Stealing the Dark Moon

Acres of Worthless Gold

The spellfire barrier around the forest couldn't even repel his shadow. It was so weak now that it barely stung Lord Ash's hoof as he stepped into the thick shade of the Galefang. The Dark Moon was definitely here; he could sense its ancient magic pulsing like a second heartbeat! But his moment of exultance was marred by the hot pant of a large brown dire wolf that sprang from the brush in front of him, half a dozen of his flea-bitten underlings following close behind.

"Unicorns? Thought I smelled one of your prissy kind prancing about my woods," the brown dire wolf said with a leer as it licked its muzzle. "I heard a fresh unicorn shank tastes just like a tender horse foal."

Lord Ash stifled a chuckle. No doubt this dire wolf fancied himself a leader in the pride of his prime. His rich brown pelt shone sleek and healthy, muscles bulging thick as tree roots, and fangs gleaming sharp enough to crunch bones. A pity that was all of his strength.

"I don't mean to disappoint," Lord Ash said as he stepped into a slant of light so that the ribbon of blood dripping down his horn gleamed like living ruby. "But I'm afraid that we aren't merely unicorns. We haven't been for a very, very long time . . . ."

The brown dire wolf and his pack had the good sense to whimper and back against the brush with their tails between their legs, but it was much too late for displays of groveling.

"Let's teach these mangy curs proper manners, shall we?" Lord Ash said as his Inorog surged past him with glinting, red-rimmed spires pointing down. "But the brown one is mine—I want to ask him about the little prancer who dared arrive before me."

***

Kit decided not to tell the other orphans about Sheen, at least, not right away. He'd never kept back anything from them before and the feeling was like having a squirming eel stuck in his stomach. But the Mazak boy couldn't keep another's secret if his life depended on it, Tad would warn him not to trust Sheen, just forget her, Minnow would beg to ride the unicorn, and Lil and Vi, well . . . they'd probably try to capture her for snooping around Mt. Galefang. Yet Kit was most anxious about what Aerohim would do when he learned about the unicorn girl's wild claim:

Excuse me, sir, did you drop this heart?

Just sounding out the idea in his mind was ludicrous! But dragons were magical beasts—perhaps it was possible for them to cut out their heart and still survive? He finally mustered enough courage to ask Aerohim . . . sort of. That evening as the dragon groomed his scales, Kit perched on a coil of his tail.

"Aerohim, do you have a heart, like humans do?" he asked.

The dragon's talons paused mid-scratch. "A heart?" Aerohim repeated in a bemused tone. "Don't be ridiculous." He stretched his neck with a wide yawn. "Dragons have survived for millennia because we're invincible to the perilous whims and passions that afflict humankind." His scales rippled in a shudder. "We don't need that organ that allows all those tangled emotions to strangle your strength before you're even a hundred years old." He snuffled Kit's hair affectionately. "It's tragic, really. I pity your fragile species."

"I'm not made of porcelain, you know," Kit retorted, grabbing Aerohim's snout and hanging on until the dragon sneezed him off. Minnow laughed uproariously as he landed in a bolt of silk and came up swathed in yards of bright fuchsia. Even as Kit laughed with her, his own heart hardened in his chest. Was Sheen lying, then? Or was it Aerohim who wasn't telling the truth? The dragon had no reason to lie! Unless—he was lying to himself?

Kit needed more information before he made his final decision. While rubbing Lady's favorite varnish over her helm an hour later, he tried to drop the question as casually as possible: