Cassima turned her attention to the dark cave in the cliff wall that bordered the narrow, sandy path she was standing on. It didn't seem very large, but it was still quite ominous, as most caves tended to be. Whatever was inside that cave – if indeed there was anything inside it – it couldn't be much bigger than a middling sheep. Cassima decided to take a quick look inside the cave just to see if it was worth exploring.

The inside of the cave was shrouded in almost complete blackness. Cassima wished that she hadn't told Edgar to leave; his ability to create light as easily as snapping his fingers would certainly come in handy here. Then, remembering the mirror she had received in Serenia and how the snake in Bluebeard's castle had instructed her to use it, she took it out and turned it until what little light was shining through the thick lavender mist of Dark Etheria shone in its face. She then carefully rotated it so that the light reflecting off of the mirror would penetrate the darkness of the cave. The cave slowly became less and less tenebrous, and she began to make out the shapes of mossy rocks and drippy stalactites hanging from the cave's ceiling.

Then she saw something which made her gasp and nearly drop the mirror. Two pale red eyes were glowing in its beam. For a moment, Cassima was frozen with fear, but then whatever owned the eyes moved slightly, and there was a low scuffling sound from within the cavern.

Cassima looked at the shadowy form, trying to figure out what it was. It was big, about the size of a horse, but it was lying down on the cave's floor. The queen squinted at the strange creature, then, as her eyes became used to the blackness, slowly realized what she was looking at.

It was a unicorn. The great beast was more delicate than a horse, but still muscular and solidly built, with a great flowing mane and a tufted tail, with a wispy goat-like beard beneath its jaw that made Cassima suspect that it was a male. Its ears were large and pointed, its hooves were cloven like a deer's, and its eyes were two glossy spheres staring at her with an unnerving intensity.

None of these traits were unusual to Cassima, since she knew what unicorns looked like. What was unusual was the color of this unicorn: it was completely black. Black as a starless night sky, black as tar, black as the deepest pit. Its huge spiraling horn was this color, too, and it shone like carved obsidian in the reflected glow of the mirror.

"Who…are you?" Cassima trembled.

The unicorn was silent for a moment, then it spoke in a monotonous voice that sounded like two huge stones grinding together.

"I am no one. Leave me alone, mortal."

"But I just…"

The unicorn's large eyes narrowed.

"Did you not hear me the first time?" he said, anger suddenly burning in his voice. "Go."

He snorted disdainfully. Cassima was about to speak to him again when she noticed his horn glittering dangerously in the dim light. As much as unicorn's horns were renowned for their healing and purifying powers, they could still be deadly weapons whether they were attached to a unicorn or not. Cassima quickly left the cave and stood outside, her breathing rapid and shallow. If she wanted to speak to that unicorn without being impaled, she had to find some way of gaining his trust.

She turned her attention to the path she was standing on. Though it eroded down to nothing in one direction, in the other direction it sloped upwards and led up the side of the cliff. Having nowhere else to explore in her immediate surroundings, she decided to follow the path to see where it led.

After walking the frighteningly steep and narrow ledge up the side of the cliff, Cassima could see two colorful statues near its summit. As she neared them, she saw that they were gigantic depictions of human hands, open with the palms facing her, as if to say, "Come no further."

Beyond the statues, the path widened into a vast, bare plateau that was the same dark lavender as the rest of the island. What was currently on the plateau was a whole other story, however. Two huge beasts sitting near the hand statues were speaking to each other. As Cassima neared them, the beast nearest to her pricked up his ears, then spun about to face her. She startled at first, but then relaxed slightly when she saw that both it and the beast it was speaking to were griffins – ones that were more conventionally sized than the one that Edgar had with him. Cassima then became concerned again, since, unlike the griffin she rescued from Bluebeard, she had no way of knowing how these creatures would treat a human.

The griffin that had turned to face her extended a spread forepaw in her direction, mimicking the position of the two hand statues. Then it opened its beak and began to speak in a decidedly masculine tone:

"Stop right…" he paused in mid-command and examined Cassima as if he suddenly recognized her.

"Wait a moment," he said in a much calmer voice, "You look exactly like the human that our brother Zephyr said helped him escape from enslavement. Are you that person?"

"If you mean that huge griffin with white wings, yes," Cassima said. "He was tied up outside the castle of a murderer, and I couldn't just leave him there."

The griffin speaking to her absently flexed his wings and twitched his tail.

