Rainbow Brite's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

The unicorn cleared the cut line at a gallop, and the flat ground rolled out under its hooves in every direction. Rainbow Brite looked back once. The trail behind them glowed in short bright dashes on the grey, a broken stripe pointing straight at her from the ridge. Anyone standing on high ground would see it. Whoever had taken the four royals would see it. She leaned close to the unicorn's neck. "They can follow this," she said. "We have to kill the light before we reach the edge." The unicorn's ear flicked back. It did not slow. She thought it through as they ran. The trail came from the hooves striking colorless ground. If the ground were not colorless, the hooves would leave nothing. She could not restore the whole waste — she had proved that at dawn — but she could restore a narrow band, one hoof-width wide, under a running animal, if the animal ran fast enough that she only had to hold each step for an instant. She sat up and pressed both palms flat to the unicorn's shoulders. "Faster," she said. "Straight line. Don't turn." The unicorn stretched out. Rainbow Brite pushed color down through her hands into its body and out through its legs. The next hoofprint bloomed green and stayed green. The one after held. Behind them the broken stripe closed into a solid ribbon of grass, thin as a footpath, running clean from the ridge to the horizon. It did not fade. It did not mark her. It looked like something that had always been there. The cost hit her in the ribs. Her breath went short. Her arms shook against the unicorn's coat. She counted the miles by the burn in her chest and did not lift her hands. When the eastern edge rose ahead as a low grey rim, she let go and slumped forward. The unicorn slowed to a walk. Behind them lay a narrow green road no watcher would read as a trail. Ahead lay the edge, and whatever had taken the royal she had argued with. She had bought her approach. She had spent something to buy it, and she could feel the account inside her running lower than it had that morning.