Becoming Magical [2]

C H A P T E R - 2

Sophie's gasp echoed off the circle of trees, and she blinked to make sure her eyes were working.

A few feet in front of her stood a shimmering pale horse with outstretched feathered wings. It wasn't a pegasus—she knew from the books she'd studied at Havenfield that those were smaller and huskier, with deep blue spots and midnight blue manes. This horse had wavy silver hair that trailed up its neck and parted around a horn of swirled white and silver that jutted from its forehead like a unicorn. But the unicorns she'd seen didn't have wings.

"What are you?" Sophie whispered as she stared into the horse's deep brown eyes. Usually she thought brown eyes were flat and boring—especially her own—but these had glinting flecks of gold, and gazed back at her so intently she couldn't look away.

The horse whinnied.

"It's okay. I won't hurt you." She transmitted images of herself caring for other animals.

The horse stamped its hooves and nickered, but stayed put, eyeing Sophie warily.

Sophie focused on its thoughts, searching for anything she could use to make it trust her. The complexity of its mind was shocking. She could feel rapid observations and quick calculations, just like when she was reading an elvin mind. And the emotions were so intense. Now she knew how Empaths must feel—and she was glad she wasn't one of them. It was hard to know which feelings were hers.

"There you are!" Dex said, stomping into the clearing. His jaw fell open as the horse whinnied and took to the sky.

"It's okay," Sophie called. "He's a friend."

Friend.

As soon as she transmitted the word, the horse froze, hovering above them. Dozens of images flashed through Sophie's head. Then a new emotion nearly choked her. Her eyes burned and her heart ached, and it took her a second to translate the feeling.

"You're lonely?" Sophie whispered.

"That's not a sasquatch," Dex mumbled.

"Yeah, I caught that," Sophie told him. "Do you know what it is?"

"An alicorn," Grady murmured behind her, triggering a new wave of panic from the flying horse.

Another friend, Sophie transmitted as it soared higher into the clouds.

Grady was actually more than a friend. He was her adopted father. But for some reason she had a hard time calling him that—even with her adoption being final now.

It's okay, she promised the alicorn. No one is going to hurt you.

The alicorn whinnied, its mind focused on Sandor—and the weapon at Sandor's side.

"Sandor, you're scaring it. You need to get back."

Sandor didn't budge.

"Please," Grady told him. "We can't lose this creature. You know how essential it is to our world."

Sandor sighed and stomped out of the clearing, grumbling about it being impossible to do his job.

"This horse is really that important?" Sophie asked, squinting at the sky.

"Uh, yeah." Dex's voice was annoyingly smug. "They've only found one—ever. The Council's been searching for another for centuries."

"Millennia," Grady corrected. "Throughout our time on this planet we've worked to discover all of its secrets. And then by accident, really, a magnificent alicorn stumbled into our lives, proving the earth still had a few tricks up its sleeves. We've been trying to find another ever since. We can't let it slip away. Can you call it down to us, Sophie?"