 
### UNICORN SACRIFICES

### Book #5 In The Occasion Mists Series

### Setlu Vairst

Also in the Occasion Mists series:

Unicorn - Journey Beyond Forever #1

Danny and the Seagull Who Came Back... From The Dead! #2

Dragons of Terra Sphere - Part I - Deadly Sanctuary #3

Cobwebs of Pearl #4

Unicorn Sacrifices #5

The Little's Voyage #6

Within the Heart of Time - Part I - Unknowing #7

Arthurian Time Crisis - Part I - Magician #8

Unicorn Sacrifices

Copyright: Setlu Vairst

Published: November 2015

Smashwords Edition

This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, transferred, reproduced, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the author, as allowed under the terms and conditions in which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by the applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author's rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

This eBook is provided free by the author and is intended to be read as book No. 5 in The Occasion Mists series. It is an expanded version of 'Unicorn - Journey Beyond Forever' and should not be read as the first book in the series as it will ruin some of the surprises that the reader would experience had they followed the suggested reading order.

Version 1.0

Copyright © Setlu Vairst, 2015

The names, characters and incidents portrayed in this novel are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

The right of Setlu Vairst to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Find out more about the author and upcoming books online at http://www.setluvairst.com

or contact the author - setlu@setluvairst.com

~~~~

### Contents

Foreword – God's Decision

JUDGES

01 - Judges I – Destinies Crossroads

02 - Judges II – The Warring Nations

03 - Judges III - Circle of Flame

04 - Judges IV - Friends Lost and Friends Saved

05 - Judges V - Flying with a Precious Cargo

EXODUS

06 - Exodus I – The Missing Passengers

07 - Exodus II – Death and Life

08 - Exodus III – Not All Aboard

09 - Exodus IV – The Old World Dies

10 - Exodus V – The New World Lives With Death

GENESIS

11 - Genesis I – A Life for a Life

12 - Genesis II – Rebirth

13 - Genesis III – Morning of Mourning

14 - Genesis IV – Companions Found

15 - Genesis V – Human Being Human

JOB

16 - Job I – A Monument to Love

17 - Job II – A Job to Be Done

LAMENTATIONS

18 - Lamentations I - That Sinking Feeling

NUMBERS

19 - Numbers I - One Two by Two

20 - Numbers II – The Three Peaks

21 - Numbers III - Hundreds of Choices

22 - Numbers IV - Thousands Hold Court

REVELATIONS 413

23 - Revelations I - Revelation I

24 - Revelations II – Revelation II

25 - Revelations III - Revelation III

Artwork

About the Author

Author Notes

Dedication

Thank You

The Stories of Setlu Vairst

Unicorn – Journey Beyond Forever

Danny And The Seagull Who Came Back... From The Dead!

Dragons of Terra Sphere – Part I – Deadly Sanctuary

Cobwebs of Pearl

Unicorn Sacrifices

The Little's Voyage

Within the Heart of Time – Part I

Arthurian Time Crisis - Part I - Magician

The Occasion Mists

### Foreword – God's Decision

And God looked upon the earth, and, beheld, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

And God said unto Noah. The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Make thee an Ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the Ark; and shall pitch it within and without with pitch.

And of everything living of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the Ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shalt be male and female.

Genesis 6 verses 12, 13, 14 and 19.

### JUDGES

### 01 - Judges I – Destinies Crossroads

A smell of burning wafted amongst the trees, mixing with the scent of delicate flowers and rotting leaves as it drifted past the two unicorns that walked warily amongst the giant tree trunks. It was not a totally unpleasant smell and, for Laranki, it did help to hide the hideous scent of the humans. Startling him, a scream suddenly ripped through the forest, quickly fading into a silence that was replaced with the sound of humans shouting.

Stopping in his tracks, Laranki knew exactly how much trouble he and his wife, Soreecilor, would be in if the humans should see them. 'The humans are in such a bloodthirsty mood in these times that they could not resist their evil pleasure of pursuing two unicorns that they have found roaming in the forests.'

"Will the humans ever get tired of killing one another," whispered the voice of his wife from behind him.

Turning a little, he stood looking towards the face of Soreecilor, thinking, 'I know that you are tired but we must keep moving. To rest for too long would surely bring discovery by the marauding human bands.'

Staring directly into his wife's eyes, he said, "I promise we will rest soon. It is just too dangerous to remain here for there are many humans in this place. Let us keep going for a little while longer and trust that we will find a safe place in which to rest and hide."

Nodding, his wife began moving forward as Laranki turned to face the trail that they had been following.

'It is much that I ask of her,' thought Laranki, 'However, for us to have any chance of reaching our goal we must be beyond these forests as quickly as possible and leave the humans to continue their butchery of one another.'

Placing hoofs as delicately as possible to ensure that they made as little sound as possible, Laranki tried to maintain a reasonable speed whilst ensuring that the ground he chose to walk upon did not lie covered in too many fallen and decaying branches.

"It seems that there are more of the red humans in this place," whispered Soreecilor from behind him.

"I too have noticed that," replied Laranki, without changing pace. "I would have to believe that the scream we have just heard was that of one of the blue-dressed humans being destroyed by the red-dressed humans."

There was no reply from his wife but Laranki knew that she would have agreed with his speculation. 'Much has changed in the world since the stories passed down the generations of the unicorns who had moved beyond the safety of our forests, entering the realms of mankind and surviving to return to the forests. We have always known that the humans were mostly a wicked type of creature and, even though there have been stories of ones that were kind, the majority seemed determined to own everything that they could regardless of the pain that is caused to any other creature; be it more of their own kind, or of ferocious or tame beasts of nature.'

"What has made the humans change so much?" asked Soreecilor.

Keeping his voice to a whisper, Laranki replied, "I do not know. At one time they hunted in small packs but now they have formed great armies that battle each other, with each determined to wipe the other from the face of the world.

Somehow, their weapons have become more deadly and they have a greater organisation about themselves that was never anticipated by our forefathers. It is as if there is something more than the humans who play this game."

"Do you think it is the dragons?"

"No, for I have seen the results of humans destroying many dragons. If the dragons were in league with the humans then that would not be happening."

"Perhaps their alliance has now broken..."

"That is possible," began Laranki, "but it does not seem right. We have known stories of our ancestors who spent time with the dragons and all the stories point to them as being good creatures."

"There was a time when the humans were more good than bad..." said Soreecilor.

"That is true. Perhaps that is what happens to all creatures eventually; they change from good to bad."

"You do not believe that, Laranki," said Soreecilor, sounding shocked.

"No, I do not believe that but really, in these times, I do not know what to believe anymore other than that we have to reach a specific location by a certain time in order for us to be spared. That is the only belief that I have, other than the belief that I will get you there safely."

"I know you will, Laranki."

"Shush," whispered Laranki, coming to a halt, hearing his wife stopping still behind him.

"What is it?"

"Listen! I think I hear water," he replied.

"Is it not the rain hitting the canopy above?"

"No, this is different. It sounds more like a river. Not too distant but flowing fast."

The two stood in silence, listening hard and intensely. Laranki heard another distant scream of yet another human having his life ended by unnatural means.

His ears concentrated on the sound of the scream, knowing that it came from somewhere behind them and as he continued listening he was relieved to not hear the sounds of any humans coming crashing through the undergrowth in their direction.

A new sound reached his ears and it was a moment before he realised that it was the noise of his own heartbeat. Slowly breathing out, he began to move forward slowly when there came a sudden rustling from nearby and then something plummeted from a tree, landing squarely upon Laranki's back.

Even before he was fully startled, he knew that it would be either Chart or Brand returning from searching the way ahead of them and, as he was realising this, there was a brief movement across his back and then something landed on the ground to his right and a little behind him. Turning, he saw the familiar shape and markings of the female squirrel called Chart.

"There is a wide river ahead," said the squirrel, glancing back towards Soreecilor as she spoke. "But the bad weather has the river surging and we have seen debris floating in the current. Brand is searching across the tree line to the left to see if there is a way across that is safe. He will return to us soon."

"Remain still," whispered Laranki, trying to ensure his muscles did not as his eyes moved, trying to peer through the thick vegetation that surrounded him and his wife. The noise that had disturbed them was definitely drawing nearer.

Listening to the sound of something large moving through the forest nearby, Soreecilor whispered, "Do you think it is another of those huge wooden contraptions that the humans use to attack their enemies?"

Laranki, picturing the strange contraptions that the human armies dragged with them, saw an image of the strange mechanism by which the humans could hurl mighty boulders over a vast distance, even sending flaming fireballs hurtling through the sky.

"I do not think so, for I cannot hear the sounds of horses that they use to pull the weapon, nor can I hear the sounds of humans speaking."

"Should we move away from here?"

"No, if we left this section of undergrowth then we would surely be seen. We can only wait."

Moving his neck a little higher, piercing through enticing gaps in the leaves and branches before him, Laranki caught the movement of a dark shape, almost at the same time something strange and unworldly came to his nostrils.

"What is it?" asked Soreecilor, seeing Laranki flinch a little.

"I am not sure. It is not humans that are out there. It is something else."

"What is it?"

"It can only be beasts, large beasts, and if that is the case then they will be on our side. They move in this direction. I will have to face them."

"Laranki, no," pleaded Soreecilor, "Let us wait and see if they pass and, if they do not, then we can run from here if they should come into this undergrowth. We have seen some beasts acting strange and aggressive, as if they know that only a number are to be spared and granted safety in the Ark. They are jealous, and I think that some may have lost their minds. The poor creatures are distraught."

"Wait," commanded Laranki, "I will see what can be done and, if need be, I will try to lure them away."

"Laranki!"

"Hush, but be prepared to run should this not go as I plan."

Taking a deep breath, Laranki began pushing his way through the thick undergrowth ahead of him, his heart pounding and his mind hoping that he was doing the right thing.

Stepping from his place of concealment, Laranki was shocked to see two giant creatures that he had only seen once in the skies above his forest home though he had heard many tales of them. 'They are dragons!'

Trying to remain calm, Laranki stood looking toward the two immense beasts whilst slowly lowering his head and showing them his horn, telling them that he would be prepared to use it if they came any closer. 'If they do come nearer then I will attack. Even if it a futile gesture I will try to confront them and then run away, leaving Soreecilor safe in her concealment. The squirrels will guide her to the Ark if I am unable to return to her side.'

With his eyes fixed upon the two dragons before him, Laranki watched as the two looked toward each other and then, because they had stopped in their tracks, he began stamping a foreleg upon the ground. 'I can only hope that they have respect for other beasts and choose to leave us alone.'

Listening for other sounds in the forests, trying to make sure that no humans were in the area that could interfere with what he was trying to achieve, Laranki was surprised when he saw the two immense creatures begin to back away slowly.

With relief flooding his heart, Laranki thought, 'It is good that they do not wish for an unnecessary confrontation. Now, we may all go on our own paths without the need for bloodshed.'

Raising his head, Laranki continued watching the dragons as they moved backwards. One was further away than the other and then suddenly, the dragon closest to him, stopped. Feeling dismay in him, Laranki sighed, thinking, 'The creatures have changed their mind. Have I given them cause to decide that they should attack me? I wonder if I can speak with these creatures. Perhaps it is best that I race away from here, hoping that they will follow me and leave Soreecilor safe within...'

Staring, puzzled, Laranki heard a small voice interrupting his thought, saying, "Are you the nice dragon called Kolay'sha?"

'Is that Brand's voice? Is he speaking to the Dragons?' he asked himself, amazed at what he thought he was hearing.

It was clear to Laranki that the Dragon nearest to him was as surprised as he was by the sound of the voice of Brand and now, intrigued by what was happening he could only stare towards the Dragon and the small brown creature that stood far below the height of the giant creature, shouting up to the beast.

"I am," the dragon replied, "And are you Chart or Brand?"

Stunned, Laranki thought, 'How can it be that Brand and Chart are known to the dragons? And... I can understand the dragon! What of the stories that said the dragons were not of this world? If I can understand them then does this mean that they are of Earth? Were these two on their way to the Ark? Perhaps we can travel together...'

"I am Brand!" replied the squirrel, continuing with, "And have you come to aid Laranki and Soreecilor?"

Laranki was becoming confused, 'How can the dragons know of myself and Soreecilor?'

"Laranki," whispered a voice. However, looking around the area Laranki could see no sign of who had spoken his name. The voice seemed familiar to him but all that he could be sure of was that the voice did not come from the dragons, or Chart or Brand, or even from his wife.

"Laranki," came the voice again, louder and more insistent and, as Laranki saw that the dragons and Brand had not acknowledged the sound he realised that it was the voice of God making itself known only to him, just as it had when he and Soreecilor had been made aware of the journey that they had to undertake in order to reach the Ark, and why.

"Laranki and Soreecilor," said the voice, "These creatures are here to assist you. They are good creatures and I only wish that they were my own but they are not.

This is a test for these creatures though they know not of it, but I believe that they will not fail the test. One will be scared of the task ahead of her but I believe that she will apply herself and her courage and she will win through.

For reasons that cannot be known to you yet, these creatures have a destiny unto themselves and there is only a little that I can to influence the outcome.

Let it be known to you that I want to influence the outcome and will do so only if these dragons do not fail me.

The dragons have been on the Earth for a very long time; even before the time of Mankind, and I have found a love of them. They are good of soul and are respectful of the lives of other creatures. They are everything I would have wished for from mankind but mankind has failed me.

You are to try to reach the Ark and these creatures will be given an opportunity to help you. They will not fail, I believe this and, as their reward, I want you to give them a secret knowledge. I will place in your minds the things that you should tell to the dragons when the time is right.

If these creatures do as I believe they will do then I will give them clues to their own salvation and you, Laranki and Soreecilor, shall be the vessels in which I will place the clues to their salvation..."

A blinding pain shot through Laranki's mind and, raising his head high, he tried to shake the pain away, knowing that the same would be happening to Soreecilor.

As fast as it had started, the pain suddenly vanished and though his legs felt weak, Laranki stood tall, watching the scene in front of him, and as he thought, 'What is meant by we should attempt to reach to the Ark? Is that not our destiny?' Laranki was pulled away from these thoughts by the events occurring in front of him.

He could feel the same bewilderment emanating from the two dragons as he felt himself.

The other dragon, which had moved further away now moved forward to stand beside the other and, as he watched and listened, Laranki could only accept the scene that was being played out before him.

"Who are Laranki and Soreecilor?" asked the second dragon, with confusion upon its features.

'I believe that dragon to be a male,' thought Laranki, 'and the other to be a female; the one that Brand referred to as Kolay'sha.'

Watching, Laranki believed that the male dragon was wary of Brand speaking and appeared to be trying to ignore the fact.

"That is Laranki," said Brand, pointing directly toward Laranki.

Feeling a little under scrutiny, Laranki turned his head but looked back as he saw Chart come racing up towards him.

"Do not be afraid, Laranki," said Chart. "Brand knows what he is doing. These dragons are here to help you."

Looking down at Chart, Laranki wished he could think of something to say but, instead of trying to find that elusive something, he was quite willing to allow the strange events to play out. Lifting his head, he looked towards the dragons and, risking a smile, he continued staring at the male dragon as it spoke to its companion.

"Kolay'sha," said the dragon, "What is happening?"

Watching and listening, Laranki could only stand and stare as the next event unfolded.

"I have met these creatures before, these squirrels, but they were only children then," the dragon called Kolay'sha replied.

"That does not help me to understand the situation!" said the male dragon.

"You understand it as much as I understand it!" Kolay'sha replied, casting a quick glance toward the male dragon.

"Come," said Brand, as he began walking toward Laranki.

Warily, Laranki stood tall, trying to look as though none of the events were worrying him at all.

The female dragon began to move slowly forward and, not entirely comfortable seeing the immense bulk of the dragon moving toward him, Laranki could not help but take a step backwards. Quickly, he regained his composure as he remembered the words that God had spoken to him.

"Laranki," Brand called out, "This is the dragon called Kolay'sha and she will help you against the humans!"

The female dragon looked a little shocked at the mention of the word 'humans' and this made Laranki feel as though they had something in common, a bond that would help see them through what was to come. Watching the dragons raising their heads as they looked around the immediate area, Laranki could see the amount of muscle and power that was at the disposal of these enormous creatures. Smiling wryly to himself, he thought, 'And to think I even thought about trying to fight against them.'

A rustling to his side made him turn just in time to see Soreecilor walk from her hiding place as she came to stand beside him.

The female dragon looked at himself and then at Soreecilor, slowly nodding her head as if she was acknowledging some information known only to herself.

With the sounds of undergrowth and bushes being trampled upon the male dragon began to slowly advance and then, a moment later, so too did the female dragon.

The two dragons continued advancing until they were very close to himself and his wife and he had to raise his head to be able to look up into a face that, even though ferocious by design, he could see warmth and compassion in its features.

"I am Laranki and this is my wife, Soreecilor."

"I am Kolay'sha," replied the female dragon, adding, "And this is my friend, Shavat'etun."

Nodding his head by way of an acknowledgement, Laranki could sense that if the dragons could feel any nervousness about him he knew that they would only sense calm and peace from his wife.

"How is it that we can speak with you?" Kolay'sha asked.

"I have no idea," replied Laranki. "The world has become a strange and violent place in recent times, so much so that I no longer recognise the world that I grew up in."

"I do not pretend to understand what is happening," continued Kolay'sha, "but a long time ago I met these two squirrels and they gave me you and your wife's names, though I never knew at the time that you were unicorns. I have no desire to try to understand what is happening but I will assist you in any way I can," said Kolay'sha. Laranki could sense that the dragon was not entirely surprised to find herself in this situation. 'Brand and Chart had told her a long time ago about this day... Who are Chart and Brand? They seem to be in possession of much knowledge that we are not. Did God provide them as companions who will assist us toward our destiny?'

"What can we do for you?" Kolay'sha asked.

"We are pursued by the red humans," said the female unicorn, Soreecilor.

"Red humans?" questioned Shavat, wondering what the unicorn was referring to.

"These are humans who wear red as their banner. We have seen blue humans, but only a few of these. There are many red and a group of them have pursued us for most of this morning. All we wish is to escape the humans and be on our way," Laranki finished.

"Where are you travelling toward?" Shavat asked, his gaze going from one to the other of the two creatures.

Laranki, turning his head in the direction of the raging river began thinking about what Chart had said about the weather. He turned back toward the dragon called Shavat, saying, "If we can cross the river then it will give us the time we need to put a distance between ourselves and the humans!"

"Why are the humans chasing you?" Kolay'sha asked.

"Why do the humans do anything they do in these times?" Soreecilor replied. "They have become an infection upon the world. They are a poison which seems intent on wiping out all others but themselves!"

The female dragon began nodding in agreement with Soreecilor, showing her that she understood that it was not only the dragons who have been persecuted by the evil ways of the humans.

Soreecilor, moving slowly and deliberately lay down upon the ground and, seeing this, Shavat and Kolay'sha did the same. Laranki remained standing for a little while before he too lay upon the ground. The two squirrels moved closer to the side of the female unicorn and lay against her, their eyes watching the dragons while, occasionally, they would whisper amongst themselves.

"When the storm eases we should be able to carry you across the river," Shavat'etun said, offering assistance while wondering if it would be enough.

"That would be good," replied Laranki, "but you would have to be particularly careful carrying my wife, as she is with child."

"I can assure you that we can carry you all safely across the river," Shavat'etun replied, nodding his head slowly.

Looking toward the female dragon, Laranki sensed a sudden nervousness come about her. 'I would like to tell you that you are being tested,' Laranki thought, recalling the words of God, 'but this is something that you must complete without assistance.'

The worrying look upon Kolay'sha's face was swiftly removed when Shavat interrupted her thoughts, saying, "Tell me more of what you call the 'red human's that pursue you."

"Although we hide very well from the humans, we have been close enough to them to witness some of the changes that have occurred within them in recent times." Sighing, Laranki looked at Shavat and then Kolay'sha and then back to Shavat while thinking about the recent encounters that they had had with the humans. "Nearly all humans we have seen in recent times adorn themselves with red clothing and, from what I have been able to determine, the more red that they wear then the more superior they are to the others who march with them.

We have seen whole fields and meadows turned red because of an army of humans resting upon it. They march as a scar across the land, destroying all in their way. We have seen some small groups of blue humans and whenever they have come in contact with the red humans there has been a bloody battle that has resulted in the blue humans being wiped out.

I do not know where the blue humans come from but they look different from the red humans; their skin colour is different, their stature appears smaller but their voracity for war is equal. The only reason that they lose is because of the greater number of red humans. This is now a world that has truly become sick. It is a world that cannot continue to exist this way."

Turning to face Kolay'sha, Shavat said, "If the humans are so intent on wiping out dragons and all other creatures, why do they then fight amongst themselves. If the slaughter is to continue in this fashion then there will be no beasts left upon the world, and very few humans! What is the point of it all?"

Laranki could hear the dismay in Shavat's voice as he sought to try and understand what was happening within this 'world gone mad' that they now dwelt within.

"Where is it that you are heading for?" Shavat asked.

"We go in search of Noah," Soreecilor replied.

"Noah said that he had seen you before, Kolay'sha!" said one of the squirrels, but Laranki could not be sure whether it had been Chart or Brand.

Staring at the dragon, Laranki heard the sound of a groan, making him feel that the dragon would have preferred this piece of information to have gone unspoken.

Shavat began slowly turning his head and looking toward his companion.

"It was a long time ago..." began Kolay'sha.

"Ssshhhh!" said Laranki, raising his head and peering off towards the rear right-hand side of the dragons.

Abruptly, all six became very quiet and very still, each listening for unusual sounds, sounds that were neither the raging river nor the rain on the canopy above.

At first Laranki could hear nothing more, and then he thought she could hear the faint noise again, a sound that was similar to something that he had heard earlier; a noise that did not seem to be more than a distant buzzing wail. Then, amongst that wailing, he detected a shout; the distinctive cry that could only come from a human.

The sounds remained in the distance and did not appear to be getting quickly closer to where Laranki and the others rested in the forest.

"What is that buzzing sound that I can hear?" whispered Kolay'sha, her question open to anyone who could give her an answer.

"The humans carry a new weapon. They spin a slingshot in the air above their heads. These make the rasping sound that you can hear and judging by the level of noise we can detect there are many humans out there moving through the trees, trying to flush any beasts into running and, if they do, the slingshots fire a deadly stone toward the frightened beast.

These stones will normally only stun a creature and then the humans move in to finish off the work in their own despicable way. Sometimes you can hear beasts crying out in pain for a long, long time before they succumb to the darkness of death!" Laranki's voice was full of venom and disgust, providing evidence that he had seen many creatures brought down by these weapons and slaughtered in hideous fashion.

"Can we get across the river now?" Soreecilor whispered.

Shavat looked toward Kolay'sha and then, turning his head back toward the unicorns, he said, "I fear the storm would make it too dangerous. There is a risk that you may suffer injury if the winds go against us badly. I am sorry, it is best that we wait. Perhaps the humans will not come in this direction; perhaps they will move away from us."

Kolay'sha and Shavat continued to lie there facing the two unicorns, occasionally they would turn their heads and try to look deeper into the forest, looking for any sign of the humans but they could see none, though the buzzing noise remained distantly invading the far reaches of their hearing.

"Where are Chart and Brand?" Kolay'sha whispered, only now noticing the absence of the two little creatures.

"They have gone to spy upon the humans. They have helped us to avoid many human traps on our journey and I know that they will be safe," replied Soreecilor, keeping her own voice low and ensuring that all could continue to hear the buzzing sounds and be able to tell if the noise should appear any nearer.

The four continued to lay there, saying nothing, their eyes occasionally going from one to the other, looking for signs in the others that indicated that one of them may have heard something that the others had not.

The moments passed, seeming to take forever and when a sudden rustling nearby was heard, all four were startled, their heads turning in the direction of the sound. With relief, Laranki saw that it was one of the squirrels returning from spying upon the humans.

"The humans are not heading directly this way. They are sweeping across almost adjacent to us, but there is a possibility that they may change direction," Chart said, standing in the middle of the dragons and unicorns, her head turning to each of them as she spoke.

"Where is Brand?" Soreecilor whispered, obvious concern in her voice.

"He is trying to gauge the numbers of the humans. It does not appear to be a thin line of them moving through the forest as we had first thought. He believes the human line may be deeper than we had first imagined and so he is going to try and see how wide the line of humans really is," replied Chart. The concern in her voice was unmasked and lay bare; she was fearful for Brand.

Looking at the expression upon Kolay'sha's face, Laranki was convinced that after hearing what Chart had just said, she was admiring the courage of the little squirrel.

***

Kolay'sha's thoughts remained upon the squirrel called Brand. 'I have my own fear of humans and I find it hard to believe that such a small creature is out there all alone and surrounded by the humans with their obnoxious weapons.' She was fearful for his life and, inside, her hatred for the humans manifested itself stronger than she had ever felt it before.

Looking at the unicorns, Kolay'sha began wondering how their destinies crossed, wondering how the squirrels would know that Kolay'sha would be in a position to one day assist the unicorns. She wondered about the role of the squirrels, the youngsters who tended the air holes of Heart, the ones who now appeared to guide the unicorns to some unknown destination.

"Where do you travel to?" Laranki whispered, his voice interrupting Kolay'sha's thoughts.

Then, before Kolay'sha or Shavat could reply, Soreecilor said, "Has your God commanded you to go to Noah?"

Watching Kolay'sha and Shavat, Laranki saw them glance at each other and then back towards Soreecilor, puzzlement upon their faces.

It came to Kolay'sha that the creatures of this world appeared to have a bonding with their God and from the behaviour of the humans, in comparison to the beasts of this world; it appeared that the humans did not share the same bonding with their God. 'In fact, it now appears as though the humans of this world were trying to destroy all things that their God had created; including themselves!'

"We travel across the Badlands," Shavat'etun said, his voice breaking Kolay'sha from her reverie. "We go to seek out a friend to help us look into a problem that has caused concern amongst a number of dragons."

'Now that is a polite way of saying nothing at all,' thought Kolay'sha.

"You must be careful in the vicinity of the city!" Soreecilor whispered.

Stunned into silence, Kolay'sha thought, 'What city is the unicorn referring to? Could she know of the dragon's battle with the evil aliens?'

The silence from Shavat'etun was as solid as the silence from Kolay'sha as neither of them could think of what to say to the unicorn.

"Kolay'sha, Shavat," began the male unicorn, "You are to know that it is important that all of the dragons attack the alien city. No dragon should remain in Heart for, if they do, then they will surely be lost forever."

Kolay'sha, stunned into an even deeper silence, was aware of Shavat turning his head toward her and she could sense the confusion of emotion that emanated from his mind. 'Welcome to my world,' she thought, almost having to suppress a slight chuckle.

"Why do you tell us these things?" asked Kolay'sha.

"You are here to provide us with assistance. You do not think that it would go unrewarded do you?" Soreecilor whispered in reply.

"How do you know of these things?" Shavat whispered; bewilderment obvious in his tones.

"We have been tasked to tell you these things but what you do with that knowledge is not our concern; we were simply requested to give you the information," Soreecilor said and then, before any creature could speak, there came a movement from her right-hand side.

Turning his head to see what had taken the attention of his wife and the two dragons, Laranki saw Brand moving slowly toward them, limping slightly and evidently in great pain.

Chart raced up to her companion, putting an arm around him, helping to support his weight.

Kolay'sha, for all her size and strength, felt useless.

"I will be fine," Brand whispered, "I only received a glancing blow from a stone that rebounded from a branch close to me!" Brand moved closer to the dragons and unicorns and then stopped, turning his face up towards Laranki. "There are many humans out there; more than we had previously thought. They walk a line that is perhaps over fifty humans long and I have calculated at least seven or eight humans deep before I began to make my way back here."

Before any of the beasts could ask any questions of the squirrel there was a loud human cry from somewhere deep in the forest. This shout was answered with more excited yelling and Laranki mentally acknowledged what he thought was happening. 'The humans have obviously found some solitary beast or are chasing a group of beasts through the forest. I pity the poor creatures.'

Laranki could only hope that whatever it was it would not bring the humans in their direction whilst feeling sorrow for whatever beast the humans had turned their attention upon. Recognising the human cries, Laranki was immediately seething with anger inside; trying to imagine what innocent creature was running futilely for its life. 'There is little doubt that the humans will catch the beast as there are so many humans in these forests but I wish you the strength to outrun the evil horde, whoever you are.'

Turning his head as he heard a crashing through bushes far over to his right, Laranki began peering through the trees and trying to locate the source of the noise.

For a moment, he caught a brief glimpse of colour but it was not a colour that he was expecting to see; the colour was blue. A number of figures appeared to be running through the distant trees, not moving in his direction but seeming to be making their way directly towards the river. There was a frantic and panicky motion in their limbs and they seemed to be trying to get away from something. Estimating that there were at least five or six individuals Laranki noted that although they ran hastily not one uttered a cry; they were trying to make their passage as quickly and as silently as possible, only disturbing the undergrowth that was in their immediate paths.

'And I is wishing you the strength to outrun those who pursue you,' Laranki thought, allowing his concern for the safety of those being hunted to simply melt away.

***

Realising just how fast her heart was beating, Kolay'sha had already began to agitate her throat and was preparing the fireball mix that she was sure would be called upon. Moving her eyes only, she could see that Shavat, the unicorns, and the squirrels, were all maintaining a silence through stillness as well as not speaking; each of them were peering in the direction of the running blue humans. 'The fleeing humans are so intent on the direction that they are running towards that they have not seen us here. It is good that this part of the forest is thick with trees and plants.'

Kolay'sha considered that there was a chance that they would not be seen, especially if they were not the ones who were being hunted. She could only hope that the tree trunks of the forest hid the shapes of herself and Shavat. She felt that both her body, and Shavat's, would be providing adequate cover for the unicorns as long as the humans remained moving in their chosen direction and that they continued focusing only on what was ahead of them and what was behind.

Flinching a little, Kolay'sha was shocked when there was a sudden deafening outburst of new screams and shouts erupting in the air and, moving her eyes to look in that direction, from where Kolay'sha had originally seen the blue shapes running she now saw fast moving human shapes with materials doused in vibrant shades of red. Sighing a little, she thought, 'they are running directly towards where I had last seen the blue humans, they are following in that direction.'

She would not move her head to look toward the unicorns or see what the squirrels were doing for fear of the slightest movement drawing the evilest attraction. She knew Shavat would also be remaining completely still and could only assume the same was true of the unicorns and the squirrels.

Suddenly, there were more shouts and then the distinct reverberation of metal crashing upon metal could be heard winding its way between the tree trunks. There came harsh screams from an area out of sight and close to the river.

Seeming to last for an eternity, the clanking of metal invaded the forest, seeming to be ripping into the very wood of the trees and making them scream and then, suddenly, a haunted silence fell about their surroundings and the only sound that Kolay'sha could now hear was the rain hitting the leaves high over head.

Almost like a gentle ripple moving slowly across pond, there came a new noise weaving through the forest and it was a sound that only the human's made after a kill; it was laughter and it was the most frightening sound that Kolay'sha had ever heard. She could not begin to perceive the mind of a creature that could laugh at the taking of another creature's life. 'There is indeed an evil to the humans that cannot be equalled by any other life form of this world.'

With the laughter continuing to invade the beauty of the forest as if it were a poison passing between the tree trunks searching for new prey, Kolay'sha began to see human figures in red, raggedy clothing beginning to appear amidst the tree trunks as malformed shapes. She watched them move slowly back in the direction that they had came from originally and, for a moment, she felt as though they would be safe. 'It is good that the humans return from where they came but it is now becoming too dangerous to remain here. I have a duty to the unicorns for which I will receive information and that information may be what is needed for the dragons to survive in the dark time ahead.'

Watching the moving figures, seeing them slowing being eaten up by the multitude of tree trunks that obscured their view, she began looking for any sign of the humans dressed in blue; but she saw none, 'Then I should be grateful that there are now less humans alive in this place than there were a little time ago. I wonder what the crime was of the blue humans, or is it natural human behaviour that red and blue humans must always oppose each other and so destroy each other? What is it that the humans expect to achieve by eradicating so many of their own species?'

Estimating that perhaps thirty humans were moving through the trees and then panicking just as she was watching the few who were at the rear of the group as the humans suddenly crouched down, Kolay'sha watched the red covered human shapes running swiftly to ground and being suddenly lost from sight. Silence descended once more upon the forest and, because this was not a natural sound when humans were in the area, Kolay'sha felt very scared. 'What are the humans doing now?'

There was a sudden clap of wings as a bird was disturbed by something close to it, flying away from its resting place it went racing swiftly and scared beneath the main branches of the trees, heading off toward the river. Kolay'sha did not see the bird and then, suddenly, the sound of the bird ceased, leaving behind the sound of the rain hitting the canopy overhead.

An almost complete silence descended upon the area as Kolay'sha, Shavat, the unicorns, and the squirrels all remained absolutely still and hardy daring to breathe.

The moments passed by agonizingly slowly, accompanied only by the sound of rain hitting leaves high overhead. Kolay'sha felt an urgent need to scratch an itch that had appeared on the lower part of her neck but she had no choice but to refuse to succumb to its insistent desire to be removed.

The time continued to creep around her as the itch continued to annoy and distract her, but she kept her eyes fixed upon where she had last seen the humans, searching for any sign of them and, as time went by, she began to feel more and secure, believing that the humans had gone to carry out their wicked deeds in some other place.

With her mind slowly going over questions that she wanted to ask the unicorns and the squirrels, she believed that there were things that she felt she should ask. There was a desire to find out more about her connection with the unicorns and why it had been her destiny to be the one who would provide assistance to them.

"Yaaaarrrrhhh," a human voice screamed through the forest, quickly followed by other savage roars and, as Kolay'sha turned in the direction of the first roar that she had heard, she saw a number of humans racing through the trees with the gleam of metal catching the faint rays of daylight that managed to pierce the canopy above.

Quickly rising to her feet, Kolay'sha could see Shavat was doing the same. 'We are seen and must fight,' she thought grimly as something sharp buried itself in the ground close by.

### 02 - Judges II – The Warring Nations

Objects came hurtling through the air and where they struck her they caused her immense pain. Kolay'sha could not see the objects, merely feel their arrival. Issuing a loud and deafening roar, she was warning the humans of her hurting and her anger. Shavat roared his anger beside her but the humans paid no attention, they continued to race through the trees, throwing their weapons and screaming their cries.

As Kolay'sha swung around, she became painfully aware that the humans were not just coming from the general direction of where she had first seen them and that they were coming toward her in a line, spread out amongst the trees, 'The humans must have spent a time trying to surround us as much as possible and they have carried out this preparation without any of us hearing them as they moved into their positions of attack.'

Wild sounds were erupting in the air, seemingly coming from everywhere around them. Humans shouting, metal clanging, stones thrown and crashing upon the ground, trees, and upon her body, the buzzing noise of the slingshots that hurled the stones, and the sound of her own roars. The stillness and quiet of the forest had been replaced with the sounds of impending death and of battles to a gruesome finish.

Brightness flashed beside her as she saw Shavat's flaming fireball hurtling through the air, flying swiftly amongst the tree trunks before colliding with a tree trunk, where the human it was aimed at just succeeded in leaping to the side, splattering and sending flaming shards through the air as the fireball ripped bark from the tree itself. All of the humans close to its impact point dived to the ground, rolling away from it to safety, except for one human's clothing which immediately burst into flames as the human rolled and writhed in agony upon the ground. The human's companions were ignoring his cries and continuing to scream in their own savage way, screaming out for blood and death to be delivered by their own evil means.

Kolay'sha had been agitating her throat for a while now and it was a great release when she hurled the first fireball from her throat, watching it blast its way through the air and finally smashing upon a tree trunk, sending flaming debris spinning and shooting through the air. Humans were diving for cover, throwing their bodies to the ground or running to stand behind the wider trees but, no matter how many humans hid from sight, Kolay'sha was painfully aware of the stones that continued flying through the air.

Turning her head, she was quickly spewing forth another fireball, firing it in a direction where she had detected movement closest to her. She adjusted her body, turning herself away from Shavat, leaving him to protect his side, whilst she set about protecting hers. Arrows began to stab into the ground near her, some whistling through the air close to her head, as she kept her head moving from side to side, trying to make as difficult a target as she could for the humans.

Amongst the distant trees, she could see more and more humans racing up behind the ones that fired their weapons at her now. There were many, many humans; racing forward while shouting, screaming, and hurling their weapons, though the ones that were closest had took to using trees for cover in an effort to sneak up closer before they launched their weapons.

Kolay'sha readied another fireball, wishing she could rise upon her hind legs so that she could get a better shot at the humans but she would not, recalling her mother telling her many times that that in that position a dragon made a larger and easier target.

She spat another fireball, watching it fly through the air, watching it smash into a tree and shower a number of nearby humans with DragonFlame. She felt satisfied that the DragonFlame kept burning upon the humans and she ignored their cries of pain as she knew they would ignore hers should they be able to overcome her. Her eyes searching, looking for the humans who posed the most imminent danger, she was already preparing a fireball and then, seeing movement, she fired that fireball. Snaking through the air with a dark shadow of smoke racing behind it, the fireball impacted full on upon a human who tried, too late, to leap to the side. The fireball all but cut the human in two as he was thrown to the ground upon his back while the fireball continued to burn into his clothes and flesh with flames erupting from the ground around him. The human did not even have time to scream for so massive and immediate was the damage done to his body.

Aware of more fireballs being hurled by Shavat, Kolay'sha knew that many of his shots were hitting their intended targets as she heard the screaming of the humans that the fireballs, or DragonFlame, touched. Spitting forth once again, Kolay'sha was no longer spending the time watching her own fireballs fly but, instead, turning her head whilst preparing another and then firing that off towards another intended target. The air became full of the smells of sulphur, burning flesh and blood; smoke from burning fireballs and DragonFlame billowed through the air, dancing serenely in the midst of the shouting and chaos.

Recalling another tactic that her mother had told her about and considering the possibility of adopting the tactic, she felt her mind beginning to be invaded by the images of dragons being tortured, of dragons screaming, of flames... The same images that had brought her to her knees in agony so many times before were trying to destroy her once again. 'How long must I suffer this affliction?' her mind screamed.

"Not now!" she roared at the top of her voice and, feeling that she may soon be taken over by her nightmares, she decided that there was no need to ponder her mother's tactic, she would put them into action whilst she still could.

Inside, she was crying at the voices and images, begging them to go away and leave her alone and then, in a mighty bound that was more of a distraction from the pains in her head, she leapt through the trees ahead of her, crashing to the ground amidst a group of approximately seven humans. Seeing surprise and shock in their faces, she began turning her body rapidly, smashing her tail through the air behind her, aiming the tail at the group of astonished humans. Without looking backwards she leapt once again, off at an angle, bounding between the trees and very conscious of the fact that fewer stones were landing upon her as she now presented a moving target that was constantly changing position amongst the trees, whilst being offered protection by the trees.

Where she landed, she saw the smouldering remains of a human who had fallen to either one of her own fireballs or one of Shavat's. Swinging her head to the right, her eyes fell upon a lone human standing beside a tree; obviously his vantage point for aiming his weapons at Kolay'sha and Shavat. Opening her mouth, she spewed a roared mass of DragonFlame from her throat. There was no fireball this time, only the DragonFlame that flew through the air like a fountain of boiling water! The DragonFlame splashed across the human and, screaming, he turned and began running, crashing into another human in his flight, causing the second human's garments to burst into flame. The two humans fell to the ground with their bodies burning intensely as they writhed in pain trying to futilely put out the flames upon their bodies.

Something solid and sharp, possibly a large stone, struck Kolay'sha against the head and for a moment she was stunned as she saw humans begin to pour through the trees toward her, ready to make their kill. Surprising them, instead of running for cover she leapt toward them, landing in the midst of a group, completely smashing them into the ground. The surviving companions of these humans either tried to back off or simply turned and fled, seeking cover elsewhere. Kolay'sha spewed DragonFlame again, turning her head as she did so, showering a number of retreating humans with her deadly cargo and, for good measure, she swung her tail violently from side to side behind her, ensuring any humans in that direction did not remain there in one complete piece.

Noticing that the shouting of the humans was not as loud now and that they were a little more wary, a little less confident but still, in the trees around her, Kolay'sha could see more and more humans pouring through the forest, heading in both hers and Shavat's direction.

Turning a little, she ran a short way, building up speed and then leapt, this time spewing a Fireball as she did. The fireball flew ahead of her, plunging through the trees and into the ground. Kolay'sha landed heavily; her bulk sliding a short way across the wet vegetation before coming to a complete halt, staring in the direction of the fireball and stood wondering what had happened to the flames for the fireball just sat smouldering upon the ground.

Moving her head to the left, she saw Shavat in the distance and it was evident that he had engaged upon the same tactics as herself and she could see the dramatic confusion that this was causing to the humans. 'It does not sit well with their slaying tactics to have two large and angry dragons leaping around within their midst!' she thought to herself.

Locating a small group of humans that had taken refuge behind a small rise in the ground, a place from where they could stand and fire their weapons before ducking under cover, she spewed a fireball in their direction. The fireball flew across the rise just as a human tried to stand. He froze as he saw the fireball coming toward him, too scared to move and he never had a chance to scream as the fireball completely removed his head, continuing on its journey through the trees. The headless body of the human slumped to the ground, burning and causing his remaining companions to flee their shelter. Shooting DragonFlame toward them, the tip of the flame only reached two of the humans but their detested red garments immediately burst into flame as they ran away, trailing smoke and screams behind them.

Kolay'sha turned her body again, her mind returning to the unicorns and squirrels and, once she had her bearings, she made a leap in that direction, heading directly for the large clump of bushes that the unicorns had originally emerged from.

As she landed, aware of thickening smoke in the area, she was deafened by a mighty bang that flashed bright, showering sparks all around as a huge tree groaned, creaking, before it began to topple to the ground. Kolay'sha leapt quickly, moving clear of the falling tree and, landing a little ungracefully, she turned around, shooting a fireball back in the direction that she leapt from ensuring any humans kept their heads down.

The tree groaned as it went crashing down toward the forest floor, its descent slowed by its many branches trying to break its fall as they tangled and wrestled with the branches of the trees nearest to it. Beyond the tree, Kolay'sha could see humans running up behind it, trying to use the bulk of its leaves and branches as cover. She immediately shot DragonFlame in the direction of the tree and was happy to see the branches ignite, sending out flames and smoke, as she thought, 'It will not be so easy for the humans to hide behind now!'

Sensing a small reprieve, Kolay'sha tried to glance around the trees, trying to determine what manner of weapon the humans had that could explode and bring a large tree toppling to the ground but she could see no indication of such a weapon however, thanks to the red colours that the humans wore, she was able to see the majority of the humans as they tried to hide or sneak between trees.

Selecting a place where there appeared to be a concentrated group of humans, Kolay'sha hurled another fireball, watching the burning, smoking comet shoot between the trees, landing in their midst and, as it did, a bright shower of flames shot out, landing upon the humans and the nearby trees.

Smoke was beginning to thicken in the damp air and, as Kolay'sha looked around, she could see that the humans were not racing forward as quickly. They had to manoeuvre around burning obstacles; be they trees, bushes, or the burning body of their fallen companions.

"There are too many!" Shavat shouted through the trees and then, turning to her right, Kolay'sha saw him land upon the ground, spit fire, and then turn and leap in another direction.

Suddenly, there was another explosion, close to Shavat and only his dragon skin protected him as flames shot out through the trees. Small pieces of twigs and branches hurled through the air, accompanied by a flurry of dirt and, Kolay'sha noted, a number of the branches struck nearby humans as effectively as the deadly spears which the humans used themselves. Watching the humans clutching at the deadly wooden shards that had violently entered their bodies she felt no sorrow or remorse for these creatures because she knew that, 'If they are able to overcome me and Shavat then they will spare us no mercy, nor the unicorns!'

Kolay'sha watched Shavat shake his head, turn and spying her, he leapt toward her. Landing, he turned his head, shot a fireball and then leapt in Kolay'sha's direction once again. Sensing something near, Kolay'sha turned her head and, seeing a group of about eight human running silently in her direction, she cursed herself for losing her concentration in the midst of battle. She released DragonFlame and the humans, realising that she had seen them, tried to scatter themselves amongst the trees. Some succeeded and some did not.

There was a bring flash, followed by a huge bang from the trees ahead of her, too far away to cause her any damage but the shockwave shook her as her eyes tried to see from where the humans fired such a weapon. She could see nothing, though the smoke that poured through the trees made visibility very limited, but she knew that the smoke would cause the humans problems themselves. Around the trees she could hear humans coughing, trying to get the smoke from their lungs and, wherever she heard the sounds emanating from, she fired a fireball in that direction; ensuring that the aggravating smoke continued causing problems for the vile humans as they struggled for fresh air to breathe. To her relief, she saw that the winds blew in from the tree line behind her and carried much of the smoke toward the humans.

"Kolay'sha, I note that your DragonFlame burns longer than all dragons I have seen and I want you to do something for me. The humans are many; their very numbers will eventually overwhelm us," Shavat's voice was urgent as both Shavat and herself looked around the trees for any sign of attacking humans. There was no detectable movement but the smoke could be hiding much of what the humans were doing

Turning to face Shavat, Kolay'sha asked, "What is it?" her speech quick, showing how much she had exerted herself.

"I want you to fire into the trees, aiming for everyplace where a fire does not yet burn. We will make a wall of flame that will hold the humans back. We must rely on the wind from the tree line carrying the flames deeper into the trees and, if need be, we can move out into the clearing by the river." Shavat's voice was laboured and Kolay'sha could feel the excitement and tension within him caused by their battle with these humans.

"We will work together; I will fire at any humans who try to strike at you!" Shavat shouted.

"What of the unicorns?" Kolay'sha replied, turning her head to look in the direction of the bushes.

"Laranki? Soreecilor? Can you hear me?" Shavat shouted.

"We hear you," came the voice of the male unicorn, "Can I be of assistance?"

"No," Shavat shouted. "Stay hidden, it is best that the humans do not know that you are here, otherwise we would have too many to try to protect. It is better that their energies are concentrated upon us!"

There was no reply from the unicorns.

"We are going to try to make a wall of flame to stop the humans advancing, to give us time while we wait for the storm to cease," Shavat shouted, informing the unicorns of their plan, "If the smoke or heat gets too much then you should move out into the clearing by the river."

BANG!

An earth shattering noise erupted through the air, accompanied by a huge flash of light. The event was further into the forest, easily amongst the humans and this pleased Kolay'sha for, obviously, it meant that the humans could not easily aim toward their intended targets. Perhaps the smoke was causing them problems and, if it were, then Shavat's plan was a good one!

Shavat's voice broke through the air as he continued calling toward the unicorns, after his interruption by the huge explosion. "...smoke or heat gets too much to bear, then you should move out into the clearing beside the river, but try to keep as close to the tree line as you can so that the humans cannot see you easily!"

Shavat turned to Kolay'sha and, nodding, indicated that they should begin.

Peering ahead of her, Kolay'sha was staring through the smoke and trees and, where the smoke was thinner and she could not see an ember burning amidst the smoke, she hurled a fireball. The fireball flew through the air and, for a moment, it was lost within the smoke before a brief burst of light indicated that it had struck something.

Kolay'sha turned her head to the left, shocked to note that the area was clear of smoke and seeing red material darting between the trees, showing her the presence of humans trying to find their way around the existing fires. She spat a fireball, aiming it at a place that was thick with tree trunks. The fireball smashed into the trees, showering its deadly cargo around, striking trees and ground and, judging by the screams that she heard, a number of humans who were hiding in that area were also struck by the molten fire that she had spat. A fireball shot from beside her and she realised that Shavat had also seen the gap in their defences.

The two of them shot fireballs until the air ahead of them was heavy with smoke and the gaps between trees were filled with flaming embers, as were the trees themselves. The area beneath the forest covering had began to take on a strange and eerie glow as the light beneath the canopy became a glowing orange, with areas of pulsating white where fireballs continued to burn, destroying all that they were attached to. From somewhere amongst the trees, Kolay'sha heard the sound of another tree as it began to topple over and fall creaking and resisting to the floor, but she could not see where it happened as the smoke was too thick and distorting.

There came another explosion, further back amongst the humans, and she heard humans crying out in pain and agony. The bright light mushroomed in the air, bursting through the smoke before it shrank down in size, although Kolay'sha could tell that it did not disappear altogether. Looking beyond Shavat, Kolay'sha could see that there was still space for humans to try to come around the other side of their firewall.

"Protect the unicorns!" she shouted to Shavat, "I will spread my fireballs over there!" Then, before Shavat could reply, Kolay'sha moved around him and leapt through the trees were, upon landing, she immediately leapt again. It took her four leaps until she was in a position from which to hurl her fireballs. Glancing behind her, she judged her distance to be too close to where the unicorns were hiding and, facing forward again she leapt through the air, travelling through a thin wall of smoke as she did so.

Kolay'sha was surprised when she landed for, almost immediately in front of her was a human; a human covered with more red material that any other that she had seen this day. He had been shaking something in his hand as she had come through the smoke and, as she landed, only a short distance from having crushed him, she saw him look up into her face. There was fear as well as anger written in his face, 'or is it his emotions that I am sensing?'

He returned his attention to the object in his hand and Kolay'sha caught a brief glimpse of something metallic and shiny as the human used his other hand to stab at it with his fingers. Strange voices came from that object, voices that were not human, voices that she could not understand. The human, frustrated with the metallic device, stopped and looking up at Kolay'sha he slowly began to back away from her. Kolay'sha watched the human moving away from her and, as he suddenly turned to run, she fired DragonFlame. Her flame struck the human full on and, as she watched, his whole body erupted in flames and then, suddenly, the body seemed to change shape, it grew taller, its neck extended in length, long thin arms waved frantically in the air and there was a piercing scream the likes of which Kolay'sha had never heard before.

A sudden eruption from the figure, showering her with a brightness that almost burnt Kolay'sha's eyes, almost caused her to look away and then, as she stared, the figure toppled forward, surrendering to the power of the flames, his body crumpling and twisting, writhing in an unnatural way. Kolay'sha shook her head, wondering what she had seen and then, through the trees more humans dressed in red began to advance, trying to run under the cover of smoke from tree to tree, concealing their advance as much as possible.

Kolay'sha spat a fireball, and then another, and then another and then, feeling that she would have to wait a moment before the next fireball was ready, Kolay'sha spat DragonFlame, turning her head and letting the DragonFlame shower the trees and ground ahead of her. From somewhere amongst the distant trees another explosion rent the air and she heard humans screaming as she turned her head, catching a glimpse of the brightness of the explosion as it is slowly dwindled behind the smoky barrage ahead of her. An eerie silence spread out amongst the forest only broken by the wails and cries of distant, injured humans and, for a moment, Kolay'sha could once again hear the sound of the rain on the canopy above her.

Turning, she began moving quickly through the trees, heading toward Shavat who had moved closer to her position during her foray into the trees. As they met, another huge explosion shook the forest and as they searched for its brightness they heard another huge explosion close to the source of the first.

"With our wall, and the humans apparently trying to destroy themselves with some new weapon, we should be safe a while, although, said Shavat, "We must be vigilant and ensure that wherever the firewall loses strength, we should repair it quickly!"

Her breathing rapid, Kolay'sha nodded as only now did she realise that, for this moment, they could relax for a little time.

Remaining standing, the two stood side by side staring out through the smoky scene ahead of them and, from amidst the trees beyond the smoke, they could hear the sounds of many humans shouting and cursing, gathering and regrouping beyond the dangers of their firewall. Kolay'sha wondered what plans they were making, 'What were they preparing to do next?'

"Kolay'sha, Shavat," came the voice of the male unicorn, Laranki, sounding urgent, "I think the weather is turning, for though the rain still falls the wind abates. I have seen streams of sunlight piercing the clouds!"

"That is good news, Laranki," Shavat shouted back and then, turning to Kolay'sha, he said, "Go over to the clearing and see if you feel as though you could fly safely across the river carrying one of the beasts."

Kolay'sha was startled by Shavat's words, realising that he had detected her fear earlier, when the prospect of her having to carry a unicorn had first been put before her.

"I will remain here watching for the humans!" Shavat continued, just as another explosion rocked the forest, shaking the very ground beneath their feet. Shavat glanced into Kolay'sha's eyes as they both acknowledged the power from the recent explosion.

She knew that they would have to try and get the unicorns across the river as soon as possible; before the humans managed to fire their explosions close to where the dragons now stood.

"Shoot a fireball to your right and try to get it to land before that large smouldering tree. I hear human voices in that direction and so it is better to strengthen our wall at that location," said Shavat.

Kolay'sha looked to where Shavat had indicated and fired a fireball, noting that Shavat also shot one, a little toward the right of her own intended target. Satisfied that the fireball had landed close to where Shavat had requested, she turned and made her way toward the bushes that concealed the unicorns and the two squirrels. Approaching the bushes she became aware of the sounds of the river, bubbling along as though none of the events on the embankment were taken place. Her mind was awash with questions that she wanted to ask the unicorns and the squirrels, but this did not seem to be the right time to do so. 'Will there be a right time?' she asked herself.

Pushing slowly through the bushes, hearing small saplings creak and break by her passage through the high and densely packed vegetation, she continued carefully forward, calling out, "It is me, Kolay'sha," and then, before any creature could reply, the bushes in front of her parted, revealing a flattened area less populated with bushes and within it were the unicorns and squirrels.

The female unicorn was lying down and the male, Laranki, stood beside her, his gaze holding steady upon Kolay'sha as her eyes met his. At first, Kolay'sha could not see the squirrels but then noticed that they stood a little way from the unicorns, near to the bushes, standing in poses that showed that they were listening intently for any sounds nearby and watching for any sign of movement that would give them cause to alert the unicorns.

"Will you be able to carry us across the river soon?" asked the male unicorn, Laranki.

"Will you be the one who carries myself and Flack?" asked the female unicorn, recalling that God had told her to make this request of the female dragon.

Kolay'sha was puzzled, her eyes looking around to see what manner of other creature there was that they would have to convey across the river.

"Flack is the name of our unborn son," stated the male unicorn, Laranki, "My wife is of the belief that we will have a son, though I know not how she knows this!"

Relaxing for a moment, Kolay'sha was relieved that there was not another creature that would have to be taken across the river, and then she realised that the female unicorn, being pregnant, would not be able to stand any mishandling upon her as she was borne into the air. Kolay'sha determined that it would be Shavat who would carry the female unicorn as the added burden of carrying a beast, delicate with child, brought more fear into her belief of her own capabilities.

"I want to ask you to be the one who carries me," said the female unicorn, "As I believe that you will be careful with me and the son that I bear!"

Kolay'sha wanted to argue with the unicorn but, instead, she resigned herself to being the one who would have to carry the female beast. She felt a knot tighten in her stomach, almost making her feel sick. 'If I can do this, then I will carry Pearl across a hundred mountains!' she thought to herself, her mind turning to the time when she had carried the deer, her closest friend, away from the humans who had attacked her and her male companion, killing him, and she recalled the way she had had to grab at the deer, hauling her into the air and how her mishandling of her friend had almost cost her friend her life. Feeling anxiety building within her, she thought, 'I do not know if I can do this...'

"Of course I will," she replied, "It will be my honour."

Inside, she wondered where the words had come from because, given the circumstances, she did not believe that she would normally have volunteered for such a task as this. 'This battle has me weary!' she thought to herself and then, turning to her left and moving through the bushes, Kolay'sha began heading toward the sound of running water and the clearing beside the river. Carrying her head high, her neck reached the clearing before her, and the feeling of cold rain landing on her body felt wonderful. She closed her eyes, rolling her head from side to side, allowing the chill in the rain to cool her mind. She continued to walk forward until she was completely out in the clearing and the coolness of the rain and the lack of smoke made her feel as if she was in another world.

'I want to be in another world,' she thought, 'away from this fighting and killing and...' suddenly, Kolay'sha's mind became filled with the images of the humans that she had killed. She tried to hide from the images, but she could not. She vomited, spitting sick out to land on the wet clearing floor, her stomach felt nauseous and her mind felt numb. Her stomach heaved and she was sick once again. She closed her eyes, trying to feel only the cool rain, trying not to feel the sensations in her stomach or the revulsion of what she had done in her mind.

***

"Sometimes we have no say about the actions we do," said Laranki, moving from her right side and along her flank until he was standing beside her. He stopped once he was in the clearing and stood calm with his eyes staring straight across the rough and fast flowing river.

Feeling the eyes of the dragon upon him, knowing that for him to have seen her being physically sick would cause her some degree of embarrassment, particularly as she may think that he thought that she could be showing a sign of weakness in this time when strength and courage were the only things that would see them through. Sensing a movement beside him, a sideward glance showed him that the dragon now stood staring out across the river as he did.

"Remember, the humans came to fight you. You did not seek them out. If you had not done what you have done then you would not be here now, nor would your friend, my wife, myself, nor the squirrels," Laranki said, his voice even and calm.

Although the dragon remained silent, Laranki saw the movement of the dragons head as she nodded an acknowledgement to his statement.

"If it helps, try not to think of all of them as creatures of God," Laranki said.

Another explosion ripped through the forest behind them, quickly followed by another and then a silence, Laranki could detect that they had clearly came from beyond the firewall that the dragons had created and so must be causing damage and suffering amongst the humans. Not caring for what may be happening to the humans, Laranki said, "The humans are ill; they are infected with a plague of evil and even if they wanted to resist, unfortunately they could not. The evil has taken hold and wants to take over this world. The world is to be cleansed of them and so any you have slain have only been cleansed sooner."

The dragon was silent and Laranki wondered, 'Does the dragon understand the hidden truth concealed within the words I have just spoken to her?'

"Can we fly beyond the river soon?" Laranki asked.

The dragon began nodding her head, as she said, "Soon; the winds are dropping, and their strength abating. We should be able to cross very soon if the change in the weather continues to be favourable."

"You must have faith!" said Laranki.

Kolay'sha thought about his statement, knowing that Pearl had often talked of faith, of her God, but the dragons did not have a God. 'We do not belong on this world and we are not a part of it. Where do we dragons belong? What did the unicorns and Pearl's God have planned for the dragons?'

"There is nothing planned for the dragons but there is hope," Laranki said.

Shocked, Kolay'sha looked at Laranki, and feeling her eyes upon him Laranki could imagine that the dragon thought that he had been reading her mind. 'Which could be true,' he thought, 'for I know I have been told I would have knowledge to pass on to the dragons but I cannot be sure which direction it will come from.'

Feeling her need to better understand this, Laranki wished that he could explain everything to her, 'but the truth is I do not know everything. I only know that there is information to give to the dragons.'

"Remember this, Kolay'sha, you must keep within the circle and you must remain high," Laranki said, turning his head to look at the dragon.

"What do you mean?" Kolay'sha asked, looking into Laranki's dark eyes.

"Fly high and keep within the circle," Laranki replied.

***

Kolay'sha thought about this statement for a moment and then, turning her gaze back across the river, her mind began trying to interpret his words and meaning, wanting to ask him more about what he had said but when she turned to face the unicorn armed with a question, she saw that he was gone, leaving a number of branches waving wildly in the bushes as he had retraced his steps back toward his wife and the squirrels.

"Kolay'sha!" Shavat's voice called out from somewhere far within the tree line.

Turning her body, she began moving back into the tree line and almost immediately she was amongst the dim light of the canopy within the smell of thick and burning smoke. She felt her eyes burn a little as she moved forward, turning her path so that she walked toward the distinct shape of Shavat'etun. Halting before him, she brought down her second set of lens coverings that helped protect her vision when she was flying in pouring rain. This action brought immediate relief from the stinging smoke and she dwelt on the release of that small discomfort. 'I wish it would be so easy to remove the discomfort that I carry when I think about carrying the female unicorn and her unborn child.'

"The humans are gathering on the other side of the firewall, they are waiting for the moment that the barrier fails and then they will rush through. We need to be going soon," Shavat said.

Kolay'sha nodded, scanning along the firewall and seeing that it looked to be strong for a while longer and then, realising this, she thought 'I am glad that the humans do not have a source of water with which to try to douse the flames.'

"Do you feel all right?" Shavat asked, trying not to sound too concerned.

Kolay'sha felt as though he knew that she had been sick and was unsure of what to reply and the only words that came from her mouth were, "All this killing; it makes me feel sick!"

"You would not be a true dragon if you did not feel that way," Shavat'etun replied; his gaze firmly fixed upon the firewall ahead of him.

Nodding, thinking of this, her eyes continued peering through the smoke with her eyes beginning to sting once more from the effects of the smoke, watering and blurring her vision. 'I wish I could have kept my rain lens covering in place but it distorts images a little and I cannot risk not being able to see everything around us while we are fighting the humans in the area. I hope that Shavat believes my eyes are this way because of the smoke,' she thought to herself; fearful that she could be displaying a sign of weakness at a time when weakness would be a useless commodity.

A violent explosion erupted from the far side of the fire barrier, obviously from within that the humans would be planning and readying themselves for another attack when the firewall showed signs of weakness. Screams echoed through the burning trees and smoke and it was clear that a number of humans had been very close to the source of the explosion. Trying to envision what kind of weapon the humans were trying to use that was obviously difficult for them to aim and then she thought, 'Perhaps the weapon is meant to be used in open terrain and the smoke and trees are what is causing them problems when they try to aim their device.'

"What is this weapon that they use upon themselves?" whispered Kolay'sha; completely mystified by the damage that the humans appeared to be doing to themselves. She thought of the human that she had encountered with the strange metallic device in his hand and of the way that his body twisted and contorted, seeming to change shape, as it went through its death throes.

"I do not believe that it is a weapon of the humans," stated Shavat'etun, "And soon we will have our proof!"

Kolay'sha looked at Shavat, puzzled by his statement, asking, "What do you mean?"

"Wait, watch ahead; follow where I gaze," Shavat replied.

Kolay'sha was about to ask another question and then thought better of it. Looking at Shavat and, following his gaze, she too stared in the same direction trying to see what was of such interest to Shavat but all she could see were swirling wisps of smoke, some not even trying to reach high into the canopy it seemed and, within the smoke, she could see the glowing of fires that burned, holding the humans at bay. 'What am I looking for?'

There was an eerie silence around the smoky forest with even the humans appearing to be silent, awaiting their moment to attack once again. Staring into the smoke, allowing the serenity to swim over her, she was letting herself escape a little from the deadly pallor of the battle that had been and would surely come again. She wished that the sun would just break from the clouds, allowing them to flee this area, leaving the humans and battle behind.

FLASH! BANG!

Another explosion occurred, directly ahead of her, momentarily blinding her as she turned her head while the sound of the detonation echoed around the forest.

"I knew it!" said Shavat, "It is not a human weapon that is attacking the humans; it is a dragon weapon!"

"What?" Kolay'sha replied, her eyes searching the forest and looking for signs of the other dragons that Shavat appeared to be referring to. 'Where are these other dragons that Shavat believes are there? Why do they not make themselves known to us?'

"It is you, Kolay'sha," Shavat shouted, elation in his voice, "It is you!"

"What do you mean?" Kolay'sha asked, completely puzzled by the words of Shavat, fearing that the strain of this battle had not only left a mark upon her!

"Do you not see?" Shavat asked, "The explosions all occur where you had previously shot a fireball! It took me a while to make the connection but now I have my proof!" There was obvious excitement in Shavat's voice and, although it was contagious, she could not share his apparent joy completely for she did not know what the cause of his excitement was.

"I have been giving it some thought," began Shavat, "when I first noticed that the weapon proved to only be attacking the humans and, while I was waiting for proof, I began to try to work out how it could be..."

"Another hypothesis?" Kolay'sha laughed, trying to bring humour into the strange conversation.

"Yes, yes, another hypothesis," said Shavat, pausing for a moment before saying, "But with this hypothesis I am sure that I am right! The black sphere has affected you in ways that we do not know and, somehow, the effects have all been beneficial as far as I can determine. There is a change in your chemistry that makes your fireballs different!"

"What do you mean?" Kolay'sha asked, feeling nervous by the excitement in Shavat's voice and his linking another strange phenomenon to her being. With her mind returning to the strange, abandoned alien city within the Bay of Atleenia, she began thinking about the strange black sphere that was there and how she had spent so much time close to the sphere, seeming to be drawn to it because it seemed to be the only part of the city that was still, somehow, intact and still seemed, somehow, alive with energy. 'Could the sphere have affected me? Was I risking putting myself in that much danger because of the number of times I visited that dead, alien construction?'

"The fireballs you hurl are very powerful," began Shavat, interrupting her thoughts, "But I only noticed this when the humans first attacked. I have also noticed that they burn for far longer, only slowly diminishing in power and, eventually, something happens that causes the fireball to explode.

This is the part I cannot work out correctly but I imagine that, for whatever reason, the core of your fireball contains another element and this element reacts to exposure to the air. When you fire your fireball the core is held trapped within the fireball itself but as the fireball burns, eventually the core is exposed, reacting with the air, and BANG!" There was excitement written all over Shavat's face.

"Bang?" Kolay'sha repeated.

"Yes, bang!" Shavat repeated, "I know there are chemicals that react upon exposure to air and I believe that, somehow, your body is producing these chemicals and probably has to ensure that this chemical is kept away from exposure to air while within you. When you fire the fireball, some of this element is encased by the fireball, to allow it safe passage into the air, otherwise..."

"Otherwise... What?" Kolay'sha asked, noting that Shavat did not complete his sentence.

"Otherwise," said Shavat, slowly, "It would explode while within you!"

Kolay'sha was stunned into silence. 'I have listened to many of Shavat's theories in the past but this one seems absurd, even by Shavat's standards, even though I have no doubt that he believes it to be true.'

The noise of the humans grew louder on the far side of the fire barrier and Kolay'sha looked along the smoking line, noting the places where fires burnt stronger, looking to see if any place appeared to be weakening, but she saw none.

"Notice how the fires burn, Kolay'sha," stated Shavat'etun, "The fires do not spread easily to the trees themselves. In fact, the burning flames all appear to emanate from where your fireballs have landed, or splashed against."

"There are areas where flames have taken over the trees and the trees now burn!" Kolay'sha replied.

"Yes, I have seen them, and," Shavat paused, his head peering through the smoke, trying to locate such an example, "I am of the opinion that these are my fireballs. They have ignited the wood of the trees, but the flames do not climb so easily into the higher extremities of the upper branches because the rain water is keeping those areas wet!"

Remaining silent, she stared into the smoke, noting that her eyes had grown accustomed and no longer stung through its irritation. 'This is becoming too much. First I have to carry the female unicorn that is with child and now Shavat wants me to believe that my fireballs are different from those of all other dragons... and this is all happening while we are in a battle with the humans!'

"Kolay'sha?" asked Shavat'etun, "I have a plan, and I think it is something that has to be done!"

Turning to face Shavat, noting the distant boom of another explosion out amongst the humans, followed by a series of cries and curses, and she saw his gaze held steadily on hers, the deformities on the side of his face seeming somehow subdued and less raised due to the strange semi-darkness that existed around them.

"There are two problems that we have to cope with at this time, excluding the issue with carrying the unicorn's across the river. We have an army of humans that is too big for us to be able to deal with and we also have the worry that humans will know that dragons exist in this area and they may begin to search the area until, perhaps, they discover Heart!" Shavat'etun paused.

Thinking of Heart, the last great hidden sanctuary of the dragons, she was immediately fearful for the dragons being discovered because the humans might carry out such a search and locate the entrances to Heart on the cliff faces of the Bay of Atleenia. 'If Heart is discovered then it will be mine and Shavat's fault for alerting the humans to the presence of dragons in this area...'

Concentrating on Shavat's face and waiting for what he would say next, she could see his mind was turning over thoughts, looking at the problems that they were facing. Kolay'sha could clearly see Shavat working his way through a scenario within his head, and so she remained quiet, allowing Shavat to continue concentrating on his mental chores.

After a few moments, Shavat'etun spoke, "The wind and rain is still quite strong but is it enough to prevent us flying without having to carry the unicorns?"

"No," replied Kolay'sha, "but we have sworn to assist the unicorns. We cannot simply leave them behind!"

"I do not intend to leave them behind. I am thinking of a flight on our own first," Shavat said, looking directly into Kolay'sha's eyes.

"I presume it is connected to the plan that you have been working on," Kolay'sha said, her eyes leaving Shavat's eyes and peering into the smoke filled forest of angry humans to her left.

### 03 - Judges III - Circle of Flame

"I believe that the humans are all congregating on the far side of the fire barrier, awaiting the chance to break through. As time has gone past, I have noted more and more human voices as they gather themselves together, preparing to pour through the first part of the fire barrier that fails.

I propose that we fly out, go beyond the humans and then land, whereupon we will start another fire behind them, encircling them. If fortune should favour us, we should be able to remove the human threat and ensure that no humans come searching for dragons in this area.

For a change, it will be the humans that are caught in a trap!" Shavat'etun finished speaking, waiting patiently for Kolay'sha to reply.

Thinking about what Shavat had said Kolay'sha was feeling that it would appear to be a waste of energies, and that, 'It would be better to wait for the lull in the weather and then move the unicorns across the river.'

A sound caught Kolay'sha's attention and she turned her head, looking into the trees, but the smoke that hung in the air made it difficult to see anything. The sound came again, and she definitely believed it to be the sound of something striking wood.

