Waypoint of the Glass Unicorn

Chapter 73 A Question of Ethics

Morning came and I realized I’d slept better than I had in a long time. It was due to Otsiano and Master Ashelainn being with us. They provided a sense of protection that was more comforting than anything else I’d experienced since I arrived in the game.

The morning was pleasant, a welcome change from being in the Mountains of Kartell.

The sun was rising over the woodland as the drone of early morning insects hummed through the clearing.

Birds sang out their morning songs, and the air brushed past in the faintest of breezes, wafting the scent of the forest with its flowers and moss through the clearing where we had made our beds.

Thornhold broke the remainder of the bread into equal pieces, though Otsiano and Master Ashelainn refused. I sliced cheese from the remainder of the wheel and handed it out, and we ate more of the bilfa berries with our breakfast as we discussed our plans.

“Where do we go from here?” I asked. “Should we even find the Summer Queen first?”

“We don’t know what she’ll do,” Thornhold said. “Rheyna may have imprisoned her sister, but that doesn’t mean she’ll take kindly to us killing Devastey. Otherwise, she would have probably killed her when she had the chance, instead of imprisoning her.”

Otsiano, who had been listening in, nodded. “Now you’re thinking like adventurers. I wish I could go in with you, but I can’t. There are rules to this world, and it prevents too much deus ex machina. I can help you, but I can’t fight your battles for you.”

“How does the key work? Surely there isn’t just a door we open to enter Devastey’s prison?” Brynn asked.

“Actually…not a door, but a touchstone. There is a keyhole in the stone that, once you insert the key, you will shift over to inside the prison. Then, once Devastey is destroyed, the bubble vanishes and you will be back in this world,” Master Ashelainn said.

“You mean, if we can’t destroy her, we’re trapped there with her?” I asked. I didn’t want to think about that possibility, but we had to account for it.

“Yes, actually. But while she’s in stasis, you will have one major advantage. Well, everyone except Ray and Reggie,” Otsiano said.

“What’s that?” I asked, welcoming any potential advantage that we might gain.

“She can’t use her magic. Remember? Her sister imprisoned her away from the world in an anti-magic prison,” Otsiano said.

I froze. “Wait a minute! I don’t remember anybody telling me that Devastey can’t use her magic.”

“I thought I did,” Otsiano said. “But no matter—that’s why Zaran is in such a hurry to find her before you do.

He knows she’s essentially helpless, other than being able to fight physically.

She’s strong, but…against all of you. You just have to reach her before he does, because if he can get there first, he’ll be waiting to stop you. ”

I nodded, understanding his fear. The woman he loved—and wanted to rule the world with—was a sitting duck for anybody with the key. Of course, he was going to go to any lengths to protect her.

“Okay, so if we find her first…” my words trailed off. “She’s unarmed. She won’t be able to fight.” I didn’t say so, but that didn’t sit well with me. It felt like shooting fish in a barrel. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who was thinking about that.

“She can’t fight back?” Thornhold said. “I’m not one to look a gift unicorn in the mouth, but that doesn’t seem fair.”

“Life isn’t inherently fair,” Master Ashelainn said. “Life wasn’t fair for the hundreds of people Devastey has already killed.”

I looked at the others, unsure what to say or do. I recognized that she was a mass-murderer and probably a loony-tune to boot, but…

“Leaders have to make hard decisions at times,” Otsiano said.

“I’m not a leader,” I muttered.

“But you are. You’re the leader of your group.

And unless you destroy Devastey, that key will remain glued around your neck, and your own life will most surely be forfeit.

If it’s not Zaran who kills you for it, it will be someone else.

Either someone looking to destroy Devastey, or someone looking to free her.

Neither side will hesitate to act against you. ”

Crap. I didn’t want to think about it, but I had to. I finished my breakfast. “I need to think for a few moments—alone.” I wandered away from the group toward the stream.

What was I going to do? Otsiano was right.

Devastey was a murderer; she had no regard for anyone else.

Her lover was on my tail. It begged the question: if I were asked to push the button on Bundy or the Green River Killer, would I do it?

Because if Zaran got hold of the key, he’d free her the moment he got the chance, and the pair would gather their armies again and spread across the land, and they wouldn’t hesitate to add to their toll.

And then, was I willing to give up my own life? Because Zaran would kill me for the key. Even if we managed to destroy him, Otsiano was right. Someone else would come after me, and I knew very well that they wouldn’t hesitate.

Down by the stream, I crouched, resting my hands on my knees as I watched the water flow past. If only I could just flow with it, down to the ocean. The sound of rushing whitecaps over the rocks soothed me, but I still didn’t know what to do.

“You’re feeling caught in the crossfire,” the Glass Unicorn said. He had come up behind me and now he sprawled on the ground beside me. He looked so delicate, so fragile, and yet I had the feeling that he could hold his own with no problem.

“Are you really made of glass?” I asked.

“Feel my side,” he said.

Hesitantly, I ran my hand over his flank. He might be translucent, but he felt warm and alive under my fingers. “You’re so beautiful,” I said. “You don’t feel like glass.”

“So many things aren’t what they seem,” he said. “You’re struggling with a moral quandary,” he added.

“I am. Every fiber in my being screams that I can’t just kill an unarmed woman, but I know what she is—I know what she’s done, and what she’s capable of doing.

How can I let that go on?” I stared into the unicorn’s eyes and felt lost within them, as though I were in a vast ocean, being washed from side to side by the waves.

“You know what you must do,” he said.

And I did. I didn’t want to voice it, because I didn’t like what it made me. “We have to destroy her, and we have to do it before Zaran reaches her prison. I can’t let countless others fall because of her.”

“You mean die because of her,” Master Ashelainn said. “Use the words. Don’t pretty it up.”

“Right. Because she kills—and she seems to revel in it. So, we find her and take her out before Zaran gets there.” I paused, then asked, “Will he come after me? Because of this?”

“I expect so, but I imagine he’ll give it some time. Devastey and Zaran share power, and when she dies, it will weaken him as well.”

I licked my lips. “Then, if we can find him next before he regains his strength, the world will be better off.”

“You begin to understand your destiny,” Ashelainn said. “You should go now. The sooner this is over, the better.”

Feeling resigned, but sure, I turned back to the others. “We’ll go get her. Otsiano, if you could point us in the right direction?”

“We’ll accompany you to the Waypoint, and from there, it’s a bit of a hike, but not easy to miss,” Otsiano said. “You’ve made up your mind,” he added.

I nodded. “We’re off to find Devastey. It’s the only sane choice.”

And with that, we gathered up our gear and headed back to the road.