1

Unicorns Quest
Equus21
Cover Art by: Kimberly Mattia

Part 1: Into the

Night
Chapter 1

nce upon a time, there was a female unicorn named Ira.

Her father taught her to never cry in the face of danger, and Ira would keep
that promise for as long as she could.
Iras father was named Mortus.
His mane and body, black as coal. His eyes a light blue color, his pointy
horn on top of his head, a shade of dark gray.

He kept himself in amazing shape; female unicorns would always look at

him if he happened to be in the pasture, he and Ira lived in an enchanted
forest-far away from most human civilizations, but if a creature chose to-he
or she could easily go to any town, provided they didn't mind the long walk.
This forest, was where all unicorns and creatures lived.
When I say enchanted forest, its probably what you imagine. Tall trees,
covered in beautiful leaves, the sunlight bright, strange and mystical birds
tweeting in the air.
Creatures of all types and sizes living in harmony, straight out of a literal
fairy tale. Sure, you had a few issues, disputes and maybe even some
violence, but it wasnt a big deal. The enchanted forest had all the right
attributes to keep these creatures alive.
Ira was raised in this forest by her father.
Mortus had a voice that was deep and very authoritative-even when having
a friendly conversation, but he wasnt much for talking a lot.
He was the head of the Equine Royal Guard-he fought terrors that came to
various towns, dragons, ogres, goblins and the like.
He fought these terrors only if they were close to the enchanted forest
however, but he was looked upon as a hero no less. Being that he
sometimes ventured into populated areas, humans started recognizing him.
He loved his daughter very much, when she was a foal, her mother was
killed by a pack of wild wolves.
Mortus always blamed himself for that incident, bu t he knew he couldnt
dwell on her death for his entire life, for he had a foal to take care of.
The father and daughter would play constantly within the forest.
She was quite jolly, and even when she was first born, had a deep and
tremendous respect for her dad-who really put himself on the line every day
when going to work.
Any battle could come out of nowhere and whisk him into some epic war.
He was very loving, more so with words than actions. He wasn't into
hugging or kissing, but he did say very kind things. However, if someone

hugged him out of some pain they were going through, he wouldn't push
them aside-he would let the hug him, then he'd go about his day.
He was also quite firm, when Ira would fall, her father would put one hoof
on her and tell her firmly, but quietly crying wont help-dust yourself off
please.
Ira would sometimes hug her father, and he was fine with this and
embraced it. While Mortus was firm, he understood the importance of
loving his little foal.
He never pushed creatures or the humans he worked with to the point of
anxiety; he would help anyone out if he felt they werent just being lazy.
Again, being that humans knew him-if he had time, he would go to towns
and help out, but he found humans sort of uninteresting and bland, so he
didnt hang around them much.
Going back to Ira however, when Ira was still a foal in school where she
learned of her magical abilities, she was bullied by another, bigger unicorn
than herself-her father noticed and he gave this bully a harsh reprimanding.
Something along the lines of if you come near my daughter again, Ill have
you arrested by my guard, you little bastard.
No one dare cross Mortus-being the head of the royal guard, meant others
were a bit intimidated by him. Ira did fine in school, Mortus was never one
to worry about grades
When Ira became a teenager, she was kind of rebellious; however she
made sure she never hurt anyone-creature or human, unless they
provoked her. Her rebellious attitude usually came to drinking with friends
late at night in some of the towns scattered around the edges of the forest.
She made a lot of friends around the towns she visited, none of which were
human, because she agreed with her father. Humans just werent very
interesting to her. She had nothing against them; she certainly would help
one out-but she wouldnt want to be very close friends with one because
humans have a lot of different emotions than unicorns, but we will speak of
the nature of unicorns a bit later.
Unlike her father, Ira was quite chatty and even comical.

Not like goofy comical, but when hanging out with best friends, she may
swear once or twice for comedic effect, or let out some sarcastic remark.
Others who hung out with her remarked on her very slight accent, in
modern times, youd call it a Rhode Island accent-you know, where you
dont pronounce the letter r in some words, however the accent was slight
and youd only notice it if you were to hang around her a lot.
She liked to have a good time, and while Mortus found it kind of silly, he
allowed her to be
who she was. She would crack some joke around him, and all hed do is
shake his head slowly.
The biggest teaching Mortus gave her-was sticking up for her well being
and stick up for those she loved if they needed it, be firm-but dont be a
jerk. Her father would push her the most when it came to exercising daily;
she was trained in fighting by her own father.
Mortus would get Ira up at an early time, he started this type of training
when she was a teen. She hated waking up, her father would tear the
blankets off of her and call her down for breakfast.
Every creature lived in varied sized cabins, depending on the size of the
creature.
All of them one floor, all of them sort of looking like the cottage out of
Disneys Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Mortus and Ira would have a quick breakfast, usually something that tasted
disgusting in Iras opinion-like a peanut butter and olive sandwich. This was
only given out when work was a head of the two unicorns.
Mortus ate these sandwiches often and it gave him copious amounts of
energy through out the day, so Ira was forced to eat them as well-it was
either that or nothing. Ira did choose not to eat the sandwich one day, it
was a huge mistake.
All of the activity her father made her do, the female unicorn vowed never
to go hungry on those days again.

As the morning sun rose amongst the tall trees, the two would run around
certain areas of the enchanted forest. They would take a canter amongst
the forest, even if it rained a tiny bit. They went cantering for about a mile,
maybe two miles if Ira was up for it.
After a short break, Mortus and Ira would go back home. He would
compliment her on her job well done, and if he noticed-also complimented
her on her large hoof and leg muscles, which were almost as big as most
male unicorns in the land.
In the afternoon, he would give her small fighting tips, he and she would
perform certain moves outside, he would give her a split second warning as
to what attack he would do, but sometimes she wouldnt react quickly
enough and he would accidentally whack her chin with his hoof and cause
her lower lip to bleed.
In fact, this practice fighting often resulted in bruises and bleeding cutsshe kept pushing though.
Over a very long period of time, her father taught her to ignore pain and
told her as long as you believe what youre fighting in and you keep your
heart strong and powerful, and your wits about you-pain should be
secondary.
Eventually-when she was a teen, became a good match for her dad.
She was never afraid to swing a hoof for herself or anyone if she really felt
it was needed-and some humans did deserve a small punch if they were
being to intrusive on the nights shed go out drinking. Humans were rather
fascinated by unicorns, and while Ira didn't mind answering there
questions, sometimes humans got a bit to obsessive.
She was also shown how to use her horn properly, mostly in school
sessions.
In battle, it was a sort of short range knife, and like all unicorns, it held
certain magical abilities-but Ira wasnt the most powerful of all unicorns.
The most helpful feature was when it was dark out and she needed to see,
her horn would glow a white color, acting as a sort of powerful flashlight.

She could also move small objects with her horn, it would glow a dark
purple color and any object she was thinking of, she could telepathically
move.
She was also trained in medical assistance, she knew how to sew a
wound, and she knew all about healing potions.
As far as Iras personality is concerned, she is nice to talk to, with her
sense of humor, she can be quite entertaining.
Due to her father, she had little bits of advice and that advice proved to be
helpful to some of the creatures who looked up to her.
She did teach people how to stand up a bit and also taught about respecthowever; respect was something she herself seldom gave out.
Her enemies hated her.
She let them know she hated them, shes someone who is not subtle with
emotions at all-and if someone were hurting an innocent human or
creature, theyd be put on her shit list.yes; she has an actual shit list.
All the people on this list have stories, some funny and some downright
awful.
Ira now in human years, is forty years of agein horse years, she is about
fourteen.
She is watching her father slowly die in a hospital as she thinks of her
pastand as depressed as she feltdid not cryfor that would be a
promise broken.
About a year had past after her fathers death. She felt like she needed a
vacation, a change of scenery if you will.
One morning she decided to officially leave the forest for a long while, it
was a sunny and gorgeous day in the forest.
Butterflies flew around; the flowers were in full bloom.

Most of the unicorns were at a large lake, drinking and chatting amongst
each other, as the sun glistened off of the lake and off of there horns,
creating an almost too beautiful to be real life kind of effect.
Ira used this giant, deep lake to swim laps if she did not feel like going out
for a canter-swimming proved to be Iras favorite form of exercise.
The air in the forest, crisp-and not a single loud noise to be heard-just the
chirping of birds.
Ira took her morning trot along a path, a winding and long path. She would
canter at some points, and then return to trotting, the path went up and
down hill-so by the time she finished, she was exhausted.
Most of her friends were unicorns; they tend to be in packs.
Going back to the nature of unicorns, most of them are not like Ira. First off,
Iras color is slightly different from the usual unicorns.
She has white all over her body and her mane and tail are black-but this is
hardly why she really is unique.
Other unicorns by the way are usually either all white or all black; males
were usually all black by the way. Females were typically all white, or in
some rare cases, a very light pink color, like pink lemonade.
Iras dialect is very different, if you were to approach any unicorn in this
forest, you would be greeted with a
greetings, mam / sir / young man. Or
may I be of assistance to you? or may I ask who am I speaking to?
Ira would say
hey there, whats up?
Her voice also at times went up and down depending on her mood, much
like with humans.
Most unicorns have very monotone voices, not to say theyre like robots-but
their voices are quite calm and soothing, never raising in anger-anger is not
an emotion most unicorns posses.

An occasional human sometimes stumbled into the enchanted forest and

wanted to talk to a unicorn, and would begin to talk to Ira, but be
disappointed.
The last thing they usually wanted was a more spunky type of unicorn.
Usually if a human or creature wanted to speak to the equine creatures,
they meant they wanted a very calming and nurturing creature.
Oh yes, unicorns can be nurturing-most of them have had foals in there life,
so being nurturing is something most of them know how to do-and while
deep down as I said, most unicorns find humans dull, that doesnt mean
they dont care about them.
Most unicorns spoke to humans, because they could-they are in nature,
kind and thoughtful.
After all, that is one of the reasons why unicorns are who creatures and
humans go to, theyre so soft spoken, kind and will never tell secrets and
are just extremely pure in heart.
Ira is empathetic, as said she would protect anyone who needed it-but
shes never had a foal, so perhaps her nurturing could use a bit of work.
She simply wasn't brought up to be nurturing.
Lastly, most unicorns werent animated like Ira was, if a unicorn told a
story-he or she may use slightly different inflections, but nothing more.
Their stories are usually non-animated and kind of lengthy, and usually only
told because the creature is trying to teach some moral to the individual
theyre speaking to.
Now, if you told Ira to tell a story, she would tell some silly story in her past
about her dads awful sandwiches or some silly creature on her shit list,
laughing at her own quips, and at times, waving her hooves about.
The trait Ira had the most, would be her pure heart, she loved being a
unicorn-she felt good about the type of creature she was.
Ira would tell her friends she would go on vacation, specifically to the town
of Forlorn. Good thing is, is that she already has a stable in place-her

father took her to Forlorn, so itll be good to reminisce and maybe even
meet some new friends.
Ira however, had no idea of what was to come.

Chapter 2
Francis lied awake in bed, staring at the ceiling to his crappy house-really it
was only one room, it was all he could afford.
He looked out the window closest to his bed and saw light rain pattering
outside, the clouds a dark grey color-it was a kind of morning when Francis
would have rather just turned over and went back to sleep for an hour or
so.
He knew though hed need to get food early, before most of the
townspeople woke up and they would be all out of cheap food. His cane
had fallen to the floor; he rolled over tiredly and picked it up.
The seventeen year old was now living alone, he has a job as a newspaper
delivery boy, and on rainy days like today-the job really was terrible, more
so than usual.
He throws on brown slacks and a white dress shirt.
With his brown vest buttoned-he opens the door, and looks over the town
he lived in-the town known as Forlorn.
People of all ages walk around the cobblestone sidewalks, littered with
empty potion bottles and just general trash.
The dirt roads the horse and buggies travel on are narrow.
The houses are small, made out of dry old bricks.

10

People around this town are sick due to malnourishment or lack of sleep,
some of them have the common cold which is contagious-and once youre
ill in this town, the chances of survival are sort of slim unless you have a
healing liquid handy.
The town doctor is old and half blind, so going to him youd have to be
desperate.
Francis limps along the sidewalk, his bundle of newspapers in hand, the
rain is still light-but he knew with his luck, the rain would get worse. He
tosses papers on the door steps of the broken homes.
He watches the people interact with each other, the various small animals,
like dirty chickens and pigs run about.
Francis watches as a window opens to a high apartment building, the
housewife living inside of it dumps a large bucket of feces onto the street.
The air became warm, warning of a downpour.
As he traveled down his route, not many people said hi to him-he was sort
of ignored, a middle man to be used and bossed around.
Yes, he was bossed around-sometimes, stay at home moms would see him
delivering the papers outside-summon him inside and make him do little
chores, he could usually do it-provided he didnt have to stand without his
cane for a long period of time.
Francis really wanted to leave this place, but he had no money, and right
now-he was livingand thats all that really should matter.
To the majority of people in this town, being happy is barely secondary-if
youre getting up and able to work then thats about as good as things will
get for you.
Granted, half of the towns people, while not happy-were content with this
lifestyle.
People kept to themselves in this town, and rarely smiled. Part of the
reason is, is just the town is not very wealthy-there is a king, but he really is
only a ruler in Forlorn so he can have moneyeveryone knows the king

11

can have as much crap as he wants, while all the villagers get barely a pot
to piss in.
Down an empty street corner, a newcomer came across the local bar-the
only bar in Forlorn.
The building is made of wood; a black, crooked sign on the top of the
building reads The Drunken Pheasant
It was a good place to have hardy, crazy, loud or inappropriate
conversations-its the bar all the men-mostly lumberjacks and men of that
nature, went to after a hard days worked and mingled amongst friends.
Creatures would walk in sometimes.
The inside, is filled with cigar smoke most of the time, and the only thing
really neat about it is that bartenders area.
The drinks are aligned neatly on the shelves-so that others knew exactly
what they served.
Other than that, the floor is stained with blood and alcoholic beverages
creatures and humans have spilt over the years.
Some of the townspeople look at her-the newcomer.
Her hooves clop along the wooden floor as she makes her way to the bar.
The mens conversations quiet down-and look at her long and well defined
horn on top of her head and a black mane and blue eyes.
Draped over her, is a black, leather horse rug her father gave her. Her four
legs quite muscular, everything visually about her is toned.
Some of the men who may think less of woman are quite surprised to see
who stands before them.
She approaches the bar, the bartender who is a goat, wears a black vest
and red tie, and instead of hooves, and he has human-like hands.
He looks at her, smiles and nods.
The unicorn shakes the access rain water off, careful not to get anyone
wet.
Ira speaks contently.
Can I have a glass of white wine?

12

The goat pours her the drink quickly and gives it to her.
She isnt much for drinking, but once and a while she liked to.
As she drinks contently, glancing at the customers at the bar nonchalantly,
a muscular creature approaches her.
He wears just a black leather jacket; his skin is dark green, his eyes are
yellow and his face is very much lizard like. He certainly is not a human.
He orders some beer for himself. He looks at the unicorn.
Whats your name? he asks in a friendly tone.
The unicorn merely glances at him, she wants to be sure he knows that
shes not looking for a date.
Name is Ira, nice to meet you.
He has a deep, southern accent. All the people and creatures in the bar
tense up, no one messes with this sort of folk. They know the lizard is bad
news, but no human steps in to help.
Youre a beautiful little horsy.I very rarely see you folk around here. Why
dont we.go to my room and get to know each other, huh?
The lizard takes her drink and plops it at the other end of the table in a sort
of creepy, an attempt to be tough and flirty.
Ira takes a deep breath and speaks calmly, but firmly.
I am going to ask nicely once.please give me my drink backIm on
vacation and just want to have a nice time-if you cant respect that-then
please go.
The creature puts his arm slowly around the horses neck, the unicorn
looks into his eyes and reads lust.
Come on darlingl-
The last words did not come out of his rancid mouth; the unicorn takes the
lizards neck and his head collides with the table with a hard smack.
She uses her two front hooves to press his face down, he yells in pain.
Her voice is quiet and extremely threatening.
She leans in; her mouth practically touches his ear.
Unless you want my horn shoved up your ass, I suggest never touch or
speak to me again He breathes heavily, his heart pounds in his chest.

