Summary: I love mythological animals, that's part of the reason why I love Mercedes' books. But she doesn't use some of the most well known: Unicorns, Dragons, and Pegasus'. So I decided to put them into her stories; along with a few of my own or other authors design. I don't own any of Mercedes' characters so don't sue; I don't have anything to give you.

Myths come to Valdemar

The soft crunch of hooves on the dry leaves of the forest floor seemed very loud in the silence of the night. A dark creature slinked in and out of the shadows as it made its way through the forest. At the slightest sound, the creature stopped, looking around frantically as it were being stalked by something it couldn't see.

In a way it was, for a young scout from K'Valdemar Vale was following the unfamiliar creature that appeared to be made of shadows. Moonstone was very weary of this strange creature she was following, the few glimpses of it were not very revealing. She could only tell that it was big and darkly colored, and that it was shielded from outside thought. She had already contacted Stormsong but for the first time in her life, that did not comfort her. Stormsong was one of the senior scouts, and he was on his way should she need any help. But what were they supposed to do against this creature when they don't even know what it is?

: Calm your self, Moonstone, there are ways of dealing with what you don't know about.: The deep but very calm voice inside her head startled her so badly that she very nearly lost her hold on the tree she was sitting in. :For Goddess' sake, Moonstone, what happened to you in the last few hours, you are usually one of the calmest of all junior scouts, what could possibly get you so riled up?:

:I am not sure, Stormsong, the creature I spoke of is sitting opposite us in the shadows of that large oak. I have never seen anything that can move through the darkness like that thing can.: Moonstone replied.

:In the shadow of the oak, you say? But, Moonstone, I see nothing.:

:Just wait until it starts to move, then you can see it, kind of.:

:What do you mean, 'kind of'?:

:I mean that you can see something moving, and you can tell that it is large, but other than that I can't tell a thing about it. That is what has gotten me so worked up.:

At that moment, it began to move again and Stormsong held his breath, trying desperately to make out some feature thru the shadow; it was a nearly impossible task.

:Have you asked your owl if he can see anything?:

:Yes I have, but Zanth says he can only see that it is very dark and that it blends in with the shadows.: Came the reply. :My biggest concern is that it is heading in the direction of the Vale.:

:Come on Moonstone, we need to alert the Vale and get someone out here that can help us.:

Firesong gradually became aware that someone was talking to him and gently shaking him. He opened his eyes to the scaled face of Kaila, a rather shy Hertasi.

"Stormsong has a slight problem, Firesong that he would like some advice on before he does anything, but it is rather urgent." She said is a soft whisper, "Darien is already up and waiting for you by the front entrance."
Firesong sighed and nodded an affirmative, watching as she scampered out with out another word. Letting out a muffled curse as his feet hit the cold floor, Firesong quickly got dressed and headed out to find out why he was needed.

"Hey, Firesong we're over here." Darien's soft voice rose to his ears, and he turned to see the one who hailed him standing next to a rather pale young scout, to who he had never actually spoken. Moonsong? No that's not right, Moonstreak, no, that's not it either, Moonstone! Yes Moonstone.

 He approached them with a tired smile, "So Darien, I can tell that you were the one to have me waken, what is out there that you can't handle all on your own, my cocky protégé?"

The look that Darien gave him quelled him on the spot, Firesong hadn't seen him this unnerved in many years. "What is going on, Darien. I can tell you are worried, so don't try to play any games."

"Moonstone found something out in the forest a few hours ago. She and Stormsong have been tracking it, but still can't tell what it is. What's more, none of the owls can tell what it is either, and it is heading this way. We don't know if it is dangerous, but it is shielded against any form of mind probe."

            "The thing is down right unnerving to watch, it moves with out making much sound and I couldn't find any tracks at all. It's like it's made out of the shadows that it was hiding in." The soft, slightly frightened voice of Moonstone said.

            Darien piped up, "I was wondering if your firebird might not be of some help, if we could corner this thing then he could light up the area and reveal what this creature really is."

            "True, we could do something like that, let me see what our situation is and then we will make a decision." Was Firesong's reply.

Stormsong pointed into the shadows of a huge willow tree next to a small bubbling brook. Firesong squinted, seeing nothing and unsure if there was really anything there. Then a slight movement towards the water caught his eye, it was barely noticeable, and when it was over it blended back into the dark. With four more hours until sunrise, Firesong didn't think waiting it out until dawn would be a good idea, but what was? Strange that there is no moon tonight, of all the nights why did this thing have to come here tonight.

