The Enchanted Path (Book 1 of the Dreamfarers' tales)

Chapter 21 - Cute Little Terrors

The following morning, Dianthus found himself still outside the shelter but couldn't remember when he had fallen asleep. Woah, that was some crazy dream, he said to himself. The unicorn shivered and shook pearls of dew off his coat. For a moment he wondered if the world was chillier just outside his forest. That's silly. We are heading southwards after all. If anything, it should get warmer, he decided as he gazed around absent-mindedly. I suppose I'm not used to sleeping without someone by my side, he admitted to himself. Then, amidst his post-sleep considerations, the image of a she-griffin sitting all by herself and later joined by a very small unicorn foal resurfaced before his mind's eye. Griselda...that couldn't have been a dream, could it? Was that really my sister? I surely couldn't have imagined it all.

As Dianthus reasoned, the hair along his spine stood on end a heartbeat before his ears pricked up to Birch's presence behind him.

"You dozed out during guard duty, furball," Birch informed him. "You looked like you were really into it, so I left you to sleep out here."

"Uh..." Dianthus blinked, turning around. "Thanks, Birch, and sorry. I didn't realize it."

The young stag regarded him with a look somewhere between judgmental and concerned. Dianthus could tell he had ready some snarky remark about the futility of volunteering for standing guard and falling asleep after a few minutes. And yet for some reason unbeknownst to him, he saw Birch's posture relax.

"It's alright," said the deer, slowly. "You must've been tired."

"To be honest, I was wide awake..." Dianthus scratched his ear as he tried to recall that night. "I guess it was the wisp that put me to sleep and gave me that vision..."

"Vision?" it was Cassidy speaking, sticking her head out of the shelter. She, too, had seen Dianthus sleep soundly that night but she knew better than waking him up unless the forest was on fire.

"What vision?"

"It was Leirion," Dianthus replied. "At least, it was a memory...I could also hear her thoughts. Sort of. She had a golden mane and lilac eyes like Mother..." his eyes softened, summoning the image of his sister in his mind's eye. He could recall every detail of the dream, unlike his usual dreams, of which he forgot everything in the morning. "She wasn't half a moon old, and Griselda was there too. It was shortly after her accident with..." he trailed off, but Cassidy caught the hint right away.

"With the Creature?"

Dianthus gave a simple nod.

"What creature?" Birch chimed in.

Ah right, Dianthus realized. He doesn't know anything. Birch had agreed with no second thoughts to tag along, knowing only half of the story. The change of heart of the fawn within those couple of moons still amazed him. Thus, Dianthus and Cassidy, in turns as they ate, filled Birch in of what they'd learned on their previous visit to Griselda, the spell Chrysantos used to restore her memories, and the fact that she had probably been attacked by something, hence her 'incident'. The event had scarred her mind so deeply she had been flightless ever since.

"Sir Chrysantos believed it was very important that Griselda remembered, especially after the pegasi's paralysis," Cassidy said. "We didn't see any connection back then except for the daymares haunting both my flock and Griselda."

"And the Fiery Tails, I heard Father say," Dianthus added.

Birch quirked an eyebrow, puzzled. "The Fiery Tails, now?"

"Desert foxes. Father said that their leader was plagued by nightmares, too, until he arrived."

"What if that same Creature has to do with your sister's imprisonment?" Birch pointed out. "We all listened to your mother's story, right? Leirion was okay, then poof! She doesn't wake anymore all of a sudden."