The trees formed a spiderweb of branches. Even though it was winter, the undergrowth pressed in and smothered the already gray light. A narrow track led from the gate and Isaac feared it was an animal trail, not a proper path. But it was the only way in.

He thought he should be dropping pebbles or bread crumbs to mark the way out. But if he turned around now, he’d never make it back to Craig Village before nightfall.

Be wary of the deepest dark.

Don’t be caught in the forest after dark.

Nobody goes to Rookskill, ’less they be strange.

Isaac sped up, moving as quickly as he could, brushing branches aside with every step.

The trees closed in and he moved faster, branches thwacking him in the face, stinging his cheeks, and roots tripped him up so that he stumbled, nearly falling. The air was thick with moisture, and he shivered with damp cold. He was almost at a full-on run when movement ahead caught his eye.

A cloud seemed to be floating above the bracken, through the dim, a cloud as white as snow.

Isaac stood still, waiting, panting to catch his breath. His exhale made a faint fog in the damp air.

The cloud was iridescent in the gloom and nearly as long as he was tall. And then he realized it wasn’t a cloud. He could make out a curve as of the back of an animal, and a strange thought jumped into his mind.

“A unicorn,” he whispered aloud in his own language. A flurry of excitement ran through him.

He saw the crest of the neck as the animal grazed, its long, rippling mane. It moved slowly through the brown tree trunks and bare shrubs. Isaac held his breath, straining to see the unicorn’s horn.

Disappointment surged through him when the animal raised its head. There was no horn. It was a horse. Just a pure white horse, grazing in the woods. It moved off and disappeared.

Isaac felt foolish. How ridiculous! A unicorn. What was he thinking? All the peculiar things that had happened to him since the day he left Prague were getting to him.

The trail led him to his left and widened, and he figured that if he’d seen a horse he probably wasn’t far from the castle. Which was good because he could tell that even though the sun was hidden by low clouds, it was close to setting, the gray shadows growing deeper.

He pressed on, then stopped again.

Something else moved through the brush directly toward him, cracking twigs, crushing leaves, brushing past dry bracken.

Isaac froze and braced.

All around him, in a circle, enveloping him.

Dogs.