Aurora paced impatiently within her little glen. It was deep in a thicket apart and away from all the hubbub of the Celestial Valley. She was farthest away from Numinor's dwelling, the pillar of rock of which he stayed. And most importantly she was away from the Telling Pool.
Her abode was her way of escaping the machinations of her life. It seemed that recently all she ever did was searching the inky depths for hours upon, hardly breaking to rest or eat. Her energy was failing and her spirit was breaking.
Everything she saw in the pool was one horror after another.
The people of Balinor were living in terror, forever facing the brunt of Vurinadan madness. Villages and cities were sacked within days, sometimes in a matter of hours. Communications between their lords and the people were cut off. Barns and storage houses were burned to the ground in blazing fires.
At time Vurinadan troops would simply bypass a village, leaving a few behind to ignite the town in the depths of night.
Night was when they always struck. The rumors of the Shadow unicorns were no longer just a rumor but a painful and terrifying reality. They could be anywhere and everywhere. If any shadow was big enough for them to maneuver they could spring forth when you least expected it. They roamed the daylight hours, their riders dressed in black from head to toe. It didn't matter that spring was in full effect; they didn't stay in direct light for long. They were always traveling within the tweens. It was how they got anywhere, and fast too.
Numinor lamented that fact. How could they out maneuver an enemy who could change into shadow and move miles in a matter of moments? And that was only in daylight. At night they were nigh uncatchable. No one who wished to see the light of day again would venture out after the sun had set. The darkness was the shadow unicorns' domain, and therefore it belonged to Vurinada as well.
The Resistance was failing.
The rebels were being driven out in droves, seeking refuge out in the open seas. Many took to pirating, disrupting supply lines and sinking Vurinadan ships. Shadow unicorns were limited at sea for they could not step foot in the ocean and could rarely stay on ship, making the boats quite vulnerable since ground troops relied so heavily upon the creatures of the damned. Out at sea it seemed there was still hope.
The Lords of the Seven Houses had quickly fallen. Those who did not pledge allegiance to the new Vurinadan crown were summarily executed. Only two lords escaped. Two were hanged and the other three found new life under King Oorlin's banner.
The royal unicorns fled Balinor, hiding where they could. Squads of Shadow unicorns and their riders often hunted them down. Such raiders came to be known as Dark Nights. Aurora didn't enjoy the pun or the irony. There was nothing knightly in slaying a unicorn, whether it was shadow or not. They would only come out at night, sweeping the countryside in search of their flighty prey.
The Dreamspeaker did what she could to corral them into safer territory. If Numinor hadn't forbade any and all Celestials from stepping foot onto the mortal plain the job would be a lot easier. Entering the minds unicorns that hardly slept for fear of being killed was exhausting work, explaining to them why they had been abandoned was even worse. But she did what she could for them.
Another age old question was wearing down upon Aurora, something that Numinor asked her nearly everyday: Where was Emera?
Many assumed she was dead, much to the strong contrary to her herd mates of the Green band. They still felt her presence, although it was wavering and sometimes hardly noticeable, but it was still there all the same.
Numinor commanded the Dreamspeaker to find her immediately and bring her back onto the Celestial plain. Easier said than done, Aurora thought bitterly. The Green could sift just like any shadow unicorn could but her power lay within merging with plants. Once Emera shucked her unicorn skin it was impossible to find her. Aurora had tried to explain to the Golden One that she could not enter into the dreams of plants but he would hear none of her words.
Aurora hung her head. She liked Numinor less and less for the way he had been treating her. Sometimes she wondered if he thought it would b more suitable if she never slept nor breaked for rest and nutrition. On duty all the time, that's what he wanted.
Not only that she had to watch the Other Side as well, keeping tabs upon Queen Ildrianna and her bonded pair Ocean. The prospect looked grim. She had yet to find all the pieces to the indigo prince's horn and worse yet she had no plan what so ever in piecing it together permanently. Watching Ildrianna from beyond her own world was the most taxing of all her duties. The amount of energy needed to connect and stay tethered to that world was nearly astronomical.
What was worse was Estellana's situation was getting shoddier everyday. Since the dark prince had put that necklace upon her head and neck the young princess had been wracked the pain to the point where the girl often laid unconscious. Her prone form was toted around all across Balinor, ever so slowly circulating and following prince Rhalluan's war banner.
