It wasn’t dawn when they left. It was rather closer to noon, by the time Semari had been harassed into wakefulness, and Janaxia deemed herself suitably presented and attired to depart. Fortunately, Semari had given up on trying to ride, muttering abuse at the uncaring steed before allowing Hakara to take the horse instead – she was carrying a large backpack, stuffed to the brim, and with more gear hanging from the outside, as well as a complicated leather harness, with dozens of smaller pouches arrayed around her waist, supported by braces over her shoulders. It seemed a lot, but wizards (real ones, at least) often needed a lot of equipment.

Outside of town, their surroundings swiftly became wilderness and forest, although the road was well-crafted flagstones, ancient elven magic keeping it intact through the centuries, winding through an uninhabited wilderness. Janaxia was again studying the tome of her ancestor, hopefully checking they were on the right track, while Parth scouted ahead, mumbling to trees they passed.

It didn’t take long for the thin woodland to shift to ancient trees, foliage thick enough to block out most of the sun, the temperature dropping now they were out of the sun. The road continued, flagstones magically clear of moss and weeds, despite the heavy growth surrounding them.

Stathis trotted over to where Parth had stopped, staring into the seemingly-empty woods. ‘Anything we need to keep an eye out for?’

Parth took a long pause, before answering. ‘Ancient power.’

‘OK, but is that anything specific that’s likely to try to kill us?’

Parth wavered a hand vaguely. ‘Sleeping.’

That sounded like a “not right now”, which was about as good as could be expected. ‘We’ll take a break here. There’s meant to be the place we’re looking for nearby, right, Janaxia?’

‘I believe so, yes. It is an elven temple, which should be nearby, and we need to be there during the night. Fortunately, it is a full moon tonight, which should grant us passage through the barrier. Although Kinnevar did say there were guardian creatures of some sort, so caution is advised. Some form of spirit, I’m given to understand. His notes are rather vague on the matter – he left some notes as to the nature of the barrier, and Parth was kind enough to lend some advice.’

Hakara dismounted, moving stiffly, unused to riding. ‘This is further into the Greengrave than I’ve been before. There are rumours of ogres and other monsters out here, even dragons. Should I cast a divination spell? Unless Miss Janaxia wants to cast one instead?’

‘If you think you can find anything out, sure. Show us what you can do.’

Semari drifted closer, watching keenly as Hakara cast her spell. She reached into a pouch and pulled out some gleaming powder, tossing it up and letting it drift in the wind. As she incanted, the blue crystal on her wrist sparkled with power, the dust hanging in the air, forming into a glowing, curving glyph. It hovered for a moment, before exploding with a soft chime, lines of white energy shooting into the woods.

Semari poked it, then looked at Janaxia, who was fiddling with her new weapon, trying to be on guard, but more concerned with her clothing. ‘Shiny! See, that’s like proper magic, not like the creepy eldritch stuff we normally get. What’s it do?’

Hakara was patient enough to answer, as she continued to focus on the spell. ‘This is a scrying spell. It will tell me if there’s any concentrations of magic nearby. An elven temple should stand out, I would think. And a dragon definitely would.’

A pale shadow of the glyph hung in the air and Semari poked it again, the magic flowing around her fingers without breaking. Unlike Janaxia, Hakara seemed fine with her spells being prodded, or was too shy to say anything, and her spell seemed less obviously evil, without any tinge of malignity or eldritch energy coursing through it. A few minutes later, spheres of magic began to trickle back, of different sizes and brightness, all flowing back into the focus point. The glyph changed shape, flattening out, forming itself into a map of the area showing the rough shape of the land, a single mote glowing brightly. The map formed was most of a circle, although a full third was missing and dark, the border as sharp as though it had been cut with a knife, while Semari waved her hand through the effect.

‘That must be the magical barrier, or something else is interfering with the spell. But the glowing dot is probably the temple. It doesn’t seem far away – about two miles, I think?’

‘Thanks, that’s a pretty handy skill. Everyone, keep an eye out for anything magical, ancient that might want to kill us or any combination of the above.’ Hakara looked slightly worried. ‘Don’t worry, it’s fine. Well, probably. Just watch out, in case there is something out there. If you do have any protection spells, it might be worth casting them now.’

Hakara nodded and pulled out a vial of liquid, carefully pouring a few drops onto the back of her hand. One of her fingers traced a pattern in the air, as her skin took on a steely, polished colour, some protective effect sheathing her body. They moved off the road into the woods, leading the horses between the giant trees, footsteps silent on the mossy ground.

