With those instructions understood, Calista joined the others in bedding down under the trees and left Ruk awake in the flickering firelight. She dozed off quickly and dreamed a curious dream of ribbons of light and swirling misty colors. She dreamed of a musical ringing and a warm comfortable feeling. In her dream she stood on a plateau and gazed upwards into the sky. She saw only one sun in the sky and felt comforted at that sight.

Then she woke. Ruk was sitting next to the fire; he was poking it with a stick. The flames licked upwards and sparks flowed along the tracks of the invisible smoke upwards into the perfect blackness to make, if only for a moment, miniature constellations of stars.

Calista wondered how long she had slept, and was about to try to fall back asleep when the familiar feeling that had thrice fallen upon her crept into her consciousness. She sat up sharply and Ruk, startled, turned at the noise. To her surprise, Avery too was sitting up. He glanced at her and she instantly read the question on his face. She nodded to show that she was indeed sensing that feeling. That feeling she could not identify before, now she understood to be a sixth sense that detected an unknown presence nearby.

Calista moved over and helped Ruk pile more wood on the fire and Avery woke Armegon and Ultrecht. They all gathered about warming themselves by the fire. Not that it was cold, but sleep tended to cool a body somewhat, and the total darkness imposed a psychological coldness as well. The light of the fire warmed them as much as its heat.

"He’s near," Avery said. "I can feel it."

"Avery's right," Calista agreed nervously. "This is what I’ve felt before. The last time was just before he spoke to me."

"The little one is very perceptive, is she not?" the voice said from the darkness behind Calista. There was a pause for a second or two and then it spoke again from behind Ruk.

"A hardy band of travelers who have come a long way to speak with me. I am sorry that I have few answers. You would have been better off speaking to the Oracle of the Twilight Dragon."

"We have spoken to him," Ultrecht addressed their unseen speaker. "He was very helpful."

The voice did not reply for several long seconds. Then from behind Ultrecht it said, "then you should have all the answers you need. Why then do you seek me?"

"Why don’t you stand still?" Armegon asked irritated. "We mean you no harm."

"If you mean me no harm," the voice whispered in Armegon's ear, "then why do you wish me to stand still? Should I go out of my way to present you with an easy target?"

"That’s not necessary," Ultrecht said aloud. By now the unicorn could be anywhere in the darkness. "If it comforts you to move about under the cover of darkness, then by all means do so."

"Are you not here to try to take my blood?" This time the voice was definitely between their camp and the lake. "From what I have been told, you need it."

"We need freely given blood, " Armegon corrected. "If we simply take it, it is of no use."

"Oh, blood is of use, whether given freely or not," the voice advised. This time it was from behind Ruk.

"For our purpose," Ultrecht assured him, "it must be freely given."

"And what may that purpose be?"

"To free my son," Armegon said with a slight crack in his voice. "And to free her mate," he added placing a hand on Calista's shoulder. She sniffled in response.

"What is in it for me?" The voice had moved behind Armegon again. "We’ll help you escape from this prison," Armegon promised. "Your own mates await your release."

"You mean you will help me if you yourselves can escape," the voice accused. "I am not certain you can even do that. How do I know you are not here to slay me? The gods have sent assassins to this prison before."

"How can you be killed?" Ultrecht asked. "We were told that death can not occur unless life a birth also occurs."

"On this island stands a dead volcano. Within its crater is a Tower. The Towers are close enough to the boundary of the other world, that death and magic can function." The unicorn's words made Armegon smile slightly. That answered the earlier question.

"How is it that you haven’t escaped yourself," Ultrecht asked. The voice moved back to the area behind Ruk.

"I understand not the magics involved, nor do any others I have encountered." Ultrecht stood and faced the darkness.

"I am an Elementalist and a master of the eight elements of the archmage rank of wizards. My companion," he gestured to Armegon, "is also an archmage ranked master of the surge magic called sorcery. We understand magic better than most gods."

Armegon rolled his eyes and leaned over to Avery. "And you guys say I have an ego problem?"

The voice moved closer to Ultrecht. "Very impressive," it said. "Still you have not answered the ultimate question. Why should I trust you?"

"Because you have nothing to lose and everything to gain." Ruk said.

"Not so, minotaan. Though your presence is very luring. I remember Minota. A beautiful island of broad grassy plains and spacious trees. Your people were always trustworthy." The voice saddened as it continued. "I thought you had been destroyed along with many of the dragon folk and the pheoni."

"The pheoni are all but gone now," Ultrecht informed the voice behind Armegon. "Only one remains. But the dragons have made a startling comeback. They do not roam freely, but they do roam."

"You still have given me no reason to trust you."

"Consider this," Avery said to the space behind Calista, though the last location had been behind Ultrecht. "If we meant you harm, we could take you now, and you couldn’t stop us. I know it and you know it. Now you know that I know it. The fact that we haven't done so means we are either telling the truth, or we want you alive for some other reason. Either way you live, and if you help us, you escape."

"Hold it yellow eyes," the voice growled from Ruk's back. "What makes you think that you could get me?" Avery stood slowly so as not to cause alarm.

"Why then have you avoided coming near me all night?"

"So I am being cautious. By your actions you are a woodsman and a tracker." The voice sneered, "I am afraid it will take more than a huntsman's knife to do me in."

"I have more than a knife," Avery claimed defiantly. He reached over his left shoulder and drew forth his magic sword. To everyone' surprise, when it slid free of the scabbard, it burst forth into a blinding radiance that illuminated the whole area as if it were full daylight. Revealed in the sudden luminous onslaught was the unicorn. Its eyes were glued to the enchanted talisman. As the light dispersed and darkness returned, the unicorn stepped trance like into the firelight. It lowered its head and approached closer to Avery until the glittering green horn point was only a half dozen inches from his chest. Then the head shifted and the horn lightly touched the sword.

The unicorn spoke again. This time there was no scorn in his voice. There was no suspicion. This voice was reverent and trusting. "Liberator," he said. "As was foretold when I was imprisoned, only Justice can free me."