Kolay'sha now noted that Shavat was also peering into the trees and smoke, trying to determine the source of the noise. After a few moments, the sound came again and, looking in the direction of a nearby tree, they were able to make out the shape of an arrow embedded within the tree trunk.

"It appears that our human friends are getting a little impatient," Shavat'etun said with a mixture of sarcasm and humour in his voice.

"They must be just blindly firing into the trees, hoping that some get through and cause us injury," Kolay'sha replied, adding, "And I have no doubt that some may make it this far."

"I agree, let us move further back, away from any danger," Shavat'etun replied as he turned and began to move in the direction of the river. "If the weather is calm enough, we will take that flight!" he said, matter-of-factly.

Kolay'sha followed, noting the sound of another arrow embedding itself into a tree trunk not too far away. The arrows would not do a great deal of damage to her armoured skin but an unlucky shot could certainly take out an eye and, with that thought, Kolay'sha increased her speed.

Catching up with Shavat, she said, "How can you be sure that we will have enough fireballs to create another firewall behind the humans?"

"I cannot be sure, but we have rested a little and neither of us came near to using up all of our available resources earlier," Shavat replied, and then turning to move to the right, he added, "I will tell the unicorns of what we are to do."

Kolay'sha nodded, continuing forward until she reached the clearing beside the river. There was only a light rain in the air and, surveying the clouds overhead, she noted that the clouds were not dark and that the winds were blowing them rapidly across the sky. 'I believe that the storm is all but over,' she thought to herself.

She stood listening to the river, breathing in the clean air, awaiting Shavat's return. 'I wonder if the humans have worked out that the reason that we are still here and have not flown to safety is because there is something here that is important to us and which has to be protected?'

The turbulent river continued streaming past her, carrying fallen branches that dipped and rose within the water. She listened hard and, from within the woods, she could hear the murmurs of many human voices. She searched for the sounds of arrows striking wood but none came, though she was sure that the humans would still be firing their weapons and hoping to inflict some damage upon them.

Seeing Shavat emerging from the tree line, she studied his face as he began to move toward her.

"The storm is all but over," he said, "We should have no problems flying to the rear of the humans and, as long as we find a clearing, we should be able to land and create the fire barrier behind them."

"We had best be quick in case the firewall here weakens and the humans get through to the unicorns," Kolay'sha said.

Without replying, Shavat'etun began to run across the clearing, beside the river, extending his wings.

Kolay'sha turned, also beginning to run, following a little way behind him. Extending her wings, she began beating the air and then, just after Shavat had done so, she too leapt into the air, pulling away from the ground and rising upwards. She banked heavily to the left, once they were both above the treetops, and began flying across the forest. They beat their wings slowly so that no sound would betray them and tell the humans of where they were. Gliding as much as she could, Kolay'sha swept from side to side as she began searching for any indication of a clearing in the distance. 'There is a chance that we may land amidst a group of humans and, if we do, it will be no easy task to try and get airborne while the humans attack us.'

On her right side, she could see Shavat doing the same manoeuvre as herself. The flight seemed to be going on too long and if they could not land soon, Kolay'sha thought that there would be no point in landing, 'As it would take us quite a time to walk back through the forest and start our second firewall behind the humans and, by that time, they may have breached our firewall and have slain the unicorns.' Not feeling that what they were attempting was the right thing to be doing at this time, she was about to suggest to Shavat that they return to the unicorns and maintain their existing firewall, when Shavat suddenly called out to her.

"Kolay'sha!" Shavat shouted, banking to his right and sweeping around in a slow arc.

Following Shavat and seeing him heading toward a small opening in the forest canopy, she lined herself up to glide in for a landing. She followed along behind Shavat, flying just above the treetops, and was startled when Shavat suddenly dipped downwards, and was suddenly gone from sight. She grew panicky and fearful as the tops of the trees were almost close enough to touch her underside as she soared above them. Suddenly, the opening in the canopy was upon her and then in reaction and with a flurry of wings beating forwards, she slowed her flight to almost a standstill before falling down through the small opening in the treetops. She saw a flash of green and then brown, as she plummeted toward the floor, landing with a jolt amongst a large group of bushes.

"Ssshhhh!" Shavat said.

Kolay'sha held herself still, feeling the bushes that she had crushed beneath her. She strained her ears to listen but, other than the complaining flattened bushes around her, she heard nothing.

"What is it?" Kolay'sha whispered, turning her head to face Shavat, who was side on to her.

"We have to be certain that no humans have detected our landing here, as it is going to be difficult to get back out of here," Shavat replied.

Lifting her head, she could now see how small the opening was that the two of them had dropped through. It would be very difficult to get back up through the gap; not impossible, but very difficult. She remained quiet and unmoving, listening for any sounds of the humans but she could hear none and, eventually, Shavat turned to her and said, "I think we are safe here, we will need to remember this place so that we can find it quickly and get out of here again."

Kolay'sha nodded and moving slowly forward, she moved out from the bushes until she was standing amongst the trees of the forest.

"We will work together using a mixture of our fireballs and, if all goes well, then the humans will be trapped within a circle of fire that they will not be able to escape," Shavat said, moving to stand close to Kolay'sha.

Kolay'sha stared at Shavat for a moment, noticing that the dim light of the forest hid his scars quite well. Suddenly, feeling as though she were staring, she looked away. "Where shall we start?" she asked.

"We will start here," Shavat said, his throat already agitating the molten heat that he carried within his body.

As Kolay'sha looked ahead, trying to see the best place to aim a fireball, she saw a fireball hurtle from Shavat and go racing through the trees. The fireball struck a tree, splashing its deadly cargo across the tree and the ground nearby, immediately beginning to burn into the wood. Kolay'sha prepared her first fireball and hurled it in the same general direction of Shavat's, noting that Shavat had already fired another fireball and was beginning to walk slowly to his left, his head turned to the right, staring in the direction that he wished to fire fireballs.

Kolay'sha did the same, walking slowly and shooting fireballs. Soon, the air around them was full with the sound of 'crackling' as flames began to take hold of trees and upper branches.

"The ground is much drier here," Shavat said, "and this will help us greatly."

Shooting fireball after fireball, she did as Shavat had requested and soon the two had increased their pace and were making fast progress in their task. After a long walk and having exerted the energies needed to fire so many fireballs, Shavat eventually said, "I think we have come far enough in this direction, let us follow the fire line back and extend our barrier beyond the clearing in which we landed."

Taking the lead as the two began heading back, Kolay'sha was tracing their way along the fire barrier that they had created, noting that the trees were burning a lot easier than the ones they had used to create their first fire barrier.

There was a sudden huge explosion, which erupted and startled Kolay'sha and, as its boom faded away, she heard Shavat say, "That will be one of yours and I have no doubt that the humans will have heard it clearly. We must make haste!"

Kolay'sha began to run, noticing the thick smoke beginning to billow on her left and, with Shavat racing along behind her, she began agitating her throat, getting ready to begin hurling more flames and fire into the next section of trees. As soon as the smoke on the left of her began to decease, Kolay'sha began to hurl fireballs into the trees and, hearing him moving along behind her, she knew that Shavat was doing the same. The trees were thicker in this part of the forest and Kolay'sha had to weave a path amongst them, always trying to maintain a steady direction across this part of the forest. Explosions were echoing and booming within the forests behind them and, eventually, she stood still, believing that she had gone as far as she thought they needed to. Kolay'sha glanced around the trees and then turned to face Shavat, breathless.

"Do we need to go further?" Kolay'sha asked.

Shavat looked at the forest to their left and then back along the smoking path that they had created, then back at Kolay'sha. He shook his head.

Shavat began to turn, awkward in the densely growing trees and, seeing him do this, Kolay'sha began to try to turn around herself. It proved to be a difficult chore and Kolay'sha had to manoeuvre her bulk backwards on a number of occasions to ensure that she could turn her body a little within the confined spaces available to her. When she had finished and looked up, she saw Shavat's back and his neck turned to the side, his eyes upon her.

"Are we ready?" Shavat asked, smiling broadly.

Nodding, Kolay'sha smiled and, as Shavat began to move forward, increasing his speed as best as he could amidst the closely packed trees, Kolay'sha followed behind, keeping to the same path that he chose to weave amongst the tree trunks.

The forest was fast becoming thick with smoke and it was easy to see brighter areas where fires burnt deeper in the forest and, for the first time, Kolay'sha could feel the heat that blew as a hot breeze, stifling the air and making it difficult to breathe. At times, Shavat's shape would vanish into a haze of smoke and Kolay'sha had no choice but to plunge into the darkness of the smoke, running quicker, dodging trees, trying to get a glimpse of Shavat. On one occasion, Shavat had halted completely to allow Kolay'sha to catch up and, as she had plunged into another whirling haze of smoke, she had almost crashed into him. Shavat had laughed at this and when he did Kolay'sha felt some of the fears leave her. Only when they had begun to race back along their firewall had she realised what they were doing, how dangerous it was and the fact that if things went terribly wrong then she may never see her mother or Pearl again!

This small laughter broke this hold of dread and, as Shavat began to move forward again, Kolay'sha kept close behind him, only ever losing sight of him for the merest of moments.

Eventually, Shavat began to move to his left, away from the firewall, and she knew that he was searching for the opening that would get them out of this part of the forest. Beginning to panic because they had walked around for a little while without finding the clearing from which they had descended into the forest, Kolay'sha began growing fearful for the safety of the unicorns. With their eyes still seeking out a patch of forest that showed light to be streaming in through the missing canopy overhead they would have missed it completely had they not felt rain falling upon them. The clearing did not contain streaming light as they had expected but instead, the smoke that was building up within the forest was using the clearing as a funnel to sweep out of the trees and climb into the air.

"This is going to be difficult!" Shavat shouted, "The smoke makes it difficult to see the trees. We can only hope to fly up straight through the smoke. Use your wingtips to gauge how close you get to any of the branches but, whatever you do, take your time. If you adjust your flight too quickly you may strike a tree and come crashing down and, if a wing is damaged, there may be no way out of here for I fear that this fire we have started is taking hold and will not stop for anything!"

With her heart pounding, Kolay'sha nodded and, as she did so, she saw Shavat begin to back away from her; his shape being swallowed up by the smoke racing in around him. She could hear the crackling of wood and timber from various areas around her, she could feel the heat of the fire, and she could see its eerie glow within the thickness of the billowing and writhing smoke. Kolay'sha realised that Shavat, by backing away, was indicating to her that she was to fly first. There was no time to waste and, rather than argue, she moved around, trying to locate the clump of bushes that she had originally landed upon when she had first come down through the canopy.

Satisfied that she had located the same clump, Kolay'sha raised herself on her hind legs and began to beat her wings. The smoke swirled and danced around her as her wings drove the smoke in paths it would not itself have chosen. She beat her wings for a few moments, sweeping them harder and harder, feeling for the slightest hint of trees hidden within the smoke and, when she was sure that she was not too near the trees, Kolay'sha changed the angle of her wings and began to force the smoke and wind back below her as her wings pushed downwards hard.

She knew that she was rising, but she had no visual indication to prove that to herself. All she could be sure of was that her feet had left the leaves and soil of the forest below. She beat her wings in a grey darkness for what seemed like an eternity and, at a point when she felt that she wanted to give up and, feeling that she would never escape this grey swirling prison, there came lightness around her. She felt the presence of a strong breeze that, because it tried to force her in one direction, made her instinctively fight back against it.

Kolay'sha flew forward, just above the tree line and was finally free of the grey cloak that had kept her unknowing of her surroundings during her climb back into the sky. She pushed her wings harder and angled so that she rose only a little higher into the air and, moving rapidly forward, she welcomed the green of the treetops as they raced along beneath her, and she welcomed the clean air that raced into her lungs.

Flying in an arc, she turned until she could see the plume of smoke rising thickly from the clearing, billowing up into the sky, whilst the winds ripped and tore it to shreds as it moved higher into the atmosphere. Her eyes searched for Shavat, but she could see no indication of his ascent up through the smoke. She flew in nearer, her eyes peering into the smoky plume, looking for any indication that Shavat was rising to meet her but, of Shavat, there was no sign and Kolay'sha flew in closer to the smoky plume, but careful not to enter in case she did collide with Shavat rising up through the smoky plume. Banking away, turning her head to the left, she was watching the smoke and seeing only the smoke. Kolay'sha became fearful for Shavat and, banking around to the left, she flew a tight circle, bringing her back in line with the plume of grey, dancing smoke.

"Shavat!" Kolay'sha called out, wishing upon wish that he would reply, but there was no reply.

Back-flapping her wings as she neared the plume, she tried to maintain a steady position in the air; anchoring herself just above the tree tops and peering down into the grey, dancing finger that pointed up out of the forest. The wind that she channelled through the air whilst she beat her wings took hold of the smoke and pushed it faster into dispersal, but still she could still see no sign of Shavat.

Kolay'sha was fearful. 'What if the humans had come and caught him upon the ground?' Her mind raced, 'Should I try to land back in the clearing, should I remain where I am, should I go to the aid of the unicorns?'

She knew that, if she tried to land in the small clearing, there was every chance that she may collide with Shavat as he was ascending from the forest floor. And then, even as she wrestled with these questions, she saw a darker shape within the grey, she saw it move independently of the smoke and yet within the smoke. Relief swept over her as she recognised the figure of Shavat, rising up from the ashes of the fire-ridden forest below.

Kolay'sha banked to the right, moving out of the way of the rising figure of Shavat and as she came around in a circle once again she clearly saw Shavat begin to move forward and out of the smoke, and then quickly out over the green canopy of the forest, which now held a film of smoke leaking out from the tops of all the nearby trees. She knew that their firewall had taken firm hold and that they would soon see the fire to be raging even amongst the top branches of the treetops.

"It took me two attempts to get out of there," shouted Shavat'etun as he rose a little higher, trying to get a bearing on the direction that they needed to take to head back to the unicorns.

Kolay'sha came along beside him, saying, "I think the fire has taken hold very strongly here."

Shavat'etun looked down at the canopy, only now seeing the dark smoke beginning to leak and belch from amongst the leaves and branches of the canopy.

"It is terrible what we do," Shavat'etun began, "but we do not have any choice in the matter. To stand and fight the humans would surely result in us being overrun and the possibility that the humans may begin to search for more dragons in the area and, if they found Heart, they would surely destroy all the dragons there!"

Kolay'sha did not reply; she thought about the strange human that she had saw, the one whose very appearance began to change in front of her eyes. She knew that she must have seen one of the aliens from the ruined city and, once they were with Koreejus, she would tell them what she had seen and let the others decide for themselves. 'Perhaps,' Kolay'sha thought to herself, 'none of the ones within the trees below were real humans; perhaps they were all aliens!'

Shavat, calling to her, interrupted her thoughts. "Move apart; we will shoot fireballs into the forest as we fly back and, hopefully, some will get through and cause more chaos for the evil ones!"

Kolay'sha began to bank away from Shavat and, after a few moments, she returned to her previous heading, noting that Shavat had done the same. Shavat began to hurl fireballs towards the canopy and Kolay'sha prepared her throat to do the same. Hurling a fireball downwards, watching it strike the green canopy and then appear to melt through the treetop as it fell downwards into the forest interior. As she fired again, she could hear the shouts of the humans below and she could picture them running around in terror, trying to escape the raging fire. Then, her mind went out to the creatures that lived in the forest as she noted a flock of birds ascending into the skies ahead and to her left. She hoped that the small creatures of the land would be able to make an escape, if they had not already done so.

Kolay'sha continued to hurl fireballs until she saw the end of the treetops showing the cut in the great forest where the river ran through it. She did not want to cause any harm to the unicorns that were somewhere below her and, turning her head, she noted that Shavat had done the same. Kolay'sha ceased firing any more fireballs, feeling that, inside, she did not have much sulphur readily available; she knew that she had used most of her supply and would have to have some time to revitalise herself.

Beginning to angle her flight a little back toward Shavat, she was ensuring that when they came in to land they would be close together just in case there were any humans that had managed to get through the firewall that they had left burning in this part of the forest. A thick smoke rolled out from the tree line, partly obscuring the clearing that lay between the trees and river, making her fearful for the unicorns; 'Had the fire travelled too quickly in this direction?' Looking toward Shavat, he saw her glancing back at her and then she nodded to an area of clearing that was to her left, and which was partially free from smoke and looked to be a safe place for them to land; Shavat nodded his agreement.

Swinging to the left and seeing the tree line vanish from below her, Kolay'sha began back-flapping her wings, reducing her wind speed and preparing herself for a landing. The ground rushed up to greet her, throwing a shower of smoke around her just before her tail touched earth and she allowed herself to drop the last small distance to the ground. No sooner had she touched the ground, and even before she could turn to check on Shavat'etun's approach and landing, and she was confronted by a human who came running out of a wall of smoke, heading directly toward her. Kolay'sha froze; for this was a sight that she had not expected to see here and, as the human saw and registered the beast before him, Kolay'sha realised that the humans had gone beyond their firewall and into the river so that they could get around the heat barrier that stood in their path. Kolay'sha immediately lowered her head, stretching her neck, and blasted a fireball at the amazed human. The was nothing remaining of the human as the fireball struck him, picking him up, and then continued charging with its human cargo into the smoke that the human had emerged from.

"Humans!" Kolay'sha shouted, hearing the heavy bulk of Shavat behind her as he landed.

She was about to stand her ground, waiting for another human to come running from the smoke, when she heard the voice of Shavat'etun.

"The unicorns," shouted Shavat, his huge feet clawing up soil, rocks, and anything else that lay upon the clearing floor as he turned and began heading back along the tree line; toward the place where the unicorns were in hiding.

Kolay'sha, realising that Shavat was concerned that other humans had already come this way, turned her own body around and made off after the shape of Shavat as his shadowy figure moved ahead of her, occasionally swallowed up by a bilge of smoke that bellowed from the tree line. Looking past where Shavat was running, she recognised a group of rocks close to the river and she was sure that it was the place where she had spoken with the male unicorn earlier. She was about to call out to Shavat, but noticed that he had already turned and was moving into the tree line. Kolay'sha turned to follow, immediately seeing the thick smoke swallow him up and aware of the crackling of wood burning within scattered fires as she, herself, plunged into the tree line. The smoke made her eyes sting and caused them to water profusely. She was aware of shouting from somewhere ahead and to her left; they were human voices but she could not tell the number. Kolay'sha moved cautiously in that direction, trying to get a glimpse of Shavat's figure within the smoke. A human scream came from a little way ahead of her and Kolay'sha increased her pace, almost running into the back of Shavat.

"There are humans in this area!" shouted Shavat, as Kolay'sha moved alongside him.

"Kolay'sha, Shavat! We are this way," came the voice of one of the unicorns but, in the murmuring of the fires and the callings of scattered humans, it was hard for Kolay'sha to tell whether it was the male or female unicorn who had called out to them.

Simultaneously, she and Shavat moved forward, wary for any sudden attack by humans within the smoke, though knowing it would be difficult for the humans to see them within the swirling, blanketing smoke that lay all around. Kolay'sha and Shavat had to move into the bushes where they had last seen the unicorns, and then through to the other side.

"Laranki, where are you?" Kolay'sha called out to her murky surroundings.

As she awaited a reply, she noted Shavat turn his head to the side and expel a fireball and, though she never heard a scream or shout, she knew that there was one human less. There would also be the start of another fire and this could also prove to be dangerous to the unicorns themselves. She moved forward, moving a little toward the left as she heard a reply from the male unicorn.

"We are over here!" Laranki's voice called out.

Kolay'sha and Shavat came upon another cluster of bushes and, moving slowly, they moved into them.

"We can see you!" Soreecilor, the female unicorn, called out.

Kolay'sha and Shavat halted, for fear of stumbling upon the unicorns whilst moving through the smoke.

"Are there any humans nearby?" Kolay'sha called.

"There was one, but he is no longer a concern to us," the voice of the male unicorn, Laranki, replied.

The smoke in front of Kolay'sha swirled in a breeze, revealing the figures of the two unicorns standing facing them. A movement to her right caused Kolay'sha to glance toward it and she saw a human lying upon the floor, his hands clutching his stomach. His eyes stared upwards in blind fear at the two dragons that stood before him.

"Leave him be," said Laranki, "he has nowhere to run that will get him out of this inferno that you have created!"

Smoke blew across the eyes of Kolay'sha, obscuring the unicorns for a moment, and then Shavat's voice came from beside her. "We shall head back to the clearing beside the river. We can take care of any humans that come our way."

### 04 - Judges IV - Friends Lost and Friends Saved

Kolay'sha felt Shavat begin to move forward, turning to his left, and she did the same. They moved slowly, knowing that the unicorns were close by. They were all walking in the same direction and Kolay'sha did not wish to cause any accidental injury to the beasts. Moving into the clearing, the majority of the thick smoke that hung around her began to peel away, as the clean breeze that rushed along beside the river ravaged it into wisps and spirited it away into the sky.

Turning to her right, Kolay'sha saw the figures of the two unicorns clearly. The male had a dark patch upon his face centred just below his horn and she knew how the human had come to be lying upon the ground clutching his stomach. The two unicorns did not look so white anymore; dirt and smoke had coloured their beautiful white coats that had been so evident at their first meeting. From around the rear of the female unicorn the two squirrels appeared, both coughing and obviously suffering the effects of the smoke more so than the others.

"It is best you get us across the river as soon as possible. We do not need to remain here to destroy the last of that vile enemy; the fire will do that job for us," Laranki stated, turning his head to look across the fast flowing river. "This river is very deep and running fast. The humans will have no chance of crossing it or surviving within it."

Kolay'sha looked toward the river, noting a number of pieces of branches rising and falling within the flow as they were carried away to be deposited in some new place where they could continue to decay.

Turning, as Shavat blew out a long blast of air from his throat, Kolay'sha was about to speak but the air was suddenly awash with the sounds of human shouts. Turning around to face the direction of the voices, Kolay'sha saw a number of humans in the clearing, their red cloth adornments looking so much more evil in the light of day. Some of the humans were running toward the tree line, using the smoke as cover whilst other crouched down upon the ground, placing arrows into bows, getting ready to begin their attack.

From beside her, Shavat fired a fireball which crashed amongst a group of the humans just after they leapt aside. Shavat shouted, "Quickly, take one of the unicorns and get across the river. I will hold them back, but be quick, Kolay'sha, for I do not know how many more may come this way!"

Kolay'sha's heart leapt into her throat, for this was the moment that she had been dreading since first encountering the unicorns. Arrows began to strike at her and at the ground where they did no damage, but she knew that should the arrows strike the unicorns or the squirrels then the likelihood was that the damage would be fatal; if not immediately, then at a later time.

Turning back to face the unicorns, an arrow struck her neck and glanced off but not before it had ripped a tear in her skin. Kolay'sha grimaced in pain, knowing that the damage could have been far more serious if it had landed a little further up her neck, where her scales were softer. As she raised her neck, turning her head to try and see where the arrow had come from, because the arrows force suggested that the human who fired it was close by, Kolay'sha became aware that Laranki suddenly bolted, running toward the tree line a little way behind her. He flashed across her path and was swallowed up by smoke as the female unicorn's voice called out after him. Kolay'sha spun her whole body in the direction of the place where the unicorn had vanished into the smoke ridden tree line.

Suddenly, Laranki came back into view, his walking a little unsteady; he was shaking his head, obviously trying to remove another noxious mass of human blood from his face. The female unicorn raced up to him, and began rubbing her neck against the side of his face.

"Get the unicorn across the river," shouted Shavat and, lifting her head, Kolay'sha saw Shavat shoot forth another fireball, this time firing it toward the tree line itself.

"I cannot leave you," shouted Kolay'sha, as she moved toward him, "We both must leave together!" And, before Shavat could reply, Kolay'sha shot a fireball down the clearing, agitating her throat and firing another toward the tree line. "Make a small barrier here so that we have time to escape," Kolay'sha shouted.

Shavat called out, "Unicorns, get ready by the riverside, we will set up a defence against the humans and then we will run and take hold of you. Be ready for when we turn toward you!"

Kolay'sha fired another flame-ball, watching it crash to the ground ahead of her, erupting in bright light and scattering flaming debris around, which continued to burn violently. From beside her, Shavat began to shoot fireballs and soon the clearing in the direction that they faced was a complete wall of burning flame.

The two turned and began to fire more into the tree line, as arrows were still being shot from amongst the hidden trees, and in their direction. Occasionally, they had heard the stifled choking of humans as they tried to hide the sound of their coughs so as not to give away their position. Kolay'sha and Shavat continued to slam fireballs into the trees, aware of a vast wave of heat that was beginning to creep upon them. The smoke was growing thicker and it was hard to tell if there were more humans further along the clearing, hidden behind their firewall.

"Get ready, unicorns," shouted Shavat, as he began to turn his huge bulk. Kolay'sha did the same, shocked to see the amount of smoke that billowed out from the tree line and, glancing overhead, she could see a huge, black plume of smoke, almost as wide as the horizon itself.

Shavat raced forward, stopped, and reared up on his hind legs, the male unicorn began quickly moving toward him, instinctively turning sideways on to Shavat. Shavat leaned a little forward, his clawed forelegs stretching down and tucking themselves beneath the middle of the unicorn. He began to beat his wings, driving the smoke away from around him, preparing to carry the beast skyward.

Something shot across Kolay'sha's vision and, instinctively, she knew that still at least one human was hidden close by within the tree line, and still firing his arrows. Sweeping her head around to the right, she fired a flame-ball into the tree line, watching in satisfaction as molten rock and sulphur scattered through the air, before plunging into the dense smoke. She heard a petrified scream and knew that at least some of her flame-ball had struck a human target. The area of smoke that she watched suddenly erupted, giving birth to the tattered and struggling figure of a human as he fell forward onto the clearing floor. He lay still and face down; small flames licking the air from the cloth he wore upon right shoulder. She stared a moment, waiting to see if he should try to stand and fire a weapon of some type toward herself or the others. The human's outstretched arm twitched for a moment and then was still; a sudden draught caused smoke to billow out from the tree line, obscuring his evil form.

Sounds came to Kolay'sha, as she realised that she had been watching the human as if in a trance. The crackling, burning wood was louder and there were faint cries from within the trees. From further down the clearing there came an explosion as one of her fireballs detonated, scattering its deadly cargo around the area.

"Kolay'sha! Kolay'sha, get Soreecilor!" Shavat's voice was urgent and insistent, bringing Kolay'sha completely out of her slow moving daydream.

She turned back to face the female unicorn, trying to pretend that her fears, for what she was about to do, did not exist. Shavat was rising into the air, carrying Laranki, and Soreecilor now stood before her, her body facing toward the river, her head turned and looking toward Kolay'sha. Kolay'sha's eyes moved to the sight of the two squirrels upon the back of the female unicorn; each holding tightly onto the unicorn's mane.

The heat from the forest that poured over her right side told her that she did not have any time for delay and so she moved toward the female unicorn, wondering, 'What if I would fail the beast and its unborn child, which the female unicorn had already named Flack?'

Raising herself up onto her hind legs, she gazed down at the small delicate looking unicorn, noticing that even though her coat was dirty and grimy with the smoke, the brilliant white still managed to shine through, suggesting that there was always hope. Extending her wings, she leant forward, placing her clawed forelegs round the delicate body of the unicorn, hoping that what she did would not cause harm to the child that the beast carried within her. Kolay'sha became aware of tears in her eyes as her heart went out to the small creature that had confidence in her; she did not want to let the unicorn down. Feeling her forelegs securely around the unicorn and wondering how the squirrels had positioned themselves for the journey, Kolay'sha began to beat her wings, increasing the power she fed into her muscles, holding her breath and trying to build up the courage to leave the ground.

A fireball went hurtling past her, breaking her from her fears as she realised that there must still be other humans who had gotten around the firewall. She hoped that the fireball hurled by Shavat had destroyed the humans or, at least, left them running for cover, giving her time to get into the air. Increasing her wing beats, she was fanning wide wedges of smoke around her and, closing her eyes, she pushed as hard as she could with her wings, whilst trying to keep her forearms wrapped as gently as possible around the unicorn. Her body lost contact with the ground and she continued to rise, moving slowly into the air.

She could feel the winds around her and, even though they were not strong, she felt as though she were in the middle of a storm for, in trying to be as gentle as possible with the unicorn, the weather made it feel as though every breeze was trying to topple her sideward, trying to force her to lose her grip upon the creature that she carried beneath her. Clearing the ground and rising up to the height of the tree tops, she leant to her left, turning her body slowly as she prepared to cross the fast moving river. Facing toward the fast-flowing river, preparing to push harder with her wings, she felt something hard collide with one of her hind legs, even as Shavat's voice shouted out her name. She lurched, turning instinctively back toward the riverbank that she had just lifted up from and saw a group of three humans standing just out of the smoke barrage that edged the tree line. They held weapons and she was their intended target. She stretched her neck, shooting the largest fireball that she could, watching it hurl through the air trailing smoke and, for a moment, and blocking her view of the humans as the fireball expanded in its flight. The fireball touched earth, showering dirt and stones around, leaving a hole where one of the humans had stood. The two remaining humans, with their clothes aflame and burning fiercely, turned and fled back into the tree line.

"Chart, Chart!" Kolay'sha heard a voice call out.

"What is wrong?" Kolay'sha shouted, fearful that the human's weapons had struck one of the little creatures.

"Chart fell when you turned; she lost her grip," shouted a voice, which obviously belonged to Brand, displaying his panic and fear. "Move along the river, I must find her," he all but screamed into the air.

Turning, her eyes were scanning the waters below, searching for any sign of the female squirrel amongst the swell of the river.

"Further ahead," shouted Brand from beneath her, "I see her, she is clinging to a branch near the centre of the river. Hurry, fly toward her!"

Kolay'sha obeyed the little squirrel and, as she saw the figure of the squirrel in the water, seeing it desperately clinging to the branch, she wondered how she would be able to rescue the creature. The squirrel passed from view as Kolay'sha flew over her, noting the huge plume of smoke that rose from the forest to her left.

"Kolay'sha?" called the voice of the male squirrel, Brand.

"What is it?" Kolay'sha replied, expecting the squirrel to offer some guidance on what she must do to rescue the female squirrel.

"Remember, all the dragons must fly to the alien city. Use your best flyers at the front. Chart and I will catch up with the unicorns if we can," his voice was loud and urgent, and then was silent.

Kolay'sha realised that the squirrel had leapt from whatever hold he had had upon the female unicorn and had plunged into the river to be with his loved one; to rescue her, to make sure that he was never without her. Slowing her speed, she saw the branch with the female squirrel clinging to it bobbing wildly in the water, and, in the water, just behind the branch, she saw the shape of the male squirrel battling with the waters, trying to reach his loved one.

"Kolay'sha?" Shavat'etun called, his voice breaking her eye's hold on the torrent of water that raged below her. "Kolay'sha, come, we must be away from here. We must find a safe place to land with the unicorns."

Feeling helpless and angry with herself, because there was nothing that she could for the two squirrels, she began to turn to her right and, with tears in her eyes, she located the figure of Shavat and began flying begrudgingly toward him.

The flight that she had feared for so long, that of carrying another creature safely, had already ended in disaster. Kolay'sha cursed the humans, 'I wish each and every single one of them dead!'

Rising higher into the air, careful of sudden movements in case she should harm the female unicorn that she held below her, she beat her wings in long slow sweeps, trying to ensure that the up and down movement of her wings did not cause unnecessary discomfort to the unicorn. Looking ahead, she the figure of Laranki held beneath Shavat who, flying ahead of her, was moving out across the forest; leaving the humans, the fire, and the squirrels behind. Kolay'sha raised her flight to an altitude that matched Shavat's height and then slowly increased her speed until, eventually, she was flying beside him.

"The fire rages!" Shavat shouted across to her and, turning her head, she looked behind her and saw that the forest was a bright orange mushroom topped with a dark menacing cloud of smoke, which seemed to gorge itself upon the sky above it. The sight was frightful to her, and the fires devastation was not yet complete but, when it was, she knew that the final destruction would be horrendous. Her mind briefly flashed back to the time she had carried Pearl to safety, almost killing her in the process, and of how she had attacked the humans, firing her fireballs at them in anger for what they done to her friend. Subconsciously, she acknowledged that, 'The fire that had completely destroyed the body of Pearl's companion and the human bodies were most probably the result of my fireballs.' She accepted this now, wondering, 'What affect will my fireballs have on the alien city in the mountains?'

"I have spoken with Laranki, and we agree that it would not be safe to leave them within the forest on this side of the river; the fire would be bound to cross the river at some point and could possibly catch up with the unicorns before they had reached the desert lands. We will carry them to the forest edge beside the desert lands," Shavat shouted loud knowing that, not only would Kolay'sha hear, but so would the female unicorn.

Shavat began to move a little higher and Kolay'sha began to rise with him while, in her mind's fears, she realised that this would be a far longer journey than she had expected to be carrying the unicorn upon. She hoped that she would have the strength to keep her forelegs carefully held around the creature until they reached the desert lands.

Shavat increased his speed, his head turned, watching Kolay'sha, looking for any indication that Kolay'sha did not approve. Kolay'sha nodded and increased her own speed, matching the pace of Shavat whilst the sullen green forest rolled by beneath herself and the female unicorn.

### 05 - Judges V - Flying with a Precious Cargo

The flight carrying the unicorn was a long and, towards the end, painful flight for her as her forelegs were suffering from severe cramp. Through maintaining a delicate grasp upon the unicorn below her, she had become fearful that any movement of her limbs could damage to the small creature. She had held her grasp rigid and unmoving, never placing any additional pressure upon the unicorn, nor allowing her limbs to relax in case the unicorn should fall. She held her limbs firmly and unmoving, and the pain, during the flight, became more and intense.

It was with great relief that she saw Shavat begin to descend slowly and she knew that soon they would be preparing to land.

Gazing forward and into the distance, Kolay'sha could see that the forests abruptly stopped and the thin sandy line that moved up to meet the sky on the horizon must surely be the start of the desert lands.

Beginning her own descent, coming down in a long gliding slope, turning slightly eastward and heading toward a fairly large clearing that broke the otherwise uninterrupted canopy of the forest, she would not allow her tensed limbs to relax. 'I am so close... so close... just a little while longer.'

It would have been easy to miss the clearing had Shavat not seen the large boulders that rested within the clearing, devoid of plant growth and of all shades of green.

Kolay'sha's relief that the journey would soon be over was gone in an instant as she realised that she would now have to prepare for a landing That was something that she had not thought of when she had first accepted that she would be carrying the unicorn into the air. She could hear her heart beating heavily within her chest, thumping a rhythm that echoed panic throughout her nerves. She closed her eyes, telling herself that it would all be over soon and yet, in front of her, she saw a path that seemed to stretch into infinity. Keeping her eyes fixed upon Shavat, she ensured that she maintained a steady flight behind him. At first, the clearing did not seem to be getting any nearer; stretching her agony out longer and then, suddenly, there was a gaping hole in front of her, which Shavat had suddenly plummeted down into. Soaring above the tree tops, she saw the trees ahead of her abruptly stopping and the clearing appearing, and she immediately began to back-flap her wings, reducing her speed, her eyes briefly upon Shavat, watching him almost touching the ground.

Turning a little to the right, she was ensuring that she would land a little distance away from him and yet not too near to any of the boulders that were strewn around the area. With the ground looming up toward her, she realised that she had been holding her breath and shouted out, "Soreecilor, we will land any moment," knowing that the unicorn was in a position to already clearly see that fact.

Her tail touched ground and she beat her wings hard, forcing her torso backwards and vertical; trying to ensure that it would be her hind legs that would touch the earth first, leaving her in a position in which she could gently place the unicorn upon the clearing floor. Her hind legs touched with her claws trying to dig deep into the soil, trying to anchor her to the ground. She stopping beating her wings, holding them wide and, just as in the stories her mother had told her, she extended her wings as far as she could, using the tips to touch the earth and give her balance. Relief poured through her now that she was upon the firm earth and, for a minute instant, she pictured her mother as being the one who had her wing tips upon the ground and she, herself, was the delicate cargo that her mother would deposit upon the ground.

"Kolay'sha," Shavat's voice boomed into her thoughts, "Quickly, with the unicorn. I fear that there is something wrong!"

Abruptly disturbed by Shavat's voice, Kolay'sha's mind returned her to the present and she felt the weight of the unicorn with her forelegs, noticing that the beast did not seem to move. She leant her bulk forward, tilting herself until the joints of her forelimbs touched the earth, yet holding her forelimbs rigid so that they provided a support which would prevent her going any closer to the ground. Still, she could feel no movement from the beast and keeping her joints held rigid she extended and unrolled her claws, feeling the weight of the beast transfer to her claws.

"Soreecilor!" she called, but there was no reply.

Then, raising one elbow joint away from the ground and transferring her weight to her other forelimb, she began slowly pulling her claws from beneath the prone figure that lay silently beneath her.

She pushed hard into the ground with her wing tips, unsure that her wings would take the weight of her own bulk at that angle and quickly withdrew her other forelimb. Throwing her weight backward and pushing against her extended wingtips, she lurched backwards and upwards, steadying herself in an upright position. Her eyes glanced to the floor and she saw the unmoving figure of the female unicorn, lying still and looking lifeless, with her eyes closed and without a sign of breathing. Turning her head, she saw that Shavat was beside the male unicorn, which was also lying upon the ground, and she noted that Shavat's mouth was moving directly towards the unicorns head, preparing his self to administer DragonBreath.

'What has happened to the unicorns?' she asked herself. 'Why would Shavat need to administer DragonBreath, the special powers of the dragons used to rejuvenate injured and dying dragons, upon the unicorns?'

Using her wing tips to assist her balance, Kolay'sha moved backwards a number of steps so that she could allow herself to fall safely onto all fours upon the ground without landing too near to the still and silent unicorn. She immediately began to agitate her throat, knowing that she was preparing a chamber inside herself for the release of DragonBreath. She could feel the chamber begin to swell, low inside her on her right hand side and, as the chamber swelled, she moved a little forward, extending her neck toward the face of the female unicorn. Opening her mouth and turning her head slightly so that her jaws surrounded the head of the female unicorn and then, using a muscle in her neck, she pushed a breath from her insides. She felt the warmth of the DragonBreath race up along her neck and then felt its cool release into her throat, as she exhaled the DragonBreath slowly, yet in a controlled and concentrated rush into the breathing holes of the prone unicorn.

She felt a little dizzy and light headed as she summoned another pulse of DragonBreath and, as it raced along her neck, up through her throat, she caught the breath and channelled it forward, directly toward the unicorn. She felt a sensation of pure pleasure as the breath raced from her and, as the breath expended, she summoned another, using her stomach muscles to push the DragonBreath along its journey toward the unicorn.

From the corner of her eye, she saw one of the unicorn's hind legs twitch a little and she summoned another DragonBreath and sent it on its way; enjoying the feelings of pleasure that accompanied the movement of DragonBreath up and through her body. Kolay'sha felt the pulse of breath dwindle and once again manoeuvred muscles to start the journey of another breath. She felt relaxed, and dreamy, and everything felt wonderful. She had not a care in the world as the DragonBreath coursed through her body, seeming to light her mind with wonderful pictures and beautiful memories.

"Kolay'sha? Kolay'sha, can you hear me?" came a voice, intruding upon her relaxed and swimming mind.

"Kolay'sha, come back to me, listen to me..."

The voice was intruding upon her blissful state and, slowly, she began to realise that the voice was talking to her, trying to get her attention. The name 'Shavat'etun' came into her mind and her eyes began to focus clearly, showing her the figure of a white creature lying upon the floor in front of her and of the face of a dragon trying to manoeuvre its way into her line of sight.

"Shavat," she exclaimed, her mind returning to her as if she were awakening from a dream.

"Relax," said Shavat, "breathe normally, deep breaths, slow... deep... breaths..." Kolay'sha breathed deep and, raising her neck began shaking her head a little, trying to scatter cobwebs that seemed to have taken a hold on her thoughts.

"Is this your first time with DragonBreath?" Shavat asked, looking directly into Kolay'sha's eyes.

Kolay'sha nodded in reply.

"I had thought as much," said Shavat, "It can take a bit of getting used to."

Kolay'sha felt a little embarrassed she had not thought about the fact that it was her first time using DragonBreath; she had simply done it because it was what was required.

"I believe that the unicorns will be fine," Shavat said, turning his head to gaze in the direction of Laranki, "I think perhaps we flew too high for them, or perhaps the cold in the upper air was too much, but I have seen their bodies respond and so I believe that they will be fine. We will have to wait a little while until they revive."

Kolay'sha nodded, her eyes glancing toward the female unicorn and hoping that everything with her would be all right especially for her unborn child whom she had already named Flack.

"Perhaps you can now understand why so many young dragons were lost when they went out upon their pairing flights. It is too easy for young and inexperienced dragons to be consumed with the feelings that you get from using DragonBreath and to lose all awareness of any dangers that may be in the area until it is too late.

If you ever go on a pairing flight, you should listen to your elders and ensure that you seek out places that are high and inaccessible to most; particularly humans." Shavat paused, glanced again toward Laranki and then began to lie down upon the clearing floor. "We had best wait until the two beasts recover completely, they will need protection from any dangers that may lurk within this forest."

Kolay'sha's mind was upon the thought of young dragons being so involved using DragonBreath upon each other and not seeing any dangers until it was too late. She pictured scenes of dragons being so oblivious to their surroundings that they were struck down and killed before they had time to gather their senses.

"Do not worry," Shavat said, sensing her concern over using DragonBreath, "the more that you use DragonBreath then the more you are able to remain aware of your surroundings and have the control to stop when you need to.

I have heard tales were the young dragons, using DragonBreath for the first time upon each other, had eventually lost consciousness and had simply lain there until they awakened. One particular dragon I know was very fortunate indeed. It could have been the end of their young life had they not been high in the mountains."

Kolay'sha knew that Shavat was referring to himself and, for a moment, her mind began to wonder about his past. 'Had he ever been paired with a female dragon? If he had, what had happened to her?' She was curious, but she would not ask Shavat. If there were anything that he wanted to share with her, then he would do so when the time was right for him.

Kolay'sha lay down herself, resting her head upon the floor with her gaze vigilant upon the sleeping unicorn. Feelings of guilt surged up inside her as she thought about the squirrels, Chart and Brand, and how she had left them to the fate of the river. She began to hate herself, despise herself, and she clenched her eyes, trying to blot out all that she could see and what was in her mind. Her pains were taken away by the sudden sound of a weak voice.

"Laranki, Laranki, where is Flack, is he all right?"

Kolay'sha opened her eyes, seeing the female unicorn lying before her with her eyes closed and her mouth whispering quiet thoughts. A movement, on her left, caused her to lift her head and glance in that direction. The male unicorn was standing, and had begun to walk toward the female unicorn. She noted that he seemed a little unsteady as moved across the clearing.

Kolay'sha glanced toward Shavat who looked back her and shook his head gently, telling her to remain quiet and let the unicorns be alone for the moment. As Laranki approached Soreecilor, Kolay'sha watched him stretch his neck toward her and begin to lick her face. Kolay'sha slowly raised her bulk, trying not to disturb the unicorn, and slowly moved across the clearing toward Shavat, whereupon she lay down facing him. The two lay quietly, leaving the unicorns alone in privacy for a while, until they two unicorns began to approach them.

"Thank you," Laranki said, as he stopped close to the dragons, "I am unsure what happened to us, but it appears that we both felt extremely cold and the air was difficult to breath."

"We carried you too high," Shavat replied, "I am sorry, I should have realised that would be a danger for you. But why did you not call out to us?"

Soreecilor moved a little forward, saying, "We were told to put our trust in you!"

There was silence for a few moments and then Laranki said, "We put our trust in you and we have not been disappointed; we are safe, we are away from the humans and we are both in good health."

"What will you do now?" Shavat asked.

"We will rest here for a day, eat well, and then we will begin our journey across the desert lands," Laranki replied.

"The light is fading," said Kolay'sha, "We will spend the night here with you before we set out for the mountains."

"Why do you go to this Noah?" questioned Shavat.

"He will provide a sanctuary for the beasts," replied Laranki, "for there is a storm coming that will change the ways of life upon this world."

"What kind of a storm?" Kolay'sha asked.

"It will be a terrible storm, a storm that will remove the humans from the face of this world and allow a new era to begin," Soreecilor replied as she settled to the floor, lying down.

"It seems that all beasts are aware of this and yet the dragons are not," Shavat stated, his eyes glancing toward Kolay'sha as he spoke.

"It is most unfortunate," Laranki replied, as he settled to the ground beside Soreecilor, "but dragons are not of this world. The sanctuary is for the beasts of the Earth."

"What should the dragons do if this great storm does arrive?" Kolay'sha asked, beginning to believe that, if what the unicorns were saying were true, then really there was no hope for the dragons. 'And what of all the other creatures that do not go to the Noah sanctuary? What would become of them?'

"To survive, the dragons must attack the alien city but that is all that I know. We were told to tell you this and we were told to tell you to, 'ensure that all of the dragons are there and that you are to use your greatest fliers to engage the aliens. You are to fly high and remain within the circle.' That is all that we can tell you and I am truly sorry that we cannot tell you more!" Laranki sounded regretful and Kolay'sha sensed that he really did wish that he could tell the dragons more, but he simply had no more to tell them.

Shavat remained silent for a while and the silence was only interrupted when Soreecilor said, "I think it would be wise to sleep now for we all have great journeys ahead of us soon."

There was peaceful feeling within the clearing, with the occasional birdsong playing against the backdrop of that serenity. Kolay'sha felt safe in the clearing, as it felt as though there were no humans anywhere nearby and because they were so near to the desert sands, a place were few humans ventured, she truly felt comfortable enough to sleep.

"Myself, and Soreecilor, will listen out in the night for any sounds that may indicate danger. I feel that the two of you will need your sleep as the journey you have tomorrow will be a long journey, because you have already had to fly back upon your route in order to assist us," Laranki said, his face looking first at Shavat and then at Kolay'sha as he spoke.

Darkness began to fall heavily upon the land, and the shadows of the boulders around them were quickly swallowed up by intruding night.

Kolay'sha yawned, noting that Shavat was in the middle of his own yawn and then, even as she laid her head upon the ground in front of her, a wave of sleep washed over her, taking her into a deep and peaceful slumber, which remained unbroken until the morning sun began to rise into a red and orange hued sky.

It was a strange awakening for Kolay'sha, as she and Shavat opened their eyes to see the two unicorns standing close to them. She heard Laranki speaking to her, asking if she had slept well, thanking her and Shavat for their assistance and wishing them well on their journey and in their struggle against the evil aliens.

She heard Laranki saying, "You have slept for two days, but these have been good days and your bodies are well rested.

Remember; all dragons must go to the alien city, only attack with you fastest flier, fly high, and keep within the circle.

We must leave now, but our prayers go out for you and the rest of the dragons. You must have faith that you may find a destiny for the dragons. Take good care of yourselves, my friends." Laranki stared down at Kolay'sha for a few moments and then he turned and walked to stand beside Soreecilor. The two unicorns stared at the dragons for a few moments longer and then turned and began to walk away together.

Kolay'sha remained lying there, watching the two unicorns walking away across the clearing whereupon, as they reached the tree line, the two turned and looked back at her and Shavat.

Kolay'sha heard herself saying "Goodbye" to Laranki and Soreecilor, and telling them that, "She hoped that all would be well at the birthing of Flack."

All of these events occurred in a dreamlike state as Kolay'sha continued to lie there for a little while after the unicorns had vanished amongst the trees of the forest.

A scent came into her nostrils, awakening her as she recognised the scent of strong fungi nearby. She stretched muscles, yawning, and proceeded to stand and, as she did so, she glanced over toward Shavat, noting that he too was slowly getting to his feet.

"Can you smell fungi?" Kolay'sha asked Shavat.

"I can," Shavat replied, "and it is very strong!"

The two looked around the clearing and then, close to the tree line and near to where the two unicorns had walked off into the trees, the two saw the fungi.

Kolay'sha made toward it slowly, noting that Shavat was close to her, moving in the same direction.

Kolay'sha remained quiet as she chewed at the food, enjoying the aromatic scents and tasting the strong sulphur contained with the plants.

"Last night was strange," Shavat stated, whist he stopped eating for a moment, "Everything seems to have been like a dream and yet I never dreamt, I just slept, long and deep."

"It was the same for me," replied Kolay'sha, continuing to chew slowly upon the food. "I feel extremely well rested," Kolay'sha began, and then continued with, "And ready to tackle the flight to Koreejus's chamber."

"I too feel well rested and eager to taste the skies between here and Koreejus," Shavat replied.

Kolay'sha continued to eat slowly for a little while but then a hunger gripped her strong as, in an almost wild frenzy, she began to devour the remaining mushrooms, noting that Shavat did exactly the same.

Sated, Kolay'sha raised her head, glancing around the clearing to see if she could see any sign of the unicorns, but there was none, they were gone.

### EXODUS

### 06 - Exodus I – The Missing Passengers

Laranki stood staring at the raggedy clothed human ahead of him, thinking, 'I can see in his eyes his desire to slay me and his need to take my horn as a trophy.' Stamping his forelegs, he showed that he was agitated and annoyed that the human was blocking his passage through the small gully. He knew that he could go back and try to go around, but that would take time and time was not on his side. He had need to get to the Ark and then return as fast as possible to the place in which he had hidden his wife away from the prying eyes of any of the evil humans.

Suddenly, bolting forward two body lengths and coming to a complete halt amidst a cloud of rising dust, he watched the human's reactions. The human remained impassive and did not flinch. Inwardly, Laranki sighed, 'the human will not be swayed from his intended course of action.'

With the sun glinting on the weapon that the human held in his hand, Laranki knew that the inevitable was to occur, 'I will have to fight. Kill or be killed, there is no other way.'

Crouching low, the human began moving menacingly forward, his eyes staring from above the cloth that was wrapped around the lower section of his face; trying to hide the evil behind and failing because of the look of hatred and desire that was in his eyes.

' _He believes that I have no choice but to try to get through this gully because he believes I seek the water hole on the other side He is wrong, what I seek lies beyond the water hole and nothing must stop me getting to it. If the human believes he has found a timid creature then he is surely mistaken. I have changed much since leaving my forest home and I have dealt with his kind before...'_

Laranki once more stamped his forelegs, rising up, showing the human that he would not be taken easily, 'But he does not value my threat, he is waiting for me to race forward and then, as I try to pass him, he will try to deliver a blow with his weapon. His greed will make him do all he can to secure my horn.'

Yelling, the human ran forward, trying to scare Laranki into making a sudden, impulsive move that would give the human the upper hand. Lowering his head toward the ground, Laranki charged, but with no indication of going around the human. His path and aim was true, his horn tore into the flesh of the human and then, swinging his head as he slowed his pace, he sent the human crashing to the sand, without the human being able to pierce his own flesh with his weapon. Without a backward glance, Laranki bolted for the gap that would take him through to the other side of this rocky area.

'Run, run!' he began shouting in his mind. 'There may be other humans waiting to try to ambush me. Speed will be my only saviour...'

With his hooves echoing dully upon the sand, Laranki thundered through the passageway, grateful that none of the blood of the evil human had managed to spill upon his face, and into his eyes, before he had cast the human aside.

'It is such a pity that we cannot have the dragons here with us in this land,' thought Laranki, 'For they would be good protection for myself and my wife and could easily deal with the ragged clothed humans who prowl this land. It will be of no benefit to me to think this way. The dragons cannot be with us because they have their own destiny to shape and I wish them good fortune in their endeavours, wherever their journey talks Kolay'sha and Shavat and all of the remaining dragons. The only protection that I and my wife have in this wild land is the protection that only I can offer myself.'

***

The sun bore heavily down upon the tired, wizened face of Noah, as he gazed out upon the dry, red desert lands. With the hot breeze massaging his temples, he kept his breathing shallow to ease the burning air from his lungs. Soon, he must take a drink of water.

The work upon the Ark had been complete some three weeks ago, and all of the chosen animals had now surrendered to the future safety granted by the Ark. That is, all of the chosen animals were aboard except for two, the unicorns.

Laranki and his wife, Soreecilor, had not yet arrived and Noah had begun to worry for their safety. The world was now a treacherous place for all animals and Noah feared that the two unicorns might have run into some marauding human band that sought their horns as trophies. The humans would not rest in their quest to obtain a unicorn horn.

Shaking his head slowly, Noah was trying to remove the visions within that reminded him of the evil that had been, and still was, being carried out by humankind. He could not believe the things that humans would do, even though he had seen so many of these barbaric acts with his own eyes.

Raising his head once more, Noah was squeezing his eyelids partially together, his eyes fighting against the sun, searching the barren landscape for any sign of the two unicorns.

Across the desert, he could see the nearby hills and, beyond, the hazy silhouettes of the not too distant mountains. The background noises to these sights were of the sounds of a multitude of animals that waited patiently, though some were panicky, within the uncertain safety of the Ark. Other sounds, which Noah could occasionally hear, were being made by his three sons, Shem, Ham, Japheth, and their three wives. They were all at work tending to the beasts and making the final preparations for the voyage they would all soon undertake.

Noah thought of all the animals on board the Ark and was puzzled as to why one of their brothers and sisters seemed so intent on missing the boat.

Noah knew that God himself had informed all the creatures that were to be given sanctuary upon the Ark, the location of the Ark and a time to be there; it was their duty to ensure that they made their way to the Ark by the predetermined time.

God had given Noah his instructions on how to assemble the Ark, the size it should be, and the layout of the rooms within. He had told Noah of the foods to collect, the amounts, and where it should be placed within the Ark.

'All the frantic preparation and now this agonising waiting...' thought Noah.

The incessant heat began to burn into Noah's brow and he began gently dabbing his forehead with a cloth, absorbing the sweat and cooling himself slightly and, even though it appeared to be a waste of time, it gave Noah something to be physically doing while he waited for the unicorns, and for the rains.

Sighing, Noah felt it was time for him to move back below the decks and give aid to his wife, and sons, and daughter-in-laws for, although everything was ready and the Great Flood was awaited, Noah insisted that he and his family checked everything again, and again. When the Great Flood eventually came, there would be no chance to fix anything, no time to make final adjustments; everything had to be right, everything had to be strong, secure, and working correctly.

Stepping down from the ladder that he used to see out across the side of the Ark, Noah paused when a figure in the desert caught his attention. It was the male unicorn, Laranki. Placing a foot back upon the highest rung, Noah stretched himself upwards, with one hand extended across his heated brow as he peered, squinting against the sunlight, across the sand to where he had caught a glimpse of the motionless unicorn.

Staring, his eyes fighting against the blinding sun, he saw the unicorn move a little closer toward the Ark but the unicorn stopped, seeming agitated with his head moving warily from side to side.

The unicorn was too far away for Noah to call to him, but Noah wondered, 'Why is the unicorn alone?'

Across the shimmering sand, Noah could see that the unicorn seemed of silver as his beautiful white coat seemed to sparkle in the gruelling heat of the day. The unicorn began advancing slowly, coming to a halt once again, with his face gazing up toward Noah.

Beginning to call out to the unicorn, Noah saw that the comfort and calm that he expressed in his voice seemed to encourage the unicorn, for the beast edged himself a little closer to the side of the Great Ark and, eventually, the unicorn was standing close enough to the Ark that Noah could easily see how tense and nervous the unicorn was.

Continuing to stare at the unicorn, Noah decided that it was trying to gather the strength and courage to come closer still, but it was obvious that the unicorn was failing in this task as he raised his head, snorting, and moved a few paces backwards.

By nature, unicorns were nervous creatures but there were so many more of God's creatures which, by nature, were also fearful. 'Other timid creatures have already come aboard. Why is the unicorn behaving this way?' Noah asked himself.

Seeing no reason for the unicorn to be anxious when he was this close to the Ark, he thought, 'What is the unicorn afraid of? If he and his wife did not get aboard quickly then it is going to be too late, for the unicorns would surely perish when the promised rains took their fatal grip upon the lands.'

Laranki had moved very close, and Noah could see a very worried expression upon the great beasts face.

Feeling fearful for the safety of the beast, Noah decided that he should lower the ramp to allow the male unicorn to come aboard the Ark. 'Perhaps the female unicorn is only a little distance behind Laranki and she too would be arriving soon.'

This thought gave no comfort to Noah because, in truth, he knew of the great love that bonded unicorns had for each other. Unicorns were famed for their love for one another.

' _One would not travel ahead of the other. Where is the female? Had humans taken her for the trophy of her horn? Is she even alive?'_

Moving quickly and yet with the frailty offered to bones of such an age, Noah headed towards the ladder which descended from the rear section of the Ark. Swinging a leg across the side of the boat, his foot sought out the top rung of the ladder. If he could get to the ground quickly enough, and get around the side to try to find out what was ailing the unicorn, then he may yet save the beasts but, even as his foot rested upon the topmost rung he became aware of shouting and yelling from nearby.

A crescendo of unwanted sounds came welling into his ears, as he recognised a disturbance in the air that he knew so very well.

' _It will be another group of drunken people from the local town, come to play their fun and games beside the Ark!'_

Gazing down at the small crowd that had gathered upon the desert floor, not far from the ladder that he rested upon, Noah began looking amongst them, seeing faces of ones that once he had called friends. Now these friends jeered and scoffed at Noah and his family, and called them fools. Continuing ignoring them, as he had always done since he had first begun his work upon the construction of the Ark, he moved quickly back towards the side of the Ark. He was saddened to see a dust-cloud that hid the receding figure of the frightened unicorn, as the beast ran out into the desert, fleeing from the human rabble that had descended upon the Ark.

In anger, Noah ran back to the rear of the ship and, with evident annoyance in his voice, he shouted down at the human crowd.

"Go home; there is nothing for you here. Leave me and my family alone."

A crash beside him, suddenly startling him, heralded the arrival of a container that had been thrown toward him. Made of crude pottery, it smashed against the side of the Ark, showering Noah with broken shards and wine.

'The fools below are as drunk as ever and have come to the Ark for a little self made fun because they were bored with their own little lives,' thought Noah.

"Go away," shouted Noah, pulling broken pottery shards from his long white beard, feeling the wetness of the wine that lay there also.

A strong arm came around Noah's waist and, looking upward, he gazed into the features of his son, Japeth, who stood shaking his fist at the mob below, cursing them, and causing another barrage of pottery and sticks to come hurling towards the upper deck of the Ark. They all struck the side of the vessel and bounced harmlessly from it, before falling back towards the crowd.

Japeth, untying the ladders restraints, pushed it away, watching it topple towards the crowd who, scattering, began hurling more abuse at the Ark. The voices of the crowd were becoming louder and Noah began to become concerned for the safety of the beasts upon the Ark. The animals also became frightened and nervous when a crowd came from the town, and it always took Noah and his family a lot of effort to get them calm again. With the ladder, pushed from the Ark by Japeth, now broken into many parts, it was now being hurled back at the Ark piece by piece. Taking a firmer hold on Noah's arm, Japeth tried to lead him away from the side of the Ark and into the inside.

"No, my son, I must wait here. I must await the unicorns," argued Noah.

"I can do that, father. You must have rest," Japeth replied.

"Your body, and your strength, can do more inside. Go back to work, my son. I will await the unicorns," said Noah, determinedly.

Looking at the tired and weary eyes of his father, Japeth could still see in them the strength to win at all that he chose.

Wiping away some of the wine that had splashed upon his father's beard, he said, "I will bring you some food..."

Noah nodded, watching Japeth turn and begin climbing back down through the tightly thatched hatchway that led into the Ark itself.

Returning his gaze to the desert, Noah continued watching, intently, for any other sign of the unicorns. Against the blinding sunlight, he could only faintly make out the faraway mountains and hills. The unicorn had left no footprints in the sand to show that he had ever been there.

Knowing that untrue, because he knew the footprints must be there, he cursed the sun and his failing eyesight because he could not see them clearly.

Letting out another sigh, and ignoring the drunken fools below, Noah continued gazing out across the sun scorched desert in the direction from which the unicorn had first emerged. He still had hopes of seeing a sign of the unicorns; some sight that would give him hope and faith in the guaranteed return of the unicorn, and of the unicorn's mate.

The sun grew hotter, continuing to pour its unrelenting heat down upon the land and, from the sand below, the relentless jibes and the occasional crash of a thrown object, reminded Noah of why God why going to bring the floods to the Earth.

The scent of a burning carcass rose up through the hot, humid air, and Noah knew that the barbaric humans were preparing a feast.

Sighing, he knew that the people from the town were going to be down beside the Ark for many, many hours to come and, from inside the Ark, Noah could hear the scared calling of the beasts and he wondered, 'What can be done if the humans start a fire beside the Ark?'

### 07 - Exodus II – Death and Life

Slowing down his pace a little, Laranki was grateful to give his tired body a modest rest. He had had to run, fast, away from Noah, for fear of being seen by the group of humans. They were gathering at the rear of the Ark and he had approached to nearly within twenty body lengths from them knowing that, if just one of them had come around to the side of the Ark and had caught him off guard with one of their evil weapons, then that would have been the end of his life, and of his wife's, surely.

Laranki had no fear of Noah, or his family, for God had instructed both himself and his wife to make their way to the Ark and they were to know that Noah and his family were friends to all animals and that they would give the unicorns sanctuary when the Great Flood came.

With the hot sun burning down ferociously upon the land, and its brightness partially blinding him, there had been occasions when he had almost stumbled and fell to the ground as he had raced away from the Ark. To fall in the sand would surely be a disaster for him. He did not like the sand, it was different from the ground in the land that he came from, and he knew that should he fall in this sea of tiny stones flecks, then there was every chance that he would not be able to get himself back onto his feet. Injury to himself he could not, and should not, be risking at this time.

Heading back toward his temporary home, a home amid rocks and crags, which served as a refuge for him and his wife to hide in this barbaric land, he began concentrating solely upon his wife and of the things that he must do for her. It was so much harder to exist here than in the plentiful forests that he and his wife had once dwelt within. It was now his sole responsibility to find all that they required in this wilderness for survival, and it was this task that was weighing heavy upon him.

It seemed so long ago that they had last had plentiful water, abundant fruit, and many vegetables. 'We have travelled far, my wife and I, to reach this barbaric land that is so lacking in water, and now I fear that we will be too late to reach the Ark before the Great Flood arrives.'

Laranki was angry with himself for, for this was the second time he had set out to give word to Noah, to tell him of their impossible situation, and the decision that they had made together. The decision that was, 'to not accept the safety offered by the Ark.'

They were hoping that, in the doing of this, Noah himself might devise a plan to rescue them, for they had little hope of being able to rescue themselves.

Laranki felt that he could have told Noah this time, had the crowd of humans not appeared at that particular moment but he could not have waited around the area, in case any of the humans had caught sight of him. Unicorns were not safe from the cruel desires of humans and their trophy hunting and humans, as a rule, were to be avoided at every possible occasion.

Laranki had newly discovered that he held a great dislike for the humans and wished that he and his wife had never had to make the journey to this place but, they were chosen by God, and they knew that they would do his bidding.

The thought of human monsters bolstered his speed a little, and he knew that it important that he kept his pace up until he was at least lost amongst the rocky hills and slopes. In the desert, it would be easy for him to be seen and tracked, but the rocks and slopes that he was heading toward gave him, and his wife, some protection from the prying eyes of the dreaded humans.

' _Is Soreecilor all right? I have been away from her for longer than I had wished.'_

He began cursing himself for being away so long and for failing in his task of speaking with Noah. Suddenly, he was brought from his reverie by the sight of a motionless lizard lying directly in his path, its eyes locked onto some insect, some possible meal. Rearing, as he tried to swerve to avoid the lizard, Laranki saw the lizard suddenly realise the immediate danger to it, and saw it try to race out of harm's way.

However, in instinctively running, it ran almost directly below the falling hoofs of the unicorn. The two, in trying to avoid an accident, had created one as the lizard took a glancing blow to the side of its small head.

Laranki, forcing himself to halt, sending a choking swirl of dust into the air around him, looked toward the lizard. The unfortunate creature lay upon its back, with one of its rear legs twitching as it attempted to turn itself over, to get its fragile underside away from the deadly rays of the sun. Laranki could see that the struggling was in vain, for there had been too much damage dealt to the poor, innocent creature and already Laranki could see a small amount of blood around the lizards face, as a dark patch began seeping onto the dry and thirsty sand.

Sighing deeply, Laranki stood looking down at the creature in sorrow and compassion. Flinching a little, the lizard rolled its eyes, turning them upon him. He could not understand the lizard but he could understand the eyes, with their pain, their agony, their fear... And, even as Laranki was watching the dying creature, he saw the arrival of a solitary insect that had found its way to the dying lizard.

'Soon,' he thought, 'this insect will be joined by more as the scent of blood makes itself known to their senses.'

In his mind's eye, he had wished he had not tried to avoid the lizard and that the lizard would have made its own escape, as he tried to picture a scene that had a more favourable outcome. Knowing that this would not help the lizard in any way, Laranki stood staring deep into the eyes of the lizard as he recalled the words that God had spoken to himself, to his wife, and to all living creatures.

"The end of all flesh is before me..." and, hearing these words again, Laranki realized that the lizard would now be saved from a greater, even more, terrifying fate.

Insects, gathering around the dying lizard, had now begun to feast and so, in a reflex action, Laranki brought up his great hoof and brought it crashing down upon the lizard's head. Bone snapped and life rushed cleanly away. 'The insects feast would now be a painless experience for the lizard,' Laranki said to himself, hating his self for what he had to do.

Watching the broken body of the creature being hidden from sight by the jostling insects, Laranki thought to himself, 'It is better this way, little one, than for you to endure the vicious bites of the insects tearing away at your very flesh and life,' Wondering, as he did so, if it were really true.

Hearing the buzzing sounds from the wings of the tiny insects as they flew into the air and chose another place to land upon the body of the dead creature, Laranki began to walk away, with sadness and pity hanging over him, and as dark as the clouds that would come to destroy the Earth with rain.

Quickening his pace, thoughts of the unfortunate lizard had to be forgotten as his mind returned to the attentions of his wife. He was nearing the place where he had left her and so, slowing his pace, he began looking around for signs of the evil humans. He could not see any, but he knew that it did not mean that they were not there. 'If there is one thing that life has taught it is that, whether you can see them or not, humans are all around you, they are everywhere... like a plague.'

With his eyes scouring the nearby hills and rocks as he moved onward, his eyes were trying to pierce the very rocks themselves as he sought to see through them, to see his wife on the other side, and to know that all was well with her. Beginning to fear for her safety, he thought, 'I should not have left her.' He began cursing himself now, as he began to race forward, his energies returned and his tiredness forgotten, because his heart commanded it so. A dust cloud was racing along behind him in the places where he ran across bare sand amongst the rocky outcrops. He was a small tornado weaving his way amidst the rocks, sand, and stones.

He should have stayed with his wife. 'There is no need to tell Noah that we would not be turning up to seek sanctuary upon the Ark.' he thought to himself. 'By just not turning up, Noah would have realised that something is wrong and, perhaps, he could have come and taken us to the safety of the Great Ark.'

Approaching the last of the small, dry, pools of desert sand, he began climbing amongst the rocky slopes that littered the craggy rocks that were ahead of him. His swollen throat ached for a long drink of cooling water, as he was feeling weak, knowing that he had been hiding just how little strength he had left. He had stood for too long in the piercing heat when he had been trying to gain Noah's attention.

Up and over the sand covered rocks he went, past the odd scrub bush and, at one point, past an abandoned wheel from one of the wooden carriages that were so often used in the desert by the humans from the villages. Clearing a small ridge, he cantered down a well-worn trail into a small, flat clearing amidst the rocks. The trail was abundant with the soft, white, silky sand that Laranki detested so much. It was awkward to move through and it slowed him greatly and progress through it used by more of his already depleted energies. Reaching the near centre of a clearing, his senses alerted him to a danger, his nostrils drawing in the air and trying to determine any recognisable scents.

He stood as quietly as possible, allowing any scents to make their selves known to him and, from somewhere amongst the scents, he recognised the one that he feared the most. His skin began to crawl as fear began caressing his bones, with his mind drawing him an image of what those smells told him. 'There are humans nearby.'

A strange sound came to his ears, and his mind immediately began recalling visions of what had happened two days earlier, when he and Soreecilor had a pack of humans chasing them. Fortunately, the humans had given up their chase, for Laranki and Soreecilor could not have kept up their own pace for much longer. With the demise of the human's efforts to catch them, they had slowed their pace but continuing to travel for as long as they could so they could place as much distance between themselves and their human pursuers. Walking, for as long as they could, covering a great distance, had almost caused Soreecilor to collapse. The journey was so much harder for her, for she was with child, and the child could arrive at any time, suddenly, and without warning. A child would arrive that they would love so much that they would not be able to gain their refuge upon the Great Ark, for it had been made clear that only two of each species may enter the sanctuary of the Ark itself. Continuing their journey through the mountains, always heading towards the Ark in the hope that they might find a land of plenty where they, and their child, could spend a few simple days together.

' _We could not know that there was not a land of plenty beyond the mountains that bordered our lands. We followed the directions given by God and walked into a wilderness barren of food, water, and life.'_

Always seeking shelter on their journey, they often took refuge from hungry human eyes; away from deathly human wants. 'If we had known that the child night be born before we could reach the ark, then we may have decided to remain in our forest home, and prevent the agony of travel and uncertainty.'

Attempting to return through the mountains, there was the chance that the child would be born on the return journey and, if that should happen while they crossed the mountain ranges themselves, then there would be little or no food for Soreecilor, himself, and their newborn. There would only be coldness there, and that bitter wind would surely take the life of their child.

They had no choice but to remain where they were, surviving until the Flood's came. In his mind, he began recalling the tired face of his wife as she had urged him to keep going. 'She had been urging me! She is so brave.' Laranki's heart filled with pride as he admired the heart within his wife.

Standing still, his tiredness had him thinking about things that were not to be thought about at this time, there was still the faint scent of humans in the air and he had to get back to his wife. His eyes came to rest upon an insignificant looking darkness, a shadow caused by the overhanging of a great rock creeping out from the cliff face at which he stared. His nostrils twitched, and he breathed deeply as he tried to determine what was lurking in that shadow.

Recognising the scent, he heard a whimpering cry from the shadow and forced a frantic run from his tired legs as he began running toward the source. Racing forward, forsaking any immediate danger to himself, he was heading toward the shadowed area.

