“It’s all right,” she whispered. “I’m all right now.”
She turned to Drom. “I wouldn’t have been if he hadn’t
shown up. I didn’t know what to think when he came
galloping down the corridor after me. Then he told me
who he was and that he was a friend of yours and you
were all here inside the mountain with him. That you were
fighting Jalwar-Zancresta.” She ran to the unicorn and,
putting her arms around his neck, hugged him gratefully.
Drom tolerated the attention briefly before stepping back
and pulling free. “I am glad to have been of assistance,
madame, but leave us not get carried away with our
emotions.”
“But I thought…” Folly looked hurt and Jon-Tom
hastened to reassure her.
“Drom’s not being unfriendly, Folly. He’s just being
himself. I’ll explain later.” He looked at the unicorn. “It
was a fine bit of rescue work, Drom.”
“1 try.” The unicorn searched the aisle. “Where is the
evil one? And the great feline? Did you defeat him during
my absence?”
“No.” Jon-Tom smiled at the mockingbird. “This is
Charrok. When Zancresta discovered that he couldn’t de-
feat me with his own magic, he tried to do it with another
spellsinger. Charrok and I conjured up quite a musical
storm before we came to the conclusion that harmony is
better than dissonance. As for Roseroar, she’s gone after
Zancresta.”
“I should pity the ferret, then.”
“That’s the truth, mate,” said Mudge. “That’s some
broad. If she were only a fourth ‘er size.”
“You have to learn to think big, Mudge.” Jon-Tom
became serious. “Zancresta’s as fast on his feet as he is