“You need sleep.”
Londe had come before it was his turn. “You’ve been taking most of the night
watches.”
It’d only been
three nights since we’d finally defeated Balasamar, and since Wenn had given
his life to save him. I still wrestled with the guilt, and it didn’t help that
I refused to allow Londe to carry Wenn’s lifeless form.
The one we placed
so carefully at the end of each trek so he could face the sky, his palms
touching the earth of his birth. Tinn spoke words over him as we knelt. He’d
been so brave, so willing to give of himself. Perhaps the specter of his sacrifice
clung close, because we’d faced no danger from the wraiths, and no other evil had
dogged our path.
“You all need more
than I do.” It was a lie. I was exhausted. But sleep came fitfully even when I
tried, and I couldn’t get comfortable.
“Just lean against
me,” Londe said. I did, letting his body take the weight of my larger one. He
was warm and quiet, letting silence taken over the moment. Te rhythmic movement
of his ribs and he inhaled and exhaled soothed me and gradually I relaxed
enough to lay my head across his withers and close my eyes to sleep.
On the fourth and last
day of our journey to their home, Tinn began to ask questions. Ones I had few
answers to.
“Where will you go
after this?”
Londe looked over
his withers to where I brought up the rear. We hadn’t really discussed it. “I
don’t know,” I heard him tell Tinn.
“You don’t plan to
return to the unicorn lands?”
I thought for sure
Londe would say yes, but he stayed quiet. ‘You don’t want to go back?’ After
all, I was a unicorn again. We could.
‘They didn’t
support you when you needed it. If we go back, what will they do? Expect you to
say all is forgiven? Take back up your former duties? Put yourself at risk
again? Or will they still ostrasize you?’ He glanced at the foals trotting near
him. ‘Us?’
Of course I knew
his life in the herd hadn’t been easy after I’d left, but I’d hoped. “Perhaps
we will find a new home,” I said aloud. “One where we can live together safely.”
I’d traveled a lot. There were places the foals would be safer.
Tinn nodded slowly.
We were quiet for a time, our hoofbeats the only sound beyond the calls of
birds and small animals. Then he began to tell tales. Stories of Wenn’s life,
his childhood, his family.
“He lost them, you
see.” Tinn looked over his shoulder toward me.
I tilted my head.
“He did? Was it like with Tinn’il? Did someone take them?” I clenched my jaw. I
missed the little guy who’d always snuggled close to me. I hoped he was
recovering as well as my foals from his abduction.
“No, though that
is always a worry. A flood, from the lake, filled their tunnel. The mud was too
thick, and his mate had just given birth to a litter of twins.”
“Oh, how sad,”
Colette said. She sniffed.
“Yes, he has been
sad for some time. He used to smile, tell jokes, always getting into trouble.
Wenn lost a lot of joy that day.”
“Maybe he’s with
them now.” Colette swished her tail. “And he’s happy again.”
Tinn gave her a
gentle smile. “We like to believe that, as well. That when a locus crosses,
especially when they are acting as a conduit, they journey straight to those
they have loved and lost. That way, they are lost no longer and can live in
joy. It is why we release them to the elements, so there will be no doubt their
bodies will hold them to this world and this life.”
“I never thought
of death like that before,” Marces said, trotting in a circle around Colette
and moving closer to Londe.
“That is for those
who are older who seek to shelter those younger or in need of protection. The
young rarely think of death. And why should you?” Tinn looped one small hand
into Londe’s mane and then reached down and patted Marces. “You have your whole
life to worry about other things.”
“As long as he
doesn’t scare me and his pater to death with his tricks.” I joined in the
conversation, casting a stern look at my irrepressible son. “Like hiding in the
weeds at the pond last night.”
“We were playing a
game!” he said in exasperation.
“Games are only
fun when everyone knows they are playing.” Londe nipped him. “So no more games
just you know are happening.” He’d been frantic when Marces decided we should
seek him last night in the last rays of the setting sun.
Then again, it was
reassuring the misadventures the foal had been through had not been enough to
dampen his spirit.
Mist was a sure
sign we were nearly upon the lake where the locus were magically protected. With
Tinn with us, it was no trouble to make it through the wards the witches had
set and soon we were approaching the sparkling waters. The sun beamed down
gently, the grass swayed, and the burden on my back felt like a crushing
weight.
The locus clan all
startled at the sharp whistle Tinn let out, but then his family came running.
The rest soon followed. Voices clamored, and they all spoke over each other.
Tinn gestured to
me. “As you can see, many things were
changed upon our journey, but Wenn chose to allow his form to become a conduit
and save Chasen.”
An old locus, his
fur white-tipped and standing out in a ruff around his tiny face, leaned on a short
stick. When he approached I knelt.
He touched one
hand to Wenn, then one hand to my cheek before smiling. “He is at peace,
finally. We will release his body tonight.”
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