A Kind of Magic

Sixty-Two

Fiona was happy that she had allowed the sky to flood the world the previous night, as well as she was happy that she had taken the bath in the river. The place Peregrine took them to now offered no place to wash and no shelter. 

Bleak Moor was just what its name promised-- a great expanse of empty land overgrown with tall grasses, the long green stems bending and rolling under the caress of the incessant wind which she, despite stretching her 'magic'-- she almost giggled at herself as she thought of how fast she was getting used to everything in this world-- to test her current limits, couldn't influence. It felt otherworldly, just like the unicorns suddenly materialising from the grasses swaying on the fast darkening horizon.

"It's just them and the ghosts that live here," Peregrine said, following her gaze. 

"Don't you start with your ghosts again!" Leodhais' voice, shaking almost imperceptibly, scolded from somewhere behind them.

Peregrine ignored the elf as he continued. "We'll reach Dwarfland tomorrow night and sleep in an inn, but tonight, this is it, I'm afraid. There's no human or any other creatures' settlement near enough to..."

"This is perfect," Fiona whispered, interrupting him, feeling entranced by the approaching blessing of unicorns even as she slipped off her horse. She wished to touch them...

"They are shy and proud, they don't allow anyone within reach," Peregrine warned, wanting to prevent her from disappointment. 

But she was too enthralled by the magnificent silvery-white creatures that seemed to be spun of moonlight and mist, to heed his words, creatures that seemed even more a part of myths and legends than dwarves, elves and dragons, than Peregrine himself. 

Leaving Peregrine to deal with her horse, she followed Freddie who was just as mesmerised as herself towards the unicorns, noticing with the corner of her eye how one of the regally proud  beasts stopped almost menacingly between them and their companions, sealing them off from the others, reserving the unusual honour of approaching the blessing to Fiona and Freddie. 

"They are beautiful," Freddie muttered, caressing one pink snout, one bowing, platinum head after another while Peregrine kept the rest of the company calm and patient, holding them from approaching the elusive animals and spoiling this unrepeatable moment for them.

The dragon shifter bowed deeply to the imposition male guarding them once he retreated back to his pack the instant Fiona and Freddie were ready to return, mere moments before the animals vanished in the darkness, leaving falling stars like trails of iridescent, ephemeral light in their wake.

"Why didn't you come with us?" Fiona asked, shaking her head as if she had just woken up from a dream when she reached Peregrine and wrapped her arms around his waist, shivering as her eyes bored into the inky darkness surrounding them, feeling deeper because of the absence of the unicorns. The night had fallen unusually fast.

"They only wanted to meet you and Freddie. This was your first private audience, princess," he murmured, kissing her on her forehead as she tilted her face up to look at him. "Let us choose a spot to set camp," he spoke louder, turning to the others. 

He took Fiona by the hand and led their horses deeper among the grasses, towards a small copse of trees not much taller or thicker than the longest stems of grass, one of the very few Fiona had noticed before when it was still light and now, her yes getting used to the darkness gradually, perceived as black silhouettes pressed against the charcoal sky.

Strangely, the place wasn't entirely dark, Fiona noticed, observing the night's air charged with a faint, flickering luminescence, making her think of will-o'-the-wisps.