The quiet was unnerving, without any of the usual forest noises; no scuttling animals or birds singing, the only sound was the distant trickling of a stream somewhere out of sight. Parth vanished into the shadows, hopefully scouting ahead and not just abandoning them to whatever was out there.

Through the trees Stathis caught sight of a thick mist that blocked any further sight, tendrils of it stretching out from the main body, coiling out before retreating into the main mass. A thick rope of the stuff wove between the trees, drifting lazily through the air. As it touched a leaf, it turned to grey stone, heavy enough to break off and fall to the ground, where it shattered from the impact. Semari reached out to poke it, before Hakara pulled Semari’s arm back and away from the thing, showing good sense. The main body of the mist seemed to follow a hazy line, a border to their left, steering them a certain direction.

The elven temple wasn’t hard to find, in what had probably once been a quiet valley amongst carefully tended trees, now hidden beneath thick arching boughs, and filled with centuries of accumulated leaf mold and debris, white marble barely visible beneath it all, every crack filled with accumulated grime. It was open on all sides, domed roof supported by pillars that has once been carved to resemble the gods, before time had worn them down so that they were now un-nervingly warped and broken figures, features worn smooth, missing limbs and faces. As a group, they scrabbled down the steep side, trying to keep upright on the loose, leaf-covered ground.

Underneath the roof, the floor had once been solid marble, but was now cracked and weed-strewn. A small ledge ran around the inside of the roof, filled with more statues of divinities. The only thing that stood out was an altar, a solid chunk of rock with a cleft for offerings in. Parth began wiping it down, cleaning off accumulated muck and grime, revealing white marble, shot through with veins of gold.

‘Here. Power.’ A strand of the mist spooled out from the cleft in the altar, drifting towards Parth until she waved it away, carefully avoiding contact, the haze burning away in the pale sunlight. ‘Moonlight pools and gathers.’ She pointed up, where there was a circular hole in the roof, although all that could be seen right now were branches and leaves. ‘Path to the sky.’

‘So we need to cut down all those branches?’ Stathis sighed. ‘How likely is that to attract a forest spirit or something? Or is that mist going to do something as well?’

Parth shrugged.

‘OK, so who wants to get rid of a load of branches, and possibly risk some monster showing up? Hakara, you got anything useful?’

Hakara was kicking some of the damp leaves off the marble floor, a trail of slightly-cleaner floor behind her. ‘Of course! Although would Miss Janaxia not have something more suitable, as a combat mage?’

Janaxia stepped forward, flexing her fingers in preparation. Memories of Janaxia’s spells flashed into Stathis’ mind, of the roaring, hellish screams of something in the infinite darkness, of the acid-ice tendrils in the infinite void, and she shuddered. ‘No, I think you should do it. Show us what you can do.’ Janaxia sniffed, but didn’t respond.

Hakara stooped and ran her finger along the floor, then raised it high, her other hand making magical gestures. An icy breeze blew through the air, leaves whipping around Hakara, an icy sphere forming above her hand, trails of vapour streaming towards it from the air and ground, until it was a solid lump, the size of someone’s head. With a push, Hakara sent it flying upwards, through the gap in the roof. There was a pause, and then the sound of torrential hail, ice cracking and splintering against the roof, hailstones rattling through the hole and onto the altar.

‘Neat! And not evil, either!’ Semari had managed to find a perch up on the ledge, between the statues, keeping an eye on proceedings. One of the statues teetered and wobbled, barely saved from destruction as Semari hooked a foot around it and pushed it back into place. Stathis drew her cloak more tightly about herself, shivering in the breeze and being sure to stay well away from the seeking tendrils of mist, more of them now probing into the temple.

The ice storm did its job, clearing away the branches above the temple, and without drawing any mystical guardians. Parth kept cleaning, managing to shift most of the leaf-mold from the altar, although the grime had seeped into countless cracks, the marble now veined with grime as well as gold.

They waited around until night fell, darkness total amongst trees, stars above barely visible. Hakara pulled out a battered lantern and lit it, the light restoring some lustre to the cracked and pitted marble. The woods outside were still silent – at this stage, even some monsters would be a relief, something to make the place seem more alive. The mist was more active as well, slowly flowing into the temple, pushing them back around the altar.

