The chase was on. Brinn used her wind magic to push gusts of air against the humans' backs. In this way, the other elves would no longer be able to smell them, and the humans would have assistance as they ran. The push was strong enough that Aurora almost felt like she was flying. Every step took her farther than she could jump. It was almost too fast, and the Empress had a couple of near misses with trees. One low hanging branch nearly took her head.

"This is a neat trick!" She called when she was no longer terrified.

"Less talking, more running," Brinn urged as she moved alongside them. "We need to get through the wall before nighfall."

The mad dash continued even after the sun slipped behind the barrier and the strange extended twilight began. Although the humans could not hear the clanging of the unicorns' bits, Brinn knew that their opponents were fanning out to trap them. She was not sure if she should worry the others. They were almost to the wall, and she hoped it would not matter.

The elf motioned for the humans to stop and the wind around them ceased. "We are here," Brinn announced. "Hold on." She spread her hands wide, and the crackling of the wall, which was formed by magical stones along the base, revealed the transparent border between the elves' land and the rest of the land of magic. When the hole was big enough, Aurora and the others passed through it.

The humans all heaved sighs of relief. "Is that it? Are we safe?" Junayd panted.

Brinn was still anxious. "We are too early," she mumbled.

"I doubt that a fence that elves can open is going to stop them." Nurlan said cynically.

"We need more time!" Brinn repeated with frustration.

Shouting came suddenly from all directions. "Don't move!"

The humans were surrounded by unicorns and soldiers. Steel sung as everyone drew their swords. Everyone that is, except Aurora, who produced a bow and arrow and aimed at the leader.

Brinn puffed her cheeks. "Mikk, seriously?!? You just had to track me down?"

The tall soldier gave a small shrug. "You may have known me for years, but I have known you my whole life. Now, Princess Brinn, please surrender and end this madness."

"Yeah, that is not happening. You will have to take us by force, and the Empress here is a crack shot with her bow." Brinn answered casually.

Aurora's body tensed. She had never shot a creature other than for food and she had no desire to do so now. "What are you doing?" She whispered, not realizing that the soldiers all had acute hearing.

Brinn's mouth moved but Aurora could hear nothing. Then a small puff of air blew into her right ear with words only she could hear. "I am stalling," the message came.

'Stalling for what?' Aurora wondered, but she did not voice her question. A smile crept onto face as she lowered her bow. "I do not need to shoot them, Princess. They cannot capture us here anyway."

Her statement was met by general confusion. The elven soldiers murmured to one another while those in Aurora's party hoped that she knew what she was doing.

"I do not understand," Mikk admitted.

"Your job was to capture us on elven land, correct?" Aurora started to lead his thoughts.

Mikk was very young for a soldier, only 124-years-old. He could sense their was a trick in her words, but could not see any fault in what she said. "That is correct," he agreed at last.

"Where does the elven territory end?"

"At the wall," another soldier volunteered. Mikk gave him a dirty look. He liked being in charge for once.

"At the wall," Mikk repeated with more authority.

"Then we are no longer in the elves' territory, are we?" The Empress raised her eyebrows.

"I suppose not." Sweat started to trickle down Mikk's forehead. He could see that he was somehow being cornered.

"Just a little bit longer," another puff of air said into Aurora's ear. The Empress nodded imperceptibly to Brinn.

The dark-eyed woman pulled her face into a moue. "If you were supposed to capture us on elven land, but now we are not on elven land, what is the protocol for abduction in non-elven territory?" She stroked her chin as if struggling to think of a solution.

Mikk looked startled. He looked at the other soldiers, but none of them seemed to know the answer either. Brinn jumped on the opportunity, "Correct me if I am wrong, but you would need to receive special permission from the king or queen to conduct such a capture."

"That sounds right." Aurora agreed.

"Do you have this permission?" Brinn asked in Mikk in her most authoritative voice.

"Well, I Uh…" Mikk was dumbfounded. He did not have permission. Now he faced a dilemma. Which was worse: to break protocol or not to carry out the monarchs' orders? After some deliberation, he decided the latter was worse. His face hardened with determination. "I know! I will escort you back into elven territory and then capture you."

"It is a nice thought, but I am afraid we have to go." Brinn smiled innocently. The blanket of night raced across the sky as darkness fell. A strange swirling circle opened in the middle of the ring of unicorns. Through the opened hole another place could be seen. The red-haired elf pushed Aurora through the portal and motioned for the men to follow suit. They obediently complied. Before the elven soldiers could react, Brinn slipped through the hole in the rear. She turned and saluted back toward her kinfolk. "Better luck next time, Mikk!"

With that, the portal sealed, leaving the elves to wonder to where the humans and princess had disappeared.

—————————-

The group landed in a heap on the other side of the portal with Aurora on the bottom. "Your Majesty!" Nurlan scrambled to clear himself from touching the Empress.

"No harm done," Aurora said graciously as she stood.

Brinn slapped Aurora on the shoulder, nearly knocking the girl back to the ground. "That was some quick thinking, Empress. For once 'protocol' saved me instead of condemning me!"

Aurora smiled and dipped her head. "To be fair, Alvar gave me the inspiration. And what about you?! That wind whisper was an amazing piece of magic. It was like you were speaking inside my head!"

The men watched the two ladies congratulating one another. It was nice to see females of the upper class giving genuine compliments instead of snide remarks. They almost forgot they had just passed through a magic portal.

"Where are we?" Devrim asked as he looked around. The walls around them were knotty and gnarled with no corners to the room. It was like they were inside a large tree.

A small prick of light glowed brightly in front of them, and a heavy-set, bearded figure appeared. "Welcome to my humble abode. I am Bolemir."