((I'm going to assume that Glitter and Carrie, if she's here, also jumped on Uni as the guards entered the stable. However, if you really want to stay behind and face six soldiers with orders to arrest you, go ahead and post a correction.))"Not good!" Cole said as the armed guards shouldered their way past each other, trying to get in the stables first and have the privilege of arresting these fleeing Outworlders. "Not good at all!"
"Let's hope this works," he heard Uni say as she stood her ground with fierce determination. "Now! Quickly!"
As Uni's horn began to glow, Cole reached out with the Stone and touched it to the tip of her horn as she had instructed. Instantly, the glow became so dazzling that the guards were momentarily stunned; then Cole experienced the strange feeling of the entire world sliding out from under him. It was almost as if the air around him had just turned inside-out. The very last impression Cole had was of one of the guards recovering from his temporary blindness; the man rushed them in slow-motion with his sword swinging, slicing through thin air where Cole knew his leg and Uni's flank should have been...
"Where...where'd they go?" asked a soldier who was only now beginning to blink the spots out of his eyes.
"They teleported! They were on that unicorn, you idiot!" answered another guard who had a little more rank. And a little more experience with the many creatures of the Realm. "Unicorns can't teleport more than a few dozen yards, 'specially with more than one rider. Spread out and search the grounds, they can't be too far." Under most circumstances, he would have been right.
* * * * *
"Where are we?" Cole asked when the world righted itself and deposited them neatly on a rutted, dirt road somewhere in a landscape dotted with a variety of trees that were nothing more than black shadows in the grey light of early dawn. Exhausted from using the Stone one too many times this night, he put it back in its pouch and felt himself sway unsteadily as Uni sniffed the air, her head sweeping back and forth as she noted the landmarks around them.
"We are about a mile and a half farther than I have ever teleported before," she said with a slight hint of surprise. "Macula is perhaps a twenty-minute ride from here. I don't think the guards will be able to find us." She broke into a trot, adjusting to the weight of her riders as she quickened her pace.
"Good, then they won't be sneaking up behind us," Cole said, trying unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn. He was bone-tired and it was a supreme effort just to keep his eyes open. "But there's a chance that there are more soldiers in Macula, since a lot of people knew Kayla was heading there. I'm sure the princess would have dispatched soldiers to find her. If they did, there might be trouble for us too." He stopped, collecting his thoughts with effort. "So, then Glitter, you're going to have to watch out to make sure we don't meet any guards coming the other way. Because I think I need to...take a...little nap..." So worn out that he really didn't mind sleeping while sitting on the back of a galloping unicorn, Cole's eyes refused to stay open a moment longer and he finally fell into a well-earned sleep.
