Sherath was only ten yards behind the boar as it crashed out into the open under the beech trees.

He saw Farinka turn; saw the eerie flicker and glimmer of blue-white light filling the area, centring around Farinka, felt everything around him wheel down into slow motion and felt the crackling and buzzing in the air.

– Domina, NO! You can't do that, it can't be done ... Domina? He was Aware even as he sent the thought across that she couldn't Hear him. Little ones, hold on, hang on tight.

He felt for Farinka's mind and flinched away from the roar of the Power that surged through him; tried to switch the kill Command off before she Voiced it, realising almost too late that it was out of his Control as well as out of Farinka's.

He shut down his Hearing as Farinka looked the boar squarely in the eyes and the light zimmered down into a streak from her pointing finger which drove at the boar's mind like lightning, then ricocheted and cracked around, bouncing off trees. The reverberations caught him as they caught the others, dropping him to his knees on the earth floor. There were whimpers from the little ones as they clung, dizzy, to the branches; thought-yelps from the older Children, and a semi-conscious howl of pain, realisation and fear from Nemeth's mind which petered away into nothing as the air around settled.

For almost ten seconds there was an ominous deathly hush; then Sherath, in the process of getting to his feet, was thrown down again as the ground under him trembled and he was pelted with showers of beech-nuts shaken from the branches overhead.

– Ooh, free nuts! whispered Sienne.

– You're crazy! replied Jekavi, a bit shaken.

– Is everyone okay? Sherath asked when the tremor finished.

The others dropped or climbed down from the trees, looking dazedly at him.

"What the hell happened?" Jevann asked him, rubbing his fingers through his hair.

"It's called Power," said Sherath weakly, sitting back on his heels. "Ye Gods, I'm tired. Too much is happening too fast."

– Domina? There was no response. Nemeth? Still nothing.

Sherath got to his feet, trembling, and looked over. Nemeth was curled against the roots of the tree, his hands around his head; Farinka had dropped perhaps three feet away from the tree. As Sherath approached there was a thundering of hooves amongst the trees, and the two unicorns broke through the undergrowth. Moonwind skidded to a halt in front of Sherath, blocking his way; Moondust went to Farinka and stood over her, sniffing gently at her.

Moonwind swung round to head Tarke off as she tried to brush past behind the filly's tail.

"Look, animal; we need to find out what's wrong!" snapped Tarke. Moonwind dipped her head and allowed them past, keeping pace with them.

Sherath went to approach Farinka, and was unmistakably warned off by Moondust's horn and a stamped forefoot.

"Okay. Okay. Let me see Nemeth?" The unicorn dipped his head in assent, and Sherath went past him.

"Why won't he let us near?" asked Louka quietly.

"I don't know. But he must have a reason," said Sherath. He placed one hand on Nemeth's forehead. "Oh, Nemeth. What have you done to yourself now?" he whispered. He winced as he opened up his Awareness, partly because of the pain of using too much Power in too few days, partly because of the pain he felt from Nemeth. Control could only be used by the conscious mind, and without it the pain was nasty.

– Can I help? asked Tarke, joining her Awareness in with Sherath's. She could feel the strength draining out of her in the instant before Sherath exerted Control to stop it happening.

– Sorry, he said.

"Sherath, you're a wreck," remarked Tarke. "You need to be a bit more careful with yourself."

Sherath laughed. "Tell me about it," he said. "Nemeth's okay. A couple of cracked ribs and a nasty bump on the head. I can fix that leg up when I get him back home."

"No way are you going to carry him," asserted Jevann.

"Okay. Moondust can," said Sherath, looking at the unicorn.

He stood up and took one step towards Moondust and Farinka. The unicorn threatened him gently with the horn, and then stood still, looking him in the eye.

– Big fella, you know I won't hurt her, said Sherath wearily. Moondust shook his head and sniffed gently at Farinka again. Sherath could feel the unicorn's own Awareness clearly.

– Yes. Okay; I understand. You're not scared of us hurting her; you're worried it might hurt us. Right?

Moondust blew out softly into Sherath's face. The other Children gathered round, at a safe distance. Lekki, Linka, Sharni and Taari were in a small frightened huddle together. Louka went over to them and hugged them, all at once.