"You have then proven yourself to be a friend of us, the griffins of Dark Etheria," he said amiably, slightly inclining his great head. "You are welcome to walk among us and ask whatever you want of us, and we will help you as best we can. My family thanks you again for freeing one of its brothers."

"Thank you." Cassima replied.

Cassima made her way past the twin hand statues and stepped onto the plateau. It wasn't as large as it had seemed when she was approaching it. Aside from the griffins that were near the path, several others were sitting, sleeping, or otherwise resting in various locations on the plateau, but it didn't seem like the griffins actually lived here. It was more of a communal place where they gathered to converse, eat, or simply rest together. Cassima wondered where the griffins lived when they weren't visiting this location. Perhaps they had nests in distant craggy mountains, or possibly they lived in massive caves in the sides of cliffs.

As Cassima walked along the plateau, she noticed several strands of something yellow and shiny littering the otherwise nondescript landscape. She bent down and realized that they were strands of spun gold. She had heard that griffins were almost fanatical about gold and used it to line their nests with, so the glittering material she was seeing on the plateau was probably left over from their last nesting season.

Cassima paused to look back at the two griffins near the entrance to the plateau. While the one which had spoken to her was definitely a male, with dark gray wings, a brown lion's hindquarters and a dark black tuft at the end of his tail, the griffin reclining beside him, which had tawny wings, golden hindquarters and a reddish tail tuft, was much sleeker and delicate, and it looked distinctly female. Between her talons was something that reinforced that assumption – it was a little griffin that had to be her chick (Is that what a baby griffin was called? Or were they called cubs?). The baby had its adult plumage coming in, but it still was quite fluffy with down, and as small as it was, it was still almost twice as large as Edgar's pygmy griffin.

Cassima turned to explore the rest of the plateau. She noticed a familiarly colored griffin curled up like a cat near the plateau's edge. It was the same griffin that she had freed from Bluebeard's castle – Zephyr, the guard griffin had called him. Cassima now realized that she had to be in a time shortly after the time she had freed him in, but whether this was before or after the time that Cassima originally came from, she had no idea. She also had no idea how Zephyr had wound up in her world, but like many questions she had encountered during her trek, she felt that she would somehow discover an answer to it.

At the far end of the plateau were two more griffins. The first griffin was slightly smaller than his fellows, and unlike the other griffins, whose avian halves were solid in color, his half was a mottled, streaked brown. His dog's ears and his lion's coat were slightly mangy, his wings were tattered, and he was even missing the tip of his lion's tail. He was such a sad sight that it surprised Cassima greatly when he looked up at her and pulled the corners of his beak into a rigid, yet convincing accipitrine smile.

"Oh, hullo," he said in a voice that reminded Cassima of a mellower form of Jollo, her family's court clown. "Are you a human?"

"Why, yes."

"Oh," the scruffy griffin said, glancing at the ground. "I was just checking. You look a lot like some of the bigger fairies that live around here, so I wasn't sure."

He continued hanging his head. Cassima started wondering what was wrong with the griffin. Despite his cheerful, carefree attitude, something was weighing heavily upon his mind.

"Are you all right?"

"Sure I am," the griffin said, looking up and appearing jovial once more. "Why do you ask?"

"You just look a bit, well…downtrodden."

The griffin cocked his head.

"I do? You humans must see things that griffins don't see, then."

He lowered his head again and Cassima decided not to speak with him anymore. There was definitely something that he was hiding, and although she wanted to find out what it was, she doubted that she would do so by talking directly to that griffin.

She looked at the last griffin on the plateau, which was light gray and gold in color and perched atop a gnarled, spindly tree, apparently asleep. The tree was bent over a tiny patch of earth from which several unusual plants grew in small, neat rows. It was a garden, but Cassima couldn't tell what was growing there. As she knelt to get a closer look at the plants, a talon suddenly moved in front of her face. She looked up to see that the griffin in the tree had awakened and placed a defensive forepaw between her and the garden, arching his wings and ruffling his feathers menacingly.

"You are not to touch our herbs," he said in a deep growl. "They are used only by the griffins, and foreigners are not allowed to use them unless given permission."

"All right. If you say so," Cassima replied, slightly put out by the griffin's words. She got to her feet as the griffin resumed his silent stance atop the tree.

Cassima felt that the herbs in that garden had to be important in some way if they were guarded so fastidiously. If this were the case, then she had to find a way to get some of them. They would probably come in handy, and she had one or two ideas for how they could be used already. But before she did anything with the herbs, she needed to find a way to get them…

She approached the scruffy, forlorn-looking griffin again.

