Lochlainneach

The Hail Mary

Day 140 on Hy-Brasil

CATRÌONA POV

"Right, so how exactly do we plan on getting out of here?" Cailean asked Caeda. After we had seen Freyja safely through the stones, we fled into the woods, dodging fiery stones and falling trees as the flames began to engulf the woods.

"We'll get to the shore, I can call on the unicorn herd and then we'll go to Nidavellir, it'll be much quicker," Caeda was explaining as we pushed through the bushes.

"The unicorn herd," Cailean repeated, chuckling to himself. "Never thought I'd hear tha' in my life."

"Are there no unicorns where you come from?" Caeda asked him.

"No' quite," I chimed in. We left the forest and made our way onto the sand of the beach, the water already higher up on the sand than we remembered it being. Once we were on the sand, Caeda cupped her hands around her mouth and seemed to almost sing a rather ethereal-sounding song, which was strange to hear along with the destruction that Sutur was causing in the mountains.

"What is tha'? Tha's a verra strange call," Jamie said, raising his eyebrow at this action.

"Kulning, it's a herding call," Caeda explained. "The unicorns like it so we use it for them." She cupped her hands over her mouth again and sang her herding call once more, and a small herd of unicorns emerged from the woods. "Oh, dear one!" Caeda cried, seeing that one of them had been singed. She approached the unicorn with her hand outstretched and placed it over the burn. "Do not worry, it will not hurt forever. My friends, these people here need help getting to Nidavellir quickly. Will you help them?" One of the unicorns neighed, as if in response to what Caeda had said, and almost seemed to nod its head. "They're very intuitive, unicorns. Do not show them fear because they will feel it. None of you are afraid of horses, are you?"

"I've tended te horses fer most of my life," Jamie answered her.

"I cannae say the same," said Cailean casually. "I'm no' scared of them, though."

"That's good," Caeda said. "Now, these poor dears are already tense because of what's happening, so you must approach them carefully, bow to them and ask them for permission."

"Do we really have time fer tha'?" I asked her, glancing up at the fiery ruins of the mountains.

"It'll take much longer to get there by foot," Caeda told me, and I let out a sigh.

"All right," I said, approaching one of the unicorns. It stepped back and huffed at me, but I bowed down low and stood up straight. "May I ride on yer back?" It whinnied at me, and Caeda seemed happy with this response.

"She said yes. Go one, then!" she told me. With Jamie's help, I climbed up onto the unicorn - bareback, I might add, with no reins - and gripped onto its neck. The unicorns were much taller than ordinary horses and were difficult to climb onto. Cailean and Jamie repeated the ritual and soon, were on their own unicorns.

"I cannae believe I'm sittin' on a unicorn. Holly would be mad wi' rage, she loved unicorns. Remember?" Cailean asked me, and I couldn't help but chuckle to myself at the memory of our cousin and her obsession with the mythical creature that didn't feel so mythical beneath me.

"Oh, aye, I do," I said. Once Caeda had mounted her unicorn, we found out exactly how much quicker riding the unicorns along the beach would be - those magical wee bastards were fast . The last time I had travelled as fast was in a vehicle, which made me even more nervous to be riding on this thing without any way of holding on firmly save for gripping onto its shimmery mane. Though they were fast, it would still take several hours to get to Nidavellir, and it wouldn't be without trouble. As we neared the village, a large fireball struck the sand, throwing Caeda and Jamie off of their unicorns and into the sand.