Moondust sighed and returned his Awareness to Farinka. He dropped his head down and touched the tip of his horn to her head. There was a brief crackle of bluish light between skin and horn. The unicorn staggered for a moment, jerking his head away as if in pain, then touched her with the horn again.

The crackle had reduced to a tingle.

Tarke had a sudden moment of realisation. "You know what that is?" she said to Sherath.

"What?"

"It's the same as what happened to me just now, joining Awareness with you. But she's not conscious, so she can't Control it. From the way it affects Moondust, it would have killed you, as weak as you are right now."

Sherath nodded slowly and sat down again.

"He'll let me near as soon as he thinks it's safe," he said.

Behind him, Nemeth stirred. – Sherath?

– I'm here. Everyone's okay – I think.

– Tarke?

– I'm all right, Nemeth. Still out of breath, but all right.

– That was a hell of a run, Tarke, said Nemeth. Well done. There was a smile in his Voice. He sat up slowly. Tarke went to him and put one arm round his shoulders.

"Take it easy, Nemeth."

"Stop fussing; I'm fine," he retorted.

"Yes, sure you are," she said with a grin, ruffling his hair. "I felt your mind while you were out, sunshine; I know just how 'fine' you are."

"Nothing serious," he replied, feeling gingerly round his ribs. "I can walk home. How's Farinka?"

"Not conscious," Sherath answered. "Moondust's not letting anyone near yet."

Nemeth looked up sharply. "Like that, eh?"

"Yes. That was a lot of Power."

"You're telling me. Full-whack Elf-Power in all its splendour. I just caught it before I blacked out."

"Full-whack, certainly," said Tarke drily. "It nearly knocked us all out. Killed the boar stone dead. Which, by the way, means we've got our bacon after all. It will need bleeding at least before we take it home."

"Consider it done," murmured Jevann. "Louka?"

"Okay, I'm with you," she answered.

"Anything else spectacular?" asked Nemeth, his eyebrows up.

"Bit of earth tremor," commented Sherath with a grin.

"Sssheeeh! A bit Shithriesque," remarked Nemeth.

"Yes. Somewhat." Sherath caught Nemeth's eye. "But pretty magnificent stuff, nonetheless."

"How badly has she burnt out?" Nemeth asked.

"Ask me again when Moondust lets me near," replied Sherath, looking at the unicorn. – Big fella?

Moondust stepped back carefully. Sherath went over to Farinka, putting a hand on her shoulder. He opened up the Awareness slowly, shivering; also Aware of Tarke's and Nemeth's minds supporting him. He tried Controlling the Power drain, but was slapped down gently by Nemeth.

– I'm not in such a state I can't handle that, Brother!

– Okay. Thanks. I think she's okay, don't you?

– Pretty drained, noted Tarke. Much worse than you are.

– Moondust's taken the worst of it off, said Sherath. Can we bring her back out of this, between us? he met the others' eyes.

– We can try, Nemeth answered. Just call. She'll Hear pretty soon.

Coming out of the blackness was like swimming up from the bottom of a deep pool; full of swirling blues and greens and purples. She hit the surface shivering uncontrollably, aware of breathing, pulse and even blood pressure on a steady upward trend from next to nothing, topping out as she reached something approaching full consciousness. She found herself trying to sit up before her eyes would obey the command to open, and was instantly wrapped in someone's jacket.

"I'm thirsty," she said through chattering teeth.

Nemeth untied a hip-flask from his belt and handed it to her.

"Steady with that; it's quite strong," he warned.

She took a cautious mouthful, and opened her eyes. "It's nice. What is it?"

"Rose-hip brandy. Should stop the shivering, if not the thirst. Are you okay, Domina?"

"A bit woozy. And very wobbly. What happened?"

"It's called Power," said Sherath, for the second time that afternoon. "Specifically, it's called too much Power, too fast, through an untrained mind, and much too soon." He laughed and gave her a brief one-armed hug.

"Saved my skin, though," said Nemeth. "For which I thank you."

"Any time, little one." Farinka took another mouthful of the brandy.

"Who are you calling little?" asked Nemeth with a grin.

Farinka made as if to stand up, but was held back by both Nemeth and Sherath.

"Not yet," they warned, together.