Rumor had it that the prince was going to sell the girl into slavery once he returned home however Aurora didn't believe such talk. Its not what she would do if she were in the prince's shoes. As long as he had the last remaining shred of Ildrianna's family with him sooner of later someone would try to rescue her. The Prince of Darkness was not stupid nor did he rush into things either. He broadcasted to all the noblemen that he had the girl captive and that he would sell her to the highest bidder. While the price for her head rocketed skyward he was also blatantly waving a red cloth in front of a bull.
Rhalluan was baiting the Resistance. Worse yet he was baiting the Celestials as well, and when and if she returned to fugitive queen of Balinor herself.
Aurora advised Numinor to not take the bait, for that's all Estellana was at the moment. No real bodily harm had come to her. Yet- as Numinor pointed out.
"You seemed to be laboring under the impression that Rhalluan still hold sentiments for the girl. Once his supposed regard for her vanishes she will be killed." Numinor warned the Dreamspeaker. "I wouldn't put so much faith into that fiend. If she dies under his care," Numinor sneered at the word, "Then it will be upon your conscious."
And with that ounce of wisdom Numinor departed to tend to other matters. As much as Aurora hated to admit it, even to herself, perhaps he was right. Maybe she was placing too much credit upon Rhalluan's character. Perhaps she was judging too liberally on the fact that they used to be childhood friends. To Aurora those bonds seemed hard pressed to break but to Rhalluan? What if they were easily discarded?
The boy had changed ever since his mother died; she couldn't over look that. What once had been carefree and joyous had turned into guarded and hatred. She could see it in his eyes every time he morphed from shadow along with his ill-fated steed, Harbinger. Tracking him was a sporadic and haphazard thing. Just as with Emera she could not follow shadow. Once the prince and his charged faded into misty darkness her vision turned black until the next time he surfaced.
Much to the Dreamspeaker's annoyance all her searching was turning more into a fishing game. Sometimes the line would sink and an image would be fetched, other times the waters just bobbed blankly in the breeze.
Her pacing abruptly stopped when she heard a movement through the glen. Nostrils flaring she would have been furious if it had been anyone besides Atalanta. The lavender unicorn weaved through the trees and finally popped out from the thicket into the little clearing that was Aurora's resting place away from prying eyes and voices.
"Dreamspeaker." Atalanta bowed gracefully, speaking softly.
"Atalanta." Aurora nudged the little yearling fondly. "I feared that you wouldn't come." Her voice was just as soft.
The apprentice shook all over and tossed her head. "I wouldn't miss this chance. Besides I agree with you, Numinor's orders are quite impractical." Atalanta felt that Celestials needed to be down in the mortal plain below, helping with what ever they could. They needed to find a way to re-open the Gap. They needed to find more tweens and convert them into light. They needed to help guide the royal unicorns to safety. They needed to show themselves to the people, to prove that they had not abandoned them as the Vurinadan troops were leading them to believe.
"Impractical they may be but he means them for the best." Aurora found herself saying.
The lavender perked at that remark. "I thought you couldn't stand him."
Aurora's eyes wrinkled into a smile. "I can't, but he must learn from his own mistakes. He needed to learn to take chances." She turned on her heel then and began to lead them back out into the meadow. The sun was setting and a full moon was rising. They needed to get to the pool as quickly as possible without being seen.
"Like what we're doing now." Atalanta nodded diligently, following closely by Aurora's side. They clung to the tree lines, weaving in and out of thickening shadows. The young student could only imagine the new terror the people of Balinor would face on this night. Here in the Celestial Valley shadows held no power.
"Yes, Atalanta. What we are doing now is very dangerous."
The yearling pranced a bit. "What will I be doing?" The Dreamspeaker had yet to fully explain her role in the entire ordeal.
Aurora looked around cautiously as they emerged from the forest to find themselves in a wide-open meadow filled with chest high waving heather and grasses. The delicate stocks danced uninhibited to the wind. A few celestials were grazing peacefully upon the prairie.
"You are going to ask as my safety net." Aurora whispered, ducking her head a bit as she made her way into the brush. Atalanta followed suit. Since she was still growing she was short enough that the blades of grass came up to her neck.
The yearling thought about her statement for a moment. Aurora always encouraged this, to think before you spoke so it didn't bother the Dreamspeaker a bit when a heavy silence ensued.
