Chapter Ten: The Rainbow Herd
The Celestial Valley was home to the Celestial herd. The unicorns were sleeping; all but one--her name is Atalanta, the Dream Speaker.
She's the color of twilight, violet, lavender, and blue. Her horn is made of crystal. She's herd-mate of Numinor, the Golden One, leader of Celestial Valley.
Atalanta walked down to the Watching Pool, which was connected to the Imperial River. She dipped her horn in the water three times and said in a low, sweet voice, "I call upon the Princess of Balinor." The pool showed her an image of a girl with a bronze unicorn.
Atalanta knew what was happing: a shadow loomed over Balinor.
It was soon dawn in the valley. At sunrise, Numinor would do the ceremony of greetings of the sun.
After the ceremony, she called on Rednal, a member of the red band, and brother of Sunchaser.
"I need your help. Tell Arianna that danger is near, and we need to talk." She said.
"Who is that boy with brown hair?" asked Rednal.
"His name Sora and he is the key blade wielder, the key of Kingdom Hearts," said Atalanta.
"Kingdom Hearts?" he asked. "I thought that was only a legend."
"No, Rednal, there's always been a door to the light--"
"Atalanta," said a deep voice right behind them.
It was Numinor.
He trotted up toward them, and asked, "What news of our enemy?"
"Could you wait a minute, Numinor?" she asked gently.
She turned back to Rednal. "Go to Balinor and send Tobiano back here, okay?"
Rednal nodded, and then he was gone.
"And yes, my lord, the enemy is preparing for battle, and Kylie is going to use Lori and Veronica," said Atalanta sadly.
"Then we must train," said Numinor as he galloped away. But for Atalanta, she hated the idea of going to war.
The last time they battled was against the Shifter. They had won, but it was still terrible. She watched the colorful unicorns gather for battle drills.