Enchanted in Time (Enchanted After Thirty #1)

Chapter 23

23

H annah awoke to a couple of gentle nudges. “Mmm... let me sleep, kids!”

“Shh!” This warning hush left her just as startled as the sound of the unicorn’s voice. It was Irmgard, not one of her kids, who was gently but firmly nudging her head with her muzzle. Hannah was not at home—no, she was in an enchanted forest to save the prince from the curse.

“What’s going on?” She opened her eyes, but she couldn’t see a thing. It was pitch black and the middle of the night. She heard rustling and snapping sounds. Something scurried across the forest floor nearby. The next moment, all was still again. “What was that?”

“Shh!” Irmgard whispered. She positioned herself in front of Hannah, who had sat up and was leaning against the trunk of the larch.

A deep, dark voice began to speak. “Don’t you miss your children? Emi, Leon, and Marco are having nightmares right at this very moment. They’re crying because you’re gone, and they’re afraid you’ll never come home.”

“Who’s there?” Hannah murmured.

“Shh!” Irmgard whispered again.

“But the voice?—”

“What voice?”

Hannah heard it speak again. “Your children feel abandoned. How could you be so selfish and go off without them? You should have stayed. Now they’re in danger of becoming orphans. Just what have you done?”

Her chest tightened at the sound of these words, and she trembled as she listened, spellbound, to the dark voice. It was expressing just what Hannah was thinking. It was expressing just what Hannah feared. How could she have left her little children all by themselves? How could she have been so selfish?

“I can help you. I can take you to them. You don’t need to remain here, lonely and all by yourself. I am with you. I am your friend! Come—come one step closer, and take my hand!”

Hannah could feel the goosebumps creeping down her spine. She hunched her shoulders and wrapped her arms around herself. The Evil! It was the Evil that was speaking to her! She had to stay strong, had to keep her resolve. She could not let it seduce her!

“Come with me,” the voice crooned. “Come, Hannah, come a few steps closer, and I will be right there. There’s no need to fear. I’ll take you to your children. Can you see them before you? Leon, with his big, round eyes. Emi, with those cute little dimples. And Marco, with his crooked smile. Just think how wonderful it will be to hold them in your arms. Just think how good it will feel. You and your children, together again at last. Come, Hannah, come closer, and take my hand. All you have to do is take three steps. There’s no need to remain here.”

Hannah clenched her teeth. Don’t let it lull you. Don’t believe the Evil. It wants to seduce you. It’s not going to take you to them. It wants to lure you away from the protection of the trees!

Something cold was approaching her from behind. Something eerie, though it also felt like a blanket that you yearned for, that you wanted to snuggle into—a place where you could forget all your troubles.

“Come with me, Hannah. Everything will be fine.”

It was so strong. It was so powerful. It was pulling her away from the larches.

“Irmgard...” Hannah whispered. It took so much strength to say the unicorn’s name that Hannah’s knees were about to give way. “It... is... behind... me.”

The unicorn neighed loudly and reared up. “Stay by the tree!” She thrust her hooves into the air and leapt into the darkness behind Hannah. “Clear out!” she neighed as her hooves came crashing down onto the ground with a thunderous noise. “Clear out!”

“Come with me. I will help you...”

“NO!” Hannah screamed as she desperately clung to herself, her only support. “I will not go with you!”

There was a sudden surge of wind. A powerful force was pulling her away from the larch, but she hugged the trunk and held on tight. The wind grew stronger and tugged at her hair as her dress flapped in the wind and her tattered skirt ballooned.

“Away with you!” Irmgard let out a mighty neigh and thrust her hooves once more at the darkness behind Hannah. “Away, I say! You will not get her soul!” She tensed her muscles. The magical power of the unicorns coursed through her being and made her shine brighter and brighter until the radiance reached beyond her and lit up the gloom. The shadows retreated.

“You can come to me anytime. All you have to do is summon me...”