13

I-I was just blowing smokeI-I.SWEAR!

The unicorn backs away, as he rubs his pounding head and lifts it up; she
notices the side of his head oozes black blood.
Ira then walks out of the bar, slightly aggravated she couldnt just have a
nice time getting tipsy.
Francis face falls to the mud.
Two taller men laugh and point as he tries to get up.
One of the men grabs Francis cane off of the ground.
Try to get up without thisyou damn cripple!
The other bully pipes in.
Yeah, try to walk on that tiny, withered leg!
Francis sighs deeply and says not a word, he has no choice but to lie in the
cold mud as the two bullies continue to mock him-they imitate his limp and
his slight slurred speech. This attack is happening in the middle of one of
the sidewalks outside, no one is intervening.
Ira walks up a sidewalk, glancing up at the clouds to see if more rain will
fall.
People do stare at her, but do not speak to her.
Its not everyday you see a lone equine creature walking up a sidewalk, let
alone a unicorn.
She looks up, about three feet in front of her, in a muddy puddle; lays a
young man-two man stand over him and kick him a bit.
She sees his face oozes red blood-she briskly trots over.
One of the bullies looks up from Francis, he stares at the unicorn. Her eyes
read pure anger.
Oh! A unicorn! How cute!
The two overweight, balding men walk up to her, smirking. She just stares
at them without blinking.
You gonna fly?! Unicorns cant do crap, they just.are play things for little
girls to ride on and draw. Never saw one in real life!

14

As he turns his back to attack Francis, Ira snorts loudly and using her back
legs, raises half of her body and uses her front hoof to kick him in the lower
back.
The bully screams in pain, Francis eyes get big as the action unfolds.
She then trots up behind him and using her front hoof again, stomps his
knee cap-the bully yells louder than before, tears roll down his face.
She raises her voice, almost to a yell-really with Ira, its all in the tone, not
the volume.
I really want you to feel what its like to walk with a leg that doesnt work.
Youll be in pain for about...five months, and if that cap of yours ever gets
better-which I probably shattered it, but should it get better-youll never
walk the same way again. Let that serve as a reminder of the pain youve
caused this poor young man.being on the receiving end of pain is tough,
huh?
Being a bully really ended up hurting you in the end Im afraid. Mentally and
physically, think about it-youll have quite a tough set of thoughts to deal
with. Itll be tough, right?
The bully cries and doesnt answer her.
Its going to be TOUGH HUH?!
She lets out a quick, angry snort.
The bully whimpers.
Y-yesmaami-it will.b-be t-toughmaam!
The unicorn then looks up at the second bully, who stayed put where he
was. Looking on in complete fear, Ira approaches him and uses her hoof to
slap him, her voice cold as ice.
Take your friend and run home.
They both go as quickly as possible.
The unicorn then walks up to Francis, he notices his cane glowing purple-it
floats over to him.
She stoops her neck down so he has more leverage; he picks up his cane
before standing all the way up.

15

He would admit, he felt a bit nervous around her-but very surprised she did
what she did.
Maamh-how c-can I ever thank you?
Ira smiles a bit, as she looks at Francis-her animal senses kick in quickly.
Unlike a lot of people and creatures shes run into, Francis gives off an aura
of complete kindness-and nervousness.
Sure, he maybe insecure-and most of the time, that maybe a red flag for
most of the other creatures in the forest where she lived-but the kindness
factor over shadowed this. He seemed honest, thankful-and in real need of
a friend.
She gives Francis a confident smile.
It was nothing, kid. Names Ira and I think we better get you cleaned off.
The unicorn leads the young man to a nearby ally way in town so they
wouldnt be bothered by onlookers.
Her horn glows dark purple and the tiny cuts the human has endured,
started vanishing.
The sensation he felt was kind of a tingle, but nothing hurt at all as the
wounds magically closed.
This technique only worked with very mild cuts and was one of the many
medical techniques Ira used.
Francis touches his face lightly and truly realizes what has happened,
being that he senses Ira isnt the hugging type, he instead gives her a light
pat on the neck.
Ira watches Francis footing as they walk about the town, with the cane, the
human does fairly well -he is slightly awkward when he puts his bad foot
down, and Ira found this interesting.
Very rarely had she come across someone with an issue like that-and still
be able to walk. Ira clears her throat, she figures shell be with this human
for a while-and shed feel better knowing a bit about him.
May I ask you about your limp?

16

Francis glances at Ira, looking into her shiny black eyes. He loved how her
eyes were, very reflective.
I was abused when I was a baby and due to brain injury, my left leg just
doesnt work well. The unicorns eyes go big for a brief moment.
OhGodIm sorry to hear that. What kind of sicko would do that to you?
Thats just unbelievable.
The young man shrugs.
I have no clue; I guess my dad was mentally off his rocker. You know, I
must say-for a unicornyoure very.well.brutally honest! I-I mean,
what you said back there with the two bullies-unbelievable!
She chuckles; her tail sways back and fourth comfortably as they both walk
down the dirt road in the town square, filled with tiny shops and such.
Ive heard that, trust me! Oh my Gawd! People on my shit list tell me that
when they can! Its hard to write all of them down though-Im always told I
gotta keep my mouth shut or something!
Francis cracks up laughing.
Waityou have an actual shit list?!
Oh yeah, more people I meet though, its more like a shit book though!
She cracks up laughing.
Ohhh man, Im a horrible influence!
Francis had to admit- he found this kind of edgy, but friendly unicorn to be
great to hang out with.
He had been alone for so long, that having someone else to talk to really
was the thing he needed.
The unicorn and human spent the day together, telling stories.
Francis showed her around the town, they went out to eat at a pub-which
was quite funny to Francis, he had never seen an equine creature SIT at a
booth and order food, but this was a mythical creature he was dealing withso nothing should really surprise him all that much.
Ira ordered a bowl of carrots and lettuce, Francis ordered fish.

17

The unicorn paid, inside of the horse jacket she wore-were a few gold coins
she had gotten at another town before stopping here-Francis thanked her
kindly for the meal.
The human told her about how long hed been alone, told her stories about
the dragon who lived miles from the town-stories that he had heard from
locals.
Mostly stories involving the dragon doing various, sadistic things-but it was
all rumor. He had never seen the beasts before.
Being that they were both alone and were having so much fun together, Ira
invited Francis to stay at her place, the stable for a bit-the human got
psyched and immediately jumped at the opportunity.
The stable is located in a secluded area-it is quite large, but only big
enough for one horse.
Ira threw off her horse rug and it plopped in the same location every time-a
corner by the door.
Francis stood in awe of this huge place-it was indeed a stable, but it had
three guest bedrooms, chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and Iras bed was
very large.
As the evening grew late, rain started pouring down.
Francis was going to walk home, but Ira didnt feel comfortable with the
idea-so she let him stay over night, which he was quite happy with.
It was all easily accessible for Francis being that everything was on one
floor and he could walk around the place.
Hed get his own guest bedroom, with a bathroom, a huge bed and
everything!
As Ira showed him to this bedroom, she felt so good about herself.

18

She felt so warm and fuzzy, bringing such happiness to a human who really
needed it. Francis gave her a light pat on the muzzle and she let him be for
the night.
Francis stripped his clothes and crawled into the neatly made bedwith
the sound of the rain pattering on the roof, he felt his eyes slowly droop.
He felt very comfortable sleeping here-more so than at his own home.
Here, he felt protected-he felt nothing could hurt him. Finally, after so longhe had someone protecting him, he had someone to talk to and look up
toat least for tonight.
Before going in the bedroom closest to Francis, Ira peaks into his bedroom
and sees the young human, lightly snoring away and the blankets draped
over himself-her horn glows dark purple as the door gently closes all the
way without the aid of her hooves.
The rain had stopped; Ira was in a deep sleep in the room next to her new
friend.
Francis had been awoken by a sound outside.
Beside his bed, a tiny window to the outside is close by.
Francis indolently rolls onto his stomach and peaks outside the window, its
a tiny, square window right to one side of his bed.
The glass is smudged by rain water; he sees a tiny figure outside-not
outside front, but outside back.
In back of the stable, was a large meadow that Ira ran around in every
morning, beyond the meadow was another Enchanted Forrest-slightly
different from the one she lived in regularly.
The young man picks his cane up off the ground, puts on the brown pants
he had on earlier-he doesnt wear his shirt being that he figures hell only
be out there for a second or two-he was just curious as to who would be so
close to the stable at this time of night.

19

He slowly opens the back door to the stable, crickets chirp as he whispers
into the pitch darkness, he begins shivering.
Excuse me? What are you doing here? Sir or maam-can I help you?
He feels his bare feet on the grass.
Francis stands close to the stable-the light from inside the stable somewhat
illuminates the figure in front of him, as the figure gets closer.Francis
begins shivering more-not because of the chilly weatherbut because of
intense and uncontrollable fear.
Standing on four legs and about six feet tall, wearing a dark brown vest and
viciously smiling away-a wolf has his sights on the human.
His voice deep and gruff-his eyes bright yellow, the wolf licks his chops. He
moves out of the darkness, and closer to the human.
The wolf swiftly leaps on to the human, Francis cane flies in the airrendering him even more hopeless than before.
The young man yells a few times-thats all he has time to do before the wolf
knocks him out cold.
Ira wakes up in sheer panic; she canters out of her room, knocking over a
painting of her father on the wall.
FRANCIS! She busts through the front door and shouts his name into the
night; hes nowhere to be seen! She tries the back door.
Her heart pounds in her chest as she sees a giant wolf with a human on its
back.
Ira canters after him, her hooves thunder across the meadow; hes
significantly far and almost into the forest-she can see very well in the dark
due to her trusty horn, which glows brightly.
Now, she canters, she is outside in the dark, in the middle of the large
meadow.
From one side, out of the darkness, a much smaller wolf attacks her and
uses all of his might to leap upon her.
Now, the wolf that has kidnapped Francis has a huge advantage over Ira.

20

The wolf jams his paws into the fallen unicorn, barking manically in her
face.
This attacker has the creature on her side, clawing at one side of her face
and drooling on her eye.
She lets out an angry grunt as she swiftly turns her head towards the wolfshe knew the horn on her head would act as sort of a knife.
The horn stabs the canine diagonally in the mouth, the horn sticks out of
the opposite cheek, the wolfs eyes become blank as blood gushes out of
his mouth and he topples in the grasswith one tug Ira yanks her horn out
of his flesh.
She slowly stands up on her four legs; she shakes the blood off of her horn
and takes a deep breath.
Ira tries to collect her thoughts and figure out her next course of action.
She is now just realizing that if anything happens to Francis, shell never
forgive herself.
The unicorn quickly canters off into the night, again-across the large
meadow and into the dark forest.
Before going in-she gives one last look at her stable, which is now looking
quite small.
She is not nervous as she hears nocturnal creatures out and about, shes
cautious-her adrenaline was still kind of high after the wolf attack, she trots
quickly, but watches her footing being that shes never been here before.
Large trees surround her, her hooves pat against the grass-she trots
deeper and deeper into the forest.
She then began thinking to herself. Who would steal a human? What would
a large wolf want with Francis? To eat him? Kidnap him and release him for
a certain amount of gems perhaps?

21

As she continues briskly walking for hours and taking little to no break time,
she comes across a wide stream, she can see the bottom.
Instead of leaping over it, she decides to swim across the warm water.
She steps onto the other side of the stream; she trots up a slight hill.
Morning is now approaching, the sky turns light blue as the sun begins to
peak out.
A slight fog begins to roll in, giving the forest and eerie and foreboding
feeling.
A chill goes through the air.
In a few momentsthe unicorn comes across a cave.
She quickly picks up the smell of the wolf. She looks down and finds
footprints in the dirt-wolf paws to be exact, leading right to the cave.
Ira takes a deep breath and enters the cave, bracing herself for anything.
Ira gets the urge to shout Francis name over and over, but does not
because she doesnt know what lies ahead.
As she enters, her ears twitch as she hears water coming off of the large
rocks that hang from the ceiling.
A cold air whips through the cave as she moves closer. The horn does help
as far as brightening up the place.
She steps in furtheras she does so, she feels overwhelming fear.
Being that horses are usually anxiety induced animals; her instincts tell her
to run for her life-but mentally, she knows that if she turns back-Francis
could easily die soon.
Ira looks behind her, as she trots along the cave, she looks behind her and
sees that the entrance, the only source of natural light.
The cave only gets darker, the cave is silent, every step of her hoof makes
a clopping sound that echoes.

22

She trots along slowly, her every sense heightened.

She then steps in something!
She groans in disgust, she slowly lifts her front hoof off the groundalmost
not wanting to know what she has all over the bottom of her hoof-her white
horn illuminates the substance.
She doesnt quite know what it is, that is until she puts the yellow, clear
goop up to her nostril. Its honey.
She notices as she walks, the honey becomes thicker and covers her hoof;
its almost like a pond of mud, but its golden and goopy.
While trotting is more difficult, she continues through it-she then hears a
sound.
She stops dead in her tracks, her ears twitch back and fourth. Her nostils
flare to see if she can pick up any other smells other than the overly sweet
smell of the honey river.
Its a loud, low hum. The hum then grows loudnot a being in sightits
just the sound, almost like something is watching her-but not striking.
She slows her breathing down to better hear what this sound could be.
Her eyes squint in a sort of angry curiosity, her ears now flat against the
back of her head.
She then feels a sharp pain in her left thigh; she winces in pain and looks
down.
Ira gasps as she sees a yellow jacket-about three inches long and quickly
injecting venom into her blood stream.
She uses her horn to stab it-it makes a slight screeching sound from its
mouth and dies quickly.
However, on her leg-she is left with a giant welt, it begins to swell quickly.

23

The unicorn begins to breathe heavily, as the buzzing sound now grows
louderabout four large yellow and black bees land on her back, that
same intense stinging is very noticeable now.
She then drops to the ground and into the honey, landing on her back,
squishing the insects that sting her spine, the thick honey covers her
backits the most disgusting and sticky feeling shes ever felt in her life for
sure.
More and more large bees cometen, fifteen, twenty all crowd around herhovering-she looks down near the entrance of the cave to see if any are
behind her-and notices that shes come across a giant hive-the insects had
made a nice home for themselves within this dark cave, parts of the inside
of the cave are covered in honeycombs.
Too many yellow jackets block the entrance now. They see Ira as a threat.
Should she try to run through them, she would be stung and in more pain
than she had felt in a long time-not to mention all the venom shed endure,
which was her main worry.
She then canters onward, passing through the honey-covered area, her
breathing heavy.feeling little pings of pain.
The buzzing is now more intense, the anger of the pests intensifies.
Most insects and predators, love unicorn blood-supposedly its nutritional
value is surpassed to almost any creature.
Ira trips and falls smack into the floor of the cave-the welts on her beautiful
body are now swelling more and more.
She dashes quickly-bees follow and viciously attack-she keeps her mouth
closed tight so that none can fly to the back of her throat.
Some bees try to get her from the front, but she viscously whacks them
with her horn, while she is scared, she does not panic-not even for a
second.

24

The fear becomes secondary-getting out alive is the priority.

Ira then breathes a sigh of relief as she sees an exit to the cave.
Her four legs carry her as quickly as possible.
Not looking where she was going and trying to avoid the swarm, she trips
on a root right outside of the exit of the cave.
She yelps in pain, she falls harshly-the welts on her body sting more.
As she tumbles down a giant hill on her side, thorns tug at her mane and
her legs get scratched up as well.
She stops herself from falling about mid way down this hill.
She cusses under her breath, the unicorn then trots sideways down the hill
slowly. Ira reaches the bottom of the large hill.
Apart from slightly different looking trees-the forest looks the same.
The sun has just shown its full form, the golden rays hit Ira and the forest.
The unicorns ears twitch as she hears three male voices in the
distance.but not just regular, harmless humans-unicorn hunters.

