Book of Darkness
Chapter Eleven: Changing Relationships
The herdlands were full of brightly colored unicorns that day, even though the sun had only come up about an hour or so earlier. Older unicorns patrolled the edges of the fields, keeping an eye out for intruders, while the younger ones pranced and played around happily.
In the middle of the herdlands, a fierce-looking unicorn stood atop a large hill, surveying the entire herd below him. He wasn’t the largest unicorn in the herd, and he wasn’t as fierce as he liked to pretend, but he was still a challenging figure. It was to this unicorn that Oracle made his way to, now.
“Thunder,” Oracle said as he approached the herd leader.
Thunder turned to look at him and snorted in irritation. *What do you want?* Thunder has about as much patience for Oracle as anyone else who met Oracle did.
“I need the help of you and some of you herd members,” Oracle said. “Score and Helaine have gotten themselves into a bit of a fix, and we need your negating powers to get them out of it.”
*You’re going to have to be more specific,* Thunder replied. *Negation is not something my people take lightly.*
“I’m afraid there aren’t any other options,” Oracle said. “See, someone has placed an enchantment over those two using false copies of their gemstones, and the only way to break the enchantment is to move the gems. I can’t do it because I can’t touch anything, and there’s no one else who can, either.”
Thunder tilted his head slightly to one side. *What about Pixel?*
Oracle cleared his throat nervously. “Pixel is…uh…missing.”
*WHAT?!* Thunder reared back on his hind legs and released a piercing scream, his forelegs thrashing in the air. When he landed back on all fours, he pointed his horn straight at Oracle’s chest, momentarily forgetting that he would just pass right through the guardian spirit. *What do you mean, he’s missing?”
“It’s a long, complicated story, and we don’t have that much time,” Oracle said, not the slightest bit intimidated by the pointed horn. “I could tell it to you while some of the unicorns prepared to use negation.”
Thunder snorted again, but even he could see that there wasn’t much of a choice. He turned towards the herd and held his head high. *Nova! Flame! Dustdevil! Cloud! Moondust! Orchid! Monsoon! Come to the High Hill immediately!*
Oracle watched as seven unicorns broke away from their clusters and hurried towards the High Hill where he and Thunder were standing. Nova and Flame he recognized instantly, as he did with the young Dustdevil. The chocolate-brown, white-flecked unicorn and the gleaming silver unicorn, Cloud and Moondust, he was also familiar with. Orchid, a young female with a bright purple coat specked with pink, and Monsoon, a colt with a midnight black coat touched up with shades of blue, were new to him.
*Is something wrong, Thunder?* Nova asked her husband.
*We have need of the negation powers,* he told her, looking at the other six as well. *I want you all to immediately begin preparing your horns. When you’re finished, return here.*
*Father, what’s going on?* Flame asked.
*It seems that our human friends have gotten themselves into another situation, and they need our help,* Thunder replied, his voice laced with contempt. But the way he hung his head made it obvious that he was actually worried about this. *Oracle will fill me in on the details while you prepare.*
*Will you, as well, Thunder?* Cloud wanted to know.
Thunder nodded to his friend. *Yes.*
The seven unicorns acknowledged their leaders request, and moved off to a secluded part of the herdlands, behind the High Hill, to prepare their horns for negation. Thunder moved over to a rock embedded in the ground in the middle of the hill, and touched his horn to his gently. *Now,* he said to Oracle as his horn began to glow slightly, *explain.*
“A couple days ago, Pixel was kidnapped from the castle using a Portal,” Oracle began. “Somehow he managed to escape his captor, and ended up in the Inter-Realm – a place between the mortal world and the world of the dead, where all Portals pass through. There are only two choices to make in the Inter-Realm, one of which is to stay there and serve as a guardian, neither dead nor alive for the rest of eternity.”
*Which Pixel would never do,* Thunder said. *So he chose the second choice, which is?*
“To travel through the Void,” Oracle replied.
