Last of the Unicorns

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Onyxwolf
Onyxwolf
214 Followers

The old mare's legs buckled where she stood and she hit the ground dead. Alorna stepped away quickly and watched as Josana's body decayed and turned to a puddle of magic which seeped back into the earth leaving no trace.

"Be at peace, Josana."

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Gavin hiked into the forest one brutally hot afternoon several weeks later intent on resting in a shaded place near the lake in the hills. He had often traveled to the lake against his parents' wishes and decided that the solitude of the forest and the coolness of the lake would do him good. The woods on this side of the river were cursed as far as the villagers were concerned and they avoided them at all cost. Even the rode they had used when returning from service to the king was not often used as it required one to travel through the forest.

Gavin reached the deep blue lake shortly after noon. He set down the basket of food he had brought and settled to eat a bit before his swim. The lake was like a big black mirror when it was dark out, even in the full sun today it appeared to be a deep navy blue and it always stayed flat as a well polished piece of stone. Barely a ripple ever disturbed the surface of this lake. Gavin looked out over the flat surface and felt a quiet peace settle over him.

After he finished eating Gavin stood and stripped down leaving his clothes in a pile under the shade tree with the basket. He waded into the cold water a distance then dove under the flat surface to swim out into the center of the lake. He made a few laps in the water then turned on his back and floated in the chill water, staring up into the blue sky as he let his thoughts wander.

It was his training as a warrior that alerted him to someone walking on the bank he had just left. He could hear the crushing of the vegetation behind him and remained still as he waited to see if whoever it was hailed him. The silence descended again and no hail was called, whoever it was was watching him from the shade tree. Gavin held back and oath and slowly righted himself in the water and turned to look.

He froze where he was and stared. The dappled gray hide of the unicorn blended her in well under the shade tree but he could see her. She was sniffing his basket of food and then moved on to nose through his clothing left under the tree on the bank. Gavin remained still as he watched her, the mare's long legs moved slowly and gracefully as she walked around the place he had eaten his lunch and inspected his things. The lion like tail twitched just like that of a curious cat when excited or intrigued by a new object. The mare did not appear to have realized he was in the lake.

Gavin moved very slowly in the water, keeping his eyes on the beast as he moved toward shore. He could not recall ever seeing an animal as beautiful as this creature and he could not understand how his great grandfather had ever managed to kill one of her kind. He was about twenty feet from the shore now and he felt the bottom finally under his feet, he began to walk through the water slowly. He had reached about ten feet from the shore and another six feet from the unicorn when she finally turned and looked at him.

He was standing naked in the water, the water only up to mid thigh where he was so close to shore. Alorna looked at this man who had entered her forest not once but twice and invaded her privacy and comfort. His body was corded in muscle and devoid of fat, he had broad shoulders and a tapered waist, powerful thighs and strong arms. His muscle was bronzed from hours in the sun and his skin was covered in scars from battles fought. She scented the air and caught his musky human scent, thick with vitality and devoid of fear. Her eyes wandered downward and she inspected the sex that hung between his legs, while it was not up to the standards of a unicorn stallion she supposed from the proportion of it to his body that he was a well endowed human.

Gavin watched the unicorn appraise him and wondered what would happen next. He got his answer when he saw the mare snort and her eye whites roll in an equine show of fear or anger. The pitching back of her ears told him anger was the emotion of choice as she reared and charged at him with the look of murder in her eyes. Gavin leapt to the side to avoid being crushed under the charging equine, he pitched over and regained his feet in the water as quickly as possible.

The unicorn was thrashing in the water barely two feet from where he had stood. The mare's hooves thrashed the surface wildly and her horn slashed through the water, she reared repeatedly slashing down into the water the look of murder never leaving her eyes. After several minutes she stopped and backed out of the water slowly. Blood ran down her shoulder and her ears were still pitched back. On the surface of the lake a huge serpent floated, its skull crushed and its body slashed to ribbons, blood spread through the water of the lake and the body began to sink into the depths. The unicorn had just saved his life. Gavin looked at the mare in shock.