"You want me there in case something terrible happens, in case something goes wrong." She spoke the words slowly and quietly.
Aurora swiveled an ear in her direction as they treaded deeper and deeper into the meadow. Few residents bothered to look their way. She was pleased with her student. Over the months she had begun to level out her energy and calm down a bit, becoming the demure and soft spoken and reserved Dreampeaker that was the trait of all her predecessors, of course it helped that Atalanta was just as exhausted as Aurora herself. And unlike a certain golden stallion she knew, Atalanta was bright and a careful listener.
Overall, Aurora was pleased with her selection.
"What should I do if something does go wrong?"
The maroon unicorn lifted her head higher once they passed into another copse of trees, her gait picking up significantly.
"You will either pull me back or disturb the image." Aurora answered absently, eyes intent upon her surroundings, ears straining to hear everything at once.
Atalanta started for a moment. "But you've always told me to never agitate an image!" If a Dreamspeaker was engaged in watching an image then no one was allowed to disturb her, not even Numinor, King of all the Celestials. To remove her mind from a concentrated scene could not only damage the watcher but also damage the pool itself. The yearling repeated as much to her teacher.
Aurora stopped, her ears clamped closely to her skull as her lips pulled back from her teeth in a menacing way. "I know what I said!"
The lavender spooked away, afraid of meeting the ends of Aurora's square teeth. She had been bitten one to many times when she had upset her teacher.
The maroon unicorn stood her ground, her body bunched and ready to spring. It was times like these that the Dreamspeaker wished that her pupil wouldn't remember everything that she had told her.
But she was resolute. "I told you that this would be dangerous. I know the consequences of my actions. If anything happens to me I've taught much of what you need to know."
Atalanta shied away once more, "You cannot mean that! I am not ready to be a full-fledged Dreamspeaker. Why can't we do this when I'm stronger?" She wailed loudly, clearly upset at her master's words.
Aurora invaded Atalanta's personal space, warning her not to raise her voice so much. "This needs to be done now, it cannot wait any longer." She continued on her path to find the pool.
Atalanta was hard pressed to keep up. Her legs were not as long as the Dreamspeaker's. She looked up at her mentor, seeing the determination and resolve there. She really was risking her life and mental health by doing this. Her mind could be lost to the fading image and all that would remain of her would be her collapsed body. And if that really did happen what would Atalanta tell Numinor? He would be furious and she would be punished. For the first time in her little life she felt true fear and trepidation course through her veins.
"Aurora?" Atalanta asked tentatively.
The maroon unicorns didn't spare her pupil a glance but acknowledged that she was listening.
"Is it alright to tell you that I'm scared?"
At that Aurora did finally turn to her student. She stared at the lavender for a pregnant moment before arching her neck and touching Atalanta's glowing silver horn. When the two acorna touched they were directly linked to one another. From Aurora Atalanta could feel nothing but soothing and comforting murmurs and the slightest hint of fright as well.
The two unicorns pulled away.
"You see I am scared too." Aurora whispered softly. "And I cannot do this without you, Atalanta. Will you not help me?"
The lavender yearling was in awe that the Dreamspeaker was also afraid, but knowing that they were both feeling the same feelings together was comforting.
"I don't know what will happen, my student, but I know that with you by my side everything will be alright." Aurora couldn't shake the feeling. She knew that what she did today would turn out for the good so long as Atalanta was beside her. The feeling was absurdly reassuring.
"I won't fail you." Atalanta nodded and took off after the Dreampeaker. After several more long moments they finally reached the pool as the silver chariot of the moon began to rise in the sky.
This could only be done during a full moon, when Aurora was at her height in power, when she could see the entire world in but one glance- such was the power she could feel thrumming within her now.
Darkness had descended upon the valley and many of the inhabitants had retreated to their dwellings to sleep peacefully in the darkness- never worrying about a nightly invasion of Vurinadan troops or the sudden appearance of shadow unicorns who were truly the stuff of nightmares.
Aurora approached the pool cautiously; completely aware that any stray thought would trigger the pool into action. She schooled her mind into relative blankness as she focused her energy.
"Tonight I will visit Estellana in her dreams, and this time I will not be denied access." She remembered the spiky winged shadows that had nearly devoured her. Not this time, she swore to herself. She turned her neck to stare at Atalanta. "If you see anything out of the ordinary happening to me you must pull me back from the vision immediately. Do you understand?"