Thunder started immediately, and barely remembered that he was preparing his horn and couldn’t removed the tip from the rock or he’d have to start all over again. *The Void!* he exclaimed.
“You’ve heard of it?”
*Any unicorn worth his salt knows about the Void,* Thunder said indignantly. *Several of our kind have been lost to it over the many years since it was created, although a few have survived it – myself included.*
Oracle frowned. “You’ve been in the Void?”
*Yes,* Thunder said. *So Pixel is traveling through it?*
“Yes,” replied Oracle, filing away Thunder’s statement for future knowledge. He had a feeling it would be very important later on. “As far as I can tell, he’s making progress, but I haven’t checked in with the Inter-Realm recently. The current crisis – the one we can actually do something about – is that Helaine and Score seem to have gotten themselves mixed up with a real nasty character. Do you know who Destiny was?”
*I remember Score telling me about her, yes,* Thunder said. *She was responsible for making him sick four years ago.*
“Right. Well, it seems she has a brother who happens to be a very skilled magic-user himself. He’s got a major grudge against the Triad, and doesn’t seem to realize that Score, Helaine, and Pixel are the Triad only in appearances.”
*The worlds they’ve saved in the last four years haven’t convinced him otherwise?* Thunder asked incredulously.
“Well, I don’t think he’s exactly playing with a full deck, if you know what I mean,” Oracle said. “He ransacked the castle while Helaine and Score were on Rawn talking to their friend Shanara, and left a fake emerald and sapphire there. Helaine and Score were shocked when they discovered the place was wrecked, and didn’t even notice that they had the real gems in their pockets. The more time they spent in the same room with the gems, the sleepier they became, until they were fast asleep and completely under the enchantment. The longer they stay asleep, the more likely it is that they’ll die.”
*Which is why you need us unicorns to negate the powers of those fake gemstones,* Thunder said. He stepped away from the stone and lifted his head, showing off his mother-of-pearl horn. It gleamed with an inner fire. *Negators, to me!*
Nova, Flame, Dustdevil, Cloud, Moondust, Orchid, and Monsoon joined them at the time of the High Hill, their owns horns glowing with power. Oracle made a mental note to not get on their bad sides when they were able to negate magic, or it’d be bye-bye guardian.
Thunder gave them a condensed version of what Oracle had just told him, and then took off towards the castle at a fast gallop. The other seven were right behind him.
Oracle nodded and vanished, reappearing at the castle. “Are they coming?” Shanara asked from where she was still keeping a watchful eye on the two sleepers.
“Give them a few minutes,” Oracle replied. “They have to run here, remember?”
Shanara nodded. “Blink and I came up with an idea while you were gone,” she said.
“Blink and I?” Blink repeated. “How the heck was I responsible for this nutty idea of yours?”
“Anything that annoys Blink has got to be good,” Oracle commented. “What is it?”
“Just a thought,” Shanara said, “but one way to stay a step ahead of Chronos would be to get our hands on Pixel before he can.”
Oracle looked at her sharply, eyes widening. Then, slowly, he nodded. “It does make sense,” he said. “But what if we can’t find him?”
Shanara bit her lip. “Well, I guess – wait.” She glanced towards the entrance to the castle. “I think the unicorns are here. We’ll continue this discussion once Score and Helaine have woken up. They’ll want to know about it, as well.”
“OW!”
Destiny doubled over with laughter, clutching her sides and near hysterics. She couldn’t help it. The sight of Pixel having trouble conjuring up a simple flame of fire was just too much for her. He’d attempted this several times already, and each time had ended up with, well, less than pleasant results.
Pixel shoved his burned fingers into his mouth and gave her a wounded look. “Don’t look at me that way,” he said in a hurt tone. “This isn’t like any other power I had. It’s not just simple spells and such. Half the time I’m not even sure what I’m doing.”
“And the other half you are?” teased Destiny. “Then you must just be the most unlucky person I’ve met.” She smiled at him to show she was joking.
Pixel pulled his hand from his mouth and glared at the red skin. He sighed and stuck his hand in his pocket. “I think that’s enough practice for now,” he said. “I don’t think my hand can take much more of this.”
“Maybe you should focus on an easier element,” Destiny suggested. “One less painful if it goes wrong.”
“Right,” Pixel said sarcastically. “With water, I’ll probably drown; air, I’ll suffocate; and earth will caused a landslide on my head or something. The way my luck is running, it wouldn’t surprise me. Let’s just forget this practice thing and get back to the Trials.”
Destiny nodded. “The next one should be just half a mile from here. It’s the Trial of Sight, remember?”
“The one in the cave?” Pixel asked.
“Right,” Destiny replied. “You know, this power of yours might come in handy. I’m sure a torch would get us through the cave in a cinch.”
Pixel glared at her. The effects of the glare were lost, however, when both of their stomachs demanded attention before continuing on the journey. They blushed, and immediately decided that eating was going to be the next step in their travels.
Destiny and Pixel managed to find an out-of-the-way place in the clearing that Pixel had been practicing in, and dug into the bag of food. “We’re getting low,” Destiny said, a hint of worry in her voice. “It’s taken us longer to get around, with you practicing that power the Trial Master gave you.”
“Don’t try and pin the blame on me!” Pixel exclaimed, taking a bite of the apple she handed him. “You thought it was as good an idea as I did, remember?”
“True enough.” Destiny bit into her own fruit and sighed. “Damn it, Pixel, something’s not right.”
Pixel tilted his head to one sighed and looked at her curiously. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that you’re the first magic-user I’ve guided to get any help from the Trials, and other magic-users in the past have made if further than this before either giving up or getting killed. Not to mention the surprising lack of danger that we’ve been in.” She sighed and tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “Whatever luck we’ve been having can’t be keeping up forever.”
“I know what you mean,” Pixel said softly. “Sometimes, when we’re walking, I’ll get the strangest feeling that we’re being followed, or watched, or something. And then, at the same time, I’ll get this feeling that something is wrong. That something’s happening that’s effecting us, but I can’t figure out what it is.” He looked at her. “How much further do we have until the end of the Void?”
Destiny shook her head dismally. “You want the truth?”
“Yeah.”
“We’ve got a long way to go. We’ve been here almost a week, now – Void time, since it runs on its own clock – and we should have been a lot further ahead,” Destiny said. “Something isn’t right, like you say.” She took one last bite of her apple and threw the core on the ground in disgust. “And I don’t have to slightest clue as to what it is.”
Score had the biggest headache possible when he finally woke up. He muttered obscenities to himself as he sat up, massaging his temples. “Turn down the lights!” he snarled.
The lights in the room immediately dimmed, and he opened his eyes. “Oh.” The light had been coming from the glowing horns of the unicorns, and the reason they had dimmed was because Thunder and the others had turned away from him and were pointing them towards Helaine.
“What happened?” he asked, noticing Oracle and… “Shanara?”
“I’m just here in astral form,” Shanara said. She and Oracle looked at him worriedly. “How do you feel?”
“Like I slept for about a thousand years,” Score said.
“Well, it wasn’t quite for a thousand years, but I think we snapped you out of it just in time,” replied Oracle. “You were under a spell by Chronos, Destiny’s younger brother.”
Score stared at him. “So it’s really him? He’s the guy who was after Pixel? Why did he come after Helaine and me?”
“To delay you,” Shanara said. “It seems that his true target is really Pixel, because he seems to have a grudge against Nantor. While the unicorns were working on you, I did some checking around in my books, and it seems that Nantor might have been the one who recruited Destiny and Fate to the Triad’s service.”
“So the grudge makes sense,” Score murmured. He looked over at Helaine. “Why’s it taking so long for her to wake up?”
“She’s been under longer,” replied Oracle. “But I think she’s coming around now.”
