Chapter 1 – A Pegasus and a Unicorn too?
The Princess knew she was in trouble. She never should’ve let herself get separated from her Protector. Where was he?
Winded from her run, she flattened herself against a tree and studied the surrounding forest. There were three of them all right, slinking through the trees almost silently. It was amazing such large creatures could move so quietly. She was thankful she wore her riding pants today and not the gown her handmaiden Precilla had suggested. She started to run again.
The monsters had boxed her in and were driving her towards the Cliffs of Despair. She’d already run a long way since leaving Spirit behind and was not used to this much exercise.
Poor Spirit, she thought as she ran. He’d been a good horse. He fought fearlessly until the troll broke his leg. Spirit’s bravery enabled her to escape. She was going to miss that horse.
A quick peek told her the trolls were keeping pace with her. She’d never outrun them. Where was Albert?
The cliff ledge came into view. She had nowhere to go and slowed her pace.
“Stop running, Princess,” came a voice from behind her. It was a troll. “We mean you no harm. We just want to talk.”
She turned to face them, only three feet away from the cliff ledge. She straightened her back. “What do you want to talk about?”
All three trolls drew close. The one directly in front of her spoke. “We want to talk about you.”
These creatures looked even more hideous up close than they did at a distance. About eight feet tall, they had lumpy green and black skin covered with small patches of scraggly black hair. She looked into their dull gray eyes and found it hard to believe they were intelligent. But they were. As they stood there, Princess Alura couldn’t take her eyes off their hands. Grossly deformed, they could wrap their fingers all the way around her slim waist with room to spare.
“What about me do you want to know?” she asked, backing herself as close to the ledge as she dared.
“Be careful,” the troll warned. “We wouldn’t want you to fall. It’s a long way down.”
Alura sneaked a look. She could barely make out the river in the valley below. She truly hoped all the trolls wanted to do was talk.
“I’m safe here,” she said with more conviction than she felt. “Just don’t come any closer.” Where was Albert? She wasn’t sure even Albert could take on three trolls, but maybe he could allow her to escape.
“Okay,” the troll said, “just come away from the edge a little bit. We really don’t mean you any harm.” All three trolls took a step backward.
“As I said, I’m fine here. What did you want of me?”
“Well, your Highness, my name is Clud,” he said with an awkward bow. He gestured to his left and then his right. “This is Glew, and Lug.”
“How do you know who I am?”
“You are very important to us, Princess. Your whole family is.”
Alura noticed the sun glinting off a piece of metal somewhere behind the trolls. It’s Albert, she thought. A slight smile came to her lips.
As she focused her attention back on Clud, the troll was saying “and because of this we would like to–”
“Leave her alone!” Albert’s booming voice rang out and echoed off the cliff face across the valley. Clud turned just as Albert’s charger came to a skidding halt.
The Knight launched himself from the saddle, sword drawn. He landed square in the troll’s belly, driving his sword clean through the massive beast. The impact caused the giant monster to fall backwards, arms flailing.
One of his long arms struck Alura, knocking her backwards a few feet – a few feet into thin air.
“Albert!” she screamed as she fell.
“Alura!” she heard him scream.
As Alura fell, she couldn’t believe it was actually happening. She was going to die. There were so many things she wanted to do; learn to play the harp, shoot a bow, kiss a boy and eventually get married — be a mother and a queen. Now none of those things were going to happen.
Looking down, she could make out the trees on the valley floor where there’d only been a green spot before.
She surprised herself at how calm she was. If someone had told her she’d die by falling off a cliff, she’d have thought she’d scream the whole way down. But screaming would disrupt the enjoyable sensation of falling. If she wasn’t going to die at the end, she’d actually enjoy the falling sensation.
The river changed from a thin white line to actual flowing water as she plunged closer.
She wondered what kind of man she’d of married. Would he be strong? Handsome? Stalwart? She decided yes, he would be. And they would have three children, a boy and two girls.
Alura looked again. She could clearly see the rocks along the edge of the river. At least she’d die too fast to feel any pain.
When she reached the tops of the pine trees in the valley floor something appeared beneath her. It was solid, light blue, and covered in feathers.
“Clear skies, Princess,” a voice said, as the Princess felt herself being carried upward.
Alura said nothing, still not sure she wasn’t dead. She blinked her eyes. What was happening?
“Princess, are you all right?” the voice asked.
Alura swallowed hard. “I’m okay,” she managed to say through her confusion. Why wasn’t she dead? Or was she? And where was that voice coming from?
“Good. Cavalon would be upset with me if I let you get hurt.”
Alura tried to gather her thoughts. The thing she was clutching looked like a horse, but it was entirely covered in feathers and had wings.
Her mind started to clear. This was incredible. She was on a flying horse. A flying horse that could talk. “You’re a pegasus!”
“Yes, I am,” replied the creature. “My name is Marsali.”
“But Pegasi only exist in legends,” she said cautiously, thinking maybe this was a dream, or maybe she really did hit the rocks below.
“If by legends you mean tales of old, that’s probably true.” The pegasus made a sweeping turn and began to climb. “We haven’t shown ourselves to the humans in a many years. But things are changing now.”
Marsali soared over a ridge and swooped down into the next valley. The change was so abrupt Alura had to grab a handful of the creature’s long blue mane to stay on.
This was no dream and it certainly wasn’t death. This was exciting.
“Where are we going?” she asked, flashing a big smile from the enjoyment of the ride. Her long blonde hair flew out behind her like a streamer.
“I’m taking you to see Cavalon.”
“Who’s Cavalon?”
“He’s the one who sent me after you.”
Sent her? How did this Cavalon know? She was glad he did, but how?