"Why not? I'm all right."

"You might feel all right, but you're not," Tarke asserted crisply. "Wait until Louka and Jevann have dealt with that boar. And you little ones," she added, looking up at them, "go and collect together all the stuff you'd got before he interrupted you. Okay?"

"Okay," agreed Sienne brightly. "We've got some good stuff. A whole sack of beechnuts, two backpacks of beefsteak fungi and chanterelles, and one backpack of truffles." – And a heap more nuts to pick up, she added with a grin.

"It was probably the truffles that brought the boar along," Jekavi suggested. "They can smell them even through the earth, so uncovered they can probably smell them miles away. I'll help you. Come on." He held a hand out to Sienne, and they led the little ones away. There was a lot of excited chattering now that the fear was wearing off, with the smallest Children vying for Jekavi's attention, and Lekki and Linka doing cartwheels between the trees.

"Funny. It always takes them that way," mused Tarke.

"What do you mean, 'them'?" retorted Nemeth. "I can still do cartwheels."

"Nemeth was a nutcase when he was little," murmured Tarke to Farinka.

"Was? Still is," said Sherath. "Only a nutcase would slap a charging boar across the snout like that and expect to get away with it." He grinned at Nemeth.

"I had my reasons," said Nemeth softly.

"Can you still do cartwheels?" asked Farinka.

"Yup. And handsprings, and back flips, and somersaults," he affirmed. "But not with broken ribs. I suspect the others can still do them, too," he added, looking at Tarke and Sherath.

Sherath grinned. "Yes, actually."

"Me too," said Tarke.

"You're all mad," Farinka commented.

"It's fun," Nemeth responded.

"And useful at times," added Sherath.

"Like when?" asked Farinka.

"Like when a somersault takes you clear over the back of a charging cougar," said Sherath drily. "Yesterday, to be precise. Your average cougar doesn't expect that kind of escape mechanism; it tends to confuse them."

"I can see that it might," said Farinka with a chuckle. "You'd better have this brandy back before I finish it," she added to Nemeth.

"Thanks. I wouldn't mind some myself." He took a generous swig before stoppering it and retying it at his belt. "Better now? Warmer?"

"Yes. Still thirsty, though."

"It takes some people that way," Sherath observed. "What you need is plenty of tea and a decent meal, and a good night's sleep. Or several," he added as an afterthought. "And Nemeth needs a lot of comfrey. In a poultice round those ribs."

"And willow," added Nemeth, cautiously feeling the lump on his head. "It hurts."

"Nemeth also needs thorn-darting and some work doing on that leg," said Farinka to Sherath. "Fairly soon, too. In fact that bandage ought to be loosened for a couple of minutes."

"It will bleed like mad again," said Nemeth.

"It will also let some blood into your foot, where it's needed," answered Sherath, loosening the bandage and holding the pad in place gently with his other hand.

"How bad is it?" asked Nemeth.

Sherath lifted the pad. It took a couple of seconds before the blood spurted.

"Only a little artery," he noted. "I can burn that one shut. Won't need to be tied." He pressed the pad down again, and took off Nemeth's boot, checking his toes. "Toes are warming up. Give it another minute or two, then we'll tie it up again. You can ride Moondust home. You're not walking."

"Whatever you say," Nemeth acquiesced. "Will Moonwind carry Farinka?"

"She would," said Farinka, "but I could walk."

"No," retorted Sherath, Tarke and Nemeth in unison. Sherath reinforced it with unspoken Command on a very tight wavelength.

– You really don't need to use Command on me. And you shouldn't be using Power anyway, said Farinka.

***

"Definitely not a wasted day," observed Nemeth, sipping willow and comfrey tea and stretching his feet towards the fire. "The meat off that boar was well worth getting."

"Worth getting smashed up for too?" asked Farinka.

"This is nothing," said Nemeth. "I've caught it a lot worse than this before now. Mind you, I'm not going to be fit to travel for a week or so, at least, even if the packbeasts are co-operative."

"It'll take that long to salt and smoke the bacon," Louka remarked. "And we've got loads of lovely fat as well. We needed a really good kill like that."

– Are you okay, Domina? asked Nemeth. You're very quiet.

– I'm okay. Just very tired. I don't think I've ever felt so tired. I could sleep for a week.

