Chapter 65

Sara

The passage through the mountain was treacherous, and the snow would not let up as we continued on our way. It took us several days, and even as we’d passed the mountains, there was still a day of travel to the town, Tengeriin.

Silvi was growing weaker, but even so, I could feel her holding on to my ancestral magic that still kept hope burning in her. I was glad to finally see the familiar silhouette of the town I’d been a guest in on many past occasions.

It was only as the Daiqinds showed us to our resting place, waiting to speak with their elders, that I finally dispersed the magic that had kept Silvi from falling into despair. It had been more exhausting than I’d thought, but I would gladly do it again if it meant she was feeling better.

Cat slumped against the wall, and Kim sat down, staring at the floor. She had not said much in these days but only stayed close to Silvi, as if protecting her. I had come to realise that after all this time, I still did not know the girl, despite having travelled with her for so long. She’d been by my side, but I’d barely spoken a word to her apart from our plans and on that one occasion when Cat asked me to comfort her.

Even so, she was no different from all others I’d met. Of those who had crossed my path, who could I truly say I knew? No one. Ever since I was banished all those years ago, I had done nothing else but try to persuade those I met of the truth I held dear. Nothing had been more important than overthrowing the Queen. But watching the girl who was so alien to me and seeing the shattered truth lying in ruins, a question I could not shake had begun to rise. Had it been the wrong path?

It was true that I had done nothing but follow the course taught to me ever since I was old enough to understand the elders. After all, even though my fellow Unicorns did not see the truth, it would not deter me from continuing what had for so long been our path. But even so, the question begged an answer. Was I to blame?

Was it my words that had brought this failure upon us? My speech that had failed to truly reach them? I could see now that the loss of my homeland had shaken the very foundations I stood on. Was the role I had been given, the position as a Peace Bringer that this very world relied on, a lie?

With Almerious gone and the knowledge of what my race had done to bring peace upon this world, I no longer knew what the truth was. The records of what had once transpired had been overwritten, and what had once been our place in this world had long since been lost.

It was true that our race had fallen when Almerious attacked us, but even so, I had begun to wonder if our downfall had not started the moment they made their pact. What had once been was nothing more than a shattered dream, but perhaps it had never been true to begin with.