Chapter 3
Ira froze up a tiny bit, knowing that unicorn hunters are usually very good at
what they do. As she stood, her ears twitched as she heard voices.
They were all male voices from what she could tell, as the footsteps got
closer-Ira started looking left and right, looking for a nice hiding spot. Hiding
behind a tree was obviously out of the question-she looked at bushes...she
couldn't really lay down low enough.
Some more powerful unicorns could turn themselves invisible-alas, she
could not.

25

Ira then sighs angrily...looks in front of her and sees four men standing in
front of her. They wore heavy armor and carried spears. They were most
likely in there early thirties. The men approached her, she frowned and
stomped one hoof on the ground. Ira stands in the middle of a large path
now in the woods, a few feet from the four men. Trees are on either side of
them.
One of the men named Pip, the tallest and strongest one spoke up. He
spoke in a heavy Scottish accent. "Look lads, we have us a feisty one!"
Ira snorts and then speaks coldly. "I'm going to warn you once-do not get
in my way."
Pip smirks, figuring this is just a lie so that the men do not capture her.
"Oh, really? You're some hero, huh? Well-it's a pleasure to meet you
unicorn, being that we don't see much of your kind around! Why don't you
come with us...niiiiiice and easy?"
Pip approaches the mighty creature; he is now about a foot away from the
unicorn. Ira lifts one of her front hooves and swings a heavy punch-Pip
tumbles backwards and gets up quickly, his nose gushes out blood and he
feels quite dizzy.
From behind a far away bush-a unicorn hunter, who is part of the same
group, gets his bow ready. Pip stands in pain, holding his nose tightly as his
three friends try to help him.
The archer releases the arrow-it lands smack in Ira's back-she yelps in
pain...only a moment later; she begins to feel dizzy and nauseous. She
collapses to the forest floor unconscious....

Chapter 4 - Hours Later

The equine creature tries to move her four legs. The welts on her body
have magically gone away-probably by a potion of some kind. However,
someone would have had to give her potion while she was knocked out.
She feels groggy due to the poison tipped arrow that had gone through
her.

26

She wakes up frantically; she realizes her four hooves are chained!
The unicorn can barely move around the small cage the men had put her
in.
She looks through the large black iron bars in front of her, she bangs the
bars with her horn in anger. All she sees on the other side of the door, is a
cobble stoned wall, attached to the wall is a fire lit lamp. The room has bare
rock walls, the ceiling is quite low. The floor is grey and the only look she
can get to the outside, is a tiny window in the back of the prison.
At first-she feels panic flow through her. Her heart pounds in her chest
however, instead of letting these feelings take over her and her making a
ruckus-Ira slows her breathing down.
The unicorn closes her eyes and thinks about the environment shes in.
She opens her eyes only a moment later, while she isnt calm-she now can
think clearly.
From a corner in the cage, a voice from the darkness is heard.
You startled me! Youre quite jumpy
The voice is male, he seems calm and collected. No older than thirty years
of age. Ira looks towards the corner; she sees a goat sitting-he is also
chained.
He wears a dark green robe with golden lining.
The unicorn lies down tiredly.
Sorry about that, Ive had quite a hectic few hours
The goat nods.
Well, Im Doran-and you are Ira lets out a quick, friendly smirk.
Ira, nice to meet you, sorry to be abrupt-but why are we here? I was
covered in welts by some horrible bees. It doesnt hurt anymore though.
Doran stands up as much as he can-but the chain gives barely enough
slack for the two to stand on their legs.
Doran clears his throat.

27

I was taken a week ago. See, Im a master potion maker and-Pip, the head
of the unicorn hunters ordered me to heal youthey want you alive. Im
guessing this castle is new-they barely have anyone working here.barely
a king for that matter. Gosh, we may be here a while.
Ira sighs in deep thought.
I have no time for bullshit-I have to get to a humanand fast.
Doran looks at the unicorn sadly.
Someone in trouble-a human you say?
Very much so, see-I made friends with a human only a day ago a-and he
got kidnapped by some wolf. The goat sighs.
Darn, thats awful. Interesting however-most creatures try to stay away
from humansbut you say youre friends with one?
Ira smiles a bit as she thinks about Francis.
He was being kicked around by some bullies, and I lashed out at themFrancis, the human has a limp-he uses a cane. He told me his father
abused him when he was a baby-and I dont care how strange I sound-but I
feel a connection with him.
All my life, I feel Ive been kind of rough housed. My father was the head of
the royal guard, and while he loved me very much-he always pushed and
pushed me to be the best I could be-and affection was just something I
rarely felt.
Doran looks right into the unicorns black eye.
You feel that this humanperhaps showed youcompassion and
empathy?
Ira glances out the iron bars, then back at Doran.
Well, not that I didnt know about compassion or empathy, I had known
others who had felt these feelings-they were just two emotions I never
really felt. I have thisurge to help him, whatever the coast maybe. I need
him to be safe-hes been through enough crap in lifehell, he lives alone.
Hes lived alone his entire life-never talking to many people his own age, I
mean even my father gave me hugsbut jeez, I cant picture that Francis
has really everfelt this kind of stuff before. It saddens me.
Doran folds his arms in deep thought.
Do you have foals of your own?

28

Ira shakes her head nonchalantly.

Do you feel like a.mother to him? Being that Francis has only been met
with brutality, even by his own family? Ira's eyes light up a bit, as she had
never thought of the friendship like that before.
The more I think about it, the more I think thatthat statement perfectly
sums up how I feel about this young man.
Doran stands up confidently and pats Ira on the neck.
Then I really hope we can find away out of here.
The prison almost became pitch dark once a knight turned off the fire lit
lamp on the wall outside. Moonlight beamed through the bars through the
tiny, back window-the unicorn lay on her stomach, Doran is cuddled in his
same dark corner, somehow sleeping soundly.
Ira stares blankly at a wall, just thinking about Francis.
She begins to feel an emotion she rarely felt-worry.
All her life, she has been able to take care of herself and others.
Now, she wasnt sure if she was just being pushed to hard, passed her
mental limit. She had fought in bar fights and talked to a few creatures and
offered them help-however, like Doran said-she felt almost like a mother
figure to this young human.
The need for him to be safe just grew inside her-thoughts of how to escape
were coming to her, but most of these thoughts were rather cloudy. She
really had no idea what to do.
She then whispered to herself.
Ill be fineFrancis will be fine.I will save himj-just not now.
She listens to the sound of ocean waves-she realized just now in the dark
silence that this castle, was very close to an ocean.
The unicorn then stands up and looks out the tiny window to the back of
the cell-she looks down and sees that not only is she in the tallest tower of
the castle, but that directly below her is the ocean.
She then sighs both tiredly and miserably, the unicorn goes back to lying
down on her stomach and rests her eyes.

29

After a kind of rough sleep attempt, the two get up at around the same
time. The air is slightly cold, the sun is just rising.
Doran stretches and yawns, the goat speaks groggily.
Good morning, Ira.
The unicorn shakes her head to get the sleepiness out of her somewhat.
Hey.have you thought about getting out of here?
Doran was slightly taken a back by her abruptness, but shrugged it off.
Well-I think we should get the guards daily routine down. See what if they
feed us, see who watches us. Then, I think we could make a move
Just then, Pip approaches the gate. He holds a small barrel of hay in one
hand and a bowl of gruel in the other. Standing behind him, is a guard with
a spear.
He is taller than Doran, but not as muscular as Ira.
Pip opens the gate to the cell; Doran and Ira stand back so they dont get
yelled at.
He silently places the watery hay next to his new prisoner, and the cold
gruel next to the goat. He nods and leaves-the guard with the spear stands
there, his back facing the barred door
.Doran slowly looks at the food he was given, Ira ate up because once she
escaped; she wouldnt know when her next meal would be.
Doran did reluctantly eat the gruel.
After eating, the guard with the spear left. The goat then speaks up.
Ira, not to insult you-but youre a unicorn. Youre magical, couldnt you
just.make the gate open and we make a run for it?
Ira stands close to the entrance of the cage; she was in deep thought about
Francis until Doran spoke up.
Well, yesheres the thing however, if were up so high-Id like to force
thathunter, Pip to help us out of here. If we make a run for it, we could
get lost if the halls are massive. I dont think we should just jump to
conclusions-

30

The two of them here footsteps, they back away, acting as if theyre not
listening.
Pip and the guard with the spear speak next to the cage, Ira's ears shoot
forward.
Alright Joseph, Im going to leave you in charge of these two. Ill be in the
castle-yell if anything happens, only if its an emergency.
You keep your spear in hand and your wits about you. Dont let either one
of them get hurt or nothing-I need these two to help this castle grow.
Pip then sighs, almost in a comforting way.
I know youre nervous, but think of it-you get to spend time with a unicorn!
Thats an honor!
Joseph nods and gives his father a light hug.
I know dad, I can do it! I can handle these two, do not worry
They smile at each other, Pip leaves.
For about an hour, silence fills the halls
Joseph then goes to the bathroom; Doran and Ira seize the moment to
speak of the plan to escape.
Doran, Ive got a plan. We need to get Joseph to tell us about the castle,
about an escape route. Pip is too smart for the idea I have-but Joseph is
younger and therefore, easier bate. With magic, I can make you feel ill-Ill
yell for help, Joseph walks inhe knows that Pip will never trust his son
again, should either of us die of illness.
We strike and force information out of Joseph. Pip will come, let me handle
it. Got it?
The goat knew this plan was a good one, and if you argue with Ira, you
wont get far, he didnt want to get her angry with him.
Alright Ira, I do like it.
The unicorn then gives Doran a light kiss on the forehead.
Thank you for helping me.it means a lot.
He blushes hard and brushes her black forelock to make it flat-being that
he loves when horses forelocks look flat for some odd reasonhe
considered it a classic look for equines.

31

Joseph comes back-a moment later, Iras horn glows dark purple, making
others ill could often be uses as a small defense mechanism.
Doran didnt expect it, but he actually felt horribly ill-so ill that he vomited,
he sort of rolled his eyes angrily-she should have told him he was going to
throw up!
Joseph gasps and without thinking, quickly opens the cageIra takes the
chance to use her front hooves and tackle the young man to the ground!
He falls to floor, his back smacks against the floor. Her muzzle is now mere
inches from his face.
He yells for his father-she uses the side of her front leg to press down on
his throat.
I dont want to kill you-but trust meI will if I have too! If your father gives
me an escape route-then everything will be finegot it?
With his eyes filled with tears, Joseph nods.
Pip comes running to the cage-his breathing labored and his sweating body
beginning to stink up the place.
He looks, sees the cage door wide open, the unicorn is on top of his son,
anger flowing in her face, and Doran looking pale.
LET my son go! NOW unicorn!
Ira looks at Pip.
Give me an escape routeI need to get out of here. If you dontyour son
diesslowly. My magic can both heal and kill. You want your son to die at
the hands of a unicorn?
Pip begins feeling sickhe rubs his eyes.
A-alrightif it means my son livesthen you can leave. DO NOT hurt my
son!
Doran, Pip, Joseph and Ira walk in a straight line down a large hallway, the
walls made of brick. Sticking out of the walls, are fire-lit lanterns.
Ira keeps her horn centimeters away from Josephs throat.

32

Joseph feels like he could cry as the feeling of death takes over him. Ira
can tell hes terrified, in away-she feels horrible to make a human feel so
helpless.
However, she also knows this was the best she could do with the short time
she had to get out.
Pip leads the unicorn down some large stairs she never would have
figured this out on her ownshe was glad she waited.
In the long run, Pip was hoping the unicorn would attract more hunters and
his unicorn hunting business would grownow his lifes mission was being
killedby a unicorn no less.
From his pocket, Pip grabs a large set of keys and opens the massive
entrance to the castle-or what she thought was the entrance.
Ira is surprised to find out that actually, the entire castle is on a mountain
side, the building is a few feet off of the deep ocean.
If you were standing right at the door way where Ira stands, you could
need to watch your step-for if you walked to far to the edge, you would fall
into the depths of the ocean below.
She looks into the distance, rather confused. The unicorn turns around, her
back facing the frame of the doorway. Iras voice is filled with irritation-she
was tricked.
Jerkthis is not the entrancestop messing with meyou think Im
kidding when I say your son is in danger?
Josephs father looks angrily at the unicorn.
From his other pockethe grabs a rather large knife, the knife is a straight
blade, with a black handle.
He runs to her and stabs her in the breast viciously; he snaps the handle
off and leaves the metal sticking out of her chest.
She had no time to react-it all happened to suddenly and without warning.
Ira neighs in pain and tumbles backward; she holds her breath as she
heads into the cold depths.
Pip spits into the ocean, right above Ira.
Good luck getting through without a boat.bitch.

33

Doran is then taken away, and Joseph still cowers in fear-he slams the
door to the castle.
The water is freezing; Iras blood floats through the dark blue water.
The metal shines as the sun beams off of it-the unicorn feels her lungs fill
up with water. She does not lose hope-she kicks her legs ferociously. Her
ears become blocked as the current in somewhat strong, making her have
to push harder than she thought shed need to.
She feels like her lungs could bust due to the fact she does not have much
air. Somehow, she knows if she just pushes-she can make it.she feels
lightheadedbut she knows she is that much closer to the surface.
Iras head pops out of the water, she takes a huge, deep breath-kicking all
four legs as she easily can now swim.
She hears the waves crash, salt water hits her lips, making it hard to
breathe-she tastes the water as it soaks into her nostrils.
She gags as water is shoved into her throat-she keeps her head high.
Her legs surprisingly work well; the wound becomes a secondary worry.
The unicorn looks around; straight ahead of her is an empty beach. She
then swims for it-as fate would have it, she found an empty barrel-identical
to the one Pip had for her in the castle and uses it as a makeshift buoy.
Her two front hooves, lean against the barrel-as her back legs do all the
work, but now she feels she can breathe and she can sort of relax.
She uses her bottom legs to kick herself forward. She looks at her left
breast and sees the metal protruding from her-blood drips from her chest.
Her horn glows purple as the blade miraculously is pulled-slowly out of her
chestshe winces in pain.
The sound of her flesh being tugged makes her sick.
Then, with the medical magic she was taught-attempts to close the wound
as much as possiblebut it still stings horribly.
The unicorn shivers profusely, her teeth chatter as the sun disappears
behind a group of grey clouds and thunder roars in the distance.
After about a half hour of swimming, she reaches the shore, light rain
begins to drizzle on her.

34

She trots up onto the sand and shakes off the ocean water-she feels the
sand on her hooves. She looks around her, no one is in sight.
Dry seaweed and tiny dead fish surround her; the ocean is murky, sort of a
shade of grey. There is not a lot of beach to walk along; the tide is coming
in quite fast.
Then, she notices a dog print on the sand-she gives it a whiff and smells
the scent of the wolf that took Francis.
Ira then looks into the distance and seeshim. She looks on as the wolf,
runs for his life across the large body of sand.
The unicorn canters after him-sand is thrown to the back of her-muddy and
wet sand to be exact. In no time catches up to him.
He charges after her on all fours and leaps, she is nearly knocked down,
she then quickly uses her horn to cut the wolf.
A deep, bloody cut is now on the wolfs chest, he tumbles on his back-Ira
grunts as she pins the canine down.
She uses her back hoof and stomps on his leg, he yells in pain as he looks
down and sees bone protruding from his limp, rubbery leg, dark red blood
gushes all over the dirty sand. She yells into his face, her ears pinned back.
Where is Francis? Tell me you son of a bitch!
She punches the wolf twice in the face using the hard edge of her hoof-his
nose begins bleeding profusely and his eye is now bruised.
He spits a bit of blood onto the sand, his eyes grow wide as he now knows
this unicorn is much stronger than he is.
The wolf also realizes that Ira is probably insane.
Someone had paid him off to keep silent, but his own life mattered too
much to him.
I took your humant-to a dragon!
Ira smacks him in the face.
WHAT?! A DRAGON!? Do you realize he could be DEAD?!? HUH?!
The wolfs eyes read undeniable terror; here is a strong unicorn, her mane
dirty with sand, her eyes wide and his life now in her hands.
He can barely look at the unicorn without his heart pounding.