"Do you know how I could get permission to get some herbs from your people's garden?" she asked.

"I'm not the one to ask," the griffin replied. "Ask my sister, she's the caretaker. Quite a responsibility, that. We grow a lot of precious herbs in that garden. Some can heal, some can rejuvenate, and some satiate even the greatest hunger."

Cassima's desire to possess some of the herbs became even more intense.

"She's the caretaker?" she asked, glancing at the griffin perched on the tree branching over the garden. "I thought that griffin over there…"

"He simply guards the plants," the scruffy griffin explained. "My sister Yanaha tends and waters the herbs and keeps them from withering away, a very prestigious position in our clan. I'm certain she will give you permission to take some of the herbs, since you saved Zephyr. She's over there talking with her mate, Welkin, the sentry."

He pointed towards the two griffins near the path to the plateau with a claw. Cassima stared at the sleek, prim griffin and then back at the scruffy, worn griffin beside her.

"Her?" she asked in amazement. "She's your sister?"

"Well, half-sister," the scruffy griffin shrugged. "Or maybe one of us was taken in by the other's parents. Maybe it was me."

"Well, you should be proud to have such a beautiful griffin for a sister."

The scruffy griffin sighed with a melancholy air.

"Yeah. I guess," he murmured. Cassima suddenly realized something.

"Wait a minute – Yanaha is the caretaker and she has this plateau's guard as a mate…what position do you have?"

"Well…none, really. I just do what all griffins do: eat, sleep, fly…"

"But why don't you have a lofty occupation like your sister and her mate?" Cassima asked. "Did you choose to live like a commoner?"

"Well," the scruffy griffin said, staring at the ground and batting idly at a pebble, "I…I never really thought of it before…"

Cassima knew there was something more to this poor griffin, and she had just found out what that something was.

"I think that Yanaha made you like this," she said firmly. "She made you think that you didn't deserve to have as high a rank as she had in this clan, didn't she?"

"Um…I guess she did. Not that I really mind it, though. I mean, sometimes a few of the younger griffins who hang out with her are a bit rough with me, but it could always be worse…"

"I'm going to have a talk with her," Cassima said determinedly. "She can't enjoy all this prestige you speak of and not share it with you!"

The scruffy griffin shrugged again.

"Do that if you want to. I really don't care one way or another."

Cassima approached the female griffin lying near the sentry griffin.

"Excuse me?" she said, trying her best to mask her anger. The female griffin slowly turned to face Cassima with a bit more elegance and languidness than Cassima felt was necessary.

"Yes?" she said in a voice that was every bit as haughty as her appearance. "Oh, you are the human who rescued Zephyr, aren't you? You have my thanks. If you ask me, though, he really didn't deserve to be saved. That Zephyr is always flying off to that parallel world he keeps chattering about, just so he can soar on the thermals created by its deserts. 'But we've got a desert right below us in Eldritch,' I say to him, and he says that the thermals there are too weak. I tell him that if he isn't careful he might be seen, and wouldn't you know it? The fool flies over there and gets himself captured by a human, of all things! Last one out of the nest, that griffin is…"

"I'm sure he'll be more careful next time," Cassima interrupted. "Tell me, are you Yanaha?"

"That is my name. Why do you ask?"

Cassima pointed over her shoulder to the scruffy griffin.

"He said that you are the caretaker of the herb garden, and that you are also his sister…"

Yanaha rolled her eyes.

"Oh, by the Lord of the Winds, that ragamuffin of a creature!" she groaned. "Did you know that he is half hawk instead of half eagle, as all true griffins are? I'm ashamed that such a thing as him even exists."

"And I'm ashamed that such lovely beasts like you should treat your kin the way you do," Cassima said furiously. "You should give him a chance. He may be half hawk, but he's still a griffin in my eyes, just as amazing as you."

Yanaha's yellow eyes became golden slits and she clutched her child a little more tightly, but she didn't show any more outward aggression besides those two actions.

"For such a homely example of a female human," she said stonily, "You sure have more than your share of bravery to speak to me in such a manner…"

She paused and seemed to relax.

"But you may be right. Perhaps I have mistreated Foehn once too often…but no one here ever told me that."

"I think that's because no one had the courage to," Cassima surmised. "You do have a prestigious position in this…place."

Yanaha glanced at the scruffy griffin that she had called Foehn and sighed.