Throughout this all, Janaxia kept flicking through her book, not even rising to Semari’s jibes. Stathis walked over to the altar, tilting her head to look upwards – the stars were bright pinpricks against the vault of the sky, the moon a brilliant silver disc. Parth pulled her back, assembling some ritual oddities on the altar, items of clearly elven craft, twists and curves of silver made without any welds or imperfections. Janaxia took a position next to her, looking strangely martial, one hand rubbing the hilt of her weapon.

Hakara whispered to her, between blowing on her hands to keep them warm. ‘Is this going to be OK? There’s rumours of dragons and all sorts of monsters out here. I envy Miss Semari, being able to sleep.’ She gestured upwards, where Semari had somehow managed to find enough purchase on the ledge to fall asleep, one arm dangling off the edge.

‘Ignore her, she can sleep pretty much anywhere. They both seem pretty confident, but keep an eye out, just in case this wakes something up. And watch out for the mist.’

A shaft of moonlight spilled downwards, the moons slowly moving over the hole, bowl in the altar starting to glow with an inner light. Stathis tried to extend her own senses – there was the usual broiling darkness and doom of Janaxia, but surrounding that, something different. A power, vast and old, but, for once, something not an ancient doom upon the land. This was old and slow, barely awake but spread everywhere, a thousand sparks of power coming from some distant heart, asleep but still powerful.

When she opened her eyes again, the thin pillar of moonlight had become a thick shaft, some liquid forming in the basin, a thick, gelid silver. Stathis kept a wary eye on Semari, in case she decided to try drinking it, but she stayed up in her perch, twitching slightly in her dozing state. Parth dipped her fingers into the pool, the liquid thick enough to stick to them, before she daubed it onto her eyelids, her eyes turning silver and glowing faintly. Janaxia repeated the gesture, although her eyes burnt with a silver-and-crimson colour, the touch of the moon not enough to cover an infernal fire.

Then they started to sing, soft and gentle, like listening to water trickling over stones. Janaxia stumbled over some of the sounds, dissonant burrs forming in the stream of sound, Parth trying to cover for Janaxia’s errors. Hakara had her crystal out, one hand reaching into a pouch for something. Stathis tapped her on the back of the hand and shook her head – having some other magic going off and combining with whatever Parth and Janaxia were doing would probably not end well.

More and more of the silver liquid formed, trickling out of the basin onto the floor as all three moons now shone down from above. On the floor, previously unseen runes sparked into life, cracked and damaged, concentric circles of light slowly fading into life. The sense of power was closer now, something unfurling and opening, slow and sleepy but also deep-rooted. Parth’s hair rustled in an unfelt breeze, her braids dancing around, jewellery along her long ears catching the reflected moonlight.

Semari dropped down to stand close to Stathis and Hakara, ignoring the tone of the moment. ‘See, this is, like, good eldritch. None of all that creepy evil shadow stuff. Just normal forces beyond the ken of man and stuff.’ She pulled out some trail rations, crunching through a stick of jerky as Parth and Janaxia continued their song, the floor getting brighter and brighter.

The light was now bright enough to extend outside, the mist shining with a pearlescent glow, somehow even more unnerving than the darkness. It had extended all the way around the temple, sealing them in as a single strand came in through the roof, slowly stretching towards Parth. She stretched out a hand, the thing latching on, a thin line of green diffusing into the mist.

Part of the haze peeled back, showing a path into the woods. In the shadows, the trees flickered and shafted, flashing between different shapes and sizes, one moment full-grown and covered in leaves, the next winter-bare, then a sapling, or part-grown. More tendrils stretched towards each of them, glowing with a pale lunar light, Parth looking at them and nodding. One flowed over Stathis’ hand, cool and soft, before something reached into her – not a forced intrusion, but a slow, questioning touch. The cord shone with a yellow glow, sunlight drowning the moonlight out for a moment. From Hakara, the light was pale blue, the same as her gem, but barely perceptible against the silvery light.

Semari ducked back, weaving underneath the mist, before trying to bat it away with her hands. It passed through her, suddenly arcing with sparks of lightning. Janaxia shuddered as one drifted through her, a sudden hiss of steam as the tendril evaporated. Several joined together into a thicker tentacle, wrapping around her leg, parts boiling off as red fire seared its way through the mist.

‘This way. Swiftly, the passage will not remain for long.’ Parth shook herself free of the thing, giving Janaxia’s arm a hard yank and pulling her along, the mist not following along.

‘Hakara, help me with the horses. Semari, keep an eye out, in case of whatever might be out there.’