Alorna stumbled as she pulled herself out of the lake. Stupid stupid move! She scolded herself mentally. The venom of the water serpent was coursing through her veins and she could feel the lethargy tugging at her senses. This was not good. She staggered several feet before she collapsed.

Gavin rushed out of the water and knelt beside the fallen unicorn. Her breathing was hard and her eyes were open but she was glassy eyed and shaking. He slowly reached out and parted the wet blood streaked fur of her shoulder to see the puncture wounds she bore. The water serpents were quite deadly, it was said they were descended from dragons and that their venom could kill a man in a heartbeat. Gavin looked at the unicorn on the ground in front of him, could she survive the bite?

"Shit." Gavin dashed over to his clothes and yanked on his pants. He pulled the knife he'd used to cut cheese earlier out of the basket and went back to the mare. She was shaking and her eyes were rolling white, her skin was soaked in sweat and she thrashed as she attempted to stand.

"Whoa, whoa." Gavin soothed with his voice and laid his hands on her neck. "Easy girl, you'll do yourself more damage. I don't intend to hurt you, you save my life, I owe you."

Alorna tried to shake off the fog in her brain, the human was speaking to her she thought. He had a knife she realized and thrashed anew. His hands were strong and gentle as he put pressure on her and talked in soothing tones. She stilled and looked at him, unsure of his plans. The serpents bite wouldn't kill her, but if she laid out here unprotected until she recovered something would. Alorna watched as the man strode off to the trees and disappeared for several moments. He came back chewing something in his mouth. Oh great a snack break! She rolled her eyes and felt her brain slip into foggier depths.

Gavin knelt beside the unicorn and took the knife out. He held her nose away from him as he cut the skin and flesh around the punctures. The unicorn screamed and jerked as she tried to stand and Gavin had to hold her down with all his force until she settled again. Her eyes were clearer and angry as she looked at him and tried to gouge him with her horn. He held her head carefully to avoid the sharp pointed horn and dabbed the blood away from the opened wounds. Gavin spit the wad of plant chewings into his hand and spit a few more times into the grass for good measure. He split the material into two wads and pressed it into the opened puncture wounds, filling the cuts in her skin he'd made.

Alorna felt the sting and burn of the chewed plants on her shoulder and whickered hoarsely. Slowly the pain faded and she felt numbness set in and coolness spread from there. She turned her head and sniffed the mixture scenting several medicinal herbs that she would eat for a case of plant poisoning, swelling of the joints or flesh, and a few others she didn't recognize immediately. Medicinal all of them, he was helping her. The human sat beside her, crossing his legs as he watched cautiously to make sure she wouldn't try to gore him again.

Alorna sighed softly and looked at the human, not all evil perhaps after all. She felt lethargy and unconsciousness tugging at her brain. Alorna laid her head across the man's lap and fell into darkness.

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Nightfall came. Gavin stroked the soft neck of the beautiful unicorn who slept in his lap. She had been unconscious for hours and he was not sure when or if the great animal would get up again. The serpent would have killed him for sure and yet this elusive animal who had avoided humans for years had risked its life to save his. Gavin wondered what could have possessed the unicorn to save a human; humans were not kind to her kind or many others. Unicorns were prized for their horns and many a king had ordered the hunting down of these animals to have those precious horns harvested. His own great grandfather had slain a unicorn across the river from here to secure favors from the king. This mare had an air of sadness about her; perhaps she was alone in this forest.

Alorna felt her neck being stroked as she struggled back to the conscious world. Her eyes opened slowly and not without protest and she looked up to see that human sitting over her. She still had her head across his lap and he was there, still clothed in only his breeches and still guarding her. Alorna raised her head slowly and turned her face to his, at eye level with him for once. He looked glad and relieved.

"I'm glad you are ok. It would have been very unfortunate for you to die for my sake." He smiled at her.

Alorna snorted and gathered her legs under her, she stood and shook herself thoroughly feeling the chewed plants fall from her shoulder. She turned her head and brushed the wound with her horn, a golden glow covered the skin and it healing the open wounds to two thin parallel scars.

"Amazing." Gavin whispered.