35

H-he paid me to keep quiet! P-please dont hit me! S-see, that night
when I kidnapped Francis, I was told to bring him to a large mountain. Rright outside of this very town! Th-thats all I KNOW!
Iras voice is now calm, but still authoritative.
If I let you go, you wont try anything will you?
He shakes his head, she reads his face and believes him-and also
remembers that she broke his leg.
She then gets off of him, he lies in the sand-he begins crying in pain.
What is your name?
The wolf coughs violently.
Chuck!
Iras ears are now pinned back, she snorts a bit as she looks at the
cowering wolf-who at once seemed unbeatable-but now was begging at her
hooves to stay alive.
Tell me one more thingChuck. Where can I find some armor?
Th-theres a town.a little ways up the beach. NowLEAVE!
The unicorn smirks. She looks into the ocean, watching the waves crash
into each other; she also listens to the seagulls.
Ill leave, dont you worry-the tide will take over for me. Its coming in
quickly this evening. Doubt youll be hurting anymore humans soon
hmm?
Ira then trots off, leaving the wolf a few feet from the waves.
W-wait! I told you EVERYTHING! Take me with you! PLEASE?!
FUCK you!

Chapter 5 The New Town

Ira does indeed find a town a little ways from the beach. The town is partly
deserted.
The streets are sandy, same color as the beach.
Dilapidated buildings are on both sides of the land, a worn out sign
dangles at the entrance of the town called: Blithe.

36

She walks in the center of the street-she notices that the shops and
restaurants are however open and running. She finds a building that reads:
Armor Needs!
The store owner is a frog; he walks on two hind legs and is dressed in a
white dress shirt, a brown vest and slacks.
He sees a muscular unicorn walk in-he glances at her. He notices she
looks exhausted and is covered in sand and bruises. From behind his table,
he speaks in a low, southern accent.
Maamyou look like youve had quite a day!
Ira nods tiredly.
I need your help, sir. I need some armor
The frog looks at her, puzzled; he then goes into the back room to grab the
armor. Ira looks around his shop absent mindedly, the walls are covered in
weaponry and Chain Mail. The shop has one glass door, its one floor and
made of old wood, and smells quite musty.
The frog has everything in a large box, he speaks as he plops it on his
table.
Well, okay.I must ask-and tell me if its none of my business, but when
was the last time you ate and slept?
The unicorn looks down, then back up-surprised at his kindness.
I have no clue
The frog sees how starved she looks, he then gives her a small pouch with
about ten gold coins inside, he looks at her black mane-all tangled and
filled with sand and smelling of salty water.
Go get yourself something to eat and get some sleep. Ill hold these items
for you, its the least I could do-youre a beautiful unicorn who shouldnt
look so.down and out.
She gives a warm smile,
thank you sir. This is much appreciated!
The thought lingered that she was just wasting timebut she needed
sleep. She physically could not go on anymore, she would rather be well
rested-what if this dragon puts up a fight?

37

If she dies due to starvation or something, Francis chances of dying would

be raised all the higher.
She then walks again down the sandy road, coming across an inn.
The inn is large; the unicorn uses her front hoof to knock on the door.
An elderly woman wearing a tattered dress and apron answers the door.
Her voice high pitched, but kind, her hair a silver color and curly.
Ira speaks tiredly,
I need a place to eat and restjust for tonight. The lady smiles and puts
her hands on her hips.
Thatll be five coins maam.my name is Clara and welcome to my inn!
Clara hands Ira her key, a skeleton key to be exact.
Dangling from the key, is the room number: 6172
As Clara shows the unicorn around her very large room, she is delighted
that she gets a fireplace, a bed and a nice big window. She rarely stayed in
hotel type places, but she really did feel it was the right choice.
The first thing Ira does is take a bath.
Clara had to do some thinking, and she felt the easiest way to do this was
to hose of the unicorn and scrub her down with soap.
Ira felt kind of bad that this old lady had to do so much, Ira tried to talk her
out of it, but alas, the unicorn ended up outside-in the back of the inn being
hosed off by warm water and soap, the feeling is amazing. The water feels
like bath water, much like a shower.
The white soap smells of lavender.
Clara presumably had owned a horse before, she was very efficient at her
job, and she enjoyed Ira. The white hair on her body became shiny and
smooth as silk, her black mane and tail soon became shiny as well-the
black was a very deep black.
Clara asks the unicorn how things have been, Ira rolls her eyes and
chuckles.
Well, I met this human named Francis, hes a GREAT kid!

38

Poor guy gets kidnapped by some psycho wolfI go after him; I go to

some enchanted forest or some bullshit-end up in a frigging cave with huge
ass bees who have nothing better to do, then to sting me to death. Took
care of them!
THEN, I get abducted by some dudes, I escaped with the help of a nice
goat, but one of the dicks who abducted me, stabs me with a knife and
dumps me in the damn ocean!
Then, I swim to safety, meet up with the dirt bag who kidnapped Francisask him for information, he tells me the human has been abducted by some
big ass dragonNOW I gotta go, suit up and hunt for the dragon! Oh my
gawd!
Clara chuckles at the way she told this story, with speed and a lot of funny
little mannerisms.
After her amazing time with being hosed off and being incredibly clean, Ira
decided to go to a local pub to eat instead of making Clara cook for her.
Not many creatures are here, but being that it is now night time, a few
creatures and humans drifted in for a bite to eat and a drink.
The pub had a classy look, the booths were made of dark red leather.
A man in a tuxedo played light violin music in a dark corner.
The waiter was friendly and well dressed, candle light illuminated the entire
pubgiving it a very calming atmosphere.
The bars drinks were more expensive than Ira thought.
Ira orders some lettuce with vegetables and some water.
She eats slowly, but eats a very good amount-and she tops the evening off
with some red wine to calm her nerves, its nice to just sit in a booth and
not have to worry.
As Ira sits at her booth, humans sort of glance at her, some even chuckle.
Seeing a unicorn, sitting like a human at a pubis something maybe a little
kid would think of. However, as we know-Ira is from an enchanted forest, so
these things do happen in her world, and humans know that unicorns live in
a special forest.

39

She sips her fine wine with one hoof and looks at the small candle in the
middle of the table; she begins thinking of how much shes been through
for this one human. How proud of herself she is for conquering so much.
She takes a deep breath and leaves.
With Clara gone to bed in her own place a few feet from this new and
humble inn, Ira is able to go to her room, she quietly trots down the hall,
reads the room numbers carefully.
Ira takes her key out of the brown pouch, which now hangs by a rope
around her neck-like a necklace.
She enters her dark room, and flops on the queen sized bed-which barely
fits the unicornbut she doesnt care. She falls into an extremely deep
sleep.

Chapter 6
The morning sun beams through the giant window, the unicorn stretches
her four legs out.
Ira then goes outside of the inn, the air is slightly cold, but its not
unbearable, its dry however.
Outside, the sky is clear blue; she leaves six of the gold coins at the front
door of the inn before leaving.
Just then, out of nowhere-a giant shadow swoops over the unicorn!
She gasps and looks up-a dark red dragon flies a few feet above ground
and in his claw, he clutches Francis-who is screaming in terror.
The dragon then flies higher and higher-and in the distance, beyond the
town is a giant mountain.clouds loom over it, the dragon disappears into
the distanceheading for this mountain.
Ira stamps her hoof and runs into the weaponry shop where her armor is
being held.

40

The frog looks up in astonishment at the unicorns haste; he reads slight

panic in her eyes.
I need that armor-now.
He nods quickly; Ira has found new energy within her.
The store owner has the unicorn stand in an empty area as shes fitted.
First the silver leg plates go on all four legs. The armor only covers the front
of her legs, the back of her legs are exposed for more movement, and the
store owner speaks.
So, where are you going this early in the morning?
Ira speaks firmly, with a hint of heroism.
Im going after that dragon to find a best friend whom he abducted. Dont
try and stop me; dont try to talk me out of it. Im going.
The frog shakes his head slowly-he fears for the unicorns life but does not
say a word.
She is then fitted for the upper armor, it is the same color silver as the leg
plates, and the edges are gold and cover her entire back.
He uses a brown leather string to tie all of the pieces together firmlylastly
comes the helmet.
The shiny helmet clips firmly, it is shaped exactly like a horses muzzle, it
goes from her horn, all the way to the tip of her nose.
It is just in front of Iras horn, she can see pretty well, but has no peripheral
vision with it on, so that part of the armor is slightly obstructing.
Ira pays the frog the last of her coins-but before he could say she could
keep them, she bolts out of the store-and right for the foreboding
mountain

41

Part 2: The Unicorn,

the Dragon and CJ
Iras legs picked up speed as she dashes for the mountain, her armor
clanking together-her breathing deepher mind clouded with thoughts of
Francis becoming hurt by this monster. She cantered across pure sand, no
ocean, and no sign of lifejust scorching desert.
The small town disappeared-and before she knew itshe was neither
close to the town, nor to the mountain.
Her mind had become so obsessed with catching the dragon-she never
thought of exactly how far away the mountain was.
The unicorn stands in the blistering heat, the sun beating down upon her
shiny, new and heroic outfit.
The metal to her armor was now hot to the touch, the equine creature now
trots-seeing if she can save some of her energy.
All around her, nothing but desert-sure she can see the mountain. Walking
to it is a whole different story.
In about ten minutes, her mouth became suddenly dry as a bone.she
trotted, but due to the heat, her movements became slow.
In thirty minutes, Iras movements were even slower and almost painful.
She began sweating profusely-her breathing became shallowshe tried to
trot more, but she started craving waterthe unicorn then falls to her side.
Her dry tongue flops out of the side of her mouth-she then coughs deeply.
She is blinded by the sheer power, brightness and heat of the sunan

42

ominous shadow looms over her and everything blurs out and goes
black.

Chapter 7
The unicorn feels the air, drifts of cold breeze to be exact.
The surface she lies upon is hard rock, she can tell shes never been here
before.
She slowly opens her eyes; she stands up quickly and gasps. She is inside
of a large, cave like structure.
However, it hardly looks like a cave-it has the echo and chill of one, but
really its a large lair. The dragon constructed the inside of the mountain like
something out of The Phantom of the Opera.
Parts of the lair are shrouded in grey smoke-this lair gives Ira the chills.
Large, black chandeliers hang from the ceiling; dark red candelabras are
placed around the entire area.
The ground is smooth rock; a large, fancy gate covers the entrance to the
mountain.
She hears large footsteps coming towards her-a strong force suddenly
grabs her by the neck-she gasps in terror.
The thing holding heris the dragon himself!
The dragon has two sharp horns on top of his head, a spiked tail, teeth as
sharp as vampire fangs-his wings are a shiny black color.
He uses his two front claws to grab Ira by the throat, his hind legs he uses
to stand up-much like a human would.
Hes what some might call an anthropomorphic dragon.

43

Standing on two legs, and having a lizard-like body, the head and face of
dragon-but having identical movements and mannerisms of a human-down
to the walking and everything.
He is not as large as a regular dragon-he is about 6 feet tall; however he,
like Ira is extremely muscular. He also has insanity on his side.
His voice is deep and gruff, he wears a black leather jacket.
So, little unicornyou made it!
She then sees a sight that she only dreamed of weeks ago-she sees
Francis!
He is knocked out-and hangs by the wrists, he is tied to a wall.
His clothes are covered in dirt-he is covered in cuts. He is pale; he can
hardly keep his eyes open.
He is quite high up, but he certainly is alive.
The dragon laughs, a deep maniacal chuckle.
Ira, this little human proved to be quite the helper! For, that is why I
kidnapped him. See, humans-nave as they are, think that dragons can
justdo stuff all on there own.
This is false-much like humans sometimes need slaves, we too now need
slaves to fix our mountains and get us food when we would not dare
venture into some of the larger, more dragon hateful towns. Humans are
our slaves, Ira. Francis was never going to die.on the contrary, Im
keeping him healthy. Its justtoday he tried to escape the mighty wrath of
VANDAL-and now he is beingshall we say, hung out for a while!
I told him, the punishment for trying to escape-would be harsh.
The unicorn, still being held by his vice like grip, shouts.
LET HIM GO! Take me! LEAVE HIM you bastard!
Vandal tosses Ira to the ground, due to her armor-the fall does not weaken
herit only pisses her off.
From a corner of the lair, Vandal grabs a large, black whip-the tip of the
whip is made of metal. He then shouts Francis namethen, he begins

44

whipping him. The human screams in pain, blood pours from certain parts
of his body.
You THINK youll escape, HUH human?!
Francis cries, but the dragon whips him four more times.every inch of
Francis now hurts.
The equine-creature slowly stands up, she is the middle of the lair-candles
and fog surrounds her.
Ira then uses her front hoof to perform a sort of uppercut and smack the
dragon in the chin, he falls backwards-biting his tongue by accident, he
rubs his chin and spits out clots of blood, his tongue was nearly split in half.
Ohhh.Ira, poor Franciswill have to watch the slow demise-of his
precious new friend!
The young man, dazed after the whipping-comes to.
Just a few feet away from him, Ira stands tall in her gallant garb-he shouts
her name over and over.
I promise Francis, Ill get you out of here!
Vandal kicks her in the gut, she nearly trips.
Why are you keeping these petty promises? Francis works for me now! I
truly hope to send you to Katrina-the TWO of you! She would really have a
niiiiice time with you both!
Quit being a fat ass, overly emotional little bitch!
The unicorn looks at the dragon, her fleeting thought reads who the hell is
Katrina?
Then, her eyes squint, she stands up quickly.
Her four legs spread apart, in a fighting position her father had taught her.
As Ira looks at him-she remembers that all dragons have a weak spot-and
his was right on his gut-the tiniest black spotyoud have to look for it in
order to see it-but she had been scouting for it this whole time.
She snorts and stomps her hoof. She lets out a sarcastic chuckle.
Bitch? You want to see me be a BITCH?! Alright then!

45

The unicorn charges at himher horn heading straight for him like a flying
spear.
It is no use, once she canters up to him-he grabs her horn and pulls on itcausing Ira to scream in pain.
He rips her helmet off and punches her in the nostril-dark red blood pours
out of it.
She nearly trips again, she shakes her head angrily. All she does is stand in
the middle of the lair-deeply breathing, Vandal strands tall.
Suddenly, a white glow surrounds the whip-it is then forced out of his hand.
Ira then stands up on her hind legs, and holds the whip in one hoof.
All mythical creatures can do this, standing on their hind legs and holding
objects in their upper arms..Ira did not do it often.
The unicorn then begins whipping the dragon, he yells in pain-he knows
she has the upper hand.
Vandal falls to the ground; little cuts emerge on his scaly body.
So Vandalnot so fun being on the other end of abuse, is it?
The dragon feels dizzy, hes bleeding and worried for his life-the pain
becomes so intense, that he can not concentrate on anything more, the
dragon is now lying on his back, the stinging cuts bleeding, he groans in
pain.
Ira then tosses the whip to the side, goes back on all fours-and jams her
horn into the gut of the dragon.
Vandal screams in agony, he tries to force the horn out of his stomach-but
she keeps it in there-then she slowly drags the horn slowly, slicing opening
his stomach and its contents entirely.
Vandals eyes are wide open; he is in pure, horrified shock.
He slowly dies, passing out as he begins to hold his large, gory intestine in
his clawed hand
Francis begins crying-Ira runs over to him and uses her horn to pick the
locks that bind himFrancis hugs her tightly and cries more and

46

more.she lets him hug her for a long period of time, for the first time-she
whispers soft, consoling words to Francis-just hearing her voice, made the
human feel a tad bit better.

Chapter 8-One Month Later

The white, female unicorn walks the streets of Forlorn once again.
The sun shines, the sky is blue and there is a slight breeze in the air,
causing spots of yellow pollen to be lifted about the area.
The day is just beautiful. Most of the scars she had gotten from the battle
she fought were now healed.
The townspeople no longer treat Ira as a stranger, some people come up to
compliment her on a job well done saving the human and how inspiring it is
that a creature cares so much for a human.
She hadnt seen Francis in quite a while, the last time she did spend time
with him, he was asleep at her place, he seemed quiet, but she guessed
the affect of being kidnapped by a winged dragon would be anything but
bouncing with joy-he seemed shaken up by the whole thing.
Ira approaches his house and knocks happily.
A few moments pass, Francis opens the door, he looks pale and dark
circles are under his eyes. He gives Ira a hug and lets her in.
The young mans home is in complete disarray-Ira looks around, and the
human knows shes going to say something.