Part of the mist peeled back, to reveal a path through the woods, remnants of a road surrounded by trees, lit by moonlight. Perhaps lulled by the song, the horses plodded along quite placidly. Thick walls of the stuff blocked their sight on either side, trees still shifting through different forms and shapes, shadows continually flickering and shifting. The temple soon vanished behind them, the mist flowing in behind them, blocking any retreat, as they advanced into the unknown.

They must have travelled about a mile when Stathis caught a glimpse of movement through the trees, something moving, shining white with reflected moonlight. A gleaming white horse trotted into the moonlight ahead of them. From its forehead rose a shining white-gold horn, gleaming in the moonlight, spiralling to a sharp point. It pawed at the ground, tossing around a shining, glossy mane, staring at them.

Hakara spoke, voice soft with wonder. ‘A unicorn! They’re said to be guardians of ancient and sacred places, guiding the lost to safety, and destroying the wicked.’

Stathis couldn’t help but note that the thing’s horn looked very pointy, and that the hooves could brain someone without much effort. Parth eased her arrow off her bow and put it back into her quiver, before slowly approaching the creature, hands held out. It whickered loudly, hooves stamping on the ground as she approached, wary and cautious. Then it charged, Parth throwing herself to the side, barely avoiding the horn piercing straight through her.

Stathis swore. ‘Hakara, stay back, shoot it with whatever you’ve got, or get some protection spells going. We probably shouldn’t kill it, but we need to drive it off. Janaxia, you’re with me.’

Semari had already charged in next to the creature as it kicked out with hooves, driving her back. Stathis gave Janaxia a shove to encourage her forward, ignoring her squeal of complaint as she fumbled to draw her wooden sword, a reddish glow surrounding the weapon.

Parth and Semari were keeping themselves alive, scrabbling around as the unicorn lashed out, Semari bleeding from a nasty-looking gash across her chest, Parth scrabbling for enough distance to use her bow. It glared at Stathis, then stamped the ground again.

Plants burst forth, thick vines sprouting from the grass. Stathis felt thorns cut into her legs, the heavy plants snaring her feet and pinning her in place. The unicorn whickered again before charging at her, horn pointing right at her. With the vines binding her in place, she couldn’t dodge, so tried to brace herself for the impact, moving her shield in hopes of deflecting at least some of the force. A beam of frost passed over her head as Hakara attacked, the creature slicing at the energy with its horn, the frost blinking out of existence without effect. She could feel the ground shaking, vines constricting as it hammered towards her, thorns digging deeper into her legs, vicious spike of the horn targeting her again.

A cry came from her left as Janaxia charged towards it with sword held high, red energy twisting around it as she bought it down in a clumsy strike, managing to score a hit on the creature’s flank, a red sear marring the perfect white hide. It whinnied in pain, giving Janaxia the chance to attack again, smacking it on the rump. While it spun to deal with the new threat, Stathis tore herself free of the clinging thorns, dealing several attacks herself, a hoof clipping her shield and jarring her arm.

Semari leapt in and managing to land on the creature’s back, punching it in the neck and head. It whirled and spun, kicking out wildly as it tried to dislodge Semari, who was now desperately hanging on and unable to attack. Stathis attacked herself, another slash from her sword leaving a deep gash along its flank. It reared up, hooves slamming down to the ground before golden energy burst from the horn. When it was gone, the unicorn had vanished. Semari fell to the ground with an ‘oof’.

Stathis formed up with the others, standing back to back in case it returned, minutes stretching long, the night air silent, before Stathis sheathed her sword. ‘We’ll keep an eye out for it in the future, it’ll probably be back at some point.’ The glow had vanished from around Janaxia’s blade, although she kept a white-knuckled grip on it as Stathis spoke to her. ‘Thanks for charging in like that, getting speared by that would have been nasty! But your stance is terrible. Lead with the wrists, not the shoulders - I’ll give you some pointers later.’

Hakara scrabbled forward to join them, looking around nervously at the woods. ‘I thought unicorns were proud and noble beasts, that only fought evil creatures?’

Stathis pointedly didn’t look at Janaxia, noticing her colleagues all look away as well before Parth found an acceptable excuse. ‘Savage in isolation.’

They moved as quickly as they could, through the night, hoping not to get attacked again. The mist blocked their vision backwards, while ahead there was just the woods, trees shifting and warping through different periods of their existence, endlessly shifting and warping.