“Do you realize just how difficult it is to make a rescue like yours?” Marsali asked. “First, I have to fly faster than the falling object, you in this case. Then, I have to…”
The pegasus continued talking but Alura’s ears had shut off, overpowered by all her eyes were taking in. The view of the mountains from this height took her breath away. The waterfalls, the sheer cliffs, and the tree tops were incredible to see from this height. Her heart soared as they flew over ridge after ridge. Adrenaline raced through her veins as she tried to take in as much of the views as she possible could. She never wanted this ride to end.
All too soon, the pegasus landed, turning the smooth glide of flight into the jarring ride of a horse. “And landing is another matter,” Marsali said. “You see, in order for me to land I have to–”
“Thank you,” the Princess interjected as she hopped off. Marsali hadn’t stopped talking the whole way and the Princess had to be quick to get her words out. “You saved my life. I won’t forget that,” she said, petting Marsali’s feather covered nose. She wondered if pegasi liked that as much as normal horses.
“It was my privilege,” the pegasus said. Then she stretched out her front legs and bowed her head down between them. The beauty of this sky blue horse with head down and wings extended back put a lump in Alura’s throat.
Even though the ride was thrilling, it felt good to have solid earth under her feet once more. They stood in a grassy glade with yellow wild flowers between the trees of the forest and a cliff. Near the cliff, looking off into the distance, stood a long haired white horse without wings.
“Thank you again, Marsali” Alura said. “I’ll never forget that ride.”
The pegasus stood. “You are very welcome, Princess. That’s Cavalon over there,” the pegasus said, pointing with her nose. “He’ll take care of you from here.”
Alura looked over, but the white horse hadn’t moved.
“May the wind always be beneath your wings,” Marsali said, then she turned, galloped for a short while, and flew off.
Alura stood and watched the creature fly away. It was astonishing such a big animal could fly, but what a joy it was to ride. She stood there for a few moments basking in the memory. Wow!
Coming out of her revelry, she walked towards the white horse. Its long white hair hung below its belly and its tail was so long it dragged on the ground. “Excuse me. Are you Cavalon?” she asked from a safe distance.
When the horse turned around Alura saw a pearl white horn protruding from its forehead. It was a unicorn! Her jaw dropped open.
Cavalon walked over to her. “Good day, Princess Alura,” he said, with a bow of his head. “I trust your ride here was a pleasant one.”
Alura stood frozen. The legends never mentioned anything about unicorns being able to speak.
“Princess, are you all right?” the unicorn asked.
She forced herself to talk. “Um, yes, I am. Thank you for asking.” She was actually speaking to a unicorn! She suddenly wished she’d worn the gown Precilla had suggested.
“Good. For a moment there I was worried.”
“Forgive me, your Majesty, but I’m not accustomed to speaking to legends, and you’re the second one I’ve met today.” The unicorn’s long white hair looked very soft and he was wearing a large wreath of forget-me-nots and daisies around his neck. There was something very majestic about this creature, like it was master of all things.
“Your Majesty? No. I’m not a king, Princess. I’m simply the White Unicorn. I’m sorry we had to meet under such dire circumstances.”
What dire circumstances? A pegasus ride and now talking to a unicorn? This was an unbelievable day. Then she remembered. “You mean the trolls.” The conflict with those horrible ugly creatures came pounding back to mind.
Albert. Even he couldn’t take on three trolls. A warm sadness filled her heart. She couldn’t image her life without him. He’d been her Protector, her playmate, and her confidant for over ten years. He was a good man. Her face contorted as she fought back her tears.
“Yes, the trolls,” Cavalon said. “That must have been frightening for you. I’m not completely sure what they’re up to, but you can bet it’s not what they say it is. Did the trolls tell you what they wanted with you?”
Alura shook her head to clear the pain of Albert’s death. She had to pay attention, a unicorn was speaking to her.
She thought for a moment about Cavalon’s question. She’d been so sickened by the sight of them she hadn’t paid much attention to what the troll said. “No, not really.”
“Oh well. It would’ve been a lie anyway. I had Marsali bring you here so you could relay a message to your parents for me. The time has come for the races of legend to become known once more. We shall no longer keep ourselves hidden from the mortal races. And the unicorn’s first act in the open shall be to side with the humans against the troll invasion that is to come.”
Troll invasion? There had been a few incidents with them lately, but nothing on the scale of an invasion. “I’m sorry, um, ah. How shall I address you?” Cavalon had the presence of royalty, but she didn’t know which title to use.
“Just call me Cavalon.”
“Okay, Cavalon. I’m afraid you’re mistaken. We have had some disruptions from the trolls lately, but nothing we can’t handle.”
“The trolls are testing your defenses, young Princess. Do not underestimate them.”
His sapphire blue eyes stood out against his long white coat. She wanted to reach out and hug his neck. She felt very safe in his presence. “I really don’t think they’re a danger, Cavalon. They–”
“Will you relay my message, Princess?” the unicorn interjected, calmly.
“Of course,” she said, a little startled at being interrupted. At home, no one dared interrupt her when she spoke.
“Good. Thank you. I’m afraid I must go now. I have just been made aware of another matter I must attend to immediately.”
Alura looked around. There was no one else with them.
“We’ll talk again.” The unicorn pointed his horn at her and there was a bright flash of light. When her eyes adjusted, she found herself standing down the road from the main gate of Green Tree. She was home, but how?
“Good day to you, Princess,” a passer-by said.
Quickly gathering her wits she replied, “Good day to you as well.”
Her parents weren’t going to believe this. A pegasus and a unicorn. She started running toward the gates.