' _I should not have left Soreecilor'_ he told himself, again.

Cursing his self again, knowing that if the human trophy hunters were there then he had no choice but to try to save his beloved Soreecilor but even before he reached the shade and saw his wife, he could see that she was alone, crying, "Laranki, Laranki," as she called out to him.

Stopping beside her, he could see that she was in great pain. "What is wrong, wife?" he questioned, after glancing around the immediate area for any sign of the humans.

"Time; it is time," replied Soreecilor, her breathing deep, labouring, and guttural.

Looking dumbfounded, Laranki stood staring down at her, not understanding the hidden message in her painful reply.

"Our child! It is the time of our child," she said, stating the obvious that Laranki had not seen due to his concern about marauding humans.

He could see her eyes fixed upon his, as she saw him struggle to take in this information. He stood there, shocked, unsure as to what he must do. His wife leaned completely over onto her side and he could clearly see that she was hot, very hot and very tired.

"Water," she said, feebly.

In his helplessness, Laranki was grateful to Soreecilor for giving him a task to do, something that he felt he could cope with, with ease. A task that would not be bringing him anything too complicated to dwell upon for his mind was constantly pre-occupied with Noah, the Ark, and his wife's condition, that he seemed to be having some difficulties doing tasks that should be simple.

Soreecilor spoke again, bringing Laranki's mind back to the here and now, "Help me, Laranki, please help stop the pains..."

Nuzzling her and then giving her a forceful, but gentle nudge, Laranki was letting Soreecilor know that, in his own helpless way, he was here beside her, ready to do anything even though there was nothing that he could do for her. Staring down into Soreecilor's deep, dark eyes, he could see the pain she was in and, looking even deeper into her eyes, he could see the love she was in.

"I need water," Soreecilor said, adding, "Just a little. It will help me and the child."

Realising that he had already been asked to get water, Laranki felt even more foolish, believing he was letting his wife down. 'Concentrate,' he thought, 'Concentrate on what is important now!'

"I'll be back," said Laranki as, leaning forward he began licking his wife's face, lapping around both her eyes and the tip of her mouth. The look in her face showed him the urgency of the request.

"Stay here," he said, immediately feeling stupid for issuing such an order, for, 'Where on Earth could she go in her present condition?' he asked himself.

Racing off, heading back across the clearing, through the silky white sand and over the rocks, Laranki was pulling on his last reserves of energy to help do this one small thing for his wife. Galloping towards the waterhole, the sight of the water in his mind was all that he concentrated upon, and he used it as a lure to take him towards his precious goal, ignoring his own failing strength.

After a short time, he was approaching the two large, oval shaped rocks that told him that the water hole was not distant. It was because of this water hole that he and his wife had decided to camp in this area, but they could not camp too close to the waterhole because they knew that it would attract other creatures. Particularly, it would bring humans to it and so, with no other choice, they had found a place to hide that was far enough away from the waterhole that it should remain unobserved by casual human eyes.

It had come as a shock to them when they had reached this land for, even though they knew that their journey would be difficult, they had not expected this much hardship. The lack of water here had almost crippled their journey, as did the lack of food. Deserts, stretching endlessly, were things that both he and his wife had never even imagined to exist. 'How could we have thought that the world was anything but fertile forests, abundant with food, rivers, lakes, and life,' Laranki thought. Nevertheless, they had travelled here to climb aboard the Ark, the Great Ark and the sanctuary that it offered to them both. They had endured much and, for much of their journey, they had been optimistic that they would reach the Ark before Soreecilor gave birth to their child. Laranki believed that, if that could be achieved, then they all could be saved from the Great Flood that was to come.

They had feared the violent storms that became more common the further that they travelled from their forest home and, although the storms had been ferocious, they could not compare to the murderous rampage that seemed to have overtaken nearly all humans. The humans were seeking out wild beasts, killing them with no concern for their own safety. Laranki recalled Soreecilor saying, "It is as if there is something more than the humans at work in the lands." She had said this not long after they had parted ways with the two dragons who had helped them cross the raging river, which had held them trapped by a marauding human army. Had the dragons not been able to carry them across the river then the human beasts would surely have slain them.

'I wonder how the Dragons are faring,' Laranki thought, 'They are not of this world and so have not been chosen as ones who will be given sanctuary aboard the Ark. What will become of them?

Moreover, what of our travelling companions, Chart and Brand? I wonder if we shall ever see them again.'

Shaking his head, Laranki was clearing the image there that showed him the picture of the two squirrels fighting for their lives in the raging river.

' _One had dived into the raging waters to rescue the other, but I can understand their devotion for it is the same as I share with my Soreecilor, and she with me.'_

For a time, Laranki had believed that they would both fall to the weapons of the cruel humans and it was only Chart and Brand who had kept their spirits up, urging them forward and insisting that, no matter what happened, they did all that they could to remain out of sight of the humans.

"There will be dragons," Brand had said.

"Yes," Chart, his female companion had agreed, adding, "And these Dragons will carry you to safety. We only have to remain hidden from the humans until the Dragons arrive."

"Why will the dragons help us," Laranki had asked.

"Because Dragons are good, that is why," said Chart. "They were told of you a long time ago, and they will be here when the time is right. The one called Kolay'sha will ensure that you are safe, and she will be the one that will carry Soreecilor to safety."

"How can you know the name of this Dragon," Soreecilor asked.

"We know many things," said Brand, "And we need to, if we are to help you."

'And,' thought Laranki, 'When the time did come, the Dragons were there to help us and, because of the bravery and courage of the one called Kolay'sha, and her companion, Shavat, we were both borne to safety. Carried away from the reaches of the evil, insidious humans and placed beyond the immediate reach of the huge human army that scoured the forests. We were, for a time, completely safe.

Leaving the Dragons behind to deal with their own war, we were so sure there was nothing that could stop us from reaching the sanctuary of the Ark. We believed that we would soon have a complete family that would have a long future together.'

That, though, was before they had discovered that Soreecilor was further through her pregnancy than they had originally believed. They could not board the Ark with a child, and they could not leave their child behind. Fate had played a cruel, twisted blow upon them.

After so many years of wanting a child of their own, their dearest wish had finally been granted, but only in the cruellest of circumstances. There had been hope of a bright and wonderful future until the humans had ruined it all. 'The humans have ruined everything for every single living creature upon the face of the Earth for, with their evil ways, they have brought the wrath of God upon the world, and all but a chosen handful of God's children would ever be allowed to survive the catastrophe that is ordained.'

Had they have been able to reach the Ark before the child was born, then the outcome may have been different but, unfortunately, his wife had not been able to complete the journey. The imminent birth of their child, whom Soreecilor had already named Flack, had forced them to stop, and they could not continue until the child was born. But then there would be three of them, and only two of them could ever be allowed to obtain the safety of the Ark. The family of three could not be granted permission to go aboard the Ark, and this is what they expected.

He and his wife had decided that they would spend as much time together as was possible, before the Earth was bathed in the blanket of wet destruction that was being sent forth by the will of God. It was such a cruel time for two loving parents who wanted a child of their own, having to bring that child into a world that was going to end almost at the moment of their child's birth. Laranki was hoping, secretly, that there would be some kind of intrusion upon their destinies, continuously hoping for a miraculous intervention that would allow the three of them to attain the safety that the Ark offered. Laranki had hopes, as he believed Soreecilor did, and he could find no pain through hoping. As he was thinking about these things he had been slowly, and cautiously, making his way toward the waterhole. It was a very dangerous place and he must be extremely careful when he sought to use it. This had been a tough lesson that he had learnt in recent days. Laranki's fear was that the waterhole would be being used now and, to his dismay, he saw his greatest fear realised.

There were two humans at the waterhole, and with them were two of Laranki's cousins. These cousins did not have horns upon their heads as he did, they were cousins who had been captured and used by the humans for generations. He could not wait and, beginning to bolt toward the precious water, he was praying he would be too quick for them to react to his sudden arrival in their midst. Reaching the water in a flurry of sand, he began to drink greedily at the life giving liquid, huge gulps began flowing down his arid throat; the coolness of the water was a beauty unto itself in this miserable land. Drinking fast, ready to bolt at the first rock thrown toward him, he drank heavily but no stones came and so, with his thirst sated and his mouth filled with as much water as he could carry, he raised his head, turning and ready to race away from the waterhole. Two humans stood confronting him and blocking his path and now he knew that he was not going to be able to easily run away from this place. Smelling the vile sweat coming from their ragged robes, he jerked as one of the humans began speaking.

"Here, horned horse," said one of the humans, making small hand-moving gestures and waving his arms as he moved toward him, slowly.

Standing silent, allowing the humans to continue advancing, he saw the false, menacing smiles that were upon their faces as they looked at each other, and then back at him. Unmistakably, he detected the repulsive odour of the humans, smelling the hatred that the humans tried to hide behind their evil smiles.

Approaching to within two body lengths, the humans were startled as Laranki suddenly bolted forward, running first toward one and, as that human turned to avoid his charge, he altered direction and ran toward the second, causing him to aim wildly with the rock he held in his dirty, sweaty hand. Charging with his head held down, he knew that the humans not only regarded his horn as a great prize but also as a weapon to be feared. Swerving, once again, Laranki was counting on making his breakaway when a huge rock caught his left, rear flank and a searing, burning pain shot through him. Suddenly realising that there had been another human at the waterhole that he had not seen, he now knew that the other two had been keeping his attention while another tried to get into a position to carry out a hidden attack upon him.

Leaping from behind a boulder, this third human was before him with another rock already in his hand but, because of his closeness, Laranki reared in surprise, smashing out with his hoofs, catching the human a blow to the head. In the never-ending grief of the desert, Laranki heard the crunch of bone surrendering to sudden, immense pressure as the human fell to the sand, writhing in agony, and screaming his pain. His screams began spurring Laranki to get away but first, racing to the waterhole, he plunged his head back into the cool liquid, gulping a fresh mouthful of the precious water and then, turning from the waterhole, he began racing away; charging across the sand, he was hoping that his legs would not tire until he and Soreecilor were safe. With one human leaping from his path, as they were making their way to where the injured human lay, he careered across the sand, a moving mass that no humans would dare stand before.

It was reckless of Laranki to have tried to get more water but it was so very much required by his wife, and he knew that just a small amount was enough to make all the difference in this violent, overheated land. Running, charging across sand that tried to hold him glued to its burning surface, he knew he was not heading in the direction from which he had first approached this place. Instead, he veered to the right and began heading out into the desert, leaving the humans a wrong trail should they chose to follow him. 'And I am sure that they will.'

With the yells of the angry humans fading into the distance, he knew the humans would have to tend to the injured one before giving chase; that is unless they chose to treat the injured human as he had treated the injured lizard. Knowing that they would be greatly angered if the human died and would undoubtedly increase their efforts in seeking him out, destroying him, and taking his horn, he continued dragging himself further into the desert.

Laranki was hoping that the human did not die and that his companions would tend to him, giving him and his wife more time to themselves and, most importantly, it would give them time for Soreecilor to have the child and then, perhaps, a chance to get away from this place. Hundreds of body lengths into the desert, Laranki changed direction, hundreds of body lengths more and then he changed direction again. This changing of direction went on until he felt that he laid a long trail that would keep the humans busy for a time and, if luck should be with him, the desert winds would hide his tracks so that the humans had no idea in which direction he had finally gone. The trail would lead the humans away from his wife.

And so, after much frantic running and shifting direction, Laranki made his own way back to the rocky area so his hoof prints would be lost to eyes that would seek them out and then, with his mouth still holding the precious water, he raced as fast as his tired body would allow, hurrying himself to his beloved wife.

Eventually, his tired and aching body half-ran, half-stumbled, into the clearing and, with shock filled eyes, Laranki saw two humans, the smell of which he recognized, making their way toward the shaded overhang in which his wife was hiding from both predators and the gruelling heat of the sun.

Anger flared through his nostrils as hatred began piercing his brain. Laranki could not believe it. The scene before him was the scene that he had tried to avoid by laying a trail out into the desert but the clever, evil humans had not followed that trail. 'No, they had followed back along the trail of my approach to the waterhole. They had guessed that there had been another unicorn, for unicorns were seldom seen alone, and they were known to travel in pairs. They had been clever and had back-tracked and they had found Soreecilor, lying trapped and helpless, easy to capture, effortless to slay.'

With his disbelieving eyes, Laranki watched as the two humans slowly made their approach toward the shaded overhang and then he began charging forward in a hate-driven rage. The soft sand and the clenched, water filled mouth ensured his approach was a silent one for the two humans were so intent on their prize that their eyes remained constantly fixed upon the female unicorn. Reaching the first human, Laranki heard a piercing scream breaking the stillness of the hot desert air as his horn pierced the back of the human, plunging deep into the base of the evil creature's spine. Bursting upon his face, a dark fluid burst forth from the human's wound, startling Laranki so much that his mouth opened and the precious water fell onto the burning and arid sand.

This was another provocation added to his already venting anger and so, swinging his great head wildly and madly from side to side, he tried to throw the human sack of flesh from his face. The human body had become almost completely limp and appeared to be determined to remain fixed to Laranki's head for the remainder of eternity and then, as Laranki's neck muscles began tiring, with a sickening, bubbling, gurgling sound, the pathetic human body slid from his horn and onto the soft, yet brutal, sand. Continuing to shake his head wildly, he was struggling to get the humans blood from his eyes and allow him to clearly see the other deadly human that would be preparing to attack him.

Flashing across Laranki's neck, he felt searing pain as the other human threw a rock at him and so, with the burning pain wracking his neck, Laranki threw his head at the sand. Back and forth he began swinging his great head, sending a small shower of sand particles into the air, landing upon him and drying and clotting the free running blood of the human. Another rock hit him and, jerking his head up, he spun around and ran a little way off... hopefully out of reach of the human. No, another stone crashed upon him. With his legs almost buckling beneath him as the stone impacted, fiercely, against his body, Laranki felt a wave of sickness shoot though his stomach.

The remaining human was clearly confident as he was running forward towards the unicorn, throwing stones wildly, hoping that one was going to strike lucky and knock the unicorn senseless and, if that happened, then the evil human would move in to make a final kill and then, after that, Soreecilor would be at the human's mercy, or rather, lack of mercy. Laranki could not run away, for he had more than himself to protect. He could not keep trying to move out of range of the human for, if he did, the human would surely turn his full attention toward Soreecilor once he had been driven far away or if he were rendered unconscious with a lucky blow from the stones that the angry human was raining upon him.

Perhaps, the human only wanted Laranki to run away and leave him with the prize of the other unicorn horn, the one that belonged to his wife, Soreecilor. 'Perhaps, he thinks that I could run away and, perhaps, this human is wrong!'

Laranki knew that he was tiring rapidly, and that this small war had to be finished quickly for soon he would be totally exhausted and that would leave himself and his wife at the mercy of the human.

With the human continuing to run forward, he kept moving backwards, trying to keep a safe distance from the stones hurled by the human, Laranki was focusing all of his attention upon the human. If he lost sight of the human he knew his death would be imminent, for the human could easily climb to safety in the higher rocks and still bombard him from a place of safety.

Turning his back to the human, Laranki ran a little way away, though not so far that he could no longer hear the human's shouting, screaming voice invading his senses. Suddenly stopping and immediately turning around, he began to run back toward the human, running hard and running fast. His energy source was a hatred for the human and so, with a maddening anger coursing through his veins, he lowered his head, lining himself up on the human figure ahead of him. Becoming suddenly silent, the human stared, stupefied, trying to comprehend what it was that the unicorn was doing.

Laranki could imagine the human saying to himself, 'Unicorns are timid animals. Why is this one not running away? Why is it acting this way?' Watching the human trying to run backwards, seeing him staring ahead of him in stark disbelief, watching the determined and fast advancing unicorn, Laranki thought, 'Wild questions will be flooding your mind human, but I wonder if any will be regrets?'

Seeing horror expanding across the human's face as he fast approached him, Laranki was hoping that the human would see the sun glinting on the trophy that he had desired so very much, and was now going to receive. Trying to push out with his hands, as if he might somehow be able to stop the charging beast, the human stopped running backwards and stared numbly at the creature he had been so confidently attacking only a few moments before. With his eyes suddenly bulging wide in open faced terror, a huge and mighty gasp raced from the human's lungs as the great horn, which he had craved so much, rammed its way past his shaking arms into the flesh of his stomach. A long, wailing scream rang out from the human, a scream that shook the air around him, before leaving a deadly silence in the land.

The human stood, his body slumped against the unicorn's neck and with his limp arms hanging at the sides of Laranki's head. The unicorn had stopped his charge and was now standing still with the twitching human still embedded upon his horn. He felt the human beginning to stir, trying to get over the shock of what had just happened, and he was fully aware that the human could do no more harm to him, or his beloved wife, ever.

Laranki stood still; his breathing heavy and laboured, trying to calm his shaking muscles whilst his head and neck supported the wretched body of the human, knowing that he did not have the strength left to shake the human free. He felt the human's hands push at him, trying to force himself back to a standing position, trying to remove his body from the his horn, he felt the human sliding back from his horn and, as the human came free, Laranki lifted his head and gazed into the eyes of the human. The human, his hands clutching his stomach trying to stem the flow of blood, looked back into the eyes of the unicorn.

Laranki sensed that the fear and hatred had left the human and he stood there for a moment, staring back at the human and as he did so, somewhere in the dark eyes of the human creature, Laranki felt he could almost see a hint of intelligence. The human tried to open his mouth to speak but could not manage to make even the smallest of sounds and then, raising one of his hands, the human began examining the blood that ran along his arm and fingers. Standing there in a dumb, mute silence, the human slowly raised his head and continued staring back into the eyes of the unicorn and then slowly, as if in a macabre dance, the human crumpled to one side and fell to the sand, rolling onto his back, his eyes remaining fixed upon the eyes of the unicorn. Laranki watched the blooding ran from the human's mouth, and the tears running from his eyes. The air was still, though baked with the heat of the glaring sun, and yet no insect had yet sensed the blood and attempted to make their determined approach upon a meal that was surely being prepared.

Laranki moved forward, watching the wide eyes of the human trying to raise an arm to fend off another blow. Laranki, and the human, both knew that he was dying, and so he began raising a mighty hoof to bring it down upon the human's head, to release him from his agony, just as he had done for the lizard. Laranki stopped his movement, his mind suddenly showing him a scene of where he had lost his fight against the human and what the humans had then done to his wife and their unborn child. Lowering his hoof back to the hot, burning sand, Laranki could not stop his mind thinking, 'That is the thing I would do for a creature who I did not wish to suffer.'

Turning and walking away from the human, Laranki's mind flashed another thought into focus, 'Let the insects feast. And let the human live through that feast for as long as possible.'

In the heated silence, he walked toward the shadowed area beneath the rocky outcrop, and towards his alive and waiting wife.

He thought about God, and why God was destroying the Earth and all those who dwelt upon it. And he thought of his own son, or daughter, who would die because of the ways of the evil humans. 'Let the human suffer.'

Arriving at Soreecilor's side, and glad to be out of the glare of the sun, Laranki was saddened to see that her distress had been heightened by the events that she had witnessed as he had fought with the humans.

"You are hurt," she cried, as he approached her.

"It is nothing. How do you feel, wife?" Laranki asked.

"Time is very near," Soreecilor said, and Laranki could feel the nervous and frightened tones clearly evident in her voice.

"I will return for water," he said.

"No, there is no time. I want you here with me," said Soreecilor, and Laranki knew by her voice that her wishes could not be argued with and, knowing that he also needed much rest and would not be able to make the journey for a while to come, he nodded to indicate that he would stay with her.

Suddenly becoming aware of the intense pains pulsating through his body, he knew that the blows from the rocks were beginning to make themselves sorely felt and, as they did, a feeling of sickness came over him. His wife began licking at his face as he bent down to lick at hers. He knew that she would not enjoy the taste of human blood but hoped that, perhaps, she may derive some moisture from it.

Trying to concentrate on giving his wife attention, Laranki tried to take his mind away from his pains and of the miserable future that was their new burden. Flashes of images, showing fear in the faces of the humans that he had attacked, began racing through his mind, showing him blood and the faces of the dying humans. Bitterly, he smiled, knowing that he had taken some revenge upon the accursed creature that had brought the downfall of all the gentler beasts of this world. His legs began to collapse beneath him, buckling and making him sink to the sandy floor beside Soreecilor, and the tiredness creeping in on him like a huge wave crashing upon a silent shore almost seemed to make him feel as though he were drowning in this hot and barren land. He was finding it difficult to concentrate, the call of sleep and his fight against it made his mind race in violent circles, fighting to remain awake should he need to protect his wife.

Hearing and feeling her heavy breathing beside him, he began wondering if the heavy breathing was his own as it was becoming difficult to tell and, as a silent darkness descended over him, and with his wife gently repeating his name over, and over, he fell into a deep pit of relaxation whose very foundation seemed beyond his reach. In his last semi-conscious thoughts, he felt proud for having fought bravely against the evil humans and he was grateful that he had been able to stop the humans from carrying out their wicked plans. He knew that Soreecilor would be proud of him, as he fell deeply into the sleep that invaded his still struggling conscious mind.

It was a sleep troubled by dreams. Of dreams of him trying to reach Noah and his Ark, but his success being constantly thwarted by a great wave of water... a wave that would come and wash the Ark away, leaving him behind to face the wrath of the rising flood. He dreamt he stood there watching the humans throwing their rocks at him and he saw himself fall to the ground, and then remained watching as the two humans cut his throat and gouged at his skull until they had torn his horn from his body. In the background he could hear the screams and cries of Soreecilor; forever calling to him but himself forever unable to reach her! He dreamt his troubled dreams over and over and, when at last he awoke, he was very proud once again.

He was proud, but not of himself but of his wife, for she had bestowed upon him a son.

### 08 - Exodus III – Not All Aboard

Noah continued waiting patiently; for two more days he waited and his patience was replaced, in time, with greater anxiety. His worries were great and he feared for the lives of the unicorns.

"Where were they now? Would they get to the Ark in time?" he said aloud, hoping for a reply to come drifting upon the breeze.

With the sun falling low against the peaceful flatness of the desert sands that sprawled away to Noah's right hand side, the sun cast beautiful shades upon the desert sand, highlighting, dark against the light, any object that rose upward from the flat barren landscape. The timid orange glow from the setting sun made the nearby rocky outcrops stand out vividly against the serene skyline and highlighted the occasional tree that fought for water in the arid sands.

A lone tree, a withered palm, became beautiful in the late evening sunlight and Noah thought about the struggle for life that the palm had followed; its endless quest to obtain the water that it needed to survive. Water that, unknown to the tree, would soon be in more abundance than any man had ever imagined.

Noah still found it hard to believe that the floods were coming. Inside, he had always hoped that mankind would change or that God would decide on another form of punishment for his disobeying children, perhaps even something that was more a warning.

' _How could this world, so full of natural beauty, be coming to an end?'_

The end was only temporary, Noah knew this, but he still could not believe that humans themselves were responsible for what was to come.

Continuing to stare into the beginning of another night, into the lit up area of nature spread before him, he became aware of a cool breeze as it began to caress his face. This was the first truly cool breeze that he had felt in a very long time. In his mind's eye, he knew just what it was that the breeze was telling him. 'It is the beginning; the beginning of the end.'

He stood there aboard the great Ark, staring at what he believed would be his final memories of this land as he knew it. Mankind had no idea of the fate that it had brought upon itself and, Noah thought, 'Even if they did know they probably would not act any differently; such is man's arrogance.' With the cool breeze building up around Noah he took a shawl, draping it across his shoulders for, with the coming of night, he knew the absence of heat was sudden as the darkness began descending upon the land.

Swiftly, the land was in total night, and the rapidity of the onset was so ferocious that it startled Noah himself. With but a few stars lighting the night sky, Noah could see in the distance the lights of the nearby town. A few faints sounds were drifting from the town but Noah was not able to discern with clarity what they were. 'Are the townspeople realising that the darkness is heralding something that has never struck the lands before?'

Noah sighed, with that very sigh holding so many things unsaid because he had no way to express them. It seemed too harsh a punishment for the whole of humankind and yet, he knew that it was right. 'The earth must be cleansed. Mankind had brought this destruction upon himself.'

Staring long and deep into the night, he felt it grow cooler and then colder and then it eventually began to warm again, as the dawn of another day crept upon the land. Noah realised that he had remained almost frozen for an age, staring into the night and hoping for a sign of the arrival of the unicorns. 'Had this been a normal night? It seems to have passed too quickly,' he thought to himself.

Searching the horizon for any sign of the two unicorns, he began to grow ever more fearful as a feeling inside told him that the unicorns were not going to come to claim their rightful places upon the Ark. Still, he had hope, and he used this hope to drive his old, tired eyes, peering across the sands, looking for any sign of movement. For an age there were no movements, but his hope was strong and he remained there, high up upon the Ark, ready to spend the whole of this new day searching for any sign of the two unicorns. 'I wonder if there is anything I could do to assist them? Would it be worth the risk of opening the Ark so close to the time of the coming flood?'

And, as the day began to take a grip upon the terrain and a new bright sun spread its heated rays across the land, it began to suddenly turn to night once again. Huge black clouds, seemingly appearing from nowhere, spread out quickly, fast obliterating the sun and bringing with them, in their wake, mighty winds that were seen to begin an assault upon the contours of the land as spirals of sand were whipped into the air, creating a connection between the land and the sky, just before being lost to the eerie blackness that fell on the land.

He watched the clouds billowing, bulging, and rolled into each other, seeming to be separate from the fast moving winds that raced all around him. Gathering strength, these winds began whipping across Noah's face with such ferocity that he could hear the screaming of their passage as they tore across the decks of the Ark. 'The time had finally come.'

Within the Ark, his family would also be looking out across the land to see all that they could of the land, to take their own final memories with them on their voyage to a new world.

Beginning to feel tired, after having stood for so long watching the sands, looking for the missing beasts, he knew the unicorns were almost out of time. The Ark had been ready for a long time, and the animals had become restless in their wait and now, now the time was come. This would be a difficult time for all aboard the Ark. Noah believed that he had followed Gods instructions completely regarding the construction of the Ark but, until it was tested, he could not be sure how strong the Ark really was. 'Soon, I will have that answer.'

Noah wondered about all of the other boats that were upon the Earth. 'Would those riding upon them also escape the wrath of God? What would God do to ensure that that the Ark, and its precious cargo, is the only refuge of the flood that is to come?'

Angrily, his thoughts returned once more to the unicorns. 'Where were they? Why had they left it so late to come to the Ark?'

Rain began hitting Noah's face, beginning to soak his five hundred year old beard, wetting his face with a force that he had never felt before. Building up into the howling frenzy of a raging beast, the rain was ready to assist the rain in the duties it must perform. He could feel the power in the wind as it rammed against the side of the Ark, causing creaking sounds to be heard that he had never heard before, the sounds screaming above the roar of the mighty winds almost as if the Ark was fighting to be released upon the waters that were to come.

It was obvious that it was no ordinary storm that was being given birth in the heavens overhead. This was to be Mother Nature's crowning glory of what a deluge should really be like. This storm would be a demonstration of power not seen on this Earth before and, of nearly all of those that witness it, Noah knew that there will be few left behind to tell of the event. Saddened, he thought of all the innocent creatures that roamed the planet. The bees, the horses, the lions, the elephants... All of them condemned because of the evil of mankind. 'What fears they must have, for surely they too would know that this is no ordinary storm?'

Noah had his faith, but in the face of the power that was building up before him he was still fearful for his own family and the animals that were in the Ark. 'What if something should go wrong?'

Noah stared, sadness weighing heavily upon him, yet also relieve that the waiting was finally over. And the black clouds that came to rip the morning sky to pieces eventually wiped out all signs of the sky and the sun. It was as if the sky and the sun had never existed. It felt, to Noah, that the blackness, the whipping wind, and the perpetual rain, were all that there had ever existed for him to see. So absolute was this change in the weather, and so powerful, that it stole Noah's memories of the way life had been before the life-destroying rains had began to arrive.

The wild, raging rain was now driving itself into the ground in the same way that Noah, and his sons, had driven the nails into the Ark. Lightning bolts lit up the sky as the clouds rolled and poured their deadly cargo upon the lands.

Then lightning came with such ferocity that Noah began to fear for his own life and made to enter the relative safety and comfort of the Ark until the world was fit to gaze upon once more. The shawl that was around him, soaking wet and weighing more because of it, began to whip in the wind and almost dragged Noah from his seat. He stood up and, as he tried to get a better grip upon the shawl, the wind took it from his grasp and flung it out over the side of the Ark, fluttering like some great bird in distress for a moment before being quickly lost from sight.

Remaining unmoving and staring in the direction of the shawl, he was startled when a mighty rumble and a blinding flash of lightning lit up the sky. Noah was able to get a brief glimpse of his shawl as it moved away from the Ark and down toward the sodden sand. And then, there, contained within a single lightning flash was another silhouette that Noah recognized. It was the silhouette of a unicorn, and Noah knew that it had to be the male called Laranki.

Staring, with the rain driving hard into his face, his eyes, and his hands, Noah could see that it was Laranki come at last.

'But what of his chosen wife?' Noah asked himself.

Lightning became more intense, and the darkness released its tight grip just long enough to allow Noah to see what was out there, close to the side of the Ark. Laranki was there, looking up at Noah with his mane flattened with the rain and also there, standing a little way behind him, was the female, Soreecilor. Trying to call out, his voice was lost in the wild whipping wind and raucous raptures of rain and leviathan lightning bolts, and he could only watch as Laranki walked back toward his wife and then, as Laranki stood close to her, Noah saw between them a third, smaller shape.

' _It is a young one; a new child born into the end of the world.'_

Noah knew, finally, why they had not come aboard, and he could think of nothing to say to them even if his voice could be heard above the winds and rain.

Removing one hand from its steadying grip upon a well secured piece of wood, he tried to lift his arm to wave toward the unicorns but, struggling to raise his arm against the mighty winds, he realized the uselessness of the gesture. He stood there, in the wild wind and roaring rain, and waited until a huge shaft of lightning lit up the sky long enough for Noah to get a final, remembering look at the family of unicorns.

The lightning came as a fantastic light show, and Noah was able to see the unicorns turn and, sheltering the young one between the two of them, he watched as Soreecilor and Laranki struggled against the winds, heading back toward the rocks and mountains.

Noah cried, knowing no one would know because the rain had already soaked his face so thoroughly and then, suddenly, he became aware of other sounds from nearby and, after looking around and seeing nothing, he made to turn to enter the safety of the Ark. Hearing the sounds again and looking down the side of the great boat he caught a glimpse of lamps fluttering, fighting for life in the wind and rain. Leaning forward, holding fast to the wooden beams upon the side of the Ark, he stretched and peered into the darkness below and saw, within the light cast by the lightning, a small group of people. As he listened, he heard the voices of man, woman, and child, as they begged for entry upon the Ark.

' _They are no longer calling me a fool. Now, they want me to be their saviour.'_

But he knew he could not be their saviour. God would not allow this, and so he remained there a little while watching them, wondering what their individual sins might be. The calling went from pleading and begging and became swearing and cursing against Noah and his family.

A larger brightness caught Noah's attention and, through the rain, a lighting flash revealed a scene that brought horror to him. Continuing to watch, further lightning flashes revealed the scene more clearly.

'The people are trying to start a fire beside the Ark. If they, themselves, cannot be saved from the rains, then they could see no reason for Noah and his family to be saved.' Panic froze Noah.

' _It is unlikely that they would be able to get a fire to burn in this downpour, but if they should succeed...'_

Suddenly, a huge deluge of rainwater crashed down upon Noah, almost throwing him to his feet as it went cascading down toward where the people were trying to attack the Ark. Abruptly, all flames were extinguished and, when next the lightning bolt lit the sky, Noah was able to see the people, grouped and huddled together, clinging to each other in the way they would try to cling to their lives. He thought that he could hear crying or wailing amongst them, but he could not be sure because the winds and rain had grown louder and mightier in strength, so that now the rain stung him painfully wherever it touched his unprotected skin.

Casting his gaze towards the area that he had last seen the unicorns, he waited patiently through a number of lightning bolts that lit up the sky, trying to see any sign of them, but he could not. Sadly, he realised that the unicorn's fate was likely to be that of the ones from the town who huddled and pleaded beside the Ark.

Deciding to surrender to fate and join his family within the vessel, he knew that there was still much to be done to ensure the safety of those on board the Ark, and Noah had his own part to play in that. Turning, in indescribable sadness, fighting against the raging winds, he entered the safety and dryness of the Ark via a hatchway that he felt was going to be ripped from his grasp before he had time to secure it.

The huge trap door eventually closed heavily behind him, cutting off the downpour of rain that had charged within the Ark when he had first lifted the hatch. Securing the hatch, he listened to the violent rain trying to hammer its way into the Ark and, standing there with the rain dripping from him, he wondered of what was in store for Laranki and his family and, indeed, all the beasts of the Earth. "But I know the answer," he signed.

Slowly descending a ladder, he made his way deep into the Ark to assist his own family as they prepared for their own ordeal. He could hear the frightened sounds and voices of many of the animals and thought it would be good to go and try to calm some of the poor, worried creatures.

And the rain hammered, hammered, and hammered down upon the Ark.

### 09 - Exodus IV – The Old World Dies

Standing in the pouring rain until he was sure that Noah had seen himself and his family, Laranki had been hoping that they would still gain access to the safety of the Ark.

'Noah has been given his instructions from God. And God's will must be obeyed,' Laranki acknowledged to himself, grimly.

Now, looking at his wife, he had no idea at all of where they should go or what they should do. Soreecilor, looking back at him, presented him with her big, brown eyes, filled with love whilst tinted with extreme sadness. Looking down upon his son, Flack, he wondered if he would ever have a chance to understand the world into which he had just been born.

Leaning forward, Laranki began licking Soreecilor's face knowing, deep inside, that it was something that comforted her at times of worry.

A small, high-pitched, almost pathetic little scream, caught Laranki's ears; it was Flack vying for a bit of attention for himself.

Laranki obliged and then, as if on cue, he and his wife began turning and walking toward the rocky outcrops and small mountains from which they had travelled to the Ark, unfortunately, in wasted hope. Now, they must find shelter for themselves and, more importantly, their newborn son.

Listening, Laranki could hear Flack scampering along behind them, his legs still weak and, his balance, ungainly. Whinnying as he tried to keep up, he was finding it very hard going in the rain-soaked sand. Keeping a pace that they felt Flack could cope with, Laranki and Soreecilor, would sometimes slow down so that Flack got a little ahead of them; but not too far that they somehow lost him in the strange, semi-darkness that was all around them. And, as the rain fell harder, Laranki was pleased to know that his son thought that it was all some kind of game.

Eventually, being crushed by the need for sleep of one so young, Flack sought a safety between his parents, beginning to walk along beside them, with in incessant rain crashing all over his young body and running down his face. His parents protected him from the fierceness of the winds and Flack was grateful for this. After a small time, he no longer felt like playing games at all. He was tired, and hungry, but his mother would not stop and let him feed. It seemed that it was urgent that they kept moving and so Flack did his very best, upon his young and unsteady legs, to keep moving; to go wherever it was that his parents were taking him.

Eventually, the three, rain soaked and shivering with cold, began to clamber amongst the rocks that were now streaming with water, and maintaining a foothold upon them required a tremendous effort. Flack was finding it the most difficult to keep his balance and, on a number of occasions, he slipped and landed in an undignified heap upon the ground. At first, he was quick to stand up again but, as his falls increased, he began to lose faith in his abilities and it was only by coaxing, and the occasional nip from one of his parents, that made him struggle back to feet.

The ground had changed so dramatically, in such a short time, and this puzzled Flack, and annoyed him because it was now harder for him to keep his balance on the slippery rocks, and the driving wind and rain hurt him and made him cold. Whinnying in annoyance sometimes his parents laughed at this and, on other occasions, he received a nip for his troubles. It was clear to Flack that they had to hurry to wherever they were going. Not knowing where it was, he was hoping that they would soon to be there and that he could rest. In every unsteady step he took, he wished that the rains would stop and that the winds would go away.

Maintaining a close vigil upon his son, Laranki and was now walking behind him, pushing him up all of the slippery rocks that Flack was struggling upon. Any shrubs, or grass growing between the rocks and boulders, were quickly gobbled up, with both Soreecilor and Laranki taking turns to chew the food up before they gave any of it to Flack. There was no shortage of drinking water, as many small pools had already formed amongst the crevices, holes, and gullies.

Shelter was their utmost priority. Shelter and protection for young Flack, a chance for the three to be together in peace for a small while which, Laranki and Soreecilor both knew, would be an uneasy and frightening time as they awaited the final end of the world that the two knew was to come.

Grateful that Flack was unaware of what was really happening around them, Laranki knew that it was far better that he did not know that his own young life would not be a life that extended into adulthood. It was better that he knew nothing until the very last moment and, between now and then, Laranki and Soreecilor would make sure that he felt the love of his parents. A love that was so powerful that it may make the end a little easier for him.

But Laranki began to wonder what would happen if they could not find any shelter, and what would happen when the water began to rise upon them. A tear came to his eye as he thought about the water rising and that it would be Flack who would be first to find it too deep to stand in. And Laranki pictured poor, young Flack, helpless, struggling for life in the torrent of water... And he could picture the Ark sailing gracefully past them, safe in the distance, safely riding upon the destruction that was being fed upon the Earth.

Laranki began to wonder if, when they reached high ground, he should push his son from a great height. It would be a terrible thing to do but would it not be better to have a quick and sudden death rather than for his son to struggle in the rising waters until the air was stolen, finally, from his young lungs? 'Would Soreecilor let me do this? Should we all leap together?'

Shaking his head, Laranki knew that it was something that he could never do. He would struggle and fight against the inevitable until he could struggle no more. His family would remain together for as long as was possible he would fight against the odds with all of his might and with all of his heart. Crying, as these thoughts went through his troubled mind, he suddenly stamped his forelegs violently on the rain soaked ground. 'The trouble that all these humans had caused is to be the death of my son!' Deep inside, Laranki knew that he was glad he had killed those humans in recent days. And then, suddenly, he was not glad, for he realised that he had saved them from the terror that he and his family must now face.

With his eyes coming to rest upon Flack, he became aware that both Flack and his mother were waiting for Laranki to choose a direction for them. Moving towards his mother, Laranki watched him begin drinking deep of her warm milk. He saw his son shivering violently as the rain pummelled against him and the wind tried to blow him over. With determination, and need, Flack continued struggling against the elements, fighting to obtain a little sustenance and warmth to help him go on.

'You are a fighter, my son, and you have already made me proud of you. I only wish that I could do something to save us all, so that you would be just as proud of your father,' thought Laranki, allowing a small rest and giving his son more time to suckle upon his mother.

Turning her head towards Flack, Laranki saw that Soreecilor was soaking and dull except for her horn that glimmered in the dark wetness as the lightning flashed for miles around and, as she gazed at her son as he filled himself with her life giving milk, Laranki could almost read her mind thinking, 'For how much longer can he go on?'

Beginning to walk slowly forward again, Laranki chose a path that crawled slowly upwards and towards the left. He hoped, and he prayed, that it would continue upwards for a long time, taking them away from the rising waters for as long as possible. Around him, in the darkness, he became aware of the sounds of many small waterfalls, knowing that water would be rushing down from the mountain gullies, and he prayed that none would descend upon the three of them. Faint wails from Flack caused Laranki to turn his head, and he saw that Flack was fighting to maintain his grip upon his mother's milk. Soreecilor had started walking and this had displeased her son, for his only comfort in this cold land was being taken from him.

Laranki knew that Soreecilor knew that they had to keep moving but young Flack did not. He was tired, and unknowing of all things except for the elements that pitted themselves against him. And so on they moved, with Flack's complaining and the rain a perpetual cloak of wetness around them, and the sky flashing wild and angry at the very earth itself.

Slowly, onward and upward, they continued battling against the ferocity of the rain, with the raging winds continually lashing the wet pellets at them, driving the rain harder and more painfully against their bodies. They walked and rested briefly, walked and rested a little, sometimes eating a few pieces of vegetation that they happened to come across; the vegetation that had not yet been ripped from his delicate hold in the rocks.

The wind and the rain forever continued to scream and dance around them. Knowing that they had to find shelter soon, because Laranki could see that Flack was shaking more violently now, he began praying to God, asking that they could find some shelter soon; for his own son's sake.

Already, on two occasions, Flack had stumbled and fell and it had taken a great deal of effort to get him back onto his feet. In fact, on the second occasion, both he and Soreecilor had almost decided to lie down there, with their son, and wait there, with him, for the end. But the driving rain made it just as uncomfortable as struggling onward and, if they continued struggling onward, they might yet find some shelter, some respite from the mounting harshness of the elements, somewhere where the three could lie while they awaited the final, bitter end in peace.

Something pushed them on, but it was not hope it was faith, for there was no hope left. They believed that God may guide them to some place of temporary shelter; after all they had been the unicorns who had been specially chosen to go aboard the Ark. 'Surely, we still hold favour with God?' Laranki thought. And so, with no knowledge of these lands, no idea of where to travel, no known sanctuary and no safe place that would permanently preserve them from the pouring of the world's sins, Laranki knew that they had to continue moving forward, hoping that their faith would be rewarded. The only world they really knew was the land that they had travelled from and that had been a long and arduous journey; they could never return there. They just had to keep going on and pray that shelter fell upon them during their stumbling in the dark on the rain bitten world.

Only by Laranki's biting attacks on young Flacks hoofs and flanks, had they been able to get him up off the ground and slowly moving onward again and, thought Laranki, 'While we are moving, there is always the chance that we might stumble across some shelter, some sanctuary...'

And still the rain continued to fall, deadly in its persistence, and in their persistent walking, within their aggravating avalanche of agonistic pain, they began to tire deeply.

Laranki knew that God was to destroy all living beasts, the only survivors being those that were given grace aboard the Ark. The Earth was to be cleansed, ready for a new beginning, and he knew that they would not, could not, be allowed to survive this cleansing but, if they could just find a place of shelter where they could lie together and be a family, then this entire struggle would not have been in vain.

A sudden gusting of wind caught Laranki and almost threw him aside, off the rock and tumbling downwards into the dark below. He stood rigid, and began cursing himself for not paying attention to the limited view of the treacherous land around him. 'I am supposed to be trying to lead my family onward. What good would I be to them if I should fall and injure myself or be lost to them entirely?'

Glancing back downwards and across the desert he saw, within a lightning flash, a silhouette of the Ark in the distance. He could not determine if the great Ark was already afloat on a new sea or not, but he looked at it, feeling jealous of its occupants, those who had received the grace of God and had taken their rightful place upon the Ark.

And he had had that grace and had thrown it away. His mind fought a cruel battle. 'Should we have left our son behind? Would not I and Soreecilor be able to have another child in the new land? May not our son, born in the new land, be the soul of Flack returned to us by the grace of God?' His mind burnt, and he felt like screaming. 'What choices do I have? What could we possibly do against these odds? I could not have left my son behind, not for any reason and, God, you knew this because you know me! So, why did you have us make this journey only to give us the child we have always wanted and then refuse us sanctuary aboard the Ark. Why? Why did you do this?'

Feeling Soreecilor's eyes upon him, he realised that, perhaps, she had read his face and had an idea that he had been mentally shouting his anger at God. Her eyes brought calmness to him and, trying to cope with the raging questions in his mind, he thought, 'No matter the choices we would have to make, we would not have left out precious son behind. Our new born son is the most precious thing in the world to us, and we would not be without him, not for any reward.'

Laranki began imagining that both he and his wife were an Ark, and their son was its most precious cargo. 'Wherever we are heading, we will get him there and we will travel together.'

Knowing that this would be the decision of his wife also, he began cursing himself for wasting time upon these thoughts, as his priority was the immediate welfare of his family. With his eyes returning to the darkened way ahead, he sought to find anything that could give them shelter. They had clambered a long way up into the rocky hills, edging into the mountains themselves and, although they were not very high above the ground level, he knew that if they could find some shelter soon, then they could rest awhile before continuing their climb. 'That is if we decide to continue climbing out of the reach of the waters, as our position appears so helpless.'

With the sound of the rain hammering along his neck, Laranki thought, 'It feels harder because the strength of our resolve grows weak.'

Suddenly, huge bolts of lightning ripped through the sky and the following thunder drove panic into young Flack making him cower close at his mother's side.

' _This is a strange and violent world for you, my Flack, and I can almost taste your awe and fear of the raging winds and painful rains, even though they are things that have been with you almost from the moment of your birth.'_

Pausing for a few moments longer, he was allowing Soreecilor and Flack a chance to rest their aching muscles, as he was, letting them all catch their breath when, in the brightness of a single lingering, lightning flash he saw, once again, the Ark down upon what had once been the desert sand and, in that brief glimpse of the Ark, he lost a lot of his need to carry on. For, also contained in that lightning flash, he had seen that the desert sand was not there anymore, the desert land was a vast sheet of water. It was a vast plane of liquid that had lifted the immense bulk of the Ark and set it afloat, and was continuing rising slowly upward, chasing them, preparing to drown them.

Despair filtered into the hopes that Laranki was carrying but, as he thought of his wife and child, he knew he could not surrender so easily to the inevitable. They struggled on, sliding and slipping, never once seeing any other animal in the mountains. 'Any animal that did live in the mountains is sure to know where any safe shelter is to be found. They would be safe from the driving rain for a time but,' Laranki admitted, 'no shelter would be enough to prevent the wrath of God from being carried out.'

Laranki began to wonder if all animals were told of the flood. 'Did they know of their fate, or were only the chosen ones informed?' From the moment he and his wife had been told by the voice of God, they had begun their journey but had never met any other unicorns along their trek. They had avoided all other creatures were possible, particularly the evil humans, and had journeyed forward following the instructions of God.

Sighing, Laranki's eyes were peering ahead once more, trying to decide the direction that they should take. Ahead of him, he could see that the way began to rise steeply but, for how long it would do so, he could not be sure, for the blanket of night and driven rain hid all from his view except what he was close to. All of his choices, so far, had not provided them with any sign of shelter and he knew that Flack was beginning to suffer greatly now. 'It is no longer a game for him anymore, he is beginning to ail.'

Even in the dim-lit storm, Laranki knew that his son was becoming more and more ill with each passing moment. He was slow and silent as he followed along behind them. No cheering sounds of mischief came from his lips anymore. The joyous sounds of being born into a wonderful life had long ceased their musical lullabies, for the time for fun had long passed him. 'His strength is spent and long used up and,' Laranki knew, 'his young life is almost gone.' This was such a hard beginning to life and such a short existence of life, it made Laranki want to openly weep.

Wanting to allow himself to cry, as he knew that Soreecilor had been doing so for some time now herself, he knew that would not, he could not. 'For, of what use am I to them if I too should break down? If some strength remains in me, then it will flow to my wife and son, and so I must keep going on. If death wishes to claim me and my family, then it would have to work very hard to succeed. I am going to fight for as long as my eyes still see, my legs still walk and my lungs still breathe!'

"There, what was that?" shouted Laranki, drawing his attention away from his thoughts, as he had cried out when he had seen something unusual, a shape, a distortion, some subtle change in their limited scenery. In that flash of lightning, he was sure he had seen a recess into the rock face, a cave perhaps, or at least some shelter from the rain and winds for a little time. Standing still, yet shaking with violent nerves, awaiting the next bolt of lightning to be able to see the exact sight he thought he had seen, hoping inside himself, 'I pray that I was not wrong.'

Looking around, Soreecilor was aware that something had happened, but not knowing what he felt her gaze return to him, awaiting an explanation. Then, in another lightning flash, Soreecilor also saw what it was that Laranki had seen.

'It is a cave! And we had almost gone past it in the darkness! How many other caves might we have blindly wandered by already?' Laranki thought.

"Come, quickly," Laranki called to his son, trying to sound encouraging and hoping to entice a final spurt of energy from his struggling child.

Flack, excited by the sound in his father's voice, began labouring along a little quicker, with Soreecilor at his side, nuzzling him along, encouraging him with all the love that she could.

Laranki was about to run ahead when he realized the danger of it. In the dark, he may stumble or, even worse, they might get lost from one another. Using each lightning flash to guide him, he continued moving slowly forward, knowing his wife was not far behind, encouraging their son.

"Come to me, Flack," he called out, hoping his son would hear his voice above the raging winds.

He could now see that there was a huge rock at the cave entrance, which was why the cave had not been seen until they were almost on top of it. At first, it appeared that the giant rock might block their approach to the entrance but, thankfully, Laranki saw that they would be able to walk around it, with enough of a gap between the rock face and the boulder that partially hid the cave to allow them access.

Entering the cave, Laranki was immediately shocked by the sensation of not having water pounding upon him anymore, although the noise of the wind and hammering rain outside seemed all the more deafening now that they were free of its torrential grasp. Laranki felt happier than he had felt in a life time, seeing the same look upon his wife's face while watching Flack walking to stand beside his mother, seeking comfort and warmth but not yet able to stop his violent shivering.

Staring into Soreecilor's eyes and her eyes returning the gaze, Laranki could see that each knew that the other was worried about young Flack. The elements had taken their toll upon him and, at a time when he should have been running around and playing in the fields and grass, smelling flowers and discovering the small creatures of their forest home, instead he was huddled, shivering, just staring blankly ahead.

Grimly, Laranki thought, 'He must be wondering what he had been born into, and why.'

Beginning to walk deeper into the cave, he could hear Soreecilor following him slowly, calling to Flack, encouraging him painfully follow his mother. The cave angled slowly downwards and, though it was hard walking in the dark, lightning flashes from outside sometimes lit their way a little until, eventually, the cave reached an end.

' _There are no other paths; the cave simply stops going anywhere and, for the time being, so will I and my family.'_

Beginning to slowly drink milk from his mother, Flack, through exhaustion, soon stopped and lay down, the shivering in his body starting to ease a little. Exchanging a knowing glance with Soreecilor, he knew that they both knew that they would not be leaving this place. And so, they too lay down, positioning their bodies close beside Flack to provide him with as much warmth as could be gleaned from their weather beaten bodies.

With the noise of the rain seeming very distant and the wind appearing to have waned a little, Laranki knew that that was not really the case. 'The deadly cargo from the sky will continue to fall to the land until God's work is done but, for the time that we are here in this cave, it feels further away than when we were climbing the rocks.'

Watching young Flack, he could see his son fighting against the need for sleep and losing and so, nodding toward Soreecilor in the dim, lighting lit cave, he indicated that she too should get some rest.

"We are as safe here as we can be," he whispered, "and it is better that we sleep now so that we are awake when our son awakes, so that we can spend time with him before..."

Nodding, Soreecilor replied, "I know, and you too must get your rest because your son will want to be with a father who is awake too."

Once Soreecilor drifted into her sleep, which did not take long for she was chased there by sheer exhaustion, Laranki allowed himself the little luxury of escaping this doomed world for a little time.

Listening to the breathing of his family, he allowed a darkness to fall over him, temporarily lifting his burdens from him.

***

Laranki and Soreecilor were awakened by the fitful struggles of their son and, though extremely tired, the two maintained a silent vigil upon their son. When the lightning was severe, a chilling light would illuminate the cave, just long enough for them to see each other's eyes and to see the painful thoughts that each other held. 'What would we do now? What could we do now?'

An unsettling semi-silence, backed with rumblings and racing winds, was all the luxury they had at this moment but, even this amount of calm gave their son a chance to sleep, to be away from the cruel world into which he had been born and to allow him to regain his strength should they decide to try to find a shelter further up within the mountains.

In the darkness, Laranki speculated about what was happening in the world outside, thinking, 'I wonder how high the waters have risen? I wonder what has become of the Ark? How long will it be before the waters arrive at the mouth of this cave and begin to run down into this area, trapping us? Is it worth waking our son and forcing him onward, higher up the mountain? Is there a point that we could reach which would be beyond the height of the flood?

There is nowhere that will safe, I know that. It would be so cruel and unfair to force my son to struggle on. The end would come when it is our time. It is best that Flack sleeps a while and is oblivious to his fate for as long as possible.'

In a dim, surreal light, he became aware of Soreecilor looking upon him and, as he gazed back upon her face, he became aware that her face had begun to glow. Slowly, the glow was intensifying. He saw that she was looking back at him with the same look of perplexity upon her own face.

Realising that the glow was not of her, but of some other source, Laranki watched, in awe, as light began to spread out and banish the darkness of their temporary dry retreat. No shadow was left to live in that place in which they rested, as the intensity of the light grew so much that it caused discomfort to their eyes, for so long had they lain in the dark.

Realising that the source of the light was something from outside of the cave, Laranki thought, 'Perhaps God had changed his mind, perhaps the world is to be given another chance? Perhaps, the sun has been sent to dry the Earth.'

Slowly, standing up, with his muscles aching and complaining, Laranki ascended the slope toward the cave entrance. Giving Soreecilor a backward glance, he told her to remain there with Flack. He, alone, would go and see what it was that was causing this strange glow within the cave.

Soreecilor had stood up, as had Flack, instinctively needing to be doing what his parents were doing. Laranki knew that his son had been awakened from his restless slumber by his own movements as he stood up, more than by the power of the light fighting to break into the back of his sleepy eyelids. Standing silently beside his mother, Laranki saw the innocent face of his son watching him as he turned and began walking away. And he had seen, as he turned, the look in Soreecilor's eyes that told him that she was praying that he would return with words of hope, words that would mean that they could all be saved.

Reaching the entrance of the cave, his eyes fighting the blinding light, Laranki was carefully walking around the huge boulder when his face was suddenly once more being lashed with the ferocity of the wind and rain, his lungs feeling as though his breath was being torn away from him. The brightness suddenly went away, allowing him to continue struggling in that dark and rain battered place and, seeing a hint of illumination from somewhere to his right he turned, catching a glimpse of the source of the light. It was small, brilliant, and it was moving gracefully across the sky. A huge, regretful sigh left Laranki as he realized that the light source was certainly not the sun. 'It is nothing that will bring us deliverance from our peril.'

Continuing to survey the dark skies around him, he saw that there were many orbs of light moving through the dark, lightning-illuminated sky, seemingly untouched by the raging winds for they seemed to float gracefully through the storm that ravaged the Earth. For a moment, the sight was reminding him of fireflies that he had often seen in the forests in which he had grown up and lived within for all his life, excluding the trek that he and Soreecilor had made to this place, this land, this almost alien world. He knew, however, that these balls of gracefully moving light were not fireflies. 'They are bands of angels; and they are bands of angels with a very deadly mission.'

Swimming into Laranki's mind, there came a segment of the words that God had spoken to him. 'And when the rain shall be four palm trees high, I shall send forth bands of angels. They shall scour the land and sea and shall bring forth death to any who should attempt to avoid my justice. For my word is the word of God, and shall not be pitted against the evil will of any mortal creature.'

Staring at a single light that was not too distant from him, slowly moving away, and was probably the cause of the cave becoming illuminated he beheld, within it, a Chapter of Angels. And from within that light, there came a faint but rising sound. A sad and grim song was being sung in beautiful voice and, as he watched, the angels began to descend toward the new born rising sea.

A small light was bobbing, franticly, upon the waves. Laranki could see that it was a small vessel, something similar to Noah's Ark but so very much smaller and, as it was rocking upon those rain-lashed waves, the Chapter of Angels made a sudden turn, veering fast and heading toward the light. From amidst the angels, a huge bolt of lightning leapt, striking out at the lighted object in the water. In a violent flash, and an eruption of water, the light blinked out of existence as pieces of manmade objects, and men themselves, flew into the air, scattered upon the deadly waters. Slowly, majestically, the angels began to rise, still singing their wailing song as they slowly moved away; seeking out others who may try to avoid God's justice.

Staring into the dark, storm-lashed sky, Laranki became aware of many of these lights floating nearby in the dark skies, each of them going about the word of God, each of them deadly, and each group singing its mournful song. Looking back down upon the glassy floor that was once the desert, he saw a larger shape being silhouetted upon the rising waters. It was far away from many of the other lights that bobbed frantically upon the water. He knew that it must be the Ark as it carried the chosen ones, for a time, within its safety.

Beginning to become fearful for his wife and his son, Laranki knew in his heart, at last, that there could be no escape from the word of God.

'The end of all life has come, as ours must surely cease,' he thought, surrendering to the destiny that he knew was his and that of his family.

Suddenly, rising from the darkness below him, a light ascended. Sweeping upward in an arc, it came to rest a little way in front of him and slightly above him. Within the light Laranki could see the shape of a single angel. It was a thing of so much beauty but, for Laranki, it now brought to him a paralysing fear. The angel was looking directly at him for a moment and then, neither smiling nor looking sad, the angel began raising an arm and pointing a finger toward Laranki. With a blinding flash, there suddenly came a huge bolt of hot, scorching lightning, with Laranki just about leaping to the side, only receiving a slight flesh wound. An almighty noise was ringing in his ears as the very bones of his being shook.

When Laranki chose to look up, he was rewarded to see that the angel was already moving away, moving down towards the lights that jostled frantically, fighting for their own survival upon the billowing waves of the water. So sure of his power and himself, was this deadly messenger of God, that he moved off, seeking out his next assignment, so sure of himself, so deadly... and without a backward glance toward the unicorn. Trying to steady his legs, whilst fighting the searing pain that ran along his flank, he knew that he must get back inside the cave and out of sight of any other angels. 'I have no doubt that we will be sought out eventually,' he thought, 'but if we can hide for a while then we have more time to spend together.'

With his legs steadying, he began turning around, ready to run back into the cave and away from this nightmare but, instead or racing into the cave, he froze still as a sight of horror smacked him hard upon his senses. The huge boulder that had been before the entrance of the cave was no longer there.

'Where has it gone?' he asked himself, knowing that he had not felt or seen any fragments as the boulder had been blasted and then, he suddenly realised that the boulder had not been destroyed by the lightning bolt; instead it had received force and motion enough to send it rolling down into the cave.

He knew that it must have rolled over the lip of the entrance of the cave and then, gathering momentum, it had rolled down the slope toward the end of the cave, toward the safe place where his wife and son were awaiting his return. With the rain continuing battering hard at his body, the wind continuing to tear at his body and whistling around him, he just stood there looking at the scene if front of him as if paralysed, and with the colossal noise of the recent lightning bolts destruction echoing within his head. He found that he was too scared to move, too scared to go in search of something that he did not want to find.

Taking a deep breath, trying to shake both tiredness and fear from his limbs, he began moving toward the cave entrance and then, in a blinding haze, he began running down the slope into the cave, almost stumbling as he raced downward through the semi darkness. 'But what am I racing downward toward? What will I find when I reach the end of the slope?' he questioned himself with his fears.

Suddenly, a piercing scream reached his ears, a scream of untold terror and, as he ran, calling out, "Soreecilor!" he stumbled, sending himself crashing to the floor as the scream continued echoing deadly about the walls around him. Struggling to his feet, he became aware of an ominous glowing coming from the end of the cave. Drawing himself to a halt, fearful that somehow an angel had come into the cave itself to carry out its deadly mission, he was unsure of what would be the right action to take. 'Can I fight an Angel of the Lord?' he asked himself but, knowing that he had no choice but to go forward, for his family's sake and for his own sake, he would have to see what it was that lay at the end of the downward sloping cave. 'Please, do not let there be an Angel of the Lord there, please let me have more time with my family, a time with my wife and a time with my son...'

Moving slowly toward the light, he could see that neither his wife, nor his son, were to be seen, even in the shadows. Looking around, it was quickly obvious to Laranki that the only thing that was here was the source of the glow that he had detected; a pale blue light resting upon the far cave wall. At first, he thought that it might have been an angel, an angel waiting to complete one of its many deadly missions. However, there was no figure or form within this shape. It did not move, nor was it composed of the same colour that he had seen about the Chapters of Angels that went about their work in the skies outside the cave.

His first thought had been that this had been the work of God, carried out by the angels and that he, himself, was all that remained alive of his family. But his family were not here, they were nowhere to be seen. 'Could they have travelled up the slope while I had come down? Impossible, the cave is not wide enough for that... I would have heard then, I would have seen...'

It became clear to him that their disappearance must be connected to this glowing, blue light; this strange, eerie blue light that almost filled the wall at the end of the cave, though it did not appear to be menacing in any way. Believing himself to be too late, because everything had happened too quickly, Laranki hated himself for not being able to defend and protect his family. 'If only the angel had destroyed me, then the boulder would not have rolled from its anchorage, crashing down into the cave to take the life of my wife and son.'

Walking in small circles, frustration and anger racing through him, his eyes were kept held in a clean, determined glare toward the pale blue light hanging at the far end of the cave. Then, it dawned upon him once again, that there were no bodies, no boulder, no 'anything,' to say that the giant stone had actually struck them. All that was here was the strange blue light, shimmering gently upon the wall, and casting that same shimmering upon his body. 'There is nothing else in the cave. So, where are my wife and child?'

Gazing even harder upon the soft blue light, he could now perceive that it was actually becoming smaller. The movement was slow but, nonetheless, he could see that the blue circle of light was definitely growing perceivably smaller. And, as he stared deeper into the glow, he began to distinguish a shape, a face. Moving his face closer toward the blue light, he began trying to better distinguish the face. 'Am I about to see the face of God?'

Focusing, and staring hard, Laranki became aware that it was not the face of God that was appearing but it was, in fact, slowly manipulating itself into Soreecilor's face. Her face was etched in worry and she was obviously upset. He stared deeper.

"Soreecilor," he cried out, with his voice having a reaction upon the blue glowing shape. It was as if his voice had crashed into the centre of a pond, sending out shock waves to its extremities.

'Like a stone falling into water and the ripples spreading out,' he acknowledged.

The rippling shock waves stopped and then, after a small delay, once more began to vibrate, although seeming somehow gentler this time. A realization came to him. 'Soreecilor is not dead. She is trying to communicate with me! Somehow, she is within this mysterious, glowing shape... and if she were there, then Flack would be there also, and so that is where I must be.'

Taking a deep breath, bolstering his nerve, Laranki began walking toward the glowing, blue shape, not daring to think of any adverse consequences to his action, needing to do what must be done in order to be reunited with his family. Stepping into the light, he gasped for breath as the light began engulfing and then absorbing him. Feeling nauseous, Laranki wondered if he should have done which he had.

### 10 - Exodus V – The New World Lives With Death

Feeling as though he had been jerked harshly backwards and then, as he sought to regain his balance, he felt as though he was suddenly thrown forward. Believing that he was falling into some deep, bottomless hole, he almost stumbled as he fought to keep his balance and then, there was another jerk, though smaller this time, yet still leaving him struggling to maintain his balance.

'Sunshine?' Suddenly, Laranki was standing in a brilliant sunshine. His eyes blinked and fluttered as he tried to adjust to the sunlight and his mind blinked and fluttered as he tried to imagine just where he was?

He was standing in a small glade; all around him were trees brightly adorned with green foliage and filled with the sounds of birdsong. The beautiful, warm, and peaceful breeze of a forest was already invading his nostrils. With his eyes still adjusting to this sudden bright light, his mind pursued the worrying thoughts about what had happened to Soreecilor, Flack, and the boulder. A noise beside him made him turn and, as he did so, his mind tried to understand how the cave he had once been within could now be this vast open space in which he now stood.

He believed, within himself, that he was now, in fact, dead, but did not know how it had happened. 'Perhaps the angel has killed me after all. For, it makes no sense that I am suddenly free of the world where rain batters the land and Chapters of Angels roam the howling skies, destroying any living thing that sought to escape the wrath of God. This must be the Kingdom of Heaven?'

And, as he turned his head further, a scene of horror opened up in front of him. 'This cannot be the Kingdom of Heaven!'

Soreecilor was shouting at him, calling him urgently, her face a mask of fear and terror, and Flack... Flack was lying upon the ground with the huge boulder partially upon him and it was obvious that no previous efforts by Soreecilor had been able to move its grave-some weight from upon the body of their son. Laranki realized that, somehow, the boulder had crashed into his wife and son and sent them hurling through the cave wall and into some other land.

'But what of the glowing aura that was upon the cave wall? Where did that fit into the event?' And now, now he had to forget those things. He had to try to forget them immediately, he realised, as Soreecilor's voice screamed at him.

"Help him," she called, crying out, "Help our son." Then a pause and then, quietly she cried, "He's dying, our son is dying."

It took seconds for those words to sink into Laranki's much confused mind and, within those seconds, Laranki asked himself a million questions of the way of the world.

Running towards Soreecilor and, immediately upon reaching the boulder, he lent his muscles to the task of trying to push the boulder. With all of his strength gathered he heaved, and Soreecilor heaved, and yet the boulder remained motionless. Their combined strengths were not enough to move this deadly bulk from the body of their son. Amidst anguish filled tears, Laranki cursed; cursing and condemning the very life that was his existence. He cursed the humans for their evil ways, which had let to these events. And then, in his bitterest anger, he even dared to curse God.

Looking at his wife, he saw her losing hope, he saw his wife stopping her useless pushing and then standing silent with her head bowed as, with tear-filled eyes, she gazed down upon her son, her dying son. Laranki remained staring at his wife, watching her as she stared, disbelieving, and not wanting to admit that what she could see was true.

Ceasing his ineffective pushing against the boulder, Laranki stood with his wife, in a total helpless silence, and they stared and did not try to fight back tears as a billion questions raced through both their minds. Reaching down, he licked the face of the son that he was losing. A son that he would have done anything to protect but, in the end, there was nothing that he could do.

His son's head, neck, and forelegs, were all that he could see protruding from beneath the heavy boulder, and it only occurred to Laranki now that his son's rear legs were most certainly broken, and surely some of his ribs. 'For he is only young and his bones had not had time to harden yet, and now they never would,' thought Laranki.

Licking his sons face, he took in the smell of his child, the feel of his child, trying to take everything that he could, for there was nothing that he could give except his love. Flack's young head came to flinch a little and took both his and his wife's attention. Staring in silence, he watched Flack's young eyes roll from his mother and to him and then back again. Laranki watched his son trying to smile at them, sending them his own love, and he tried to smile back at his son, the battle to stop his own tears now forgotten.

Looking at his son's face, staring into his beautiful eyes, he smiled back at his son, wishing that he could tell him that he was sorry for everything. Even sorry for having brought him into the world and making him go through the agonies that had been his young life.

To Laranki, it seemed as though young Flack was trying to tell them not to worry, that it would all be over with very soon. His eyes seemed to plead for time and then, looking at his parents, whom he loved very much, his eyes seemed to say, 'Don't go away and leave me, yet. Don't leave me on my own at this time. Please stay a little longer...' and then he died.

### GENESIS

### 11 - Genesis I – A Life for a Life

Flack's young body went limp, his brave, young head falling onto the cool grass, his eyes staring into nothing, for nothing they could see. From beside Laranki, came the sound of crying. It was Soreecilor, of course, and Laranki saw how useless he had been because he had not been able to save his only son's life.

With himself crying, and a feeling of uselessness washing over him, Laranki, in a sudden fit of anger, he smashed at the boulder with his horn, sending a sharp excruciating pain shooting through his head, almost stunning him. The boulder did not move and, with the pain still reverberating though him, Laranki knew that the intense, wrenching pain caused by the unmoving rock, had been caused by the breaking the tip of his horn. His blurry eyes fell upon the fragment falling to the ground.

Through pain blurred eyes, he gazed upon his wife as she gently began to lick the face of their young son. Laranki moved closer to her and laid his neck across his wife's neck, needing to feel her closeness, needing her warmth and her love, and crying for the loss of his son.

Feeling her despair, and wanting to calm the sobs that wracked her inside, Laranki listened to Soreecilor's crying, allowing them to draw a picture in his mind of all the nightmares that had happened to them Their futile struggle for life was just that; a futile struggle. These thoughts hurt and pained Laranki very much and, from his hurt was born a greater anger, and his anger stole words from his mind and Laranki cast this harsh song upon the ears of god. He stamped the ground and cursed, his eyes forever gazing upon the lifeless form of his son, his ears filled with the cries of his wife.

His anger continued to rage and slowly it crept upon him that he could hear a voice; a great voice, a loud voice, a voice that came from everywhere and seemed to call his name. Within him, a small pocket of fear began to grow where the pounding anger had dwelt. The voice began booming louder and it seemed to Laranki that it appeared to come from every tree, from every plant, and from every stone, from everywhere around him.

He realized the beauty of this land into which he had come, as if seeing it clearly for the first time. This land into which they had come to experience such deep sorrow was a beautiful land indeed. And then, as if for the first time, he recognized the gay sound of birds around him, their song piercing the trees, seeming to dance upon every branch and leaf within the trees. And this daylight he now stood within, and the beauty of the sun itself becoming magical, joined with the call of the birds, giving him the impression that this was a whole new beginning. Again, Laranki heard the voice call out his name.

