Adventure is Out There

Chapter Three

Cate ran with all her might back to the area where the other children were making their house. She could hear Ann's voice and could make out the heads of Sarah, Peter and Lindsey.

At last, she arrived where all the children were standing. All of them where staring at something. Cate turned around to see what they were looking at so intently. The same horse stood before them. Its horn shimmered in the sunlight causing a little rainbow to form. No one was moving. Everyone was paralyzed by the sight of the horse.

"Will you stop staring at me? It's quite rude," the horse said.

"It talks too." whispered Peter as he nervously moved dirt around with his shoe.

"You are still being rude. I'm not an it, and I am a he. For example, instead of saying it is the greatest horse in the world, you would say he is the greatest horse in the world. Got it?"

"I got it, um.., sir." Lindsey answered quietly.

"Oh yes, my name it is Horis. In the ancient language of The Keepers, it means the finder, for that is my job. I am a finder, little ones."

"So you are a horse, but why a horse?" asked Gwen.

Cate corrected her, "He is a winged unicorn, not a horse."

"The smallest is right. I am not a horse. A winged unicorn is the most magical creature of all. We have powers beyond your brain is capable of understanding. Sadly, we are almost extinct. A winged unicorn is only born once in a hundred years. There should be more of us, but many have vanished. We do know why we are scarce in numbers, for the most evil things take us for our horns. Our horns will give more power to them than they already possess. For some reason, our power has doesn't affect them so we cannot stop or save the kidnappings. It would be unwise to waltz right into where they live, so they could easily capture us. The reason why they haven't taken over the universe is the great one has too much power over them. Yet their resistance is strong and even he cannot stop them forever. You shall face many test. Use this information I have given you to figure things out wisely. You may need it during your tests. Adventure has already found you my friends. Goodbye."

"Wait, there are no tests." Gwen said.

It was too late Horis had left leaving millions of sparkles behind. The sparkles danced in the air. The wind took the sparkles deeper into the woods until they could no longer be seen...

"Wow," Gwen thought, "I just saw a winged unicorn."

All the children were silent, which was very unusual for this noisy group. Each was thinking about Horis trying to figure out the meaning of the tests, for they did not know why they had to take them or what kind of test these were.

The game of hobos became not important and Cate's berries were left scattered on the ground. The house they had started to build went unfinished and one by one the children walked into the woods deep in thought.

The walk back to their houses was a quiet one. There were no skipping, holding hands or any fooling around. The Lankford's house came into view, and so did the Jone's. The children said goodbye and went inside.

~

"I see you have visited some children Horis." Mim said.

"They were not just any children; they are the children to replace you. You are old and losing your touch. Your book is ending." said Horis as his mane was blown by the wind.

"I know, the children you visited were special, but there are a lot of them, seven in all. What if they are not all ready, one would feel bad if the others would become keepers and the other child would not."