Atalanta nodded vigorously.
Aurora prayed that her soul would not be sucked into the pool like Minora's, the previous Dreamspeaker. Her control over the waters had been so complete that she spent most of her time sifting through them, searching for anything and everything. Nothing slipped past her eyes unnoticed, unwatched. She was a brazen as she was powerful, as she bravely tried to sift the waters into seeing the Father above, and for her actions the waters consumed her, body and soul. Some say it was divine retribution for her abuse of power while others said that she was so great that she had found a way to open a portal and step into the Father's realm all on her own.
Aurora herself still wasn't sure what had really happened. Minora wasn't the first Dreamspeker to be consumed by the Telling Pool, but hopefully she would be the last.
She stepped toward the pool and blew softly onto the surface while tapping it gently with her horn, instantly stilling the top, which reflected like molten glass in its smoothness.
Please let this work…Reaching out with her mind she commanded the waters to allow her passage into the dream world, to find a very specific person to visit. Aurora envisioned Estellana within her mind's eyes and allowed her mind to unhinge from her physical form. Once separated she allowed herself to float within the moonbeams of the world below as she searched for Estellana's mind.
It took little time.
The princess was deep in sleep, though it was full of nightmares.
Aurora had to push away at all the strains and worry set into the girl's mind. She was sieged under doubt and despair and an acute hopelessness that gnawed at her very soul. Estellana was in turmoil.
The more Aurora tried to settle her garish nightmares new ones would spring anew. Something else was at work here. It took only mere moments to discover the culprit. It was the flashing golden toque and that seemingly innocent tiara! It was poisoning the princess's mind and turning it into chaos.
"Estellana, my dear one," Aurora whispered to the girl in her sleep, trying in vain to meld into the girl's dreams. "Princess you must tell me what this is." Aurora projected an image of the torque into the girl's nightmare.
She watched, incomprehensively as the princess flinched away from the image, her sleeping body suddenly writhing in pain.
"Shhh." Aurora cooed, "It can not longer hurt you here." Aurora injected an image of the Celestial Valley into the girl's head; Estellana clung to the memory like it was her only lifeboat out at sea.
In answer to her previous question Estel's mind began sifting through everything she knew about the torque, what it was, what it was made of and what it could do. The more Aurora learned about the object the more disgusted and horrified she became.
The prince was using acorna! Such a thing was completely blasphemous! Not to mention nearly unheard of. It was the greatest of sins to remove a horn from a unicorn, and to use the horn for one's own personal use was more than barbaric.
Aurora's mind was reeling. The art of manipulating acorna had been lifted from the minds of all mortals in Balinor centuries ago, nothing of the craft survived. How could Rhalluan have used it? How could he have made anything from it, especially something as intricate and specific as the device that now had Estellana's life in thrall?
He had to have gotten outside help, that was all there was to it.
Aurora! Help me please! Save me! Came a strangled voice from the darkness. Estel was trying to help in any way she could, the blossoming hope and expectation flooded into the Dreamspeaker's mind.
"I am doing everything in my power to help you, my dear one." Aurora soothed, sending down nothing but warm feelings to the girl.
Please, I don't want to be here anymore.
"I know, Estellana, I know. But you have to help me first, where is Emera?"
I don't know. She's disappeared ever since I've been captured.
Aurora began to feel the stinging sensations around the edges of her mind; it meant that her time with the princess was becoming short.
"You have not heard anything from her?" She pressed on.
No. I cannot feel her. I can't feel anything. I want to go home. I want to get out of here, please, Dreamspeaker, help me!
Aurora's heart was torn. There was really nothing she could do for the girl at the moment except give her hope.
Where is my sister? She's not… She seemed to loathe the idea that her sister had died so she could not finish her question.
"Your sister is fine, dear one. She has made it across the Gap. She is alive and well." Aurora didn't bother to tell her that Ocean's horn was shattered, that the young queen had no idea how to really fix it, or that for the moment she was completely severed from returning to this world. One doom at a time, she supposed.
She felt the prickling sensations sudden get more aggressive at the mentioning of the princess's sister. Aurora vaguely wondered if her telepathic thoughts were being monitored.
"Listen to me, Estellana, and listen well. You must not lose hope, you must not give up. I have risked much in coming here."
What do you mean?! Came Estel's bitter words, betrayal thickly lacing her emotions. You've abandoned me! Abandoned Balinor! Why haven't you rescued me?
Aurora was pained by the girl's harsh words, but what else could she have concluded since the facts were presented as they were. "I have not abandoned you, my dear, nor have I abandoned Balinor. The day that happens is the day that the moon ceases to raise upon the earth forever more. Numinor has forbid all Celestials from returning to Balinor until things have improved. This includes myself. I do not agree with such actions anymore which is why I have come here to you."
Why would Numinor do such a thing? We need your help.
"Give us time, Estellana. We need time to prepare for a counter attack. I have not forgotten you."
Estellana quaked and shivered under Aurora's soft aura, drinking in her serenity as if she had been parched for water for days.
I cannot stand the nightmares anymore, Dreamspeaker. The princess told her brokenly, clearly defeated.
"Estellana, you must answer me. What do you know of that gift?" Aurora asked, referring to the necklace and tiara.Estel's mind blazed with hatred and resentment. I have told you everything I know.
"So you do not know how or where he got it?" The Dreamspeaker probed.
No, only that if I ever wish to escape I am always at the mercy of Rhalluan. If I try to take one off the other will tighten and kill me.
Aurora paused and thought about that. Even under the light of the full moon she could not break the bond that torque and head unit possessed. At least not in this state she was in, merely just a phantom. She battled with the incessant stabbings of the shadows, holding her own yet they were becoming more and more vicious. Her time with the princess was drawing to a close.
"Not only that but it also has power over your dreams." Aurora added to the list of charming little actions the golden jewelry could do.
Estellana stilled. Was it true then? She had often wondered if her nightmares were tied to the pieces of gold. But she had discarded the idea since she had been having nightmares before she was held captive by the dark acorna. The princess thought that she would be driven mad from all the startling images and sounds she would experience from her sleep. She found no rest whether her eyes were open or closed. The thought of suicide was growing more and more attractive.
You don't mean that… She thought more to herself than in answering the Dreamspeaker."Ah but I do. It is why I am battling so hard with you right now just to speak with you." Aurora examined the torque once more, really eying the inlaid stones carefully. "The dark acorna is from a fallen shadow unicorn who gave her horn up unwillingly. In revenge she is taking out her shortened life upon you." The Dreamspeaker concluded.
Please. Make it stop.
It was a request that Aurora could fulfill. The dream world forever and always will be her domain and hers alone. No one, not even the Prince of Darkness, could say otherwise. Stretching her powers she shoved at the darkness that attacked her and seized upon the torque, battling with all her might. She cleared her mind and only thought of the moon in all its blazing glory lighting up a dark sky to give hope to any and all who cared to look upon her soft silver rays.
The mental image gave her a boost of power, a soft power, an unstoppable power that melded and flowed just like water, bending and moving around any obstacle that dared to stop it. It was in this way that Aurora was at her most powerful but also most vulnerable.
Letting the energies flow within her she surrounded the torque and the circlet with lustrous silver light, fusing it with the dark energies of the black acorna. The raw stones glared harshly upon the light, absorbing and snuffing out as much as possible until it would saturate no more.
With one last push Aurora severed the dream like hold it had over its captive, weakening it. Yet as soon as she won this important victory the inky blackness around her suddenly descended like a tidal wave, crashing around her and obliterating her concentration. What before had been a bearable nuisance now was a full-fledged attack upon her mind.
Aurora was adrift in a sea of darkness that seemed inescapable. The more she struggled the more brutal the attacks would be. For the longest moments she forgot who she was, what she was, and how to escape- so caught off guard she was.
She had been over confident and that had been her own undoing.
Aurora tried to grab a hold of her senses, trying to stay above the blackness and not drown yet the pain was excruciating.
In the Celestial Valley Atalanta watched in horror as Aurora began to writhe where she stood, hardly standing upon her four hooves. Strangled screams of pain would flow past her opened mouth and sometimes no sound emitted at all. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she struggled to just simply breathe.
Atalanta was instantly by her side, dancing on the tips of her hooves yet undecided with what she should do. Aurora had told her that if worse came to worse then she would have to sever the image from the Telling Pool. But she knew in her heart that she couldn't follow the Dreamspeaker's orders.
