4

Waking up surprised me. I thought I would never wake up again.

Hey! I'm still alive!

Bravo brain. 

My vision was still blurred with sleep. All I could tell was that It was no longer night time. There was green, brown, and blue swirling around me accompanied by the sound of quiet voices, some I knew and others I didn't. I groaned and rubbed my eyes. Bad Idea. My hands were filthy. All I managed to do was get dirt in my eyes. 

I blinked until my sight was back to normal. Suddenly a face was right in front of me yelling "YOU'RE ALIVE!!"

I inhaled violently and choked on my spit.

"Well done Emma." Said Shadow from somewhere behind me, "Now you've killed her." 

There was laughter in the same general direction from where shadow's voice had come from. I sat up from the heap of blankets I had been laying on and turned around.

There were four kids sitting around a small campfire, laughing at the girl, Emma. She laughed, embarrassed. 

"Sorry I scared you." She apologized. I recognized her from the night before, the slingshot girl.

" s'all right." I said once I could breathe again. 

Sophie stood up from the group and helped me up, pulling me towards the fire.

"Everyone, this is Cricket. Cricket, the girl who nearly killed you is Emma," she pointed to Emma "that over there is Alder," she pointed to a fairly tall boy with short brown hair poking the fire with a long stick. "That is Theo," she pointed at a kid with short curly blonde hair and large round glasses. He waved at me with a friendly smile.  "You already know Shadow and this..." she gently turned me around to face the opposite side of the clearing. I Gasped in shock.

"This, is Jasymuri."

*********

You'd think that nothing would surprise me after the manticore experience, but you would be wrong.

Jasymuri was the most magnificent creature I had ever seen. His coat was so white it almost seemed to be glowing. His horn was long and spindly, the color of the inside of seashells. His mane seemed more like fluid than hair, same with his tail. 

He was ineffable.

"Hello Cricket." He said nodding his head.

I nodded back slowly.

"Are you real?" I heard my voice ask.

I can't believe You just said that. 

Neither could I.

By the way, you owe me a dollar.

Go away brain. You aren't helping.

Sorry.

You aren't sorry at all Are you!

Nope.

My argument was interrupted by Jasymuri walking to me, lowering his head, and pushing his nose under my hand, lifting it up. It was warm and soft. I petted him carefully, as if putting too much pressure on his nose might make him vanish. He pushed against my hand firmly and gazed into my eyes.

"Cricket, Before we go on, I have to ask a favor."

"What?" I asked, still in a daze.

He paused before continuing.

"I would like to enter your mind through magic, and make sure I can trust you."

"NO!"

I jolted out of my awestruck stupor and jumped away from the unicorn, Alarmed. I surprised myself with the force behind the word, "NO!" there was no way, no how, that I would let anyone, not even a unicorn, get into my head. there were memories in there, one memory in particular--

"NO!" I said it again, both to prove my point and to stop me from even thinking about that particular memory. I was too late, already images of white foam swirled with choking darkness. An Icy torrent pulling down, then pulling up.  a small gasp of air and water, mostly water. the sensation of not being able to breathe, and the sight of Peregrin--

Oh Peregrin. Poor Peregrin.

"CRICKET! STOP IT!!"

I opened my eyes at the sound of Emma's alarmed cry. I gasped and choked on water. 

There was a huge bubble of water around me.

And I was drowning.

Again.