"Human, I think you're right. As soon as I'm through talking with Welkin, I will apologize to my brother. Thank you for telling me about him."

"You are welcome," Cassima said, "But back to the reason I started this talk…could you please grant me permission to take a few herbs from your garden?"

"Well…since you rescued Zephyr and told me the truth about my brother to boot, I believe you've earned the right to help yourself," Yanaha replied. "Just tell the gardener that I, Yanaha, gave you permission to take but a few of the herbs for yourself."

Cassima thanked the griffin, who nodded and resumed her conversation with the sentry. The queen then made her way to the opposite end of the plateau, where the garden was.

"The garden's caretaker, Yanaha, has given me permission to pick a few of your herbs," she told the griffin perched on the tree.

"She has?" the griffin asked, coming out of his slumbering state again, "I don't belie – Wait! Aren't you the savior of our brother, Zephyr?"

"Yes, I am."

"Why didn't you tell me that before?" the griffin exclaimed. "Help yourself to our precious herbs, friend! Just be sure to leave enough so that the garden may survive, and may good fortune be with you!"

Maybe I should start freeing more griffins, Cassima mused. I've never been treated this respectfully except at home.

She picked a few of the peculiar herbs, thanked the griffin who was guarding the garden and began walking back to the path that led down to the cave that the black unicorn resided in. As she passed Foehn, he smiled at her – but it wasn't a stiff, superficial smile like the sort he had been putting on before – it was a genuinely happy smile, and every part of his body seemed to glow with joy as she passed him. He had apparently overheard her conversation with Yanaha, and the way he looked now made Cassima think that she couldn't be more flattered even if Foehn were to thank her a hundred times.

Cassima cautiously reentered the unicorn's cave. The great black creature immediately snorted angrily, so Cassima spoke to it as fast as she could:

"Friend…I have some herbs from the plateau above us. The griffins that live there allowed me to take some, and it's obvious that they are very precious. May I offer them to you?"

This appeared to calm the unicorn slightly. He stretched out his long, sinewy neck to sniff at the herbs that Cassima warily held out in the palm of her hand.

"You are right in thinking that these herbs are valuable." He said in a slightly less menacing tone. "From what I know of the griffins, they very rarely let other creatures taste these plants. Thank you, my lady. You are very compassionate to give away something like this."

He delicately nibbled at the herbs, chewing them delicately. After he had swallowed them, he let out a soft, contented whinny. His horn even seemed to glow softly. Apparently, the herbs had done him some good, but there was still an aura of depression surrounding him. Cassima took out her mirror and placed it in a cleft between two of the rocks near the cave's entrance, twisting it so that the light it reflected illuminated the cave's interior, allowing her to see the unicorn a little more clearly.

"Tell me," she asked, "Do you live here, in this little cave?"

"I live…and I hide," the unicorn replied. "An equal balance of both."

"What do you mean?"

"Use your eyes. I was born to be a noble beast, just as all unicorns are, no? My coat was black since my birth. It never brightened to the white that my brothers and sisters were. I could tell by the way my kind looked at me that I was unwanted. I moved away from them, into the outer isles of this realm. I found this cave, and here I have stayed for many years."

"But…why?" Cassima asked, a little confused. "Did your family tell you that you were 'unwanted?'"

"Their eyes told me more than their mouths ever could," The unicorn said dully. "Being a dark rock among stars, I could tell that I didn't belong."

"What kind of reason is that?" Cassima asked.

"You are human. You don't understand how we see the world. And besides, living here is enough for me. I have water, food, peace of mind. It is all that a beast like me deserves."

Cassima fell silent. Why such a beautiful creature would ostracize himself like this was something she couldn't comprehend, and doing so just because he felt like he didn't belong was hardly an adequate reason for it. He had to be hiding something – there had to be another reason why he was this way. If only he would tell her the truth…

The truth!

Cassima suddenly realized that she had found a use for the truth potion she had stolen. She had never expected such an opportunity to come up so quickly. But how could she get the unicorn to drink the potion? He certainly wouldn't drink from the bottle. Cassima cursed herself for not pouring it on the herbs before she gave them to him.

She looked around the cave, which was surprisingly less barren than the land outside it. Moss and a few poor grasses grew on its walls and floor (the unicorn's sole diet, perhaps?), and a small pool formed by water dripping from stalactites lay nearby.

