Unicorn Point

“Nay, merely difficult. We shall be obliged to search every settlement or group, human and animal, methodically, until we find him.”

“How can we find him, an we not know his form?” Purple demanded. “That be searching for one straw in a haystack!”

“Tan must question each prospect,” Translucent said. “We know the lad’s age; only those that age need be checked. An we knew what form, it would be a matter o’ weeks or months.  As it is, months or years. But it can be done, and must be done.”

“Months or years?” Tan asked. “I have aught better to do than that!”

“Then thy sister. Only thou or she can do it.”

Tania nodded. “I may do it, but I have a price.”

Translucent glanced at her. “Thou art moved not by the need o’ the Adepts?”

“Let us be not hypocrites,” she said coldly. “Which o’ us be moved by other than selfishness? We cooperate only in the face o’ a common enemy. An I devote myself to this tedious labor, needs must I have recompense.”

Translucent nodded. “Plainly put. Say on.”

“Was once might I have married Bane, uniting in time our power with that o’ Blue. Till he found the other frame, and his rovot self was besotted by the mare. Methinks me-him remains a decent match.”

“Thou didst try that,” Translucent said. “Unbeknownst to me. Bane fended thee off, and made I oath to him: no more o’ that. Now his power be such thou canst not fascinate him with thine Eye. This be no price thou canst ask.”

“I ask but this: that I be given leave to do what I can with him, using not my Eye. An he come to me voluntarily, it be no violation o’ thine oath.”

Translucent considered this, not trusting it. “For this thin chance, thou wouldst devote thyself to the search for the boy?”

“Aye, for this thin chance. An I succeed, it will bring me union with an Adept, and that be what I crave beyond all else.”

Translucent shrugged. “Then be it so. Our effort be in stasis till thou hast result.”

“The younglings,” Yellow said. “This be their travel time, small groups going to new homes. Only those who traveled need be checked, for a new member be not otherwise admitted to a tribe without challenge.”

“It still be some search, through all o’ Phaze,” Purple said. “Methinks the human brats should be checked first, and then the ‘corn foals.”

“Agreed,” Tania said. “An there be resistance to my search, you others support me.”

“Agreed,” Translucent said for the others.

First she approached Bane, who happened to be with Fleta the mare. That could be for only one reason. “Thou dost seek the boy,” Tania said.

“Dost have complicity?” Fleta asked sharply.

Tania turned her gaze on the unicorn. In her human form the mare was petite and full-bodied, with glossy black hair in lieu of her mane, and a pearly button set in her forehead in lieu of her horn. She was attractive enough, for men who might like that type. Bane was evidently immune, but Mach     had proved susceptible. That suggested that Bane was susceptible too, but chose not to admit it. But Bane in the old days had been interested in any female form that was young and healthy; his way with ‘corn, werebitch and batlass had been notorious.

Well, Tania could compete in that respect. Now she regretted that she had not deigned to do so back during Bane’s days of experimentation; she could have nabbed him readily then, and saved much complication. But she had foolishly hoped for better prospects, which had not materialized. Now she was older and wiser. Proximity, and time, might well do wonders with Bane. Of course he knew her nature, which was a problem; but he had known the natures of the animals he played with too, seeming to care mainly about their human forms for the indulging of his passing passions.  “Canst not answer?” the mare demanded, taking Tania’s silence for guilt.

Oh, how tempting it was to give her a piece of the Eye!  But she had promised not to, and, more important, it would alienate Bane. In fact, it might enrage him, and he was no mean Adept in his own right; she could get in trouble. This had to be defused, much as it grated her to do so. “Nay, mare; this absence discommodes us as much as thee, for we had hope o’ the boy’s aid in our mission. We suspected at first that thou mightest have—”

“I had naught to do with it!” Fleta flared. “He be mine offspring, my flesh; I love him and fear for his safety!”

“My apology for doubting thee,” Tania said easily. She had done what she sought to do: turned the mare to the defensive, instead of herself. “But if thine interest be familial, ours be practical; we want the use o’ the power the lad has.  So be assured that we wish him harm not, but rather we want him safe and well. We desire his return, and I be here to join thee in a search for him.”

“We search not,” the mare said. “It seems Flach fled by choice, and though my heart break, I may not bring him back unwilling.”

“Fled by choice?” Tania asked, affecting surprise. “Loved he not his dam?”