Sure enough, Helaine’s eyes were beginning to open as the unicorns backed away and extinguished the rest of the negation power from their horns. *You might feel a little light-headed for awhile,* Flare said to Helaine apologetically as the young sorceress sat up, *since we ended up negating a good deal of your own magic as well. But at least you’re okay.*
Helaine managed a tremulous smile at her unicorn friend, then looked over at Score. “Are you okay?” she asked him.
“Fine,” Score replied. “You?”
She nodded. “What about Pixel?” She directed this question to Oracle and Shanara.
*We’ll head back to the herds,* Thunder said. *Contact us again if you need our help.*
“Wait,” Shanara said, holding up one hand. “Thunder, please, stay. I think we’re going to need your assistance.”
Thunder looked at her uncertainly, then turned to Nova. *Go to the herdlands. I’ll catch up to you.*
Nova snorted indignantly. *Pixel is my friend. I’ll help him any way I can. Cloud can escort the others back, but I’m staying.*
*So am I!* Flare exclaimed. Dustdevil stepped just a little closer to Flame, showing that he would stay as well.
*I’ll make sure the others get back,* Cloud told Thunder. *Let us know if you need us later.* He turned towards the door, herding Moondust, Monsoon, and Orchid out in front of him.
All eyes turned to Shanara, even Oracle’s. “It was your idea,” Oracle told her.
“Actually, Blink came up with it,” Shanara said, motioning to the astral projection of her familiar.
“I did?” Blink asked in confusion.
“Well, you gave me the idea,” Shanara amended. “It’s nearly impossible to figure out when Pixel will reach the end of the Void, and at any rate, I’ve never heard of anyone leaving the Void, so I don’t know where the exit is.”
“You never knew the Void existed at all until Oracle told us,” Helaine pointed out.
“Right,” Shanara agreed. “So since it could be months until Pixel finds his own way out, my idea was to go and get him ourselves.”
Everyone stared at her. “And how,” Score said slowly, “are we supposed to do that, exactly?”
Thunder tapped his hoof impatiently. *You want me to show you the entrance, don’t you?*
*The Void?!* Nova nickered nervously. *Thunder, that area is off-limits to everyone! We can’t take them there.*
“I’m confused,” Helaine and Score said together.
*Same here,* Dustdevil and Flame agreed.
“Thunder mentioned to me earlier that he had been in the Void several times when he was younger,” Oracle explained. “If he can show us how he got in, then we can go and get Pixel.”
*You don’t understand,* Thunder said. *I only know of this one entrance, and the chances of Pixel being in that immediate area are unlikely. You see, there is no true exit to the Void.*
Oracle narrowed his eyes at the unicorn. “What?”
*The Void is another dimension,* Thunder said. *While in it, magic-users are forced to undergo certain tests. There are two types - those designed to destroy, and those designed to give power. Once a magic-user gains enough power, they can open a breach between the Void and this world, and they can return. Once that happens, there is a permanent hole in the dimensional fold that separates the two worlds, and anyone can pass into the Void and vice-versa. But most try to avoid them.*
“You didn’t,” Score pointed out.
Thunder cleared his throat anxiously. *Yes, well…I was very young.*
“And you survived to return,” Shanara said. “That’s why I want you to guide us into the Void, Thunder. You’ve been there before. You know your way around, which is more than the rest of us can say. If anyone can get us to Pixel, it’s you.”
*You did spend a lot of time there,* Nova agreed reluctantly. Then she looked at her husband indignantly. *But if you do take them into it, I’m going as well.*
*No,* Thunder said abruptly.
*I want to go, too,* Flame added.
“No!” Helaine protested loudly. “No one other than those who absolutely have to go should go! Everything we’ve heard about this place sounds ten times worse than Zarathan. We shouldn’t risk more than necessary. Which is why only two of us should go.”
“Two?” Score looked at her, startled. “You mean, Thunder and someone else?”
“Right,” Helaine said. “Either you or me. Not Oracle or Shanara, because we need them here.”
Score frowned at her. “And how are we supposed to decide who will go?”