Looking around, as if waking from a dream, Laranki beheld, once again, the form of his wife and son. His dead son, lying beneath the boulder, and his wife looking hard, and with love, into that young face, trying to read any message that she could derive comfort from. She did not register the voice that called Laranki's name, or simply chose to ignore it, as the voice grew evermore persistent in trying to gain his attention.

"Laranki?" came this voice again, louder now, more deliberate.

Ceasing all nervous movement, he listened for any other words that may follow.

"Laranki, why do you curse me? For you have only lost one son whilst many have lost many sons, and many daughters. Some have lost all their sons and daughters, and all their mothers and fathers. You have lost but one," spoke the voice.

Laranki stood still, though his muscles shivered as if by a will of their own.

"You, indeed, have been served grace. You were shown a way out of the destruction that I would pour upon the lands. Many were not.

And still you curse me?

You where given the choice to board the Ark. You refused. That was your own decision.

Did you not resign yourself, in your wanderings through the mountains for safe shelter, that there would be none of your family surviving the wrath of the floods which I have sent?" questioned the voice.

Flinching, Laranki saw that he was looking upon this truth that he had tried to keep hidden.

"You, Laranki, were fortunate indeed. And still you ask for more. How could I give you more, for you have gained entrance to the Ark Kingdom? As Noah had a vessel of survival, there was also put aside a land of survival, a land populated with many of my life forms and now, to this number, I have given salvation and escape to a select number of my children. But, be warned, Laranki, for this land comes with its own problems and I have plans to make changes without using the rains, and these transformations will not be without bloodshed. Those who come here do not enter a paradise but, through violence and death, it will become a paradise and you have been fortunate to find passage to this domain.

But, as like the Ark, only two of each beast may enter the Kingdom of the Ark. Your family numbered three. This is not allowed by the keepers of the kingdom. For they have duties, and my word must be obeyed." God paused, and Laranki knew that the word of God was just and right. Laranki had many questions to ask, but the one that came from him was, "But, of we who are here, what shall become of us?"

"Something shall become of you now. Then something shall become of you later," replied the voice of God

"What shall become of us now?" pleaded Laranki, his eyes looking amongst the trees to see, if by chance, God could be seen, but he could not.

"That which will become of you soon, is that you and all other beasts within the Ark Kingdom shall become human," stated God.

"You mean that we are to be turned into Humans? We are to become that which we detest the most? We do not wish for this. We, as we are now, are contented to live in the form which we now hold," argued Laranki.

"The 'becoming's have already begun, for it was not by chance that you have entered into this world. It was pre-ordained for you and many other beasts, and also for many Humans," said the voice of God.

Laranki questioned God as to that which was going to happen to the Humans, if the beasts were to become Human.

"They shall have a becoming, also. They shall become the beasts which will roam and flourish the Ark Kingdom," replied God.

"And why is this to be?" Laranki questioned.

"This is to be because I created man. He is the perfect physical form. He can adapt and create far better than any other creature I have created for I have given him the power to fashion his surroundings. But I calculated wrong for his mind, and for that mistake I have had to wipe mankind from the face of the Earth, that is the price that I have paid. You have lost but one child, whereas I have had to lose all but a handful of my own children. And here, within the Ark Kingdom that I have created, the beasts shall inherit the superior bodies of the Human form.

They shall take unto these Human bodies all of the good knowledge which they have collected as the beasts of the Earth, for I could not fault those beasts. And so they shall become the inheritors of the new mankind. And the Humans that were allowed to find passage into the Ark Kingdom are to become the beasts.

They shall take their miserable minds into the bodies of the beasts. This shall be their punishment.

And you, Laranki, shall be one of the new Humans. I know that you, for one, shall use your inheritance wisely. I give you a new world, abundant in fruit, vegetation, and life. The Ark Kingdom is truly your inheritance," said God.

Glancing around the edges of the surrounding forest, Laranki was still looking for an indication of the presence of God, but still unable to see any sign. His breathing began to slow, almost becoming non-existent, before he finally spoke.

"But what of my son?" he asked.

"You already have the knowledge that only two of each beast may inherit this land. What is it you wish for me to do? I cannot change the laws I have made," stated God.

"Take me," said Laranki. "Take me, in place of my son. Give unto him the sweet breath of life. Give him the chance to breathe again. Restore him to a clean, healthy body," pleaded Laranki, his voice choked.

"This is expected of you, Laranki, for I know the true ways of your heart. I can grant this but what of you wife, Soreecilor?" asked God.

"Grant me just a day with them both," begged Laranki, "Just one day, and then I will come and join you."

"It is not much that you ask Laranki, and I agree to this. One day, and then you will join me here in my own paradise. Your soul is worth more to me than any Humans. I give you back your son," said the voice of God.

A sudden silence fell heavy upon Laranki's shoulders and then, slowly, the noise of the animals in the forest began to rise in a crescendo of happiness.

Standing silent in the midst of the sounds of distant and near creatures, Laranki knew that, for the moment, God had departed. Turning to look at his wife, he saw that she was looking directly back at him.

"I heard all that was spoken," she said. "I..."

"Quiet, wife, it has been decided. We have a day together. Let us enjoy what we have been given." Laranki's voice was firm, but he knew it would not be good to dwell upon the agreement that he had made with God.

### 12 - Genesis II – Rebirth

Abruptly, both Laranki's and Soreecilor's attention were taken by a sudden movement as the huge boulder began to roll away from the body of young Flack and then, once the large rock had stopped moving, they saw before them the exposed form of their son. There was no longer any blood upon him and it appeared as though his whole body was completely restored to the way it had been before being crushed by the rock.

Flack's legs twitched, and he began to bleat; it was the cry of a newborn baby. There was a solitary bruise upon his flank were the bolder had crushed him and, seeing this, Laranki prayed that it would cause no pain to his son. Laranki and Soreecilor leant down to kiss the face of their son, to rejoice in the knowledge that, for one day, they were together again.

In his son's eyes, Laranki could see no recollection of all that had happened before this moment. It was as if this was his very first birth and he had never experienced the winds, rain and crushing rock that had been his heritage. This made Laranki extremely happy, for there would be no need to dwell upon the unfortunate events that had got them to this moment. Young Flack could start his life once again with no sadness to taint his memory.

Laranki almost cried as young Flack struggled to his feet. His legs were wobbly and shaky as the day he was born; Flack was truly born again. The family rejoiced. There was an abundance of food to eat and so Laranki and wife slowly walked around the edges of the clearing, eating slowly while enjoying the attentions and actions of their son. After a time of nuzzling and coaxing his son, Flack began to walk a little faster and more steadily. Laranki, stepping away from his wife and son, to gaze upon them both, knew that his son was strong and well and that he would have a long and a wonderful life. A lump filled his throat, as he thought, 'But I will not be here to witness your life, my son, and for that I will be eternally sad. I see you are strong and this will serve you well and, in all that you do, remember that, though I am not here, I love you with all of my heart.' Smiling sadly, he knew that this scene of his son walking along beside his mother was one of the pictures that he would be carrying with him into eternity and, for that, he was eternally grateful. 'It is a fine memory for me to carry with me.'

The entire scene around him was one of beauty and it was a wonderful backdrop to the image of his wife and son. He could see no indication of any other beasts except for the songs of birds that had also inherited the Ark Kingdom. A butterfly fluttered up from a clump of flowers, landing upon Flack's back for a moment and then, as it flew away he saw his son catch sight of it and try to give chase. The butterfly landed upon a flower and his son stood looking at the creature as it folded and unfolded its wings, making him flinch each time that it did so. Laughing at his son's reactions, he was also saddened because of all the other incidents like this that he was going to miss being a part of.

Turning toward Soreecilor, he saw that she stood silent and with her eyes upon him and not their son. Smiling slowly, he lowered his head a little and then, looking back at her, he said, "I love you, Soreecilor; my wife, my companion forever."

Watching, he saw her eyes filled with love as she whispered, "I love you too, Laranki, my husband and my companion for all time."

Suddenly, Flack came tottering on ungainly legs, licking his mother's face and then moving to suckle milk.

Turning his head to the area around him, absorbing the beauty and splendour of the land where they dwelt, he absorbed all that he could, eternally grateful that he was now free from the rains and winds. Closing his eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun upon him as he stood listening to the call-song of the birds playing about the branches in this pleasant, striking looking land, Laranki felt a little happier, with his mind slowly turning back to Noah. 'How is the Ark? For how long would Noah and his Ark have to battle those very rains that I and my family had been fortunate enough to escape? I wonder where that land is, and where is this land that we now live within?' Knowing that God would have told him these things if he had a need to know, he placed these thoughts aside, determined to enjoy what time he now had with his wife and son, ignoring all that had happened to them that was strange.

Returning his mind to what was happening around him as he heard the worried cry of Soreecilor as she cried out Flacks name he glanced around, quickly seeking what it was that had brought fear into the voice of his wife. However, there was no danger from predators. It was Flack who, with little success, was trying to stand upon his hind legs.

"A day old," said Laranki to himself, with pride, "and he is showing how strong he will grow." Laughing at the antics of his son, he thought, 'This will be a good memory for me to take with me.'

Watching his run racing around the clearing, suddenly changing direction, Laranki was filled with pride at how strong his son was going to be. "That's it, my son, use your energies. If you are to burn then I want you to burn the brightest! You are my son!" Laughing at this, Laranki heard Soreecilor was calling to him, telling him to 'Stop encouraging Flack so much, because our son is going to hurt himself if he carries on running around the way he is.'

Suddenly, his laughing was cut short when he detected a sudden shift in the light. It was getting dark. 'This day had passed far too quickly.'

Trying not to sound saddened and cause upset to his son, he called out, "Rest a while now, my son. The time has come for rest."

Moving over to his wife and son, he said, "Come, we must find food and a little shelter as the night draws near."

Feeling the sad and hurt eyes of his wife reaching out to him, knowing that she was about to speak but not wanting to hear words that would break his heart, he began to canter away. His wife and son began following him, with Flack bleating and running up to begin walking at his side. It was not long before Flack was nipping at his father's rear hoofs. This time Soreecilor began laughing as did Laranki himself and Flack, believing he was doing something that made his parents very happy, continued all the more. Flack whinnied with joy, his voice sounding loud and strong.

After they had eaten of a little fruit, they lay down to rest beneath a huge tree with large overhanging branches. Flack was restless for a little while but was the first to fall asleep, his energies depleted by his play through the day. The night slowly descended into darkness and through all that time Laranki and Soreecilor gazed silently into each other's eyes. Eventually Soreecilor spoke.

"He is so much like you. I recall..." Soreecilor paused. "I love you, Laranki," she said.

"And I, too, love you," replied Laranki, in a voice which was clearly edged with pain.

"Cannot God change this bargain? Can it not be that all of us might live a life together?" questioned Soreecilor.

Through the glow of some strange new moon, Laranki could see a reflection upon Soreecilor's tears which streamed, like a silent thunderstorm, down her cheeks.

"Hush now, wife. The bargain has been made. My life for the life of my son. You must take good care of him. No, I know that you will take good care of him but, please, tell him of me. Tell him about his father..."

"I will," said Soreecilor. "You know I will."

With time feeling endless, he stared into Soreecilor's eyes as she looked back into his, and there he beheld the proof of a love so strong. The night grew dark and silent until they could no longer see each other, only catching the faint glimpse of an outline silhouetted against the little light cast by a moon that was hidden behind slow moving clouds.

Laranki could see the twinkling of stars in the gaps in the clouds and these reminded him of the Chapters of Angels that traversed the land that they had left. 'I wonder if their work is done? Had they rid the Earth of the scourge of mankind?'

And, in the silence of a love that need not be spoken, sleep came upon Laranki and Soreecilor... and, when morning came, Soreecilor looked around and saw that everything was as she expected it to be.

The morning was here, the sweet scent of life was here, and Flack was here. Laranki was not.

### 13 - Genesis III – Morning of Mourning

Soreecilor began to cry and even though she tried to keep her grief to herself, her crying awakened her son from his slumber and he asked her a most difficult question.

"Why cry, Mamma?" asked Flack, concerned about his mother's sadness.

And Soreecilor thought, 'How can I tell my new born son of the way of the world and how those who had at first caused the death of her son had now caused the loss of my husband?' Soreecilor began to cry. 'How can I explain all that has happened, and why it has happened, to a new born?'

Flack could feel how upset his mother was and so he crept nearer and snuggled up closer to her, knowing that this would not be the right time to ask about his father and where he had gone. 'This is not the time.'

Flack knew, instinctively, that if his father could have been with him then he would have. There was a reason for his father not being here and that reason brought sadness to his mother. He would wait until his mother told him about what had happened to his father, though his eyes peered around the clearing looking for any sign of him coming walking towards them.

Beginning to lick young Flack's face, she eventually stood up and began concentrating upon the bruised, damaged areas upon each side of his body. They did not cause her son pain, but it gave her a small distraction allowing her to fail at trying not to think of her beloved Laranki. It gave Soreecilor a purpose, something that she could focus upon to help take her mind away from her painful memories. 'I must make new memories... memories that I can take back to my Laranki one day.'

Upon this first morning of awakening to find Laranki gone, she had also realised the necessity to find somewhere safe to live, remembering the words that God had spoken. "All beasts shall become human."

She had given much thought as to which form this change would take and how it would come about but, in all her thinking, she could not perceive how this change was to occur but, because she knew that it would involved death and bloodshed she knew that she had to find good shelter for herself and her son. She knew that she had to get away from this area, because this place only brought bad memories into her mind.

Flack, when first awakening to find his father gone, had remained quiet. Curled up by his sweet mother's side, he had listened to, and felt, her silent tears. It had hurt him to feel the pain that his mother was in, but there was nothing that he knew of that could bring his mother comfort. He knew that his father had gone but, somehow, he knew that it was something that his mother would not want to talk about. Flack suffered that morning with his own tears. One day he would ask; one day, but not this day.

"Come, Flack. We must seek food," Soreecilor's voice was weak and almost seemed to fracture as she spoke, but Flack responded immediately by standing up as quickly as possible upon his still ungainly legs. He began to wonder what the day would hold for him and his mother. Walking further out into the clearing, they gave the sun a chance to attract them both with its warmth and magic.

The sun momentarily blinded Soreecilor, as it rained down through the scant branches which danced slowly above her head, but her eyes adjusted and she began to take in the breathtaking beauty of the land.

Flack had many attempts at keeping his eyes open, but the brightness was something so very new to him that, for quite a time, he had to hobble along with his eyes only half open. Something in his mind tried to show him pictures of darkness and rain, or winds and blinding flashes of light, but he did not know what these pictures were and quickly forgot them as he concentrated on the form of his mother walking slightly ahead of him. After a little time, he tucked himself close into the side of his mother and this provided him with a little shade, giving him some comfort as his eyes looked around for any sign of his father. For all of the problems he was having with the brightness of the sun he was now deciding that he liked it very much and that it was better than those dark pictures that his mind had recently flashed at him. The sun's warmth was making his feel good though it did not chase a deep sadness away.

Suddenly, his mother stopped, staring solemnly at a large boulder that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. His mother's quiet word of "Wait," was instantly obeyed as she walked forward alone, gazing long and hard at this strange rock.

Staring deep at the rock, as if it would play back a story to her, Soreecilor was disappointed that no story came forward and so, looking around at the nearby cliff face, she began searching for the ball of blue light that had given them entrance to this land. There was no longer any ball of light to be seen. There was no opening. The cliff face was as solid as the boulder that had stolen the life of her young son. 'Yesterday,' she thought to herself. 'Is it only yesterday that I had both my husband and my son here with me?'

Flack recognised the area, realising that this was the place in which he had first awakened. This was the place where he had first come into this beautiful world and it was the place in which he had first seen his father and mother.

His attention was taken by the sight of his mother pawing at the ground close beside the boulder, moving away the loose dirt and preparing a small hole. Fascinated, Flack continued watching as first his mother dug the hole and then set about moving a small object into that hole before proceeding to fill the hole with the loose soil that she had scraped from it. She stood silently for a moment and then abruptly turned to walk back towards Flack.

Upon reaching him, Flack could see that his mother's eyes were filled with many glistening tears. He wondered if his mother was always going to be this way. 'Will she always be having these moments of sadness where she will not speak to me, where she will not laugh at my playing or chase me through the grass?' Flack wished that he knew of something that he could do to make his mother smile again.

With his mother unhurriedly walking past him he slowly turned to follow her, after staring at the boulder for a moment and wondering about its significance to his mother. Wondering, 'What is it that she has buried beside the rock?'

Ungainly, he trotted along at her side as they set off to a place he did not know. Wanting to run and explore, he knew that it was not the thing that he should do at this time and so concentrated on remaining at his mother's side, ignoring all of the strange sights and small creatures that he saw as they went upon their way. And, as their journey continued, he could feel strength and vigour seeping slowly into his muscles. 'Soon I will be strong,' he thought, adding, 'As strong as my father.' Sorrow swept in on him as he thought about his father, knowing that there was so much that he wanted to ask about him but perceptive enough to know that, for her own reasons, his mother did not want to speak of him and his sudden absence.

Flack wondered if this is the way it would always be. 'Perhaps my father travels away for a time and then returns. Perhaps he has always done this and it is something that I will become accustomed to. Maybe he will return to us this day.' Something in the back of Flack's mind told him that these were mistaken ideas, the knowledge coming from a place which also told him that his grasp of speech and his understanding of all things were far more advanced than they should normally be. 'What would be normal?' he asked himself, trying to imagine how it would be if he had little knowledge about the world around him. Continuing moving forward, he looked at the trees that he now walked amongst, already missing the full warmth of the sun because it was kept hidden from him by the dark canopy above. The land was beautiful that he walked upon and within, but this beauty did not alleviate his mother's sadness.

Moving amongst the forest trees, catching sight of sunlight beams striking through from above he began to chase them, ensuring he never wandered too far from his mother. The smell of damp soil and vegetation was thick in his nostrils and, occasionally, he would seek out the source of some of other unusual scents. On one occasion, his mother had scolded him for going too close to a patch of large, circular light-brown plants that had small red circles upon them, and he had quickly ran back to her side, remaining there for quite a time before daring to venture a little way away from her again as he went in search of other strange and exciting smells and sights. Sometimes, it seemed that when he played he brought a smile to his mothers face and, at other times, his playing only seemed to bring the sadness back upon her face.

His mind would always begin to drift back to the day before and he played over his few memories of his father. His mouth watered as he thought of the large yellow fruit he had eaten the previous day. He remembered how his father had stood upon his hind legs, stretching his huge neck up into the branches, pulling at the branches until some of the fruit had come crashing to the ground. Smiling, he recalled how his father had smashed the fruit with his hoof, opening up a way to the delight that was inside and how he had eaten of it and how Flack had done the same. 'And the taste, mmm, the taste was heaven.'

Soreecilor had come to a halt and turned her head to face Flack and, still thinking of his father, Flack walked straight into her. Soreecilor never said anything, though Flack felt a little embarrassed, and instead she turned her head forward and dropped her neck toward the ground. At her feet, cool clear water was rushing past, bubbling merrily as it splashed its way over trees roots and stones. She began to drink and, after tottering ungainly forward, Flack did the same, his eyes peering ahead and seeing that this expanse of water was large and filled a large area out beyond the shade of the trees.

And, though the day had been pitted with many joys created by the antics of her son, for Soreecilor it contained much loneliness from the memory of Laranki. Yet, in Flack, she found much consolation. He was as his father and, for that much, Soreecilor was grateful. Life would never be totally lonely, but there would always be someone she would sorely and desperately miss. After a little time spent drinking, his mother stepped out into the water, the ground clearly visible through the ripples of the shallow running water.

Flack, himself, became conscious of a sound. It was a strange sound that came from the water; but not from any one part of it, but from all of it. It was a very pleasing sound and he realised that he had been hearing this sound for a little while now.

Flack walked forward and joined his mother in the coolness of the water. He began to jump a little. He jumped as high as his new born legs would take him and, seeing that his mother smiled at him, he began to do it more and more. It was fun. Flack wanted to carry on doing this jumping and splashing for a very long time, especially as it brought happiness to the face of his mother, helping to remove the awful mask of sadness that seemed to cloak her this day.

Now and again, something that long and thin and with eyes, would shoot past him in the water. Sometimes there were many. Flack tried to chase them. He could not catch them but he tried. This was so much fun that he felt he would like to stay here forever.

His mother would begin to laugh and this made Flack feel that what he was doing as was good for her as it was for him. Encouraged, Flack continued running, jumping, and splashing around in the water as much as he could; loving to hear the sound of his mother's laughter. He felt proud of himself because it was him that had taken some of the sadness away from her. He tried to leap his highest, to make his mother laugh her loudest, but he lost his footing and fell over into the water. Amidst much splashing, he struggled to his feet, shaking the water from him. Flack was still laughing at himself when he realised that his mother was no longer laughing. He looked at her as she ran toward him. 'What had I done wrong? Something has happened?'

And then he saw that he and his mother were no longer alone. In their playtime they had been surrounded by humans; humans that were carrying nets and ropes. He knew that his mother knew exactly what they were and the fear creeping from her caused him to feel that very same fear. Hearing his mother call out his father's name as she drew near to him, he could feel her terror and it scared him more, throwing dread over him as he saw that the humans were beginning to move in their direction. Shivering beneath the warmth of the sun, he tried to press himself in as close as he could against his mother's side.

"Laranki," screamed his mother's voice, but her voice quickly became lost amidst the jeers and shouting of the rapidly advancing humans.

Flack was terrified and extremely confused. The water was splashing about him as the humans - with their shouts and cries - began to close in upon Flack and his mother. His mother was crying out as she held her ground, raising her forelegs to keep the humans at bay. Always manoeuvring her body so that she gave as much protection to Flack as she could, occasionally colliding with him as she landed awkwardly in the shallow water.

His fear increasing rapidly, Flack tried to keep near his mother and yet not so close that she may accidentally crash into him as she jumped and kicked in the water, doing all she could to drive the humans away. His mind was racing for, amongst the shouts and water splashing, his mind told him that these animals were called humans and, somehow, he knew that they were evil, though he could not understand what he and his mother had done to cause them to attack them.

In awe, watching his mother fight, forcing the humans back who were closest to her, Flack stared at her kicking and struggling, wishing that he was more than the child he was, wishing that he was as his father. The humans did not seem so strong and powerful on occasions, as they had to continually run back to avoid her flashing hoofs. She kept on with the struggle, even when tiredness began to take a hold upon her, and when the humans tried to move in upon her from different sides, trying to catch her off guard. Water continued erupting and splashing around him and, amidst the shouting, Flack was once again pushed by his mother with a blow that almost knocked him over as she began turning to face another human attacker.

Flack's mother fought with all of her might, trying to protect herself and, more importantly, her child, as she maintained her struggle even when the rope was finally flung around her neck, almost tying her to the ground as the humans put their strength and weight to the line.

Stunned at this sight, Flack did not acknowledge his mother calling to him at first and only reacted at the second time she shouted. She was screaming at him to run away and hide, to get away from these humans and to hide in the forests.

His mother continued fighting against the humans and the rope, while at the same time beginning to pull the humans away from Flack, moving them closer toward the shore.

The humans were paying little or no attention to Flack. He did not warrant the effort that the humans were using upon his mother.

Then, as she screamed once again for Flack to run, he instinctively obeyed and while everything around him was chaotic with shouting, yelling, and water splashing, he forced himself to move back toward the dryness of the land, moving toward the left and away from the humans fighting with his mother. He could hear the shouting and screaming continuing behind him and his heart raced as he awaited a dreadful rope to fall around his neck and arrest his progress. But the rope never landed upon him and he kept moving forward, forcing his unsteady legs to work better than they had ever done before. Suddenly, his feet were upon the dry ground and, fighting all of his instinct to stay with his mother, he did what his mother had been shouting at him to do. He ran away as best as he could. His legs wobbling and shaking with fear and with newness, he found that he was crying and almost choking on his anxiety.

Reaching a patch of grass, he moved into it and then further across and into sparse bushes that led into the forest. Forcing his tired legs to run, he kept going forward, struggling slowly uphill, hoofs slipping on the occasional pieces of rock and stones that tried to throw his balance. His rear legs seemed determined not to function but his forelegs were determined to drag him along. He was now in shadow, moving amongst the tall, dark trees, while the shouting continued behind him somewhere. He was expecting to see his mother appear beside him at any moment for he believed that she had a plan and needed him to get away himself first and then she would break free and easily outrun the human animals.

He knew that he could not run as fast as his mother and that was why she had told him to run while she herself was keeping the humans distracted. He would not let his mother down. He ran and he ran, ignoring all tiredness, and obeying the words of his mother.

Occasionally, sunlight broke through the branches overhead, blinding him a little and almost causing him to crash into bushes or trees. Tiredness had left him now and he found that his legs seemed stronger now because they were doing what he wanted them to do.

Eventually, there came a time when he could run no more and so he lay down upon the brown and yellow leaves that littered the floor beneath the trees. He knew that he was completely exhausted and beyond any more travel and so he lay there wondering what would happen now. 'What will happen to my mother? How long would it take her to find me? Would she be able to find me? Have I hidden myself too well?'

His whole body shook as he made a valiant effort to stand once again to see what had become of his mother. Gazing among the shrubs and branches his eyes went searching until the faint shouts of the humans took his attention far to his right. Moving slowly in that direction he only stopped when a large rock slab appeared before him, which he tentatively climbed upon, looking through gaps in the undergrowth for signs of the humans and his mother. Catching sight of movement, he looked upon a terrible scene that was spread before him.

His mother was still battling the humans and Flack was shocked by this for he believed that his mother would be able to run away now. He had carried himself to a safe distance and so his mother should be able to break free now so that she could run and join him. 'Why is she not running away so that she can come and find me?'

With guilt overwhelming him because he had ran away, he was now wishing that he had stayed with his mother. But she had told him to run and so he had and, though he wanted to go back but to her, there was not the strength left in him to make that journey. His tiredness was absolute and so, with his eyes filling with tears, he could only stare at the scene below as it moved beyond the tree that lay before him.

His mind was deeply troubled for there were some things that he could understand and there were things that he could not. He knew of his own fear and he could understand this because he was scared of this situation. He knew of his mother's fear and could see that she feared being trapped by the humans but he could not understand why the humans would want to do this to them. 'What trouble did we cause to them? We were no threat to them.'

More ropes were being thrown by the humans and a number of them caught firmly upon his mother. He could see that her body was beginning to tire as she was not able to rear herself so high in the air. Fresh tears leaking into his eyes partially hid the truth that her energy was deserting her, for his jumps and kicks were becoming less frequent. Without any strength to give to the situation he began to openly cry, his mind reeling with images and hiding from him the sound of birdsong in the air around him. Suddenly, there came a large shout from below as the humans all called out together. Stretching his neck to better see what was happening, horror froze his tears as he saw that his mother was on her side, her legs pumping and kicking, trying to get herself back on her feet. Ropes around her legs had brought her crashing down and now the humans were swarming disgustingly around her.

She was still kicking her legs as the humans came charging toward her, catching one with a mighty blow that sent him flying backward, landing in the water with a huge splash. This human remained there, his body gently rising up and down upon the water and, realising that he was seeing a dead creature in the water, Flack rejoiced, waiting for his mother to do the same to the rest of the evil monsters that attacked her.

The other humans began backing away from his mother, wary of the danger that she still posed to them, and then, as one, they all charged upon her just as she was struggling to her feet. This time they were swinging things at her, heavy branches of wood came swooping through the air and landed painful blows upon his mother. Trying to ignore the blows that rained upon her, she fought bravely to stand up completely but a savage blow came swinging at her head and, hearing the horrific sound that came racing through the trees as the weapon struck his mother, Flack tried to get to his feet, feeling an urgent need to be with her. His eyes transfixed, he saw his mother seeming to stand completely still and then, falling onto her knees he saw the humans all run in swinging their weapons. A sudden retreating movement made by the humans, quickly followed by a large splash in the water, brought biting tears burning into Flack's eyes. Knowing that his mother had fallen into the water because of the weapon used by one of the humans, he cringed as he saw the humans race back towards her, swinging their weapons in the air, screaming loudly at the top of their voices. This time, no human was kicked away by his mother.

Flack stared in disbelief at the scene before, mostly grateful that his tears blurred his vision. He could not comprehend what was going on. 'What had he and his mother done to deserve such an attack? What is our unknown crime?'

Now that his mother was no longer visible to him and, with a terrible fear eating at his young heart, he realised that he had not heard his mother's voice for some time now. Flacks heart was pounding and he felt as though his chest would explode, one of his forelegs was shaking involuntary and violently, beating out a nervous rhythm. Now that he was safely hidden and no longer fleeing from the humans, his once un-thought fears were taking over his mind and body.

Craning his neck forward, trying to see what was happening in the struggle between the humans and his mother, he found that the sunlight that danced and sparkled upon the water made it difficult for him to see clearly what was exactly occurring down in the river. The frantic activity in the water began to cease, the sparkling from the water reduced and Flack was able to see that, slowly, the humans were beginning to move back away from the centre of activity. Letting out a horrified gasp, Flack saw what he feared he would see for there, lying still in the water, was his mother. The water around his mother seemed darker and she did not move, did not kick out at the humans, and she did not try to stand so that she could run away from them and join him.

Tears continued welling as part of his mind tried to tell him what had happened while another part of his mind tried to deny what he could see. With the strength leaving his young legs, he almost collapsed back onto the stone slab, as he watched his mother being slowly dragged back toward the land. The humans were pulling her by using callous ropes around her legs and neck and he could see that her head hung limp, dragging along in the water.

This picture froze itself in Flack's mind, though he tried to draw images of her standing up and running away from the vile human creatures. And, as he watched he realised what had really been taking place; his mother was now lost to him. As his father was taken away from him, Flack now knew that his mother had been taken from him. From the recesses of his mind came forth the information that told him that his mother was dead, and now he found he understood the meaning of the word, just as he understood the word 'hate' when he thought about the barbaric humans.

Flack continued to openly weep, knowing now that his mother had given her own life so that he may live. He wanted to go down there and fight these humans himself but he knew how pointless his effort would be. 'If my mother, larger and more powerful than I, has been defeated by the humans, then what chance would I have? To go down there would defeat the purpose of what my mother has done. She has sacrificed her life that I may live and now I will honour that sacrifice, mother. I swear that the humans shall not catch me and that, one day, I will take my revenge upon them for what they have done to you!'

Rage welled inside of him. So much rage that he felt that the mad beatings of his heart would explode and destroy both him and the wretched humans, destroying the forests around him. His mind surely wished that he could do this. His mother was gone and he knew that there was nothing that he could have done to save her, but there was one thing that he could still do for her; he could evade the humans. That had been his mothers last wish and he would carry this out, hoping that he would find the courage to survive alone and un-learned about the dangers of this land.

Suddenly, he was aware that the humans were looking for something else and he knew what it was that they were looking for; they were looking for him. 'Now that they have dealt with my mother and she is no longer a threat to them they will be coming to find the poor, defenceless baby unicorn that had ran away. Well, you will not find me.'

Slowly lowering his head, he stopped when he could just see over the rock that rose in front of him. His eyes, unblinking, stared down at the moving humans below. He knew he must remain completely still unless they came too close to where he now hid. Watching the humans scouring the lower bushes looking for him, he saw the ragged clothes they wore and inhaled the air, taking in the scents of the humans so that he might avoid them better in the future. The humans did not seem to care too much about finding him. It had been his mother that they had been really after and now, as a new fear of himself being caught by the humans crept through his being, he wondered what it was that he and his mother had done that was so wrong.

Lying in silence, watching, he was waiting though, for what, he did not know. Flack studied the human figures, watching the way that they walked, the way they swung their arms. He would remember them and, one day, when he was as big as his father, he would find them and he would do battle with them.

Flack watched the humans as they walked and shouted between each other, their very voices filling him with hatred and saw, eventually, that they stopped looking for him. Finally, the humans began to move away as one group and he saw that, with them, they half carried and half dragged something within the nets that they had brought with them. Flack craned forward looking to see where his mother had been left. He would gather his strength and go down to her. He did not know what he would, or could, do but he had a desire to be beside her, to see her face...

It was a long time before Flack was rid of the scent of the humans and when, finally their odour had been scattered a little to the winds, he struggled to his feet and made ready for his walk down the incline towards the river. He felt so alone. Tired, scared, terrified, and wanting so very much to have his mother and father back with him.

Deliberately he made his way forward, at first, slow and unsure, and then quicker and more determined. Ignoring the weakness of his body and the strain on his young, unsure legs, he carried on. Denying the pains in his sides and the tears in his eyes, he continued moving down through the trees toward the stream. Down, down, down he raced toward the water's edge and, when he finally got there, there was nothing!

There was no sign of his mother anywhere that he looked, and then it came to him that the bundle that the humans had dragged away with them must have contained his mother. 'Why have they taken her away with them? Where had they taken her?'

He knew that he had to find her. Whatever had happened to her it was important that he find out and, if she were still alive, he would do what he could to release her from her captors, his mind refusing to bring up arguments against these actions.

He stood there on the water's edge looking across to see, in his mind, a picture of his mother standing and laughing at his antics. The scene became blurred. He was crying once again. Through his tear-filled eyes, he strove hard to picture her standing there, he wanted to see her there, and smiling at him while telling him that everything would be all right. He desperately wanted to remember her smiling face filled with love.

Flack felt as though he had spent an eternity feeling sad, though he could only recall living one day. He was sad about his father having left them, and sad now because his mother had left him. 'Are sadness and misery the only things that I can expect to experience in my life?'

He knew that she had not deliberately left him but nonetheless he was now alone. He did not like this feeling of being alone because he was young, he was in experienced in the ways of this world, and he knew that he could easily fall prey to more the humans.

His mind seemed somehow filled with information that had come from neither of his parents and he knew that it was not through his own experience. There seemed to be many details in his head that seemed to have come from nowhere that he knew about or could identify. The knowledge of having this knowledge did not scare him and, in its own way, it helped to bring him a little calm in the wild wonderings of his mind.

He knew of the dangerous humans, but he had no idea of what other dangers may dwell within the forests and valleys of this place and yet he felt as though that information would come to him when he needed it.

His gaze rode across the sand and stones that lay beside the river and he saw upon the sand and stones there were wet patches making the sand damp and colouring the occasional stone red. A chill ran through his body for as much as he tried to hide from the truth, hoping that his mother was alive somewhere, he knew that it was not so.

He now had evidence of why they had dragged her away. They had restrained her because she had fought back against them as she surely must have hurt these terrible and violent humans. Flack was glad that she had done this because of all the trouble that the humans had caused and then Flack wondered if, perhaps, it was not the human's blood which lay upon the sand.

Disbelieving of the possibility that his mother was dead, and determined to find her alive somewhere, he turned and began to follow in the direction that the humans had travelled.

### 14 - Genesis IV – Companions Found

Struggling to walk beneath the heat of the sun which still managed to get through the canopy above and warm the air that he breathed, he did his best to ignore his tiredness. The sun and endless walking had their draining affect upon him but he remained determined to continue upon his lonely journey. He walked and walked with tiredness ripping through his young muscles, and he continued to walk until the light began to fade and, during his travelling, he tried to make sense of all the things that had happened to him in such a short space of time. He tried to understand how he seemed to know certain things that neither his mother nor father had told him about. 'How did I know that the ones who had attacked me and my mother were called humans? I know that they wore clothes, I knew that they were to be avoided, but where did this knowledge come from?'

He tried to sort out the thoughts in his head, mainly concentrating on trying to determine if his mother was still alive or not. 'How is it that I can understand that the death of my mother means that I will not see her again and yet here I am trying to find her?'

He found that the over-abundant and confused thoughts swimming around his head were tiring him even more than the sun that burnt overhead. He was lost and had nowhere to go except to follow the trail of the humans. He could detect their smell in the air but, even more so, he could detect the smell of his mother. It was not as strong now as it had been when he had first set out upon the trail but there were enough scents to keep him following in the direction that the humans were travelling.

When the light began to wane he began to feel more and more alone... so very lost... and so very lonely. The night pushed in on him making him sleepy and leaving him feeling very much all by himself and scared. There were strange noises echoing through the night and at times he heard high-pitched screams and long wails echoing through the invading darkness. He also heard chattering noises that he knew came from birds beginning to deliver their evening song.

This was another question. 'How do I know that these creatures are called birds?'

Thinking back over every detail of his time with his parents, he knew that there were many things that he knew that his parents had not told him. 'How could I know these things? Where does this knowledge come from?'

The coldness of the night had begun to creep upon him during his trek. The warmth of the sun had suddenly vanished and now there was a chill in the air. With his mind confused with doubts and worries, he began to look around for a place of concealment where he could lay down and spend the night. The ground underfoot had grown damp and uncomfortable and, whenever possible, he avoided the long grass for it crept upon the length of his legs and the remaining wetness seemed to freeze his very muscles.

He disliked being alone and it brought absolute misery crashing in on his every step because, with his every step he could only hear the sound of his own passage through the trees for there was sounds being made by his mother beside him. At times, as he struggled between the trees and undergrowth he felt as though the very plants and vegetation were trying to halt his progress.

At times, in his confused state of mind, he was angry with his mother and father for leaving him. He did not want to blame them but he knew of no others that he knew that he could blame. He could blame the humans, but they were only dim images in his memory and he could not throw his anger at them and so he threw his anger towards the ones he loved; the ones who loved him the most. He dearly wanted to hear his father's stern voice, disproving of his thoughts and scolding him, letting him know that he was not alone, but no voice came to him and his aloneness became more and more absolute.

The tiredness within him was stronger now and he knew that he could carry on no longer. He was becoming scared of moving through the dark and had begun to see pictures of the humans in his head, images showing them waiting in concealment for him to come blindly wandering past. He could see himself being tangled in one of their nets and then the humans come swinging their weapons at him.

His mind fought with the need to find his mother and he wanted to struggle on but his young body was too tired, too exhausted to continue. Another part of his mind told him how useless his searching was for he would not find what he wanted to believe he would find.

Registering his surroundings he realised that he had moved to an area of damp grass, tucked himself in beside a large boulder with a tree hanging low overhead, and had set himself down for the night. For a while he lay there thinking of his mother, thinking of his father, thinking of all of his sadness, of all his loneliness... and then sleep rushed in upon him. It would not take 'no' for an answer and swirled around him dragging him down to a deep and troubled sleep.

In his sleep, he saw pictures of his mother and father... they were close by but he could not reach them. No matter how hard he tried, cried, pleaded and struggled, he just could not reach them. There was always a huge bright light appearing between himself and his parents. The bright light did not appear to be evil but, for all the effort that he made to try to reach his parents it was a constant, always there and always stopping him.

At the times that he did manage to gain a glimpse of his parent's faces he saw that they were crying but he could hear no sounds from them in these dreams. His only reward for battling that strange light was merely a glimpse of his parent's tears, with the tears themselves seeming to want to say something, a word of comfort perhaps, a message.

The dreams continued haunting him all through his fitful slumber and, through all of those dreams he was never once able to reach his parents. They were beyond his reach. They were gone from him and he would never find a path to them in this land.

Finally, gratefully, Flack awoke.

He awoke in a sweat finely mixed with the dew of the previous night. He awoke to find himself very cold and very hungry and so, struggling to climb to his feet, he walked out from the concealment he had used the previous night, grateful that the humans had not discovered him whilst he had slept. That was something that he had not considered when he had laid down to sleep and he now realised he would have to be more careful in future and not trust to luck. 'But what can I do? I will need to sleep?'

Stiffness was in his limbs and he found his whole body ached. His neck ached, his flanks ached and there were sharp pains running down the length of all of his legs. Stretching and tensing his limbs he began trying to chase the pains away. He knew he ached in a way that he would not have if he had slept between the warmth of his mother and father.

The morning sky was dull and Flack was grateful not to have the sun fighting through the canopy above, making those sun rays that struck down through the branches and leaves above, making it difficult to determine what lay ahead in his path. Standing there, unmoving, he was wondering what should be his next course of action. The scented trail that he had followed the previous day was now gone. It would not be easy to find his mother unless she was close by and, if she were, then surely the humans would also be close by. He would have to be careful in his wanderings of the area. His ears listened intently for sounds that could suggest the presence of human voices but there was none. Somewhere distant he could hear birds singing in peeps and whistles while, occasionally nearby he heard the lone call of a bird.

Apart from these sounds, there was no other life in the forest that he could detect other than the vegetation that ran in every direction. He would have to find food to arrest the pains that had began to swim within the pit of his stomach from the moment he awakened. 'I think that the hunger pains are what actually woke me,' he admitted to himself.

It was something he would rather not waste time searching for but if he were to have the strength to go in search of his mother then it was something he would have to do.

Moving out onto the edge of a small clearing, he stood looking among the trees that lined the area, searching for any movement of sound to alert him to danger.

Suddenly, the sun burst from behind a far away mountain range that stood high beyond the tree line ahead of him. It was sharp and vibrant and, though he had to close his eyes, he could feel its warmth seeping through his body and giving him strength, reheating his body, chasing the coldness and aches of the previous night away.

Remaining motionless, with his eyes closed but his ears searching for sounds, he allowed the sun's rays to seep into him and recharge him, giving him newfound strength. He imagined that he could feel his muscles growing and expanding, building up a charge of energy that he would soon need to release.

Aware of only birdsong around him, he dwelt in the peaceful serenity of the moment, trying to allow his fears to drift away from him for a little time. It was a new day, and he wondered what it would hold in store for him as he opened his eyes and prepared himself to go and search for something to eat and to search, carefully, for his mother.

Walking forward in to the clearing, he could feel the heat drying up the damp that was upon his body. Continuing across the grass covered clearing, halting briefly to chew at the grass, his mind was telling him to go in search of the fruit that his father had provided for him. Knowing that this world was unknown to him he found that he was not as sacred as the previous day. He knew he was going to be discovering new things and, even though his present circumstances were bad, the thoughts of finding out new things excited him a little. 'So long as I am careful and avoid humans I should begin to learn much that will help me in the time to come.'

Walking across the clearing, heading for the tree line opposite him, he knew that he was going into a vast unknown and did not know what he would do, where he would go or who he would meet. For these reasons, there was nervousness within him, but also a feeling of purpose; even if he did not know yet what it was.

Drifting and wandering amidst the trees, bushes, shrubs, and the occasional boulders, he eventually began to grow tired of the same scenery that provided him with no recognisable source of food. The land that he walked rose gently upwards in the direction that he chose to walk. At times when he stopped for a moment, searching the area with his eyes and ears to make sure that he could detect nothing that would cause him harm, he would look behind and see the tall trees marching back down the sloping ground that he traversed.

For a time, climbing the slope made him tire easily but now he appeared sued to the way that he would have to pick his way over the ground avoiding tree roots and loose stones. Wherever possible, he would head towards a large clump of vegetation that appeared ahead of him, hoping for food and for the extra concealment that it would provide should he hear the sounds of the humans. He believed that he was heading in the direction that the humans had taken his mother but he could not be sure with any certainty and it was the distinct lack of human voices that made him feel that he had long lost the trail that they had taken.

Eventually, he tried to remain at the same height upon the slope and began moving first to the right and then, when he found no indication of the humans in that direction, he made his way back towards the left. Always listening keenly and watching avidly, he searched for the slightest sign or scent of the humans but found none. It was as if they were no longer in the forests at all.

Ignoring the hunger pains he continued his searching for the missing trail and only halted his seeking when he saw a group of trees a little way down from him and upon the branches of those trees he spied the large yellow fruit that his father had provided for him, in what seemed a far and distant past. With saliva juices running amok within his mouth, Flack raced down toward the trees and it was not until he got close to them that he realised that the fruit was far too high for him to reach. The trees bordered another clearing and, standing within the shade of the branches of one of the trees, he remained still with his head gazing up at the mouth-watering, out of reach, fruit. After a little while, he began walking around in agitated circles with his eyes remaining fixed upon the lowest piece of fruit, hoping that it would suddenly fall and present him with the mal that his mouth and stomach desired so much.

Pains, in his stomach, were ringing out and signifying his craving, his need for the fruit, a much needed meal and, before him, a large piece of fruit was hanging teasingly but, although lower than the others upon the tree, was still tantalisingly beyond his reach. He became obsessed with the fruit, watching it intently while his mind kept informing him that, at a time that was right, the fruit would simply fall within his eager reach.

He reared up, placing his front hoofs as high up the trunk of that tree that he could and, although he succeeded in keeping his balance, he still could not succeed in acquiring that fruit. It remained teasingly out of his grasp and he became annoyed. His stomach was crying out to him, making him feel dizzy with hunger pains. 'I need that fruit. I want that meal.'

Eventually he lay down, remaining staring up at the fruit and hoping that just one would fall from its secure place and put itself within his grasp. He waited, with his hunger tormenting him as much as the sight of the fruit.

He waited and he waited until, unbelievably, one piece of fruit fell from the branches above him. In a dazed-like state, he clambered to his feet and made to walk toward the fallen fruit but then, as his stomach cheered in expectation, a most unbelievable occurrence washed before his eyes. Something, that was dark and furry, ran from behind him quickly snatching up the fruit and was gone before he could take another step. Flack stared disbelieving at the bushes that appeared to have leapt out and hidden the little creature from sight.

Flack's mouth began watering as he imagined the small creature tearing through that soft, moist fruit, feasting upon it and allowing the cool juices to run down its throat, sating those very cravings that Flack wanted to have satisfied. Resigning himself to having lost that particular piece of fruit he lay down to await the next one that fell, hoping that he would not have to wait for very long.

His head cradled upon his forelegs, which were curled around to one side of his body, his eyes stared blankly ahead, waiting for the first sign of more of the unreachable food.

His nostrils breathed lightly upon the fresh, moist green grass that lay around him. The smell was pleasant and he began recalling that this short green grass had been eaten by his mother when he had sought milk from her and so, stretching his neck a little, he opened his mouth and placed it around a small clump of the grass and pulled it, unresisting, from the soil. He chewed upon it. It was not dislikeable and tasted similar to the longer grass that he had chewed upon during is wandering. Flack found it uncomfortable to eat and swallow the grass in this position and so he stood up, continuing to eat the grass while trying not to think of the fruit. It did not hold the glorious flavour of the fruit but he hoped it would satisfy the hunger cravings that tormented him.

And, as he continued to eat, Flack found that the grass did take away the initial hunger pains from his stomach, though his mouth still craved the wonderful flavour of the large yellow fruit above him.

With his hunger quenched a little, he lay down upon the ground again to continue waiting. He tried not to think of the fruit above him, but the more he tried not to think of the fruit the more pictures of the fruit appeared in his mind. He began to wish that he had never known of the fruit, but he did know and the knowing of it tormented him very much.

His mind once again recalled his few valuable memories of his mother and father... and he began to wonder if he would be able to get by without them, or at least get by until he was once again reunited with his mother and, perhaps, his father. He thought of his father's name, Laranki. It was a proud and wonderful sounding name and he wished that could be his name. Then, suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by something crashing down upon his head. It shocked him and caused him to leap backwards a little his first thought telling him that humans were attacking but the thought was quickly dismissed as he saw lying upon the ground before him a large piece of the fruit that he, for so long, had been craving.

Impulsively he leapt towards it, preparing to guard it against the intentions of the furry creature who had stolen the first piece that had fallen. Standing glaring at the bushes into which he had seen the little creature vanish and with his forelegs on either side of the precious fruit, he was making sure that the fruit was well protected. No movement came from the bushes and so, glancing around to check that the creature did not try to sneak up from another direction, he felt relief as his mouth continue watering and he prepared to help himself to the food.

Raising a leg, he then brought his hoof crashing down upon the fruit, trying to smash the thick outer skin so that he could gain access to the pulpy insides. With his hoof hitting the fruit sharply he felt the surface give way and, preparing to deliver a harder blow, he was shocked when many of the fruit began falling down around him; with some even striking his neck and head as they fell to the ground. It was as if the fruit was falling from the sky and, as some of the fruit hit the ground they burst open, presenting him with the wonderful, juicy segments that adorned the insides.

When it seemed to have stopped falling, he dared to gaze upwards into the tree above, apprehensive lest more fruit should start to fall upon him, and his eyes showed him that there was still plenty of the fruit in the tree.

He eyes searched the branches looking for whatever had caused the fruit to fall but he saw nothing save the branches, leaves and the remaining fruit. Then, amidst the branches, a movement caught his eye. He stared. The movement moved to nearer toward the trunk of the tree. It was dark there but Flack was rewarded, and a little scared, to see a pair of eyes gazing down at him. They appeared to be welcoming eyes and Flack began hoping that he had found a friend.

Staring back in silence at the eyes and feeling that there was no direct threat that he should be concerned about, he gently lowered his head and began to feast, slowly, upon the exposed insides of the fallen fruit. Unhurriedly and deliberately, he ate the fruit as his eyes strained upwards to view the contents of the branches, trying to gaze upon what may be a new found ally. He began gulping down the food, quickly moving on to another segment and devouring that as his hunger pains seemed to take over control of the will of his body. He continued to eat, satisfying his deepest hungers, but his interest began to wane as he stared high up into the darkness of the tree and trying, once again, to spy his new found ally.

A rustle from nearby startled Flack and he jumped, nervously, turning around to gaze into the darkness of the bushes that seemed to have released the sound. All became quiet again. Gently, Flack sniffed the air for the tell tale sign of humans but he could find no scent of the dreaded creatures but he found the scent of something else instead, something that he did not recognise. He stood waiting, staring at the bushes ahead of him, his body tense and ready to run if anything threatening should appear. He was a nervous and hoping that, whatever was in the bushes, did not detect his fears.

Another sound came which was similar though it seemed a little more distant and it sounded as though whatever made it was moving away. Flack began relaxing when, suddenly, something landed right beside him, making him turn around in fear and panic.

There was a small creature standing before him, balancing upon its hind legs, and staring back at him. Something inside him told Flack that this creature was a squirrel and that it could fly a little. 'Glide upon the wind,' was the better way of explaining it to himself.

For an instant, he began to question his own knowledge as to how he knew exactly what so many things were and, almost as quickly these thoughts flew from his mind as he continued to gaze upon his mysterious benefactor.

Flack stared. His benefactor stared. Flack continued staring and then, after a few moments, his benefactor reached out with small hands and picked up a piece of fruit and tossed it gently to where Flack stood.

Flack looked at the piece of juicy fruit, back toward his mysterious ally and then, not wishing to seem ungrateful, he bent his neck down so as to chew on the small piece of fruit.

His little friend seemed happy that Flack had done this and Flack himself felt very happy. It appeared that he really did have a newfound friend. 'I am not alone anymore.'

Once Flack had finished chewing upon the juicy part of the fruit, his little friend moved forward and picked up the remaining core of the fruit and he too began to chew. Apparently, he only ate the very core of the fruit and Flack had done part of the work by removing the fleshy bulk.

Flack realised this and felt very pleased that, in some way, he had re-paid the kindness shown him by the little squirrel, although he was sure that the squirrel could have done this for himself.

The squirrel finished his assault upon the core of that piece of fruit and promptly threw another piece of fruit at Flack's feet. Flack immediately responded by eating away all of the fruit that was in the way of the core. The squirrel, once again, finished off the core of the fruit.

It continued this way through another six pieces of fruit and Flack could eat no more, and it seemed that his friend could not either. They finished their eating together, and Flack lay down upon the ground and was quite prepared to go to sleep but the squirrel would have none of this and began to push at Flack's rump, forcing him to stand.

Standing, Flack turned to face the squirrel who now sat staring at him, his long tail pointing straight into the air. The squirrel's tail twitched and now pointed in a direction off to Flack's left, seeming to be indicating that Flack should leave now.

Flack, feeling a little bewildered and lost, was thinking, 'Why am I being told to go?' He had thought that he and the squirrel were friends of sorts but now it was obvious that the squirrel wanted Flack to leave. In dismay, Flack realised that he had been used by the squirrel as a means for him to easily get into the core of the fruit and, now that he was no longer needed, he was being told to leave.

Sadly, Flack stood as straight as he could and began to walk away in the direction that the squirrel had indicated. Pausing for a moment, and about to turn to look back, he was interrupted by the squirrel pushing him on his right-side rear hoof. Abruptly, he bolted forward, feeling rejection sweeping over him and tears fighting to leak onto his eyes. He felt all the loneliness crashing in on him once again, swamping him and causing him to release the sobs that were breaking out from his heart. Bushes and plants rushed by as he found a new strength within his legs, admitting to himself that the meal had served him well by giving him much needed energy.

Eventually, when he was sure that he had left the squirrel far behind, he stopped. He walked along, dejectedly, his eyes casting his sorrowful filled vision to the floor. 'I don't care if the humans find me,' he thought. 'What is the point of me carrying on if I am to spend that time alone?'

Suddenly, from before and above him there came a rustling sound as a brown streak raced down a tree trunk slightly to his left, racing across the ground to come to rest right in front of his path. Recognising it as the squirrel creature that he had just left behind, the one who had chased him away, Flack remained indignant after his initial surprise and walked around the squirrel. However, the squirrel would have none of this and he grabbed hold of one of Flack's rear legs as he walked by, hanging onto him even though he could not prevent him walking away.

Flack was confused. He could feel tears welling up inside of him again and he felt embarrassed by this.

Reluctantly, he turned to face the squirrel who was now excitedly pointing in the same direction from which Flack had travelled and, looking to where the squirrel was indicating, he peered amongst the myriad of tree trunks that lay there.

Flack could see nothing, though he slowly became aware of growling and snapping sounds from further down the trail. Taking his attention, the squirrel was now beckoning him over towards a large clump of vegetation that was almost as tall as he was. Walking cautiously towards the shrub, wondering what else the squirrel may be planning to ridicule him but not caring because for this moment he was not alone, he found that when he reached the left side of the bushes he was given a clear view of the area he had just left. He was shocked and startled to see movement between distant tree trunks that showed him two giant bears fighting and then, seeing that the ground around them was full of fruit, he knew that it must be what they were fighting over.

Realising that it was fortunate that he was not down there now, he turned to thank the squirrel but, as he looked around, there was not one squirrel facing him but two and they both looked very pleased with themselves.

Staring dumbly toward them, Flack was a little too shaken and surprised to speak. One of the squirrels advanced, obviously it was the one Flack had shared the fruit with because he seemed so friendly and the other squirrel, which Flack realised now was a female and was a little more on the timid side it seemed, remained standing where she was.

Flack looked down at the nearing squirrel who, looking back up at Flack's face, said, "Where are you heading, friend?"

Flack was taken back now that he was actually being spoken to. The only spoken words he had ever heard directed at him before were the words spoken by his mother and father.

"I'm going to look for my mother," said Flack, startled by his own quick reply and then he became a little worried by the look upon the immediate squirrel's face. This squirrel, the male, slowly turned his head and looked toward the female squirrel. The two squirrels seemed to share some kind of a secret and, because of the look upon the female squirrel's face, Flack felt as though he had said something wrong.

The male squirrel turned to look back at Flack, making him feel very uncomfortable beneath that gaze while feeling, perhaps, he ought to leave.

"Where is your mother?" asked the female squirrel.

"The humans have taken her with them," replied Flack.

"And your father?" questioned the male squirrel.

"I do not know," replied Flack, his speech slowing down as, in his mind he realised that he had never really asked himself, or his mother, that very question.

"Did he vanish in the night?" asked the male squirrel, excitedly.

"I awoke and he was gone," Flack replied.

"How old were you when this happened," asked the male squirrel.

"I spent one day with him and that first night was the last time that I ever saw him," said Flack, hurt by the images that came into his mind.

"How long ago was this?" asked the female squirrel, her voice sounding excited.

"Two nights ago," replied Flack.

"My heaven," gasped the female, adding, "And look at the size of you!"

Flack stood still and said nothing, feeling as though he were being scrutinised and not enjoying the attention at all. The two squirrels, his newfound friends, appeared to know a lot about him that they had still not told him. Remaining standing still and a little uneasy, he felt a light breeze blow across him, rustling first within the nearby bushes and then sending a shiver running down his back.

Flack felt a little uneasy about the questions that he had been asked and the reactions to his answers. Staring back at the squirrels, his gaze going slowly from one to the other, the two squirrels stood watching him for a few moments until, after a little while, the female began to advance until she stood beside the male. The two stared as one at Flack. The male spoke, asking, "May we be allowed to escort you to Essilon?"

"Essilon?" questioned Flack, knowing that it was a word that he was not familiar with.

"It is a safe place for all beasts," added the female squirrel, her voice sounding keen and full of good intentions.

"But I must go in search of my mother," began Flack and then, seeing the look upon the two faces in front of him, he stopped.

"It is best that you come with us. You will be safe and much shall be explained to you," offered the male in reply to Flack's unfinished statement.

Within himself, Flack knew that he should go with them to Essilon. He felt that, once there, he would find out many things that for the moment seemed to be being held from him. "Will I find my mother there?" he asked the male squirrel.

"You will find some answers there," replied the male squirrel, adding, "All beasts are moving toward Essilon."

Flack thought for a moment, realising that, deep inside, he knew that he was not strong or cunning enough to do battle with the humans at this time. 'Perhaps in Essilon, the place where the beasts are moving toward, I may be able to find some who would help me find my mother. If my mother breaks free of the humans then Essilon would be the place that she would go in search of me.' For a moment, he felt good and happy that he may now have a purpose as well as friends, but another thought came flooding his mind, taking away his optimism. 'How can I be sure that my mother is still alive?'

Knowing that the two squirrels would be good company and that their intentions were good because they had provided him with food as well as getting him away from the area where the bears had met, fighting over the fruit, he knew that his mind was already made up.

"I shall come with you," he said as he stood patiently in the small silence of the two squirrels gazing up at him.

"It is good that you will," said the female happily and pleasantly, and then quickly adding, "My name is Chart."

"And my name is Brand," said the male.

"My name is..." began Flack.

"Flack," said the male squirrel, finishing Flack's sentence for him.

Flack was startled but, before he could ask another question, the male squirrel spoke again, saying, "Come, we must be on our way, for we must reach Essilon as quickly as possible." Promptly turning, the squirrel ran for the nearest tree and in a flash of racing brown, Brand, was quickly up the tree trunk.

Staring back down at Flack for a moment, the little squirrel rubbed a small acorn that it held and then, allowing the tree fruit to suddenly fall from his grasp, he turned, scuttled along the branch and began racing up the tree trunk itself; soon lost from sight high amidst its leaves and branches. Flack continued staring inquiringly at the point that he had lost sight of the little creature amongst the branches.

"Oh, it is nothing to worry about," volunteered Chart. "He will check the path ahead of us for humans. It is best that they be avoided."

Flack knew that she spoke true and he tried hard not to think too much about his mother at the moment and so left his hopes nurtured in his heart until he could deal with them another time.

They began walking, with the female squirrel, Chart, walking along beside him and, every so often, she would answer a shrill calling from far ahead and always, when this happened, she would turn and say, "All is clear where we are going."

The two of them continued walking along beside each other while the male squirrel, high in the trees ahead of them, continued calling his messages back to Chart. For a time, the walk was in silence as Flack spoke very little and only did so when he was spoken to by the female squirrel. His mind was a confusion of many things. There were so many answers that he wished to hear but for now he was glad to have company and a place to go. He wondered what Essilon was and why they were heading toward there, particularly.

There was another shrill call from ahead of them, this time a little off to the right, and Chart informed him that the way ahead was still clear of any danger.

At one time, while the three rested and ate some fruit freshly plundered from nearby trees, Flack saw his shadow upon the ground and saw that he now had the beginnings of a horn upon his head as, what was once a small stump, now appeared longer and was tapering to a keener point.

'I hope that it will grow to be a horn that my father would be proud of.' For a moment he felt saddened by this thought. He was sad that his father and mother were not here to see his new horn growing. Perhaps, as the squirrel had told him, Essilon would give him answers.

'Perhaps, Essilon will even give me back my parents,' he thought excitedly, bringing cheer to his heart. Happiness flowed through him as the three once again set off upon their journey and, this time, he was carrying with him a bountiful supply of strength and hope.

He remained happy and contented until, with night time beginning to descend around them, Brand returned from his place ahead of them, calling for them to rest for the night. They found some adequate shelter amongst a large patch of bushes close to a clearing edge, which would hide Flack from most of the eyes of the night and, there, they settled down. The two squirrels snuggled up to Flack and, enjoying the pleasure of contact with another kindred creature, Flack fell into a deep, deep sleep not longer after the two squirrels had fallen asleep themselves.

In the morning, they awoke to glorious sunshine, rested and ready to continue upon their journey to Essilon but were amazed by a startling discovery.

The two squirrels began poking and prodding at Flack, encouraging him to stand up quickly. He responded as quickly as possible, looking around feeling nervous and worried and trying to see what had caused the squirrels to act so excitedly. Seeing nothing around him that gave him any cause to worry, he looked down at Chart and Brand and asked them the reason for their actions. 'Perhaps they have detected that a bear or even humans are nearby.'

Then, as he was looking down at the two of them he saw that, somehow, the squirrels seemed smaller than he remembered them. Then he understood what it was that they were trying to tell him. 'I have grown larger.' He realised that he must have grown quickly the previous nights but he had never noticed it before for it all seemed natural to him. Yet, by the reactions of the two squirrels, it was apparently a strange thing that he grew so rapidly.

"See, see," said Chart. "He is growing very fast, so very fast. He must surely be the one."

Brand remained very quiet, just looking back into Flack's puzzled eyes. Standing still, looking down at the two squirrels, he was still very puzzled by the expressions of Chart, her awe at his rapid, almost magical, development. Inside, he felt that he was so much stronger than the previous day. Much stronger; so much stronger than that day, so long ago it now seemed, that he had first awakened, finding his mother and father gazing down at him. 'But now they are gone.' Unable to stop that thought entering his head, he felt grieved that his parents were not here to be the ones that witnessed how big and strong he was growing.

Brand began to speak. Flack heard the words that he spoke, about `moving on to Essilon,` but the words seemed distant as he stood there and tried to understand what was happening to him. Something inside him told him that his growth was not natural and, arguing back with himself, he thought, 'But it feels natural to me.'

There was something unusual happening to him of that he was sure, 'Unless young unicorns do grow at a very fast rate compared to squirrels.' He was aware of the pains atop his head, along his flanks and down his legs and, feeling as though these must be a result of his growing, he thought, 'They are simply growing pains that all young creatures must suffer through.'

And then he began wishing that he would continue growing as fast as possible because, once he was fully grown, then he would have a chance to do battle with the humans. He blamed the humans for the loss of his mother and now, for the first time, he was beginning to consider the idea that the humans may have also been responsible for the disappearance of his father.

The two squirrels turned and began walking away and, after a moment spent thinking Flack set off after them, his head to the ground as many thoughts ran through his mind and, when at last he caught up with them, he saw Brand running off toward a nearby tree, racing up into the branches above and setting off ahead of them on their chosen course. There came the rustling of leaves and branches as Brand moved away into the distance though Flack knew that he would never be that far ahead that his voice would not be able to reach back to them with any warnings of danger.

Flack cantered along quite quickly now without putting a great deal of effort his actions. The faster that he ran the more natural it felt to him and then he thought, 'It was not so long ago that my legs were weak and ungainly and it was such a struggle escaping from the humans by the river.' Moving along quite quickly for a little time, he was now beginning to feel strength charging and surging through his body and the tiredness that had accompanied for so long on his wanderings began feeling like a lost and distant thing.

Coming to a halt, he knew that it was unfair to the squirrel that tried to run along the ground beside him. Chart did not complain about his bursts of speed but he realised that it would serve them no purpose to race so far ahead that Brand's warnings would be too late for them if he had already stumbled into some danger. Always, along their journey, Brand had kept himself way ahead of Flack and Chart as he carefully checked the way ahead and, Flack realised, 'My fast pace may be forcing Brand to race hastily forward as he strove to keep ahead of us. I will have to confine my want to run to the pace I maintained yesterday as I do not wish for any harm to come to Brand because he rushes headlong into some danger.'

They progressed rapidly and were steadily moving nearer to their destination, having only once stopped for food and once moving wide around an area instead of going through it. Brand could not detect anything totally negative about that area ahead of them but his insides told him that it was better that that whole area be avoided. And so they had all gone around that area, ears and senses keenly tuned for any sign of lurking danger. It took a long time to move around the area and, when they had, the three were pleased that the area was now left far behind them.

The sun was high in the blue sky and as they continued their trek the three had few encounters with any other beasts. Brand, when returning to them on one occasion, had told Flack that they were making very good progress.

Brand returned to his position high in the trees ahead of them and they continued onward for a while, unconcerned of danger and pleased about their progress when, suddenly they became aware of faint, unusual sounds. Flack and Chart immediately froze, assuming that Brand had done the same as they listened to faint cries which seemed to be of a definite human nature. The sounds appeared to come from behind them and slightly to the left.

After a few moments Brand approached, scuttling suddenly down a nearby tree, nearly scaring Flack and Chart to death.

"Come, we must hurry," said Brand, sounding hurried and a little out of breath. "They don't appear to be very near to us but I don't doubt that if there are one group of humans that way..." he said, pointing in the direction from which the voices travelled, "then the chances are that there could well be others." He gestured all around him.

"How far are we from Essilon?" asked Flack.

"Not far now," replied Chart and, almost straight away, Brand added, "I have seen the shape of Kodis in the sky ahead of us. You cannot see him from here beneath the trees but many times, as I moved through the trees, I had glimpses of him patrolling the sky as he watched for humans."

The small band moved quicker now and Brand did not venture too far ahead of them. Chart had, at Flack's invitation, climbed upon his back and clung to his mane as they moved at a quicker pace, trying to put the humans as far behind them as possible. For as long as they could, they tried to run within the cover of the trees that were around them but, eventually, the trees began to thin out. There were clearings that were to cause great difficulty in that, to go around the clearings, under cover of the trees, would add too much time upon their journey. They had no choice but to race across these clearings hoping that they were not seen by any wandering human bands. Brand would always go across first to be sure that the other side was safe and then, if it were safe, Flack and Chart would follow across, moving as quickly and quietly as they could.

They continued in this fashion for quite a time and they made greater progress because of racing across the clearings as fast as they could. Things were going well for a while and Flack felt confident and excited by the journey that he was upon.

Soon, the light began to fade and, after Brand discovered a thick clump of bushes that would easily conceal Flack he decided that it would be best to settle down for the night rather than carry on and find no cover to protect them for the coming darkness. Flack moved through the bushes and into the heart of them and when he found a piece of ground that was clear enough to allow him to lie down, he did so. He was not tired and wanted to continue on their journey but he trusted to the wisdom, and decisions, of Brand and had, reluctantly, agreed to stop for the night.

