Lore Excerpt: UNICORN

 

Frozen Forest

 

IT WAS EVEN COLDER when he headed out into the dark. Torrullin cursed as he stumbled over roots and branches, but dared not create light to ease his path. It took hours in the cold and dark to situate every trap in a wide perimeter and to draw the shield to encompass all, but eventually it was done, and he could head back. The lure of hot coffee was an all-consuming need.

As he approached the gate something new in the environment drew his attention. Until then the forest was filled with the usual night sounds - owls, scuttling creatures, a flap of wings, squeaks - and now everything was silent. That kind of quiet generally occurred when something new was in the region and the creatures waited to see whether it meant danger or something to be safely ignored. This silence went beyond what was there while he tramped around.

He could not see, but he could feel.

First came the silence, and he stood still.

Then came hot breath on his cheek.

He did not react, but his heart jerked wildly. He made no move.

Lorinin.

His heart thumped hard. Gods. “Who are you?”

What am I?

Fine. A game. What are you?

A slight glow appeared over his left shoulder. He turned with exaggerated care. The glow strengthened and took form. This time his heart threatened to burst from its confines.

You are surprised.

Torrullin placed a hand over his heart. More than words can describe.

It was a creature of myth and legend. The purity of goodness. The beauty of tireless strength. A unicorn. White, ethereal and incredibly beautiful. It made no sound as it moved to stand in his field of view, its hooves silvery and seeming to float above the forest floor. A horn of incredible simplicity glowed faintly blue from the centre of its forehead and long lashes swept over pale sad eyes as it studied Torrullin.

Many years ago, the little flower needed aid.

Rose. You created her citadel.

I could not feed her. I wish I could have fed her.

She survived. Today she is strong.

I am glad.

Is this your domain? Torrullin asked.

We do not claim domain, Lorinin. We are and we are not.

You call me Lorinin.

Your blood sings with song so glorious the multiverse awaits the next note with breathless anticipation.

He was out of his depth. This creature spoke of the multiverse; it thus transcended every barrier. My song must be filled with fury.

No.

I do not understand.

The time comes. Go forth now and find the Danae. I shall guard your charges. No harm shall befall them on my watch. I shall answer every question you may have, I promise, but you must ask it with the Danae at your side. He needs you more than you need clarity.

Where is he? Do you know?

The storm has gathered and must unleash. In havoc will new tools be forged. Enter the void of lifelessness, Torrullin Lorinin Valla.

Elianas is in the void?

He may be tracked from inside. Energy of that magnitude holds what he is together.

I must do this alone.

The magical head dipped. The seer would not survive it.

How much time do I have?

Never enough.

Torrullin moved closer.

The unicorn retreated. Stay in place. It is hard to maintain the light under your shield.

Torrullin halted.

Other spaces may be forced onto your plane of confrontation.

Why?

I am not a farseer, Lorinin, but I offer this advice. Bring what you need together and do so without hesitation. It places your song above all, and thus they must listen.

How do I do this?

The Danae knows.

He threaded a hand through his hair. He seemed to do that with regularity in this new present. Gods. Concentrate. Elianas possessed a greater answer. Was that what their games were about?

Elianas Danae is not aware that he knows.

How do I then ask the question?

You ask nothing. You touch.

A wry laugh erupted from his throat, loud in the silence. Please elaborate.

There was no sound and no movement for many minutes. The unicorn stood as if frozen, but its glow did not dissipate. Clearly it was thinking. Perhaps it, too, knew moments of self-doubt. I shall now do something I may not have the right to interfere with, and yet I trust this will aid you in forging the tools of the future. Please wait.

Torrullin waited, and wondered what that communication meant. The unicorn pulsed with shivering light, and it moved forward swiftly. It halted a breath away from him and transformed into a column of light. An instant after, Torrullin suffered a hard tug at the centre of his gut, and looked convulsively down.

A flowing river of gold translucence bridged the tiny space separating them, joining them. Then he was emptied, and flew back to land hard up against a tree. Snow shuddered on the branches overhead and tumbled over him. Shaking and spluttering, he straightened.

The unicorn had retaken form, but now a faint golden glow emanated from within the white silver. The Goddess of Souls is removed.

Motionless thought assailed him then. It meant absolute change.

Touch is safe, Lorinin.

No, it was not. Every temptation could now be bridged.

He is not your brother. He is your Eternal Companion, as you are his. Touch is safe. Touch, and your answer will be there.

This changes all.

The time for that is due.

Perhaps. Torrullin nearly hyperventilated in the onset of emotions, of questions … of need.

For years and ages, the battles have run and they were fought and there was result, and nothing altered. The same questions plague and the same answers disappoint. Personalities of the past have intertwined into this time and others, and it is time to be free of them and what remains stagnant. Unleash the storm, Lorinin, and allow the song freedom. It is the right moment to change the concept of time.

Time?

Yes.

I do not understand.

The Danae knows. Ask.

Touch?

No, ask this of him direct. He must then answer.

He was afraid to. Elianas was not easily confronted.

My time in light is at an end. The glow that was the unicorn began to fade. I have the watch, do not fear, and we shall again speak. Bring the Danae.

The forest was dark, a greater dark than before, and gradually the sounds of normality intruded to prove the state of otherness had passed. Torrullin stood in that dark and carefully examined every thought shared, and understood he had no choice.

In a nowhere place, everything is possible.

 At the time of Tianoman Valla’s Naming, a blue sphere hovers in the scrying bowl, along with a silver cathron in an ebony floor. The time for that future is due, for beyond realms and the known universe, a mighty manipulation commences, and it assumes the form of blue spherical space.

 This is a Nowhere Sphere.

 Tianoman is kidnapped by an enemy believed dead, and taken to the place where a silver cathron knocker lurks in the darkness of a polished surface, where also a crucible swirls in vapour, creating within an entity that cannot be permitted life.

 An entire planet is vaporised, and souls scream for release in the aftermath. As Torrullin Valla’s memory returns after the event on Echolone, his ability to forgive is buried in the layers time has laid down, and now he needs to care, to feel again, to forgive. He must travel the void created by anti-matter to find not only Tianoman and the other Vallas, but also Elianas Danae, for he will suffer most.

 In Nowhere, everything that moves in hearts, minds and souls will become the answers Torrullin requires to again known himself. It will also unmask the Danae.

 

THE NOWHERE SPHERE