47

Francis, it is amazing to see you-but your homecould use a lot of work.

Her horn turns white and a few objects strewn on the floor float in the air
and are put back in there place.
Francis voice sounds groggy and sickly-he also sounds mildly irritated.
Yeah, I know Ira-my house is a complete mess. I really dont feel good.
He sits on his bed and sighs, the unicorn approaches him calmly.
Francis-you look awful. Tell me whats going on.
The human looks at his best friend.
W-well..I havent been sleeping, Ive been having nightmares about Vandal
the dragon.I try to sleep, b-but I cant handle it.
Ira sighs in deep thought.
Why dont you and I go outside? Get some fresh air?
Francis frowns.
I-I really dont want to.
Francis, have you been outside.today?
Not inlike
He thinks, but hes only delaying his answer-knowing that itll only make Ira
more nervous. Not like in two weeks
The unicorn groans a tiny bit.
Francis, thats unhealthy. Get outside; itll do you some good.
I-ira please.I dont want to!
She senses Francis is getting annoyed. Ira speaks in a slightly firm tone,
but is careful not to yell.
Look, staying inside and worrying about stuff is horrible. Come on!
Ira! I said no.jeez, youre so controlling. Youyour personalitybothers
me at times. You want full control over everyone, youre overly strict-and
sometimes you dont care who you yell at!
Ira sighs deeply; she knows she can be a bit overbearing.
Francis, listenI only mean to help you. Yeah, I can besnippy at times.
The human looks up as she says her statement, he all of the sudden feels
awful.
I-IraIm sorry I said that. Y-you saved my life. I should be nothing but
grateful to you.

48

He begins to cry softly. Ira never knew that one dark event could change a
human-Francis always had a slight tone of sadness, but he always seemed
unaffected by his situations when around her. Now, hes a lot more fragile.
The unicorn nudges him with her nose gently.
No crying, Francis. Well go outside and take a walkand you can meet
my new boyfriend! Francis sighs.
I want to be alonecome back later.
Ira sighs, she then notices Francis pull out a small, glass bottle.
He drinks the purple liquid inside of it, Ira gasps and yanks it from him.
You drink this?
She then glares at Francis.
The human rolls his eyes.
Yeah..its a relaxation potion I got from an enchanted forest!
The unicorn then empties the bottle onto the floor.
Do you realize that drinking large amounts of potion counteracts and is like
a poison? Huh? You realize, that you could die, if too much of this magic
shit is taken? Hm?
Francis then begins to cry, the unicorn has a look of concern. I-ira! Im
sorry! I REALLY am! I-I need help! The nightmares, the constant, horrifying
thoughts-the looming thought of that dragon will NEVER escape me!
NEVER!
Ira puts her hoof around her friend and nuzzles him gently.
Francis.let me get you in bed, how long have you taken the potion?
With tears in his eyes, he answers.
O-only for about two hours.I-I took two other ones this morningth-they
helpedbut I dont know
Francis then clutches his stomach, Ira cocks her head.
"Francis...you okay?" The human shakes his head.
"Ummm...n-no....I think I...I..."
Francis then runs to the back door of his house.
He begins vomiting, almost projectile vomiting. The unicorn sighs-Francis
was super embarrassed, why did Ira have to come at this time to see that?
He coughed, vomited a bit more, Francis rubs his eyes and cusses under
his breath.

49

He then slowly back into the house.

"S-sorry Ira...." He then begins crying again, he pats her muzzle.
Francis lies in bed, the covers glow white as they are magically tossed
upon him, Ira stands right above his bedside.
You need sleep Francis, you're sick-no doubt about it. The nightmares will
not hurt you. Take a few deep breaths, Ill be back. I want you to meet my
boyfriend soon, no more potions for you. I did a lot of work to get you back
alive-no need ruining yourself now.
The unicorn then gives him a quick kiss on the forehead-she stays until he
falls asleep.
That evening, at sunset-Ira walks into the local bar.

A large, brown Belgian horse comes into the bar Ira is in. He has bushy
black mane and white socks. Ira trots over to him and kisses him lightly on
the lips.
IRA! You look gooood!
His booming voice echoes through the bar, some creatures chuckle at his
hyper nature-others roll there eyes.
She loves his accent, originally he is from Argentina.
The stallion named CJ has a certain rasp to his voice, and it is quite deep,
but laid back, he has an aura of excitement about him, like everything he
says is a huge deal.
Despite him being kind of loud and energetic-he is a very hang loose type
horse. He doesnt make anything a big deal really, nothing much bothers
him.
His parents were extremely strict and rigorous-and he always felt that
others didnt like it much. Certainly, he hated it-his parents wanted him to
wear the fanciest horse blankets-he chose the most causal looking ones he
could get.

50

They wanted him to comb his mane, he never did.

So, ever since he hit his teen years (he is only a bit younger than Ira now),
he really just loves to have a good time, he loves being with others, he
hated any type of confrontation, his biggest trait was adding humor to dark
situations and being slightly goofy-but he also knows when to be serious
and doesnt take everything for a big joke.
He understood that sometimes he had to put his natural instincts and
persona away, and become more calm and mellow out a bit.
CJ orders some scotch, Ira orders a Rum Punch.
They both sit next to each other at a small table.
This is there third date.
You and human-still good, yes?
The unicorn takes a sip from glass, she shrugs, and thinks deeply, glancing
at both her boyfriend and the other customers at the bar.
Well, Francis has beendistant. Oh my Gawd, I visited him earlier todayand he's been ill, but I still want you to meet him, and he seemed irritated
by nightmares. So, I really hope that this isnt permanent-but then again, its
hard. He was kidnapped by a frigging dragon, so asking him to forget it is
something that would be insensitive. So, I dont know CJ
The horse swigs his drink, drinking almost the entire glass in one gulp-this
horse can hold his liquor.
I should see him, yes? Cheer him up?
Ira smiles slightly.
Well, he hasnt met you yet-and he seems very down, you can cheer
anyone up it would seem. I think you should see him, Ill come with you and
well take it from there.
Ira finishes her drink; she had two of them, so she is slightly tipsy-but not
drunk by a long shot. CJ had one more glass of scotch-he certainly felt the
effects, but like Ira-was not drunk.
In the evening, Francis spent his time drawing with a quill and ink by
candlelight at a small desk in his apartment. He felt a heck of a lot better
after the potion was out of his system and he had a nice long nap.

51

The evening was somewhat cold, once he heard a knock at the door-he
knew it would be Ira. He
He grabs his cane, limps to the door and opens it.
Not only does his favorite unicorn stand there, but also her boyfriend-a tall,
brown horse with a light pink nose and slightly tangled mane.
Heeeey Francis! I am CJ! I hear all about you, yes! Hope you feel better!
CJ automatically hugs the human, Francis chuckles at his excitement.
They both trot into the house, Francis smiles, he finds CJs accent to be
very amusing.
Yes, I am him, Mr. CJ! Its a pleasure to meet you!
He stands beside the horse, CJ nudges the human playfully.
Ira very special to you, yes?
As Francis nods, he sits back at his drawing desk.
CJ looks over at what the human drew; it is a very nice sketch of Ira
wearing her armor.
Her facial expression identical to the one she had when she fought Vandal.
It was no doubt, that Ira was Francis hero.
The horse, the unicorn and the human spend time talking, Francis tells CJ
about his past and how his father abused him. As Ira went out to get
Francis some water, he tells CJ what his daily routine was like and what
kind of father he had. His biological father was named Russell.
For the most part, since Francis had been born, he was always considered
weak.
His mother, Kit was never there, she was off having hardcore sex with other
villagers, and even the king at one point. Yeah, she was beautiful-long
brown hair, nice and a sexy walk.
She wore clothes that were very revealing, she almost looked like a queen
or princess.
However, she was always drunk-which is why she'd have a lot of 'alone
time' with men. When
Kit came home, Francis was a baby and was usually crying due to Russell
hitting him a few times or flat out neglecting him, but since she was drunk-

52

she'd be laughing and Russell would smile since he had such an attractive
wife.
If she was sober enough and wasn't tired, Kit and Russell would often take
things to the bedroom. Russell wasn't bad looking, he was a bit overweight
perhaps, but he did have a cute dimple and a way of talking dirty that
turned Kit on.
They would make quite a ruckus, with Kit screaming "Be my king!" or she'd
bark orders at him about which way to push and when to pull out.
She was into men taking care of her, so Russell and Kit were both fooling
around, while Francis was left uncared for.
The beating from Russell-led to one side of Francis' brain being practically
useless, his left leg was weak and so was his arm.
The cane was like a life saver.
Right before he was a teen, he had collected enough money from his
Newspaper delivery job, to get himself his own place, the rest is history.
CJ had never heard of such a thing, humans being so nasty to each other,
so the horse would make sure to really show that he wanted this human as
a best friend, Francis was surly glad to add another one to his list...

Later that evening.

As the three of them slept, far outside a few miles from the town of Forlorn,
Doran walks.
He was actually looking for Ira-after there big escape from the castle, he
wanted to make sure she was okay and also wanted to meet the human
she kept on talking about.
The goat walks through the woods, nocturnal animals make there presence
known-and admittedly spook Doran a tiny bit. He begins to worry that hell

53

trip on a root or end up the late night snack of a wolf or Minotaur or

whatever else could be here.
However, what really gets his heart thudding, is a tall, cloaked figure
heading for him. As this figure walks toward him, fog begins to roll in, the
animals in the woods begin to run.
M-may I help you?!
The goat shouts, shivering.
The figure is about six feet tall, removes the hood from her head.
Her faceis a pale green color, her nose slightly large and pointy-a hairy
wart protrudes from the end of it. Her hair is long and black; she looks to be
about seventy years old.
This mysterious woman says not a word, but her stare sends Doran into a
feeling of terror hes never felt before.
As she reaches out to touch the goat, he sees that her hands are also
green, her black finger nails, long and jagged.
She lightly touches him on the shoulder, the goat all of the sudden has
trouble breathing.
He drops his lantern. She recites some dark magical spellthe goats
eyes slowly begin popping out of there sockets, blood oozes out of the
gaping holes, and he collapses into the mud.
She reaches into his coat pocket and finds a map of the entire town of
Forlorn, as well as all the towns surrounding itshe smirks, the sun begins
showing its full form only moments after Dorans untimely demise

Chapter 9
Francis eyes slowly open, the first sounds he hears this morning, is the
sound of CJ talking to Ira, both speak in low tones.

54

Ira was asking questions about how CJ liked this human, and the Belgium
horse seemed to like Francis.
A smile forms across his face, he rests, just listening to them whisper and
chuckle with each other.
He then realizes, he is in his bed, he remembered the night before, being
asleep next to his two favorite equines-on the floor of his apartment.
Francis stands up, the two horses look at him as he sits at the large table
they stand beside of. CJ is the first to speak.
Mister sleepy human! You good, yes?
He nods tiredly and pats the two horses; he hasnt felt this happy in a long
while.
Francis loves being with Ira of course, and CJ is just a lot of fun-he truly
hopes the two of them spend ample time with each other, because in his
mind they make quite a cute couple.
Also, Francis didnt have one of his many nightmares about Vandal abusing
him or treating him as some slave, so that also helped a lot.
The human gets dressed and heads out to deliver the morning paper, CJ
follows the human, wanting to learn more about him, Ira heads out to go
check on her own stable.
The unicorn yet again walks the streets; however, she is stopped by a
knight. He seems rather stern.
Youre Ira -the one who rescued the human from that dragon not too long
ago?
The unicorn nods-in a slightly confused manner.
The general would like to see you.
Ira raises one eyebrow.
Me? Whats the meaning of this?
He then gently leads her to a place in Forlorn she had never been.

Chapter 10

55

She could have easily kicked him and ran off, but she did sense sincerity in
his voice-also, she knew she could get in huge trouble for attacking a
knight.
I can not say yet why he needs youyou know how to fight well?
Ira rolls her eyes, her voice filled with annoyance.
Look sir, Im not some pawn you can just bring to random places-I want
answers! Why would a general need to see me?
The knight was getting quite annoyed with Iras irritability-but he knew once
she knew the importance of this matter, she probably would pipe down.
He had never before met a unicorn with such spunk.
The knight leads her to a very large building, it is not quite as tall as a
castle however-but still large enough to house at least sixty people.
The building is made of shiny metal. The roof is flat and made of brick.
Large, stained glass windows surround the buildings walls. The building is
protected by a huge, metal gate.
The double doors of the building are pushed open-and lead to a great hall.
Iras hooves tap against the marble floor. The marble floor has a shiny
white and dark blue color pattern.
Black and gold chandeliers hang from the ceiling.
Giant windows to the outside illuminate the hall.
In the middle of this large, marble hallway, is a giant silver table which is
long and filled with food and drinks.
The unicorn looks around at the walls; massive portraits of fallen generalsincluding Mortus, her father are hung. The gold frames are polished,
Sitting around this elaborate table, are about ten knights-and one of them
has a large red cape. He is about seventy years of age and has a grey
beard.
The knight in the red cape removes his golden helmet in a respectful
manner.
Ira, no one will harm you. Let your guard down.
His voice is slow and deep.
My name is Colin. I am the general of the entire army of Forlorn.

56

You, Miss. Ira are here-for a very urgent matter. A matter which puts this
town, in grave danger.
The unicorn trots up to Colin, she now knows where she is.
On her trips to Forlorn, her father spoke of this well-respected building,
where the protectors of the town lived, now she was here and she was
quite stunned of how well the building looked.
Sir, its a pleasure to meet you-but Im still confused as to why the hell
some knight would take me to one of the most respected places in all of
Forlorn.
Colin then puts his hand gently on the unicorns neck, her white fur is soft
and shiny, her black mane and forelock are straight.
We have word that someone means to destroy this town. Someone who
has dark powers that surpass our armies by a long shot. This someone is a
witch. Shes murdered a lot of humans and creatures-and we fear that she
means to kill us all.
Ira tries to wrap her head around everything.
Wait, so some magical, sorcery type bitch is killing others-you think shes
coming here to destroy the townokayand you know your army is no
match for this woman.
Colin looks at Ira with grave seriousness.
We need you to help us. If this witch is indeed to destroy this town-and
were pretty sure of it.she came here once before. We had to rebuild our
entire town.
Bottom line Ira, is that well need the help of another magical creature, to
even have a possibility of destroying her once and for all. Unicorns are
highly powerful
Ira chuckles in disbelief.
Whoa! So, you want me to join your army to kill this hideous bitch?
Colin stands beside the unicorn, admiring her well kept body.
Yes Ira-we think you have the cunning intelligence and power to kill the
witch.I know how you saved that humans life, Francis. I know you
disemboweled a dragon-I truly think youre the right one to destroy a witch.

57

Youll savethousands-as I say, shes killed a lot of creatures. I know a lot

about her, shes nasty.
Hell, sometimes in the eveningsshe sneaks into parents homes and
kidnaps infants and.murders them. Specifically, she sucks there blood to
keep her youth.
Ira looks at her hooves sadly, then back up.
Fuckshe kills infants, kills creatures-all for personal gain, I guess?
Colin shrugs sadly.
Well, I guess so-no one knows why shes so.malevolent. All I know is
that her name is Katrina-and our army wants her dead. Will you help us,
Ira? The unicorn thinks for a moment, Vandel the dragon had mentioned
that name. Was he working for her the whole time? It was a possibility,
being that he knew of her.
Colin looks at her with pleading eyes.
Yes. However, at the moment, I am looking after Francis-if some darkness
is going to take over the city-hell need protection.
Colin nods and smiles a bit.
I knew you would say thatcome, let me show you who I have in mind to
watch Francis.
Ira follows Colin past the metal table, and down into a large room, almost
like a large basement-with a lot of windows, food and water.
From out of a dark corner-a seven foot creature comes out. Ira is shocked
to learn that this creature-is a dragon of all things!
He walks on all fours; he is dark purple, with a bit of spiky, black hair on top
of his head. His wings are purple as well; he goes up on his hind legs and
smiles.
He is quite young, perhaps the age of a teen judging by his voice.
He is a classic looking dragon- a European dragon to be exact.
Ira-its a pleasure to meet you. Im Matthew-and I would beSO honored
to look after your awesome human!
Ira nods and smiles, sensing kindness from him right away.