Chart and Brand requested Flack to remain as quiet and still as he could while the two of them went to locate some food for them all. It would be safer this way, even if Chart and Brand would have to make a number of journeys back and forth, to obtain a quantity of food that would be sufficient to satisfy the needs of the unicorn.

Flack lay there in an eerie silence, watching slow moving clouds pass slowly overhead. There were only a few gaps in the branches above him that allowed him to see the sky, and he used these gaps to track the passage of the clouds and occupy his thoughts.

He had no sooner lain upon the ground when he had begun to feel the pains in his body returning and, from feeling strong and energetic just a few moments earlier, he now felt weak and a little sick. He concentrated upon the clouds to take his mind away from his pains, some of which were growing stronger and incessant, and tried to lie in a waking sleep, letting everything pass him bye for the moment.

Time passed slowly and painfully and then, a scurrying from his left resulted in the appearance of Brand who just as quickly vanished again after dropping a small fruit to the ground. As Flack stared at the fruit there came a rustling from his right, followed by the appearance of Chart, who also promptly dropped a piece of fruit, said "Hi," and then vanished back into the bushes.

This activity continued for a while and presently there was a mound of fruit lying upon the floor beside Flack. Brand had returned once again and this time stayed with Flack while they awaited the arrival of Chart. They waited a while for Chart and Flack noticed that Brand showed signs of nervousness. He knew that Brand was worried in case Chart had run into any humans, but he said nothing. Neither of them touched the gathered fruit and chose to wait in silence for the return of Chart.

With the sounds of leaves being disturbed close by, they turned their heads and were confronted by the sudden appearance of Chart. She appeared breathless.

"Humans," she stated, trying to get her breath back, "They are in that direction but do not appear to be moving this way. They are settling down for the night." Chart slumped to the ground and then, looking toward Brand, she said, "They scare me. I wish there were none of them here."

"Did you watch them for long?" enquired Brand.

"I nearly ran into them," stated Chart, "I was on the ground when I first heard them. I turned around and they were almost upon me. It was lucky that I was near a tree as I was able to hide behind the trunk and then climb in safety while out of sight of the humans."

"You must be more careful," said Brand, with concern in his voice.

"Don't worry, I will," Chart replied as she picked up a piece of fruit and bit into it.

Brand sat down beside her and picked up something to eat. It was not a fruit that Flack had seen before and it was a lot smaller than any that he had ever eaten before. Brand had to break a hard outer casing to get to what was in the inside. Flack watched the satisfied look on Brand's face as he chewed upon the food. Brand then leant forward and picked up one of the larger pieces of fruit and threw it toward Flack, saying, "These are not the nicest fruit but they were all that we could get for you. The others are too large for us to carry. They should do you well until morning when we can get other food while we are travelling."

Turning his head, Flack sniffed at the offered fruit and then picked it up in his mouth.

"No need to worry with them about fruit stones in the centre. You should find that it is completely soft and you can eat all of it," said Chart.

Flack happily bit into the fruit and found the flavour to be quite good and, even before he had finished it, Chart and Brand had thrown more of these fruit close to him.

In the quietness of night, under a moonlit sky, the three munched away on their food, with Flack making the most noise and feeling a little embarrassed about it. Chart and Brand chuckled at the noises he made and Flack tried to chew quieter, but found that he could not. It was a source of amusement that occupied a space of time until Flack, abruptly, fell asleep.

Stuck in a dream of floating over the area in which he was hiding, Flack found himself peering down, searching the ground and bushes, looking for himself and, just as he found a place that would allow him to see the place where he hid with the two squirrels, he would suddenly be whisked away to another part of the sky. And, at this point, he would have to start his search all over again. The cycle repeated over, and over, until the morning came.

Calling from overhead, birds roused Flack from his deep slumber and immediately he was aware of the terrible pains in his young body. He tried to remain perfectly still as the slightest movement triggered the pains once again, making them even more severe.

A movement against his side caused him to turn his head, for which he received another jolt of pain and there, lying against him, were the two squirrels, fast asleep and dreaming whatever dreams squirrels dreamt about.

Flack remained still, so as not to disturb them while allowing the warmth of the rising sun to slowly warm his body from the cold of the night. The birds sang and Flack remained still, listening to their sounds and enjoying the beautiful songs that they made.

Upon a leaf, just in front of him, Flack saw a movement and looking closer, he saw something green with many legs. Instantly, he knew that it was a caterpillar and, instantly, he wondered how he knew. He watched the caterpillar and listened to the birds until a voice stirred him from his reverie.

"Another sunny morning," declared Brand, as he stretched his arms and legs.

Flack had turned his head when he had heard the voice and noticed that the pain of movement was much receded. He looked at the little squirrel as it stretched its legs and pushed its back against Flack's side.

"Come on, sleepy," said Brand, as he shook the still sleeping form of Chart.

Stirring, Chart tried to roll away from the hand that was shaking her and destroying her slumber, but the arm was persistent. Succumbing to the persistence Chart slowly opened her eyes, her little hands rubbed against her eyes and she let out a long yawn, which froze her momentarily before she let out a long and peaceful sigh while continuing to stretch.

"How are you?" said Brand, looking toward the unicorn.

"I feel well," replied Flack, not wishing to mention the pains that he had suffered.

"We had best be on our way," stated Brand, "I will look for food and water as we move ahead but first wait here while I check upon the humans that Chart came upon last night."

Getting to his feet, Flack was trying to hide the pains that he felt, though they were greatly diminished from the time when he had first awoken. Brand moved toward Chart and gave her a hug and then, placing his hands upon her shoulders, he looked into her eyes for a moment and then gently leant forward and kissed her upon the cheek. Flack looked away, feeling that it was wrong for him to stand and stare at the two of them.

When Flack heard a rustling sound he turned and saw the figure of Brand vanishing amongst the leaves of the bushes that surrounded them.

"He won't be too long," said Chart. "Brand is very quick when it comes to racing through the trees and he will be back soon, hopefully with good news." Chart sat down upon the ground as, looking up toward Flack, she said, "You have grown much again, this last night."

Flack did not reply. He did not feel any bigger but the pains had been more severe this morning and so he naturally assumed that he must have grown and that was why he had the pains when he had first awoken.

The wind rustled through the leaves around them and the sunlight, peaking through the gaps, lit up the ground around them, dancing like raindrops.

The pains were easing a little more and Flack felt that he wanted to run; to run hard and to run fast. He felt as though he could run forever. 'It is strange; waking with the pains and then a little while later feeling the way that I do now. I suppose that it is just something that I will just have to get used to.'

Time went by and Chart stood up and made to move further into the bushes, showing Flack clearly how nervous and agitated she was. Staring silently, he did not want to say anything in case it heightened her fears.

"Brand should have been back by now," Chart said, turning around quickly and whispering toward Flack.

Remaining silent, Flack had no idea of how long Brand should have been out searching the area, 'But,' he had to admit, 'it has been a while since he had run off into the bushes.'

"Wait here," said Chart, as she ran into the bushes and, from the noises that Flack heard, she began to quickly climb high up into the tree but the noise of her passage was soon lost to him, leaving him standing in a silence of whispering leaves, moving gently in a breeze that he could not feel himself. After Chart had been gone for some time, Flack found that he was beginning to feel some of her agitation and nervousness as he listened intently to a silent forest that only echoes the occasional bird call. He realised that he was alone again. He had not known these two squirrels for very long but the absence of them both at the same time began to make Flack fearful, uncertain, and extremely lonely, but he could do nothing but await their return.

Beginning to feel trapped while standing within the bushes, Flack was hoping that it would not be long before either Chart or Brand returned. His mind began to wonder if they would ever return. He had been left alone before and it could be happening all over again. He tried to dismiss these thoughts and think of the few precious 'happy' times that he had shared with his mother and father.

The loneliness settled around him whilst the sun, pushing rays through the undergrowth around him, cast joyous sunbeams around the land.

With no idea of the real passage of time, Flack stood there for what seemed like an eternity until, suddenly, from off to the right and a little behind him he heard the scurrying of something as it raced through the undergrowth, coming in his direction.

Chart broke through the leaves and, panting heavily, said, "I can't find him. I've searched quite a way and tried calling him. Oh, where can he be?" Chart sounded extremely fretful and Flack could not think of what to say to her.

Chart walked around so that she stood in front of Flack and, looking up at him, she said, "I don't know what we should do. We can't stay here and it would be foolish to move in case Brand came back looking for us. Oh, what shall we do?"

Feeling useless, Flack could offer no suggestions because he had no ideas that he could give to Chart. He could go running through the trees and bushes looking for Brand but doing that would surely attract the humans that they were trying so hard to avoid.

Pacing up and down quickly in front of Flack, Chart then moved towards the area of bushes where she had appeared from and Flack could tell she was contemplating going back to search for Brand once again.

Flack's head was turned, studying her nervous movements when there was a frantic flurrying in the bushes ahead of him and, as he turned his head, Brand came charging through. Chart had also heard the noise and, as soon as she saw that it was Brand, she went racing toward him. Throwing her arms around him, nearly knocking him over backwards, Chart was clearly crying and relieved but Brand pushed her back a little, saying, "Shhhh," quietly and forcefully. Chart immediately froze and, as she did so, Flack could hear sounds from somewhere close by.

The sounds were easily identified as that of human voices and, as Flack listened, he could tell that they were drawing nearer. Involuntarily, he moved his position a little and both Chart and Brand looked up at him with a scornful look as his movements caused a rustling of the leaves that were close to him.

Annoyed with his own stupidity, Flack remained completely still and listened intently for the sounds that emanated from not too far from where he stood, with a slight trembling in his legs. 'The voices are coming nearer but they do not seem to be coming directly towards where the three of us are hiding.' Flack caught the scent of the humans, beginning to picture them moving along on some deadly mission and he wished that they would just go away and take their evil desires with them.

The voices grew louder and Flack felt as though the humans must surely be upon them and then, abruptly, it was obvious that the voices were moving away. The voices grew quiet, less distinct, and then were gone.

"What happened?" questioned Chart in a harsh whisper.

"I came across the humans and saw that they were moving towards this area. I could not get to you and be sure that I would not bring their attention to this place, you know the humans... if they had seen me come this way then they would surely have followed me as they played their sport," said Brand.

"I was worried. I kept calling for you," said Chart.

"I know. I heard you, but I could not answer. I was right above the place where the humans where and, if they had of heard me replying, I would only have put myself in danger and you too, if you had come in reply to my call," Brand said, as he moved a little closer to Flack and sat down upon the ground.

"I'm sorry," said Chart.

"It's all right," said Brand, "We had best stay here for a while until we are sure that they have left the area."

Moving closer to Brand, Chart sat beside Brand, putting her arm around him and pulling him closer toward her.

Flack wanted to lie back down upon the ground but was scared in case his movements rustled the leaves around him and so he chose to remain standing.

The sun carried on fighting through the gaps in the leaves above him and he stood there, silent, looking down at the two little creatures that were doing so much to help him. He hoped that they would reach the 'Essilon' place soon for it seemed that their worries about the humans would be left behind them and they would no longer have to hide from human sight all of the time.

' _And, maybe, I will find my mother there in that place called Essilon. I do not know why but I believe that it is the place that I will find out many answers. We have to get there soon.'_

### 15 - Genesis V – Human Being Human

"Stay here," commanded Brand. "I will go and see if the humans have left the area. Do not leave here unless you must because you are in danger."

"We'll stay here until you return, don't worry," replied Chart.

Brand moved off into the bushes, slowly and carefully, without making a single noise. It was obvious that he was being particularly careful just in case the humans were still close by. Flack looked back down at Chart and she looked up at him.

"You have certainly grown much since yesterday," she said.

Looking around at the nearby bushes, Flack was trying to find something that he could compare his height against but could find nothing.

"Do you miss your mother?" Chart suddenly asked.

Flack was taken aback by this and immediately his head was filled with pictures of his mother. At first he saw her face and then, shooting into his mind, there came images of her struggle with the humans in the water. Flack began to get agitated and his hatred for the humans came rushing back at him like an avalanche pulverising a mountainside.

"Easy, Flack, easy," said Chart, as Flack began to stamp his forelegs a little, causing noise that they did not need right now.

Becoming aware that he had started stamping his hoofs and was causing unnecessary noise, he stopped immediately, though his breathing was heavy and fast.

"I'm sorry," said Chart and then, after a pause, "You must miss her terribly."

Looking away from Chart, Flack was trying to ignore the tears that were forming in his eyes. His head came filling with the same words, over, and over again, 'The humans have killed her! She will not be coming back! The humans have killed her! She will not be coming back!'

Stifling an agonising cry of realisation, Flack felt a truth coming running into his heart and mind; a truth that he had tried to ignore. 'My mother will not be waiting for me at Essilon. My mother is gone from me; murdered by the disgusting and evil humans!'

"Easy, Flack," repeated Chart, "You'll do us no good getting into this state."

Flack tried to hold still, trying to quell his rushing anger for he owed it to Chart to do as she had asked. 'I have to calm down, after all it is both she and Brand who were doing their very best to guide me safely. It would be wrong of me to ignore their advice and jeopardise all three of our lives.'

Flack fought to remain still, as he acknowledged that the only reason that he was succeeding was because all of his muscles were held tense, trying to hold back his anger.

Walking closer to him, Chart laid a hand upon his leg just below the knee, and began to rub, trying to soothe and calm him. Feeling a dithering in his legs, Flack fought harder to restrain himself. Slowly winning this battle, he found his trembling eased and receded, though it was only pushed back behind a very fragile dam.

"We'll be on our way soon. You'll be able to relax more then," she said, her voice soothing and relaxing.

From somewhere afar there was the sound of raised and excited human voices, causing him to turn his head immediately. The two listened intently, trying to determine if the sounds were moving towards them as Flack became fearful for their safety and guilty for having caused unnecessary noise.

"We may have to move quickly," Chart whispered, her eyes looking around and trying to determine which direction would be their best route to safety.

Flack turned his head and, as he did so, he felt Chart leap up onto his back and grab hold of his mane. If they had to move quickly then they would race together. Stretching his neck forward and upward, Flack and gave it a small shake trying to clear his head and preparing himself for whatever was about to happen.

"We'll go that way," said Chart, pulling Flack's mane a little to the left. Flack noted the point that Chart indicated and waited, nervously, for the word from Chart that would send him running on his way. The sounds of the humans were still audible but they did not appear to be approaching the area ere the two hid and then, gradually, the sounds began diminishing.

"Brand should be back soon," said Chart, with a nervousness in her voice that Flack could easily detect. 'I know that the last time Brand was away for too long Chart became extremely fearful then. Why am I so helpless to help these creatures when I am so much bigger and stronger them?'

Flack could feel her agitation as she moved nervously upon his back and this agitation flowed into him, making him restless and he wished that she would suddenly scream for him to race forward. Calling for him to charge through the undergrowth and feel the release of the energy that was building up inside of him. No such command came and their silent vigil was suddenly interrupted by a crashing through the bushes on Flack's right-hand side.

Brand surged into view and, after glancing rapidly around for Chart and then spying her sitting atop of the unicorn, he let out a great sigh of relief.

Chart immediately leapt down from the unicorn's back and landed on the floor beside Brand.

"Those humans seem to be looking for something," said Brand, his voice breathless.

"What do you mean?" asked Chart.

"They're not moving in any particular direction. They keep sweeping over the same ground. I wonder what it is that they are looking for," Brand said, his mind turning over ideas in his head.

Flack wondered if it was him that they were searching for. 'Perhaps these were the humans that that had taken my mother! Perhaps they believe that there is another unicorn in this area.' Flack felt nervous, and somewhat more worried by this thought. His attention was suddenly taken away from his thoughts as a large shout by the group of humans, louder than they had shouted before, came sweeping across them.

"Sounds like they may have found what they were searching for," said Brand, "I'm glad that it was not us."

"What should we do now?" asked Chart.

"I think that it is safe to hide here for a little while longer and let them move on when they are ready to," replied Brand, as he sat down upon the ground.

Chart sat down beside him and Flack looked down at the little creatures. He wanted to move on, to run, to race, but he would wait, as the little squirrel suggested. 'I know that it would be foolish to do anything other than what the squirrel's think is right.'

Only one more time did the sound of the humans reach them, and even then they could not be sure that it was the humans, it was a noise that was gone almost as soon as it had started.

Eventually Brand stood up and said, "I'll check once more and I will call you if the way is clear. It is best that we try to remain undercover as much as possible for there may be other bands of humans roaming around." Brand leant towards Chart, giving her a hug and a quick kiss upon her cheek and then, in a sudden blur, he was gone, racing stealthily amongst the undergrowth.

Flack prepared for another long wait and was surprised when Chart suddenly said, "That's it, let's go," as she slowly moved into the undergrowth. Flack followed the little squirrel and soon they were in less dense foliage and it was far easier for him to pick his way amongst the bushes and trees as they made their way in the direction that Brand called to them from.

Flack still wanted to run but could not and soon Chart climbed once more upon his back, giving herself a greater vantage point whilst staying as close to the unicorn as possible.

Continuing to make progress for a great deal of the morning, Flack could feel that they were always heading in one particular direction, except once when Chart indicated where there was more cover to one side, and they moved in that direction, returning to their original course whenever Chart decided that there was adequate cover. Birds sung around the forest and the sun continued to beat down and although Flack was glad to be in the shade, hidden as much as possible from the eyes of humans, at the same time he had a desire to bask in the warmth of the sun, 'I want to run free and wild! I want to never have to worry about the humans ever again. I want to reach Essilon.'

Receiving another call from Brand, Chart altered the direction of their travel a little and they continued moving along their way. Another call came soon after and this brought another slight alteration to their direction. This process continued for a little while and it was obvious that Brand was ensuring that they went around either a natural obstacle or a group of humans.

Suddenly, Chart pulled at Flack's mane, and said, "Shhhh."

Coming to a halt, Flack was a little disturbed that Chart had so dramatically called to him to be quiet. He could feel her movements upon his back as she strained herself higher, looking for something; a sound or a sight, Flack could not be sure.

Flack could hear no sounds from around them, save for the gentle breeze as it went rustling through the leaves nearby. After waiting for what appeared to be an eternity, Chart jumped down to the ground and raced to a nearby tree that she ascended with lightning speed and in silence. Flack remained where he was and made no movements or sounds that would attract any attention. 'I will make sure that you do not worry about me making any unnecessary noise again.'

He heard Chart calling out from high in the canopy above and, straining his own ears, he was listening for a reply but there was none. Chart called again and, again, there was no reply. Flack began to feel nervous, thinking, 'Perhaps Brand is close to humans and that is why he cannot reply.'

Chart called out again, and then once more, only this time her voice was tinged with fear. No replies answered her calls and when she ran, racing down the side of the tree trunk, she almost made Flack startle.

"I cannot get a reply from Brand," she said. "Perhaps he has moved too far ahead of us and cannot hear me. We'll have to move quickly to catch up with him." Chart jumped up onto Flack's back, urging him immediately forward.

Walking forward, he slowly increased his pace, expecting Chart to order him to slow down but she did not and so he continued cantering along whilst trying to remain as quiet as he could by choosing where he walked. It felt good for him to be using his muscles and he was enjoying the freedom that they had to be able to pump that little bit harder. The two progressed and, occasionally, Chart would emit a shrill call and then would wait for a reply from Brand. Chart received no replies in answer to her calls and Flack could feel the tenseness in her voice each time that she called out to Brand and, after a little while, Flack felt the tenseness building up within him as he forgot about the urge to run wild and began to feel the panic that was obviously crawling through Chart.

Suddenly, Chart pulled upon his mane, bringing him to a complete halt and Flack was trying to steady his breathing so that he could listen out for whatever sound it was that had caused Chart to halt their progress.

"Move that way, Flack," said Chart in a hushed voice and Flack, turning his head a little, saw where she indicated and began to move slowly in that direction.

Flack had heard no sound and did his very best to ensure that his walking did not cause any unnecessary noise. There was plenty of grass growing in this area and this helped disguise any progress that he made as there were no rustling leaves or crunching and snapping twigs under-hoof. Pulling upon his mane once again, Chart was requesting Flack to halt once more and, as Chart listened intently to the forest around them, so too did Flack. At first it was indistinct but, gradually, Flack was able to determine human sounds coming from not too far away. The humans were not shouting, merely communicating with each other in those dreadful sounds that Flack despised so much. He could feel Chart upon his back and could just determine that she was shivering. He knew that it was not cold that made her shiver.

Flack knew that Chart was unsure of what to do next and Flack decided that they had to go toward the humans and see if they were the reason for the lack of communication from Brand. Chart tried to stop Flack as he began to move towards the place where they had heard the sounds coming from but it was useless. He was going to confront the humans and he would rely on his speed to get both him and Chart away from the area as quickly as possible should the need arise.

Withholding her complaints, Chart allowed herself to be carried by him as Flack moved forward slowly and deliberately. The human voices were closer now and by the way that Chart was pulling hard upon his mane he knew that Chart was worried and scared about what he was doing. Trying to prepare his muscles and energy so that all of his speed and agility would be available at his command at the moment he required them, Flack continued forward, remaining as alert as he could for any trap being prepared by the humans.

With the leaves and branches brushing past the two of them as they entered a slightly thicker area, they suddenly emerged from the forest and stood on the edge of a large clearing. Sunlight momentarily blinded Flack and, as his eyes were adjusting to the brightness, he caught a sight of movement at the opposite end of the clearing. Flack knew that the movements were made by humans as Chart emitted a low gasp, pulling even harder upon his mane.

The humans, covered in dirt on both their bodies and ragged clothing, were all walking back into the clearing, talking to each other and then, as the shock of what he was seeing hit him, Flack saw that one of the humans was holding something that swayed at his side. Gasping, Flack's mind went reeling as a picture of horror tried to invade his head. 'What is that human carrying?' Staring closer as the human hand, Flack's mind showed him something that he was not expecting to see. 'The human is holding Brand by his back legs!' Brand's body was dangling limply, looking as though there was no life within the little body as it slowly swung in the humans grasp.

Jumping down from Flack's back, Chart landed beside him with the sound of her tears filling the air as she had seen what Flack had also seen. She began trying to walk forward, to go to Brand, and then halting, her mind an obvious mixture of need and confusion. Flack could feel the agony that the little was going through. 'In trying to get to Brand she could be killed herself. Brand may already be dead but what if he is not?'

Chart's movement caught the attention of the humans who, as one, came to a halt and simply stood staring at the unicorn and the little creature on the floor beside him.

Glancing back toward Chart, he could see that she was stomping up and down very erratically. She kept racing forward a little and then stopping, raising herself on her hind legs, smelling the air for a scent of life. Flack hearing her crying could only watch her as she seemed to nibble at something in her front paws, as if she was eating something, but Flack knew that she was not, he knew that she was more distraught than she had ever been before.

Flack had met this situation almost as an outsider looking in, for it seemed to him that this could not be real, but now, anger began to surge through his body as he realised that, 'The evil humans have carried out another killing for whatever reason it is that they deem is reason enough!'

Flack began to shake a little as the anger went rumbling through him and he tried to decide what would be the thing that he should do. 'Should I simply take Chart and the two of them race away from here as fast they could?'

Watching Chart, Flack flinched when, suddenly, she stopped still; totally unmoving except her head jerking very slightly as she strained her senses and sent them in the direction of the human band.

A sound came from the direction of the humans and Flack was stunned to realise that it was Brand's voice calling out to them. There was great pain in his voice and he was telling them that they were to leave him, to forget him; telling them that they had to reach Essilon no matter what the cost. "Chart... you must... get Flack... to Essilon..."

Brand's voice was weak and though the human's could not understand what it was that he was saying Flack could sense nervousness amongst the human's. 'Is it possible that the humans are a little afraid of us?'

His attention was caught by the movement of one of the humans as he raised an arm and pointed in Flack's direction and he was sure that it was the horn atop his head that was taking the humans attention. 'Perhaps my horn is what they are afraid of?'

There was much tension in the air as the two groups studied each other. Brand's voice continued calling to them, though it was obvious that he was growing weaker. Looking down into Chart's eyes, Flack saw in her eyes her love for Brand.

Jolting, the two of them turned and glared across the clearing once again as a scream of pain came tearing from Brand's lips. For no particular reason, the human that was carrying Brand had slapped him against his leg, trying to stun Brand. 'Most probably because of the noises the human's heard as Brand had called to us. They probably think that it will make us run away and they do not want that. The callous...'

Chart froze as she emitted a loud gasp and, all about her, Flack could see and feel her helplessness. 'I see in her the confusion that I too held when the dirty, brutal humans had taken my mother. How helpless I had been. How pathetic I was to have gone away and left her just because she told me so.'

Another scream came from the clearing, followed by the shouts and cheers of the three humans who had possession of Brand and now regarded him as some worthless toy that would 'give them a few laughs before the stupid thing broke.'

Yet another scream came echoing across the clearing and, as it faded, there was a pleading from Brand of, "Flack you must leave and you must take Chart to safety. You two must reach Essilon." Somewhere, deep inside Flack, something snapped. Something broke under the pressure of heartache, through anger, through despair, through a need to never be helpless again. Something now rode through Flack's veins that seemed as proud as an eagle soaring through the air.

Flack, too, gave a scream as, slowly and deliberately, he came to a decision and stepped further into the clearing, clearly showing the humans that he was not going to turn and flee. Making the humans happy because, 'I know that they want the trophy of my horn and, for that, they will try to find a way to capture me.'

The humans stopped, standing staring at him and Flack heard one of the humans talking, as he said, "What have we here then? Why, it's a brave baby unicorn."

Flack understood every word and, particularly, he understood all of the sarcasm which went with the statement. 'I do not know how it is that I can understand the human voices but I am pleased that I can as it may serve me well in the times ahead. Perhaps it is a talent of the unicorns that my mother never had time to explain to me before she was...' Thinking this, Flack knew that, 'Whatever the outcome is to be here in this clearing it will not deter me from getting to Essilon. A destiny draws me there. I know this now and nothing, particularly murdering humans, will stop me!'

The human holding the squirrel stood where he was as the other two began to move toward Flack. Flack stood waiting, a calmness in him as he watched the movements of their bodies waiting for the moment that he would take action. The humans kept moving slowly out into the clearing and Flack knew that they were trying to make no sudden movements in case he should turn and flee from the clearing. 'If you knew what I know,' thought Flack, 'then you would not worry about moving slowly.'

There was blood upon the hands of the humans, clearly visible as they continued approaching and Flack could see that it was still wet as it glistened beneath the rays of the sun. Turning his head, Flack told Chart to remain where she was. "Do not interfere and be prepared to seek shelter back amongst the trees."

Chart was walking backwards and forwards trying to decide what would be the right thing to do and, as Flack turned back to face the humans, he heard Chart's distraught voice as she fearfully cried out, "Oh, Brand!"

Reacting to the pain in the voice of Chart, Flack screamed just two words. He knew that the humans would not understand them but he knew that the squirrels would. Screaming, "Father! Mother!" he charged toward the two nearest humans.

The humans threw stones wildly at his sudden onrush, but they all missed their mark as he ran straight at the nearest human. The human held his hands before him to ward off the attack but the horn raced past those dirty hands and sunk deep into the human flesh. Screaming, the human tried to run backwards instinctively and then, breaking free of the unicorn, he stood and stared at the unicorn for a moment. Rearing onto his hind legs, Flack caused his hoofs to crash into the face of the human and the humans went crashing backwards onto the floor. The human lay on the ground with one hand on his face and the other clutching his bloodied stomach, his eyes rolling in pain and horror. Twisting, screaming and moaning upon the ground, the human glared up at Flack and then, as Flack was about to turn away from the human, he felt something hard and sharp hit the side of his neck. Shocked, he realised that the other human had thrown a stone and to give him a chance to see where the human was and avoid another stone, he bolted away to his right and went thundering toward the tree line of the clearing.

Approaching the tree line at a great speed, Flack tried to slow his progress as he turned to the left and then began picking up speed once again as he went charging around the edge of the clearing with the occasional branches scratching along his right side.

Turning his gaze to the left, saw the nearer of the two humans who was desperately seeking stones within the grass around him but, by the panicky way in which his hands rubbed their way through the grass, Flack knew that he had not located anything that the human regarded as a worthy weapon.

Registering the fact that Flack was coming around in an arc and that his face was held upon him, the human stood up quickly and began to back away. Suddenly, the human turned and fled toward the nearest trees, his ragged cloths seeming to trail behind him. Emitting a scream, the human ran into the trees, tripping over and stumbling to the floor he then quickly got to his feet and began racing forward again and was soon quickly lost amongst the undergrowth.

Forcing himself to come to a halt amidst a thundering torrent of hard hitting hoofs, Flack's mind was a cloud of pure, bitter revenge intent on finding something to take out his frustrations of all the times that he had been so useless. Standing still in the middle of the clearing, he shook his head, trying to clear some of the anger that ran through his veins. 'So many times I have been so useless and it is I that survived while others, who were close to me, had not.' Still trying to calm his anger, Flack could not help but still want something to take out his revenge upon and then he recalled the third human, the one who had stayed behind when the others had advanced; the very one who had carried Brand by his back legs, the one who had tried to beat Brand unconscious for the noises that he made.

Turning his head slowly to the right, he looked directly toward the third human who was froze in obvious fear, crouching low to the ground and trying to look as helpless as possible.

Without removing his gaze from the human, Flack turned his body to face him, his neck held low with his bloody horn clearly held on display. Standing completely still, Flack could not stop the nervous tic that flowed across his body, making his front left hoof stamp the ground hard and fast.

Seeing the movement of Flack's leg, and reacting to it, the human, obviously believing himself to be in danger, began to slowly stand holding both his arms out wide, showing Flack his palms, making slow pushing down gestures. 'Is he trying to get me to calm down?' Flack asked himself, and then, 'I am not full of anger, human. I just want... revenge!'

In a blinding rage, Flack bolted forward, gathering speed, watching the human begin to back away and then suddenly turn and begin to race for the nearby tree line just as his companion did.

With his arms flailing through the air, Flack could see that the human was racing faster and faster towards the trees and that he would get there in a few moments. Bolstering his speed, Flack increased the pounding of his legs upon the ground and, just as the human entered the tree line, Flack felt his horn plunge into the back of the human and then, raising his head, he tried to ground to a halt, fearful that he could trip over a fallen branch or tree root.

His resulting actions had the effect of launching the human from his horn and up into the air were, as Flack came to a standstill, the human fell across a low hanging branch and, after emitting a gasp, the human just hung limply.

Glaring at the evil body ahead of him, Flack stared at the blood that trickled down the arms and legs and began to drip to the ground. The human made no sounds and, from the upside down face that faced toward him, Flack saw no movement from the eyes that were open wide and staring at nothing.

Everything had happened so quickly and it was almost a blur and then, recollecting that he had left Chart alone at the other side of the clearing, he knew that he had to return to her. With the anger draining from him, he found that his whole body was beginning to shake as waves of tension flowed from his being. Without the humans to confront him, he began quickly calming down. Moving back out into the clearing, feeling the bright sun wash over him, he saw the shape of the first human lying in the grass a little way ahead of him and he began walking towards it.

Stopping beside the evil shape, he closed his eyes and shook his head a little, trying to breathe long and slow. He was disturbed by a moaning coming from beside him and he looked down at the first human he had attacked, who was now lying face down on the grass with his hands pulling the grass as he dragged himself toward the cover of nearby trees.

Feeling movement nearby, he turned his head and saw Chart racing across the clearing to where the body of Brand lay upon the grass, discarded by the last human who had fled towards the safety of the tree line, 'The one who now hangs limply from a branch and who will never hurt another creature ever again.'

Turning and beginning to run, Flack raced across the clearing, chasing Chart to the place where the human had simply dropped Brand. Flack arrived just as Chart bent down and placed her head beside Brand's, her hand upon his chest.

"Brand is alive," she gasped, "But he is very weak." Chart began to openly cry new tears, which Flack could tell were not the same kind of tears that she had been crying only moments before.

Gasping as Brand opened his eyes, Chart pulled his head slowly toward her chest and held him there, saying, "Brand, Brand, oh, my darling Brand, I love you so much – I have from the minute you told me to pick a letter.... and I still got butterflies when you kissed me like the first time you did..."

Seeing that even though he was in great pain, Brand looked a little embarrassed that Flack was seeing this, he began to speak slowly in another subject.

"The humans had seen me... and started throwing stones at me... One that would have missed me... bounced back from a branch... and caught me on the side of the head... I fell from the tree... The next thing I knew was that I... I was upside down and was being beaten... with a stick. I eventually lost consciousness..."

Chart was continuing to cry while, between sobs, she was thanking Flack. Flack felt embarrassed by what had been done. 'What came over me? What did I do? Am I that kind of creature that I can easily take the life of another?' Feeling disgusted by his actions he turned away and began slowly walking, leaving Chart and Brand alone for a minute whilst they prepared to get ready to start walking again. 'I can only hope that Brand will be recovered soon enough that we can get him under cover of the forest. And, if any humans come back while we are still in the clearing...'

He walked back towards the first human he had charged upon in the clearing. When he arrived there he was not surprised to find that the human was dead. Now that the human had rolled over onto his back, Flack could see that his face a mask of horror.

"It suits you, human," he whispered.

Flack thought, 'How much nicer life and living would be without the humans around to spoil everything.'

Chart began calling him, breaking him from his thoughts that were filled with anger and hatred for the humans, and so he started walking away from the human and back towards where the two squirrels waiting.

Brand was, by now, upon his feet. His once beautiful fur was now matted and choked with drying blood and, feeling a sadness sweeping over him, Flack ignored the injuries to his little friend as best he could.

"I feel a little better now..." Brand said, acknowledging the worried look upon Flacks face and trying to walk a little.

Chart tried to interrupt, "We cannot move yet..." obviously to voice her opinion to the fact that Brand was not fit to walk and that they should rest.

Brand waved her quiet, shaking his head, and her argument ceased.

"Young Flack," Brand began, looking up at him as he approached, "We must proceed with our journey. If the human who fled into the trees gets back to his companions then there will be more of them looking for us. They will not take it lightly that some 'wild beast' has killed one of their own."

He paused to allow Flack the opportunity to speak against his decision, but Flack remained silent. He was placing himself in the hands of Brand entirely. 'I trust all your actions, for I know that you will only do what is right and what must be done.'

Eventually Brand continued, saying, "I know I shall slow us down a little but I shall do my very best to keep up a reasonable speed. If, however, I am not able to keep up with you... if I slow you down too much, I must insist that you, Chart, go on ahead with young Flack. You must ensure he reaches Essilon..."

At this point, Chart tried to interrupt once more but again Brand waved aside her complaint. "No arguments," he stated firmly, though his voice was weak.

Chart was obviously hurt by Brand's abruptness, but she also knew that what he said was just and right. "Flack has to get to Essilon, no matter the cost..." she whispered low.

"Come," said Brand, "The quicker we are away from this place, the better," and then, making a brave effort of walking forward, Flack could see that every step that he took was carved out in a pitiful pain.

Staring in admiration at the little male squirrel, he could see the determination in him as though he was badly hurt he still insisted on moving on. 'I wonder what drives him on? Why is it so important that I get to Essilon? I thought that it was just a place where all the beasts were gathering, hidden away in safety from the evil humans.'

Still watching Brand, he saw Chart stand close beside him, placing one arm around his waist, trying to be gentle and yet making sure that she would support his weight as much as possible when they began to move. Limping awkwardly and suppressing a moan of pain, Brand dragged another leg forward and began walking slowly across the clearing, heading towards where the tree line was closest to them so that they could get under cover as quickly as possible. Flack followed, immediately behind the two, watching them slowly shuffle across what would have been very easy terrain for them to cross. The dry blood on Brand's fur ruined his one beautiful proud coat and, though he would hate it to be there, Flack knew that it was to remain because he was just too weak to deal with it at this time. In himself, he knew that he would be glad to reach this place, this sanctuary; more for the sake of Brand and Chart than himself.

The journey proceeded without incident until eventually night time began to descend upon them. The sky, at the horizon, had become a sea of pale yellow that, as the eye looked higher, became darker until there seemed to be many whirlpools of colour that camouflaged them within the blackness of the star pitted sky.

Their journey was now a painful excursion into near stillness, for Brand was suffering very much now. Walking patiently behind them, he kept himself moving at an agonising crawl in his effort to remain at the rear of the group, though his eyes would keep searching ahead as he sought out any danger that could surprise them. He wished he could lead but he had no idea of the directions he would have to take and, besides, he was bound to miss danger signs that the squirrels would see very easily. 'No, it is better that we travel as a group and, should we come across any humans then it will be up to me to deal with them and trust that the squirrels can make good their escape.'

Another difficulty Flack experienced in the walking was that he also intensely desired to run; to run wild and fleeting, to chase the swift breezes that had been sailing silently across him as they walked. He wished to do this running for, once again, he could feel the muscles in his body being pumped full of some violent energy which needed, demanded, to be released by some form of frenzied, physical action. But he remained patient. 'There will be time enough. For now, I must be patient. The safety of Brand and Chart is the priority for us all now.'

Presently, rest was called upon, but Flack was surprised that it was not Brand who called for the rest. It was Chart who had demanded a rest and Brand, too feeble and weak to argue against this decision, almost collapsed, grateful for the rest. Chart immediately began guiding him into some thick, nearby bushes. The bushes would be their shelter for the night for they were of a size that could easily conceal the shape of a unicorn from the eyes of nearby humans.

The three huddled close together for warmth but, although Flack lay still upon the ground, his ears were searching the night for sounds that they did not want to hear. Now that the three had stopped, it was far easier to feel how cold it really was, and it was very cold indeed. Lying to one side, with Brand lying at the base of the unicorn's neck, Flack knew he would try not to move his neck at all through the night in case it added to the pains that tortured Brand. Brand was placed there by Chart and then she herself had lain against Brand to offer him more warmth. Her hands slowly rubbed the body of the male squirrel and, occasionally, she would take a small clump of dry blood and pull it gently from the matted coat of Brand. Sometimes, Brand would wince in pain and Chart would have to stop but, after a little while Brand fell into a deep sleep and Chart began to lick her paws and rub them against his fur, slowly teasing the blood from his fur coat. Flack had slowly brought his head around behind Chart so that the two squirrels were almost engulfed within a full circle of heat.

Flack could see that Chart was finding it very hard to sleep herself. She was forever staring into Brand's face, looking at the cut upon his forehead made by the vile 'stone-throwing' humans. She repeatedly licked the wound and gently spoke to Brand in his sleep, telling him how much she loved him, how all would be well once they had rested, but fatigue eventually began to reach deep into her own body and she too fell into a deep sleep of her own.

Flack lay listening to the steady breeze for quite some time, the breathing of his two companions and, occasionally, some faraway scream of some beasts that were awake at this time of night. On one occasion, a great owl had landed and, from its high vantage point, had spotted the three. Flack looked up as he heard its flapping wings seeking purchase on some high located branch. They had seen each other and studied each other silently, and then the owl vanished into the night with a great clap of enormous wings. Flack listened to its fading wing beats and then, quite suddenly, he too was asleep.

Although Flack slept deeply, the cold chill of the night haunted his every breath, as if infesting his lungs and making them almost seem to freeze in some evil way. He had dreams; and his dreams became filled with scenes of cold, cruel horror. The dreams haunted him all through the dark of night and when, at last, the morning arrived he could recollect one part of his many dreams. It retained itself vividly within his first waking and it brought the chill of the night into his heart of morning.

His dream was a misty scene of a battle between the humans and the animals that roamed this land. It was a grotesque, grizzly dream that showed the sneering humans standing over the many bodies of creatures that they had slaughtered. The human's mouths ran with blood and their hands dripped blood.

These scenes disturbed Flack as he saw the scenes as representing a slaughter of innocents. This disturbing picture was telling of a triumph by the humans and it was a triumph that scared Flacks sleeping heart to the core.

Awakening and recalling the dream, he feared that it was a scene waiting to be played out. He felt that it would surely come to pass and that these pictures that he had witnessed within his dreams, of the dead and dying animals and the triumphant evil humans, was a picture of what was to come. Fear began to seep into his awakening consciousness and he lay silently pondering if he was witnessing a scene that would happen when he reached Essilon. 'Was I amongst the dead beasts that I saw in my dreams?'

He remained unmoving, feeling a cold sweat bringing a deeper chill to his whole body, feeling the pains along his flanks as they began to bite into his consciousness. Trying to ignore the pains and resist the need to change his posture, he fought to remain still for as long as he could as he did not wish to wake either Chart or, particularly Brand as he would need as much rest as possible before they began the days trek.

The pains continued increasing in Flack and he found himself tensing his body as a way to try to combat the pain, wanting his concentration to be focused of those actions while trying to blot out the pain. Eventually, he knew that he would have to move his body a little because the pains were now so intense and were bringing tears into his eyes. Slowly raising his head as gently as he could, he began to peer around at the surroundings of their night shelter. The branches were alive with the sounds of fresh morning breezes parading slowly around the beautiful, multi-coloured leaves and he stared at the gently moving leaves for a moment before choosing one that he would concentrate upon. He watched the leaf near the end of a long slender branch as it fluttered in the wind for a little time before suddenly becoming still and unmoving. When it next began to flutter in the breeze, Flack tried to detect the breeze that made it dance but he could not feel it touching his body. 'The breeze is so delicate...'

The pains began to invade his thoughts once again and so, as a way of ignoring them, Flack kept his mind intent on listening out for the slightest human made sound that might make its way through the forest. After a little while of hearing nothing except the occasional birdsong in the distance his attention was taken by the movement of an insect upon a nearby leaf. It was a winged creature that would suddenly fly into the air and then on the same leaf before remaining motionless for a few moments and then it would suddenly leap into the air, appearing to fly in crazy erratic circles before landing back upon the same leaf. Trying to work out what the insect was doing entertained Flack's mind for quite some time and he even forgot about the pains in his body eventually.

His eyes remained trying to keep the insect in focus as it carried out its acrobatic flights and he became hypnotised by watching its antics, his dreams in the night had made him uneasy and he was still much disturbed by these visions in his dreams but, now that he was so intent on the insect, he could forget those dreams, and forget his pains, as he took residence within a small world that consisted only of a leaf and a single, solitary flying insect.

With the insect becoming the only world he knew, he was a while coming to terms with the fact that a voice was intruding upon this special place where he could forget all of the terrible memories and pains that fought constantly for his attention. Acknowledging the presence of the voice, he began listening to the words and realised that he was not being addressed directly. The voice seemed to be just talking to someone else and he was listening on a private conversation and he tried to ignore the words. It was a moment or two before Flack realised that Chart was the one doing the speaking. He quickly tried to rush a word of acknowledgement but nothing came out. He never attempted to repeat that which he had tried to speak and simply looked down at the squirrel, not hearing the words she spoke, while his mind played back scenes from the recent days, starting with their first meeting only a few days before. How, in fact, the little male squirrel had saved his life by getting him away from the much loved fruit that had lain upon the floor beneath the trees where they had first met. And how, shortly after he had moved away, the fallen fruit had been greedily attacked by two huge bears; bears who probably would have been very upset by the presence of the small unicorn. 'It seems strange the way that the bears fought and yet, when all animals reach Essilon, the land was supposed to be a place of peace where all creatures would exist in harmony.'

Chart was continuing to speak and Flack slowly allowed her words to register in his mind as he heard her say, "... and we always promised that whoever died first would have a burial surrounded by Chukka nuts. We always promised each other we would give the other at least five or seven if we could manage to get them because, as you know, the Chukka tree protects its nuts very well."

Chart paused for a breath and Flack realised that there had been an uncomfortable trembling in her voice.

Chart continued speaking and, with his eyes fixed on her, Flack listened to her saying, "Normally, you can only get hold of the fallen ones... and you could search for days to find only one. That is why they are such a symbol to our people... and now Brand's gone I'll never have time to find him the fruit that I promised him."

Suddenly bursting into tears, Chart's body was wracked in violent shaking as she knelt down and pulled Brand towards her, rocking him gently back and forth.

Flack could only silently look on as his own silent tears began their journey of sadness from his own dark eyes. It seemed an eternity that he lay there, looking upon the small body and trying to find adequate words.

Chart had been cleaning all of the dried blood from Brand's forehead and hands. It was a task that she had carried out to try to keep herself occupied and to give her something meaningful to do. It was a task carried out with tenderness and with undying love.

Flack stared at the body of Brand and refused to believe that the small body was now a shell, empty of life, stripped of imagination, torn away from the one he loved. Flack believed that any moment now, Brand would suddenly open his eyes and tell them that they had best be moving on towards Essilon but, from somewhere inside his heart, Flack knew that was not going to happen. 'I wish that Brand would just awake and give us his instructions but... I know that he will not.'

A gentle, but clear, sobbing took Flack's attention. It was Chart and her louder cries of pain and sorrow drove home the fact that Brand was dead, slain by the humans for no reason at all. 'His death did not benefit their survival in any way, so why did they do it?'

Flack gently raised himself to his feet, allowing Chart to support Brand's body. Chart never once seemed to notice Flack's movement and continued rocking back and forth whilst she cradled the lover who was gone from her forever.

Staring down numbly at the body of Brand, Flack knew he did not like this death event and the grief it caused for all concerned. He did not care about the death of the human who had caused Brand's fatal wound but to see the death of one who was so dearly loved was far too distressing. Then Flack knew something else with a dread and a certainty. 'My mother and father must also be dead. It will do me no good believing that they will be waiting for me in Essilon. They are gone! No! No! No!' He had tried to deny this to himself many, many times but now he knew that he could no longer continue denying these facts.

Tears pooled in his eyes, blurring his vision, before they started to run down his face. He made no sounds and just continued looking at the body of Brand while thinking of his mother and father. 'Why? Why? Why?'

Sounds from Chart took his attention and, looking at her, he could see her crying unashamedly, crying over the death of Brand. Feeling awkward, he could not think of anything to say and began to feel that he was directly responsible for what had happened to Brand. 'If I had never met them then Brand would still have been alive.'

He did not want to say anything, as rising from his memories a picture appeared of Brand and, in his mind's eye, he saw Brand floating through the sky, rising up to meet his own mother and father. This picture in his head hurt deeply and fresh tears began to crawl around the edges of his eyes, until they had robbed him of all clear vision and now there were no trees, no flowers, no sky, and no ground. Flack could only see a jumble of swirling, dripping colours masquerading as life. He continued standing there, awkwardly, waiting for Chart to say something, even if only to blame him for the loss of Brand's life. The silence from no words was a heavy cloak draped around pain-filled shoulders.

Chart, remained saying no words and continued crying, sitting beside the body of Brand and, after a little while, she drew his still form closer and upwards, trying to rest Brands head upon her shoulder. Continuing to look through teary eyes Flack could not help but gasp as he saw Brand's arm hanging limply at his sides. 'He is truly gone! Brand will never be coming back!'

Chart continued to cry because that was all that she could at this time, slowly rocking back and forth she cradled the body of her beloved, her companion, and her best friend. Feeling more and more uncomfortable, Flack could only stand in silence and wait for whatever would be the end of this moment.

A movement made by Chart caused Flack to watch her intently as she gently leant Brand back down to the ground and then, leaning over him, she gave him a gentle kiss upon his forehead. Chart then sat up, kneeling and facing Brand, and said, directing her words to Flack as well as the silent form of Brand. "We always promised that whoever died first would have a burial mound made entirely of Chukka nuts. We always promised each other we would give the other at least five or seven if we could manage to find them. You know the Chukka tree protects its nuts very well." A pause for breath. "Normally you can only get hold of the fallen ones... and you could search for days to find only one. That is why they are such a symbol to our people... and now Brand's gone I'll never have time to find him the fruit that I promised him." She burst into tears... and Flack could only stand there silently as his own silent tears began their journey of sadness from his own dark eyes.

Chart continued speaking, her voice quieter, though Flack could still easily hear her. "I will miss you, Brand. We have journeyed so far together that it was always impossible for me to imagine a time when we would be apart. Know that you take a part of me with, a part that I want you to hold onto until we meet again. I miss you, my love, and I will miss for all the time that I remain in this world.

I know that, somewhere, you can hear me. So listen to me Brand, I will never, ever, ever stop loving you and I will never have a greater love than the one I have for you.

Goodbye, my best friend, my lover, my comforter. I will see you soon; I promise that you will not be alone for long. Goodbye, I love you; I will always love you, now and forever..."

Chart began to cry, leaning forward and holding the silent body of her lover, rocking back and forwards while she caressed his head, rocking him as if to a peaceful sleep.

Flack felt that the forest seemed quiet, far too quiet. His heart was beating deep and hard beats, which seemed to reverberate through his body. The singing of the birds in the trees had hushed and Flack did not like the total silence that seemed to surround him. At once, Flack thought about humans. 'Maybe they were near?' And then, from deep down inside of him, he heard a voice speak. It was a harsh, angry voice and it was a voice that he had never heard before. The voice said, 'Let them come. Just let them come!'

Suddenly, he heard Chart's small voice speaking to him once again.

"I will have to find at least one Chukka nut. You don't mind do you?" she said, turning to face Flack and awaiting his answer.

"No, of course not," replied Flack, making sure that she heard his reply this time. "Where do we find this Chukka nut?" he asked her.

"Oh, we could find it anywhere. All around us you're bound to find at least one Chukka nut tree." Her voice was strained as she sought to control the emotion within her. "They're the ones with yellow looking, hairy leaves that have the spiny red flowers hidden deep amongst the yellows. The Chukka nuts are held deep within the red flower. It isn't possible to get to them." Her voice began to slow down as she once again turned to gaze upon the body of her dear Brand.

"They are protected by the yellow hairs, which are poisonous and the red flower itself has a fatal sting, triggered off by anything touching the yellow hairs. Birds do not even land in this tree. Only the insects can climb amongst the foliage..." Her voice trailed off.

It was as if she neither heard nor cared what she spoke, she simply said it automatically. Her voice spoke but the mind, as the heart, was far more interested in something else; the loss of Brand.

"You remain with Brand. How will I know the Chukka nut?" questioned Flack, annoyed with himself for having to be asking so many questions, feeling as though he was intruding upon her grief unnecessarily.

"They're very dark brown with small red spots along the seam," she almost whispered this as she spoke and Flack was glad to have heard her the first time, he did not want to have asked her to repeat herself.

"I won't be long... I promise," he said, but Chart never replied, though Flack was sure that she had heard him.

He almost said to her, 'don't go away,' but he managed to check himself and, instead of carrying on with the embarrassing talking, he turned and began walking away, searching out the colour of any yellow leafed tree, hoping that it would be one that would hold the Chukka nuts that he had promised to find.

Feeling the relief of tension flooding from his body as he moved away to leave Chart to spend her grief alone. 'I feel I am intruding. I should not be here. And Brand, I promise you this, I will get Chart safely to Essilon for you.'

Seeing a hint of yellow through branches of nearby trees, he had made his way toward the trees but was disappointed when he reached them. The leaves were yellow but they were long and thin and he could see no red flowers.

Searching the ground around the trees, peering hard into the longer grass and undergrowth, he keep searching for any signs of something round, brown, and with small red dots along a seam. Feeling despondent, he gave up his searching and then, choosing a direction he began walking that way, his eyes scanning the tree branches ahead of him

The thought of returning to Chart without at least one of the nuts that were treasured so much by Chart and Brand, brought misery to his being. Looking at the ground ahead of him he saw nothing that offered him hope. Feeling sad, believing that he would not be able to find a Chukka nut, he picked another path ahead of him and began wandering slowly, watching the branches ahead of him and lancing at the ground close by him.

' _After all that Brand has done for me it is the least I can do for him. I must find a Chukka nut, I must! I cannot do the impossible! If I cannot find them then I cannot take them back!'_

Feeling agitated and anxious, he glanced back in the direction from which he had come, getting his bearing, and then began running forward, racing between the trees and always looking for the tell-tale signs of yellow leaves in the canopy overhead.

Knowing that he should not wander too far away he could not help but expand his search and began sweeping to his left in an arc, trying to maintain a bearing of the approximate direction where Chart was awaiting his return.

A sound came carried amongst the trees, urgent and emotional it was one as he stopped his running and listened to the area around him.

'Humans?' he wondered, immediately becoming fearful for Chart and, as he turned and prepared to head back, without the Chukka nut, he heard the sound again.

A high pitch scream came from the direction from which he had travelled and it was Chart's voice that he heard, recognising it clearly this time. He froze in a statuesque shock as one word screamed across his mind, 'Humans!'

Jerking his neck back, Flack stamped his forelegs and then, turning his body around, he bolted off in the direction of Chart's scream. Trees, bushes, and shrubs flew past him and his mind, boiling in anger, suddenly informed him that he had lost his bearings. Coming to a halt so suddenly, it was as if he had run into an invisible barrier. Stomping his forelegs into the ground, feeling the need to be running urgently, he began looking around the close knit community of tree trunks that surrounded him, looking for anything that would confirm which way he should be heading. 'There! That branch hanging low, almost ripped from the trunk of the tree, I passed that when I was searching!' Knowing the direction that he should be heading in, he spurted forward, searching for the easiest route amongst the trees ahead of him.

Crashing through the undergrowth, his mind could now ignore the worry of going in the wrong direction and so it began to seethe and boil with hatred for the humans once again.

Solid brown giants lined his path and, when another call made itself heard above the sound of his thundering passage through the forest, he increased his speed, hoping that his running skills would be good enough to ensure that he could avoid any sudden obstacles that appeared in his path.

A change in the light among the trees ahead of him told him that he was nearing the place where he had left Chart. The sun was quite easily able to penetrate a thin canopy that they had slept under.

The trees trunks ahead of him seemed as if to suddenly stop and he knew that he was about to plunge into a more open area. Realising that he might go crashing into Chart, or even a human trap, he pounded his forelegs deep into the soil, driving them down as if they would anchor him, whilst pains shot through his body as it tried to react to the sudden decrease in speed while fighting against the momentum that he had built up in his mad dash to get here as quickly as possible. Soil and grass were thrown up from the ground as his speed began decreasing and then, bursting through into a small clearing, a maddening scene of horror erupted in his eyes. His body coming to a complete halt, his eyes went wide as he turned his head to the right, his mind struggling to acknowledge the horror in front of him.

A human was bending over the now still and bloodied body of Chart. Flack could not understand it. 'Why is all this happening? All these killings! What have Chart or Brand done to deserve any of this?' he asked himself again, noticing that the human had not over reacted to his sudden arrival. 'Is he remaining calm because he does not want to frighten me away, or is he so sure that I will not come any closer toward him?'

Flack realised that the human was now looking straight back at him; the face was dull though the eyes glared briefly at Flack and then, abruptly, the human lost his startled look, turned away and continued upon his business.

His business was trying to tie some kind of rope, or vine, around Chart's hind legs.

' _Obviously, this human feels he has nothing to fear from this unicorn because his movements suggested that he does not care about me being here. Obviously, the human is wrong!'_

At first, Flack had just stood there stunned, with his anger rising fast throughout the muscles of his young body.

The human turned again and, seeing the Flack still standing there, he picked up a small object and threw it toward Flack. It was not really aimed at him and, as it bounced beside him with very little force, Flack knew that the human was simply trying to scare him away. 'Obviously, it had been designed to make me flee. Obviously, the human is wrong about what he thinks I will do!'

Then, completely ignoring Flack's presence, the human began to pull the vine tighter around Chart's legs and, as he did so, Chart uttered a small, painful, moan.

Somewhere in Flack, the rising anger burst from behind a timid dam and beginning to run forward whilst turning his body to the right, he charged toward the human.

This time the human reacted to Flack, appearing startled by the noise and movement he turned his crouched body to face Flack.

Flack, seeing the human was holding the limp and bloodied body of Chart in one hand, began turning away to the left, watching for the nearby trees as he peeled away from the human. 'Chart is still alive! I cannot risk her further injury or suffering!'

Slowly standing up, the human kept his body turned toward Flack as he began to back away, moving himself closer toward the edge of the small clearing, hoping to get himself between the trees and make it extremely difficult for Flack to be able to threaten him.

Now standing and facing the human, his muscles shaking and his breathing laboured, Flack saw a look in the human's eyes suggesting that he did not understand why the unicorn was behaving in an aggressive manner.

Flack was lost about what action to take. 'I cannot leave Chart to the human, nor can I risk attacking the human and injuring Chart.'

Glancing around the open area, he saw the body of Brand laying still, a few body lengths to the right of the human; his form an effortless witness to the gruesome scene occurring in front of him.

A quick movement caught Flack's eye as, from behind a bush, there came a shout and then a large stone rolled out to stop close to where the human now stood.

Moving his gaze from the stone, he glared directly at the human, looking at the human's tattered rags that adorned its evil body as it began slowly stooping toward the ground, preparing to retrieve the stone. A twisted dirty hand reached for the stone and Flack could see that a stone of that size could cause him a lot of pain and possible serious injury if he were to be struck by it. Not daring to flinch, he remained standing, breathing slowly while continuing staring at the human.

'If I were to make a sudden charge toward the human then it may drop Chart and leave the area or,' he thought bitterly, 'the human might run into the trees and take Chart with him and I will never be able to try and get her away from the human!'

Reaching out further to grasp the stone, the human was moving slowly and Flack knew that the human would soon be armed with his weapon. With his mind in flux, Flack did not know what action he could or should take.

Then, as if an answer to a prayer, the human did something that came as a total surprise and which allowed Flack to take action; the human placed Chart's body upon the ground. 'That is a big mistake for you human,' thought Flack, beginning to charge toward the human, his head low and his eyes keeping in mind exactly where the human had put Chart upon the ground. It was the chance to rescue Chart from the human that he had been hoping for.

Tearing up the damp grass and soil at his feet, Flack rapidly increased his speed, ensuring that the human would not have time to reclaim his prize and attempt to flee into the denser part of the forest.

The human decided to forsake picking up the stone as he saw the imminent threat from Flack, and he could not help but try to stand and stagger a little backwards, trying to increase the gap between the two on them.

Whether it was anger or sorrow there was something that caused Flack to lose concentration, and he stumbled. He did not topple over completely but merely slewed to one side and bounced against the human in no more than a savage blow. The crash was enough to send the human careering backwards as Flack successfully managed to regain his balance. Turning around, and preparing to charge again, Flack was concerned that he had lost his bearing on were Chart lay in the grass.

He paused for a moment and, in that moment, another human, the hidden one, suddenly ran from behind nearby bushes and made their way quickly toward the fallen human.

Watching the scene, Flack saw that this new arrival was a female human and she appeared to be very concerned about the fallen human as she raced to his side and assisted him into a sitting position.

Snorting loud and shaking his head, Flack hesitated in his attack. The humans had ceased all hostile actions for the moment and Flack was happy not to continue the attack because he did not want to race toward them knowing that Chart was lying somewhere on the ground nearby.

Stomping his forelegs agitatedly upon the ground, he saw the human female's sudden response as she quickly turned her head in his direction, obviously fearful that the unicorn was preparing to attack once again. Seeing Flack remaining where he was she turned back toward the human who, clutching his stomach and side, was pushing away from the ground and trying to stand up.

The male human was in pain, emphasised heavily when he clutched at his shoulder and Flack could see the wince he gave as pain shot through his body. The female continued supporting the injured human, helping him get to his feet. The male human's eyes never left Flack as he struggled to get his balance.

'I can see the evil and hatred in your eyes, human,' thought Flack, 'and you should be glad that I stumbled in my attack. You have got off lightly. Now go, so that I may tend to Chart!'

The female human steadied the male human and, once she was sure that he was able to hold himself upright, she began stooping forward, reaching toward her left, trying to pick something up from the ground.

'No!' Flack's mind screamed as he realised that she was trying to get hold of the bound figure of Chart. Flack immediately began to stomp his forelegs upon the ground, making the human female stop in her action of reaching toward the ground. Glancing at Flack, she slowly withdrew her arm and, as she did so, Flack stopped pounding his forelegs. Seeing what was happening the human female suddenly pulled her arm back quickly, stood up and then turned, placing an arm around the human male, supporting him.

Glancing over her shoulder as she began to lead the male human toward the protection of the nearby trees, Flack felt as though she seemed puzzled as to why a not yet fully grown beast could cause her so much harm. Flack could tell that she dared not risk another attack from what she regarded as a savage beast.

Supporting her injured companion, the human female began to move quickly, almost dragging the human male with her.

Continuing to watch, Flack was pleased to see the evil humans enter into a thicker area of forest and, purely because he did not trust them, he trotted over to the place where they had been swallowed up by the undergrowth. 'I cannot assume that they are leaving just because I cannot see them.'

Reaching the place where he had last seen the humans, Flack moved a little into thicker bushes, his muscles tensed, preparing him to run at the slightest sign of danger. His face pushed through the branches slowly, as raising his neck he peered into the quiet greenery around him. Everywhere was quiet. 'Where have the humans gone?'

CRACK!

Hearing the sound of branches being broken, he turned his head towards the right, peering ahead through the leaves and flowering blossoms and there, moving among large tree trunks to his right, he caught a glimpse of the female human supporting the male human as they continued moving away from the area. Listening closely, he heard complaints of pain from what he believed to be the male. 'Perhaps the human received broken bones when I collided with him,' thought Flack, 'I hope so, and I also hope that there are no other humans nearby. Maybe I should follow them to make sure... No, I must return to Chart quickly!'

Moving backwards, Flack began to move back into the open clearing but something made him halt. 'I cannot trust humans.'

Noises came from the forest, noises that were not natural. It was not the sound of human voices and only lasted for a few moments. Feeling slightly apprehensive, Flack moved back into the bushes, trying to find the place where he had been seen the humans moving into the distance. After jostling backwards and forwards a little he eventually reclaimed his vantage point. It took a few moments but, once he saw the gully that ran through the trees ahead of him, he followed it to where he believed he last saw the humans. Then, there was a movement and, after staring hard, Flack was able to see a human figure. The human was sitting against a tree but because it was sitting facing in this direction, it was almost invisible against the darkness of the tree trunk it leant against. It was only because the human leant to the side that he saw his shape and, from what he was able to determine, it was likely to be the human male.

' _Where has the female human gone?'_

It was obvious that the humans were not continuing to leave the area and Flack had to ask himself, 'What is there here to make them want to stay? Why did they not keep moving? Are they awaiting the arrival of more of their kind?'

Knowing that he could not risk returning to Chart with the humans still in the area, Flack moved deeper into the bushes, fighting against thicker branches as he sought to get past them and move closer to the humans, hoping that his presence near to them would persuade the humans to continue upon their way. He was now hoping, deep down, that they were far from any other humans. He did not like to think that another, larger party of them were to be turning up again within a short while.

Walking slowly down into the gully, he began to follow it as it wound itself between the trees, relentlessly heading toward where the human leant against the tree. Pausing, he felt the quietness of the forest, the silence of the birds, 'But that is not strange. Many creatures go silent and hide when they know that there are humans in the area.'

Seeing a movement against the distant tree trunk, Flack was sure that the human had seen him and so he began to walk slowly forward once again. 'Where is the human female? Has she left the human male behind while she goes to get assistance in helping him walk?'

Moving slowly forward again, Flack eyes were searching the tree near to the sitting human, looking for any sign of the human female. 'Perhaps she is gathering wood to build a fire, for that is something that the humans do when they feel threatened or determined to remain in one place for a little while.'

Stopping once again, Flack asked himself, 'How is it that I know such things? How do I know what fire is and that it is a tool of the humans?'

A scream rang out close by and, bolting forward as he turned his head to the left, following the sound, he saw the human female running down the side of the gully toward him, a large thick branch held extended in front of her. The wood caught a glancing blow on his left hind quarters, sending a shooting pain through him as his forward motion managed to deflect the branch.

Grinding to a halt and turning as quickly as possible, ready to face the human female once again, he was wary of travelling any further along the gully in case it put him in reach of stones being thrown by the human male.

Flack stopped in his tracks, staring at the scene before him. With surprised shock he saw that the female was no longer trying to race toward him. Instead, she was doubled over, her arms still slowly swinging backwards and forwards.

The position of the human female was wrong somehow and, as Flack moved tentatively nearer, he saw that she was being held in that position by the thick wooden branch.

' _In charging down the gully toward me, and me deflecting the crude wooden spear, the human female has ran into the other side of the gully. Her own weight has impaled her upon the evil weapon that she had so crudely fashioned.'_

From the tattered, forward hanging rags, Flack could see a dark liquid beginning to drip from the material. The human female's arms were now completely still.

'I do not understand the humans?' thought Flack, just as shouts erupted from behind him. Turning his head, Flack saw the male human scrambling down the gully a little way behind him. His was clutching an arm across his ribs as he made his way towards the human female.

Noting that the human did not have a weapon in his hands and that it was unlikely that he would be able to use one, Flack began walking along the gully, heading back to where Chart was lying.

Slowly passing the impaled female, Flack gave her a glance and was satisfied that she would not be extracting herself from the wood. 'Your own actions have ensured that a number of other creatures will not have to fall prey to your evil ways.'

Hearing the human scrambling along the gully, he increased his pace a little and, just as he was climbing form the gully and back into the bushes he glanced back, seeing that the human male now had the human female lying upon the ground and he was making strange, emotional sounds as he looked upon her face.

' _How can such a creature cry when it spends so much of its life bringing misery and death to others?'_

Moving through the bushes and into the clearing, Flack knew that the human would not try to come and seek revenge. 'He is too injured to attempt to attack me and if there were other humans in the area then they would surely have come to his assistance by now.'

Increasing his speed, he went quickly to where he believed Chart was lying in the grass. Getting nearer, he walked slowly, guiltily to where Chart lay. Looking down at her small form, he tried to ignore that her body was wet with blood. His large, dark eyes looked down into her face and he saw that her eyes responded. Moving across his features he saw her relax when she was sure that it was him and not one of the human's returned.

"Do not blame yourself, young Flack," she said slowly, deliberately. There was a long pause, as if she was gathering all of the words that she wanted to say, before continuing with, "Please, lay me next to my Brand so that we two may be at peace together, lying side by side." Chart became quiet again.

Staring down, he wanted to remove the ropes that bound her legs but he did not wish to try to bite through them in case it should cause her any more pain. 'What can I do? What have the human's done?'

"Please, lay me beside Brand, and then you must leave for Essilon. You must find it. You must be the one," she pleaded and demanded of Flack.

Flack wanted to interrupt her, to ask her what it was that both she and Brand had tried to tell him. 'Why do I seem so special to these two that they have already laid down their lives for me, especially when they have not known me for a very short time? Why do they do this and still not bear any malice against me after all that has happened since our meeting?'

His thoughts were interrupted as quietly, she continued. "Do not fear for me or Brand. We knew the risk of trying to move through this place with so many humans around. I can only say that I am sorry that we never got you to Essilon but you must still get there, Flack. You must!" Her last words sounded like a command and an urgent request.

Chart paused and Flack considered asking her why it was so important that he got to Essilon, but he felt he had asked too much of Chart and Brand, already. 'This is not the time. If Chart believes that she must tell me more then I know that she will.'

"Please, lay me beside Brand, I want..." she paused, and Flack waited for her to continue, but she did not... nor would she again.

Flacks mind was numb. She had closed her eyes when she had spoken Brand's name and Flack had believed that she would still be telling him what to do, the things that need to be done.

"Chart?" he whispered, but there was no reply. "Chart, can you hear me?" he asked again, with tears falling from his eyes.

Her eyes did not open, nor her mouth to utter a reply. Flack stood there motionless, his eyes staring into her face, looking for the slightest response to his voice.

"Chart, I am so, so sorry, I never wanted these things to happen. If I could have known that my being with you would end up like this then I would never have joined with you. I would have continued to try and find my way in the world on my own. Please forgive me, Chart. I hope that you are now with the one who loves you and that you will be together, forever, always. I am going to miss you... I am so, so sorry..."

Flack could not speak anymore. His throat had gone dry and the lump that rested there seemed as though it were trying to prevent him from ever breathing again.

His mind went blank as he continued staring at the little creature before him, with his eyes ignoring the blood of death upon her coat and showing him, instead, the way she was before all of this cruelty had happened.

