Free Keeper of the Phoenix by Aleesah Darlison Page B

put the dog in there.”
    Despite Garamel’s apparent friendliness, Ash sensed a threat from him. He didn’t feel like he could argue though. Not when the unicorns had whisked Gwaam away somewhere. Until he found out where Gwaam was he had to cooperate so he did as he was told.
    When Ash shut the cage behind him, Trip whined miserably.
    “Stay,” Ash said. “Good boy.”
    “Humans, please, take a seat,” Tibor said. He indicated a gnarled, mossy log nearby.
    Ash, Taine and Rhyll sat down. Garamel touched the ground with his horn. Three ruby-encrusted golden goblets appeared.
    Taine picked up one of the goblets and sniffed the red liquid it contained. “Oh, I’m so thirsty. What is this?”
    “Drink and you shall see.”
    Taine tipped the goblet up, draining its contents.
    “Delicious. Tastes like turkey. May I have another?”
    “Turkey?” Ash glanced at Rhyll.
    Garamel nodded. Taine’s goblet was refilled. The other unicorns stared at Ash and Rhyll until they also drank.
    “Mine is chocolate,” Rhyll said.
    “Mine is rhubarb pie,” Ash said, amazed.
    Garamel fixed Ash with a steady gaze.
    Ash began to feel light-headed. “I think … we should … go …”
    “You’re not going anywhere,” Garamel said.
    The world spun before Ash. Then everything went black.

    Ash prised his eyes open and winced with pain. Daylight flooded in. The others were lying beside him. Ash shook them awake.
    Taine groaned and sat up, rubbing his head. “What happened?”
    “Their magic knocked us out,” Ash said.
    “My head hurts,” Rhyll said.
    The three friends were jammed into a cage similar to Trip’s, with limited room to move.
    Tibor stood watching them, his tail flicking disapprovingly. “Welcome back, humans.”
    “Why have you locked us up?” Ash demanded. “And where’s my bird?”
    “The bird is safe.” Tibor motioned to the basket hanging high in a tree.
    Ash could see Gwaam’s head and shoulders above the rim of the basket. He could also see that he was shivering, probably from hunger.
    “He needs to eat,” Ash said.
    “We will worry about that in due course.”
    “How long were we out?” Rhyll asked.
    “Not long,” Ash said. “The sun hasn’t moved much. Maybe a few hours.”
    “We need to get out of here, Ash,” Taine said. “Remember, we need to find Zadoc and save the village.”
    “Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten,” Ash said.
    “But if we’re locked up here, we may not get to Zadoc in time. What will happen to Papa?” Rhyll said.
    Taine squeezed her hand. “We can’t think like that. We
have
to make it. He’s all we’ve got.”
    “Ah, the humans are awake.” Garamel walked over, interrupting them. “Perfect.”
    Ash watched the unicorns warily. He knew now they couldn’t be trusted.
    We have to escape, he thought. But how?
    Garamel motioned to Tibor, who touched the cage with his horn. The door swung open. Ash and the others scrambled out.
    “Walk. And know you are being watched,” Tibor said.
    The friends set off, flanked on all sides by the unicorns.
    “This doesn’t make sense,” Rhyll whispered. “All the books, all the knowledge passed down about unicorns … they’re meant to be good and pure. Not nasty like this. Something is wrong here.”
    “Halt, humans,” Garamel ordered.
    Ash and the twins stopped. Before them stood a hill covered in crimson grass. At the foot of the hill sat row after row of empty wicker baskets.
    “Wow!” Taine said. “Red grass.”
    Ash shook his head. “This place keeps getting weirder.”
    “Up.” Tibor pressed his horn against Ash’s spine. “Fill those baskets with the grass.”
    “Couldn’t you just eat it?” Taine said. “It’d save an awful lot of work.”
    “Unicorns have been forbidden to eat the sacred Inkle grass from its source. If we do, it will poison us. All you need to know is that you must harvest the grass for us. It must first pass through human hands before we can eat it. We have waited a long