58

Chapter 11
CJ and Francis walk back to the humans place.
You do good job, Francis! You very professional yes! Many, many
newspapers!
The young man sits down after a long day of delivering papers. He grabs
himself a glass of water, CJ lies on his stomach.
Thank you, CJ! You are quite an awesome horse! Iras boy friend nods
Yes, I try!
Unexpectedly, Ira comes trotting in.
Francis, CJI need to talk to you both.
CJ and Francis sit beside each other, Ira stands in the middle of the
humans apartment.
So, today I spoke to the general of our army in Forlorn. He told mehe
told me something bad is going to happen. He didnt tell me when, but he
told me of a witch named Katrina. Shes killed many innocent humans-and I
guess shes struck here before.
Francis begins to get very nervous; CJ lightly puts his hoof on his shoulder.
I will stay with Francis, yes?
Ira sighs and approaches her boyfriend.
Look CJ, youre an amazing friend for Francis, and youre the best
boyfriend I could ask forbut, youre.a horse. I have to be realistic with
you on thisyou wouldnt be able to protect Francis-should shit hit the fan.
She looks down at the human, who hasnt said a word.
Francis, this is important. I have someone to look after you. I need to go
away, I need to stay with the general and hopefully get Katrina when she
comes. In the meantime, step outside back.

59

Part 3: Darkness Falls

She gently leads him out the back door, the area behind Francis home
matches Iras backyard-grassy with trees a few miles down.
It is a completely flat meadow, standing now in front of Francis, Ira and CJis a purple dragon.
He stands on his hind legs and smiles sweetly at the three of them.
The first thing the dragon notices and is concerned about is Francis limp
and need for a cane.
Francis eyes get widehe begins to have trouble breathing.Ira stands
in front of him. Francislook at me buddy. This is Mathew, and he is a
very kind dragon.trust me.
The human cries a bit, images of Vandal invade his brain, like a smack
across the face. Francis shakes his head.
I-I cant d-do this.Mattp-please stay away.
The dragon however, is not offended by this. He was told that the poor guy
was abducted by some insane dragon, its no wonder why he may have
some prejudice thoughts-but they needed to be dealt with here and now. Ira
sighs; the dragon dares not approach the human.
You cant think that of all dragons-like humans, theyre all different. It
would be like someone judging you for having a limp-please Francis, give
Matt a chance. Talk to himhe loves talking, he will take good care of you
while I leave, CJ will be here too!
Francis takes a deep breath, stands silentlyand then ever so slowly
approaches Matt.
The teenage dragon goes on all fours, Matts head is now level with
Francis chest-only when he stands fully, is he his full height. The young
man reaches his hand out and slowly pats the dragons nose. Matt smiles
and speaks in an extremely friendly, but soft tone.
Hey bud! Nice too meet ya!

60

Ira knew she had to leave to be with the general and his army; they would
need to discuss where Katrina was and how they think she would strike.
She would have to leave early if she wanted to make it by nightfall.
While Francis understood why she had to leave, he truly hated seeing her
go. He imagined the worst possible thing happening to his hero. He was
sure glad to have CJ and Matt at his apartment while she was gone.

The Next Day

The building was bolted-knights surrounded the building.
The unicorn again steps into the great hall, Colin meets her at the entrance
and show her to her room.
Her room is huge, bigger than her stable.
The walls are dark purple, a large queen sized bed is in the middle of the
place, Colin had also hung a photo of Mortus above her bed, a beautiful
painting to be exact of her father looking stern and trussed up in gold
armor, every detail of the stallion was intact, the best part of the painting
however-was the accuracy of the horn of her father-so dark looking, and
yet somewhat beautiful-like she remembered it.
Being that the night was still young, Colin and Ira decided to take a walk
along the buildings grounds.
Lanterns lit up the night, crickets chirped.
Ira and Colin casually walk; she admires statues-all of them horses ready
for battle, they walk behind the castle.
The section were walking in Ira, is dedicated to the equine royal guard. I
knew your father-he was one of the best leaders.
The female unicorn nods.
Thank you, sir.
Colin clears his throat, as he talks-Iras ears move around, back and fourthso he knows he is being listened to.
So, I had a patrol go out not long after you had left, and we discovered
Katrinas castle. It is in the enchanted forest-the one where you got stung

61

by the pesky bees a while back. I have the directions on a large map
inside, the castle is large-it is black with a very sharp and pointy roof-its an
ugly looking thing.
Our men could not get in-I would have feared for there lives, witches have
so many powers-and the ones who choose to be evil, are normally sick in
the head. Its just a horrible combination-and I would never tellthe
townspeople thisbut I fear that whatever we do, will be somewhat in vain.
This being said, I want her dead.
Ira nods and glances at her hooves a few times.
Of course Ill help in anyway I can. Its just, with dark times coming, I
worry about Francis.a lot.
Colin raises one eyebrow, suddenly recalling the human Ira cared so much
about.
How is he doing with Matthew by the way? They are getting along, I
hope? Ira sighs a bit.
Yes, I think so, I think the whole dragon thing made him poop his pants to
be honest with you, but I truly think itll be alright-my boyfriend is there too. I
hope no harm will come to any of them.

Chapter 12
The next morning, Francis awakens-CJ and Matt talk outside.
The sun shines over the entire town; the day is muggy-however a nice
breeze is in the air, almost like sailing weather.
Francis was glad he had a day off from delivering newspapers, hed get
socialize with the dragon and the horse for the day.
The human listens to the two voices coming from a short distance and goes
outside. Matt and CJ smile, the dragons voice is chipper.
Theres the human, morning!

62

The young man chuckles, the dragon heads back into the humans home
and lies on his stomach, he fits into the place quite well-however, a few
items had to be moved. CJ decides to stay outside and socialize with
townspeople.
So Francis, you sleep okay bud?
Francis goes over to a wooden bucket at the end of his bed and splashes
water on his face.
Yes, I cant stop thinking about Ira though.
The dragon, still on all fours walks up to the human.
Well, you want to do something awesome? Likego for a fly?
Francis looks at the dragonsays not a wordand nods.
They both head outside.
Okay Francis, hop on and hold onto my neck. Youll be on hundred percent
safe, we wont go high
CJ looks at the human on the dragons back.
Francisyou crazy human! You no pay me to sit on dragon! Craaazy!
The dragon scoffs.
HA! Hed be crazy if he said no! Now, Francis, well start off slow-and if
you get scared, let me know and well land. Okay?
The human nods-he never thought in his life hed get to fly on a dragon, he
was nervous-but he didnt let this stop him.
Matt spread his wings out; he slowly flaps his wings and begins to take off.
Theyre about three feet off of the groundMatt stops flapping once they
hit about five feet. You okay Francis?
The human speaks in a tone that reads awe inspired as the houses of
Forlorn are a bit small looking.
Im good!
While Francis never showed excitement very much, inside his heart
fluttered in inspiration and awe.
The purple dragon swoops around, above the enchanted forest and even
flies above the beach where Ira found the wolf that kidnapped her favorite
human. Francis would admit-this experience was life changing!

63

Ira sweats hard as she was in the middle of performing a well paced jog
outside.
A young soldier walks outside and notices the unicorn, he is about eighteen
years of age-he had only heard of the unicorn being here-and he happened
to catch a glimpse of her working out. He ever so slowly walks up to her.
Her ears twitch, she continues running laps-in between breaths, she
speaks and glances at the casually dressed kid. Ira gives out a quick smirk.
Hey, how are you?
The young man blushes and clears his throat. He is about five feet tall and
has short blonde hair, he is thin and has blue eyes-Ira figures girls might
just like him-however, he is extremely shy.
I-Im wellIm Kyle. Colin told me you were going to be here
Ira knows hes staring at her, not in a creepy way-but she could tell he
never saw a unicorn before.
Her forelock drips with sweat as she runs, her black mane bounces.
He also cant help but not stare at her horn-the sun light bounces off of itcreating a rainbow effect around the beautiful looking weapon.
The one thing that through Kyle off, was her voice-normally he may
imagine a unicorn speaking in a soft and monotone voice-however, Ira
spoke not loudly, but her dialect was quick and to the point-she gave off a
sort of edge to her tone, not mean-but just unexpected for a unicorn, which
is pretty much what everyone thinks when Ira opens her mouth.
Would you like to go for a walk w-with me.Ira?
Kyle asks in a shy and friendly tone.
They walk outside of the building walls, they walk through a meadow-Kyle
really feels slightly giddy-unicorns were always his favorite creatures and to
be able to be with one was an honor.
I sometimesthink that unicornswell, perhaps have.less emotions
than we do. Like-they dont worry or theyre not as hyperas we are.
Youre different thoughyoure.talkative and from what youve told me
about Francis, youre assertive. Ira smiles, she's so flattered that yet

64

another human is interested in unicorns-and not from a 'I can make lots of
gold off of this creature' kind of way.
Well, yeah-most unicorns are very soft spoken-most of them like and may
even care about humans, but are not around them for a long while-most
live in some huge forest and take things very delicately and are pure in
soul and blah, blah, blah. I think I have a different demeanor, because its
sort of how my dad raised me, Ive always been different from other
unicorns. Im quite talkative andI guess you could say even spunky at
certain times.
My biggest normal attribute is my horn and I have indeed been
compassionate I guess-but really, even other unicorns looked at me as
being a lot more outgoing and as you said, assertive-but its me and I
wouldnt change anything.
Kyle and Ira then sit in the middle of a meadow, birds tweet in the air, a
small butterfly flies around the two. The unicorn sits on her hip, her legs
stretched out to one side, she chews on a long blade of grass.
So Kyle, do you have a girlfriend?
The human blushes and rubs the back of his neck.
N-no maam, I do not really think Imwell, cut out to be a boyfriend.
The unicorn smiles, sensing that Kyle looks down at himself quite often.
Well, how do you picture it? You picture your girl being some princess,
locked away in a castle-while youre a daring night off to slay the dragon
that holds her hostage?
Kyle laughs a bit.
Well, not quite. If I had a girl friend, Id want one that would protect me!
Was he flirting with Ira?
She sure thought so after that comment, but she laughs it off. Ira speaks,
looking right at the human.
Wow Kyle, thats quite interesting! Not many men, especially young men
would think that. The human feltvery connected to Ira. Almost like he
had a crush on her, and he thought she could sense it as well.

65

Ira found it cute, and as long as he didnt go into creep territory, she
figured Kyles admiration was just innocent-she was flattered that he felt
this way in fact. Kyle felt very comfortable around Ira, he sort of knew that if
he ever dated a girl-the type of personality hed go for one, would be one
like Iras. Protective, confident, slightly spunky and beautiful.
Perhaps Kyle would be up for actually asking some girl out now that Ira
spoke to him? Who knew the possibilities?
Ira, Kyle, the soldiers and Colin gather at the table to talk of Katrinas
untimely coming the next day on a cloudy afternoon, Katrina is a subject
which they know still very little about- apart from two things.
A few dead bodies around the area that have been caused by black magic,
secondly, they had to rebuild the entire town because of her, but she wasnt
seen by many.
Kyle spoke to a few soldiers about his time with Ira, Colin told Ira more
information about the witch. What types of poisons she uses, how shes
killed others, and Ira spoke of her magic as well. Ideas were forming.
In the evening, Ira steps into her room.
After all the sun she got throughout the day, she did feel tired.
Someone knocks at her door and peeks in. Its Kyle
Im sorry to intrude Ira, can I come in?
The unicorn nods, lights a lantern by her bedside and smiles, the human
closes the door gently. Im scared Ira
He sits on her bed, the unicorn stands in front of him, looking concerned.
Of Katrina and all that stuff we were talking about?
Kyle nods and takes a deep breath.
Im only a teenager, Ira. I cant be off, fighting a witch or whatever.
Ira glances at her hooves.
Kyle, teens are in war, we need all the help we can get.
The human interrupts her.
I dont think I can fight. I know Im going to die out there, I can sense it! Im
meant to beyou know a newspaper delivery boy or something! Ira, what if

66

I cant do this? What if Im the only one worrying? All the other boys my age
are out and ready to fight, but Im just not!
Kyle, the more you worry, the worse this will all get. What would help you
get through this?
He thinks for a moment.
C-can I stay with you?
The unicorn thinks things through, would it be possible? Equines and
humans would be separated, horses in the back, humans in the front lines.
IllIll talk to Colin, okay? Now, I dont want you up worrying all night-just
go to sleep. Kyle nods and stands up.
Youre a beautiful unicorn Ira, and you inspire me. Until we meet again
Ira smiles slightly.

Chapter 13
Back at the apartment, Francis, Matt and CJ have been well.
Francis now really likes Matt and trusts him, which considering he went
from hating dragons-to at least feeling comfortable and even friendly
around one, was a huge step.
Iras boyfriend decides to take a walk outside.
At first, the friendly, brown horse is happy, he says hi to the townspeople
and makes others laugh like he doeshowever, grey ominous clouds
begin to form over Forlorn.
CJ cocks his head in pure bewilderment.
H-how come it rain so fast?
The townspeople begin running into there homes, the clouds only become
darker-CJ, being a horse and having a fight or flight responseruns.
As he does so, the wind kicks up and the clouds begin to part-revealing
even more darkness.
Tornado-must warn Matt and Francis, yes!

67

Inside the apartment, Francis stays close to Matt, the dragon begins
worrying about CJ-but he dares not fly in to look for him in this weather.
M-matt! D-do you know why this is happening?!
The scaled creature looks outsidehe happens to get a glimpse of the
local graveyard.armored skeletons begin to slowly crawl out of the grass.
There movements, slow and eerie.
The dragon swiftly locks the door and locks the windows-sure he could go
out there and fight-but his duty is to stay with Francisand that is what he
will do.
A lump begins to form in Francis throat.
M-MATT! Yo-youre scaring me.
The dragon puts one hand on his shoulder.
Wellyou wouldnt believe whats happening if I told you.but I can not
lie. Dark forces are now at workand Im going to stay with you every
moment, alright?
The wind picks up more, which makes the apartment shake a bit-screams
can be heard from outside.
The young man hugs Matthew looks down at the human and consoles him
by rubbing his back and speaking softly.
Its okay buddyIm here.
Ira at this moment, is now in new armor-the silver is shiny, on the rims of
the armor, are golden designs.
This armor fits a lot better than the old one the unicorn once had-its soft
padding and weight are much more manageable when the time comes to
fight.
Colin pats the unicorns neck.
Irawere all going out thereall the men-you know the plan. Katrina IS
doing thisgo to the castle and stop her. Shes controlling it-kill her and it
all ends.
The unicorn nods and takes the back way so she is not instantly spotted by
hundreds of skeletons rising from the depths of hell.
Ira is just about to leave, when Kyle comes running up to her.

