The Unicorn Tapestry from The Lost Expedition

In the opening chapter of The Lost Expedition, the final book in The Dream Rider Saga trilogy, the witch Morrigan returns to Castle Rushen, her childhood home on the Isle of Man, where she searches for and finds the Unicorn Tapestry, a lost and powerful artifact of the long dead White Coven of Ellan Vannin.

The tapestry I describe in the book is closely based on an actual tapestry that hangs in the very real Castle Rushen. The real one is not made of silk and is not in a hidden chamber, but it does contain all the other elements described in the book, all of which play a major role in the story and in Morrigan's journey: the emaciated unicorn and pale maiden at its centre, and the four creatures hiding in the corners—the bat, the rat, the fire drake, and the eel.

If you’re interested in seeing the tapestry in more detail, click on the photo shown here, which I took when I visited Castle Rushen in 2013 on a trip to the Isle of Man. Finding the tapestry on that visit gave me the idea to create the magical artifact for The Lost Expedition.