The group was on their second day of traveling since leaving the fairies' home. The atmosphere had been convivial, with Aurora and Devrim often taking up the rear to clandestinely (or so they thought) hold hands. It had initially injured Nurlan's sensibilities to find that the Empress and Devrim were not married, but seeing them in the innocence of new love quickly melted his heart.

Just now Junayd was playing a jaunty tune on a long thin instrument with many finger holes. In between his his tinkerings, he would invent words to accompany his composition.

"I traveled from my home down south

To find a lassie true

But she did not think me worthwhile

And left for someone new

But do not fret for me, my friend

My future's not so grim

For she was trouble from the start

And now she's buggin' him."

"Thats's terrible!" Aurora giggled.

"The playing or the singing?" Brinn joked.

"Both!" Devrim and Nurlan answered with wide grins.

Junayd stuck his nose into the air, "Some people have no appreciation for the arts." He went back to fiddling on the instrument. Because he was not looking where he was walking, he did not see the small rock rise from the ground to trip him. The young soldier took two long steps to steady himself, but it did no good. He sprawled out on the ground face first, losing his instrument from his grip. The whistle skidded along the ground and into a deep crevice.

The party went over to the crevice and looked down. They could not see the bottom. "Tough luck, Junayd!" Nurlan slapped his friend on the back.

"This crevice is not natural," Brinn said seriously. The humans stopped laughing and looked at her. She knelt down and sniffed at the hole before crinkling her nose.

Suddenly they heard braying. Further ahead at the edge of the crevice a unicorn was nudging her hooves frantically at a creature on the ground.

"It is a baby unicorn!" Aurora said as she ran toward them.

"Aurora, wait!" Devrim called, but she did not heed him.

As she came close, the mother turned her head toward the Empress with her horn glowing. The girl ran into a protective field and was launched backwards. Devrim ran to her side, "Are you ok?!"

The Empress rubbed her head as her vision cleared. "I am fine. What happened?"

Brinn strode up beside them. "Mother Unicorn does not want you near her baby. She used the magic in her horn to create a protective field around them."

"But her baby is hurt! I just want to help." Aurora said dejectedly. The baby lay on its side with a huge gash on its flank. It was having difficulty standing despite its mother's coaxing.

"She does not trust you." Brinn said gently. Then the elf switched to ancient language to address the unicorn mother. After an exchange of spoken words from Brinn and braying from the mare, Brinn nodded her understanding. "She says the gnomes attacked her while looking for a couple of humans. They hurt her baby to try and get information, but she had none to give. Because we came so soon after they left, she assumed we were with them."

"Did you explain that we want to help?" Aurora wrung her hands. She did not want the unicorn to misunderstand.

"I did. She says you can approach slowly," Brinn cautioned her. "Do not make sudden movements. If you thought the force field was bad, wait until you experience a swift kick in the rear." The elf rubbed her own derrière as if recalling some past trauma.

"I will be careful." Aurora said.

"I am coming with you," Junayd edged up next to the Empress. "I had a small stint in the cavalry so I know a couple things about horses."

"It seems like you have done just about everything," Nurlan called mockingly.

Junayd was unfazed. "I have, thank-you-very-much."

The soldier and Aurora neared the steeds with an ample amount of care. Mother unicorn allowed them to approach her young. The baby's cut was long but not deep. "Will this help?" Aurora pulled a salve from her cloak. Junayd opened the canister and sniffed. It stunk of antiseptic, to which Junayd gave an approving nod.

"It should at least keep out infection, but it will probably sting." He turned to Brinn, who was standing a little back. "Can you tell the mare that the baby will be getting some medicine, but it's going to hurt a little?"

Brinn nodded and translated. The mare relaxed and laid down next to her foal. Junayd took some salve on his finger and rubbed it into the wound with Aurora acting as nurse.

"I thought unicorns had some kind of healing power?" Devrim said in an aside to Brinn. He had remembered the tidbit from one of Aurora's lectures.

"They can heal normal wounds, but not injuries inflicted by magical objects. Those have to mend the old fashioned way: with time. That is what bothers me. Why would the gnomes go to the trouble of hurting the colt with a magical object and give it only a superficial wound?"

"Do you suspect the unicorns of foul play?" Devrim was suddenly anxious.

"No, mom seems only concerned for her baby. It would take an insane mother to hurt her child for an ulterior motive." Brinn did not believe that even her dispassionate parents would try something like that when she was a child.

"Then what do you think?" the grey-eyed man could see her face was scrunched in concentration.

"I do not know, but it bothers me…"

"There! All done." Junayd motioned for Brinn to speak to the mother. The foal had behaved like a like a champion, barely flinching as the salve was applied. Now the numbing agent in the cream was taking effect, and the little unicorn tried to stand. Mother unicorn whinnied happily, and her horn began to glow. Out of the crevice, the little instrument of Junayd's rose and was placed in the excited soldier's hand. "Thanks!" He cried exuberantly.

"Yeah…thanks," Nurlan echoed, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

The unicorns walked off together. The ground shook slightly as the crevice sealed and the ground returned to normal. "What happened?" Devrim asked, sword drawn.

"Do not worry. That land just healed itself. It does that when the gnome's magic wears off…which is usually pretty quickly." Brinn realized that the crevice had been open much longer than it should have. She assumed that the stench in the crevice meant that there had been many gnomes, but what if it was just a couple of gnomes lying in wait. That would explain why the crevice stayed open: they were listening and waiting.

"What is wrong?" Aurora stood and took a step toward her friend.

The elf's eyes opened wide: "It's a trap!" Brinn screamed.

The ground below the Empress's feet shifted like sand. She did not have time to scream before the earth swallowed her without a trace.