68

"P-please IRA! Don't go! I-I consider you a friend!" The unicorn shook her
head, she had no time for nonsense. "You'll...you'll get yourself KILLED!
You'll be in DANGER!"
The unicorn steps back, not wanting to hear this whining anymore; Ira's
voice turns ice cold and angry.
"As far as that Katrina bitch is concerned-I am the danger."
Francis apartment gets instantly raided by undead warriors-the skeletons
jump about, tear apart walls, the human yelps a bit-he knows as long as he
stays close to his friend, the dragon-he should be safe, the human then
grabs his walking stick and begins whacking more skeletons that Matt does
not notice.
In between fighting, the dragon steals a brown, leather tote from the
humans desk with gold engravings-and quickly tosses in various potionshealing potions and water.
The human steps behind Matt as he blows fire all around the house,
incinerating most of the warriors that had invaded the home.
Matthew then quickly flies in the air to do a surveillance check around
Forlorn-half of the homes is torn up, and more skeletons are brutally killing
townspeople.
The dragon quickly lands right outside of Francis now crumbling
apartment; he knows he must get the human to a safe spot.
The young man stands right beside the dragon, and shields his eyes as
Matthew spits out fireballs from his mouth, the fireballs cause tiny, fire-filled
explosions which make a loud 'pop' sound on impact, killing many of the
skeletons that attempt to slash at both him and the human.
Matthew notices the human nearly trip as he briskly attempts to walk him to
an area where he wont be attacked. He notices Francis is pale.
Are you alright? You look ill!
Francis begins having troubling seeing straighthis vision becomes blurry,
his stomach begins turning.
I-I think.I-Im having a panic attack

69

Sweat begins to pour down the humans face and he begins to feel
lightheaded.
More and more undead warriors clobber at Matt, he brutally bashes them
with his wings and his strong arms.
As he swats them harshly with his claws, the skeletons bones literally fly all
over the place and before dying, the warriors let out a high pitched scream.
Alright-well, Im getting you out of here!
Matt gasps as black tipped arrows sore through the sky!
He glances over at where theyre coming from; the warriors from hell now
have acquired bows and arrows, and they fly faster than any human made
arrow ever could.
The purple dragon then tosses the human onto his back-now in any normal
situation, he would just fly away from the skeletons, however-being that
now arrows were being used.that could mean that Francis could get
easily hit, also didnt help he was completely out of it.as the dragon goes
on all fours and breathes more fire onto the enemy as he makes his way
outside and begins to briskly jog towards a safe haven.he notices the
bloody carcass of CJ.his mouth
Wide open in terror and the whites of his eyes showing-Francis bursts into
tears.

Chapter 14
The unicorn canters through the enchanted forest, whispering to herself the
turns and signs that she needs to get the witchs castle.
As she nears closer to the site, she is now back in the Enchanted Forest
where she needs to be. Now that darkness has taken over, the trees are
tall, the ground is full of thorny bushes, thunder roars in the distance and
little rain drops begin to fall. All the life that was once there, has now died.

70

As she canters through the forest, zipping past trees and nearly tripping on
large thorns, she wonders how her home is doing, but it is only a passing
thought.
More undead skeleton warriors begin crawling out of the forest floor and try
to attack Ira.
She manages to fend them off by striking them with her horn, stabbing
them in any area she can.
The ones that jump and claw on her back, she swiftly kicks them off with
her back legs like a wild animal.
More and more skeletons appear-but she still fights hard and goes for her
destinationshe begins slowing down from sheer exhaustion of fightingimages of Francis and Matt instantly begin permeating her brain-the
thought of them and the entire town of Forlorn dying by the hands of
Katrina-was something she could not let happen.
Her heart pounds and sweat drips down her body, she can barely stand
upshe faces her muzzle to the ground.
She didnt want to admit this to herself, the task at hand was already
beginning to just bog her down, make her feel that maybe shes taken on
too much.
NO!
The unicorn takes a deep breath, and even though her body was aching,
almost pleading for her to stop moving-she ignored everything and
cantered a few milesshe was almost to Katrinas place, her heaving
breathing had caused pain in her chest-she knew it was only caused by the
strenuous running-she would stopwheeze a bit, then cantershe would
do this for as long as she needed too. See, if the woods were a straight
path-she could run it no problem, but the castle was up a few large hillswhich she wasn't used to.
Her aching body and overworked lungs said nobut her heart shouted
COME ON, BITCH! DO THIS! DO IT, CANTER!

71

She cantered fastershe knew she could rest when this was all over, if she
quit now-she wouldnt have a chance of beating the witch!
It seemed too good to be true!
On top of a large hill, at the end of the forest-lies Katrinas castle. The
unicorn canters up to it, no more trees are around, the forest is behind her
now.
This castle is at the other end of a large, grassy meadow.
The clouds are now black with a bit of dark red mixed in, and a warm wind
begins to kick up.
This castle is black, and made out of pointy rock, like Colin said. Ira now
stands about two feet from the door, the door is made of black metal, a
giant lock is smack in the middle of the entrance.
Unexpectedly, this large door opens and the witch comes out.
Her skin, dark green, her nails long, her nose slightly hairy-her four yellow
teeth protrude from her lips like a demented hillbilly.
Her outfit is a long, black flowing gown, she looks to be about sixty years of
age, her hair is black and long, her eyes are an emerald green color.
Her voice was actually quite deep and not high pitched like you may
expect. Iras horn glows white as she prepares to fight. Katrina approaches
Ira, smirking.
So unicorn-you made it. IRAI know all about you, the human Francis,
that purple dragon, your little boyfriend. I know your life, and I know how
youll DIE!
Once those words came out, the grass beneath the unicorns hooves
began to crack!
The crack becomes so large, is engulfs the unicorn!
Ira yelps in terror, she attempts to catch her balance-however, she ends up
tripping and falling into the ground, facing up towards the dark sky.
The unicorn attempts to use her horn and jab it into the dirt wall beside her
to stop her fall-but realizes its no use; this is black magic after all.

72

She falls deeper and deeperuntil her back slams against a slap of wooda sharp pain radiates through her spine and the ground quickly closes up,
engulfing our hero....

Chapter 15
Matthew and Francis had gone through the meadow, around through the
back area of Forlorn-where no houses were to be seen and a few cattle
stand.
Matthew knew of a nice small cave, his brother used to live in it before he
died. Dragons tend to know where caves and other similar landmarks are.
The cave is almost shaped like an igloo-with its circular roof and small
doorway. Its sort of known as a pit stop for mythical creatures, so the
place is kept very well. No cobwebs or creepy insects crawl-its just a cozy
cave.
Colin actually ordered to have a place like this be made, he knew the
importance of unicorns because of Mortus, and therefore was inspired to
have an area like the small cave a few feet from Forlorn be kept up and
such.
Matthew lets Francis off of his back, outside the dragon had gathered a
bunch of sticks-he places them in the middle of the cave and gently blows
fire upon them, quickly igniting a warm fire.
The cave is small, and could really only fit two people, being that Matt is
shorter than a lot of dragons-the size of the cave works.
The walls are smooth, a cool breeze goes through the cave, making the
temperature lukewarm and comfortable.
The dragon sits on his haunches, the human sits by his side.

73

Francis looks into the fire and begins to cry.

Matthew notices and gently nuzzles the human with his nose.
Francis, everything will be okay.Ill keep watch of everything, you will not
get hurt.
The human sighs, in an almost annoyed gesture.
Its n-not why Im upset! O-one of my.b-best friends is DEAD a-and the
townthe town isin ruins! IRA is still out there, sh-she could be dead!
The dragon puts his arm around Francis.
In times of war, its a sad and horrible fact that both humans and creatures
go through times of loss, times when hope seems to just vanish, and Ira
wellthink about it. She cant be deadshes a spitfire!
The dragon ruffles the humans hair a bit, making Francis chuckle.
Y-yesthat is true. Shes a warriorand so are you!
The dragon blushes.
Weeeell now, lets not get all sentimental heeere!
They both chuckle, Francis clears his throat.
S-seriously thoughI-I feel like Ive learned a-a lot. I went from having this
awful prejudice against dragons-to being best friends with one. I also
gained a unicorn as my best friend-jeez, my life went from boring toto
being full of strange, almost t-twisted adventures. I-I think my biggest worry
will be Irawhen she finds out CJ was killed.
The dragon nods and rubs the back of his neck tiredly.
YeahIm sure theproper arrangements will be made.
Matthew, why did youerrmmwant to take care of a human? The
dragon thinks for a moment, he clears his throat.
Well Francis, I think much like Ira on this one, so many creatures disregard
humans, especially dragons.
Hell, what are we known for? Burning towns and villages, stealing gold?
Horrible stuff and I just couldnt partake in that. I felt I was better than thatsure other dragons rejected me for it, and I was maybe even despised by
others in my claneh, but I shrugged them off. In my heart, I know being
nice to humans is the right thing to do.
Its justsomething inside methat tells me to be nice to them, and Im
wondering how many creatures actually have that inside of them a lot of

74

timesI want people to remember me as that one dragon who was

nice.perhaps Ira and I will be written in the same history book, huh?

Part 4: All Things

Considered...
The forceful slam upon the wooden slab had knocked the wind out her. As
she came to, she started feeling lightheaded. The unicorns voice echoes
as she speaks.
Holy shit balls!
Immediately, the unicorn tested to see how much she could stand up-she
rolled over to her side-she started to standher horn hit dirt, she was
practically in a crawl like position.
Like with many of these awful situations, her horse instincts kicked in.
She wanted to panic, to thrash about-make noise! She restrained however,
no use wasting her energy; she needed it to get out.
As her father told her, the ones, who beg, panic and scream for there lives
are the ones who often die in horrifying situations.
Another thing she knew is that underground, she wouldnt have a lot of air.
She could perhaps survive here for about thirty five minutes or so before
needing oxygen.
She found it peculiar that she was on top of some large wooden slab-what
was this? What was it doing under the ground?

75

The horn on top of Iras head glowed white-which actually gave her a giant
advantage-she wasnt blind and helpless.
Ira pawed at the slab with one hoof-then noticed that this large wooden
item was a coffin.
Katrina had buried someone, or something in here before-and she intended
on having a unicorn join the tombs.
That certainly was out of the question-the unicorn then uses her head to
thrust up-to try and get to the top.
Her horn being used somewhat like an upside down jackhammer.
Ira begins to feel dizzy, various worms and cobwebs land on her as she
digs and uses her legs to push herself higher and higher and higher still.
She then moves her head back and fourth to make more room for herselfshe wants to breathe heavily, but does not suck up too much air-for the fear
of losing it.
She finds it extremely hard to move about, she can only move a few inches
at a time-it was times like this she hated being a horse.
Very rarely did the fear of being in tight spaces scare her-but in this
instance, she was a tad bit scared. She tried not to think about it as she
pressed forward; she just kept thrusting with her horn to the top.
As she pushes through the dirt, particles of rock and dead insects fall
straight onto her face and into her eyes.
She shakes her head as she tries to get a dead ant out of her eyelid, she is
now high enough to the point where she can stand up, but being that she
has her bulky armor on-this task is just too difficult to perform-she had a
very strong urge to take it all offbut she knew she needed all the power
she had to fight against this great evil.
The climb up seemed to take hours, she begins using her front hooves to
scratch at the very top-she knew once she broke through this tough
ground, she would be set to fully climb out and kill the witch.

76

If you were standing near the castle, more specifically at the entrance, your
foot would have surly been stabbed-because a very sharp horn at this
moment, bursts through the ground, its covered in dirt-it moves back and
fourth
I-its okay Francis.lie downtake it easy!
The dragon does not act concerned, but he is. He hides his nervousnessknowing that it wouldnt do the human any good to worry more than he
already is-but theres no denying it, things had gone bad.
The dragon lifts up the young mans shirt-and sees a the small metal
object, protruding from the young mans stomachMatthew would admit,
seeing the blood spit out once and a while made the dragon sort of queasy.
From a corner of the cave, Matthew brings out the small brown tote he had
been carrying around with him.
He yanks out a green bottle with a brown cap-a small card dangles from
the cap. Matthew knows what the words on the card mean-so he quickly
takes the cap off and pours some of the deep purple liquid onto the wound.
The human yelps in pain.
Sorry buddybut itll help. Its a magical liquid, specifically for pain relief.
The knife that this skeleton carried, is quite powerful. Man, I feel soguilty
forleaving you.
The human chuckles
Well, I needed to go to the bathroom at some point! H-how were you
supposed to know some undeadg-guy would come out of the bushes?
Matthew sighs, and knows Francis condition will worsen.
As the sky turns dark blue, the dragon becomes too nervous to fall asleep.
Francis, now can not stand up. His head pounds and his breathing is
labored.

77

Who knows what this dark magic could do to a human? Matthew sits down,
his arms folded, his elbows rest on top of his knees. Francis speaks, in a
tired and sickly tone.
I-it hurts.it hurts.
Matthew then moves closer to the human and sits right by him, his legs
stretched out and his arms crossed-seeing a human in pain like this is
something that the dragon can not bare. He leans up against the side of a
wall, Francis decides to rest his head on the dragons leg; his leg is very
warm and smooth-kind of like a snakes body.
Matthew then notices the human close his eyes-his breathing still laboredshould Francis die and the dragon be held responsible-he knows Ira would
never, ever forgive him for as long as he lived. Mathew lightly places his
hand on Francis shoulder, making the human feel much more comfortable.
Iras white hair was hardly visible due to the thick, brown mud that covered
most of her body.
Her horn also was caked in mud, her black mane, tangled; dirt dangles
from a few strands of the mane.
Her armor is rusty and squeaks a bit as the unicorn trots up to the dark and
foreboding castle in front of her.
She begins to have recollections on how her life was, and how her life is
now that Francis is the main focus of her existence. She takes a deep
breath as she looks straight at the door of the castle-the door swings open
easily and she trots into the dark room, she hears her fathers voice in her
head as she does so. She remembers the last thing her father said to her
on his death bed.
'The extraordinary is in what we do, not who we are.'
Iras horn glows as she enters the dark building. The floor is marble, the
walls are black-Katrina is no where in sight.
The witch is still performing evil atrocities across Forlorn

Chapter 16

78

Francis can hardly keep his eyes open, Matthew can still hear a battle
going on. The purple dragon is so afraid for his human friend, Francis
senses this fear-and as much as he likes Matt-really, really wants to see
Ira. The dragon knew that the only cure for this black magic was unicorn
blood-and Ira would not be back for hours, Francis could be dead by then.
Matthew could theoretically go out and find another unicorn-but he would
need to go into the deep enchanted forest and Francis would be left out in
the open for far to long.
The dragon had hardly interacted with a human of Francis age-he was
excited for a long while-but now, thinking that he may die in a short amount
of timeis a thought that he never thought hed have to face.
He looks at the human, his breathing labored; the dark magic is making his
way to him, he knows he only has about two hours to live if Ira does not get
to him first. Matthew sheds a single tear
The main part of the castle is lit by a large fireplace with purple flames. The
floor is white marble, to the left of the fireplace is a large stained glass
window, which overlooks the town of Forlorn.
Katrina is, about six feet tall and dressed in a flowing black dress.
She stands and watches the carnage from this window.
Some of the buildings are lit on fire; the warrior skeletons still hack and
slash the remaining villagers. The walls of this room are red velvet, Katrina
has now taken the form of a twenty-something year old woman with straight
blonde hair and bright red lipstick and long red finger nails. This
incarnation, is her true self.
She turns slowly as she hears the clip clop of Iras hooves against the
floor, she looks at the unicorn.
Ira has certainly felt and looked better in her life, shes covered in dirt and
bruises-her armor is intact for the most part, parts are a bit bent however.

79

The unicorn stamps her hoof, she flicks her tail in anger and her eyebrows
go down.
The witch walks up to the creature with a smirk. Her tone is quite happy
sounding.
IraIm surprised you made it this far! You must really care about this God
forsaken town, huh?
Ira snorts and speaks.
This is not the day to be bullshitting me.
Suddenly, Katrina raises her arms, three tall pillars made of black rock
shoot from the floor, Ira whinnies in terror for a brief moment-then she
composes herself-like she always does.
The pillars reach to the top of the roof, then light purple electricity circle
around each rock formation.
The witch charges at the unicorn and grabs her by the neck, slamming her
up against a wall. Ira dares not struggle too much, Katrina now has a lot of
force-and Ira wants to keep her energy as high as she can.
Let me tell you a story, Ira.a long time ago, I was once like every other
girl. Kind, gentle to animals, that sort of stuff, I loved unicorns especially.
One day, I fell in love. This man was literally my prince charming. Like in
the fairy tale books! I was bound to live happily ever after with this hunk.
Katrina then tosses Ira to the marble floor; she coughs violently as she falls
on her side.
However, the man betrayed me. Fell in love with some other blonde, and
really-it was not that, that frazzled me. It was the fact that every fairy tale I
had been taught was a downright, fucking lie. I tried falling in love, but the
men kept on leaving me, one even committed suicide.
Ira scoffs and begins to stand, Ira glares at the witch.
Can you blame him?!
The witch then kicks the unicorn in the gut, the pain does not phase the
equine creature-she stands there and winces in painshe knows itll go
away shortly.