:Firesong, we think it might be trying to get to the water without being discovered. If that is the case, maybe thirst will drive it out of hiding.:

:That is a possibility, but we cannot take that the chance. I don't like the thought of an unknown creature roaming these woods especially one that can block a mind probe.:

:I understand that, do you have any suggestions?:

Firesong sat and thought a minute before coming up with the sliver of an idea.

:Darien might have a point, if we could light up the area, with a false light, we maybe able to see what this creature is. Unfortunately, I don't believe that my bondbird will be able to pull off the job alone, we are going to need to use magic…:

Onyx looked around the darkness of the forest with apprehension, she never would have left the cave if hunger and thirst hadn't made themselves known. The wound on her flank was just finally starting to knit closed and she was hesitant to do anything that would tear it again. It was a strange wound, given to her by a strange creature that she had never seen the likes of before. She could sense that whatever it was that attacked her had not come from nature, but seemed to be created by the large pools of magic, known as nodes. Being made entirely out of the small, earthly magic that humans could neither see nor control, the slash refused to heal. The magic that created the other creature had somehow made it so that her own natural healing abilities would not work, and the wound had been seeping blood now for three weeks.
Onyx was solid black, and horse-like in shape, but with some major differences. Her hooves were cloven, her tail was long, with only a tuft of hair on the very end, much like a lions. But the biggest difference was the large spiraled horn protruding from her forehead. Onyx was a unicorn, the first ever to venture forth form their home form to the west of Valdemar. A large earthquake had rocked her valley-home, after a few weeks of searching with no luck, she finally decided that any other who had survived had left the area. She to left, hoping to find them, but in the seven years since it had occurred, she still had not found a trace. Now it was simply a home she was searching for, a place where she could live without traveling and without fear of the dangers that lurked in this strange place.

Now she stood beneath the huge willow and looked longingly on the water, but her fear of being discovered by whatever it was that was following her was too great to risk leaving her shelter. Her huge midnight blue eyes picked up a movement from the treetops again, and she stilled her breath, hoping her ability to blend in was still effective despite the exhaustion she felt from using it nonstop all night. Finally unable to resist the water anymore she took a careful step forward, then another, right up the edge of the willows shadow. Onyx shook her head, fight the animalistic instinct to run to the water and slurp up the needed liquid desperately. Slowly she stepped out of the shadows, and carefully made her way to the stream. Dipping her head she began to drink, her body sagged in relief as it finally received what it was so desperate for.

Just as her thirst was quenched a blinding light filled the area, startled she reared back on her hind legs, and spun around before taking off at a dead run into the darkness of the trees around her. At some point during it all, the wound on her flank reopen painfully and her silvery white blood was trailing down her hind leg, and with it went her small reserve of energy, she knew that this chase would not last long…

Firesong watched as the creature finally made its was out of the shadows, but it was still too vague of a form to determine what it was, he sighed to himself and set the spell in motion. Within seconds the entire clearing was full of bright light, the creature was horse-shaped but that was about all he could determine before, quick as a flash it was off running through the woods. It was a good thing he was already aboard his dyheli friend, or there would have been no way to keep up with it. They took off after it as it ran headlong through the forest, but it didn't take long for them to catch up, they could see it in the darkness ahead of them, but every few steps it became clearer as they managed to get closer to it.

:It is tiring, Firesong, but I don't think it is because of the run, I think something else is bothering it.: the dyheli mindspoke. Just then the creature faltered and went down in a noisy crash. The dyheli slowed immediately, stopping on top of the small gully that the creature had fallen into, Firesong slid of his back and looked over the edge. The creature was lying on its side, one front leg tucked underneath it and the other out in front, one hind leg was stretched out behind it and the other was laying in a more natural position beside its belly. This leg was also covered in a silvery liquid from it flank to it cloven hoof; its head was stretched out and lying on one of the front legs. I was the head that caught his attention, from the middle of its head there grew a large spiraled horn. This creature was unlike anything he had ever seen before, as he stared at it the others came running up, just now getting there. They stared in silence at the creature, which lay there unmoving except for its heaving sides. Then Firesong looked at its, no her, it was definitely female, head, her eyes opened and looked back at him, they were some of the bluest eyes he had ever seen, but it was the intelligence he saw in them that held him paralyzed.

Please review and tell me what you think. I love reviews, even flames, this is my first Mercedes Lackey fic.

More will be up soon if you all like what I've got so far.