Illishar's Betrayal

Princess Lell, sister to Aljan Moonbrow, Prince of the Unicorns, the Firebringer, galloped swiftly through the dappled light of the forest. Some distance behind her a bright green tersel, or male gryphon, chased after. Lell's amber mane and tail streaming behind her, she flew out of the forest and came upon the rim of the unicorns' Hallow Hills too quickly. Tumbling and rolling down the rim into the basin, laughing wildly, the five-year-old unicorn came to rest at the base of the hill that led up to the copse of trees and the Mirror of the Moon, the sacred healing pool of the unicorns. Following right down the hill behind her was the tercel, his green and silver feathers flashing in the early morning light. Bumping to a stop next to her, the tercel flapped his wings and lunged for Lell.

"Illishar!" she laughed. "How was I supposed to know you would be so stupid as to follow me down the hill?"

"I didn't see the rim until it was too late," the gryphon purred. "And besides, I would have had to get down the hill someway, wouldn't I?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Lell replied. Leaping up from where she was lying, Lell ran towards one wall of the large basin where a group of unicorns was gathering. Sunlight gleamed off Lell's darkamber and golden flecked coat, seeming to make her sparkle as she ran.

Seeing her, two three-year-olds separated themselves from the group and launched themselves at their aunt.

"Aunt Lell, Aunt Lell!" they cried. "We've been waiting for you."

Lell looked at the two young unicorns in surprise. The colt, Dhattar, was dancing excitedly, his pale-as-a-cloud coat shining. The filly, Aiony, was talking.

" . . . and Aljan has been waiting for an hour to . . ."

Lell marveled again at the strange markings Aiony possessed. One side of the young filly was silver with black stockings and a black-encircled eye, while the other was just the opposite: black with silver shanks and eye. She was still talking.

" . . . so Jan said 'As soon as you see Lell send her over and . . .' Aunt Lell? Aunt Lell are you listening?" Aiony reared up to meet Lell's gaze.

"Yes, of course I'm listening," she said hastily. "Well if he's been waiting what are we dawdling here for? Let's go."

"Oh yes, yes, we should go," Dhattar said eagerly.

Trotting over to the assembled herd, Lell wondered what they could be waiting for her to come for.

Jan glanced up as the three unicorns with the gryphon trailing reached the group. "There you are, I was beginning to think you weren't going, which you know is against the rules," he said.

"What? Going where?" Lell asked, confused.

"Going where? To the Summer Sea for the mating dance and pledge of course," Jan said. "You are five and ready for your first journey there."

Lell was shocked. She had completely forgotten that this was to be her first year to travel to the Summer Sea. "Of - of course," she stuttered.

Illishar walked up beside her and whispered, "You have to go, it is your duty to your herd and your future that makes you go. I must also leave, to go back where I came from to my flock."

"No!" Lell whispered. "Illishar, you can't leave me! What will I do, with everyone pledging their lives to their new mates and me alone while they're off frolicking together?"

"Lell, understand, you are growing up, you too will have a mate someday, maybe soon, and then you won't want a playmate like me. Go with your herd and be happy with your own kind."

"But I want to fly! I don't like my own kind, I want to be free and able to float on the wind!"

"Lell!" Illishar's tone was sharper now. "You are a unicorn. I am a gryphon. Unicorns run, gryphons fly. That is the way it is. You will not get your way by wanting and complaining, so live your life to the fullest with what you have been given. I saved you so you could do just that. Now don't make me sorry for almost killing myself to rescue you!" With that he flapped his wings, lifted off, and in a few seconds was just a speck on the horizon, flying toward the rising sun.