Instead she went on complete instinct.
Bracing herself she let her mind wander to the pool and felt herself slip into the very image that Aurora was struggling against. Atalanta kept the image of the moon fixed within her mind, letting the soft silver radiance wash over her. She projected herself not as a disjointed mind but as what she really was: a unicorn.
She emerged into a deep chasm of nothingness. It was a place devoid of anything and everything, except darkness. Within it she was like a brilliant ball of silver and lavender.
"Aurora!" Atalanta shouted into the inky black.
She heard a shrill whinny in return.
Atalanta swallowed her fears as she breathed deeply. She looked about her; the tentacle darkness was ebbing from her brilliance. That in and of itself was thrilling to see and did worlds to her confidence.
She suddenly bolted, not wanting to stick around to see what else the shadows wanted to do to her.
"Aurora!" She shouted again, altering her course just a bit to follow her teacher's aura. It was shrinking and waning, so much so that Atalanta feared she might be too late. She focused inward for a moment. Aurora had told her that nearly anything was possible while in the dream world; you were only limited by your own imagination and the few rules that applied to this realm.
Atalanta wasn't short of imagination. She projected herself to become moonlight itself, turning her entire coat to match her mane and tail. She was a silvery white creature blazing a path of light and brightness within the dark, a white unicorn just as the ones in legends!
"I'm here! Don't give up on me now." Atalanta growled out and bounded onto the scene. She watched as Aurora was being consumed by darkness. Fully ready to risk her own life in protecting the only fully learned Dreamspeaker Atalanta pounced on Aurora's waning aura, capturing the glowing maroon ball of energy with her horn.
Atalanta… Came an exhausted greeting from the Dreamspeaker, her fight had just about run out. She was frightened and weak, having lost everything she knew about herself. Aurora focused her mind to stay near the lavender's illustrious horn.
The lavender yearling emitted a clarion call, trumpeting her triumph as she reared upon hind legs, battling the darkness, which tried to recapture its weakened prey. However the celestial had no intention of complying.
With all her strength and focus she threw the image of the full moon out of her body and up into the sky. Light burst forth from all around them as the moon illuminated the spirits of fallen shadow unicorns, controlled even in death as their deadly souls patrolled and did their master's bidding.
"Now we see you for what you truly are!" Atalanta hollered, fueling more and more power and light into the projection. The light was as bright as the sun and just as scorching, searing into the ghostly flesh of the bodiless shadow unicorns.
They screeched and squealed in pain at having been caught within the purity of the moon's rays. Once Aurora saw what they truly were instead of blindly panicking and wondering what was killing her in the darkness she began to focus, fueling what was left of her own power into the full moon.
Two Dreamspeakers… One black soul hissed in anguish.
There was only to be one! Another howled.
Release us, came the silent plea of one soul who was not fighting the purifying light.
Atalanta was suddenly confused with this one soul, the once shadow unicorn did nothing to fight the pain it was feeling from the light of the moon, not like the others around it were doing. Because her focused was suddenly split the moon waned, allowing all but the one to slip from the dream world, escaping what would have been a new death.
Bring it back! The soul snarled, advancing upon Atalanta and Aurora once more.
Out of fear the lavender unicorn obeyed almost without a second thought. She watched entranced as the black unicorn was illuminated under the blistering rays of the moon. The unicorn looked up, gazing adoringly upon the celestial orb even as its eyes burned blind. The soul opened and consumed the light, finally looking upon Atalanta, speaking once more and for the last time.
In the days before I was damned I always yielded to purified light. You have my thanks.
And with that the shadow unicorn vanished, turning into blackened dust, swirling within a vortex of a paranormal wind. The dream world suddenly turned much less volatile and menacing as the moon hung innocently in the sky. Slowly the black ashes of the fallen unicorn began turning gray then white, then platinum silver as it lifted toward the moon and vanished.
Atalanta could not understand what had just happened but she followed suit, allowing herself to meld and bend into the moonlight. When she opened her periwinkle eyes she found herself by the Telling Pool.
Aurora lay collapsed upon the ground beside her. Once the lavender realized she still possessed Aurora's aura she dropped her head and touched the Dreamspeaker with her horn. At the movement Aurora suddenly scrambled to her feet, gasping for air. She stared in awe at her pupil and embraced her warmly.