“We’ll draw for it.” Helaine stood up and went into the kitchen, returning a minute later with a box. “There are ten marbles in here,” she said. “One of them is black. The rest are white. Whoever draws out the black marble will go. I’ll draw first, and no magic, so gemstones on the table.”
Score narrowed his eyes. There was no way in hell he was going to let Helaine go into that Void - she’d been out longer than he had been, and he was still feeling tired. There wasn’t time to replenish their strength, though. He removed his emerald – his real emerald – and his other three gems and placed them on the table next to Helaine’s.
Helaine reached into the box first, eyes closed, and removed a marble. She looked at it. “White,” she said, biting her lip. She held the box out to Score.
Score reached in and haphazardly selected a marble, tightening his fist around it. When he opened it, a single black marble lay in his palm. “Black,” he said. “So Thunder and I will go.”
Thunder nodded. *We’ll leave tomorrow. There are a few things I need to take care of if I’m going to take you into the area where the entrance is, and you should be much stronger by then.*
Score nodded in agreement, and the unicorns left. Oracle glanced at Score and frowned slightly, and Shanara did the same. Then both of them nodded slightly, and vanished. “Where are they going?” Helaine wondered.
“Shanara can’t keep astral projection going for very long, and Oracle probably went to Rahn,” Score said bluntly. He stood up and faced her, crossing his arms over his chest. “I saw that look on your face when you got the white marble, Helaine. You were trying to get the black.”
Helaine looked at him defiantly. “So? The Void is a dangerous place. I’m the best qualified person.”
“And you were under that draining spell much longer than I was,” Score said angrily.
Realization dawned on Helaine’s face, and she narrowed her eyes in anger. “You used magic!” she accused. “You changed the color of the marble! How? You didn’t have your gemstones, and your powers were diminished because of the negation!”
“Changing the color of a marble is kid’s stuff for me,” Score snapped. “I don’t need to have much power to do that, or a gemstone. Did you forget that? But I wasn’t about to let you go off and get yourself killed in that place! Anyway, you may be the best fighter, but I’m better at magic, and that’s what is going to count in there.”
Helaine stood up and clenched her fists next to her sides. “You jerk!” she shouted. “You’re going to get yourself killed!”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Score said, shrugging. “That’s not what’s important. What’s important is that you were going to go in there and make it seem like you didn’t have a choice about it…and that would have killed me.”
She stared at him.
“What, you didn’t know that?” Score demanded. “I’ve pretty much already lost every shred of dignity that I had when I kissed you, Helaine. I love you. I love you. Is that such a surprise to you?”
Helaine felt her throat tighten at the sight of the raw emotion in Score’s eyes. He’s telling the truth, she realized, stunned. He really does love me. “How?” she whispered softly.
“Don’t ask me,” Score said, shaking his head. “I don’t even know when it happened. All I know is, right now, as selfish as this may sound, I care more about what happens to you than about what happens to Pixel. I know the spell that was being negated, Helaine. You were out longer than me, you were much closer to dying than I was.”
Helaine sat back down on the couch and gripped the fabric of the cushions. “Stop it, Score,” she said, looking down at the floor. “Stop teasing me. I’m not one of those girls that you go to see on Earth every couple of weeks. You can’t just say a few pretty words and make me believe you. It doesn’t work that way.”
Score stepped forward and grabbed her shoulders. “I’m not teasing you,” he growled, taking her chin in his hand and forcing her to look at him. “I’m not. Those girls – they were nothing special. I’ve been in denial over this for so long, I think I almost ruined my chances. I’m not running anymore. I love you, Helaine Votrin, and judging by the way you reacted when I kissed you earlier, you’re not entirely opposed to the idea.”
Helaine pulled her head back, breaking his grip on her chin. “Don’t presume to know how I feel,” she snapped.
Score arched an eyebrow impishly. “Oh?” he asked. “Then explain your reaction to this.” He removed his hands from her shoulders and placed them on her face, then moved forward and kissed her hard on the mouth.
Helaine’s eyes fluttered closed instantly, and she began to respond a second later. She brought up her arms and wrapped them around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair. Score moved his hands from her face and dropped them down to her waist, wrapping his arms around her tightly.