Hannah heard the cajoling voice one final time before it was gone from her head. Nothing remained but an emptiness, a desolate feeling. More than ever before, she longed for her children. More than ever before, she blamed herself for not being there, for not protecting them. She slumped down onto the ground and hugged herself tightly.

Hannah wasn’t able to get any more sleep before daybreak came. Irmgard had settled down on the ground between the larches so that Hannah could nestle against her, and together they had watched the gloomy stillness in silence.

The Evil did not return. But the thought that it had been there to take her soul still sent a chill down Hannah’s spine.

“Am I so weak and desperate that it tried to seduce me?”

“No, dear Hannah, you’re not. You just proved that you have strength and hope! If not, you wouldn’t have been able to resist.”

“Will the Evil visit Maximilian as well? Or maybe it’s already done that by now?”

“No. I don’t think so. With his soul, the Evil would have gained so much power that I would have felt it.”

Hopefully, Irmgard was right.

“But look,” Irmgard continued, “the sun is coming up back there, and along with its rays, the light will return. Let’s set out at once.”

Hannah climbed up onto Irmgard’s back. “It’s easier to spot the dark in the light!” she said.

Irmgard neighed excitedly and swished her tail wildly back and forth. “I’ll have to remember that! You and your wise sayings. Fabulous!”

Hannah smiled and stroked the mythical creature’s neck.

The enchanted forest was bathed in a golden-orange light that softened some of its menacing quality. Hannah and Irmgard galloped toward the rising sun in search of the entrance to the absolute darkness, to the utter nothingness where the lost soul was being held captive.

They had been underway the entire morning without meeting a single soul. Irmgard seemed to keep the Evil away—or at least the creatures whom the Evil had lured to the forest. They stopped at a spring to refresh themselves.

“But once we find the entrance, how do we free the soul?” Hannah asked, having quenched her thirst and washed her face and arms. She was having painful hunger pangs, but she ignored them. “Any ideas?”

Irmgard snorted and shook her mane. “Mirabelle’s mother made an agreement. And it holds for all time. But there must be a way to stop the Evil and free the soul.”

Hannah shook her hands to dry them. “Do we have to defeat the Evil? To destroy it in order to set her free?”

“No, we can’t. Evil exists, to the same extent that good does. You can’t destroy either one. But we can rob the Evil of its power. We have to choose the good, and in that way, we take away the support that the Evil has—its reserves. But how do we manage to do that?”

“So we need to weaken the Evil to free the soul, and by freeing the soul, we weaken the Evil...”

Irmgard’s steel-blue eyes were shining. “Brilliantly formulated, dear Hannah! Brilliant! I can already hear the other unicorns debating.”

“Is there someone we could ask? Maybe...” She hesitated.

“Hm?” Irmgard looked at Hannah questioningly as she climbed up onto her back. “Did you have a good idea?”

“Maybe we could ask the unicorns from your herd. If, as you say, you’re the wisest creatures, then I’m sure they can tell us how to defeat the Evil and free the soul!”

Irmgard snorted and was silent for a moment. Even her tail was still.

Should she not have brought it up? Hannah wondered. “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I just think we should try everything. If you have another idea, then?—”

“No, I don’t. All right then. Let’s go see those ignorant steeds with their noses in the air. I’m curious to see how far they get with their wisdom.” She raised her head and galloped off toward the east.

Hannah leaned forward and held on tight to Irmgard’s mane to keep from falling off. “Do you know where to find them?” she asked. “Where your herd stays?”

“Of course. I may have left them, but I can always find my way back.” She dug in her hooves to propel herself off the ground and practically flew through the forest at breakneck speed. Was she rushing to get the visit over with as quickly as possible? Or because, deep down inside, Irmgard was looking forward to seeing her herd again?

Hannah was beyond excited. She was about to meet a herd of unicorns. How amazing! In joyful anticipation, her heart beat faster and faster as they made their way to Irmgard’s herd.