80

Fairy tales Ira-are dark, you can not expect to have a magical world like
this one-and have everything be dandy! Its just NOT PLAUSIBLE! There is
no such thing as a happy ever after, not even in fairytale land.
I now do what every woman in a fairy tale really wantspower.
Oh yeah, why did Cinderella marry Prince Charming? To live in some rich
castle, so she could have servants and stuff. Why did Snow White look at
the prince? To live in a rich castle- think any of these princesss would get
all attracted to some peasant? NO! Theyre attracted to them, because they
have power in the towns they live in. The princesses want controlthey
WANT POWER!
We all want power, Ira. It has nothing to do with love-its about being above
everyone else.
We all want control, to leave our so-so livesto get rich and to have virtueits a shame your fairytale has to end soverytragically.
Katrina then swings a few punches at Ira, the unicorn uses the blunt end of
her horn as a sort of shield, but it doesnt work well as she feels one or two
punches smash into her face.
The unicorn throws a kick or two at the witch, grunting as she does so.
Katrina then pulls out a knife, seemingly from thin air and stabs Ira in the
front, right leg.
The unicorn screams in pain and nearly falls-but does not.
She knows that if she falls, the witch will have the upper hand.
The unicorn glances at the blood-filled gash on her leg, the pain rises and
rises.
Ira then looks at the three pillars-she wonders why theyre swirls of purple
electricity around themthen she realizes. It could be the source of her
power!
Katrina chuckles and cleans the blood off of her knife.
The unicorn growls slightly, she stands up, Katrina is right beside her.
Ira uses her left front leg to swing a hit, right into the witchs mouth, the
witch screams as blood pours out of her mouth like a fountain.
The unicorn then canters over to one of the pillars.

81

She jams her horn into one of the pillars-the horn glows bright white, this is
the most power shes ever had to use in her life.
She pulls out and the pillar fades away.
The witch then screams in anger, she grabs the unicorn by the tail and pulls
hard, a tear goes down the unicorns cheek because of the sheer agony of
her tail hairs being pulled off.
Ira uses her back leg to kick the witch, a bit of her tail hair is gone because
of the attack.
The unicorn does the same exact thing to the second pillar, she limps
quickly over to it-jams her horn into it and it fades away.
Katrina then leaps onto the unicorns back and rips the armor off; she
begins using the pieces of armor to hit Ira in the head. Ira then stands up
on her back legs and flips the witch off.
The unicorn now has no armor-but she uses her strength to jam her horn
into the last pillar-it fades away.
The witch now can barely stand.
YOU IDIOT! YOU RUINED EVERYTHING! I-I was going to let you rule
with ME!
The unicorn, muscles bulging out and covered head to hoof in blood,
scabs, bruises and dirt-looks straight at her-by now, the unicorn couldnt
even stand the sound of the witchs voice. Iras voice is cold and stern, like
a teacher reprimanding an awful student.
Oh my Gawd! You know what-youre a spoiled, rotten girl with the mind of
a ten year old. You could never get over yourself, with your perfect looks,
falling in love with men-when things didnt go your way-you harmed others.
Katrina screams, blood still pours out of her mouth from the punch-she
spits out large clots of dark red fluid.
NOT TRUE! YOURE JEALOUS! Youre angry because Im much more
powerful than YOU!
Ira then limps over to the witch and with her one good hoof, steps on her
stomach.

82

Jealous? No. While your species is more powerful than I, youre an

unhappy woman with her priorities screwed up and you belong in a mental
asylum, you violent scum.
Your little fairy tale sure came to a swift end. Now, if you dont mindI
have a human to save.
The unicorn then slowly stabs Katrina in the gut, she slowly slides it into her
flesh, causing her to scream in pain. The horn goes deep into her, sliding
ever so painfully and with perfect precision.
Ira then lifts her head up, the witch now dangles from the horn, she groans
loudly as spots of blood spray out of Katrina's abdomen-Ira then cocks her
head to the side, causing the body of the witch to crash through the large,
stained glass window over looking the town.
Pieces of glass protrude from her body.
She falls about ten feet-her head then smacks against the side of the
castle as she falls-causing brain particles to splatter, she falls onto the
cement with a cringe-inducing smack, the back of her head now a gapping
hole. The unicorn then shakes the blood off of her horn.

Chapter 17
The skeleton warriors have now dissipated, however-the town of Forlorn is
in ruins.
A new day, is upon our characters.
Matthew and Francis still sit in the same cave-the morning is now coming.
A light fog forms over the land, a slight chill is in the air.
As the dragon hears the trotting of an equine creature coming close, the
dragons tail perks up.
Out of the fog, beaten and bloody, Ira slowly limps into the cave, at first, all
the human and dragon could see was her silhouette.

83

Her right leg bleeds profusely, Matthew without saying a word-grabs his
brown tote, picks up a clear, glass beaker from it and collects some of Iras
blood.
The blood is then poured onto the entry wound in the humans stomach
and like magic, the wound and blade disappear.
While Francis still looks a bit ill-he sure looks better than he had.
Ira then collapses to the ground, the dragon sighs.
I-Ira! You alright?!
The unicorn speaks, in a tired-but somewhat healthy voice.
Y-yeslet me sleepplease.
Ira had officially lost it all.she would be okay, but she was literally so
beaten up and exhausted-that she couldnt even stand.

Two Days Later

After a few appointments at the new town doctor, Ira ended up being fine.
She has a large stitch on her right leg, and her face is still a bit bruised upbut the doctor said that being that Ira was indeed a unicorn, her power kept
her alive.
Ira got a nice bath and really, with all the battles she went through, she
came out great, her white body sparkled, her black mane and tail a shiny
shade of dark black, she smelled of strawberry soap.
The unicorn literally did nothing for days but lie down and take naps,
Francis insisted on staying with Ira, and like her, did not do much, because
the black magic from the knife was so intense, that it left the human with
flu-like symptoms, but the two would be up and going again soon.
Matthew, the dragon stayed very good friends with Ira and Francis-and
would move back in with Colin, once his army building was re-built.

84

The town of Forlorn would indeed need to be re-built; the events that took
place killed many of the townspeople.
In the large field in back of Iras stable, a memorial was built for all the
fallen townspeople and soldiers.
The day was warm, with a slight breeze in the air. The sky was light blue,
white cotton ball like clouds floated.
The sunlight reflected Iras beautiful horn, a few of the townspeople
hugged her for everything she had done for the town, and while normally
she wasnt a huge fan of hugs, she let it all slide, she knew sometimes
hugging was indeed okay.
The memorial was a large tombstone, smack in the middle of Iras
backyard practically.
Kyle, the eighteen year old soldier, died; a good portion of Colins army
had fallen as well.
Francis felt extremely heavy hearted through it all, as he read what seemed
like a never ending list-what hit him the hardest however, was reading CJs
name on the plaque.
He hated crying in front of Ira, she was so strong and so tough that he felt
ashamed to-but he couldnt help it.
The unicorn understood, she let her friend weep for CJ-of course, Ira felt
horrible that her boyfriend had died in such a tragic way.
She loved how he had a lot of energy and happiness-and while she to felt
melancholy, she did not cry.
Ira just stood and let Francis hold onto her neck.
She stood in silence, in deep thought. Thinking of the times they had.
Thinking how perhaps she was maybe even going to have foals with him,
thinking of how well he and humans got along.
In fact, she thought of all the names. Especially of Kyle, he was only
eighteen.

85

Ira remembered fondly how he talked to her, she knows she would have
continued to talk to him-had he not died in battle.
Dorans name was on there as well, Ira had nearly forgotten about him.
How he helped her escape from prison-she began having this extreme
feeling of both loss and regret. Loss because these were all people who
gave her a helping hand at one time, and the regret came from not talking
to them, not keeping in touch or anything.
Had Ira been a human, she may have wallowed in self pity a bit-but really,
unicorns do not do that.
In fact, the only reason why Ira may have had this feeling of regret, is
because she spent so much time with Francis and helping him out.
For a unicorn to even think of regret was a rare thing.
The newest emotion Ira learned from it all was worry.
Unicorns do not usually feel worry-they feel when they have friends of
course and will talk to them if they need it, but they tend not to think of if
they will lose the friend or not.
Ira was similar to every other unicorn, but meeting Francis-opened up new
emotional venues. All would be helpful in the long run.
Her being a unicorn though did help-had she been a normal human, she
most likely would have died in some battle or other.
Luckily, a lot of the equine creatures are able to protect what they own with
there magic-the creatures can handle a lot more than humans.
If you were to ask Francis though, it was all in Iras spirit, not in her being a
unicorn.
While Ira had felt these kinds of emotions for the first time, she was not
really scared or upset. She took them as they were, she felt proud to be
different than the other unicorns, and she knew others of her or similar
species would go up to her and ask her about these emotions, and she
would give the best answer she could.

86

Francis decided to take a nap in his new and improved apartment after the
big emotional outburst he had, he felt exhausted after all the emotions he
had just been through, not to mention the stress of the battle.
He knew however though, hed always miss CJ-he never would really get
over his death. Ira had to decide what to do about the human, so much
crap had happened, that she really didnt have time to think about his fate
until now.
He had been living alone for quite sometime now, and she decided that it
was not safe for him to be alone. He longed to be with others, human or
creature.
Francis would love if Ira could take care of him, but the unicorn felt that to
be inappropriate. She would not just be living in Forlorn, being in the town
was a mere stop on one faithful day.
She needed to live in the enchanted forest with other unicorns, that way
shed get all the healing she needed.
Shed get all the things she needed to keep her strength up-to keep her
horn in working order, all these thing important for a creature.
Francis could not go with her, a human living in a forest filled with creatures
could only mean trouble-and while a good majority of creatures were kind
to humans, another bulk of them was not.
She felt the best option would be adoption-now, she would send out the
word that a human needed a family.
However, she wouldnt leave it at that-she would meet with the human or
creature who wanted to take him home-make sure they werent violent or
unsupportive, Francis was a huge part of her life-and surly, she would
never leave him in the hands of someone uncaring.
Even though she would live in the enchanted forest, she promised Francis
shed visit him at least twice every three months or so-and the human
would be happy knowing that his hero wouldnt have to be missed forever.

87

Three Weeks Later

Ira was back doing her exercises; Francis was back to his normal talky self.
The town was still being rebuilt, new buildings would be made out of brick
and metal-also, a bunch of unicorns were hired instead of regular horses to
keep the place far away from evil doers.
One evening, Francis decided to visit Ira-he knew shed be leaving for the
forest the next week, so he wanted to say a sort of final good bye to her.
Her stable was still the same pretty much, the chandeliers still hung and
she still had the many rooms-and Francis even reminisced about the night
he met Ira.
The unicorn lay on her stomach, tired, but not tired enough to sleep.
A knock on the door surprised her, but she was happy to know that Francis
was there.
He gave her a nice hug, they spoke for a bit.
The human was a bit saddened that no one wanted to adopt him, and deep
down-he truly wished Ira could be his mother, but he understood why that
could not be-but Francis did confess that he would always look up to her
like a big sister or cousin.
As they spoke of the happy times they would have in the future, yet another
knock echoed through the stable.
It was Matthew, he looked great-the human gave him a hug as well.
The two creatures looked at each other; the dragon seemed to be in very
deep thought. He cleared his throat.
Ira, can I speak to you alone?
The unicorn nodded.

88

The night was cool, the two sat in the meadow, a few feet from the
memorial of the fallen ones in the Katrina battle.
Crickets chirped and the moon shined brightly.
The two sit on there haunches, Matthew couldnt figure out how to start the
conversation, so he just went with his gut. The young dragon rubbed the
back of his neck, his tail moved about slightly.
I cant get Francis out of my head. Being with himevoked so much
emotion, I-I found myself so attached to him.
Humans to mejust.make me happy. Theyre smaller than me, and I
feel this great need to protect them-and dragons have such an awful history
with them, that I love nothing more than to make them feel
comfortable.you know?
The unicorn nods slowly, she cant believe shes about to say what she willbut she knew that if Francis were to get another family and never see the
dragon again, Matthew would be heartbroken. Ira sighs happily.
Matthew, I know youre fond of Francis-and he loves you dearly.
Well.see, I dont know if Francis told you about his cane or how his
human father beat him when he was an infant? The dragon sighs sadly, he
glances at his feet, then back up at Ira.
Well, I cant live with Francis-and he has no family. IIm asking youif
youd like tohuh, no pun intendedtake him under your wing? Matthew
at first chuckles and blushes.
W-welli-it depends.you mean likebaby-sit him?
The unicorn smiles and shrugs.
Well, sort of. See, I know Francis is going to need help-and I need to go
back to the forest where I came from. Would you want to watch over him
until a family adopts him?
Matthew then feels a bit light headed, not in a bad way- but in a 'holy crap,
is this a dream?' kind of way.
Ira, the only two possibilities for the future of a dragon are to become a
weapon, or to become shunned. I-I.well, this third option of looking after
a human for a while.I just.dont know if I can say no. Helping humans
has been a dream of mine.for a long whilewow.I-I dont know what to
say!

89

Ira smiles says not a word.

Chapter 18
Ira knew she would have some very interesting stories when she got back
to the forest with the other creatures.
While she would miss Francis, she really did need to go back.
The next day, Francis and Matthew both hugged her and she promised
them shed be around in a while.
Going back to the forest was very nice.
The sun acts as a sort of giant spot light, beams of light shoot down onto
certain areas- adding to the dream like quality of the entire forest.
Unicorns are the most well known creatures that live here, but theyre also
fairies, elves, talking sheep and crows.
Ira did quite enjoy it, and she was truly happy there amongst her friends.
She also knew the layout well, after all, this is where Mortus raised Ira
when she was a foal.
As she walked down a large path, all the unicorns greeted her with smiles,
all very soft spoken and pure.
They were mostly white, with white manes and tails-but some were greyspeckled as well. Some were a tan color as well.
She told them everything, from when she first met Francis-the killer bees,
Vandal the dragon, Colin and all the way up until Katrina had her dark rage
over Forlorn.

90

All the creatures who listened to these stories became quite fascinatedthey were especially amazed that a human treated a unicorn so well, and
they all wished to see a kind human like that in the future.
Ira did tell them that when she would go back to Forlorn, providing it was
safe she would bring along some of the other unicorns to meet Francis and
Matthew.
Ira was also treated with magic for her wounds, which completely healed
once she took a small dip into the warm, hot tub like enchanted lake-which
healed all wounds once you set foot in it.

Two Weeks Later...

Ira loved being in the forest again, she loved connecting with all the
creatures, she loved taking naps outdoors in the warm sun without having
to worry about onlookers like she had to when she was in Forlorn.
Being in this forest, made Ira glad she was a unicorn-she felt like she
belonged here in the mystical, wooded area.
As Ira went for a morning swim, dunking her head under the water and just
feeling content, a male unicorn walks up to her-hes a light gray color, he is
sort of the chief of all the unicorns in the land, he had taken that position
after Mortus died.
He cleared his throat, and gestured her to get out of the river, she shook
herself off.
Greetings, sir, what brings you here?
The equine creature sighs.
There isthere is an issue. At a town, just a few miles from here. From
what Ive gathered, humans are being hurtand after hearing your
tremendous storyI felt that maybe I should send you out to investigate.
Ira nods confidently.
I will do my best sir.

91

She loved his voice, because he sounded exactly like her father and had a
very similar presence.
Once more, Ira is fitted with some armor-identical to the one she wore
when she fought Katrina. She was glad that whoever made this armor,
made sure that the head piece did not cover her whole face, but only the
very top of it-leaving her jaw, muzzle and mouth exposed, which was
something that had helped her throughout the battles she fought, it just felt
more freeing.
The eye holes were also bigger than they had been in the past.
The unicorn runs across the field, charging to her destination.
The sun beats down upon her white coat and metal armor-her mane blows
in the wind. She sighs, deep in her own thoughts. Composing herself
before going to this new place.
In life, I had always set out to find my mark. I learned, in our darkest
moments-when life flashes before us.
We find something-something that keeps us going. Something that pushes
us.forces us to be strong, forces us to push and push when our bodies
say no. Find this hidden strengthand use it full force. Youre only going
to live once-be who youre born to be.me? Im a born protector

The End

92