The poison had run its course and her body had beaten it back. Any other animal would be dead right now; it was only Alorna's magic that had saved her. She faced the human once more. She snorted and turned leaping into a gallop as she dashed off across the meadow and back into the forest.

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Gavin made it back to the castle an hour later. He told them all he had fallen asleep under a shade tree and just awoken. The evening meal was routine and the progress on the renovation and repair of the castle was discussed at length. There were several more large projects, including building a new outer gate to the castle walls which would require a great deal of hard wood. Gavin decided to put that off for awhile in favor of working on more masonry, thatching, and less intensive carpentry around the castle and the town.

Gavin laid awake for many hours that night thinking about the unicorn. Why had she risked her life to save his? He had been an intruder in her forest and had been bathing in her lake and yet she had put her life on the line to prevent his death. Gavin stared at the ceiling for hours before he finally succumbed to sleep.

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The moon hung full and ripe in the sky. Alorna walked through the forest alone. Her thoughts were scattered and uncertain and her mood was dour. It had been a week since she had saved the life of the human but she still did not understand the compulsion that had driven her to do it. She fought with herself even as she walked through the forest to the very edge of the road of men. She looked up and down the road seeking her destination out. She saw the aged oak tree at the bend of the road and made her way to its base.

"Grandfather Oak." She called to the tree. "Alorna of the Graymoon seeks your counsel and your help."

"Speak Alorna of the Graymoon." The oak rustled in the wind.

"Oh Grandfather Oak, I ask your help in performing the Sealing ceremony this night. I am the last of my kind in this world and I must go forth to procreate among those not of my kind. I ask your help to Seal me and keep me safe until I return."

"You ask much young one. The pain of Sealing is great and the vows it entails last even beyond death."

"I know Grandfather Oak. I offer to take the pain that would be yours and to return as quickly as I can to remove those vows."

"I will consent Alorna of the Graymoon. I will perform the Sealing ceremony with you."

"Thank you Grandfather Oak." Alorna whispered.

Alorna retreated a hundred yards from the oak tree. She stood and waited until she was ready to finish the task she had begun. Alorna reared onto her hind legs and leapt straight into a gallop, she stretched herself for speed and aimed her horn directly at the trunk of the oak tree. With a deafening thwack her horn sunk into the tree, burying itself to the hilt within the wood of the tree. Alorna felt dizzy and sick as she stood on shaking legs for the ceremony to begin.

"What is wood is bone and what is bone is wood. I swear to thee to keep you safe, upon thy death I shall protect you still, upon my own my soul to Seal. With this pact we become as one, interlocked for the good of both. I swear to protect thee and to hold thee and I swear to unseal thee when the time has come."

The oak's whispered words caressed Alorna and she felt her head grow light, sticky resin goo flowed from the wound in the tree and wrapped around the base of her horn. Slowly the resin sank in between horn and skull and with a sharp snap the horn broke free. Alorna fell to the ground as she felt her skin closing on her head and the bead of resin solidify into a small oblong amber gem embedded in her skin. She watched as her horn disappeared within the tree and the hole was sealed with the same resin, healing to show no wound. Alorna felt ill, like she had been punched in the stomach as she took the pain from the tree to keep her vow.

"You are Sealed Alorna of the Graymoon. I wish you luck." The oak returned to slumber.

Alorna looked at the oak for a moment then slowly looked down at her body. Long fingers, pale skin, two legs in the place of four, she looked at her human form and felt very ill. Alorna past into unconsciousness as a huge wave of pain ripped through her as the oak finished sealing her horn and the pain of it was past onto her body.

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"No one knows her my Lord."

"Well she can't have just appeared out of thin air Marcus."

"George said she was lying in the middle of the road south, just around the bend in the road next to the old oak tree. She didn't have a mark on her or a scrap of clothing and there were no horse or human tracks around her body."

"Impossible. Someone has to know who she is. She looks like a noble."

Alorna wanted to scream at the whispers to be quiet. The inside of her skull felt like it was being pounded on by a blacksmith's mallet and she just wanted quiet. She groaned and lifted a hand to her throbbing forehead alerting the humans that she was conscious again.

"She's awake." The one called Marcus spoke.

Alorna slowly opened her eyes and surveyed the room she was in. The light was flickering and orange from a fire in the hearth. The bed was a huge for posted canopy style with several layers of soft coverlets tucked around her chin. The two men were looking at her quietly and a chambermaid was sitting beside the bed with a basin of water and a cloth. Alorna shoved herself up to a sitting position which tossed the covers off her upper body.

Both men did an about face as she sat up and refused to look at her. She tilted her head in puzzlement and finally realized they were embarrassed by her for some reason. The chambermaid grabbed a shawl and wrapped it around her upper body and pulled the covers up as well. They seemed to have a problem with her state of undress Alorna realized. How strange these humans were.

"Milady, lay back and rest you've had a rough time." The chambermaid smiled and laid the cool wet cloth over Alorna's forehead.

The men had turned back around to face her although she noticed that the one called Marcus seemed to be an unusual shade of red. She looked to the other man and recognized Gavin immediately. This was the human who had twice invaded her forest. He was eve more striking viewed through human eyes and she was more able to discern the shade of his eyes and the color of his skin. How strange a human, so kind to her when she was injured as a mare and now sheltering her as a human.

"What is your name miss?" Gavin looked at the woman in the bed.

Alorna rubbed her skull slowly and struggled to pull the human words forward, she knew their language but was not as familiar with it and its lack of body posturing and signaling. It'd be impossible to use these small ears for anything from her language for sure. She formed her words slowly and deliberately as she got used to her human vocal cords.

"My name is Alorna." She started at the musical lilt to her own voice and puzzled over the soft feminine charm in it.

"Alorna, my name is Gavin de Mocrief. I am the Lord of this castle and this land and I would like to know how you came to be lying in the road. Did anyone from the castle or neighboring villages harm you?"

"I'm sorry." Alorna shook her head. "I don't remember."

"It's ok dear." The maid smiled and then turned to Gavin. "I think milord that the young lady has been through quite enough for one evening. It'd be best if you both leave her to rest."

"Of course, forgive me May." Gavin bowed and departed the room.

Alorna watched May easily turn out the lord of the castle and wondered at the woman's sway over the other human. She smiled as May returned to the bed and removed the cloth from Alorna's forehead.

"Now my dear its best you get some rest. In the morning I will bring you some breakfast and a bath. Don't mind Lord Gavin, he's a good man and he wants to be sure that if anyone has harmed you on his land he can set it right." May smiled kindly at Alorna. "Sleep well dear."

Alorna stared at the door for several minutes before she plucked the shawl off her shoulders and slipped out of the bed. She walked to the window and looked out over the small village and the farmland beyond it. She had never come this close to the castle and had rarely taken an interest in the workings of humans before now. She wondered if perhaps not all humans were bad after all.

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Gavin stood on the battlements fuming silently as he stared out at the road that weaved south along the border of the cursed wood. How anyone could have tossed a helpless woman out on the road on his land was beyond him. It angered him that someone had abused the woman and that she seemed to have no memory of who had left her to die on the road. There had been no travelers along the road for weeks and if it hadn't been for him sending one of his men to the village to the south yesterday the man would not have discovered the woman lying in the road. He sighed and raked his fingers through his hair.

Alorna was a strange puzzle. She seemed to be quite innocent though she had to be in her twentieth year at least, she was certainly well developed. Gavin closed his eyes and brought back the image of her exquisite breasts in painfully sharp detail. They were round and full set in perfect pale skin and crowned with dusky nipples that begged for a man's attention. Her wide brown eyes had the same innocent beauty of a frightened animal, perhaps a doe of the forest itself, and her face was an unblemished perfection that artists would have wept to see. The strange amber gem that seemed to be affixed to her smooth forehead only added mystery to her beauty. But her most enchanting feature was her hair by far, long falling to her hips at least it was pure silver beginning with dark roots and streaking to a pure almost white at the ends. Instead of making her look prematurely old her hair made her look even more timeless and youthful somehow, a true study in perfection.

Onyxwolf
Onyxwolf
214 Followers