The numbness within him was great and he could conjure up no words that would give him comfort.

A slight shift in the light brought him as if out from a trance and, concerned that the human may try to seek revenge he knew that he had to do what he needed to do as quickly as possible. 'Otherwise, all that Chart and Brand have done will be in vain.'

Gently, and with tears in his eyes, he picked up Chart using the ropes that so cruelly bound her. The taste of her blood was in his mouth and he tried hard to ignore it.

Walking a little way toward a large clump of grass where he knew that Brand had been lying, he located Brand's body and then, as gently as he could, he lowered Chart to the ground beside him. Using his head, he nudged her gently until she was lying close beside him. 'I wish I could place their arms around each other...'

Standing back a little, because he felt as though he were intruding on something that he should not, he gazed down upon the little creatures. 'I know with all my heart that you were the closest of lovers and when Brand left us I should have known that you would not be able to remain behind alone. What did you do, Chart? Were you found by the human male or did you deliberately attack him, trying to ensure that you were reunited with your Brand?'

No tears fell from Flack's eyes as he looked at the pair of lovers at rest. His mind began to simply try to absorb the enormity of what had happened, and he began wondering, 'How can events be allowed to be played out this way?'

Taking a deep breath, Flack felt useless. 'For all of my attacks on the humans I was not able to protect these two beautiful creatures. How still they are, though it is no fault of their own that they had come to end this way. The fault is all my own. I wish I had never become joined to them... We should have remained apart and that way they would still be alive...'

Bitter, angry tears welled in eyes that Flack thought would not be capable of producing any more tears.

His mind began recalling the Chukka nuts that appeared so important to them. He thought of Chart's request for her Brand. She had said, 'I will have to find at least one Chukka nut. You don't mind do you?' Thinking of her words, Flack knew that there was something, though small, that he could do for the two lovers. 'I will get you your Chukka nut! Chart, you will have your wish.'

Pulling himself away from the presence of the two silenced squirrels, he turned and began to slowly walk away and then, realising what he was setting out to do, he increased his speed because he hated himself for having to leave them behind, leaving them lying there and prey to anything that came along.

Colours caught Flacks attention and he ground to a halt, turning his head a little to the right. Red and yellow colours were abundant in a tree that was not so far away from him and so he raced toward the tree. Stopping close to one of the trees he could now see that there were a number of trees with the yellow leaves upon them. 'Are they the ones are that I am searching for? And after searching so far in another direction I find that if I had only chosen this direction then I would have found them quickly?'

Looking upwards, studying the branches and their contents, he became convinced that they were a match to the description of Chukka nuts that Chart had given to him. Stretching his neck toward the ground, he began to look amongst the long grass for any sign of a single Chukka nut, but his patience wore thin as he searched the ground and could find no sign of the fruit that we needed so much.

Turning to look at the nearest tree that held the precious nut, Flack grew angry because there were so many nuts high in the tree and yet not one had fallen to the ground beneath any of the trees that he had searched. His mind snapped and, in a raging fury, he ran towards the nearest tree and then, reaching the tree, he turned to face away from it and began to kick out harshly with his hind legs, hoping that he was strong enough to be able to dislodge one of the precious nuts from its resting place.

With his rear hoofs colliding with the solidness of the tree trunk, he felt the resulting shockwaves of pain shooting through his legs. Dull thuds rang out as his legs kicked back at the tree and he was rewarded when, after an anger driven barrage of kicks, two nuts fell from the safe confines of the mother-like tree. They landed with gentle thumps in the grass beside him.

'I have not one but two Chukka nuts. I have one for Chart and Brand each!' Ceasing his frenzied activity, he was about to walk and collect the Chukka nuts but then his mind suddenly decided against it. 'In my heart I know that these two precious creatures, Chart and Brand, deserve more than just two Chukka nuts!'

Beginning to assault the tree once again, Flack knew that this time he was not attacking it in anger; this time he was attacking it with desire and passion. 'This is for the two of you!' With a raging desire of passionate energy he set about striking the tree harder and harder, ignoring any pains that he felt in his legs as he thundered a slow, monotonous beat that he knew would be heard a long way off in the forest.

Seeing more Chukka nuts beginning to fall, he ignored them as his mind concentrated on kicking the tree for as long as he could while, all the time, his anger helped him to ignore the pain that coursed through his body with every jarring kick he sent driving into the tree.

His pounding echoed through the forest, and it went on and on, and on, until Flacks legs began to dither and he could kick no more. He almost stumbled on a few occasion when his hind legs tried to seek purchase upon the ground, prior to any kick and when, on one of his kicks one leg missed the tree he knew that he had done all he could for the time being.

His body, caked in sweat, began shivering at the sudden cessation of his onslaught. And so, eventually, after an amount of time unknown to him, a time when the sun had flashed within his eyes a hundred times, he had finally stopped... and before him there were now more than just two solitary Chukka nuts.

Happiness and sadness both welled within him as he gazed upon the prize that he had secured for the lovers Chart and Brand.

After resting for a few moments, to quell his quivering nerves, he set upon the task of moving them, by mouth, to where the bodies of Chart and Brand lay.

Gathering the Chukka nuts was not too difficult as he could carry them in his mouth but it was when he tried to gather a third and forth one that he began to struggle, as it was difficult to stop the first ones gathered from falling from his mouth. Satisfied that he had three, he began to lope back to where the bodies of Chart and Brand lay and, reaching them, he deposited the Chukka nuts beside them. After a brief glance at what looked to be peacefully sleeping creatures, he turned and ran back to the harvest that he had gathered.

Reaching the area beneath the tree he saw that number of Chukka nuts had fallen close together, with some lying almost on top of others. Moving towards a small group, he extended his forelegs and neck, getting his mouth as close to the ground as possible and then, turning his head sideward to the ground, he found he could scoop a large number of the precious nuts easily into his mouth. Standing, he raced back to where the two squirrels lay, deposited the Chukka nuts and raced back to quickly gather more.

His activity grew feverish and his mind eyes became a blur as he raced back and forth gathering what he could and, each time that he returned, he gently placed the Chukka nuts over the bodies of his dear, departed friends.

Eventually, there came a time when he had to place them upon the faces of the two squirrels and then, after a few more journey's, he was not longer able to see the bodies of Chart and Brand as they now lay beneath the mound of Chukka nuts that were such a powerful symbol to their kind.

Eventually, on a return trip to the area where the Chukka nuts had fallen, he found he had to search for a while before he found one single Chukka nut. He could find no others.

'It is done,' he thought, 'I now have the last of the Chukka nuts to take back to Chart and Brand. It seems strange because even though they are gone I feel as though they are not. Is that because their bodies lie back there that they feel as though they are still with me? Is that why I feel so lost to my mother and father? Is it because I never found them ever again?'

Turning, he began walking slowly back to the mound of Chukka nuts that concealed Chart and Brand. His body was shivering violently, pains in his flanks and his rear legs made the walking more difficult.

' _If human's find me now, then I doubt I would even have the strength to run away from them. I would not have the energy to attack them...'_

### JOB

### 16 - Job I – A Monument to Love

Now that his work was completed, Flack looked down at the large mound of Chukka nuts that housed the bodies of the two lovers. He no longer felt sad when he looked to where the bodies of Chart and Brand lay because now, instead of seeing the bodies that were ravaged by the evil of humans, he now saw a monument to their undying friendship and love for one another.

' _Beneath and within this monument there lies at peace the bodies of the two lovers Chart and Brand; the two wonderful creatures that had done so much for me in so short a time, the two creatures that had lost their very lives because of me and their belief that I must reach Essilon for some purpose known only to them...'_

Flack stared down at his work. It had been a long and painstaking process but now he had finally finished the task that he had set out upon. Inside himself, he felt a little happier that he had given them both something that they had both wanted very much. And he was pleased that he had been able to provide them with more than just one single, solitary Chukka nut.

He stood staring at the small monument but could not help but think, 'Surely life is better than any monument to a memory of a life?'

He was distracted from his thoughts by a sound in the forest. Suddenly, the heat of his body was being drawn from him as a bitterly cold wind begin to race amongst the trees, almost applying so much force to his side that he felt as though he was going to be blown to the side. However, he was able to stand firm and allow the chill wind to race around him and, as he glanced back toward the mound before him, he saw that not one Chukka nut was being dislodged by the power of the mighty wind that blew.

The wind whipped through the air, whistling loud as it screamed between the nearby trees and their branches and it continued to build in its intensity and then, from the opposite of the mound, there came a tumbling ball of drift grass. It rolled across the clearing and came to rest beside the crudely constructed monument. Then another came, and another, and another. And twigs, and leaves, all blowing in the wind to come to rest on or beside the mound. Until, at last, the monument was completely covered by the grass and twigs, totally hidden and lost from sight. But still, the winds did not abate.

Remaining standing still while the winds continued howling around him, Flack saw the grass and the leaves and the twigs come running from all directions, some racing close to his legs as they sought to make a home on the side or top of the greatly enlarged monument.

The light had faded dramatically and Flack had to stare all the harder as he sought to see the growing monument. He could hear thunder, though distant, and lightening began to flash and rain could be heard to fall but none landed upon Flack or the monument. The sky cried, sharing his grief, and then suddenly, the monument began to burn. Flames erupted on the sides of the monument and, even thought the large shrine was very close to him, he could not feel the heat from the flames. No warmth came to touch his body as the only thing given out by the flames was the brilliance of the light it produced.

Then, at the top of the burning monument, a hole appeared as the Chukka nuts collapsed, so it seemed, into the centre of the monument. The monument now looked like a giant flaming cone with the tip removed and a way exposed that led into the insides.

Flack watched entranced, not fearing fear, not concerned for his own safety. He was simply entranced by what was happening before his very eyes.

A beam of blue light began to come slowly from the top of the monument, from the hole that had recently appeared and it climbed up high into the sky. Slowly it travelled at first, then faster and faster until it was lost somewhere beyond the canopy and clouds overhead.

The light was not blinding to look upon and so Flack gazed intently upon the swirling colours that he saw floating and twisting within the blue beam of light.

Small spots of light began to spin and dance, moving closer together and then more points of light appeared within the blue beam and then the slowly swirling patterns began to change and Flack was certain that he could see the bodies of Chart and Brand within the light.

He could see the shapes of the two squirrels and that they were holding hands as they slowly turned in circles, slowly travelling upwards within the beam of light. Their faces were turned towards each other and then, just when they were a little above his eye level, the two slowly spinning forms of the squirrels stopped their turning and they stopped their looking into each other's eyes.

Their faces turned towards him and he saw their mouths move but he could hear no sounds coming from them. He could see that the two were smiling as they moved their mouths silently once again.

'Essilon?' thought Flack, 'Are they saying Essilon?'

The forms of the two squirrels began smiling at him once more and then they slowly turned to face each other again as they began once more to turn in slow circles, rising higher and higher within the blue beam, moving upwards towards the tree tops and then the clouds.

And their smiles brought a smile to Flack as he felt that the two were ultimately happy; happy to be with each other... sharing their love... forever together again.

The brightness of the blue light increased in intensity and became so bright that Flack had no choice other than to close his eyes.

***

Suddenly, Flack awoke, finding that it was daylight as blinding sunshine struck his awakening eyes.

Recalling his dream of the night before, about the burning Chukka nuts, the lightening, and the pale blue light that stretched from atop the monument high up into the sky, he remembered how he had seen Chart and Brand within that light, together again forever.

### 17 - Job II – A Job to Be Done

Gazing toward the monument he had erected the previous day, Flack saw that the Chukka nuts were burnt black, with no hint of the red dots showing upon any of them that he could see from where he stood. Draped around the burnt Chukka nut monument was a covering of burnt and half burnt grass and leaves that were slowly twitching as a gentle breeze trickled by. There still remained a hole at the top of the monument mound and Flack knew that he would not have to disturb the mound to prove that he would find no remains of Chart or Brand on this inside of the monument.

' _You are gone, but you are gone together. I hope that you are happy and at peace...'_

And so, moving backwards a few steps, he lowered his head and looked at the monument for one last time and then, turning, he began to walk away, leaving the mound of burnt Chukka nuts behind him.

Another breeze began to gather, though not as cold as the one form the night before and he felt it go racing from his face to his hind quarters. The wind was strong and stopping for a moment, he turned his head and saw that there was a spinning collection of nuts, leaves, and twigs, whirling in circles in the place where the monument had been.

Watching the strange spinning column, he was suddenly startled when the wind ceased and the nuts, leaves, and twigs fell to the ground, scattered all around and no longer part of the monument that he had built.

With only one backward glance as he moved into the bushes that would lead him to the gully where he had last seen the human male and female, he continued walking away. He was walking to the place where Chart and Brand wanted him to walk. He was walking for their sake, and for their rigid belief in a lost, helpless cripple.

Though he knew not what it was or how he would get there, he knew that he was embarking upon a journey that he was wholly determined to complete. No matter the hardships; he was determined to do this thing.

' _If it is important enough that Chart and Brand should lay down their lives in trying to get me to that place then it is important, to me, that I should and do what they requested of me.'_

Moving down into the gully, Flack knew that he was going in search of Essilon. 'Wherever it may be... Whatever it may turn out to be... I am going to find it!'

### LAMENTATIONS

### 18 - Lamentations I - That Sinking Feeling

Flack was cantering along through another day of glorious sunshine, moving amidst the trees, and deliberately seeking out the places where the sun's rays pierced through the canopy. He was aware of burning sensations along both of his flanks, though the pains were not intense, merely aggravating. There were other pains, where stones or wood had struck at him during the incidents of the last few days, but these appeared to be easing now. The pains upon his flanks persistently annoyed him and yet, even with the sad memory off what had happened to Chart and Brand, he felt stronger. He knew that he was alone and, as much as he did not like being alone, that same loneliness meant that he could run as wild and free as he wanted to.

To help forget the pains in his young body his mind became intent on only recalling the good times that had occurred so very recently. He tried to ignore the bad but found that the good thoughts led to him recollecting those sad thoughts. He felt as though his thoughts betrayed him, or perhaps he needed to see the bad to understand the good.

It came to him, in an instant, of just how strong and well he felt and how much energy he seemed to have at his disposal.

His mind reacted for him, sending orders to the muscles and organs in his body. Suddenly he was running; running wild and carefree through the trees, trusting that there were no obstacles that would leap out and ruin his flight. The wind flowed through his mane and he could feel it clearly bouncing up and down along the length of his neck. He felt good. He felt strong. He felt very much alive.

He charged toward bushes, shrubs, and trees, that loomed up in front of him and then, at the last instant, he would veer away in some other direction.

His hoofs felt good, pounding upon the land. They beat out a simple yet powerful melody as he continued to run and run, always chasing the next rays of sunlight that he could see or the one that he could not but believed that he would find them soon. Sometimes he would canter for a little while and then another burst of energy would send him careering through the trees, across the leas, sailing on grasslands as though they were seas.

On one gallop, he raced through a clump of quite close-together trees and bushes and suddenly found himself in a clearing, abruptly bringing himself to a halt.

'That is beautiful,' he thought, as his quivering muscles shook in nervous excitement. It was not only a clearing in the forest that he beheld it was also a flat expanse that led toward a large expanse of water. A lake spread before him and Flack stood watching the sunlight dance upon the small waves that caressed the surface. Beyond the lake, he saw that land rise steeply, draped in a green blanket of trees, the land rose high into the sky and wondered, 'What would it be like to be so high and amongst the trees?'

Suddenly, he felt very, very thirsty.

His muscles began to shake, shaking anew with the energy they had recently released. He stomped his front hoofs upon the ground and gaily walked toward the water's edge, his mouth anticipating the cool water racing into it. His hoofs crunched upon smooth round stones, making his passage across them a little awkward as he felt that sometimes they were all going to slide away from beneath him and send him crashing to the ground. When his forelegs stood in the edge of the water, he stood watching the small waves gently brushing over his hoofs, feeling the coolness of the water and sharpness that it brought to his senses.

A movement in the water took his attention and, staring at the rippling glassy sheet below him, he saw that the movement was caused by him. It was his reflection that stared back at him from the water and, seeing a picture of himself in the water, seeing the horn upon his head, he stood studying the well-known stranger before him. It was almost a picture of his father.

Then, slowly lowering his head, he began to drink the clear water; watching the splashing water break up his reflection and seeing it try to gather again. He was amazed by the amount of water he was drinking. The water streaming into his waiting body was good and, so it seemed, endless. He relaxed and enjoyed the cool liquid as it made passage to his thirst.

Eventually, he had his fill and raised his head. The water looked inviting as the shimmering sun danced crazy dances upon the quietly, trickling current.

He walked forward, moving further out into the lake. Everything here was peaceful and the sounds, made by the gentle waves behind him as they crashed, lazily to the shore, seemed a million miles away from the time that he had been in water with his mother.

For a moment, his mind flashed with pictures of his mother struggling against the terrible human ones. The kicking and shouting in his mind became so real in his eyes. His mother, screaming for him to leave, telling him to run away and hide from the eyes of the evil humans. And the humans crawling around her, slowly getting closer, and slowly taking her from sight. 'I wish my father had been there. He would have shown those humans that it is not wise to tackle an angry unicorn. My father would have been able to save my mother.'

He tried to vanquish the pictures that came into his mind and tried to concentrate upon the peace and serenity that he found standing here alone in the cool, glistening waters. 'My mother and father are gone. I know that now. I just wish I understood more... What was it that happened to the monument of Chat and Brand? Is that a natural occurrence for all creatures? Did my father also vanish amid a blue beam that carried him upwards?'

The questions were bigger than any answers known to him and so, to avoid confusion and inner conflict, he tried to forget that his mother and father, and Chart and Brand, were all gone. He tried to only look at pictures that his memory would show of them speaking to him.

Trying to shake his mind as he recalled the constant dangers of humans, he began to concentrate upon his own survival and began hoping that maybe, along his journey, he would find others like him, other peace-loving animals, and perhaps other unicorns.

'I will need to find another creature who knows the way to Essilon,' he realised, 'Otherwise, how else am I going to find it?'

His eyes brought him back to the present and he was mildly surprised to find that he was lying down in the water. He smiled inside himself, for the water felt relaxing as it flowed around him, a little cold but, nonetheless, as it was cooling as it was invigorating.

He relaxed, feeling that the water somehow seemed to be easing his pains away. He felt good, he felt strong and, for the first time, he felt more confident. Chart and Brand's legacy had been to set him a challenge; a challenge to reach a place called Essilon and he knew that nothing was going to stop him from reaching that place. If not for himself, he would be doing it for Chart and Brand. 'I owe it to them to achieve this and I know that I will not fail them.'

With his eyes gazing across the lake, he saw the shoreline that was a mass of trees rising steeply from the shore and, though he stared long, he could see no movements among those trees. Idly, he searched for any sign of a Chukka nut tree but could see no telltale signs of the yellow leaves.

He could see that there were many, many trees, rising high upon the backs of gentle slopes and even further in the distance, he could make out the climb and fall of vast mountain ranges, rising high, falling low, drawing a silhouette against the clear blue skyline.

A number of the vast peaks, the highest ones, were being hidden by low cloud that seemed to cling to the mountaintop, as if protecting it by cloaking it in secrecy. It was a beautiful scene and Flack just let his eyes roam across the beauty spread before him. He absorbed the splendour and wished that he could be in all of those places at the same time, right now, and yet still remain here feeling the gentle water trace his outline as it flowed upon its way; away on its own journey, as Flack was on his own journey also.

' _I wonder where the water's journey will take it and I wonder where my journey will take me?'_

Gazing back towards the far shore, admiring the variants of greens that rose away from the small shoreline and up, into the sky, until they melted amongst the giant shapes of the faraway mountains, Flack felt calm and contented; enjoying the peace as much as he had enjoyed racing wild through the trees.

The beauty of the far shore calmed him, the hot sun warmed him, and the flowing water cooled him down. He gazed at a small twig that suddenly appeared bobbing around in front of him. It gently came a little toward him and gently ran away only to return again, and then leave again. Eventually, it passed around him and he watched its progress as if flowed upon its own journey until it was lost from his sight by the shimmering of the sun upon the shiny surface of the lake.

He began to feel sleepy. The running had tired him more than he had first realised and so he lay there peacefully, wondering if, when he opened his eyes, 'Would the twig still be out there somewhere, still riding the waves, dancing in the flow or would it, perhaps, be wedged against some rock that, unknowingly, was stopping it from carrying on upon its way?'

Flack wondered why he thought such thoughts. 'Why should the journey of the twig be of any concern to me? What is the symbolism that held itself, half-hidden, within my mind?' Flack relaxed even more, allowing his mind to absorb the anchored serenity around him, allowing himself to be free from worry, from decisions, and from the passage of time.

But time ignored him and time went by, little by little, in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, the warmth of the sun was taken away from him. Cold air ran a ghostly path along his back. He opened his eyes, startled, and saw that a cloud had covered the sun. It was only a small cloud and, at first, he decided that he would wait until it had passed by the sun, but then decided that he would be better rewarded by going and searching out something to eat.

At this thought, his mouth began to salivate and his stomach seemed to tighten and he was suddenly aware that he was very, very, hungry indeed.

Standing up slowly, almost slipping on some of the smooth rocks that littered the ground beneath the water. Once he was standing, and he was sure of his footing, he began to turn back toward the dry land and, as his head came around, he caught the sight of something moving quickly, racing to get out of sight.

He knew straight away what it was that he had seen. Another moment and then his nostrils confirmed the scent to him. 'Humans!'

Cursing himself for letting his guard down, he began automatically walking backwards a little to give himself more distance from the humans, but his retreat must had of been a form of command to the humans, for they all began to walk out from their hiding places and slowly began moving toward him. There were eight humans, all moving from the tree line, racing across the shore and into the edge of the water. They were not afraid to come further out into the lake to get to him, Flack was sure of that.

Disbelief came washing over him as he realised what a poor position he was in because of him being so lax, lulled by the beauty of the land and the warmth of the sun. 'While I have lain in the water, the humans have found me and had made their plans, and now they are carrying out those plans.'

He could see the eight humans clearly and knew that they regarded him as being trapped. He knew that they thought they would have him easy. They were spreading out along the shoreline, with some moving from the trees as if they had once been a part of the trees. The humans were creeping shadows of death and Flack knew that these shadows wanted only his own death. He instinctively knew that it was too dangerous to try to run between them for the water would slow him down and they would have time to easily surround him. And he knew that they would have weapons, or a net, 'Like the one that they had used upon my mother,' and he knew that one mistake on his own part would allow the humans to have the final victory.

He wanted to call out his father's name; wanting to see him appear and come to his rescue, even though he knew that this would not happen. His father was gone, as his mother was gone, and there was only his own judgement to rely upon now. Even Chart and Brand could not help him now.

Instinctively, and perhaps foolishly, he turned around and began to walk further away from the shore, moving out towards the depth of the lake. From the shouting from behind, Flack knew that the humans were racing into the water to give chase.

The humans tried to chase but, as with Flack, the water slowed them down and the struggle became an almost slow-motion race against life and death.

The water had risen steeply around Flack and he had almost slipped upon the odd underwater object, water was splashing into his mouth, almost cutting off his breathing as he struggled to raise his head and to disgorge the water. His neck strained high in an attempt to keep the water from his nostrils and mouth while his legs pumped furiously, fighting the weight of the water that made their progress slow.

The water was now high around him and it was difficult to keep striking his hooves against the ground in an effort to keep propelling himself forward. Suddenly, his legs only hit the bottom occasionally and his head would fall beneath the water at times. The darkness and quiet beneath the water seemed like a place of peace, though it scared him immensely. Then suddenly his head would appear above the waves again, his mouth spitting water and trying to gulp in masses of much needed air and then he would hear the screaming, shouting, cursing voices of the humans behind him and these sounds would renew his vigour, pushing him harder, forcing his tired legs to maintain a rhythm that was his only way to sanctuary.

Tiredness and fear began to take a hold on him and, for a moment, the thought crossed his mind that it might be easier for him to stop the struggle; to give up his fight against the struggle, to give up his fear and succumb to the death that would surely be given to him by the evil humans. But then he thought of what the humans had done to Chart and Brand when they had caught them. He began to see their faces and to see the faces of his mother and father. At first he believed that they were calling to him, begging him to come and join them and then he heard their voices trying to instil strength in him, telling him he should not give up, that he should continue to fight against the tiredness that tried to engulf his body and to fight against the desires of the approaching humans.

Spitting water from his mouth as his head cleared the water, his lungs sucked a pool of air into his lungs and he used that air to power his muscles, his legs and his mind. Anger made him kick his legs, forcing himself up higher out of the water, his long neck always reaching for the highest point it could reach; a zenith of hope. And all through this the water continued to splash around him, as did the shouts from the murderous humans.

An occasional object would strike him, but the pain was lost amongst the voices of his parents and friends shouting inside his mind, the pumping of legs, the straining of his muscles, and the splashing of the water around him. He knew that the humans would be throwing stones, trying to stun him, trying to make him give up his escape but the striking stones only had the opposite effect, forcing him to keep his legs pounding against the liquid force that sought to surround him, to pull him under, to free his bonds of this world. His legs pounded until he became almost magically aware that he could no longer hear the sounds of the humans.

The silence around him scared him, he wanted to turn around to look at what the humans were doing, but he dared not for fear of losing concentration. His pounding legs reduced their onslaught but he maintained just enough momentum in them to ensure his head remained safely above the water. He knew that he must keep kicking for he knew that to stop or lose the rhythm he had now would surely mean to perish beneath the water, which had been so much of a comfort to him only moments before.

He could hear the water lapping around his body as he continued forward, the far shore looking more distant than when he had first started to race toward it. 'I have to keep going forward.' The voices in his head told him this and, with duty, he obeyed those voices that he loved and respected so much.

His legs continued to kick, his muscles forcing hard labour upon them until eventually they began to tire, his strength running from him like the water falling from his face when he raised it above the water. Feeling though he was a bobbing frantically in the water, he thought of the small twig he had watched earlier. How easy it had been for that twig to float, and how carefree had been its journey.

His mind had wandered and suddenly he found himself sinking beneath the water. He froze ridged and then, suddenly, in a berserk bout of thrashing kicks his head swiftly broke free of the slippery wet cavern he had been slipping into. Automatically, and frantically, his legs kicked in an effort to find the rhythm that he had momentarily lost. He succeeded and with new found strength he began to kick again. And on and on he went. Time beat past in a slow pounding of nerves fighting within his kicking legs. Tiredness tried to find him. A cold, cold velvet sheet of darkness was trying to find its way into his half-dead body.

Then his hoof struck against something, which caused an awaking within him. He did not know which hoof but, almost immediately, another hoof struck against something solid.

To his right hand side he saw land. Land, that was very near and without a sign of any immediate humans watching murderously from its shore. 'They may be hiding within the trees, waiting for me to come to shore...' He continued fighting his way to this dry land, hoping that there would be no hidden humans. Abruptly, he found he could stand. The water was still high around him but, now, he could relax. His legs muscles pumped and trembled in the agony of sudden non-movement, but this pain was also a beautiful blissful relief.

Slowly, he fought his way through the chopping water, onto the bank and slowly toward the nearby bushes. He wanted to lay down where he was but knew, inside, that it was imperative that he reached the cover of the bushes. He saw a large thicket and forced his way into it. There he lay down and collapsed into a deep, deep sleep. His mind flickered for a moment on the humans, wondering if they had tried to follow him across, wondering, 'Could they get around the lake to me?'

Knowing that he had no strength with which to fight, he knew that rest would be his greatest ally at this time. He felt he was safe for at least a little while and, accepting that safety, his mind drifted deeper into the slumber. His sleep was constantly troubled, by much shivering and spasmodic jerks that were so violent that often he awoke for a few moments, not really knowing he had awakened and then immediately fell back into his deep, troubled slumber.

When, eventually, he did awake, he was very much rested but, because of the nearness of nightfall, he decided it would be best for him to stay where he was and await the morning. 'I will have to go hungry until then,' he thought, as his body let it be known to him that it was in need of sustenance. It was better that he remain still and unmoving in his small sanctuary just in case the humans had followed him across somehow.

Listening to the sounds of the forest, he heard no sounds to suggest that humans were about, 'But because I cannot see them, hear them, or smell them, does not mean that they are not somewhere nearby, lurking, searching, hunting...'

So he lay there and awaited the passing of the night. He would sleep some more as it was likely that if there were any humans around then they too would be settling for the night. Turning his head slowly, he looked around the area, trying to peer through the bushes to see any sign of a bright light at ground level. 'If there are humans nearby then they will likely build a fire...' With his nostrils betraying no scent of burning wood, he was pleased to believe that there were no humans anywhere near him. Feeling safe in this thicket, he dared not risk moving for fear of advertising his location to any skulking human. He knew that sleep would be the best thing for him at this time, particularly as the pains in his flanks were burning like small fires. Closing his eyes, he tried to ignore the pains by thinking of those he had lost and would likely never see again. The effort of trying to ignore the pains gave him something to do, something that would help him pass the time and so, in their own way, the pains became a sense of comfort to him. And so he shared the beginning of night with the pains and, eventually, he shared the remainder of the night with more sleep.

The new morning came as a blaze of crowning glory. Flack awakened with a start as the new morning sun pierced his eyes and warmed his brain and he struggled quickly to his feet. There was quiet all around him. No singing birds, no faraway noises of any creature or beast. Even the breeze was missing, as if it had been chased away by some ghastly ghoul. Standing completely still and allowing his mind to awaken and calm down a little, his mind mistily recalled the agonizing events of the previous day and almost immediately, his burning flanks began to pain him once again. He winced.

Suddenly, the thicket seemed to be a prison to him. He wanted to be free of it now and his eyes began to look around for the easiest way out from the tangle of branches that had now finished serving their purpose of sheltering him.

He became aware of eyes staring at him and he turned his head to where he knew the gaze to be coming from. He beheld a small creature. At least a creature that was far smaller than himself, but at least three or four times larger than either Chart or Brand. The animal looked back at Flack, unmoving. Its head tilted to one side as it peered enquiringly at him. Flack returned the gaze, waiting for the animal to speak, but before either of them did have a chance to speak another voice spoke. It was the all too familiar voice of one of the humans. Flack froze, his eyes fixed upon the small creature that looked back at him.

The strange animal before him turned its face away from Flack, only for a moment, while it looked toward the voice owner and then the gaze was returned and fixed on Flack, once again.

"Come here, you stupid dog," called the voice once again, louder, nearer, harsher.

Flacks body became statuesque, so scared was he of making the slightest sound. He dare not move for fear of attracting the undivided attention of the human. He tried not to breathe, aware of the harsh pounding of his heart as its beat increased, seeming to resonate within his head. It was good that the thicket was so thick for surely he would have been seen by the human by now.

Flack's fast beating heart suddenly beat faster as the human came into view. The human was approaching the dog, and seemingly, looking directly at Flack but, obviously due to the thickness of the bushes around him and the darkness caused by the leaves obscuring the sun from above, the human found it harder to see into the thicket than it was for Flack to see out of.

The human was very near to the dog. Flack gazed at the dog once more and for a moment the dog continued staring back and then, as if perhaps sensing Flacks unrest, the dog suddenly turned and walked away.

The dog now took up the human's full attention.

"Shane," called the human. "Come here."

The dog stood looking at the human. The human bellowed once again. "Come here, dog."

The dog began to cringe as the human began to point at the ground immediately in front of himself. "Come here," came the sound of the human voice once again; angrier and harsher than before.

The dog cringed as it moved toward the human and Flack felt sorry for the dog. Slowly, his rump almost touching the floor, the dog moved nearer toward the human with his tail low and his belly clawing against the ground.

"Come here," shouted the human, fiercer this time. The human was obviously not pleased by the slow progress that the dog was making toward him for no sooner had the human got the dog within his reach when he cuffed it across the head. The dog leapt back with a sudden yelp, only to be called back again for the same punishment. The dog did so and immediately yelped again.

Flack could not understand this. 'Why did the dog not just run away? The human would not be able to catch the beast.'

And yet, the human was able to capture the dog. Not by chasing it, but by shouting at it. The human's voice had a strong effect over the dog. The dog was entranced by it, caught by it, trapped by it.

Flack reasoned to himself that, 'The dog must be very stupid,' and then Flack cancelled that thought as he realised, 'Yet the dog had taken away the humans inquisitiveness of what the dog had been looking at in the thicket. Myself!'

A dull thud, and a terrible scream of pain from the dog, brought Flacks attention back to the scene in front of him. The human was now kicking the poor animal as, again, the dog yelped.

' _The dog could easily have led the human to me. The human would then have been grateful to the dog. For all humans want to kill the creatures that run wild and free!'_

And then Flack realised that the dog must somehow be connected with the human. 'There had to be some form of relationship. How can this be?' Flack was totally confused by the situation. It had not dawned upon Flack until this instant that the dog must be a familiar to the human, for it to be able to obey his commands.

The dog was not free as Flack was but was somehow a prisoner to the human ways. Flack began to have a dislike for the dog, for it now seemed obvious that the dog shared its life in some way with the humans.

Again Flack was confused, more confused, 'For, if the dog is involved with the human then why had the dog not given away the knowledge of my presence to the human?'

The dog yelped again, its shriek of pain intense and yet it remained close to where the human stood. 'Why don't you run away?' thought Flack, trying to understand what was happening. Confused because he did not know what feelings he should have towards the dog. 'The dog, in one way, seemed to be in alliance with the human and yet, it had also saved me from an encounter and aggravation with the human.'

The dog yelped again and the human voice echoed around. There was no way of not noticing the callousness in that cold, unfriendly voice. Flack's body muscles jumped and flinched as he continued to look upon the pathetic vision in front of him as the human leant forward and slapped the dog on the side of the head. Backing away a little, the dog did not seem to be able to move from beyond the reach of the evil human.

Another yelp from the dog brought a sudden, angry movement from Flack and he began to force his way slowly and steadfastly from the shelter of the thicket.

The human ceased his beating of the dog as he heard the noise of snapping twigs and branches coming from the thicket. The human's head moved from side to side as he craned his neck to give his evil eyes a better picture of whomever, or whatever, was causing all of the noise and then suddenly the human stood completely still, transfixed by the sight of Flack emerging from the security of the bushes.

There was an eerie silence between them. Flack stared at the human, hating everything he saw, hating the smell that was in the air.

The human stared back, his mouth dripping open but no sound coming forth to insult the airwaves.

"Go on, boy," said the human, quietly, disturbing the silence, flicking his arm in Flack's direction.

The dog never moved, though it had turned its head and was now looking at Flack. The human repeated his commend several times and, because the dog did not obey, the human became both fed up and angry with the dog.

Flack stared continuously at the human and the dog; all three remaining unmoving until the human chose to make a movement. One of his arms reached over the opposite shoulder and drew forth a long, thin pointed stick. The smell of the human became stronger in Flack's nostrils, sickening him.

The dog barked, "Run!"

Flack heard him shout but could see no immediate danger from the human and so Flack held his ground, his heart racing while his mind was trying to decide what to do.

The dog barked once again; wilder and more fearful this time as it told him to run. The human shouted at the dog, calling for him to be quiet.

Flack tilted his head and gazed, wondering what it was that was happening because he could sense something that was happening that was a danger to him but he could not see the danger. Flack began to feel uneasy.

The small, harmless looking wooden spear was suspended before the human. It was being pointed directly at Flack and this made him very uneasy. 'How can such a small piece of wood be a threat to me? Surely, the human is too far away to be able to throw the weapon with any great force?'

The dog was calling to him again and Flack began to become extremely worried and he decided to run a little distance way away and review the situation. 'I have been careless far too many times before as far as the humans were concerned and the dog seemed sure that I am in some sort of danger.'

With quick reaction, he turned to run away from the closeness of the human, to give himself chance to work out what he should do. 'Should I continue to run from the human? To run wild and seek some hideaway to lay low where the humans will not find me? To stay in hiding until the danger had passed me bye?'

Beginning to run forward, he was shocked when a searing pain shot down his left hand rear flank. Flack was grabbed by pain and spun around to look at his flank. There was a crease line and blood was beginning to seep out onto his pure white coat. A hot, burning sensation ran through Flack's body. Beyond his rear legs, upon the ground, with its head buried in the cold green grass was the pointed stick that the human had held only moments ago. Panic struck Flack. 'How could the human have thrown the small stick with such a great, painful force behind it?'

With this thought Flack puzzling him, he looked back to see the human retrieving another pointed stick from behind his shoulder and Flack became aware of some other tool that the human held. Already the human was beginning to place the pointed stick in a position relative to the other tool that he held in his grasp.

Flack panicked and began to run and, in his haste, his hoof caught something and he went careering to the side, his legs buckling as he went crashing to the ground. He would be at the complete mercy of the human. 'And I know that the human has no mercy to give!'

Even as Flack began to tumble he realised just how much this carelessness was going to cost him. His body collided with the ground in a series of clumsy stages, sending jolts lashing through his body. He struck the ground hard; almost his whole body came up over him, whilst his head was forced against the floor. His neck could have very well been broken had not the momentum ceased from fuelling his painful fall.

He ached and, even as he ached, he realised that he was about to receive another bolt of pain from the deadly human. He knew that these bolts of pain could destroy him. 'The human's eyes tell me that that is what the human believes.'

He was aware of the beautiful blue skies as he began to try to struggle to his feet and try to escape the human. 'There is so much beauty around me and yet so much horror that does not belong!'

A thought flashed through his mind that he ought to be frightened but in the same instant he realised, inside, that he was not. He had no time to be, he had to try to move, to escape. 'Even if I am injured there is a chance I could survive. I have to get away from the human before the human can do me any fatal harm.'

Suddenly, he heard the dog, Shane, issue forth a throaty war cry; a shout of anger that was clearly directed toward the human. It was a shout of anger that had been held back for such a long time and only now was being released; being released with intensity upon the human.

Flack easily and quickly scrambled to his feet, looking on in awe at the scene which he now beheld. The dog and the human were now rolling around upon the grass in a violent death delivering dance. The human was shouting loudly, anger in his voice and, Flack was sure, there was a hint of surprise and disbelief there too. Flack watched, mesmerised, as the struggle continued. Watching the two fight upon the ground, with the dog trying frantically to get at the throat of the evil human, Flack could see the fear in the humans eyes as the human was frantically pushing his hands against the dog, smashing his hands on the dog, trying to desperately force the dog to lose its grip on his arms and hands for a moment and, when that happened and he did push the dog away, the dog suddenly lunged forward again, his teeth seeking purchase upon the dirty flesh of the humans neck.

Flack, as he moved nearer, began to see the sight of blood upon the dog. There seemed to be a lot of it. Almost gratefully, Flack saw blood upon the evil arms and face of the human also. With a sudden yelp, the dog jumped back away from the human and Flack could see that the human held within his grasp one of the bolts of pain that had mercilessly cut deep along Flack's flank.

The dog was hunched over, his shackles raised and with his teeth bared, waiting for a chance to lunge forward again. He growled long and low as he faced the human. The dog's bloody lips pulled back further to reveal blood covered teeth that he had been wielding very tactfully and deliberately.

The human was lying there. The pain stick in his hand being partly waved at the dog and, for most of the time, it was hacking into the air that was immediately in front of the dog. Beside the human, slightly toward Flack himself, there lay another tool which had been used in union with the bolts of pain. It lay there upon the bloody grass. It was as helpless as it was useless as it lay there. With no human hands to command it to act out the much cherished scenes of evil that the humans seemed to love so much, it was just a useless ornament to death. Quickly, Flack leapt upon it. It was no more than a bent stick, smooth, with a strand of something fine suspended between the two ends. Flack could smell its evil as his hoofs came down upon it. The wooden part broke and it relaxed its evil shape; and suddenly became totally worthless.

Flack realised how valueless it had become when he heard the moaning sound which had come from the human the moment that the evil tool had broken beneath his pounding hoofs. The human suddenly swiped at Flack with the evil pain stick and Flack reacted instantly by leaping backwards, almost stumbling and falling again as his hoofs got entangled with the broken weapon which had lain beneath his hoofs.

The human screamed at Flack then quickly turned to face the dog, to strike at it. Shane, too, leapt back and then, suddenly, the human began to scream. He began to roll over upon the grass as if possessed and both Flack and Shane moved away from the screaming human, both wary at having seen the human go into this frenzied activity.

Flack was wondering if this was some new kind of evil tool that the human was about to release upon them and, painfully, he felt a small searing pain upon one of his forelegs. His eyes looked down to see from where the pain had come. Small, tiny, black insects were moving upon his legs, moving in and out of the hairs.

"Fire Ants!" shouted the dog, and then, "Quick, follow me, these insects are poisonous..." he called urgently to Flack.

The dog rushed off past him and past the thicket where Flack had been hiding and then out into the cool water from which Flack had escaped during the previous day. Running after the dog, Flack splashed into the water beside him, noticing that the water around the dog turned red as the blood that was upon him began to break free and spread out. Flack thrashed about also and slowly but surely the biting pains began to cease. Soon he felt reasonably cleansed of these tiny creatures and he began to make his way back to the shore, as did the dog.

A scream, long and tearful, echoed throughout the area. It was the human; it was the last of the human and it left behind it a very, very beautiful silence.

Flack stood with Shane upon the shore, with water dripping from their bodies, and Flack remained silent as did the dog. Shane gave himself a violent shake and sent water cascading in all directions around him, splashing onto Flack himself who, looking on in amazement, watched as the water seemed to be full of many streaks of colours. Bright, beautiful colours that seemed to be the very product of the sun itself as it sat quietly overhead, observing all that occurred. Abruptly, the colours were gone as soon as Shane stopped his frenzied 'get-dry' routine.

They stood still and stared at each other. The silence between the two continued, with only the sound of the water lapping on the shore behind them. There were no other sounds from the human and Flack did not expect to hear any. Flack began to look around in idle nervousness, wondering what he should say or do as he was still unsure whether the dog was a friend to him or was preparing to leave and go on its own way.

"Where are we going then?" said Shane, matter-of-fact-ly.

Flack was caught unprepared for this first statement from the dog, while part of Flack's mind began to wonder about, 'How I know that this creature beside me is a dog?' Why did he accept this information when it seemed to him no-one had ever mentioned 'dog' to him. His attention was removed from this course of thinking as Shane began to speak once again.

"Thank you for stepping out when you did," said the dog, "But you should have remained hidden. I may have to work for the humans but it does not mean I will deliver everything that they want. And I know they want unicorns."

Flack never replied when Shane looked up, expectantly, for an answer. Instead, he continued chewing upon a clump of grass that sprouted from amidst the stony shoreline. Again, there was silence. Flack continued his feasting, slowly and thoughtfully, as he tried to think of that which he should say to this dog, Shane. Eventually he found the question he most wished to ask.

"Are you one with the humans?" he asked, in a voice that, though quiet, demanded an immediate reply.

"Do you mean am I an equal who lives with these humans?" asked the dog.

There was a pause in which Flack made no attempt to reply.

Shane continued, saying, "If that is the question you really seek to find an answer to... then the answer is no. I was raised with the humans and I have been with them for three groups of seasons. I have never had real reason to leave them for they provided me with my food and shelter in return for work that I occasionally did for them." The dog was silent for a moment.

"Until today I had no real cause to leave," he continued, "I know you must think that perhaps it was strange that I remained with them after the example of their treatment of me that you witnessed, of the way that they sometimes treated me. Well, let me say that although the humans are vicious and cruel they are only that way to the things that they do not own or control. From my own point of view, it was safer to be with them than to be an outsider to them. An outsider, I might say, with nowhere to go."

Flack continued to chew upon the grass, his eyes staring straight ahead, his ears listening for any tell-tale sign of the closeness of humans.

"I have seen the way that the others like me were treated when they were caught. Some humans can be far crueller than others," said the dog with obvious distaste in his voice.

Flack continued eating and continued listening, thinking, 'I do not know if you are a friend to me, or if you will go racing back to the side of the humans if any should appear to threaten us.'

"It was safer for me to stay with them and endure the small mistreating I received occasionally, than to be one they would have hunted down and abused." Shane paused, continuing with, "There is no way that I could ever return to the humans now. I know I would be slaughtered the moment I chose to return, and that is the fate I have for so long managed to avoid."

Flack raised his head from eating the grass and turned to look down at the little dog beast. Then his eyes looked up, caught the sun, making him wince and then his eyes settled in the direction from which they had came, leaving the human behind.

"The human had no chance of survival back there. Those ants are deadly. They have soldier ants that carry a poison to paralyse prey so that workers can begin to break up the flesh straight away and return it, bit by bit, to their nest. The humans are very susceptible to them. They have no fur or hair to cover their skin and so have no protection against the ants."

Flack spoke, saying, "Where do you intend to go from here?"

"I do not know. I thought that perhaps I could come along with you. If that was not too inconvenient for you?" replied the dog.

"No," said Flack, quickly, pausing and then continuing with, "It would be nice to have company again."

"Are you heading anywhere in particular?" inquired Shane.

"Yes," replied Flack. "I am looking for a place called Essilon."

"Essilon? Do you know the way there?" inquired Shane.

"I do not," said Flack, "I did have two guides, two companions, Chart and Brand, but the humans killed them." Flack became tearful as he thought back to his two very precious friends.

"The humans can be very bad indeed," agreed Shane.

"Do you know the way to Essilon?" interjected Flack.

"I do," replied Shane, sounding happy that he could offer something of use to Flack. "But first how about a little food before we set off?"

Flack was stunned. Within a matter of minutes he had gained a new companion who would be his guide to Essilon. It was good.

"What is your name?" enquired Shane.

"Flack," Flack replied.

"Flack," the dog said quietly. "Flack," he said it once again, and then he became very, very quiet.

Flack sensed the quiet but did not understand it.

"Shall we go?" questioned Flack.

"Surely," replied the dog.

Flack proceeded to walk off, his eyes glancing around to see if any other humans were drawing near in answer to the dying human's final cries. He could neither see nor hear any humans. The silence was good and it allowed birdsong to gently caress the branches as they swayed in the breeze as if singing some secret song. Lifting his head high to allow the breeze to rush poetically across his face, whispering through his mane, calming his heart and calming his mind, Flack prepared to continue his journey once again.

Then, as if on cue, to ruin his momentarily warm heart, he became aware of the pains along his flanks once again. He winced but he could not ignore them. He had stopped when the pains had hit him and the dog had glanced at him before running ahead, swiftly weaving through the trees.

"I will be back in a moment," said the dog, as he ran.

Trying to ignore the pains, Flack was released from the thought of them when Shane came running up to him, excited and nervous. Flack startled and then looked down at the dog that was now standing beside him.

"Quick," said Shane, "We must hide. Humans are drawing near. They will affect no blame to us if we are not to be seen." The dog ran off and veered away from the path that Flack had been initially expecting to take. Quickly, Flack followed for he had in his possession more size in body and it would be harder for him to conceal himself. He pursued the wild, running dog until, eventually, Shane stopped. Flack stopped also as the dog turned to face him.

"We will wait here," said Shane.

"But I cannot sense or see any sign of the humans," began Flack.

"Oh, don't worry, they are near. I can smell them very strongly. They are drawing very near. From that direction I'm sure," said Shane. "Listen," he continued, "They are calling out."

Flack listened and became aware of a faint shouting coming from the direction that Shane had indicated. They were shouting indeed. An array of many words, but one word was repeated more than any of the others.

"What is this 'Rolar' that the humans keep repeating in their calling?" enquired Flack.

"It is the name of my master," replied Shane. "They are out searching for him. Some of his clan humans must have heard his screams."

Flack and Shane became quiet, intently watching in the direction from which the shouting came. After a little while, they were able to see the colours of the clothes that adorned the wretched bodies of the human people.

At first, only one was clearly visible amidst the distant trees and shrubs and then many started to appear until there were no less than twelve of them.

Flack became very tense, for nearly all of the humans were carrying the flying sticks that their now dead companion had also carried. Flack was very wary of these flying sticks as he now knew how evil and deadly they were in the hands of the humans.

Realising that he had been holding his breath in case the sounds of his breathing attracted the attention of the human ones he was suddenly startled when there came a shout which scared Flack. He almost bolted before he realised that the shout was not to give away his hiding place but was, in fact, a call from one human to the others to say that he had found the missing human.

All of the remaining humans began, as one, to rush in the direction of the now, surely, dead human. They came together to stop at some three or four body lengths away from the fallen human. 'Obviously, as many as there are of them, they are still too afraid to go any nearer because of the deadly insects that were busy devouring the dead human.'

They appeared to swap speech with each other for a while before finally deciding to leave him the area, leaving the body of the human where it was. They could not do anything to help the human.

"Normally, they would take the body back to the camp," whispered Shane, "But the Fire Ants are making it easy for them to decide not to."

Flack found himself willing the mighty insects to destroy the remaining humans and, as they turned away, there came a great shout from somewhere very near to Shane and Flack. The two of them were instantly paralysed with fear for these were other human voices that they heard and they were very close to them. In giving their undivided attention to the scene that they were witnessing of the first group of humans they had not noticed the approach and arrival of the second group who were now almost upon them.

The second group of humans began to run toward the first. They ran within body lengths of the two beasts and yet, somehow, the two beasts, hidden between scant foliage remained unseen by the humans.

Suddenly, the whole air was filled with violent screams and shouts as the two groups, to Flacks amazement, began to fight with each other. Blood began to appear on the skins of the wretched humans and Flack saw examples of just how deadly the flying sticks could be. A grotesque scene played out before him, even if it were the humans who were dying.

Flack had to turn his head away, but the sheer madness of the situation made him turn his head back to view this incredible and unbelievable scene.

'For all the badness that is contained in the humans, their brutality to beasts, their uncaring attitude towards death in animals and more, the humans are now actually attacking each other and killing their own kind... Without provocation... Without need...' And still there before Flack's eyes the humans were destroying each other. 'It is madness. Sheer, utter madness, a brutal form of insanity!'

Flack and Shane remained quiet as the whole, gross example of merciless brutality became a mass of horrendous red vision.

Flack himself was devoid of emotion, of thoughts, and almost every kind of feeling. The amazement that gripped him refused to allow him to even think of why all of this carnage was occurring.

Together, in friendship, in bewilderment, the two watched in absolute silence, although they both felt that if the humans were to see them then the humans would ignore them for so much was their involvement in their own pathetic war. They watched as one human killed another only to be, in turn, killed by another who was then killed by yet another. And so it went on, the cries, the shouts, the screams, and the final dying followed by an eerie final silence.

"Come quickly," Shane's voice was urgent in its insistence.

And though Flack heard the voice, he was too distracted to utter an immediate reply of acknowledgement until Shane repeated his urgent command. Slowly, Flack turned to see Shane beginning to vanish stealthily deeper amidst the foliage which had offered them so much security. Flack began to follow, while behind him the shouting and screaming, and surely the dying, continued uninterrupted. Flack realised that the shouting and screaming were ruining a beautiful, sunny day. 'I wonder if the humans ever have beautiful, sunny days.'

Emerging from the foliage at a point which placed the shrubs directly between the humans and himself, Flack saw that Shane had stopped walking and was turning his head to face him.

"Quickly," said Shane, "We must leave while the humans are busily occupied."

"Where are we travelling to?" Flack asked, as he halted and looked into the eyes of the dog.

"To one of the human camps," replied Shane, matter-of-fact-ly.

Flack gasped, "A human camp?" He could not believe that he was hearing Shane's words correctly. "But, why?" he asked.

"Because there is someone there who I cannot just leave behind, that is why," replied Shane. Even as he said this, Shane's mind told him that it would be a useless endeavour because he knew that the one he wanted to take with him to Essilon would never leave the human camp.

Flack stared, amazed, and almost totally disbelieving. After the scenes that he had just been witness to he could not believe that Shane would seriously go to one of the human camps. Flack's amazement was interrupted.

"Are you coming with me?" asked Shane, with obvious annoyance in his voice that he should have to state the question again.

"Yes," replied Flack, his voice low, filled with uncertainty. He was scared though he did not believe that Shane was going to lead him into any kind of unnecessary danger. Even as Flack analysed what it was that he was going to do, Shane bolted off at a very fast pace.

Rearing up, Flack charged after him. 'Father would have been proud of that,' he thought to himself, as he recalled the first time that he had seen his Father rear up on his hind legs. 'My strong, loving father who I wish was with me now in these times of fear and uncertainty.'

Then another thought crossed his mind. 'Maybe I will find my mother at the human camp.' He did not really believe this in his heart but the remote possibility gave drive to his legs and he burst forward at a more frantic, violent pace. Very quickly, he tore past Shane and carried on in the direction that the dog was moving in.

Glancing behind, Flack could see that Shane was running as fast as he could but was still falling behind as he galloped between the trees. Feeling that it was dangerous to go racing off at this speed, especially as he did not know what lay ahead, he began to slow down, allowing the dog to catch up to him. It took a few moments for Shane to catch up and, when he did, he looked up at Flack as he slowed his pace and then, turning in a quick circle, he lay upon the ground in front of Flack, panting heavily. Curious, Flack could not help but stir at the dog's tongue as it heaved in an out of his mouth, accompanying the loud panting from Shane.

"It is better that you lead the way," said Flack.

Nodding, Shane stood up slowly and, without saying a word, turned and began a gentle run, heading in much the same direction that Flack had been heading. Turning around, Flack trotted off, following the dog, moving at a leisurely canter when he was side by side with Shane. They raced at times, enjoying the freedom, but always watching for any indication of humans.

Moving amongst the trees, Flack noticed that they would occasionally cross well trod trails and that, when they did, Shane moved slower, carefully picking his own way through the terrain, but never ever following one of the trails. They heard bird calls, they smelt the delicate odours of many flowers and plants and, occasionally, they watched the clouds racing along with them. For a little while, all fears and worries were left behind and Flack felt safer and calmer than he had been in an age.

Shane, suddenly veering off in another direction, only interrupted the smoothness of his run and Flack would instantly try to follow and, in doing so, he had almost been sent crashing to the ground on a number of occasions. He knew that Shane was part playing and also seriously avoiding things on the ground. Together they continued their run, their panting and the sound of the unicorns running sounding natural in a slowly darkening sky. And then abruptly, all of the fun was removed from their pressing, yet joyful, pursuit. Flack's flanks began to hurt him once more so that the very movement of the running sent huge, shuddering streams of pain galloping down his sides. The pain became unbearable and he had to stop, drawing himself to a halt close to an area where they was a density of undergrowth that would help provide some cover should there be humans wandering in the area.

Running back toward him, he could see that Shane's features showed that he had a concern upon his face and then, slowing his pace, he began walking the remaining distance toward Flack. As he approached, Flack knew that Shane could see the pain that forced him to wince.

"Serious?" questioned Shane, as he got closer to the unicorn.

Flack nodded in agreement.

"Where?" questioned the dog.

"My sides... Burning pains..." was all that Flack could force out as he fought against his rapid breathing and the pulsating pains shouting through him.

Looking up into Flacks face and then along the near side of Flack, Shane looked back at him, saying, "I see," quietly, through laboured breathing.

"What do you see?" asked Flack, half in anger, half in embarrassment, for he was aware of the ridges... of something... along his flanks. They hurt because that was where the pain was centred and they embarrassed him because neither his mother nor his father had them.

"I don't know," replied Shane, truthfully. "It looks to be some kind of deformity. Does it cause you pain all of the time or are you able to cope with it?"

"The pains are not always there. They come and they go. What do you know of deformities?" Flack asked.

Looking up into Flack's eyes, Shane spoke calmly, saying, "I have witnessed a number of deformed young ones, both animal and human, and the human's had always killed then immediately that the deformity was known. I know that the deformities cause natural death's at a young age or that it interferes too greatly with the day to day survival instincts of the afflicted animal, be it beast or human."

Turning his head away, Flack was both angry and embarrassed by what the dog had said. He felt his whole body trembling and he hoped that the dog thought that it was being caused by the pains in his sides. Flack sensed that Shane had also became embarrassed by the topic of the conversation, as the dog remained quiet and simply walked a little way towards Flack's right side and lay down upon the ground.

Turning toward the dog, Flack could see that he had laid his head upon his outstretched forelegs and stared into the distance, his ears raised as he searched the nearby forest for any signs of danger. The silence continued for a while and Flack was grateful when Shane eventually spoke to him.

"I am sorry for the way I spoke. It is all the knowledge I have on the matter. I thought that you would know the same." And then, trying to ignore those words, he asked, "Is the pain easing up at all?" sincerely and quietly.

"Yes," replied Flack, slowly going down on bent forelegs as he sought to lay upon the ground close to the dog, and ensuring that he was more hidden from any skulking eyes. "As I said, the pains come and go. Sometimes I have no pain at all and can run fast without any soreness troubling me."

"Have you had any other problems or, seemingly, odd occurrences?" Shane questioned.

"No," Flack replied quickly and then, offering some other information, he added, "Yes! Two companions that I was travelling with said that I appeared to be growing at a very increased rate, speaking as if this was a strange occurrence. But this rapid growing has not caused me total pain in itself... only the pain along my sides." Flack stopped and looked deep and hard at Shane, awaiting his reply. None came.

Flack could see that Shane was thinking his own thoughts and, in case any of the thinking was relevant to him, he said quietly and with as much strength in his voice as he could, "What is it that you are thinking? If you have any more knowledge about what ails me then please tell me, I would prefer to know."

Seeing that Shane's expression seemed to show that he was trying to come to a decision, Flack repeated, "I would prefer to know."

Glancing at Flack and then looking away again, Shane began to speak, saying, "You are supposed to be growing too fast and, according to your previous companions, you have accelerated growth? That would fit with the pains that you experience and perhaps the pains are only growing pains. Do you know if that is normal for your kind?"

Shaking his head slowly, Flack caught the quick glance by Shane as he sought out his answer.

"Sometimes," began Shane, "Sometimes, growing at a fast rate is accompanied by rapid aging. I have heard tales of this in the human camp and the results of rapid ageing and rapid growth normally..." Shane paused, keeping his gaze away from Flack, and finished with, "result in early death."

Shane's voice betrayed the fact that he felt very bitter at having to be the one who said these things.

"But it might not be the case?" asked Flack.

"No," sighed Shane, "It might not be the case."

Looking away and through the branches of nearby bushes, Flack felt tears trying to push through because he believed that Shane had not really believed his last statement himself.

"We shall rest a while longer," said Shane. To break the silence, he continued, "I think it would be wise to find a little food for we have at least two days journey ahead of us. Perhaps it would be best to stay here as the night is closing in quickly."

Flack nodded his agreement though, at first, he was going to argue to press on with their journey but the mention of food made him realise that he was very hungry indeed.

"How many seasons are you?" asked Shane, for the sole purpose of keeping a momentum to the recently strained conversation.

"Seasons?" questioned Flack.

"How many," Shane asked.

"How long is a season?" enquired Flack

"There are four seasons to a season group. I am twelve seasons or three season groups," said Shane, as if that which he had just said should explain everything.

Flack remained silent.

"Have you no idea how many seasons you are? Have you no idea of your age?" asked Shane, annoyed that such a simple question should cause so much trouble.

"This is my sixth day of life," said Flack, finally understanding what it was that Shane had been trying to retrieve from him.

Shane stared in honest, total disbelief, leaving Flack feeling that he had said something terribly wrong.

"Six days?" repeated Shane, in a voice that made no effort to disguise his astonishment.

Flack looked back into the dogs eyes and nodded slowly, confused by Shane's reaction.

Shane turned his head upward, looking up to the sky as he, in his mind, tried to come to terms with the fact that, 'Flack is not only deformed, but he is also quite mad.'

Flack tried to ignore the obvious expressions that crept across Shane's face. The silence became stiller, with an eerie tinge to its edges. Flack felt it would be better if he kept his words to himself for a little while.

The silence continued as Shane lay there looking deep in thought, as he pretended that he was trying to go to sleep.

Occasionally his eyes would flicker toward where Flack now lay and then, just as quickly, his eyes would seek out some far part of the sky overhead.

The silence became painful to Flack and he too lifted his head to the sky and, watching a slow cloud drift across the sparking, myriad of stars, Flack looked deeper into the night sky, trying to bury himself amongst the jewelled stars as he tried to ignore the pains in his body that were creeping into his conscious thoughts. The pains screamed into him and he tried harder to stare deeper into the sky, trying to find a place within which he would find refuge from the incessant pains that seemed to have lived with him forever.

Slow tears of pain crept down from his eyes, following the contours of his young face. He was not crying tears of sadness this time, instead the tears were appearing as the pains increased in him, making him want to scream and yet he was holding back his voice because he did not want Shane to see this in case he should doubt that he was with a travelling companion who would not be able to survive the journey ahead. Continuing searching the sky he kept looking for a of sanctuary but then, it seemed as though the sky, with its beautiful jewels, began to fight back against him, as the sky started to hide its jewels as it sent a cloth of deepest black toward him.

The sky seemed to close in around him, the very force of its unseen pressure caused his mind to go black and then... then, he rolled over. In a dreamlike slow motion his neck fell to the ground, to land hard against the grass and wigs, as a deep breath kicked from his young chest as he settled to the earth.

***

The unicorn lay very still on the ground, unmoving and not breathing. Shane stared at the young unicorn in pitiful silence and the silence grew more and more extended until it seemed that it was a long weary whistle. It was a tuneless whistling that seemed to foretell the echo of death itself.

He did not feel the need to cry for the passing of his short-lived friend as he had seen death many times in the time he had spent with the humans. 'And,' thought Shane, 'many of the deaths were not as sudden as this one but were, in fact, long, lingering, painful excursions into terror itself. No, I do not feel like crying for the death for the unicorn called Flack, because death, when it came, had been short and swift.'

"To think the poor, young fool thought he had lived for only six days," said Shane to himself, quietly, and no voice came back to him from the eerie silence to try to argue the point on behalf of the still and silent unicorn.

' _I have seen many horses calved and none have been the size of Flack within six days. I think the poor creature must have had a memory problem and has tried to block out his past. Perhaps, a traumatic event he had not long ago and chased away his early memories...'_

Slowly standing up, Shane gave a final glance at the unicorn and then, abruptly, Shane turned his head, his eyes quickly scanning the area around himself, and he began to walk away. He could do nothing to hide Flack's body from the sight of any passing humans and so he left him there, he left the unicorn in peace and continued walking away.

The majority of the stars hid behind a long, dark cloud and a dull serenity took up its position over the land overhead. Watching the long, black cloud nearing the horizon, he knew that soon it would be morning again and that he would just have to return to his station at the human camp. 'There is every chance that the human's there will not blame me for any part in the death of my master and so my life will be spared.'

Breaking into a faster run he was moving ever quicker away from the place that he had left the unicorn.

The cloud eventually crept over the horizon leaving only a few smaller clouds behind in the sky and Shane's eyes were forever creeping up to look at the many stars that pitted the sky; twinkling and dancing as if they told each other stories to while away the night.

The sight of the clear, crescent of the moon gave him a yearning to howl into the silence of the night but he refrained from this for he did not wish to attract any wandering band of humans who may feel hungry and mistake him for a free running beast.

And so, he joined the very silence of the night and walked on while his mind forever turned to study his knowledge of the unicorn which he had left behind. He had not known the unicorn for a very long time and yet there had been something about the unicorn that was not right, something strange. It was not something evil and he could only decide that, 'It must be the naivety of the mad.'

The darkness grew thicker around him, almost as if it was a touchable, velvet, blanket that was surrounding him and then, suddenly, the moon and stars all vanished from the sky. And then he realised that the moon and stars were not all that had vanished. The sky had disappeared altogether. Above him there were no stars, no clouds, there was nothing. There was an immense blackness that seemed to too heavy to remain above him and he felt as though something dark was about to come crashing down on him. Going walking forward, he saw that the ground seemed to somehow emit an eerie glow; lighting his path through the forest and casting shadows in strange positions. He walked on trying to ignore the occurrences that were going on around him, thinking, 'I must be tired, perhaps the events of the day have just been too much for me.'

Continuing to run forward, Shane slowed his pace a little as he realised that the ground seemed to be fading, though he felt as though he was running on something solid. The eerie glow from the ground began increasing until the shapes of trees and grass began to fade from sight. The faint blue light which emanated from below him was not a bright light but still the objects around him faded into nothingness.

The hair along his neck stood up and his skin prickled with fear. He had never experienced anything such as this before; something was greatly wrong and he did not know what.

Panic gripped him, and began to run faster again, his heart pounding and his eyes searching for a welcome return of the stars above or the trees before him, or anything that could restore his mind to calm... a cloud, a plant, or another animal. But there was nothing, only the velvet blackness, a piteous shroud that, though scaring him, did not seem to want to harm him, yet, and the eerie blue glow that was the ground underfoot.

He continued his running and his heart continued its pounding. His eyes continued searching; as the eyes of a wild beast would search for prey, or a place to hide from danger. He knew he ran through this void, this darkness, even though he could no longer feel the ground beneath him and then, glancing behind him in case he was being chased, he saw his paw prints, looking like they were made in a snow... 'Only, there is no snow, only the blue light...'

He wondered, 'Perhaps, I have lost my sight, somehow, someway?' but thought, 'No, my eyes are working fine, I know they are.' Looking upwards into the heavy blackness, he felt he could almost make out some kind of detail hidden there but, try as hard as he could, he could not get his eyes to fix on something that was different from its surroundings. He felt as though his eyes were working fine and that, if he looked long enough, then he would be able to reach through the blackness and rediscover the stars that he knew were up there somewhere. 'I know it has a tangible depth. I can feel the depth within it. I know this even if I am only seeing the blackness.'

And then, suddenly the moon and the stars leapt back into his eyes, and his feet could feel solid ground once again, feeling as though without moving he had slammed fairly hard down upon something solid. He stopped his running, his panting breaths shaking through his body and the, now tangible, night. 'Everything is as it was. The stars above, the clouds, the trees...'

And, as he looked upon a place that he recognised, he saw the trees, the bushes, and a particular arrangement of rocks. He was confused and when his eyes turned towards the ground to the left of him, he saw something else; something that forced a gasp of surprise from his lips. It was something that he was certainly not expecting to see.

"How can the unicorn be here?" he said out loud, hearing the disbelief in his own voice.

Then, as the first shock delivered his return to reality, he had another shock. It was the Unicorns voice, soft and weak.

"Shane...? Shane...? Are you still there?" There was a pause then, again, "Shane, are you there?"

Shane was panicky, nervous and overawed, leaving him in a stunned silence. His mind could not begin to perceive what had happened to him, 'And Flack is not dead. He lives! The unicorn has somehow been brought back to life or,' he pondered, 'had the unicorn really been dead when I left him? After all, I had not checked if the unicorn had still been breathing, I had just assumed that when the unicorn tumbled to the ground that the tumble had been the last remnants of life ebbing from the unicorn's young body.'

He knew he could not have walked in some huge, giant circle. 'I could not have done that, of that I am sure. And what had happened to the stars, the clouds, and the ground?'

"Shane? Shane?" came the whispering of an insistent, pitiful voice, breaking him from his train of thought, his reverie. This time he replied.

"I'm here," he whispered to the unicorn.

"What happened?" questioned Flack.

"I'd like to know the answer to that myself." Shane dwelt a little on that which had happened and decided, almost instantly, that it would be far better for him to try not to question the events that had taken place.

"Water," whispered the voice of Flack through the silence of the night. Shane noted that, somehow, the unicorn's voice held an eerie quality of determination in its weakness.

"I'll find some," Shane replied immediately, grateful to be doing something other than thinking about that which had happened.

He turned to run but stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes could not believe what he was seeing before him. 'A tree? I see a tree with a cascade of gentle water running from a large branch, tumbling toward the ground and yet never reaching the ground but instead, at about a paw's height above the soil, it merely vanishes. No water is reaching the ground!'

Shane was fast beginning to doubt his own sanity in much the same way that he doubted the unicorns. And so, in his own mind, he decided to accept it all as a dream, and just go along with dream. 'I will fetch the water for the Unicorn and then, later, I will wake up. For the moment, I will live the dream.'

Moving warily toward the falling water, he slowly pushed his snout into the water, trying to convince himself that what he was seeing was real. 'Even in a dream there can be dreams,' he thought. He began to lap at the falling water, gathering it within his mouth and throat, preparing to take it to the unicorn and allow it to spill into the Unicorn's mouth.