Cassima eyed the pool contemplatively. If she could get the potion into it without the unicorn's knowledge and he drank from it, perhaps she could learn the truth about his past. Part of her shuddered to think what dark secrets this truth might contain, but she knew that revealing such a truth to another person was better than always carrying it and letting it eat away at the heart.

Of course, she had no idea how she could convince the unicorn to drink from the pool, and there was always the chance of him seeing her pour the potion into it, but that was a chance she had to take. She nonchalantly approached the pool, then stared at a point behind the unicorn and gasped, pretending to see something that horrified her. The unicorn slowly turned his head to see whatever Cassima was looking at, and Cassima quickly knelt down beside the pool and uncorked the bottle. Unfortunately, the unicorn's sensitive ear swiveled in her direction at this noise, and his entire head turned to face her before she had a chance to pour the potion.

"What are you doing?" the unicorn asked. Cassima pretended to be surprised at this statement and released her grip on the bottle, letting it fall into the pool.

"Oh – I'm sorry," Cassima said, feigning shame. "I accidentally dropped my bottle…"

"You did not," the unicorn grumbled. "You dropped it intentionally. You want me to drink whatever was in that bottle, don't you?"

"Please – it was just an accident, I didn't…"

"I suppose I should humor you just the same. Those herbs have made me thirsty anyway. I don't know what you put in my water, but in all honesty, I don't care."

His long neck bent over the pool as he lowered his head to drink. Cassima was astounded at the unicorn's complete indifference to everything that happened around it. Nothing seemed to matter to the poor beast. It seemed as if Cassima could have poured poison into the water and he would have drank it just as willingly. This couldn't be the way he truly was, though. No creature could live a life with a mentality like this. Hopefully, the truth potion would help reveal who he truly was underneath, no matter how dark and unpleasant that character was.

Presently the unicorn stopped drinking and slowly raised his head, a faraway look in his large eyes. He blinked several times and shook his head, his mane a gently undulating stream of black silk.

"My lady," he said slowly, turning to Cassima and looking her directly in the eyes. "I have…lied to you."

"You have?" Cassima asked innocently. That potion was certainly doing its job.

"Yes," the unicorn nodded. "I said that I was seen as a disgrace by my kind. But the only one who really saw me that way was myself."

"Don't worry," Cassima said soothingly. "It's not your fault."

"Oh, it was, young one. My color wasn't the only reason for my self-imposed exile. In my youth, I lived a wild, reckless life in a forest until some cocky little tailor somehow managed to capture me and present me as a gift to the king of that land. The rage in my heart quickly turned to shame – I felt that I could never show my face among my kin again after being outwitted by a simple tailor. This ordeal convinced me once and for all that I didn't belong. I fled for this land as soon as I escaped, and I've stayed here ever since."

"I'm so sorry to hear of this, unicorn…"

"Don't be, mortal. I now see that my capture was all just a careless blunder on my part which had nothing whatsoever to do with my color, and it was my fault for not realizing this sooner – my fault for not seeing myself for what I really am. But you helped me see the truth. My color does not make me any different from my brothers and sisters. I was born to a unicorn, sired by a unicorn, so why in Etheria's name should I not be one myself?"

He had been growing more and more confident throughout their conversation, and now he was almost grinning. Cassima couldn't help but smile herself at seeing the beautiful animal in high spirits.

"Good point," she said.

The unicorn slowly rose to his feet.

"You have my deepest thanks, mortal," he said, bowing his head. "Today, I shall return to my homeland and live out the life I was meant to live. Come and step outside with me, child. I want to share my first sight from a new heart with the one who gave it to me."

Cassima followed the unicorn out into the hazy light of Dark Etheria. The unicorn breathed in a deep draught of the cool air, then reared triumphantly with a strident whinny. A shiver of wonder passed through Cassima as she watched him.

"I've never seen this land like this before," the unicorn said, dropping to his feet again. "When I first arrived here, I thought that it was all dreariness and dullness…just like my vision of myself."

He turned his elegant head to Cassima.

"But I see it differently now, my child," he said quietly.

"I'm very glad I could help you, unicorn." Cassima smiled.

"So am I. But before I leave, is there anything I can aid you with, my friend? It is only fair that I repay you in some way."

Cassima didn't know whether the unicorn could help her with the only problem preying on her mind at the moment, but it was worth asking him about it just the same.

"Noble unicorn…have you ever heard of the wizard Shadrack?"