He broke the kiss and looked at her, their foreheads still touching. “Well?” he asked huskily.
Helaine was breathing heavily from the sudden, unexpected kiss. It had been ten times more passionate than its predecessor. “Don’t do that again,” she said shakily.
“Why?” Score murmured, moving close again to press his lips against hers. This time he slanted his mouth ever so slightly, and parted his lips to touch hers with his tongue.
Helaine was surprised by the bold move, but allowed the kiss the deepen, heart pounding. Stop this, a little voice in her mind said. Don’t do this. You’re a warrior, not a maiden. You don’t have time for something like this.
She tugged on Score slightly, and he moved from leaning over her to sitting on the couch next to her. But now her back was twisted, so she swung her legs around so that she was facing him. Helaine gripped the fabric of his shirt tightly as he pulled her up against him.
They pulled apart again, both of them remembering that they needed to breathe. “Okay,” Helaine consented. “You can do that again.”
Score laughed softly, tucking a piece of hair behind her hair. “Do you believe me now?” he asked.
Helaine nodded, leaning against him. He leaned back so that he was lying on the couch and she was lying on him, and she could hear the sound of his heart beating rapidly in his chest. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “For trying to make it so that I’d go in.”
“I almost didn’t realize that you were using the enchanted marbles,” Score said, stroking her hair. “The ones that turn out to be any color that you want. It took a lot of concentration to make them the opposite color.”
“You don’t have to go,” Helaine said, sitting up and looking down at him. “Not if you don’t want to.”
“I don’t want to,” Score admitted. “But I have to. I won, fair and square - well, as fair as it can be after I had to outsmart you - so tomorrow, Thunder and I will go into the Void to retrieve Pixel.”
“We can find another way,” Helaine said.
“No,” Score said. “We can’t. We’re running out of time as it is. We know Chronos can get in here. You can put up some more barriers while I’m gone, and regain your strength for when Pixel and I get back. I have a feeling once we return, we’re going to end up facing Chronos soon after.”
“This is worse than before, isn’t it?” Helaine asked. “Chronos doesn’t just want to use us. He wants to literally kill us.”
“Yeah, looks like it,” Score agreed. He pulled himself into a sitting position, and reached out to touch Helaine’s face gently. “But we’ll get through this. Once the three of us are together again, Chronos isn’t going to stand a chance.”
“I’m scared,” Helaine whispered. “I really am.”
“So am I,” Score said softly. He leaned forward and kissed her again, softly this time. He only intended for it to be a brief, reassuring kiss for Helaine, but before he could pull away she threw her arms around his tightly and pushed him back onto the couch. The kiss lasted for nearly a minute before she pulled apart and pushed herself up so that she was leaning over him, her long hair falling around them like a blonde curtain.
“I love you,” she whispered softly.
“I know,” Score said, smiling tremulously. “Why do you think I got the courage to tell you?”
“You’re so infuriating sometimes,” she said, but she laughed to take the sting out of the words.
“Only sometimes?” Score murmured as he drew her down on top of him for another kiss. When they broke apart again, she rested her head on his shoulder and they just laid like that for awhile.
“We should get some rest,” Score said. “Some real rest, this time. Upstairs. It’s the best way to get our strength back.”
“Okay.” Helaine sat up and stood, then gripped the side of the couch to stop herself from falling over.
“Are you okay?” Score asked, wrapping an arm around her waist to prevent her from falling.
“Just a little dizzy,” Helaine said.
“Let me help you to your room,” Score offered. Helaine would have protested, but she knew that it would be safer that way. A few minutes later, Score had gotten her to her suite of rooms, and had her pressed against the door in another kiss. “I should go,” he said, releasing her and stepping back.
Helaine gripped his shirt tighter. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “Stay.”
Score looked at her, wide-eyed.
“Please,” Helaine said as she pulled him closer and drew him down for another kiss. “Please stay.”
So Score stayed.