– The next week can be as restful as you like. You can't travel if you're not fit. We can let the others do most of the work and lounge around watching them. It's only basically drying and packing things and sorting out travel kit.

– What sort of travel kit?

– Round tents. Sherath and I usually carry them, but there's no earthly reason why one of the beasts can't do it.

– We could do with a wagon really.

– On mountain trails? You're joking.

– I was thinking more about the plains.

"What are you two whispering about?" asked Tarke.

"Discussing the merits of a wagon on the plains," said Nemeth.

"It's a good idea," agreed Jevann.

"It would mean going south to Dakesht and trading something," Sherath said thoughtfully. "Which would mean being very careful. We couldn't take the little ones too close. Maybe three or four of us could go in. We might get away with it if we were insignificant enough."

"Trading what sort of thing?" asked Farinka.

"Hides, maybe," Louka replied. "Except that we'll need plenty ourselves."

"What about picking up another couple of packbeasts along the way, training them and then trading them?" asked Farinka.

"That's a very good idea, Farinka," affirmed Nemeth. "What do you think, Sherath?"

"We could play that game more than once," Sherath answered. "Pick up two or three beasts and train them between each town and the next. Child's play with two unicorns to help."

"That's rather what I was thinking," said Farinka. "And once we've got hold of a wagon we could train them all three ways – drive, pack and ride."

"You could barter for a lot of stuff with beasts that good," commented Jevann.

"I wouldn't want to go through any towns except on barter days," said Sherath.

"Why not?" asked Farinka.

"Two reasons. One, we're a lot less noticeable if the town's full of other traders; everyone's into trading rather than being suspicious of strangers – especially young-looking strangers; and two, the south plains towns are often not healthy places. There's a lot of overcrowding and a lot of disease in some of those places. Doesn't pay to sleep there if you can help it. Get in early, stay to trade, leave as soon as you can, and eat and drink only what you take with you – "

"– unless it's ale," said Nemeth. "Ale's pretty safe."

"Most things are, really," said Tarke. "You just avoid any cold meat and anything that's been cooked in their water and isn't scalding hot. Bread's okay – the heat you need to cook it kills the bugs. Fruit's okay. Anything that's fried is usually okay. Grain is fine to barter for. And cloth."

"I can't really remember the last time I wore something made of cloth," said Louka reflectively. "It would be nice to have something really pretty again."

"Yes," agreed Tarke, looking into the fire. "Do you remember that green satin that Rekkya had?"

"Yes. A long time ago, that was."

"Everything is," said Nemeth quietly. "I wonder how much of the stuff in the caverns is still useable."

There was silence from all the Children for a few minutes. Farinka could feel them remembering. She ran her Awareness lightly across the memories, subtly, as a whisper, and caught fleeting glimpses of beauty, of remembered Power, of faces long dead, of gold and silver and coloured stones, of dancing and of music and bright-coloured cloths; memories from when they were all very young, of things gone but never forgotten.

– The music is beautiful, she whispered to Sherath, aware of him watching her.

– All Elf-music is beautiful, he replied in a whisper. We are a very musical people, Domina. What about Elves on your own world? Are they not also musical?

– There are no Elves on my world, Sherath.

– And so what are you, then, Domina?

– An Elf, apparently, she said. But there are no Elves on my world. Only in stories.

– Myths, legends, folklore, he said.

– Yes.

– And are there unicorns in your legends as well?

– Yes. And dwarves, and ogres, and trolls and fairies and dragons and magic ... lots of things in folklore, Sherath.

– And to the men of this world, Elves and unicorns and dragons and magic only exist in folklore, Domina. Had you thought of that one? Are there also changelings in your world's folklore?

– What are you getting at, Sherath?

– Maybe only the fact that your world's Elves have no more idea of what they are than this world's Seekers, Domina.

– Are you suggesting that I'm an Elf on this world just because I really am an Elf and always have been?

– In a word, yes. Domina, we have always known since the beginning of time that Dominn made all worlds which contain Mankind in all its forms the same – all worlds that contain Men also contain Elves and Dwarves and the Little People, and wherever there are Elves there are unicorns, and wherever there are unicorns there is Power – or magic, if you'd rather call it that.