"Mmmm…" the unicorn murmured thoughtfully, staring into the distance. "That name does not sound like a pleasant one…I may have heard it somewhere before, but I can't be certain. Wait…I think I can help you. Hold still now. Focus on all you know about this Shadrack, and try to tell me all you can about him through your mind."

"What?" Cassima asked, puzzled.

"Just…try thinking as loud as you can," the unicorn explained. "Don't worry. I will hear you. Steady, now."

He took a step closer to her and slowly lowered his dark horn until the tip hovered just above Cassima's heart. Cassima startled as the horn pressed against her chest, but she quickly calmed herself. She shut her eyes and tried to recall all she had learned about Shadrack: the letter he had written to Alhazred, the meeting his agent had had with the wizard, the other agents that she had encountered, how he had murdered that little girl's father, what the wiseman had said about him…

She felt a rush of air as the horn suddenly left her heart. She opened her eyes to see the unicorn staring wildly at her, his breath rapid. His horn had a faint tint to it, and Cassima realized that it was fading from the color that it must have been mere moments before: blood red.

"I am sorry…your Majesty…" the unicorn panted, sounding quite shaken.

"You didn't hurt me," Cassima reassured him. Apparently whatever he had done had somehow revealed her identity to him. "But what did you…hear?"

"Your heart told me more than I would care to know about Shadrack, child," the unicorn said, sounding almost frightened.

"But…I hardly know anything about him."

"That's the way he works. Staying in the shadows, remaining as elusive as the serpent beneath the stone. What you told me was little, but my magic was able to follow the pools of knowledge formed by all that have told you of this sorcerer, back to where they first heard tell of him. Your instincts are very keen indeed, mortal. You were more than right to suspect that Shadrack meant you and your family harm."

"I was?"

"Yes," the unicorn said. "I saw dark things through you, little one. Things darker than what I thought I saw inside myself during the jaded time I spent in that hole. Something inside the man you know as Shadrack turned rotten long ago. He betrayed the side he was on and crossed over to the other. He began to ally himself with others that shared the new system of beliefs he had adopted, rules entailing merciless ideals, nonconformity, and cruel revenge carried out against whoever struck a blow one's way."

"Revenge…you mean…"

A cold wave of dread flooded Cassima's heart.

"Oh no…so Alhazred's exile…"

"…Was the perfect catalyst for Shadrack," the unicorn said. "The Black Cloak Society he and Alhazred are 'members' of is hardly a concrete thing at all. It is merely a title used by those who have turned to the darkness and know where they stand. Of course, evildoers in general have existed since the beginning of humanity, it is only recently that they have begun calling themselves the Black Cloak. An air of false pride, if you ask me. And though many have killed or brought justice to members of the Cloaked in the past, your husband and his closest kin have dealt more blows to them than any other royal family in the history of the multiverse."

"Yes," Cassima admitted, "I suppose they have."

"But now, it is your turn…Queen Cassima. You will eventually find the one you seek, though your path still does not run straight from here. I can tell you no more about Shadrack, but I can tell you one more thing…something that you taught me."

"What is it?"

"Beneath the skin, we are all evil and all good. We are our own friends and our own foes. Finding out what we truly are and where we are headed in life may be difficult, but it is vital if we are to find out what others truly are. Until you can see inside yourself, you will not be able to see inside Shadrack."

"My," Cassima said. "So are you going to help me with this self-analysis?"

"I am not that powerful, my lady," the unicorn chuckled. "You should seek out someone greater than me. Much greater."

"And where would I do that?"

The unicorn tilted his head to one side, contemplating her question.

"Well," he finally said, "If the creatures of the land and the air haven't been able to help you on your journey, why not ask someone…different?"

Before Cassima could ask him what he meant by this, the unicorn looked out at the misty sky and the distant isles floating in it and said:

"I'm sorry, my child, but my heart is pleading to leave this gloomy place, and I must fly. But first…here."

He drew his horn close to Cassima's forehead and touched it briefly, as gently as a butterfly.

"Ouch," Cassima murmured, suddenly feeling a bit groggy. "What was that?"

For a moment, she had seen the image of a golden beach dotted with palm trees, with rolling hills, numerous ponds, and a range of mountains beyond them.

"It is the land of Kolyma, my Queen," the unicorn said. "Go there, and may good luck be with you. Farewell."

He reared and whinnied once again, then sprang off the path and began flying through the sky…he didn't sprout wings or float through the air like a leaf, he merely ran just as he would on solid ground, cantering through the thick mist of Dark Etheria and vanishing into the distance.

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