The water was cool and refreshing, though it had a hint of a taste that Shane could not identify. 'I hope it is not poisoned!'

Turning around and moving slowly toward the unicorn, he was surprised to see the unicorn sitting up and watching him. Perplexed, he made his way toward the unicorn and, as he stopped before the unicorn, he saw the unicorn push his head forward, tilting it to the side a little and then, moving his own mouth above the unicorn, he opened his mouth and allowed the water to fall. He could see the unicorns tongue pulling the falling water into his mouth and, when the water stopped, Shane turned around and returned to the water source and gathered another supply. Returning to the unicorn he allowed the water to fall into the unicorn's mouth again.

His mind blank, Shane returned for more water and repeated the same small trip many times until, when he was about to return for more water, he was stopped by the unicorn speaking to him.

"Is anything wrong?" asked Flack. "You don't look very awake just yet."

"No, I'm fine," came Shane's reply. He was wide-awake, he knew that, but he just could not believe that he was not in some strange dream. 'I have had a few of them in the past,' he thought, recalling the time when he had licked a fungus plant. Shivering at the recollection of that dream, Shane saw the images in which he saw himself dying and returning to life in human form, becoming the very creature that he despised and feared above all others.

The unicorn responded well to the water that he had managed to get to it and, for a while, the two of them simply lay there in silence, Shane thinking his own confusing thoughts and believing that the unicorn was doing the same.

"I'll just browse around for some food," said Flack, as he stood up and trotted off with not a care in the world.

Shane was trying to put pieces together and was failing, miserably. 'The unicorn seems to have no recollection of collapsing, or is simply trying to forget it as he has his own past. The unicorns face betrayed no recollection or concern for what has happened! Then again,' thought Shane, 'he did not have to go through the vanishing sky and ground...'

Shane's face, however, was not one that was exactly carefree as he mumbled to himself. 'Six days old! Dead yesterday, alive today! And he does seem to have grown since the time he collapsed! I leave him dead... I walk away and then find myself returned to where I left him... I called 'him' mad! I am beginning to think that I am the one who is mad!'

With these thoughts in his mind, Shane flopped, uncaring, to the floor and just lay there, with his tongue hanging out as he panted heavily. Then, disturbing his silent reverie, a bee came gently buzzing around him, swaying widely in the light breeze beneath an early morning sun, moving toward him, then away from him and then back again. Shane showed a complete disinterest in the little insect as it continued dancing lazily in the light breeze. The bee would not have this and shot forward towards his left ear, were it began a deafening buzzing. Shaking his head, Shane tried to ward off the little creature, letting it know that his body was not a thing to land upon and it would move violently to prevent it resting.

Flying away for a second, the bee returned to Shane's ear and increased the volume and intensity of its buzzing. Shaking his head once again, Shane stood up and, trotting a little distance away he lay down once again, hoping that the annoying bee would get the message and leave him alone. He knew that the bee had no intention of leaving him alone when it came flying around in front of his face, being buffeted in the breeze a little for a moment, before racing forward and buzzing loudly in his ear once again. Shane made no attempt to shake his head as he believed that it would make the bee go away. 'I wonder if I have walked through flowers and have got some pollen upon my coat?' he thought, trying to ignore the incessant noises the bee made as it swooped in toward his ear and then away again before returning.

The bee appeared to be getting annoyed at Shane's lack of interest in its activity and, peeling away and flying in a small circle, the bee landed on Shane's head between his ears and, as he never flinched, he could feel the movement of the bee as it began to walk down Shane's face. Walking down between the dog's eyes the bee proceeded to make its way towards Shane's nose when, just before it got there, it stopped and turned around. The bee now had Shane's attention as he almost went cross-eyed in trying to focus on the bee. It was difficult to focus but he did the best that he could.

Then, quite suddenly, the bee spoke, simply saying, "What's the trouble, Shane?"

Shane replied sarcastically, in his thoughts, 'Oh, nothing. Everything is just fine.'

The bee replied, saying, "Good, keep it that way... and don't you worry, stay with Flack and all will be well."

"Eh?" Shane was startled and his sudden movement caused the bee to fly up from his nose.

Leaping to his feet and beginning to run off after Flack, Shane thought, 'I'm mad. I'm going quite mad,' he said to himself. 'I have just been talking to a bee!'

His mind told him, 'It is impossible for beasts to talk to any of the insects!' "It's all a bad dream," he said to himself, increasing his speed in pursuit of the unicorn.

Catching a hold of Flack's scent he bolted off in that direction, his eyes looking suspiciously at a number of bees that he saw moving about nearby flower heads.

***

Behind him, and high in a tree, a lone bee hung delicately to a leaf that swayed gently in the breeze. Then, suddenly, the bee leapt into action; up into the air, its powerful wings beating a well played rhythm on the zephyrs, as it set off on the trail that Shane had followed only moments before. The bee was following along the path of Shane and Flack.

***

Feeling immensely happier as he moved along his chosen path, Shane felt his fears and apprehensions beginning to wash away from him. Huge yellow flowers that littered the grass in front of him seemed to sway in a carefree happy way. 'This,' Shane reflected, 'is more natural and normal than...' And then he noticed upon one of the huge yellow flowers that stood as high as his head that there was a lone bee that was busy upon its work of delicate honey collecting and accidental cross-pollination. He stopped and moved closer to the flower.

"Hello," he said, moving his snout closer to the active and busy bee. The bee never flinched in any obvious way and serenely carried on upon its ritualistic task. Shane was not surprised when he never received a reply. For the sake of it he placed his head so that his snout was only a tiny distance away from the bee and, again, he said "Hello?" This time the bee responded, if only by flying up and across to calculate a landing on another flower head.

Shane was satisfied. 'Bees cannot talk to beasts and beasts could not talk to insects,' and, as he stood there thinking that thought, a voice came from behind him.

"Talking to the flowers, are we?"

Turning quickly around, Shane looked upon the enormous bulk of Flack, for an instant not recognising the unicorn because he seemed so much bigger than he recalled.

Shane felt slightly embarrassed, but Flack prevented any more of this by asking, "Well, which way is Essilon?"

"This way," said Shane, and with that turned once again and set off once again upon their journey; a journey that Shane had not long ago thought to be one that was to be attempted by only one of them; to forever remain uncompleted by the other. "Come on," urged Shane, calling for Flack to follow him.

Flack immediately responded and set off in the direction that Shane was travelling. He held his huge head in the air and the wind ran in small currents along his body, caressing him gently, making him feel a little better.

***

Behind them, a bee continued to work upon the flowers, always quickly moving on to the next, always heading in the direction along which the two beasts had just disappeared.

The bees wings beat a gentle throbbing upon the zephyrs and played a peaceful, gentle sound around the trees, shrubs, grass and flowers... and somewhere not too distant, humans went about their business of survival by the cruellest means.

### NUMBERS

### 19 - Numbers I - One Two by Two

The two, as one, journeyed on for two days and for two nights and still they had not reached Essilon. On the third day it began to rain. Flack became frightened by this strange phenomenon. It was the first time he had ever experienced rainfall and yet, somewhere in his mind, he felt as though it were not; he felt as though he knew of rain, terrible rain, and he knew that they could be deadly and even though he could not explain his feeling he felt sure that it would be nothing that Shane could answer for him and so he did not raise the subject.

Flack felt sure that Shane had seen his nervousness from the moment clouds began to gather overhead, blocking out the frail sunshine that had pierced the canopy occasionally and the brighter sun that had been replaced by dark clouds when they had raced through their last clearing. At first it was only the clouds but, now that rain had begun to fall, driving its way through the protective canopy of the forest, Flack had found his anxiousness increased many times.

By Shane not mentioning Flack's increasing change in mood, Flack was grateful because it would not be anything that he could explain. 'Perhaps, that is all it is, the rains are new to me and it is the newness of them that makes me feel apprehensive. Shane does not appear to be worried by the rains and so then neither should I'

He knew that he had been stopping and pawing and stamping the ground each time their seemed to be a darker tinge to the air as the black clouds coverage of the skies became more complete. There was no way that Shane had not seen the powerful worry build up in him and he must have realised that the darker the sky became the more regular he stamped and pawed at the ground with nervous anticipation, as if he was expecting something more to invade the air. Then, with a sudden burst of lightning, there came a loud shout from Flack and, as the thunder bellowed almost immediately after, Flack bolted away and ran directly for the nearest group of trees and shrubs.

Shane could not keep pace with the incredibly fast gallop and had to allow Flack to charge ahead, hoping that the unicorn would not trip or collide with anything hidden in the darkness. Not long after, Shane too had reached the trees which Flack had chosen as his refuge from the on-coming storm.

Panting heavily, Flack stood there with his body soaked with the rain which had come screaming from the sky just after the thunder had echoed his loud moan across the countryside, and he watched the eyes of the dog that came running to him, seeing the look of concern and worry and, more importantly, puzzlement, on his features.

With Shane continuing to stare at him in amazed awe, Flack watched him as he shook his coat, sending streams of waves outward from his body in waves, and then begin advancing closer towards the huge towering, shivering frame of Flack. Looking down at Shane, with his fear obvious in his face but more so within his eyes, Flack blinked and then slowly turned his head away from the gaze of the dog, feeling embarrassed.

***

Flack's haunted look never once flinched as Shane began speaking to him. "The rain comes often. It does no harm to you. It is the same as when you bath in a pool or a stream."

Shane could see the unicorn trying to visibly relax, trying to take comfort from the words of the dog but Shane felt that it was not so much his words which had brought comfort to the nervous unicorn but more so the fact that Shane himself was not in the least bit distraught by the occurrence of the heavy rain.

"We shall await here till it ceases," said the unicorn, looking at him though he could not help but continue to stamp his forelegs upon the ground.

In the silence that followed, Shane could hear the hard, rapid pitter-patter of the rain that broke through the canopy above and was striking the bushes around them.

Moving closer to the unicorn, Shane lay down on the ground, curling his body around in a spot where he had detected less rain drops striking the ground. 'We will just have to wait here until the weather improves and Flack has some confidence before moving on. It would be dangerous to try and move through the trees at this time as we are bound to be seen by humans who themselves will probably be camped down during the storm. We would be the only thing moving in the forest and would easily be observed...'

Peering ahead through the trees, Shane heard the unicorn move a little before lying down upon the ground close by. The silence continued and Shane just listened to the continuing noise of the rain striking leaves and the ground around him. In some place, there appeared to be a grey mist between the trees but he knew that it was only places where the rain was piercing the canopy in abundance and sending a deluge towards the ground. 'It's like seeing waterfalls in the forest,' he thought.

And, as Shane continued listening to the rain he became aware of another rhythmic sound coming from the forest. His ears went straight up, twisting slightly as he tried to locate the direction of the sound and then, suddenly jumping to his feet, crouching low, he could not help the snarl that came from his lips.

"What is it?" asked the unicorn, from behind him.

"Humans," replied Shane, regaining his composure, forcing himself to analyse the sounds that assaulted his senses and then, recognising the dull thuds that began to separate from the sound of the rain, he said, "The humans are building something. No other creature makes those sounds. But why are they doing it now? Humans normally prefer to shelter form the rains?"

Hearing only silence from the unicorn, Shane said, "I will return soon. I only want to check on what they are doing and make sure it is not a trap for the likes of you or me."

"I will come with you," said Flack.

Hearing the unicorn getting to his feet, Shane was about to tell him to remain but decided that, 'Although it may be curiosity that drives the unicorn, he will still have to walk beneath the storm. So, he is being brave as well as cautious and if we have need to race from this area it is better that he is stronger in the face of the thunder and lightning.'

"Follow me," whispered Shane, slowly moving forward, crouching low to make himself as invisible as possible and then, realising that it would be pointless as the unicorn could not do the same and would still present a large target, he began trotting forward slowly, his nose occasionally skimming the ground as he searched for any scents that may give him a clue as to what the human's were doing.

The rain pounded hard against him at times as he made his way through the trees, always heading roughly in the direction that he wanted and making small adjustments when he saw areas that looked as though they would help conceal the unicorn from eyes that were ahead of them.

The noises grew louder, clearly evident against the backdrop of rain, as Shane thought, 'They are hammering frantically. What is it that they are doing?'

Slowing his pace, Shane halted, listening to the sounds in the forest while peering through the trees and then, in the distance to his right, he caught his first sign of movement.

Whispering, he said, "There are many humans. They have much wood that they are using to construct something with. These are the red humans; I can see glimpses of the colours they wear, though their clothes are darkened by the soaking rain."

"Should we move away from this area?" said the voice of the unicorn from behind him.

"We should, but I want to see more," replied Shane. "The rain will make it difficult for the humans to see us clearly and by the evidence before me I would say that they are too busy with what they are doing to be looking around the forest for the likes of us."

Instinctively crouching lower, while disregarding Flack's inability to do so, Shane began moving forward again, suddenly breaking into a quick run and racing towards a large clump of bushes. Above the sound of the rain, he could hear Flack's footsteps when he increased his own speed. Although it seemed loud, Shane knew that it would be heard by the humans, 'Not with the commotion being made with their constant hammering.'

The rain was easily getting through the canopy in this area and Shane realised that whatever the humans were constructing it must be going up into the canopy of the trees.

"I want to circle around," whispered Shane, adding, "Please try to keep quiet. It is wetter on the ground in this area so try to go where the soil is like mud as it will hide the sound of your footsteps, but just be careful in case you slip..." Without waiting for a reply, Shane raced off to his left, his head being constantly turned towards the signs of human activity as he ran, 'If I keep this distance away from them then we should be safe.'

Glancing behind, he was surprised that the unicorn was so close to him, 'He is following my advice and ensuring that he is quiet. I only hope that the humans do not see him moving amongst the trees, though I doubt they would be interested...'

Pulling himself to a halt, Shane had seen something that he was expecting to see but it still shocked him to the core. Before him was the evidence of the power of the humans.

"What is it?" asked the unicorn, moving slowly to stand beside him.

Looking at the immense rain-obscured bulk upon the ground, Shane replied, "It is a dragon. It is a dead dragon!"

"What is a dragon?" asked Flack.

"They are strange creatures," whispered Shane, "And I had not heard of any in this new land. I know they existed in the land from where I came but I did not know that they were actually in this land."

"What is this land and what is the old land?" Flack asked.

Hearing the puzzlement in the unicorn's voice, Shane replied, "They are a creature from the old land and it is believed that they are not of Earth, that they come from beyond the stars."

"Where is this old land?" Flack asked.

"I am not sure," replied Shane, "One night I was in my human camp sleeping and was awoken in the morning to the sounds of excitement and noise. There was tension in the camp because of the appearance of a large blue light against a giant tree that was at the centre of the camp.

It aroused great curiosity in me, as well as the humans, and I went to investigate it and it was the strangest thing I have ever seen. I could not smell it, I could only see it and, as it did not give off heat or cold I touched it with my nose, expecting to strike the solidness of the tree but I did not."

"What was it?" Flack asked.

"I do not know," replied Shane, "One moment I was looking at it and the next moment I was sore and dizzy. One of the humans in the camp had come up behind me and kicked me but instead of crashing into the tree that stood behind the blue light I was pushed through into this place, this new land."

"What happened then?"

"After being disorientated for a moment, I found myself in another place, a beautiful place and, as I looked around, one of my brothers came through the blue light. His name was Arrow, but he had not been kicked through the portal, he had come after me and then, after looking around for a few moments, Arrow walked back toward the blue light and then vanished.

He had returned to the old land and when he came back a few moments later he was immediately followed by a human who, after trying to maintain his balance, turned and ran back through the blue light. For a while, I thought about remaining in this beautiful place but the thoughts of my family made me want to return and, as I was about to, another human came through. Soon he was joined by three others and these others made a fire camp and scouted around the area.

Eventually, two of them returned through the blue light and then, slowly, all of the members of the human camp came through, bringing their weapons and tools with them and began to set up a new camp. No sooner had the last human come through and then the blue light began to shrink and though one human ran toward it he never reached it in time and it simply shrank out of existence."

Shane paused, his eyes watching the bulk of the dragon and, after a little while, he saw the arrival of four humans who began moving around the body of the dead beast.

"They are taking a wing," whispered Shane.

"What do you mean?" Flack asked.

"It is an old trick of the humans from the old land," began Shane. "When they killed a dragon they would take its wings and place them in the tree tops, a little distance from a crude, wooden tower that they had built and camouflaged."

"Why?" Flack asked.

"So they can lure another dragon in towards the wing. The dragon would think it was another of their kind in distress and would come to investigate and, once they came close enough, the humans would fire their arrows and spears from the hidden tower that they waited upon. But they have to use the wings of a dead dragon quickly and that is why they are in a hurry to construct this tower."

"Why, what for?" Flack asked.

"Because once a dragon dies the body begins to disintegrate. It happens to no other creature on the planet, only to dragons."

"Why only the dragons?"

"It is said that it is because they are not of the Earth, it is something that I was told a long, long time ago," replied Shane. "There are legends tied to the dragons and the legends tell of their arrival here with another race of creatures in a time long since forgotten."

A sudden, joyous cheer from the humans interrupted Shane's thoughts and, looking towards the bulk of the dragon, he saw a large shape beginning to move separately from the main mass.

"The humans have cut away a wing. They will be getting ready to pull it up into the tree tops. Come, we should be away from here because once the humans have their trap set, and have men in the tower, then the remaining humans will most likely be moving about and roaming the forest close to them, looking for fresh food for themselves. It is best that we are not seen."

Turning, Shane began moving past Flack, heading back the way that they had came. Knowing that Flack was behind him and that the dull light and rain would be hiding them, he began increasing his speed, knowing that they were moving away from the central mass of humans. 'I hope that there are no other humans wandering nearby.'

After a little while, Shane reached the area where they had lain when they had first seen the humans and, although tempted to stop, a shift in the light towards darkness told him that it was best that they get some more distance between them and the humans before they tried to settle for the night. 'I hope we can find somewhere that is dry.'

"Are you all right," he called back to the unicorn, slightly concerned because Flack had not spoken since they had last spoken of the dragons.

"I am fine," Flack had replied, offering no other words to Shane.

Nodding, Shane said, "It is best that we keep moving for a little while longer while there is enough light to see what is ahead of us."

Flack made no reply and, without looking back, Shane increased his speed, beginning to race amongst the trees, his eyes ever vigilant and his ears only occasionally hearing the sound of the unicorn's hoof-beats thudding on the wet and damp ground behind him. Shane noticed that the unicorn made no attempt to race past him and go charging into the distance.

'It is good that we are running as it makes talking difficult,' he thought.

Maintaining his pace, Shane only began to slow down when the light shifted dramatically and he was sure that night time would soon be absolute. His eyes began feverishly scanning the area ahead, looking for places of shelter and even as he did this, he felt the ground underneath him change and become more solid and resisting to his paws. Coming to a halt, he saw that he was on a large piece of stone that only just pierced through the soil. It was a gigantic slab and, as he watched the rain being washed away down a sloping side, he turned to his left and began to move across the slab and saw that he was standing on a piece of rock that was lifted away from the ground. 'It is fortunate that I did not carry on running across this slab. It is only a small drop but the surprise could have cost me and the unicorn dearly.'

"What is it," the unicorn asked from behind him.

"I am not sure. Perhaps we may have found some shelter for the night," replied Shane, turning left and running along the edge of the slab before turning right when the rock began burying itself back into the ground. The unicorn's hoof beats were loud upon the stone slab and Shane hoped that the unicorn would quickly follow him off the slab and back onto the soil.

Racing along beside the slab, Shane could see that the rock jutted out of the ground at an angle, creating an overhang. 'A place to rest for the night,' thought Shane, as he began to turn to move beneath the giant slab of rock.

Trying to pull himself to a rapid halt, Shane could not stop himself as he saw the heavily red-clothed figure that suddenly turned and lashed out at him with a foot. With an agonising yelp, Shane took a forceful blow on the lower right side of his neck, the power behind the kick sending him spinning back and crashing to the ground. Shaking his head, he saw the red-clothed human move toward him and suddenly stop and then, as the human turned to his left, the full force of Flack's horn rammed into the human's stomach, sending him flying back through the air, landing with a heavy thump on the damp ground.

Clutching his stomach, the red-clothed human took hold of something and pointed toward the foreleg stamping Flack. A red beam or light erupted from the device in the strange human's hand and, as Flack leapt to the side, Shane saw the red light catch Flack's side, making the unicorn shout in pain.

Scrambling to his feet while ignoring his own pain, Shane was about to leap toward the red-clothed human, whose scent he now recognised, but was stopped by a sudden shrieking, screaming sound that began emitting from the human's lips.

The red-clothed human's head began to violently move from side to side and, as the sound of the scream reached a crescendo, the figure suddenly burst into flames, screaming in agony and, as the evil figure burnt, Shane saw it seem to change shape, elongating its limbs before, with a sudden flash of intense light, the figure vanished, taking the mournful screaming with it.

"What was that?" came Flack's voice, invading Shane's stupefied mind.

Shaking his head, Shane replied, saying, "I do not know. I thought it was a human. I thought it was Koo-tansee, the strange human who joined my human camp a little time ago. No, I know it was him, I recognised his strange, horrible scent. But what was he? I have never seen that happen to a human in all of my life!"

"What is this?" said Flack, taking Shane's mind away from his confused thoughts.

Looking at Flack, Shane saw that he was pawing the ground just in front of him and so Shane moved towards the strange object that blinked with strange lights of red and green. Standing and looking down at the object, Shane was completely puzzled by what he saw. "Human's only use tools for making things, breaking things and firing arrows. I have never seen anything as small and detailed as this. How does it make the lights blink? The only lights I have seen with humans have been ground fires and grass torches. I do not know what this is or what its purpose is."

Studying the shiny black surface of the object, Shane was trying to determine what might be the meaning of the strange markings upon the object when, suddenly, Flack's foreleg flashed into view, his hoof driving down and smashing the object into a number of pieces.

Jumping back, Shane watched as Flack struck again at a piece of the object which still held a blinking red light illuminating upon it. After a few more pounding hoof strikes, there were no more strange blinking lights and the object now existed in a multitude of pieces, some stranger than others.

"What are the strange bits that have come from inside the outer shell of this thing?" asked Shane.

"I do not know," said Flack, "But it was evil and had to be destroyed."

Glancing up at the unicorn, Shane had become aware of the pain in the unicorn's voice and then recalled that a red beam had struck out from the strange object, striking him upon his side.

"Are you all right?" asked Shane, concern in his voice but, before the unicorn could reply, Shane saw the unicorn begin to sway a little before he went crashing to the ground. The unicorn's legs jerked as he came to rest and, as Shane shouted, "Flack!" he saw the unicorn's eyes flicker for a moment before slowly closing.

"Flack?" repeated Shane and even though he got no reply, he saw the unicorn's chest moving slowly.

'At least he is breathing,' thought Shane, quickly raising his ears to see if the sounds of the dying strange red-clothed human had been heard and was bringing unwanted attention on the place they were now. Hearing only the rain, Shane continued listening for a few moments before relaxing, thinking, 'It is good that we are far from the humans with the dragon.'

Bolting off to his left, Shane raced back up onto the top of the slab and began looking around the area for any sign of movement amongst the nearby trees. Searching between almost every tree, Shane was eventually satisfied that there were no humans moving in their direction.

Racing along the slab and then jumping down to the ground when it was close enough, Shane saw the shape of Flack lying on his side. Trotting towards him, Shane sniffed at the unicorn, smelling the hot breath as Flack exhaled. Satisfied that the unicorn was sleeping, Shane turned and moved toward the overhanging slab where, after turning around to face the unicorn, he lay down.

With his eyes on the unicorn, Shane kept his ears keen while listening for any strange sounds in the night, though he knew that there was little chance of humans moving around now that night was settling in. The rain continued falling upon the ground beyond the overhang and, though Shane was dry, he thought, 'I wish I could drag the unicorn out of the rain and out of sight, but I do not have the strength.'

The darkness of the night became complete and Shane continued lying there, watching the unicorn even when all he could see was a silhouette rising slightly against the backdrop of the forest floor. Eventually, the night was complete and while he was listening to the continuing pitter-patter of the rain hitting the soil and the unicorn, he fell asleep.

When the morning came, the rain had stopped and there was a heavy, dew mist hanging around the forest, making it difficult to see the immediate area. Looking down at Flack, Shane had remained there for a little while after having woken and going over to the unicorn to see if he was still breathing. At first, Shane could see no movement in the chest of the unicorn but when a moisture filled breath slowly crept from the unicorn's mouth, he was relieved to know that the unicorn still lived.

' _Strange it was that Flack had been so scared of the rain, particularly when he was brave enough to face the humans and yet somehow, the rain... scared him. As if it were the first time he had ever seen the rain! It is almost as if Flack is telling the truth when he claims to have been only six days in life!'_

Shane ceased this thinking abruptly as it was only serving more to confuse him. He remained standing beside the unicorn while, for the fourth time, he used his snout to push the unicorns head, trying to elicit a response from the sleeping creature. Flack's head was heavy but, as before, he managed to push it slightly up from the ground before allowing it to rock back into the same position it had been in for the whole of the night.

Suddenly, almost with a shocking violence, the pitter-patter of the rain ceased, leaving behind an incredible silence that immediately made Shane feel nervous and tense. High above the tree tops, he saw a brightness begin to pierce his dim world and he knew that the sun had broken though the clouds at last and he relaxed a little. The brightness increased and amongst the distant trees he saw sun beams piercing the canopy and striking down through the mist and touching the ground, warming the soil. The sun beams were appearing all around and he hoped that some would come toward himself and the unicorn and then, as he thinking this, sun beams did come striking the tip of the slab and the ground immediately around the overhang. Shane felt the warmth immediately, basking in the pleasant feeling that it gave to his body.

Glancing at Flack, he saw a thin steam rising from the body of the unicorn as the warmth of the sun began to dry his body. 'Funny, it seems that the sun's rays are concentrated on him. It is lucky he collapsed where he did,' thought Shane. 'Drying him quickly will be good and, hopefully, he will awaken soon. We are still too close to the humans for safety!'

Lost in a trance, Shane continued staring at the rising steam from Flack's body while his ears remained alert for any sound that could show him that their presence had been detected by the humans. It seemed like an eternity before the sudden movement of Flack moving his head brought Shane eye's into focus on something other than the rising steam. Looking at the unicorn, Shane saw Flack blink a number of times, raise his neck and shake his head a little.

"Hi," said the unicorn, as he caught sight of Shane standing looking at him.

Suddenly jerking his body, Flack got himself sitting upright and began looking around the area.

"The rain has stopped," said Flack, immediately trying to get to his feet and, as he hauled himself up onto all fours, he added, "The sun feels really warm."

Backing away a little, Shane thought, 'Has he grown since last night or have I just got used to looking at him lying down for so long?'

"I am hungry," said Flack.

Looking up at the unicorn, Shane replied, "We will go in search of food. The area seems quiet and I have heard no sounds of humans in the area. How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine?" replied Flack, shaking his head a little and then turned his head to look around the immediate area. Then he said, "Listen!"

Shane tilted his head, looking around the area, trying to hear what Flack was referring to and then the sound came to him. 'Such a natural sound and I missed it because I was spending all my time listening for the sounds of humans.'

Shane allowed the warmth of the sun rays to bath him as he concentrated on the rare sound of a bird singing. He knew that Flack was listening as well and so, cancelling out all other sounds, he listened to the bird song, hearing the words delivered by the creature as it greet such a beautiful morning.

"The sun begins to shine

And newness fills the day.

No humans live in sight of us

And the trees grow taller.

The flowers dance and dry their eyes,

For the day is good,

And much good can happen."

The song of the distant bird continued, repeating over and over, again and Shane felt that it brought as much cheer and warmth to Flack as it did to himself.

Beginning to walk away from the slab, Shane watched Flack climb the small rise that bordered the area in which they had spent the night. Shrugging his shoulders, Shane followed Flack up the rise and saw, ahead of Flack, an area where the whole ground looked to be lit up by the sunlight. 'It looks to be a clearing over there. Perhaps there will be fruit there.'

Giving a quick burst of speed, Shane caught up the slow moving unicorn and trotted along at his side, thinking, 'He definitely seems bigger than yesterday.'

"Are you all right after the attack on the strange human last night?" Shane asked.

"I am fine," replied Flack, without slowing his pace or looking at Shane, and then he asked, "How are you? The strange human kicked you very hard."

"I am fine. A little bruised but that is all, it will pass."

They were nearing the brightly lit clearing and then, just before they moved out into the clearing itself, Shane asked, "Did the human not strike you as being strange?"

"He was a human. He is just another who kills for pleasure and not need. I have only met a few and the situations all seem to be the same. If you do not kill them then you are the one who will be killed."

"Did he not seem stranger than other humans; the way he died, bursting into flames and what about the strange object?" Shane asked.

"I had not seen those things before but I would assume they are characteristic of some humans and not of others," replied Flack.

Shane had come to a halt beside Flack, who had stopped moving once he was a body length into the bright sunlit clearing.

Shane wanted to ask more questions about what Flack had thought about the strange object that was in the possession of the human. 'Did the weapon do any damage to you when it struck you? You seem fine, but why are you so unconcerned about such strange events? Perhaps' thought Shane, 'you really do not know the ways of the world and the humans. Perhaps you have not enough knowledge to know that what happened last night was truly a mystery of the greatest magnitude!'

"Look," said Flack, interrupting Shane's thoughts, "There is food upon the ground over there."

Watching Flack beginning to walk towards the right edge of the clearing, Shane decided that it would be worthless pursuing the subject of last night's events as the unicorn did not seem the least bit interested in them.

Standing watching the unicorn eating the freshly fallen fruit, Shane himself tried a piece but the taste was not totally to his liking, even going as far as to make his eyes close involuntarily due to the bitterness of the flavour.

Hunger made him eat a little but it was easy for him to convince himself that he was full up after a small time spent fighting with the taste. Lifting his head, he scanned the area around him. He could no longer the bird singing and concentrated on the sounds of the forests. After a few moments, he was happy that he had not heard the clumsy attempts of humans trying to move quietly through the trees, 'though there are those who are very skilful at moving quietly though the forest.'

Content to let Flack finish eating till he was full, Shane lay down, his ears ever alert as he basked in the sun, his panting loud, but every so often he would suddenly stop, listening keenly for any sounds of humans. He was relieved when Flack walked back towards him, obviously sated and ready to move on.

And, as they stood there in a sanctuary of peacefulness, Shane suddenly shouted out, "Essilon!"

### 20 - Numbers II – The Three Peaks

The unicorn startled and then, as Shane watched, he saw the unicorn cast his gaze back behind him, following the direction that Shane was looking in.

"There, the three peaks! Up there, in the mountain range, behind those peaks, there lays Essilon," Shane shouted out, almost hysterically. "I recognise the pattern of the mountains; it is what was described to me!"

Shane began to cry. The obsession with the journey broke him down as the relief at seeing the 'Three Peaks' let fade all of his doubts and worries. 'It has been such a dream to come this far to a place where I can see my goal; to be reunited with my brothers and sisters. I never thought that I would ever reach this place and I cannot believe that it was always in sight of me, only hidden by the trees that I spent my days beneath!'

Clinging to his hopes of meeting those beast's who were very special to him, he could not help let his desires and wishes race into his mind, 'And this place may well be the place where I can be re-united with my brothers and sisters. Essilon is the place that they sought out! I was not able to leave with them because I had a duty; I never thought that I would ever get the chance to see them again!'

Standing still and gazing upon the peaks with respect, Shane knew that the shapes in the distant sky were where the journey would end, 'And yet, I feel Flack senses that this would be the place where his own journey would really begin.'

Basking in the nearness of their goal, Shane began to eat grass, watching Flack do the same, each silent in their own thoughts. They were enjoying a meal and ensuring that they made sure that their stomachs were in good health before they set out to complete the final march of their pilgrimage, for it would be hard to find food to eat as they approached the mountains of Essilon. 'There is not much to be found amongst the rocks and sand that lead to the mountains themselves, this I have heard.'

The rain still hung upon the grass and, to Shane, the rain added to the taste that he was enjoying. He began to like the rain and began to appreciate that it had many mysteries, many frightening characteristics, and many beautiful uses.

Eventually, they were walking again, heading towards the peaks, although all they were doing was walking across a sun blessed clearing. 'Soon,' Shane thought, 'we will be crossing the final stretch of land that will deliver us to the kingdom of the beasts, a place where a 'Great One' would save our world and make life a more beautiful river to swim within.'

He knew that, even before they reached the peaks, they would have at least another full day of travel. Most of the land that they would have to cross consisted of a long, brown, barren plane, which seemed to be almost totally devoid of all colours other than the many shades of brown that constantly crept across the face of any desert.

Once they had crossed the plane, then it would be a stiff climb, up amongst rocky crags and boulders. Shane was aware of this and it was a part of their journey that he was not looking forward to. 'It is believed that there is a secret path mapped out for all animals to follow and that, whenever any beast neared the beginning of the path, then they would know of its existence. But what would stop the humans from following the same path? How could the path be kept secret from the humans? There are many beasts that are far larger than the biggest human, so how would the path be big enough for them and yet be able to remain hidden from the humans?'

These same thoughts had puzzled Shane in the past and, whenever he had not been able to find an answer, he had just agreed that, 'There is a secret path because of all of the beasts that he had known who had set off to find Essilon, none had ever returned. Therefore, they must have found the path and so, in turn, they must have reached Essilon.'

Entering the other side of the clearing, Shane had all of his senses on high alert, particularly as it soon became obvious that the trees and vegetation were thinning out, making him feel more nervous about moving forward. If humans were nearby then the unicorn would be easily seen. 'Then again, it is easier for me to see humans if I keep myself alert.'

As they journeyed further, the bushes and shrubs began to thin out and so they began to eat a lot of food that they knew would not be in great supply as they crossed the plane. Shane was sure that there would be an abundance of food once they eventually arrived at journeys end but the journey there would not provide much food from this time on.

Shane stood still, scanning the trees around him whilst Flack ate the grass and then, when Flack was sated and standing guard, Shane took a turn to eat. Little by little they crept through the thinning trees, preserving their energy and seeking out sustenance. 'Soon,' thought Shane, 'the trees will end and we will have to run swiftly across the sands as fast as we can and for as long as we can, hoping that no human eyes are upon us.'

The edge of the tree line was soon upon them and standing staring towards the peaks of Essilon, Shane saw a lot of sand that would have to be traversed before they got there. His eyes scanned the lifeless sand and everywhere he looked he could see no sign of the green of life. 'It is not a great distance to cover to the hills of the mountains and we can only hope that we have the food and water within us to get us beyond the peaks.'

Beside him, the unicorn stepped out from the trees, walking slowly over the scattering clumps of grass that began to grow from amidst a thin layer of sand. Shane knew the sand would have been blown this far and that there was still soil beneath it but, as he looked beyond the unicorn, he could see a line were no more green grass grew beyond. Snatching a mouthful of grass, he was disappointed to find that the dry was dry and did not hold any dew or moisture. 'Any plants that we find will be dry from this point on and I can only hope that fortune with provide us with a water supply.'

Shane began to sense that it was quiet, too quiet, for no longer could he hear rain falling from leaves, nor dripping onto stones upon the ground behind him in the tree line. He became consciously aware that there were no birds singing. Even the breeze had stopped and all was so quiet that he could hear each time he chewed upon the small supply of grass that littered the barren land. The lack of sound began to unnerve him and he stopped suddenly in his eating. His ears strained, hoping to find the minute hint of a sound. Then he heard it. It was the presence of this sound that ensured the absence of all others.

"Wait," shouted Shane, trying to get the unicorn's attention and not be any louder than he had to.

Watching the unicorn stop and turn his head to look back at him, Shane said, "I think I heard something. Let me check."

Turning, Shane ran back into the tree line, moving toward were a group of trees stood fairly close together. Reaching them, he stood still, not even panting, as his ears began seeking confirmation of the sounds that he thought he had heard. The sound was louder this time, it was a heavy murmur that seemed to creep amongst all of the trees and it took a moment for Shane to work out that the sound appeared to be coming from his right. 'I cannot see any signs of movement,' he thought. Glancing back in the direction that he had come from, he was relieved to see no sign of the unicorn. 'Good, Flack has remained where he is.'

Crouching low, Shane began to move forward, heading towards the right, belly low to the ground, as he moved from the tree to another, ever drawing nearer to the source of the sound. He knew that it was humans, many of them, even before he heard the tell-tale shout of a human shouting. There were now the sounds of metals and wood being struck, and there was a smell in the air that told him that there were many beasts roasting on spits over open fires. Suddenly freezing in his tracks, though he was between two trees, Shane was aware of a huge mass of red amongst the trees in the distance, 'and,' he thought, 'If I am this far from them and can hear this much noise, then there must be many, many humans dressed in rags. What are they doing here, so close to the edge of the forests? What are they gathering for?'

The shouts of the humans were growing louder and he could see much movement of the red-clothed bodies. 'I must be away from here before I am seen,' thought Shane as, turning around, he began to run as fast as he could towards where he had left Flack. His frenzied run had his heart pounding as he believed he would hear the sudden 'thunk' of an arrow as it slammed into a tree close by. But no arrows came and he increased his speed, suddenly bursting through the tree line and then, seeing Flack a little to his right, he ran towards him, urgency in his gait, and then ran fast past Flack, heading out into the desert.

Running forward, Shane maintained his pace, though the sand was making it difficult to run at his greatest speed, but he knew that the unicorn would easily be able to catch up with him.

"It is best we get as far away from the tree line as quickly as possible as the humans have their bows and arrows," panted Shane, beginning to feel the heat of the scotching sun on his back as Flack drew up beside him.

They continued forward, having to move apart a little as the sand would cause them to almost stumble into each other if they were too close.

"Are there many humans?" Flack asked.

"More than I have ever seen in one gathering. They all wore the red clothes and appeared to be gathered for a reason that I cannot even guess at," Shane replied.

"Perhaps they are gathered to attack a gathering a blue cloth humans?"

"It is possible," said Shane, adding, "Though, why they would gather so near to the desert is beyond me. Few humans ever go into the desert. There is nothing there of value and there is very little to survive upon. No, the humans must be gathering there and preparing to move deeper into the forest to go on a journey or to simply attack other humans who are nearby."

Looking behind, Shane saw that the sand that they had crossed left a clear track of their path but he also noticed that the sand had rose and fallen a little and now, seeing this, it was clear to him that, at times when they had come down the side of a sand dune, they would be completely out of sight of any humans who may be watching in their direction.

'It is almost tempting to hide within a sand dip and await darkness before moving on,' thought Shane, as he felt the heat of the sun burning heavily into his back, forcing him to pant heavily and, at times when sand was kicked into his mouth, he really felt as though it would be better until the main heat of day had passed before continuing their journey.

Glancing at Flack, he saw that the unicorn did not seem to be as affected by the heat as he was and so he remained quiet and continued trudging through sliding sands.

Time moved slowly as they carried on their journey and because the peaks of Essilon seemed to hold their distance from them, every once in a while the two would bolt for the peaks, laughing at the energy rush that they received as, slowly, Essilon began to loom ever closer to them. The rushes forward only increased their speed a little but it made Shane feel as though they 'had' to be making better progress.

The sun shone still but Shane could no longer hear any more bird song, although Shane was convinced that he could faintly hear the drumming of a bee's wings upon the still air, but he could never see the bee. He had not heard many birds singing in recent times and here, now that they had moved into the desert, the absence of the birds seemed more absolute.

And now, as they slowed back to their normal pace, and the laughing that they had done as they all but stumbled through the sand faded, Shane caught a faint sound in the air. Stopping, he turned and raised his ears; half believing he was going to see a creeping red blanked rolling across the sands towards him. But there was nothing. Just their trail as it rose and fell across the sand dunes and their tracks lost to sight long before the green line of the tree shelf began.

Straining, he sought out the source of the sound. It was very faint and he had to cease panting in order to listen properly. Shane saw that Flack sensed that there was something wrong also, as he too had stopped moving, standing still and slowly turning his head, surveying their sandy surroundings.

In silence, the two dredged every wave from the passing air. The air was hot, hazy, and completely void of all sounds. Everywhere seemed to be dead, there was no sounds of life and then, just as Shane was about to start moving forward again, he heard the sound, seeing Flack look toward him as he too acknowledge the existence of the noise. The two stood silent, listening to the sound and, as they listened, the sound began to grow slightly louder. This new sound was a voice and it was a very human voice. Panic momentarily rose within them.

They were only about halfway across the plane when they had heard the voice. It was a weak voice, a grating voice, a pitifully weak voice and yet the voice still sent fear through the bodies of the two companions. They could see no human near them, all around was the shades of brown of desert sands and beyond them the peaks of Essilon and, above them, the clear blue sky that held the burning sun. The sound continued, indistinct in his words but distinct enough to know that it was the sounds made by a human. Shane sighed, believing that their journey across the sands was to suddenly become more dangerous than he had first believed.

The two, as one, turned toward the direction that they believed the sounds had come from and, after pawing the ground a little, Flack turned and followed Shane as he walked past him, heading slightly to the left of their original course. Slowly moving forward, a silence came back to the plane and this caused a further rush of fear within the two as Shane noted how Flack came to a halt even as he did when the sound came carrying across the sands. Shane looked up at Flack and then, nodding, he moved forward slowly, climbing the small sand dune that was ahead of them. Painstakingly, they continued slowly forward, muscles tensed, held ready to run at the slightest indication of a threat.

Occasionally, they would pause and look at each other, seeking reassurance from the other that they were doing the right thing, and then they would continue upon their way, moving toward where they thought the sound had emanated from. They had no choice but to find out the source of the sound, for the barren land offered nothing to hide behind and if there was a human, or humans, hidden somehow upon the land ahead of them then they could easily blindly run into them. 'It is best that we know where they are and so avoid them,' thought Shane.

He knew that, to be safe, they had to discover where the sound was coming from and what would be the best way of safely getting past. They needed to approach the source of the sound as silently as possible; ready to turn and race if they should find it to be a well-placed trap laid for any beast.

To Shane, it seemed as though his own paws sent avalanches of sound cascading ahead of them, warning everything and anything of their impending arrival. 'In silence, the slightest sound seems as thunder.'

Suddenly, just a little ahead of them and to the left, a human head, looking strangely severed, jutted out above the barren flat of the plane. At once, Shane took a few steps backwards and then sprinted off forward, at an angle that would take him away from, and around, the human head. Shane was quickly aware that the unicorn had not followed his example and so he stopped and gazed back and the scene that greeted him placed a mixture of horror and fascination across his features as he saw that Flack was not only not following him but was, in fact, walking toward the human head!

The human head was now becoming agitated and was beginning to shout more frantically. He had obviously spotted the unicorn and was calling the unicorn, beckoning him onward and toward him with strange skinny arms that leapt and danced in the air.

The human was clearly in some kind of hole and was jumping up and down in a very frenzied state. The human head was shouting out, "The final battle draws near. Reach the far land and fight beside the beasts. It is the dawn of the age of the Beasts. Man shall pay for his evil."

The human in the hole began to wave his arms in a way that showed he was motioning for Flack to come forward, quicker. Shane watched as Flack began moving tentatively closer. The human head began to lose some of the wildness of it and to speak in a calmer fashion, trying to coerce Flack toward him. Shane began trotting back toward Flack, his eyes searching all around, looking for the first sign of a human trap.

"I won't hurt you, Unicorn," said the man in the hole. "You must get to the mountains where the beasts are gathered and then join in the glorious battle that shall be!"

Astonished, Shane could not believe the words that he was hearing and yet he felt that the human was sincere in his ravings. "When will this madness end?" he said to himself, knowing that the unicorn would have heard him as he was drawing close to his side.

Shane was having doubts of moving any closer to the human when he heard the droning beat of insect wings upon the hot air currents and he immediately bolted forward, slightly running past Flack, before he came to halt. Shane stopped and began to ponder about why he was afraid of bees so suddenly. As he stood there thinking, the unicorn continued walking up toward the hole where the human resided. Stopping at the edge of the hole, Flack leant his neck forward and slightly downward, looking down into the hole and Shane knew that he must be able to completely see the now silent human that stood there.

Shane's eyes continued searching the land around him, looking for any sign of humans but everywhere seemed peaceful and calm; everything seemed much calmer now that the human was silent of his ravings. 'Peace has returned to this barren wilderness,' thought Shane, glad that the human had stopped his noise and so would not be attracting the attentions of any others who may be in the area. Moving forward, carefully and slowly, Shane walked to where the unicorn stood gazing down upon the human figure and was not disturbed as Shane came to stand at his side. Then Shane also looked down upon the human figure. Relief flowed through Shane's body as he saw that the human was a very old human; grizzled, dirty, and weak, and with no weapons beside him, or anywhere else to be seen. Yet Shane was still wary of the human. He had seen humans be very cunning on many occasions, using items as weapons that were not designed to be used as weapons, but they still did the job. 'That is the one thing that I 'admire' about humans, they have hands that could fashion and change objects, combine objects, and use objects far more efficiently than any beast ever could.'

Shane was surprised to see that the human was in the pit and that there was no sign of any ropes tying him in there. Once Shane had decided that there were no weapons in the pit that the human could use against himself and Flack he found that he had to assume that the human had been put in the hole as a punishment. 'I have seen this done to humans before; done by other humans. I have seen humans thrown into pits and then had wild beasts thrown in with them, I had seen humans tied in pits and then the pit filled with earth, burying the human alive, sometimes the hole is only partly filled so that the human's head is all that remained above the ground. And that would normally be done near to a large insect nest. Or the captors may lay a scent trail, using certain fruits and plants, which would lure ants toward the trapped human.' With a shiver, he recalled the time he had witnessed the humans lure a bear into the area where the trapped human was located. Shane remembered the screams from that incident very vividly as the bear had bitten chunks out of the buried human's head. The screams and pleas had continued for a little while and then had abruptly ceased.

He recalled that there had been a deathly silence when the bear had been lured into the area and the humans had made a safe retreat. Shane remembered imagining what the human must have been going through. He would only have been able to see the bear if it came from somewhere in front of him. He would not have been able to turn and seek it out.

He must have remained silent, even if he heard the movement of the bear around him somewhere, trying to remain quiet in the hope that the bear would move away and leave him alone. But the bear was bound to smell him out because of the fruits that had been smeared on the humans head and face.

There had been silence for what seemed like an eternity and then there came a sudden deep growl, and then the human had screamed. He had begun the loudest scream that Shane had ever heard. Shouts, pleading, and crying had came from the human before he had screamed the loudest scream that he had ever heard made by any human. And then the scream suddenly stopped. It did not fade out. It just stopped!

It was a few days later before he had returned to that place with the humans. The bear must have excavated the pit, bit by bit, to get at the humans flesh. There were bones littered around the pit and, Shane could see, there was not enough to account for a complete human. Either the bear or some other beasts had taken their own trophies away with them.

The humans laughed as they pointed toward the remains of the human. Shane was almost sick. Blood and death never bothered him but he could not comprehend the killing of another creature other than for the need of survival; and the humans had not killed this human for their survival. It was for some other reason, something entirely different from that which is done amongst the beasts. 'Humans get pleasure from the pain and death that they inflict,' and that was something Shane could not understand, would never understand.

Shane recalled that he had felt more sickened when the screaming had finally stopped. 'The human's are indeed cruel and evil in almost all that they do. And there were times when a human is simply buried up to his neck and his captors spent a long time throwing small, yet painful, stones at the human; sometimes striking him, sometimes not!'

Returning his thoughts to the present, he stood glancing around, sniffing the air for any tell-tale signs of a human trap or of the presence of any other humans. He could detect nothing but the human in the hole. The air was still, and so no breeze would carry scent along the winds to him. Shane knew that other humans could still be in hiding somewhere nearby but, unless they made a movement, it was unlikely that he would see them in time to flee.

Shane looked back down into the hole. The hole was not too deep, and Shane was sure that if the human really wanted to get out then he would be able to. The human's skin was burnt brown with the scorching heat and his garments were ragged, torn, and very dirty. There was rotten fruit, half-eaten fruit, fresh fruit, water jugs, human waste, and many broken sticks and twigs strewn around the pit. It gave off a repulsive smell.

There were many other smells emanating from the hole and, though some were very pungent, there was one that rose above all others; it was the smell of the human. Only now did Shane find the scent repulsive. It had never bothered him while he had lived within the human camp but now, for a reason he could not explain, the scent was both repulsive and evil.

The man continued talking feverishly, and Flack never once flinched as Shane looked from the human to Flack and then back to the human. The man's voice began to grow even louder, becoming more insistent, more passionate, as if a frenzied need to let all beasts know his message took tight control of him once again.

"Join the armada of the beast. Then swim to the final victory. Spread wings with the birds and soar away to fight for good," shouted the human, and then began repeating the same words and then moving on to more short comments, his voice seeming to grow stronger and louder.

Then, as if seeing Shane for the first time, he said quietly, "And you too, little beast, you must also join the armada to destroy the humans."

Shane was very puzzled and very uncertain. He did not trust humans and would expect this to be some kind of elaborate trap that the human had devised in order to capture the beasts but he knew or rather, he felt, that whatever reason that the human had for shouting these things, they were sincere. He thought, 'This human wants all humans to be destroyed by the beasts. A battle will take place, he says, and we are to join with all other beasts!'

Shane knew of the gathering of the beasts but did not know how this human knew. 'No beasts spoke with humans, it could not be done. So how had this human discovered the knowledge of a place where all beasts were to gather?'

Shane decided too much was happening too quickly for him and so he lay down beside the unicorn, his tongue panting in and out of his long snout, deciding to wait until Flack decided to move on. They could not remain for very long, for they would need to eat soon, and the nearest supply of food was still a small journey away from them. As if in answer to these thoughts, the human threw up some fruit that landed beside Shane, while some he threw closer toward Flack.

Shane made no move to eat the fruit. He had seen the way humans had filled them with a form of drug that they sometimes used to bait and capture wild beasts. Flack, on the other hand, and to Shane's amazement, merely bent down his long neck and began to eat the fruit.

Shane was startled, astonished, and when Flack had eaten a little and when he did not begin to sway or shake under the effect of any possible drug, Shane too began to eat, slowly at first, and then with sudden mounting hunger.

He began to hear, once again, the uttering of the human.

"A great beast shall descend from the sky and this beast shall lead all the beast's to do battle with the humans. This great flying beast shall lead all beasts to final victory! This great beast shall..." And there the human stopped. An eerie silence filled the air. Shane became panicky, while the unicorn continued to eat.

A sudden thought swept through Shane's mind. He did not like to think what he was thinking. His head shot up as his nostrils caught the fresh scent of other humans as he jumped up and spun around, were his heart almost commanded his body to die there where he was for such was his amazement at what he beheld.

'Humans! Many of them! More than I have ever seen in a single human gathering!' Staring, Shane could see a huge swathe of red cloth riding across the sand dunes and he knew that it extended all the way back, and into, the distant tree line. The red clothed humans were coming across the plane, making an impression upon the plane as a cloud would do if it should float across the face of the sun.

Noticing movement beside him, he knew that Flack had turned to look back in the direction of the forest and, from the way Flack suddenly raised his head, Shane knew that Flack was expecting to see a few ragged humans at most coming toward them, but even he was shocked to see the amount of human forms that marched across the sand. There was so many that it looked as though they were still but, as Shane stared, he could make out movement, seeing the glitter of sunlight upon weapons, hearing the rumble that their voices were making upon the quietness of a once beautiful day.

Shane was sure that the humans were still too far away to do any damage, but they were coming ever closer; slowly and determinedly, they were coming closer. 'I wonder if they have seen us.'

Suddenly, a whistling sound filled the air, a sound that Shane recognised, but now it seemed more deadly than it had ever sounded before.

"Run," shouted Shane, turning and bolting off, racing around the pit and heading across the sand. Flack was soon beside him, having turned and ran the moment that Shane had commanded him to. With panic in their very hearts, they raced around the pit, within which the old human still shouted out his words. Stopping a small distance away, Shane turned just in time to see many arrows embed themselves in the ground, as if they were trying to destroy the very earth itself.

The old human's head and arms appeared and, clambering from his pit, he raised his dirty hands to the sky, shaking his clenched hands towards the advancing red clothed army.

"The end draws near. Soon the mountains will shudder with that of the human ones. Mankind, the vilest of plagues, shall be washed away. The new day brings..."

There, the old human stopped as another flight of arrows whistled death in the air, and a few found a home within the flesh of the human. Clutching his chest, the old human fell backwards into his pit. Vanishing from sight, he had returned to the pit, and Shane knew that that is where his body would remain forever. The human was gone! No more would he shout his words into a lonely desert wilderness.

A few of the arrows had come close to the heads of the two beasts and now they turned and ran, spurred on by the deadly hand of death that flowed behind them. They ran and ran, never speaking to each other, always feeling safer as they went down a sand dune, always feeling vulnerable when they climbed the next and, at the times when Shane dared to glance behind them, he saw the huge wall of human death following, marching slowly whilst he and Flack ran for their lives.

High overhead, a large bird gave forth a loud scream and then, as Shane and Flack glanced upon its graceful, peaceful flight, it turned and, beating its wings furiously, it sped away towards the mountain peaks; toward Essilon.

Running as fast as he could, Shane knew that the unicorn had reduced his speed so that the two could run together, almost side by side. To Shane, it appeared as though Flack was more preoccupied with the running he was doing. He seemed to be using none of his energy; he was not even trying hard to outpace the deadly humans, he was merely ensuring that he maintained a pace that Shane could achieve. It was not hard to outdistance the humans for the humans were not running; they were marching steadily forward in eerie silence, following the path that Shane and Flack were travelling.

Panting heavily, wishing the sun would sink below the horizon, Shane's glances at the mountains ahead seemed to confirm that the peaks were fighting off their spurious advance. This disheartened Shane and it was only the words of the unicorn that kept his hopes and strength up.

"We can rest a while if you need to, Shane," Flack had said, "We are some distance ahead of the humans and so can afford to rest."

"No," Shane had replied, pumping his muscles harder, fighting against the displacing sand that gave him nothing to leap from.

With the humans forever creeping behind and the mountains fighting against giving up their distance, Shane remained grimfaced and determined to reach the rocky hills at the base of the mountains before he would consider resting. But, eventually, the peaks conceded and gave way to rocks and small boulders, and then gradually sloped upwards toward the peaks which, by now were hidden behind the steep hill that now began to gaze down upon them, challenging them further.

The peaks towered high in the sky and Shane wished that the sun would move quickly across the sky so that the mountains could cast a shadow upon him and get him out of the relentless heat of the sun. Anytime that he tried to stop panting, he had felt the immense heat inside his own body threatening to devour him completely.

Glancing at Flack, he was relieved to see that the unicorn's coat was soaking with sweat and that, just above the outline of Flack's back, he could make out rising vapours that left the unicorns back and slightly distorted the sand and sky beyond him. Even while Shane believed that they had a little way to go to reach the few rocky outcrops that led up to the side of the mountain ahead of them, he was relieved when his paws struck solid ground beneath the sand. They were back on solid ground though it was covered with fine layers of sand.

Bolstered by this, Shane ran even faster, dreaming of getting amongst the rocks and into shadow. 'And there may be even a pool of water left behind by the recent rains,' he told himself, feeling tiredness and relief at the same time. As their legs pumped furiously, working hard to cover the ground ahead of them, they could not help sliding back half a body length or more. Soon, there were many stones beneath their feet that would often crumble into a small avalanche of stones, but the two continued their fight in a grim determination. Always their ears listened for any sound of shouting coming from the advancing humans.

They had left the humans a long way behind and, as they rose higher up the rocky slopes, they occasioned a glance backward. The humans were still marching toward them and from their ever-increasing vantage point, they could see a huge red swarm covering the desert, slowly advancing, slowly becoming even more deadly.

The sun's continual assault on their strength began to show as their progress was becoming pitifully weak. At one point, Shane lost his footing and slipped back nearly three body lengths and he just lay there, tired, exhausted, and with no more will-power to carry on. Looking up the slope, he saw Flack had stopped and was now looking back at him. The unicorn stared in silence at him, saying so much by saying nothing. Under Flacks gaze, Shane jumped to his feet and once more began to climb. Flack waited for him to reach him and then the two once more began the climb together.

To their utter relief, the climb lost quite a bit of its steepness and the progress was made immensely easier. Occasionally, they came upon ledges and what appeared to be pathways. They had not been able to see the paths from the flat land of the desert but up here, amidst the rocks, the paths were easy to find.

"Many beasts have passed this way," remarked Shane. "Their scents are fresh, one, maybe two days old." There was a joy in Shane's voice as he said this for it meant that they were on the right trail, they were heading toward Essilon and, although he was not sure what Essilon actually was, he believed it was a place where the beasts would be safe from the human ones, especially those that marched across the desert behind them.

'Then again,' thought Shane, 'If there is to be a final battle, then the beasts will have to leave Essilon to face them or else the humans will find a way to get to Essilon itself!'

Shane began to get upset in his thinking. 'If all of the beasts had made passage to this place, Essilon, then why had I not known that it was time to migrate toward it? Why should all other beasts know that it was time to travel to Essilon while I did not?' Shane felt angry and bitter inside. 'Why had I not been included in the knowledge of the time of the gathering of the beasts?'

Neither had spoken for a while during this part of their ascent, both saving all their energies for the climb, and now Shane uttered a cry, taking his mind from his immediate thinking. "Look!" he shouted, knowing that his voice was loud and excited.

Running along a ledge that forked left and right, Shane raced along the right hand branch as he had seen something glimmering. 'It has to be water!'

Following the ledge, he found that it cut a little into the side of the mountain so that he felt as though he was running along a small canyon. The shade was welcome relieve from the sun and the tantalising glimmer continued to twinkle on the lip of the rock ledge ahead of him. Coming to a halt in a flurry of dust, Shane stared at the scene before him. 'This has to be one of those times when the heat of desert affects what is seen! I have heard humans talk of these things.'

Shaking his head, Shane looked again. On his left a huge slab of mountain rock was tilted at angle away from the mountain, looking as though it could topple over at any time. In front of this, on the right of the ledge and bulging out from the mountainside was an expanse of water, a giant rock pool that lay in the shadow of the rock that tilted away from the cliff.

'This cannot be real,' thought Shane, staring at the gently rippling water, conscious for the first time of a trickling sound and then, looking toward the angled slab of rock, he could see a gentle stream of water seeping out of the rock and gently running into the pool.

A movement next to him told him that Flack was standing beside him now and, as he was about to ask Flack what it was that he could see, he saw the unicorn lower his head and begin to drink from the pool of clear water. Deciding not to question their good fortune, Shane moved forward, stepping into the water and finding that the rock beneath the water was smooth and gently rolled away from him. Taking a quick lap of the water, while expecting his mouth to be filled with sand, he was startled by the crispness of the water. Eagerly, he began gulping down water as he slowly moved forward so that the cool liquid bathed his stomach in coolness.

Sated, and feeling that his stomach could hold no more, Shane turned around and moved closer to the edge of the pool where he lay down, enjoying the cold water surrounding most of his body. The shade provided by the overhanging rock helped cool his back and then, recalling the heat and how painful it had become as they raced across the sands, he rolled to the side, encouraging the water to swim over him. There was instant coolness about him and then, as the water lapped over his face, he coughed and struggled to his feet, escaping the water that had tried to cascade uninvited into his mouth.

Leaping out of the water, he shook his coat and then, turning to look at Flack, he saw that the unicorn was regarding him with some amusement. Turning away, Shane moved closer to the mountain and lay down in the shade. He felt strong and revitalised after suffering the heat of the sands and knew that he would not be lying here for long. 'The humans are still coming in this direction and so we must hurry and find the path to Essilon.'

Climbing to his feet, he saw Flack leaving the pool and looking at him expectantly.

"We must seek the path to Essilon," he said. Moving back along the ledge, through the small canyon of shade, he was disturbed by a strange rumbling sound that made the rock beneath his feet begin to shake. Halting, he turned around, noting that Flack was doing the same.

Staring at the angled slab that overhung the pool of water, he could see stones being shaken loose and falling into the pool. The slab leant further and further away from the mountainside and with a final resounding crunch, it met the rock of the ledge, blocking the way back to the water pool and hiding its existence from sight.

"The rock seemed to fall too slowly to be a rock fall," commented Shane.

"It did seem strange," answered Flack.

Watching the dust beginning to settle, Shane said, "Come, we must find the path. We have to hope it is around here somewhere because the humans will be drawing nearer."

Turning, Shane fled back along the canyon and when the rock fell away on his left he could once again see the expanse of the desert before him. 'Or, I would be able to see the desert if so much of it was not covered in human red-cloth!'

"They are drawing near," he said, as Flack came to stand beside him. Looking upward, he could only see the sheer steepness of the mountain as it rose above him. 'I can see no way to climb higher and I can see nothing up there to show the presence of more ledges.' Feeling despondent, Shane tried to recall if he had seen other pathways up into the mountain while they had been crossing the desert. Nothing came to mind.

Moving forward, heading toward the left fork of the original path that they had followed to get to this place, he exclaimed, "That might be it!" as he ran forward, trusting that they were neither in sight or range of any advance party of humans or their weapons. Staring harder, trying to focus more on what he had glimpsed, Shane saw, about twelve body lengths ahead of him, more details of the dark shape that had first caused him to call out. There was a definite dark hole in the rock face ahead of him, and was not shadow as he could see the far inner side showing him the smooth rock of its insides.

"It may only be a cave but, perhaps, it is the way through to the other side of the peaks. Perhaps it may be the path we seek and, if not, then it would at least be a place to rest out of the glaring heat of the maddening sun, if only for a little while. The humans will be a while before they reach us," Shane said, pointing his head in the direction of the desert. "They seem to be in no hurry, simply determined to cross the desert."

"Do you think they are seeking out Essilon?" Flack asked.

Pausing, studying the rippling red mass that now covered almost half of the distance between the forests and the mountain, Shane replied, saying, "They must be, and I would have to assume that they have been planning this for a long time for it would take humans a long time for them to travel to a specific location. There are far more humans there than I ever imagined in the forests. Many must have come from distant lands."

"I did not realize that the humans could be so well organised," said Flack.

"Yes, this even surprises me. The humans normally live in camps of forty or fifty and they protect their neighbouring land from intrusion by other humans who may enter the area in search of food. Normally, a large gathering of humans would result in the death of a great number of humans but this time, for some unknown reason, they appear to have forgotten their differences and have united together; choosing red cloth as their banner."

Flack asked, "What about the blue clothed humans that are believed to exist in great numbers?"

"I do not know. I cannot see any blue cloth amongst those crossing the sands and can only assume that they are somewhere else or have been wiped out by the red clothe humans," replied Shane.

Standing in silence, watching the slow advance of the red horde, Shane interrupted his staring, his amazement at the amount of humans that must be out there, by suddenly running forward, while saying, "We had best find out if this is a cave or a path. We will have little time to go searching for the true path if this proves to be only a cave." 'We have made a lot of progress this day, mainly due to the incessant mass of humans marching behind us and now is not the time to relax. The humans are deadly at all times. Even though they are distant I still fear for our lives,' he thought.

"I feel weak," said Flack.

Looking up at the unicorn, Shane pleaded, "We must continue, we must see if this is only a cave or if it leads the way to Essilon."

Glancing nervously towards the humans, Shane noted that the sun was going down and had passed to the other side of the mountain, casting a dim shadow across most of the desert. Studying the nearest red humans, he detected that they were no longer moving.

"The humans appear to be setting up to rest for the night and so we should be safe for a while," said Shane, "But we will have to remain alert to the presence of any human scouting party."

Flack did not reply and, instead, he walked into the cave, moving into the shade of the cave and then turned, facing outward and then lay down.

' _What is wrong with the unicorn? Surely, he knows that we should keep moving and that we should get to Essilon as quickly as possible, joining the beasts in the battle that is to be led by The Chosen One?'_

Conceding that the unicorn would have to rest, Shane glanced toward the evil human horde, satisfying himself that they appeared to be halted for the oncoming night, and then walked into the cave opening, lying down close to the unicorn.

"How are you feeling?" Shane asked, as a silence began to draw around them.

"Strange. I do not know how to explain it. I have pains all through my body and yet I felt fine when we were running across the sands."

"Perhaps it is aching muscles from the exertion of the day," said Shane.

When there was no reply from the unicorn, Shane turned to look at him and saw that the unicorn was lying completely on his side. 'How sick is the unicorn?'

"I... am... tired," said the unicorn.

"Just get some rest, Flack. Soon we will have to move away from here and by then you will feel fine, I am sure," replied Shane.

There came no reply from the unicorn and soon the cave was filled with the sounds of heavy breathing. Facing forward, Shane noticed how much the light had faded and, for that, he was grateful. The humans on the sand had lit torches and it was obvious that the torches were not moving. 'At least the humans should not be advancing again until the morning and, by then, we should be away from here. At least, I will be. I worry for the unicorn; I worry about his pains and I worry if he will awaken again.'

Feeling bitter and alone, Shane continued to stare out from the cave, watching the distinct shape of the red human horde fade until they became as dark as the night that draped the land. With his eyes focused on a group of torches Shane maintained his vigil for the two of them until sleep crept up and stole him from consciousness.

With a start, Shane awoke, feeling a bright sun piercing his eyes and, leaping to his feet, he peered across the brightly lit sand, trying to see if the humans had started their advance upon the mountainside. Relieved to see that the sand at this side of desert was clearly visible and not obstructed by the red cloth humans, he turned toward the sleeping form of the unicorn. Flack was lying in the same position as he recalled from the previous night. Listening, against the background noise that told him that the humans were waking and preparing themselves to march, he heard the deep breathing of the unicorn.

"Flack?" he whispered, hearing his voice gently echo within the cave. "Can you hear me, Flack? It is time that we were on our way to Essilon."

At first, there was no reaction from the unicorn and then, suddenly, Flack raised his head, looking around his surroundings as if they were alien to him. Focusing on Shane, the unicorn said, "Is it time to be on our way?"

"Yes," replied Shane, his mind returning to the pool of cool water that had sated him the day before. 'I am thirsty but the pool is locked away from me.'

Facing out of the cave, he watched the insidious movement in the human camp, seeing the front line of humans begin to slowly change shape as the humans began their march.

"Come, we must find the path to Essilon. The humans are once again approaching the mountain."

Jerking upwards, Flack struggled with his legs until he found his balance and then slowly stood, raising himself to his full height from his bended forelegs.

'Has he grown so much?' thought Shane, seeing the shape of Flack towering above him. 'Is he really growing so quickly or is it the light and shadows in the cave that play tricks with my eyes?'

Ignoring his wonderings, Shane turned and began moving deeper into the cave, calling back, "I will see if there is anything at the end of the cave, and I hope I find a way that leads to Essilon. It will not be too long before the humans will have us in range of their weapons should we have to venture out of the cave to seek another path through the mountain."

Slowing his pace, Shane moved cautiously forward as the darkness around him became complete. The cave appeared to go back a long way before narrowing and, as Shane sniffed around the ground, he sensed that the cave somehow widened. He could not see the widening of the cave, he simply felt a breeze gently blowing, gliding across his whiskers and passing beyond him, making him feel that the wind came from his right. The breeze carried the scents of many animals and so he knew that a number of beasts had been here in recent times. 'Perhaps they have found a way through or they discovered that this is not the path to Essilon and had to go in search of another route.'

Behind him, he heard the echo of Flack's hoof's clipping the floor, sounding as though the unicorn had turned to face in another direction and then stillness returned to the darkness. Moving slowly forward, keeping his right side scraping against the cave wall, Shane stopped when his way forward was suddenly blocked. Making a decision, he followed the stone that blocked his path as it ran to his left and then, suddenly, the way forward was no longer blocked.

Something inside his mind began niggling him, something did not feel right. 'If I have found a passage that runs deeper into the mountain then this should be the way to Essilon, but why does it feel wrong?'

Again, there came the sound of Flack moving but the sound abruptly stopped, leaving Shane thinking, 'Good, I want the unicorn to remain there while I find out if this is the way through to the great plane.'

Sensing the continuation of a passage, Shane thought, 'It must be the way through the mountain. That is, if there were any way through this cave. So why does it feel wrong?'

Perplexed, and beginning to think that he was more tired than he thought, Shane lay upon the floor, determined to find what was causing him such concern. Closing his eyes, he found that there was no difference from when he held his eyes open, such was the completeness of the darkness this far back inside the cave. Using his ears, he listened and heard nothing. Using his whiskers was pointless as there was nothing to touch. Laying his head between his paws, he asked himself, 'Why do I not want to move forward and travel down what appears to be a continuation of the passage?'

