CHAPTER ELEVEN

Sophia crouched behind a pile of fallen crystals, nervously holding her breath. Just a few feet away from her, Ash was tossing aside huge shards of rock as if they were tiny twigs.

“Where are you?” grunted the ogre, stomping closer. “The queen is waiting!”

Sophia was able to stay out of sight for a little while, until a tiny shadow flickered above her head. Crimsette darted down to her eye level and smirked. “You stink at hide-and-seek.”

Ash lumbered over to the Shadow Sprite, reached down with his massive arm, and pulled Sophia out by her foot. He carried her, struggling and twisting, to the Cell of Eternity and dropped her onto the ground. Wildstar fought to help Sophia, pulling furiously against her chains.

“Here’s the girl, your Magnificence!” piped up Fernakus.

Ravenzella ignored the Dwerpin, preferring to watch with amusement as Sophia tried to soothe the frantic unicorn.

“How sweet!” she cackled. “In an icky sort of way.”

“If you hurt her,” threatened Sophia, “I’ll—”

“Tell a teacher on me?” suggested Ravenzella, her face creasing up with pleasure. “Or use your unicorn magic perhaps? Oh, that’s right…you two haven’t bonded yet. I’m simply terrified.”

Ash and Crimsette snickered. The Queen of Grimoria leered at Sophia, smiling a cold, bitter smile.

“You have your father’s eyes.”

Sophia refused to turn her head away, glaring at Ravenzella as she continued to speak.

“I remember him very well, you see. He was the Unicorn Rider who locked me away in this cell.”

Fernakus stuck up his hand. “You’ll be out in the blink of a wink, oh pointy one! I’ll deliver the key as promised.”

“The key?” Sophia stepped away from the cage walls, trying to guard her unicorn. “Wildstar will never show you where the key is!”

Ravenzella shrieked with laughter. “It’s already here,” she replied sweetly. “Taking your pet was just my clever way of getting you to bring the key to me.” She nodded sharply at Crimsette, who quick as a flash, buzzed over and snatched the star pendant from Sophia’s neck.

“No!” she yelled, but the necklace was already dangling from the queen’s spiky fingers.

“My hairy little helper told me that the key had returned to the island as soon as you arrived,” said Ravenzella, gesturing at Fernakus.

“The key can’t be my pendant,” insisted Sophia. “That’s mine!”

“I know it is,” Ravenzella shot back. “From your father, yes?”

Sophia lunged at the queen, but it was hopeless. Ash used all his ogre strength to hold her back, allowing Ravenzella to insert the star-shaped pendant into a slot at the center of a glistening cluster of crystals. The lock shone with light, and the Cell of Eternity disappeared.

Ravenzella stepped out victoriously from her prison. As she pulled herself up to her full height, Sophia noticed the purple swirls of Grim Magic curling around her. Ravenzella eyed Wildstar with hatred.

“The most powerful, magical creatures?” she sneered. “Ha! Their devotion to goodness is pathetic. It’s time for all Unicorn Riders to pay the price for making my home of Grimoria disappear. It’s time to make their precious unicorns vanish! But first, Sophia, let’s make sure that you have no chance of interfering.”

With a wave of her hands, the queen created a dark spell. She threw her arms forward, preparing to blast it at Sophia, but Wildstar burst out of her chains and leapt in front of her rider.

The blast hit the unicorn with such power, the walls around them began to shatter and crack. Wildstar slumped to the ground, wounded. Sophia watched in horror as her unicorn began to fade away.

“No!” she sobbed. “Please!”

“Take your daddy’s precious gift!” barked Ravenzella, hurling the necklace back at her. “I’d like to say it’s nothing personal…but it is.”

And with that, the Queen of Grimoria used her dark powers to vanish from the collapsing cavern, taking Ash and Crimsette with her. Fernakus was left to fend for himself. The Dwerpin scuttled out of the tunnel without giving Sophia a backward glance.

Wildstar lay on her side, slipping away with every passing moment.

“What’s happening to you?” sobbed Sophia, using her body to try to protect the unicorn from the avalanche of crystals falling all around them. When the jagged rocks finally stopped tumbling, the pair were cramped into a tiny pocket of space. Wildstar was growing weak, but somehow she managed to turn her head toward a narrow opening in the corner. She whinnied encouragingly. The gap was just big enough for Sophia to crawl through.

Sophia shook her head. “I’m not leaving without you!”

There was another loud crack, and the ceiling sank a little lower. It wouldn’t hold for long. Sophia took a deep breath and tried to put into words everything that she was holding inside her heart.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, stroking the unicorn’s forehead. “All you’ve been doing is trying to protect me. I know how much you miss my dad. I do, too. But you never really lost him. He lives in you, Wildstar.”

The unicorn looked up at Sophia through fading eyes. The words meant everything to her.

“And you don’t have to be afraid of losing me, either,” Sophia added, “because I’m with you until the end.” Sophia laid her head on Wildstar’s chest, crying softly. “Please don’t go. You are my destiny.”

More rocks crashed down, and the chamber caved in. Everything was pitch-black, until a sudden streak of bright, dazzling light burst through the cracks….