Seth felt both his hands close on something as he woke, as he blinked the sleep from his eyes he found himself resting in Roshanak's cave with bandages wrapped around her chest. In his hands were the dark horn and the cursed dagger. Seth gasped and flung both away from him reflexively and heard them clatter away as he closed his eyes in revulsion.
How did they get down here? He thought, a cold sweat breaking out on the back of his neck.
Eventually he crawled over to where the horn lay and picked the spiral up and looked at it closely. It pulsed with dark energy almost… happily at his touch. Seth's eyes widened, it seemed alive somehow, kind of like a part of him. Had he felt this way before? He couldn't remember. He realized that didn't matter, but there was something else he was supposed to remember, something from the past…
A mug with a black liquid was pushed under his nose, and he was brought back to his senses by the smell of the coffee-like drink. Seth looked over to Roshanak and took the mug,
"Thanks, um… How did I get here?" He asked bashfully looking down at his bandaged chest "Did you-?"
She nodded silently and pointed to the drink. Seth looked back down at the mug and exclaimed, "Oh, right!" and promptly downed the contents. After doing so his chest hurt less and he had more energy. Roshanak took the mug from him and refilled it, placing it back in his hands she spoke in her own language that Seth now had an understanding of.
"I found your body floating in the lake nearby, I took you up here before the neighbors got too curious."
"Thanks again." Seth said, catching himself finding similarities between Rox and Roshanak, the three indigo irises, the same color skin. He knew they both had to be Jinn, so it made him wonder even more if they knew each other.
"You have the Dark Horn of Melkor the Fallen with you." She said, breaking the silence.
Seth snapped out of it and parroted her, "The Dark Horn of Melkor the Fallen?"
She nodded, her ankle chains clinking as she shifted her legs into a more comfortable position. "He was once a unicorn like any other, but there was one thing he lacked."
"His horn?" Seth guessed, it interrupting the story. Roshanak nodded, seeming not to care about the input.
"Yes, He had lost his third horn it is said." She took a sip from her own weathered mug in her hand and continued, "So he searched the world for a wizard or warlock powerful enough to construct an exact copy. No one could do it, it seemed, so he was about to give up… But he met a very powerful Shadow Charmer."
Seth felt his jaw drop in astonishment, the pieces were coming together in his mind, "Was his name Avitus?!"
Once more she nodded, "You know of the Great Shadow-Bringer?"
Seth gulped, clearing his now-sticky throat, "Uh, yeah… I think," He said remembering Avitus' reaction to hearing and sensing him, "That I might be him."
Roshanak's eyes widened and she grabbed his hand and put it up to her third eye in the middle of her forehead, when she was done doing what she wanted to she let his hand go, looking shaken.
"I believe you; indeed you seem to be telling the truth."
Seth nodded, waiting for her to freak out, but the old Jinn never did, "And Shadow-Bringer, is that a nickname of his?"
"Yes, now back to the tale. As the story goes Melkor begged Avitus to make an exact copy of his third horn. The Shadow Charmer warned the unicorn of the risks, but Melkor wouldn't listen. Avitus accepted the challenge and made a perfect copy of Melkor's third horn, and once the unicorn touched it, he became more and more tainted.
He was pure before the horn had touched him, and Avitus realized his mistake and tried to take the horn back, but Melkor evaded him for years. Finally after the evil of the horn and its master had lain waste to the known world, Avitus got close enough to take it and seal the dark taint on the unicorn himself."
She leaned back and breathed a sigh, "And that is the story of The Dark Horn as I know it."
Seth breathed regularly once again and realized he had been holding it when she had been telling the story, "Melkor was pure before, and he's 'sealed' now?"
Roshanak began coughing violently and couldn't seem to breathe, Seth panicked and crawled over to pat and rub her on the back with one hand and grab the water jug on the small table nearby to pour her a cup. She took the water and sipped it, her cough gradually faded and Seth relaxed.
"Are you alright?" He asked, looking at her worriedly,
She waved his worry away with her wither fingers, "I am old, and I feel my time to fade away coming soon."
"Don't die!" Seth cried, feeling a pang of intense anxiety, "I really like you!" He said quickly without thinking, "Well, that is…" He sputtered, flustered now.
She smiled and patted his head, "It is alright, I like you too, Seth." She put the cup down and became serious once more, "Yes, he is sealed away, he can only be set free unless you give the command. In a way," She said thoughtfully, "He is bound to you, and should come if you call him."
Seth nodded, thinking, "Could be useful for our jailbreak."
"What is this you speak of?"
Seth grinned and placed his hands on his hips, "I'm talking about breaking out of here." He leaned forward and lowered his voice to a murmur, "Are you in?"
She rubbed her weary temples with her long fingers and sighed, "First we will need an army, follow me."
(Sorry, I couldn't help myself...)
The creator of the Dark Horn is really Avitus, who is really Seth, who can possibly call a former dark unicorn to his aid during a jailbreak of epic proportions! Stay tuned Knights of the Dawn, for chapter 22!