"I knew I would be in good hands." She murmured, grateful beyond all reason.
"I surely didn't." Rumbled a deep tenor.
The two Dreamspeakers whirled about to find Numinor and his collection of bodyguards and various other important council members escorting him. All looked strained and enraged.
"What did I tell you? I forbade you from visiting the princess until I deemed it safe!" Numinor roared.
Though still a bit shell-shocked Aurora lowered her head and flattened her ears, teeth bared. "And when would have that been?" Her teeth gnashed together.
Numinor whinnied, "When ever I damned well pleased!" He retorted back, pawing the earth. "You could have died! I watched you die, I watched you fall to the ground, lifeless! You cannot do that; you cannot take such risks! And to drag your pupil to death with you. You're recklessness cannot be withstood."
If a mountain had crumbled into dust under Numinor's fury Aurora wouldn't have been surprised.
She simply stood and said, "It had to be done."
"It had to be done?! That is your only excuse?" Numinor roared. "Do you know what we could have lost this night if you had really died! If your apprentice had not been there to save your neck and horn?"
Aurora understood everything he was getting at. She had been wrestling with the implications for her actions for many days. She didn't need a lecture.
"Rhalluan is using acorna to do his bidding." She blurted out, trying to deflect his terrible fury into something more constructive.
You could have knocked Numinor down with a downy feather.
"WHAT?!" He roared. He reared into the air and screamed his frustrations and rage. "Such knowledge had been repealed from the mortal plain for centuries by the Father himself at the pleadings of a previous King." Numinor bellowed, referring to one of his predecessors. "How can this be?"
Aurora withstood. "I do not know. I had also thought the knowledge had been taken away from all mortals." The thought had really troubled her when she learned of it.
"Then whoever has leaked the knowledge is not a mortal." Numinor concluded.
Aurora started at the Golden One's conclusion. Numinor humored the Dreamspeaker, whispering mockingly, "Think you not I don't know what this means?"
"I do not doubt it, my lord." Aurora spoke respectfully. She was in trouble and it was in her best interest to not ignite Numinor's ire further.
"What else have you to tell me, and I beg you, is there any good news?" The golden unicorn ground out.
Aurora retold what she had learned from princess Estellana and of the enchanted jewelry the dark prince had given her and what it can do. "I've weakened the piece, it can no longer hound her in her sleep." She added as part of the good news.
More bad news. She did not know anything more about Emera and neither did her rider.
More bad news. The darkness that had attacked her earlier when she had tried to make contact with the princess turned out to be the souls of long dead shadow unicorns that had entered the dreaming plain to foil the Dreamspeaker once more.
"But there is good news." Atalanta suddenly spoke up, nervous once all eyes were upon her.
"Out with it." Numinor couldn't possibly see any more good news. Not only was he being plagued by the living and breathing shadow unicorns he also seemed to have to contend with the dead as well. Things just seemed to be getting better and better.
"When I was trying to fight off the blackness I created a moon who's light rivaled that of the sun and all the dark souls screeched in pain. They could not stand it. All but one seemed to try to break away from it, which made me lose concentration and allowed them to escape but this one didn't." Atalanta explained.
Numinor snorted, "Get to the point."
Atalanta surprised herself and pleased her teacher when she gave Numinor a look of exacerbation. "The soul was actually angry when the light dimmed, but when it returned he bathed in it, even though it was hurting him." She then relayed exactly what the shadow unicorn had said to her before he vanished and was purified.
Numinor stared, perplexed. "So they can be destroyed?" He asked bluntly.
Atalanta nodded hesitantly. "Yes, but this one wanted to be cleansed." She looked about herself then stared hard at the Golden One. "What exactly are shadow unicorns?" She asked seriously.
Numinor looked away, a complexion of shame and disgust in his eyes.
Alright there is chapter ten (I wrote this all in one sitting and I didn't know where it would take me)! I've finally hit the two-digit marker!
I honestly never imagined I would make it this far, but this is all very exciting. I hope you enjoyed the chapter; I worked very hard on it. I know I had said that this was on hold but it was kind of a white lie. I honestly didn't know how long it would take to re-organize and correct my other story. But when you go on vacation and there is nothing to do but sit and work and think you tend to get things done.
The next chapter is in the works.
Thanks for reading, please review!
BVR