Chapter 20, The Death of the Beasts Summary

The Dreamreader awakens to snow. He walks through the town and talks to the Gatekeeper who shows him the bodies of several frozen unicorns who have died overnight. Later in the day the Dreamreader returns home and talks to the Colonel who explains that the dead unicorns are burned except for their skulls which are extracted and processed into old dreams; only the Dreamreader can discover their meanings.

Chapter 20, The Death of the Beasts Analysis

The several thousand unicorn skulls housed in the library make it obvious that the unicorns' lifespan is not guaranteed and that many must die from exposure every year. The Colonel disinterestedly notes that the unicorns die because that's just the way things work.