Moon Shimmers(25)

I opened the box and there it sat. The horn of the Black Unicorn. Crystal, with golden threads woven through it, the horn was a good eighteen inches long and so hard that even if I threw it over the edge of a cliff, it would not shatter.

Removing it from the box, I lowered myself into trance and sought for the energy. I charged it beneath each dark moon and it had plenty of juice right now.

“Camille, well met.”

I opened my eyes. I was sitting in a space in between worlds. I was actually inside the horn. Oh, my body was in trance as far as anybody else was concerned, but I was here—in a room with four screens, one filling each wall. In the center of the room sat a table and chairs.

A tall man with skin the color of amber waited at the table. Sometimes he was eight feet tall, other times he was six inches. But his eyes were always sea-foam green and he was far more powerful than my sisters and me combined. He was a jindasel, an avatar of the horn. And yet, he was his own person.

In a way, he was a lot like Shade, who was both an avatar of the Autumn Lord, but also his own self. Jindasels were different than djinns, though they came from the same elemental plane.

“Eriskel, it’s been awhile.” And truly, it had been. While I had used the horn at Winter Solstice fighting Yvarr, I had kept it safe and hidden since then. “I need to ask you something.” I explained what we were going to do. “Can the Lord of the Depths help me?”

Eriskel thought for a moment, then nodded. “But you’ll need to prep the horn. The Lord of the Depths should be able to aid you, and most likely the Lord of the Winds. Perhaps the Lady of the Land. But I doubt the Mistress of Flames will be of use to you this time.” He paused, eyeing me carefully. “Mistress Camille, if I might offer a warning?”

I nodded. “As always, I’m grateful for your help.”

“Be very careful. Using the horn under the water? It would be very easy to lose your grasp and have it swept away before you know what’s happening. Please don’t let down your guard.”

I gave him a quiet nod. “I thought about that on my way up here. But I think we may need the help. There’s always the chance we’ll get in there, find the seal, and get away without waking the Elder Fae. But I’d rather not bet money on it. Or our lives.”

“Which of the Elder Fae did you say it is?” Eriskel asked.

“K’thbar.”

The jindasel walked over to the western screen and held up his hands. “Lord of the Depths, come forth.”

A moment later, a giant of a man swam up toward the screen. His hair was glistening with lights, and his eyes were round and glimmering. He was a merman, carrying a trident, and beside him swam a pod of dolphins. He rose out of the water that now filled the screen, against a background of crashing ocean waves, and held up his trident, inclining his head.

“Lady Camille, how may I be of service?” His voice echoed from the screen.

I gave him a quick curtsey, even though I was technically his mistress. But I believed in respect. “Lord of the Depths, I have a question. Do you know anything of K’thbar, the Elder Fae, who lies sleeping beneath the waves?”

He paused, then leaned down and whispered to his dolphins, and they turned and, with a flash of silver, streaked along the surface, away from us until they were out of sight. “I sent my servants to find out what they could.”

I thanked him. While I waited, it was as good a time as any to prepare the horn. In the outer world, time passed much more slowly. We wouldn’t lose more than five or ten minutes by me taking the time to prep everything before we went in.

Eriskel called up the others, and I greeted them all. The Lady of the Land was a dryad, as brown as rich, fertile earth, and she stepped from among lush bushes—tall and thick with leaves and berries. She wielded a wand made out of oak and her hair was long, the color of corn silk. The Master of Winds rode in on a giant eagle to his mountaintop, and he brought with him the lightning. He was as tall as Smoky, and pale, with leather armor. His sword was honed to a razor’s edge, and freshly polished. The Mistress of Flames walked over freshly molten lava, her eyes as brilliant as the flowing rock. Her hair stretched out behind her, hardened pillow lava that flowed down her shoulders and spun out as she walked. She wore a wreath of fern and vines around her head. As they joined the Lord of the Depths, each in their own screen, my heart welled up. They were far more primal than the Elemental Lords and Ladies. These four were intrinsically connected with the powers of earth, wind, water, and fire, and they came together in the horn to form a potent, powerful weapon.

But the horn could help, as well as harm. The Lady of the Land could make gardens grow and enrich the soil. The Lord of the Depths could summon rain and bring rivers long dried up back to life. The Mistress of Flames created new land even as she destroyed rock and stone. And the Master of Winds could call up a stiff breeze to sweep out smog and stagnant air, and he could move the ships on the waters if sailors were stuck.