Chapter 8

Chapter eight Count Thornberry aimed his weather machine at the group and pressed a grey button. "No!" Shimmer whinnied in alarm. Aisha gasped, convinced they were about to be frozen, but instead a tornado spiralled out of the machine and swept towards them, getting bigger by the second. "Run!" cried Zara. But before they could try and escape, the freezing wind had swept them up. Aisha felt like a marble being catapulted down a twisty tube. Several breathless minutes later the wind started to slow. Aisha felt Silver nudge her urgently. "Aisha! Hold my mane!" he whispered. She grabbed hold just as the wind died and they dropped to the ground. Aisha's legs wobbled as she clambered to her feet, still hanging on to Silver's mane. She saw they were at the end of a tunnel outside a cave that had a door made of metal bars. Green glowing icicles hung from the ceiling, providing the only light. The count was facing them. Aisha smelled a whiff of burnt sugar and was suddenly sure that Silver was using his magic. He started to back slowly away from the others. Aisha moved silently beside him. She wished she knew what he was planning but she trusted him completely. She could feel Silver breathing heavily. Doing magic took a lot of effort when unicorns first discovered their powers. She rubbed

Silver's neck, silently sending him her love and support. Silver nuzzled her gratefully. "Get inside," said the count, waving his device. "No, wait!" He took a step forward. "There were eight of you. Now there are only six. Where's the energy unicorn and his partner? What have you done with them?" Aisha held her breath as she saw the others look around and realise the count was right. Please let them work out what we've just done, she prayed. Phoebe suddenly stomped forward, looking outraged. "What have we done with them?" she cried. "First you kidnapped us from our school and now you've brought us down to this dump, losing our best friend and her unicorn on the way. It's not what we've done with them, it's what you've done!" "Your magic machine must have left them behind!" Zara shouted, joining in. "Pah!" the count spat. "Get in that cave and I'll go and fetch them!" They filed inside. The count slammed the metal door shut and turned a key in the lock, then he marched away, his black cloak rippling behind him. As his footsteps grew fainter, Silver let out a sigh. "Phew! I wasn't going to be able to keep us invisible for much longer!" He leaned against the icy wall, panting for breath. "You were brilliant." Aisha kissed his neck. She searched in her pocket and found a few remaining sky berries from earlier. "It's not much, but these might help." Sky berries gave unicorns strength and helped to replenish their magic. Silver gobbled them up gratefully. "Aisha! Is that you and Silver out there?" Zara hissed through the door. "Yes! Silver used his magic to trick the count," said Aisha, hurrying to the bars. "Ha!" said Phoebe. "The count's not as smart as he thinks!" "Definitely not. He left the key in the door," said Aisha. The lock was stiff, and it took both hands to turn the huge key but, finally, there was a click and the door swung open. The others raced out, apart from Moonbeam, who was swaying on the spot. "Beware the falling ceiling… Watch for the spears of ice… Take the left turn…" A grating noise rent through the air. Glancing up, Aisha saw a crack run

across the ceiling. "Maybe he is quite clever!" she gasped. "I think the cave might have a spell on it and it's just noticed you've gone!" "Moonbeam!" cried Zara. Moonbeam jerked out of her vision. She cantered out. Zara leapt on to her back. "Gallop!" she shrieked. "Before the roof comes down!" The walls began to shake as the crack spread along the ceiling of the tunnel. The unicorns hurtled along the icy passageway, the girls clinging on desperately as the crack snaked after them. The glowing icicles smashed down one by one as the crack passed them. The unicorns raced by a brightly lit lab in an enormous cavern. It must be where the count ran his experiments! But they couldn't stop. They had to get out! The crack was outpacing them now. Aisha shrieked as one of the icicles fell right at Silver's hooves.

该页暂无翻译

The tunnel began to widen. Aisha glimpsed two tunnels ahead, one leading to the left and one to the right. The one to the right had extra-long icicles hanging from the ceiling and there was a frozen bear in the entrance. "That's the way out!" she shouted. But as she spoke, the crack in the ceiling finally overtook them. Moonbeam pulled up suddenly and the other unicorns almost crashed into her, their hooves skidding across the ice. "Turn back, NOW! That cave was in my vision!" whinnied Moonbeam. She swung round, forcing everyone away from the tunnel. "Back! Back!" Just as they retreated there was a colossal whump and the icicles hanging from the ceiling of the tunnel all fell like deadly spears. Phoebe's face was whiter than the ice. "That was close! Imagine if we'd been in there!" "I think you just saved our lives, Moonbeam," said Feather shakily. "We've got to find another way out," said Zara. "Moonbeam, you said turn left when you were having your last vision," Lily said. She pointed to the left-hand tunnel. "Let's go left." They set off again. "Faster, Moonbeam!" urged Zara. They galloped along the twisty tunnel, the unicorns' hooves slipping and sliding. "Crevasse ahead!" Zara yelled over her shoulder, as they approached a gaping crack in the ground. Moonbeam leapt into the air and cleared it. Aisha caught her breath as Silver leapt too. For a terrifying moment, the crevasse stretched beneath them, a black void, but then Silver landed safely on the other side. Fresh air blasted Aisha as they followed Zara around a bend. Daylight streamed in from a wide opening. A few steps later and they were galloping out on to the glacier with its snow-covered cliffs on either side. Phoebe whooped. "We made it! We escaped!" Looking higher up the glacier, Aisha saw the frozen sabre-tooth polar bear at the entrance to the cave where they had met Count Thornberry. She flung her arms round Silver and hugged him tight. "Silver, you're amazing! I was terrified when you said you were Shimmer. But you were so brave. Your idea of turning invisible to help everyone escape was genius, and–" A shudder ran through he– "I was so scared, I thought the count was going to do something horrible to you."

Silver nuzzled her. "I felt just the same when I thought he might turn you into ice. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you." Aisha buried her face in his mane. Suddenly she realised that though her music was important, nothing in the world mattered as much as Silver did. "Oh, Silver, I'm so sorry. I didn't listen when you wanted to talk about how worried you were that Moonbeam had seen you vanish. I promise I'll always listen in the future. You're the most important thing in the world to me." "More important than music?" asked Silver shyly. "Even more important than that," said Aisha. Silver snorted happily. "And I'm sorry that I worried you. I can be impulsive at times. In future, I'll try to tell you what I'm planning before I do it." Anxiously, Zara looked around. "Hey, guys, we need to get a move on. Let's try and follow the glacier down—" She broke off as a low rumbling filled the air. As the noise grew louder, a familiar voice echoed across the glacier. "You will never escape me! Never!" The rumbling became a roar. Aisha stared in disbelief as the top of the mountain seemed to slide closer. Blinking, she realised a gigantic wall of snow was falling from the top, straight towards them. "Avalanche!" she shrieked.