A/N: Okay.....normally, I don't do this.....at least with my non-anime stories. But, there's a first time for everything, right? So....I've decided to dedicate my story to someone. Someone who's extremely supportive of my stories! So.....Sallie Drazzi, this story is for you!! *glomps* (Oh, and I also want to give a BIG thank you to dawn.....who always reviews my stories! Thank you, both of you!!)



V

"Where shall we find her, how shall we sing to her,

Fold our hands round her knees, and cling?

O that man's heart were as fire and could spring to her,

Fire, or the strength of the streams that spring!

For the stars and the winds are unto her

As raiment, as songs of the harp-player;

For the risen stars and the fallen cling to her,

And the southwest-wind and the west-wind sing."

--A.C. Swinburne

Chorus from "Atalanta" (1865)

"Another mortal is in the Labyrinth?" Heart'sAflame asked thoughtfully, watching the Goblin Princess as she continued to weave the crystal through her slender fingers. "When did this happen?"

Jade smirked and her violet eyes shifted from the crystal ball to Malcolm. "Just a little bit ago," she stated, amusement making her voice drawl. "Duncan, the little one's older uncle, just recently figured out how to gain entrance into the Labyrinth. It took him a while to figure out the gate's secret. He lost time because of that....."

"Oh?" Heart'sAflame asked, flicking her scaly tail in amusement. "Do you think he'll manage to make it to the castle, Jade?"

Jade sighed and once again began to thread the crystal through her pale fingers. "They all manage to reach the castle, sooner or later. Reaching to castle in the allotted time is another matter, however.........."

Heart'sAflame golden eyes flickered from Jade to the boy-child, Malcolm. Making a thoughtful noise, she flicked her tail once again and left, sliding out of the throne room's doorways with a sigh of scales brushing against marble. And then, Jade was left alone with her crystal, the goblins, and the toddler.

"I wonder......." Jade began thoughtfully. "Will you make it to the castle in time?" She suddenly stood up and the crystal fell from her hands, crashing to the floor and smashing into thousands of glass shards. And, with a thought, Jade disappeared.

* * *

"This place is so strange," Duncan muttered to himself, brushing a hand against the Labyrinth's walls as he continued to walk deeper into the large maze. "So many hidden traps, illusions that would be normally hard to spot......but why are they so blindingly obvious now? Could this Labyrinth be changing me?"

Sighing, he shook his head and returned his mind back to the real world. Or, as real as this world could get. Now where am I? he thought. Like so many times before in the past hour, the Labyrinth had shifted once again. Instead of the normal drab gray walls, he was now in a meadow. Tall willow and ash trees surrounded the glen, making it sheltered and well-hidden. In the middle of the glade, shaded by a particularly large ash tree, a pool shone at him. Even from this distance, the water looked cool and refreshing. Duncan stepped forward, his mouth suddenly dry with thirst.

A soft whinny stopped him. Out of the shadows stepped a creature that Duncan would have thought that he would have never seen.....ever. Not one single time in his lifetime.

Delicate features, something more than horse and goat.......cloven hooves that never seemed to touch the grass beneath them.......finer than silk shetlocks, surrounding the hooves in a cloud of moonbeams. And a coat that shimmered with every step, shining with an internal light that had nothing to do with magic. It put even the sun and moon to shame. A unicorn. Duncan was looking at a unicorn.

It began to walk towards the young man, chiming with merry bells with every step. But....as it stepped closer, Duncan began to feel uneasy. Something was......off. And when it was only five feet from the black haired youth, Duncan finally spotted what it was. The unicorn had sharp canines. The teeth of a killer, not a gentle magical beast. And, instead of the compassionate eyes that were always spoken of in legends, this unicorn's eyes were blood red and a killing rage filled them. It snorted at Duncan, then shimmered. In a blinding flash of light......the once pure white unicorn was now a deep black obsidian.

Turning towards Duncan, it lowered it's horn. It was when it began to charge at him when Duncan realized that he was going to die.