David Baldacci - The Keeper

“No, they don’t,” I said, thinking of Delph and Harry Two.

We had been walking as we talked. When I looked ahead, I stopped dead. Lackland bumped into me.

“Look!”

He stared ahead of us and I felt him stiffen.

“What the devil is that?” he asked.

Delph and Petra had joined us by then. Delph said, “It’s a unicorn.”

It was indeed a unicorn. Brilliantly white with a mane of gold, shiny black eyes and a regal horn the color of silver. It was large and muscular, with a huge chest. And it was standing right in our path. It looked so noble, almost like a polished statue but with a pulsing heart. And it was also really the first beast we’d encountered in here that wasn’t trying to murder us.

“Harry Two!” exclaimed Delph.

My canine had ventured forward and was within a couple yards of the unicorn. The creature snorted and drew back a bit. Harry Two stopped and then wagged his tail and smiled. The unicorn then stepped forward a few paces. Harry Two closed the gap and the pair faced each other across the span of a foot.

The unicorn tossed its mane, and Harry Two barked, but I knew it to be a friendly greeting. My canine then walked forward and rubbed his muzzle against the right foreleg of the unicorn. The latter lowered its head and grazed Harry Two’s ear with its soft golden mane.

Harry Two looked back at us and yipped, as if to say, Budge along .

I crept forward, then glanced back at the others, who hadn’t moved.

“Too many of us might scare it,” Delph explained lamely.

I looked back at the unicorn and kept walking forward, though ready at an instant to retreat if it showed any fear or anxiety. I put out my hand and let it sniff. Then I stroked its mane and it rubbed up against my shoulder. I looked closely at the silver horn. What had Astrea said? The horn of the unicorn can defeat all poisons. That would come in handy, I reckoned.

But then I recalled how one got the horn of a unicorn.

Talk it out of the horn.

Or kill it.

There was no way I would ever harm this creature. It was so beautiful and gentle and... It nudged my hand with its snout, lifting my fingers from its mane to its head, just as Harry Two so often did. My heart melted even more. I very gently touched the horn. Though it looked solid, it was so soft against my fingers.

Then I noted that it wasn’t putting its full weight on its front foreleg. I knelt down for a closer look.

“Something has injured it,” I said. I stroked the leg gently, careful to not touch the gash there. I reached in my pocket and pulled out the Adder Stone and waved it over the wound and thought especially good thoughts. The wound completely healed. I rose and stroked the unicorn’s mane.

“Good as new,” I said to it.

I found the unicorn gazing at me, its black eyes darker than the deepest cave. Set against the brilliance of the white coat, the effect was remarkable.

“You’re beautiful,” I said in a low, awed voice. “Absolutely beautiful.”

I gently rubbed its horn one more time and then withdrew my hand. My fingers were tingling. I looked down at them. They were the cleanest they’d ever been. Not a speck of dirt could I find on them. I looked at the unicorn’s coat, horrified that I had transferred my dirt to its immaculate hide.

But there wasn’t a bit of it there.

I once more found the unicorn gazing at me. It opened its snout and if a creature such as this could smile, it just had. As I watched, it turned and trotted off. The farther away it got, the faster it moved, until it was just a blur. Then it was gone.

I turned back to the others and rubbed my fingers where I had touched the horn. Something appeared in my pocket. At first, I was terrified, for I feared dark sorcery.

I pointed my wand and said, a bit lamely, “ Rejoinda, uh, bloody thing in my pocket.”

When it soared out and landed in my hand, we all gathered around in wonder. I caught a breath.

It was the unicorn’s horn.

But hadn’t the creature had the horn when it disappeared? I... I couldn’t be sure.

“How did that get there?” I said.

Delph looked at me and smiled. “You took care-a its leg. Showed it kindness. Dad would be proud-a you for that. Nursing beasts like that.”

I grinned and rubbed the horn. I knew it must be very hard, but it felt so very soft. I put it away in my pocket and glanced down at my fingers. They still tingled and it seemed that this sensation was spreading over me.

I looked toward the granite outcrop that was as far away as ever and an idea suddenly popped into my mind, and I wondered why it hadn’t before.

I raised my wand and said, “ Confuso, recuso. ”

A shimmering wave seemed to pass in front of us. When it was done, we were within barely a mile of the granite outcrop.

I heard Lackland exclaim, “Bloody Hel.”

Astrea had taught me the counterspell after all, only I didn’t know that. But clearly, what was a hallucination but a confusion of the mind?

We marched on, energized by our sudden remarkable progress, and reached the wide rocky outcrop in short order. It was cooler in the shade cast by the granite and we decided to take a rest. As the others made camp and readied food and water, I used Destin to quickly zip up to the top of the big rock and land before a storm knocked me silly.

I looked behind me. The sun was shining, the heat intense. In front of me was the gloomiest gloom. No sun, no light, just clouds, soupy fog and chilly air.

The Quag was certainly living up to its reputation. It was the most insanely frustrating place I could ever have imagined. I hoped soon to have it at the back of me.

I jumped and landed on the dirt below and rejoined the others.

“What did you see?” asked Delph eagerly.

“It looks like it will be cooler than here,” I remarked.

We ate our meal in silence and then Lackland asked if we should push on.

I decided not to. It would be silly to waste time going around the outcrop when, using Destin, we could just go over it. But I wanted to do a little scouting first, and I didn’t want to do it alone. I set Delph to take the first watch with Harry Two and then I beckoned Petra over.

“I’m going to fly over the rock and go ahead a bit into the next part of the Third Circle,” I said. “Would you like to come with me?”

While I had given few direct orders to any of them, Petra seemed to understand that declining to come was not an option. I harnessed her up and then kicked off. I had never flown with her before, but she took to the journey with ease.

When we arrived up top and I released her from the harness, she said, “Why don’t you just fly over this place? That way you can avoid all the dangers below.”

“If I take to the air with the intent of flying over, then a huge storm blows up. But a hop here and there seems to be acceptable.”

“You sound as if this place is a living thing.”

“Oh, it is very much a living thing.” Astrea had taught me that, and I had certainly seen evidence of it firsthand.

We stepped to the other edge of the outcrop and she peered ahead.

“It’s so different from back there,” she said.

I glanced down at her blackened hand. “Does it still hurt?”

“No, not really.” She hastily pulled her sleeve lower to cover it.

“It’s okay, Petra. We’re all carrying scars from this place. And we’ll probably have more before all is said and done.”

“I guess you’re right,” she said softly, but she kept her hand covered.

“Can you tell me about your family?”

She glanced sharply at me. “My family? Why?”

I kept my voice calm. “Because they may have known some things. Things that could help us get through here.”