Free The Prophecy by Hilari Bell Page B

body fell over her withers. Prism waited until his weight settled, then walked carefully out of the swamp. A quick shake slid Lysander off her back. She reached down and touched his throat with the tip of her horn. The bard’s lungs heaved, and he choked and began to cough.
    “You can touch him now.” Prism moved a few paces away, her head bowed.
    Lysander’s coughs were interspersed with curses. He seemed to be recovering, so Perryn followed the unicorn.
    “What is it, Prism? What’s wrong?”
    “Where is it?” asked the unicorn.
    “Where’s what?”
    “The dark spot.”
    “But you hardly got dirty at all.” Perryn brushed a few flecks of mud from her coat. One spot refused to yield and Perryn looked closer. A gray dapple the size of a thumbprint marked her right wither, and it wasn’t dirt.
    “That wasn’t there before, was it?”
    “No,” said Prism. “I had managed to avoid situations that…that demanded action on my part.” She turned her head to study the dapple sadly.
    “I don’t understand,” said Perryn.
    “I suppose not. Have you ever wondered why unicorns are so seldom seen? You saw the tracks of dozens of unicorns in the forest, but you saw only me.”
    “I thought…I guess I never thought about it.”
    “The reason you didn’t see the others is because the older unicorns are grayed. Spotted like this all over. The more spots, the less white, the harder they are for humans to see. Some very old unicorns are nearly black.” Prism shuddered. “Even other unicorns can barely see them. When a unicorn becomes wholly black, it’s gone forever.”
    Gone. Did she mean death, or something else? No wonder she didn’t like getting dirty! None of the books he’d read had ever mentioned any of this. Perryn groped for the right words.
    “If it’s just, well, part of getting older…”
    “It isn’t,” said Prism. “You get dark spots only when you do good deeds. That’s how unicorn magic works. When you purify something you draw the evil and corruption into yourself, and because impurity cannot live in a unicorn, it vanishes. But it leaves a spot like that.” She looked at the dapple and winced.
    “Then I’d think you’d be proud of it.”
    “Of course, the darker the unicorn, the more it’s respected.” Prism eyed the dapple more tolerantly. “It is the honorable destiny of unicorns to darken. In fact, some have accused me of shirking my duty. Maybe they won’t be so condescending now.” Then she shuddered again. “But to vanish? To get darker and darker until you’re obliterated?”
    “Then why did you promise to heal us?” Lysander joined them, still dripping and blinking sleepily.
    Prism hung her head. “You both looked so healthy. I thought you might get hurt on your quest, but I didn’t think you were likely to fall ill or get poisoned. The truth is, I didn’t think I’d have to do anything.”
    “Will you still come with us?” Perryn asked.
    “Certainly.” Prism looked shocked. “I gave my word. Besides, you have a prophecy. It doesn’t say anything about the unicorn getting hurt, does it?”
    “No,” said Perryn. “It doesn’t say whether anyone gets hurt. Only that we’ll succeed.”
    “You promised I wouldn’t have to do anything dangerous.” Prism sounded calmer now. “And you’re unlikely to get sick again. By the way, what does the prophecy say we’re going to do?”
    Perryn hesitated, but there was no use putting it off. “We’re going to slay the dragon.”
    Prism fainted.

“The sword was placed in the tomb of my ancestor,” said Prince Perryndon. “It is part of my history, my heritage. I know where it lies.”
     

8
     
    WITH THE AID OF A LONG BRANCH , PERRYN FINALLY succeeded in filling a flask with water from the black bog.
    “I still can’t think why you want the stuff,” said Lysander. They were waiting for the outside of the flask to dry so Perryn could handle it. “Not to mention the fact that now you have nothing in