Sitting there in the darkness, with all his senses seeking out answers, he eventually had to admit, 'There is nothing! I can find nothing that indicates I should not try to go down this passage.'

And then, suddenly, it hit him, 'I feel nothing here! But a little way back I felt a breeze! Why is the breeze absent from here?'

Standing quickly, he turned around and moved slowly back through the darkness, feeling the sudden arrival of rock to his left. 'If this is only the cave wall then why can I now feel a breeze?'

Standing still, Shane leant his body to the left, feeling the hardness of the cave wall. 'But I can feel a breeze,' he said to himself, his mind wondering if he was just imagining things or whether the breeze was really there.

Annoyed that his senses appeared to be playing games with him, Shane stood up and turned around, placing his left side against the cave wall as he began to retrace his steps back towards the entrance.

Following the cave wall, he soon saw the light of the opening of the cave and then, recalling that there had been no debris upon the floor, he began to run through the darkness, his eyes fixed on the circle of light ahead of him.

The silhouette of the unicorn could be clearly seen standing against the bright light of day and Shane kept running until he was close to Flack who, hearing the sound of Shane's claws upon the cave floor, had turned to face him. Coming to an abrupt halt, he heard the unicorn ask, "What did you find?"

"Many beasts," was all that Shane said, expecting Flack to understand the total meaning of his short statement.

"There is a small group of humans that have moved quickly across the sand. They appear to be waiting for something, or someone, before they begin trying to climb the mountainside," said Flack, as if he had not heard Shane's comment. Turning, Flack looked back towards where he had last seen the humans. "They were very near the bottom of the steep climb, still upon the desert sand but they would soon be starting their own ascent, following on the trail that we have taken."

"Many beasts," repeated Shane, adding, "There have been many beasts that have passed this way, and very recently. But not only many beasts, but many different kinds of beasts and I believe the way to Essilon is through this cave but the way is hidden from me."

"What did you find?" Flack asked, moving slightly deeper into the cave, adding, "I think it is best that we remain hidden from the humans."

"I am not sure," replied Shane, turning and walking beside the unicorn and then lying down when the unicorn did so. "I need to try and solve a puzzle and it is better to lie here and ponder rather than stumble around the dark interior of the cave."

In the silence, Shane tried to work out what it was that he was missing. 'Surely the presence of the scents of so many beasts indicates that this is the way to Essilon. Perhaps, there are many ways to reach Essilon through the mountainside and, even if there are other ways, then I still believe that this is a passage to Essilon also.' This knowledge cheered him and lifted his spirits a little.

Lying within the shade of the cave entrance, Shane could keep a watchful eye on the advancing humans. Then, realising that he was getting nowhere solving the puzzle, he decided it might be better to stop thinking about it for a while.

"Why do you think the humans are all gathering here at the place where all beasts are gathering?" asked Shane, immediately realising his own answer. "They are here to destroy the beasts. But why?" he questioned himself without waiting for Flack to reply.

"The humans have been cruel masters but they have needed the beasts, why would they want to destroy them? What would they use to hunt with, to carry for them, to eat?"

"The humans," began Shane, "can hunt with their own weapons, they can carry their own loads and they can live off fruit and vegetables. The demise of the beasts would not stop their existence."

Shane stood up in agitation and walked around in a circle a number of times, his eyes always darting to the advancing dark cloud that crawled its evil way across the desert floor.

"Why do humans have to grow up?" questioned Shane.

Shane could tell that Flack was surprised by this statement. 'He understood humans to be evil by nature but he will not understand that there can be a difference in their ways because of age?'

"What do you mean?" asked Flack, his curiosity engaged.

"You know what I mean, when humans are still pups they," Shane paused, "...maybe you don't know... if you are only days old in age." Shane thought for a moment and then continued, "When humans have young they are born weak and defenceless..."

"All animals are weak and defenceless when born," interjected Flack.

"Yes," replied Shane, "but do you know that it takes three to four seasons for them to walk on their own and even longer before they can communicate with their parents?"

"Is three or four seasons a long time?" questioned Flack.

"Look," began Shane, sounding slightly annoyed, "You say you are six days old, so assume that one season is this time again, and again and again and again and again and then, take that number of days again and add it to itself."

"I cannot imagine this amount of days," said Flack, clearly puzzled by the concept of the passage of time.

' _Flack can only know of what has gone before in his six days of life, living and making choices in the happenings of now and only wondering what could be in times to come. He has no idea of time.'_

"Well then, imagine this, if you grew as a human child grew you would not be walking yet, you would not be able to forage for food, you would not be able run. How far away from the vile humans do you think you would have got?" Shane shouted these last words annoyed at having to try to explain such a simple concept as time.

Flack was startled.

Shane could see Flack flinch because of the tone of his voice and knew that his nerves were getting the better of him. "I'm sorry... it's just that..." Shane's words drifted off. 'How do I find the way to Essilon through this cave?' he asked himself, forgetting his conversation with Flack.

"Why were you concerned about the humans growing up? Why should that make any difference to their ways?" questioned Flack, clearly ignoring the earlier tones which had appeared in Shane's voice.

"Well," began Shane, leaving behind the dilemma of how to get to Essilon for the moment, while making sure that he spoke in a calmer voice, "When human children are very small they are not a problem at all. As I said, they cannot walk or talk for a very long time, but there comes a time when the human is still young and he begins to explore his world.

The human child is very inquisitive and is soon travelling to as many places as he can. Now, around this time is when they tend to interact with the animals. You would not believe the amount of love that human children could give to an animal. You would not believe how gentle they can be.

This is one of the reasons that made it possible for me to stay within one of the human camps. They would run, play, and just love the animals. In fact, some humans remained this way all through their lives but, for the majority of the humans, it is a short time full of love, which is soon forgotten by most as they grow."

Flack was silent for a moment and then he said, "You mean that the humans are not solely all of the things that I have witnessed?"

"No, no, not at all," replied Shane. "It's just that they change. I do not know what makes that change, but it happens; there is an ugliness that takes over them. Some seem to be able to fight it off but, when they are surrounded by so many others who are evil, they tend to become evil themselves. In fact, I remember being told, by my mother, about a human who was a beautiful person and he refused to hunt the animals for food, he would not abuse them in any way. He was forced to leave the camp, not by the other humans making him go, but because he did not want to be a part of them. So he left, and a number of the animals went with him."

"What happened to him?" Flack said, his whole attention given to Shane's words as he listened to this story. It was hard for him to believe that the humans could be so decent and good, but he had no doubt that Shane was telling him the truth.

Shane was quiet for a moment and then he continued, speaking slowly, "I was there when it happened, I was only young but I remember it so strongly. I was with my mother at the time when a group of the humans who had been out hunting, returned. There was a lot of excitement in the human camp and my mother went running toward the main group of humans. I was excited by all of the noise and immediately raced after my mother.

I made my way through the humans and I recall that I was kicked a number of times by them. They were not serious kicks but they caused me some pain. Anyway, I managed to get to my mother and watched with her. The humans were dragging in another human. They were shouting and screaming at him. They threw him to the floor and a few of the humans kicked him. There was a lot of blood on him, I do remember that.

Then, suddenly, the humans went quiet and one human, who was the leader of that human group, began to speak. He began to shout and the other humans began to repeat his words. I cannot recall their words because at that age my understanding of the human language was still limited.

Anyway, all went quiet again, and then the leader walked up to the human who was lying on the floor. He bent down over the human but I could not see what he was doing, but the human on the floor started to shout, and then suddenly he began to scream. The scream was cut short very abruptly.

The human leader stayed bending over him for a little while and you could feel the tension in the air coming from the other humans. It was the first time that I was ever frightened by the evilness of the humans. I did not know what was going to happen, but the malevolence that was present scared my heart into pounding so fast that I thought it would burst." Shane paused for a moment, but Flack was so intent on the story and eagerly wished Shane to continue that he could not contain himself and spoke quickly to Shane.

"What happened then?" asked Flack.

"Then? Oh, well," Shane continued, and then, in a quieter voice, "In the silence of that malevolent human group, suddenly a great shout went up as the leader stood up straight. He held his hand high and that hand held something that hung there, dripping blood.

The humans were all shouting and cheering as the leader threw the thing he was holding. It sailed through the air and landed a little way away from me and my mother. We did not have a chance to see what it was before a number of the humans descended upon it. They shouted as they attacked it with their feet. They kicked it and raced to where it had stopped. They were shouting, cursing, pushing each other, all fighting to be the one that got to the object first, only to strike at it and send it hurtling across the ground again.

I remember my mother standing frozen beside me and a dark shadow began to seep over me, making me huddle up closer to my mother. I will never forget her looking at me and then turning her head to watch the humans. I was frightened but I also watched. It is hard to explain, but there was so much evil and hatred in the air that it made you want to run, but at the same time, it tied you to the ground, transfixed.

Suddenly, the object that the humans were kicking came in our direction. It rolled over and came to rest directly in front of my mother. I did not know what it was at first but then I began to recognise the human features of a face. It was the human's head! I remember growling at it as I thought that it was going to attack me and I received a sharp nip from my mother. I cowered between her legs.

Then, without any warning, she turned and ran back toward our den. It was beside a large den that belonged to one of the humans. For a moment I stood there and watched her run, and then I glanced back at the human head and then was suddenly made more aware of the humans around me and raced over to my mother.

She was lying, facing back toward the humans head. I whimpered and lay beside her. There was much activity amongst the humans and the smell of smoke and cooking began to fill the air. It made me hungry but I was too scared to say anything to my mother or to wander amongst the humans looking for a handout. So I lay down beside my mother and watched with her. Not once did her attention leave that human head." Shane stopped talking and Flack could see in his eyes that he was recalling the events, almost as if he were reliving them.

"This human, the one who was slain, he was the good human?" asked Flack, softly.

"Yes, I did not know it then but by morning I knew all about the human and how much he had meant to my mother, and to me."

"What do you mean?" quizzed Flack.

Well, we lay there very still, with the humans running around, shouting, dancing, and eating. Insects had begun to gather around the human head and were having a feast of their own and then, suddenly, my mother stood up and in fright at her sudden movement I also jumped up, but she turned and gave me a look that told me to stay where I was. And so I lay back down immediately and watched as my mother made her way to the human head. I watched as she stopped before it and then she delicately - I can see that now - took the human head by the scalp, turned and ran away into the darkness.

My heart was beating madly as I continued to lay there. My mother was gone for a long time. Eventually, I heard her coming back to me and when she came up to me she just lay down beside me."

"Where had she been? Why had she taken the human's head?" Flack was becoming impatient.

"It was a while before she spoke to me," said Shane, "but when she did, she told me more about the human, and about me."

"How did it involve you?" said Flack.

"It seems that this human was a very kind and gentle human. He had many friends amongst the animals and she said that many of the other humans resented that but, more importantly, she told me about her bearing forth me, my brothers, and my sister.

She told me that she had a difficult labour and that two of her young were stillborn. This human would not leave the stillborn pups and massaged and caressed the two until one began to breathe.

That pup was returned to my mother while he continued massaging and caressing the other pup. Mother says that she knew that the pup was lost long before the human gave up his efforts. She said he kept looking at her and she could see such deep sorrow upon his face.

Eventually, he returned the pup to my mother who cleaned the pup and washed him and then, after a little while, the human took my dead brother out of the human camp. He returned, after a little while, and kept a vigil with my mother and her new family. She said he was very concerned about the one that he had saved and kept watch over him for the whole of that night.

My mother told me that my brother, who had died, she had named 'Genta,' and that he was identical in markings to me." There were tears in Shane's eyes as he recalled the events.

Flack spoke, feeling as though he was intruding in on private thoughts, but needing to ask more questions. "Did the other pup survive?" Flack asked.

"Yes, he survived. My mother was always very protective of the little pup that the human had saved, the one that she called Shane." His voice broke, and Flack heard Shane haul in a huge breath of air and slowly let it out again.

"You miss your mother very much, don't you?" said Flack, unnecessarily. There was no reply from Shane but the silence told him how much.

The silence was eventually interrupted by Shane. "Do you want to know where she went that night when she carried away the human's head?"

Flack nodded.

"She went and buried the humans head with my brother, the one that he had tried to save but could not." Shane paused for a moment and then continued, "For a while after that my mother used to take me with her to where they were buried. We just used to lie there for a while, never speaking, and then we would return to the human camp."

"It must have been very hard on you, to find out all those things," said Flack.

"It was. I learnt a great many lessons that day, although many I did not understand until I was a little older. You can perhaps understand me now when I said it was safer to be amongst the humans than to be an outsider. The gentle human was one of their own 'kind' and look what it was that they did to him..."

"Do you think there are many humans like that who..." Flack began, but was interrupted as a number of clattering sounds caught their attention causing them to stand quickly and move forward to the edge of the cave entrance and gaze down the rocky slopes of the mountain.

A number of humans, who were clearly ahead of the main mass, had fired their arrows in the hope of catching the beasts. They had fallen short but they would soon be within range.

"It seems that they knew that we were here," said Shane, moving backwards slowly, knowing that they would have to move, and quickly.

' _I have to hope that where we stand is not just an entrance to a cave but is, in fact, an entrance to a passage. It would be pointless to head back out if we found it to be a cave, for the humans would probably have reached the entrance of the cave by then... and if they had? I can only hope that the ledges on the mountainside slow down their ascent.'_

Turning to face the dark inners of the cave, Shane shouted, "Ledges! That's it! It has got to be it!"

Beginning to run deeper into the cave, Shane could hear Flack's hooves echoing around him as the unicorn followed him. Shane had to quickly slow down, 'I know there are no obstacles but it would be reckless to fall and risk injury now.'

"Flack, I have stopped running, be careful as you come up behind me," shouted Shane, wanting to make sure that the unicorn did not crash into him. 'A blow from those hooves could do me a lot of harm,' thought Shane.

From behind him, he heard the sound of Flack coming to a halt, and said, "Wait there, Flack. We had best be careful. I will call you when I have got to the place that I want to search and you can follow the sound of my voice."

Turning his head, Shane was aware that he could see faint details on the cave wall to his right. 'I could not see those details before,' he thought, adding, 'Some stray sunshine must be penetrating the cave.'

Conscious of the faint details on the wall, Shane still leant his right side against the cave wall, ensuring that he would follow the path to where he had been earlier when he had felt the breeze. Moving slowly forward, he noticed that the details of the wall descended further into blackness and he had no choice but to use body to guide him along the cave wall.

With his leg muscles straining because of an urgency to find out if he was right about the passage, Shane had to fight to keep his pace down to a painful crawl. With a start, he halted, feeling the cold wall at the end of the cave and, holding himself still he immediately felt the gentle breeze that he had detected earlier.

Turning left, he followed along the wall until he could no longer feel the breeze and knew that he was close to the other passage that he knew he did not want to travel down. Turning around, he retraced his steps, constantly feeling the breeze and even though he pressed his left side against the cold cave wall, he could not find a gap that would lead through.

Turning to face in the direction of the wall, he got onto his hind legs and moved forward, feeling the hard wall blocking his progress. Fighting against his unsteady balance, he moved to his right, his claws scratching against the rock as he fought to keep his balance.

Despondent, he returned to all fours, feeling the breeze and annoyed that he had not been able to find a ledge. Turning around, preparing to return to Flack and hopefully race from the cave, whilst avoiding the human arrows as they sought another passage way in the mountainside, Shane was surprised to see a faint light in the cave. Staring, he could see a rough outline of the unicorn seeming to shimmer in the darkness.

"Flack," Shane whispered.

"Yes," replied the unicorn.

"Can you make your way toward me? Go slowly, in case you collide with the walls. Keep to the right."

There was no reply from the unicorn but, almost immediately, he heard the slow clipping of Flack's hooves as he made his way toward him. 'And the light moves too! How can the unicorn give off light?'

For a moment, he considered asking the unicorn but then decided that, 'If the creature was truly only six days old and seemed to know nothing of his life, then he was probably not aware of the glow. Why did I not see the blue glow when we rested at night?' he asked himself, and then reasoned, 'I may have seen the glow but, because it was so faint, then I have assumed it was the moonlight striking his white coat.'

Mesmerised into silence, he watched the approaching outline of the unicorn and when Flack was drawing near, looking like he was a tall as a giant tree, Shane said, "Whoa, I am down here."

"Is that what you have found?" asked Flack, as the faint blue glow permeated Shane's surroundings, lifting just enough nearby darkness away so that he could see the details on the wall on his left and floor immediately between himself and the unicorn.

Not seeing anything that Flack was referring to, Shane turned around and exclaimed, "I knew it! There is a ledge but it was just a little higher than I could reach!" Before him, he could now see what appeared to be a cave wall was in face a ledge and was just a little higher than his paws could reach when he had tried to feel his way along it in the dark.

Moving away, he stood beside Flack, saying, "You had better hope that I was right!" before running forward and bounding as high as he could, his rear legs only just managing to push him on the ledge before he slipped back. Standing still, he could see the sight breeze but because he had moved so far away from Flack there was no longer the faint glow to help him see his surroundings.

"Can you make it up here?" Shane whispered, wondering why he was whispering, and then added, "Let me move to the side a little. I do not want you landing on top of me."

"I do not know," Flack replied.

The glowing form of Flack began to move backwards, moving a little way down the cave, leaving Shane completely in darkness. Suddenly, with thundering hooves, the glowing form of Flack came running toward him and, in desperation, he raced further to the left as the huge bulk of Flack landed on the ledge beside him, staggering forward for a moment and almost stumbling.

Silence returned and Shane asked, "Are you all right?"

"I caught my left hind leg on the ledge. It is painful, but should be all right."

"Let me look," said Shane, moving toward the leg and easily seeing a dark patch that hid the gentle glowing that came from the rest of Flack's body.

"You are bleeding, but I think it is only a scrape. Can you put your weight on the leg?"

Flack body moved slightly and then Flack replied, "Yes, there is no additional pain when I rest my weight upon the leg."

'That is fortunate,' thought Shane. 'I have seen what the humans do to horses that are lame.'

"Do you know why you glow?" Shane asked before he could stop himself.

There was a pause, and then Flack replied, "I was not aware of it until I entered deep in the cave but I had thought that it was because of the strange blue light, the portal that my mother told me that I had passed through to enter this land, although I do not recall such an event."

"Yes, yes," said Shane, speaking more to himself, before adding, "I told you that I came through a similar blue portal. For some reason it appears to have affected your coat though I have not seen it affect other creatures or humans in that way. Perhaps there is something unique about a unicorn's coat that holds and traps the blue light. Was you parents coats the same?"

"I cannot recall," said Flack, "If I had seen it I would not have seen it as anything out of the ordinary if it were the same with my parents."

"Never mind, it came in useful here. If it were not for the glow from your body we may have found this ledge. Are you able to walk or do you need to rest your leg?" Shane asked.

"I will be fine," said Flack, moving his head up and down in confirmation.

"Right, let us see what we can find," said Shane, turning around and seeing that the glow from the unicorn lit up the ground a little in front of him. 'That will help us move quicker but it will be still progress because we will not be able risking running in this place. And, even if this place is a dead end, then the humans may not find us hidden in here.'

Moving slowly forward, the light from the unicorn's glow was lost to him and he realised that Flack would have to remain very close if they were to try to use the light. His eyes could no longer see any detail ahead of him and he would have to use his nose and whiskers to help them through. Shane could still smell the scents of many beasts that had passed this way and so he was sure that this was not just a cave. With Flack's hooves echoing around the walls of the cave, Shane felt that they gave a loud and vibrant sound to a seemingly, dead world of darkness. 'I hope we can travel along way so that, when the human's search the cave they will not hear the sounds made by Flack.'

Shane halted, calling for Flack to halt also. He knew that it was very difficult for Flack to follow him as the unicorn had to follow the slow 'sniff-sniffing' noises that Shane's nose produced, as he searched for the scents of any beasts that had previously travelled this way.

"We have a problem," said Shane. "The passage appears to separate here into two separate passages. The faint light just about lets me see two distinct dark holes which have to passages."

Flack remained silent and, in that silence, Shane was thinking back over all of the things that he had heard tell of Essilon.

After a little while of the two of them standing in complete silence, in the lonely darkness of the cave passage, Shane spoke slowly, "I have an idea about this place. It was told to me once that the entrance to Essilon is open to all beasts but is a trap for humans. Wait here for a moment whilst I just check out which should be the correct passage that we should follow."

The patter of Shane's paws and the odd scraping of his nails on the rocks travelled with him, leaving Flack alone in the darkness of the cave. Behind him he heard the muffled shouts and screams of the evil humans and knew that they must be approaching the cave. 'Now that the humans know we are here they are bound to be determined to catch us. I wonder what the outcome would be if that happened? I cannot imagine facing that many humans, armed with their weapons that can kill from a great distance, while we are trapped in tight passages. What chance would we have?

The passages could be so narrow that Flack would not be able to turn around to face any humans that should follow us along the passage. He would simply be slain from behind.' That thought unnerved him and he lurched a little forward, scraping his right flank on a jagged piece of rock that was hidden in the darkness, sending a searing pain through him, almost causing his legs to buckle.

Suddenly, aware that the breeze had stopped, he began moving slowly backwards until he felt the breeze again.

Turning his head, he could see the glow of the unicorn, realising, 'The humans will also see Flack once they venture far enough the cave. We must hurry to be down as many passages as possible, hoping that they will bend a little so that Flack becomes hidden from them.'

Fears began mounting in Shane and the darkness of the passage seemed to enhance the fear. He could imagine the walls collapsing around him, burying him in the rock. As if confirming his fears, he heard Flack's hooves nervously pounding upon the rocky floor in agitation.

' _Why does this dark passage scare him so much, for surely it was a safer place than being in the open at the mercy of the flying weapons of the humans. And the darkness should help protect us. Why did it scare the unicorn so much?'_

"Hush! Be quiet! You'll bring the humans straight to us," said Shane in a harshly whispered voice, hearing the sudden stillness as Flack obeyed.

Concentrating on sniffing the floor, Shane moved across the width of the cave, making sure that he could always feel the slight breeze. And then, moving in front of the left-hand passage, he found the scent of other beasts to be very strong.

' _This has to be the way!'_

### 21 - Numbers III - Hundreds of Choices

"Come, follow close behind me. I think I have the key to take us through this maze of tunnels we are about to enter. At least, I'm sure we will find a maze of tunnels. You see, it is a very simple way of protecting Essilon if I am correct. It has to be simple so that all beasts that enter should have safety and all humans whom enter must go to death.

We are faced with a honeycomb of tunnels, but only one path leads to Essilon. It is heavily scented with the odour of many beasts, odours that the human's poor noses would not be able to smell. And so, the humans shall become lost in the tunnels and wander until they die." Shane's voice had become quite happy sounding, he noted.

The sound of Flack's hooves began again, slowly coming toward him and, as the glow of the unicorn lit up the ground just in front of him, he could see the towering beast come to a halt and standing looking down at him.

"There is also a faint breeze. Too gentle for the humans to detect and I believe that will also act as a guide," said Shane, turning way from Flack and beginning to move into the left hand passage.

The passage narrowed at times, and Shane knew that Flack would scrape his sides on the outcroppings of rocks regularly. At first, Flack groaned in pain but, as they progressed with their speed almost down to nothing because Shane felt that they were sufficiently deep and hidden from any humans that entered the cave, the noises from the unicorn became less and less. 'He has even found a way of walking so that his hooves do not make so much noise.'

***

Flack was quite sure he could smell something but he did not know if that was the scent that Shane was trailing, for he knew that Shane could break most smells down into a 'collection' of very distinct odours. Flack continued slowly following the dog, listening to his sniffing and making sure that he did not get too close to the dog, keeping Shane's rear just visible within the faint blue glow that was cast from him.

Patiently, Flack allowed the two to wander slowly, always near each other, always in darkness and always leaving the humans further behind.

'But the humans will be coming,' thought Flack. There was no doubt of that after his seeing the huge mass that was swarming across the desert land and the small advance group would surely be soon by the cave entrance. He had heard no sounds from the shouting humans for a little while and was confident that they were deep enough into the mountainside that they would be safe for a time to come. 'If Shane is correct, then the humans will have a long time wandering the caves before they could ever reach us and, by then, we should have got through the mountain and joined the Armada of the Beasts and the Chosen One.

The humans and their evil will keep on coming after us, after all of the beasts, following us determinedly until the end, it seemed; whatever the 'end' turns out to be!'

***

The two continued moving deeper and deeper into the mountainside, choosing specific passages whenever Shane detected which one the distinct scents of the beasts had followed. 'I was nearly led astray though,' he mused to himself, 'It was a good trick of some of the beasts to leave their waste and droppings deliberately within the wrong passages. It would make the humans think they had taken that passage and lead the evil humans deeper into the maze of honeycomb passages and, hopefully, they will be lost forever.'

Into the passages, into the darkness, ever going deeper into a strange world devoid of all sight, devoid of the sun, the clouds, the stars, Shane continued walking through a seemingly endless nothing; 'A path that, with fortune, will not lead us to nowhere,' he thought.

It became as if the humans, and the land that Shane had not so long ago looked upon, had all been taken away, removed, with nothing left except eternal blackness. And time went by very slowly, in unison with the progress that the two were making and, at times, Shane would be fearful for so long had he been in the darkness. The ringing of Flacks heavy hooves clicking on the bare stone floor brought some comfort to him at these times, reminding him that he was not alone.

On occasions, the sounds of Flack's hooves would stop and Shane would have to give him a voice to follow. One thing though, that Shane could not do for Flack, was to tell him whenever the cave roof dropped a little and Flack had to find out for himself. This slowed down their progress even more.

And so, it became a bitter march against the blackness of the caves and passages and the seeming futility of the minute progress they were making against the length of time of which they had already spent in the caves and passages.

On one occasion, there was clatter of Flack's hooves and Shane immediately knew that the unicorn had hit something hard and the angry whinny that he made also seemed to cause an additional effect.

As Shane has stopped and turned his head at the sounds made by the unicorn, he saw that the blue glow cast by the unicorn began to increase, lighting up the walls higher and extending the distance which Shane could see. He even saw the large, jutting out rock that Flack's face must have scraped against as he had been moving through the passage. As Flack calmed down, so did the blue glow diminish back to its previous intensity.

' _If Flack could be kept angry - or was it pain that caused the increase in light - then we would be able to traverse these passages much more quickly.'_

He was about to ask Flack if it were possible for him to do this and then thought better of it. 'It must have been an involuntary reaction, otherwise he would have increased his glow deliberately and would have been able to avoid of the outcrops of rock which have caused him pain so far.'

But they went on. 'We have to go on. By now, the humans would undoubtedly be in the caves and they would be carrying their darkness removing sticks.' Shane suddenly realised this, realising how much faster the humans would be able to travel than he first thought. He wanted to increase his speed but there was too much risk of injury or, perhaps, even choosing the wrong passage if they were in so much of a hurry.

Their main hope lay in that the humans would be lost within the many choices of paths to take. 'But the humans would split up. Some, always some, would always be behind us.'

Irritation and boredom began to set into Shane in the same way a human axe would smash into wood. He wanted to shout, to run wild, to run from side to side... but he could not.

In his mind, trying to think of something other than the darkness around him and the humans behind him, Shane began to go over the way the relationship between the humans and beasts had slowly changed. Evolving into the frame of being that was going to set the two to war; to a final battle and a final bloody conflict.

He remembered the story from his parents, Judd and Serk, and of how the two of them had been wondering through another land that was very, very, distant from this one, of how they were captured by humans but, instead of being killed, they were to remain alive in order to help the humans search the land and to track other beasts.

The story went that many humans and beasts had come through into this land. Sometimes, the beasts had arrived with the humans, as was the case of Shane's parents but, more often than not, the beasts had arrived separately from the humans and both groups had set out into the new world to build new lives.

Shane's parents had arrived with the humans and had remained with the humans. They were safe with the humans and were provided for. It was not the perfect existence, but it was a relatively safe one as long as they remained of use to the humans.

They had become used to human ways and it would have been suicide for them to leave and try to fend for themselves as well as having to worry about being sought out and hunted by the humans.

They had remained in that human camp and it was with those humans that they had given birth to four offspring. Shane had been one of them along with Sha, Arrow, and Root. He recalled a picture of himself but with the name Genta, his brother who had died at birth.

In his mind, he gave a quiet chuckle as he thought back to his sister and two brothers; he missed them very much and the fun that they used to have together.

And, as his nose continued to seek out a path through the mountain, his mind took him back to other times and other places.

One day, whilst alone with the pups, Judd and Serk had come across another dog. This dog had left a group of humans to travel on its own to try to seek a land called Essilon. It was the name given by the beasts to a land of sanctuary from humans and all beasts were to gather in this faraway land to make ready to do battle with the humans.

A great number of beasts had made a decision that they needed to be free of the evil ways that the humans herded across the land. Stories had come about the destruction of the old land by floods; stories of how the land was to be destroyed because of the evil nature of the humans and of how God had no choice but to cleanse that land.

There was also much talk of a great one, a 'Chosen One,' coming from the sky and who would lead the beasts into a final battle with the humans.

Shane's parents had already known of these stories and they had asked if the stranger would take their four young ones along with him, to take the young ones away from the humans and to the safety of the place called Essilon. The stranger had agreed to this but he had taken only three and not four. Shane had stubbornly refused to go as he was determined to remain with his mother and father.

He remembered the day that they left. His brothers and sister sneaked, one by one, out of the camp to a rendezvous with the stranger and to begin a journey that would take them to safety.

As they left the camp, Shane watched them and was saddened to be seeing them go but he understood what his parents were doing. They were trying to ensure that they had a good life and, if there was to be a battle between the humans and beasts, his parents wanted their young to be safely within the company of the beasts.

Sha was the first to leave the camp and a little while after, his sister, Root, trotted off out of the camp.

His other brother, Arrow, had sneaked up behind Shane and gave him a playful nip. Shane had jumped and Arrow was laughing at him with the same mischievous look in his eyes that he always had. He had always played tricks on Shane.

The smile vanished from Arrow's lips. "Well, I'll see you around, brother," he said softly to Shane.

Shane had just stared back, feeling a lump of great sadness growing in his throat.

"You take care of yourself, Arrow," Shane had said, "And don't forget to get plenty of water before you cross the desert."

"No problem, brother. I've got my permanent oasis, remember?" With that he turned his side to Shane, presenting to him his well-known coat on which was a silhouette of an oasis with a palm tree. It was a very noticeable and recognisable shape.

"Look after mom and dad, you hear?" said Arrow.

"I will," said Shane, "You know I will."

"Well, see you," Arrow said, as he leaned forward and licked the side of Shane's head.

Before Shane could reply, Arrow barked loudly down his ear, causing Shane to jump again.

Arrow sped off quickly, shouting back at Shane, "I got you again, little brother. Take care of yourself."

Shane barked back, "And you take care of Sha and Root."

Shane heard the reply, "You know I will," as Arrow vanished behind a clump of bushes as he sped on his way, setting off on the beginning of his journey to Essilon.

Shane was very sad that day and for a long time he wondered if he had made the wrong decision by staying but later he knew he had made the right decision when his father died, leaving his mother alone except for him. He knew his mother was very poorly and that she only had very few seasons left within her.

He had never found out what had happened to his father. He had been out one day with the humans and had never returned. The humans who had returned were injured and they talked about meeting a number of bears and trying to hunt them down. They returned without any meat and so it was known that the bears had won. No mention was made of the fate of his father.

It was for his mother that Shane had wanted to return to the human camp to try to take her away. He had wanted to return but soon afterwards he had realised that with the age eating away at her rear legs she could not have gone very far. Shane knew she would not have left the place where she had buried her son, Genta. And so Shane had changed his mind about returning and had decided to go straight to Essilon with Flack.

There was something strange about Flack but Shane could not see exactly what it was and, rather than think about that, he thought about his sister and brothers. 'They will be waiting for me in Essilon.'

***

The cave's blackness wore on as time went past painstakingly slowly and every now and again there came the distant echoing voices of the humans who were now not too far behind them. Shane thought, 'There must be humans who were surely in the caves by now but, hopefully, they would be getting lost in the maze of passages. But it will only be a matter of time before they find their way through. Unfortunately, the human's are extremely clever.'

Shane wished that Flack's hooves did not quite make so much noise, but they did and there was nothing that they could do though he knew that the unicorn was trying to place his feet as gently as possible upon the rock floor. And so on he walked, slowly, carefully, determinedly until when, quite unexpectedly, a cool breeze buffeted his body and a circle of light appeared in the darkness ahead of him.

Seeing the blue circle of light, Shane thought about how it reminded him of how he had entered this new land by going into a circle of blue light that stood before a giant tree. This sight now brought much gladness to Shane as he believed that he was about to find his way into another new land; a land called Essilon. 'Here is the new land of hope and peace that has been promised to the beasts.'

Seeing the circle of blue light, Flack found that it seemed to stir something unpleasant hidden deep inside him. He tried to think what it was that it reminded him of but no answer came to him and as light began seeping along the passage walls he felt relieved to know that he was getting out of the darkness at last.

Following Shane's lead, Flack increased his speed as the new light showed them the rocks and obstructions that would have been in their paths, increasing his speed as the brightness increased in the passage, Flack kept his eyes focused on the circle of blue light ahead. 'I know that it is only the blue of the sky seen through another entrance to this passage but, nonetheless, it holds the promise of some much beauty.'

With a suddenly increase in the brightness, Shane was lost to his eyes amidst a flashing expanse of brilliant whiteness that hit his eyes and then, suddenly, Flack was pulling himself to a halt as he realised that he too had now crossed the threshold from dark passage into daylight.

Closing his eyes immediately, Flack knew that Shane would be doing the same and his mind frantically said to him, 'But what if there are humans here seeing you arrive?'

Trying to force his eyes open, Flack found he could only tolerate opening them a little and allowing the brightness to pierce his mind at a slightly diminished level. His eyes immediately closed because they could not tolerate the pain of keeping them evenly slightly open in the fresh, burning, beautiful light of day. But they were out; they were through and now Essilon was well within reach and so elation swept through his body even though he could not see the land. Opening his eyes once more and then, finding that he could now withstand the onslaught of daylight, he felt his relief was great indeed and the ecstasy of leaving behind the dark passageways only added to his happiness of the fact that he was almost at his journeys end.

Looking down at Shane, who was staring up at him with his face beaming with happiness and pride, Flack could see the same thoughts echoing through the mind of his travelling companion. 'We are through the mountain and we are so close to Essilon!'

Turning to gaze into the cave entrance, he saw that the whole of the mountainside was in deep shade and it was difficult to see any sign of the entrance to the passage that he had last been walking through. 'I wonder if the humans will find this way through the mountain. I hope not and I would wish them to be lost in the passages and that they would remain there until they fell through lack of food and water.'

Flack turned again to stand beside Shane, allowing his eyes to become more accustomed to the bright intensity of the daylight. In front of them there were many worn paths leading down from the passage exit and across a small level piece of mountain land and up again to lead to a way between two of the three giant mountain peaks that now loomed ahead of them.

Before either had spoken directly toward the other, Flack turned his head and came face to face with the largest eagle he had ever seen in his life.

It sat on a rock not far from him, looking at him with large, deep, unblinking eyes. It continued to stare and Flack could not think of anything to say to such a gigantic and stern looking bird. The bird's huge feathers ruffled gently in the breeze as slowly and gently it began to clean a few feathers upon its great chest. Flack believed that he must now be looking at the 'Great One.' 'The one foretold of in legend by Chart and Brand.'

Both Flack and Shane stood staring quietly at the great bird before them while, from somewhere deep and dark behind them in the passages, they heard the muffled shout's and curses of the human's trying to find their way through the mysterious caves and tunnels. The sounds were distant and dim, but they were there.

'Perhaps the humans would soon be through,' thought Flack.

The great bird spoke suddenly spoke, saying, "You had best hurry to reach the plane of Essilon before the great battle begins." All this was spoken in a matter of fact voice.

"A-Are you the great one?" asked Flack, embarrassed by his own question as he was so convinced that this must be the great one.

The answer was quick and sharp.

"No!" The great bird stared hard at Flack, leaving him momentarily lost for what to say, though he was saved from further embarrassment by the great bird continuing with, "You must hurry and make your way to the plane of Essilon where all beasts are gathering for the battle that is to come."

Flack looked at Shane who was, at this moment, casting his gaze toward the three peaks. Flack began walking forward, with Shane immediately following, as they set off down the raggedy path that would down the slope to move onto the small rocky plane and then across it and up towards the peaks of Essilon.

There was a crash of great wings from behind him as the great eagle suddenly took to the air. For a moment, Flack watched the eagle circling high overhead and then followed it as it suddenly flew ahead of them, dramatically dropping toward the ground further across the rocky expanse, indicating the route that would be best for him and Shane to take.

Racing down the slope and across the rocks towards the eagle, Flack was aware of Shane running along to his left and slightly behind him. Something in the great eagle's actions seemed to indicate that they should hurry. Nearing the eagle, Flack saw it suddenly launch itself into the air, landing once again a little way from them. It was evident that the bird was showing them a particular path that they should use to cross the rocky ground. Always the great bird flew ahead and always Flack followed a twisting path that would lead them to the other side of the ground that they were crossing.

Neither Flack nor Shane spoke as they ran through the small clouds of dust that would be suddenly be whipped up by a swirling, gusty wind. The sun remained high and hot and, occasionally, Flack's mind would turn to thoughts of water. With his eyes focused on the next place in which the eagle was settling, he thought, 'I wonder what the coming days would bring. Who would live? And who would die?'

Eventually reaching the great bird, Flack saw that it did not leap into the air to seek out another location to guide them this time, instead the great bird waited for the him and Shane to approach close to him. Flack knew that they were a little way up the nearest of the three peaks.

"Follow this path and it will lead you to Essilon. Ask for Watcher," said the eagle, before flapping its great wings while racing across the uneven ground and then throwing itself into the sky; powering itself sharply into the air.

Watching the eagle, Flack followed its black silhouette against the clear blue sky as the great eagle flew back above the mountain peak that held the caves and tunnels where, upon some rock atop the peak, it perched itself and sat there and Flack knew that it would be looking down at the mass of humans clambering up the far side of the mountain.

***

With its sharp eyes staring down to where the mass of humans were trying to fight their way through the narrow gap that would lead the evil humans into the passages, the eagle could only slowly shake its head.

It was a day that the great eagle had expected to come but had not expected it to come so soon. 'The beasts are not yet ready for the great battle that is to come.'

Continuing to stare at the shadowy expanse of human flesh that led from the far forests and across the desert sand, the eagle continued looking for any signs of any other beasts that were trying to cross the desert and reach Essilon. There was nothing upon the sands except the human army and the only sounds that filled the heated air were the chants and shouts that came from the vile throats of the humans.

' _The day for the battle is almost upon us and there is still no sign of the Chosen One. This land may see the final demise of all beasts as the hated humans destroy each and every one of us.'_

Fluttering his huge wings, the eagle shuddered, feeling a cold glide across his body even though the sun was still high and pouring out its relentless heat.

***

As Shane continued the climb up towards Essilon, he felt that Flack had also detected the movements of great shadows moving quickly amongst the rocks ahead of them. He was about to mention this to Flack when, suddenly, in a cloud of rock dust, a huge beast landed before them. Shane was startled but tried to stand calm, seeing that Flack had come to a complete halt beside him.

The huge head of the beast seemed to hang in the air before them, surrounded by a huge cloud of dust and then, as the dust slowly settled, exposing the huge frame that supported such a huge head, Shane gasped, "A tiger!" His mind held tales of these beasts, told to him by his parents, many tales of how feared they were by humans and how hated by the humans. The stories had not, however, prepared him for the strength that could be seen to flow from every muscle within this creature's body.

Slowly, all the shadows became real around him as both himself and Flack found themselves surrounded by a mass of tigers, lions, cougars, cheetahs and many more large beasts that Shane could not identify.

All of the great beasts were glaring back at him, creating a painful silence. This was not the way Shane had expected Essilon to be. 'More welcoming, friendlier, but not this way!'

Huge tails slowly crept from side to side behind the great beasts and huge lungs could be heard to draw in huge gasps of air. Then the one in front, the tiger whom had first startled him, spoke. "You have brought the humans. You..." and then there came an agonizing pause from the tiger before he finished with, "have led them here."

Glancing toward Flack, Shane saw that Flack looked under no worry though he felt very weak. Then a huge lion, his paw outstretched and pointing towards Shane, said. "He has the smell of many humans on him."

And, in the silence which followed, Shane began to shake his head disbelievingly.

'It should not be like this,' he thought.

The silent mass of powerful killers waited for a reply but Shane could not find an answer that he believed would convince them for he knew that the humans had crossed the sands behind them.

The largest tiger moved forward, slowly forcing Flack to step back. The tiger's hot breath burnt heavy in Shane's face.

From far behind came the shouting of the humans.

"You led the humans to us now, and at a time when we are not ready. We still await the Chosen One who will lead us into battle... and you!" The tiger's voice became deeper and more powerful, "You have led them straight to us."

Shane felt as though the huge beast was preparing to rip off his head with one mighty sweep of his paw.

"And you bring..." said the beast, indicating Flack, "a crippled and bloody unicorn."

Shane looked at Flack, for the first time noticing the blood that was dried hard upon his sides and realising that the tightness of the passages had caused much pain and harm to the unicorn.

The leader of cats moved forward, thrusting his great head toward Flack and then began slowly walking along the length of Flack, inhaling the smell of the unicorn and its blood.

Through all of this Flack remained completely still, never flinching, and Shane could only admire the unicorns strength in the face of their worrying situation.

The tiger completed a full circle of Flack, pushing Shane out of the way as though he were nothing, before stopping and once again facing Flack. Its breathing was deeper and becoming more rapid.

"You, cripple, and what good do you think you will be in the great battle?" roared the big cat. "Or do you not intend to fight? Was your job just to lead the humans to us?"

There was menace in that voice and Shane trembled in fear, wishing that he had never journeyed to this place. The hot breath of the tiger was gushing into the air ahead of it and Shane could feel some of it though he knew that the main barrage of heated air was being directly pushed toward Flack. Slowly, the tiger was getting ever closer to the unicorn, lowering its back and slowly getting itself into a crouching position.

Shane noticed that the other large cats were moving even closer and was sure that the leader was about to pounce upon Flack when, suddenly, Flack threw his head and forelegs high into the air. A booming voice, of unknown language, echoed from his lips and then his forelegs came crashing down to collide, like thunder, with the ground underfoot. He reigned up once again, this time holding his balance for three, maybe four times, longer. Looming high above the lead tiger, Shane saw that Flack's face was not even turned to look down upon the beast before him.

The tiger quickly moved backwards, in case the hooves came crashing down upon him, continuing to growl low and deep as it continued to back away from the unicorn.

Shane was shocked by this sight. 'How can the crippled unicorn hope to make a stand against this tiger? And yet, he is!'

The full circle of wild cats slowly and uneasily began to back away. Not leaving the area, merely moving out of the way of any immediate danger from the hooves of the rearing unicorn.

Allowing his forelegs to come crashing once more to the ground, there then came another booming crash of thunder echoing around the mountain peaks.

The lead tiger began to speak once again, his yellow eyes focused on the unicorn. His tone had changed as if he realised that he had upset the two travellers.

Turning his gaze away from Flack as he realised that he had not been listening to the words of the large cat, Shane heard, "It had not been our intention, but all the beasts are beginning to panic because the Chosen One has not appeared and now it looks as though no Chosen One is going to appear and lead the beasts against the humans in the final battle."

Flack did not reply to the words of the cat and Shane moved himself closer to the unicorn so that he was almost completely beneath the huge bulk of the unicorn. His mind pondered the fact that, 'Flack seems much larger than yesterday.' It was confusing to him but his thoughts quickly returned to the wild cats that surrounded them and the tension that was still evident in the air.

Shane realised that Flack must have been staring hard at the lead tiger as, slowly, after a jostling of bodies a gap appeared within their muscle bound ranks.

Flack slowly began walking forward, walking a path right through the middle of the group of big cats. Still cringing, Shane skulked along beneath and slightly to the side of Flack, concentrating on his position and making sure that he was not caught a blow by one of the unicorn's hooves. He walked slowly, ever fearing a charge by the great tiger who, even now, was regarding him with deep, yellow, hate-filled eyes.

'Or is it fear?' Shane asked himself.

Suddenly, the great cats turned and ran, dispersing themselves amongst the rock and crags and, as the great beasts slowly became part of the rocks and crag's once again, Shane visibly relaxed though ever deep within him was the fear of what to expect when they came upon the rest of the beasts.

A huge shadow glided past them, moulding itself upon each stone and rock as it flew by. Glancing skyward, Shane saw a huge bird was soaring through the air and he wondered if it was the great eagle that they had encountered when they had left the dark cave in the mountainside.

There was a silence between himself and Flack as they continued climbing the rocky slope, and Shane was relieved that the going was not too strenuous as they made their way along a winding, partly worn path which, they knew, would be leading them into the heart of Essilon itself.

Shane caught glimpses of the shapes of other large beasts moving sleekly in and out of the dull, red crags of which the whole mountainside seemed to be covered.

The angle of their climb increased and, looking ahead, Shane could only see the side of the mountain seeming to stretch on forever. Still silent, the two continued clambering up the slope that led between two of the great peaks, ignoring the times when their footing would slip and send a small collection of rocks rolling and tumbling back down the mountainside, their clattering sounding loud in the still air around him. Upward they struggled and, as Shane glimpsed at Flack, he could see that the unicorn was in pain. 'Obviously, it is not only my paws that are being hurt by the sharpness of the rocks.'

The sound of the falling rocks behind them was now a steady clatter, as though they were part of a tumbling stream, and Shane began to wonder if they had taken the wrong path. 'At least it will be difficult for the humans to follow us up here. The mountain would surely slow them down even more than us and so that will give us a chance to continue evading them. But what shall we do if this path leads nowhere? What if we were sent the wrong way because the humans appear to be deliberately following us?'

Ahead, Shane saw the rising climb seemed to roll out of sight and, for a moment, he had hopes that there was a ledge of some sort a little was ahead of them. 'It could be a place where we can rest for a little while, lick our wounds, and prepare to continue this painful climb.'

Glancing behind him, Shane was amazed at how high they had climbed and knew that he was so high up the rock face that it would be almost impossible to see the shapes of any single humans moving about below. His eyes searched for he signs of any of the big cats but he could see nothing; only rocks and the occasional shadows made by the larger of the rocks.

Turning forward once again, he saw that Flack had moved a few body lengths ahead of him and so, trying to increase his speed, he added many rocks to the ones already falling in the clattering stream behind him. For a moment, he saw Flack seeming to struggle, as if it was too difficult for him to get a grip on the rocks and then, suddenly, Flack's body moved out of sight.

'It must be a ledge,' thought Shane, as he slipped a little on the loose rocks and had to dig in deep with his paws in order to stop himself sliding any further backwards. Once his body was still and seeming to hold firm, he leapt forward, ignoring the pains in his legs and racing upwards, jumping a little at the moment he felt the loose stones trying trick him into sliding backwards or even falling back down the mountainside.

Suddenly, the ground rolled away from him and believing he had reached the ledge, and seeing Flack's form through the dust around him, he used his last remaining reserves of energy to force a frantic run over the edge, determined not to stop until he was standing safely beside the unicorn.

Feeling level and steady ground beneath his feet, Shane came to a halt, closing his eyes as much as his mouth to prevent the swirling dust from penetrating into places that would do him no good. His muscles shook as his body remained at rest for what seemed like a lifetime and he bathed in the bliss of none movement and then, opening his eyes, he was greeted by a scene that he had not been expecting to see.

Ahead of him lay trees and plants, as well as many gloriously coloured flowers. It was certainly not a sight that Shane had expected to see in this barren place of rocks, boulders, and stones. Flack was standing still, staring ahead at the lush vegetation; a green heaven that had remained out of sight until they had been able to climb over the edge of the mountainside. It was impossible to see from the area below and he knew that the humans would never know of its existence unless they climbed the very path that he and Flack had taken to reach here.

Seeing a movement out of the corner of his eye, Shane turned his head to see the eyes of the unicorn looking down at him. Flack nodded his head gently and then, turning forward, he began to walk slowly across the stony ground, heading toward the inviting vegetation.

With aching and resisting legs, Shane too began walking forward, his eyes looking upwards and to the sides, seeing the mountainside continuing to climb on either side of the expanse of the vegetation and, in the distance, he could see where the mountain met again, creating a tunnel that he believed would lead them through to the plane of Essilon itself.

Knowing that they were so close to their destination, Shane felt he could allow himself to release his lasts reserves of energy. 'Our journey is all but done and there is food in plenty before us.'

With their pace increasing over the more level terrain, Shane allowed his tongue to hang in the air, now free from the dust it gave him a much needed chance to cool down. Beside him, he saw that Flack was walking slightly awkwardly, as if his left foreleg was painful when he placed it upon the ground to take his weight. He said nothing and then, facing forward once again, he felt slightly annoyed that he did not seem much closer to their new source of food. He continued his journey toward the vegetation and, after a little, they came, ever increasingly, upon what appeared to be small plants and bushes. At first, it started with clumps of a long, yellow grass grasping some form of existence from the barren stony mountainside and slowly there became an abundance of trees, along with the odd berry-bearing bush.

Soon, they were amid a miniature green and fertile forest of small bushes, with the occasional tall tree standing guard over the precious vegetation.

Seeing that Flack would occasionally stop and grab a handful of the tall yellow grass, Shane found himself doing the same, finding that the grass was pleasant to taste and seemingly full of moisture. Knowing that the water content would do him good, he snatched up as much as possible as the two continued winding their way in silence. Soon the sun was obscured by the rook of the mountain pass above them and although the trees grew lesser in this part of the small forested area, many of the bushes and grass seemed to thrive.

Stopping beside Flack, he watched the unicorn eating giant mushrooms and, seeing that Flack appeared to be enjoying them immensely, he too began to eat at a clump that were close to him. He was surprised by the taste and of how pleasant the strange food seemed and, as he continued to eat, he sensed that his body was making much use of this strange food. He could feel energy flowing back into his body that he had literally had to drag up the mountainside.

Turning to look behind him, he could see the path that they had taken and that the path appeared to be lined with plenty of food and vegetation. Sniffing at the ground, he could detect the passage of many beasts along this same path and he realised that though the ground did not appear to be worn there did appear to be a singular path that wound its way through the green and plants.

Facing his left he was able to discern a faint glow and could see that it appeared to be coming from the sides of the huge tunnel that they were in. 'I wonder what is causing the blue glow. Is it what helps the plants to thrive in this area?' And then, realising that although they were beneath a section of mountain and that there still appeared to be plenty of light around them, he looked overhead, seeing the same strange blue glow up above the branches of the trees nearby. 'It almost looks like sky,' he thought.

Turning around to face Flack, he saw that the unicorn was looking over head also, obviously following his own eyes. Turning toward the right, the unicorn began to walk through the thicker vegetation, moving around the larger bushes as he walked directly toward the blue glowing side of the mountain tunnel. Grabbing at a last mouthful of mushrooms, Shane loped off behind the unicorn and not in the slightest annoyed that they were delaying their entrance onto the plane of Essilon itself. 'Judging by the reaction of the big cats it may be slightly uncomfortable to meet other beasts. Especially if they have been told that the humans appeared to have followed us across the desert and into the mountain passageway that leads through to Essilon.'

Eventually, Flack came to a halt before the mountainside, his head slightly angled as he studied the strange rock surface and then, as Shane came to rest beside him, he looked on in wonderment as the unicorn turned his head and struck out at an outcropping of rock with his tongue.

'Is there nothing that the unicorn will not try to eat?' he asked himself.

As if reading his mind, Flack turned and looked down at Shane for a moment and, when Shane turned away to eat at a clump of tall grass in front of him, he saw that the unicorn returned its attention to the blue strangeness that covered the rock face.

Reluctant to try to lick the rock face, Shane laid down, his mouth working away to try to dislodge a large grass stem that appeared to be trapped between some of his teeth. Becoming frustrated that his forepaws could not get a grip on the grass stem he was relieved when his tongue actually got into a position whereby he could push the grass stem free from the teeth that had trapped it.

Laying there, enjoying the warmth that was not the colossal heat of the sun that he had spent his time in as he climbed the mountainside, Shane decided that he was happy to remain where they were for a little while and allow the unicorn to finish whatever it was that he was trying to achieve.

Closing his eyes, he began to think of his brothers and sisters and of how he should be able to find them in Essilon. 'I wonder how many beasts are here? How easy will it be to be able to find my family?' A new impetus rose inside him and he now felt a renewed want to move onto the plane of Essilon and try to find his brothers and sisters. Getting to his feet, he stood there staring at the unicorn as it continued to lick the rock face and only now noticing that there was a large area that no longer held the blue glow. 'I presume it must be a source of food,' he thought, and then began wondering, 'but how are we to know that it is not poisonous to us? I think I will make do with the grass and mushrooms that I have found so far.'

After a few moments, the unicorn stopped feeding from the rock face and turned to look down at Shane. Seeing that he had the unicorn's attention for a moment, he turned and began trotting back towards the path that they had been previously following. Without looking back, he knew that the unicorn was following him by the sound of him moving through the large clumps of bushes that he himself chose to go around.

Once back upon the path, Shane turned right and began moving along the path, his body wanting to run to sooner meet his family and yet his body too scared to increase speed because he was unsure of the reception that could be awaiting them.

Flack appeared to his right, matching his speed and, saying nothing, Shane continued following the path, seeing a light ahead of them that he felt sure was the light of the sun upon the plane of Essilon. After a little while he realised that he had picked up his speed in order to match that of the unicorn. Flack had increased his pace, seeming to become more forceful and more deliberate in his determination to reach the beasts of Essilon.

Shane's efforts to keep up with Flack - for he feared more to be left behind, alone with the great cats that were out there somewhere, than to meet the beasts of Essilon - became a burden to him. Within him, his every step became a palpitation of maddening heartbeats. He was very nervous and very scared and, for some reason unknown to him, the excitement of being reunited with his family seemed to fade from him.

Their trek wore on, until Flack slowed his pace down a little and, inwardly, Shane was very grateful. For a little while, Shane had been aware that the light had diminished a lot and what he had thought to be the possible light coming from the plane of Essilon now appeared to be a small circular concentration of light that was at ground level somewhere ahead of them. There remained just enough light around him for him to be able to follow the winding path of bushes and tall grass that appeared to line the path that they followed; in fact it was the bushes and tall grass that made then follow what appeared to be a path. 'I wonder what may be out there beyond the path. Is there something that could be harmful to us and that is why we try to follow this path?'

The silhouettes of the grass and bushes seemed eerie, particularly as they appeared to be surrounded by a faint blue glow that stood out against the darkness beyond. For a moment, Shane recalled the strange dream that he had had when he had left Flack when he had believed the unicorn to be dead and now here, in this place, he almost had a sense of being in the same place. Adjusting his gait a little, he edged closer toward the side of the unicorn, careful not to move too close in case they should collide.

The trees abruptly stopped and then, ahead of them, there came into view a seemingly impassable wall with one circular blue glowing shape set at ground level. Shane recognised it at once as one of the portals that had allowed the humans and beasts to access this strange new land. 'I wonder if it is a way to get out of this land.' And then, realising that the old world had been destroyed by flood, he thought, 'To try to go back through would surely result in death.'

There were scant details available of the huge wall ahead of them but Shane felt that it was made from the natural formation of a very smooth and steep cliff face. Still, they kept their journey heading toward it and, gradually, a darker orifice began to appear, just to the right of the glowing blue circle.

Advancing nearer, it soon became evident that it was a tunnel and that it must be the way through to the very heart of Essilon. Coming to a halt before the dark opening, Shane studied the pulsating blue portal, wondering, 'Are we being offered a chance to return to the old world.'

The sound of Flack suddenly moving forward took Shane's attention and he watched the outline of the unicorn move into the dark opening, being almost instantly swallowed up by the blackness. Running to his right, Shane entered the darkness, worried that he may lose the unicorn and in that dark passage he heard the sound of the unicorn's hooves echoing from the walls around him. Flack's outline was clearly visible once he was in the tunnel and then, as he saw this, he became aware of another sound. It was faint at first but grew in intensity. 'It sounds like the muted buzzing of thousands of bees.'

The sounds always appeared to come from high above him and he thought back to the bee that he had recently encountered.

"Nice bees," he whispered.

He had expected to hear Flack respond to his statement but the unicorn did not. 'Flack must be absorbed in his own thoughts too much to hear me.'

Occasionally Flack would stop and one occasion Shane bumped into a rear leg of the unicorn. Flack did not acknowledge this and simply started walking again though his bearing seemed to have changed. Shane realised that the tunnel was not straight and did in fact wind its way through the mountain. 'I wish the sounds of the bees would go away; they make me nervous.' And then, as an afterthought, 'I hope that we are not to spend an eternity in here like the passage from the desert.'

Within the shadow of the great hole in the mountain, Shane could feel a chill over run his body and he mused on how very different his arrival in this place had been from the picture that he had painted in his head only days before. He had expected some kind of welcoming, a greeting, a meeting of brothers, but none of this had happened. The air seemed to be tense, full of danger and misery and not at all as he had expected.

Flack had moved a little ahead whilst Shane had been musing and when Shane looked up the trail ahead of him he was able to see the shape of Flack silhouetted against the bright sunshine which illuminated the exit of the passage.

'At last,' thought Shane, increasing his speed, elated to be out of the dark tunnel.

Racing out into glorious sunlight, and not at all concerned about the heat of the sun, Shane was momentarily blinded though he became aware of the deep rumble of a thousand mixtures of various animals tongues and dialects. His throat was dry as he stepped forward to stand beside the giant shape of Flack and, as he did so, the scene which he then did gaze upon made him feel very, very small indeed.

### 22 - Numbers IV - Thousands Hold Court

Far below, upon a huge grass plane, there roamed more beasts than Shane could have ever believed existed. Large, small, bright coloured, black and brown, their colours were as a giant mass that crept slowly across the grassland.

Before them lay a path which would take them down through the bush laden side of mountain and out amongst the mass of beast flesh. Flack lurched forward and quickly began to make his way down to the magnificent armada of animals below. With a little hesitation, Shane started off, following behind Flack who, in front of him, was producing a small cloud of dust. As the two neared the level of the great plane, the noise that they heard coming from the beasts grew into a deep pulsating, rumbling whisper. Still, the two advanced down the dusty path that wove between the scant growing bushes.

Now the armada of flesh slowly became individual shapes and sizes, and still the two maintained their course toward the heavy flesh of the beasts.

Soon Shane was standing beside Flack at the edge of enormous gathering and he could hear a noise as of distant thunder rolling over the great congregation. Immediately before them, there now stood a mass of muscle in the form of a huge Buffalo. The beasts nearby became quiet as, slowly, they parted. A small baby Buffalo was left standing in the gap. It howled as it became aware that it was left alone and then, suddenly, it bolted off to one side to rub up against an adult Buffalo, its mother.

Flack and Shane began to walk between them as their ranks continued opening to allow them passage through. 'But passage through to where, or what?' was the only thought that raced through Shane's mind. As before, Flack led the way, his proud head held up as if not even seeing the beasts surrounding him.

Shane gazed upon Flack and, trying to gain strength from his mighty stance, he too held his head up and slowly moved forward, but he could not help but see the eyes of all the beasts as he moved past them. Deer, Cows, other Dogs, Giraffes, Badgers, and even Ducks returned his gaze so strongly that it was not long before he gave up his pretence of strength and bolted forward to cringe beside the powerful body of Flack. Still the ranks of the animals continued opening in front of their advance and Shane wished that the beasts would look away but they would not, and so Shane kept his gaze upon the floor and his tail, tight between his legs.

His body felt tired and weary by the time Flack suddenly stopped and as Shane felt the sudden cease in forward movement of Flack's body, he stopped also. His eyes slowly ascended to gaze forward and his jaw dropped as he saw the sight that had caused Flack to halt. He gazed from that scene to Flack himself. Flack was unperturbed, collected, and quiet.

However, Shane was not feeling so confident and he squeezed himself up close to Flack, pressing his body against the unicorn's left foreleg. 'Though, what safety Flack could offer against this hoard of anger bearing flesh I do not even want to try to think about.'

A voice boomed out, causing Shane to cringe even more, and he knew that it could only have come from the great beast that he had quickly gazed upon a moment before. Flack remained standing silent and rigid beside him, his muscles not even flinching in the face of the great booming voice that had addressed them. The voice had come from the jaws of a lioness, a huge, desert brown, muscle-bound beast.

"It is you who have brought the humans upon us!" the voice roared out, the words carrying far and wide, echoing between the bodies of the amassed beasts, crawling over their backs, bouncing upon the ground beneath them and then in a final pitch, screaming high into the air so that any bird in flight would hear only too clear the words which were being spoken below.

Shane was cowering low to the ground, lower than he would have ever thought possible, when Flack stepped toward the great lioness who, laying down on a huge rock, was slightly above Flacks own eye-level and was in a good position to lunge toward Flack if she so chose to.

"It was not our intention to bring the humans," retorted Flack, without a hint of fear or hesitation in his voice. "They must have been ready and prepared to cross the desert, it is just by accident that we were slightly ahead of them."

There followed a short silence, whereby all of the tiny movements of the surrounding beasts clashed together to give the sound of a distant thunder which was creeping slowly, yet violently toward them.

The huge lioness spoke again. "Why did you bring the humans? Why did you let them follow you? Why? When the Chosen One had not yet arrived to lead us into victory, did you allow them to find their way toward Essilon?" Her mighty voice boomed and, once again, the surrounding beasts jostled and whispered as they sought their own answer to these questions. There was a slow birth to the beginnings of anger contained within the bristling remarks of the many-fold beasts.

"We did not know that the Chosen One had not arrived," stated Flack, slowly and deliberately. "We did not know that there were humans behind us. In fact, I do not think that they were following us, we just happened to get here a little ahead of them. I have told you that already."

The huge lioness glowered at Flack and Shane could feel a malevolence emanating from those eyes. He hated those eyes.

There then came a muttering within the crowd that Shane, recognizing some of the words being spoken, showed him that many of the voices of beasts were beginning to wonder if they had not doubted too harshly over Flack and Shane. 'But the lioness is not going to allow this release of anger to dwindle. I feel that the Lioness is using this event to take the beast's thoughts away from the concern of the 'Chosen One' not yet appearing.'

"The fact remains," her great voice boomed once again, throwing within her voice the voices of blame, accusation, and guilt. "The fact remains that you did lead them here. You did bring them when the Chosen One had not yet arrived. You clearly did not try to disguise the fact that you were coming towards these mountains. You did lead them here! You were watched from the skies. You did not try to lead the humans in another direction!"

The voices of the crowded beasts around them began to mumble. The beast's voices became song bursts of violent thoughts not even trying to reason. Then, at a point where the crowd was charged with anger, the lioness finished off with her final words. "Perhaps," she said, "Perhaps you are in league with the human ones?"

She smiled a satisfied smile at the faces of beasts that were closest to her, beginning to drive home the same thoughts into each of their heads and Shane knew that these thoughts were about Flack and himself and would do them no good, what-so-ever.

The flesh and muscle of the beasts was so close, jostling around both himself and Flack that Shane felt that surely they were to be crushed, crushed until their breaths were a memory and no longer a burden.

"We did not bring the humans!" Flacks voice carried loud and far and had the effect of momentarily ceasing the angered voices which surrounded Shane and himself, and then, as Shane stared up at the unicorn, he heard Flack say, "We came to fight alongside you. To help you free our world of the human ones."

The crowd had become very quiet, with no gentle stamping of hooves, sniffing of noses or rustling of feathers to be heard. Indeed, it seemed to Shane as though all of the beasts were holding their very breaths.

The rumble of anger had gone from the beasts around them and Shane felt as though Flack had saved the day and his tired, tensed muscles began to relax, to feel free from constraints, and he, himself, began to feel hopeful. But these feeling were suddenly brought back to bear upon his mind when a voice from somewhere slightly behind him and to his to his left called out.

"How shall a nervous dog and a crippled unicorn help us this day?" shouted the voice.

Immediately, the rumblings in the beasts began once again and Shane knew that more wood had been thrown upon a fire that had begun to burn out. The seed of damage had been firmly planted now. Shane knew that there could be no chance of the beasts listening for the truth in their story. He felt doomed and the crowd added to his doom by chorusing the words spoken by the unknown beast from behind them.

'But why is it like this?' Shane asked himself. 'Surely, all beasts are here to do battle with the humans if they should come, and they have. I had believed that the beasts would be united, needing each other for the battle to come.'

"Do not fear them, Shane," said Flack, his voice smooth and clear and understanding. "They act this way for they are scared. The Chosen One has not appeared and the humans are drawing nearer. Fear not, my friend, be brave..."

Shane drew some strength from these words, even when the cries of "throw them back to the humans," began to echo around them, growing into a huge crescendo, which vibrated all around the plane.

Slowly, the huge lioness drew herself up to a standing position on her rock, her huge body arching upwards, deliberately, into the sky as if it were to become a mountain itself.

'She is trying to be the strong one for the beasts in this time of worry. She is sacrificing me and the unicorn, making us take the blame because the Chosen One has not yet appeared. She is trying to make it look as though we have brought the humans to Essilon before their time and that, given time, the Chosen One would have appeared for them.' Shane felt sick throughout his whole body. All his hopes for reaching Essilon and finding his family, of finding a sanctuary and finding strength, were now all dissolving around him. 'This is not fair! Why should we be given the blame for something that is not our fault?'

The crowd had grown quiet around him. Silent mouths and panting tongues waited on the words which the lioness was about to speak.

"Who shall throw them back to the humans?" boomed the great voice, though not a single voice replied.

The silence grew to a deafening pounding of heartbeats and anticipation while the sun seemed to glare down harsher upon the scene as the land and air became so very, very much hotter. The great Lioness turned her head toward the two beasts, leaning down and staring straight into the eyes of Flack, saying, "Be gone, for we do not wish for traitors in the midst of this proud armada."

The words bit deeply and hurtfully into Shane and he wondered what was going through Flack's mind. Then, studying Flack, Shane felt as though Flack was larger and bigger than the great Lioness even though his horn only came up to a point slightly short of the Lioness's huge jaw because she was standing upon a large rock.

There was tension in the air as Flack continued to stare back into the hate-filled gaze of the Lioness. The tension began creeping through the ranks of beasts and Shane found his heart was racing as he was now expecting the huge lioness to leap from the rock and tear into the unicorn beside him. And then, suddenly, the complete silence was noisily interrupted as a male lion came charging through the ranks of beasts, racing down the path that had been cleared for himself and the unicorn.

In a split second, he was before the great lioness and standing beside Shane and Flack. Panting heavily, the lion began to speak, saying, "Your Majesty, the humans are gathering beyond the mountain of holes and I fear that they are preparing to attack."

There was a pause as the Lion glanced toward Flack and then toward Shane, who stood beside him, before he continued with, "I fear it shall be this coming morning when they choose to attack. They already have small groups searching the tunnels trying to find which passages lead completely through the mountain."

"Is anything being done?" questioned the great lioness.

"The bees and wasps have been entering the tunnels to cause as much disruption as possible but now the humans are covering themselves with some kind of oil which greatly reduces the effectiveness of their stings," replied the lion.

"Do what you can," said the lioness, looking not at the lion but at Flack and Shane, by way of dismissal.

Turning around slowly, Flack began to walk back along the path between the masses of scared beast's bodies. Ahead of them the lion that had reported to the Lioness was loping away quite quickly. Obviously tired from his race to get here, he could not manage a full run as he returned to his place on the mountain.

Continuing to walk beside the unicorn, Shane held his head up, determined not to be seen to be cowering anymore. Having seen how Flack had stood brave in the face of the Lioness, and the rising hostility of the beasts around him, Shane was angry with their treatment upon their arrival at Essilon and he was resolute that the beasts around him would not seem him cowering as he made his way from the plane of Essilon. 'My head is up but my but my heart very low. I only hope that none of my family have not bore witness to this.'

The crowd of beasts had become very quiet as Flack and Shane had made their way out from amidst the huge gathering. The beasts that could see them directly stood silent and stared at the two retreating figures, their eyes tinged in a mixture of anger, sadness and fear. Reaching the edge of the armada of beasts, Shane came to a halt as he saw Flack stop his walking. Standing in the rays of the blazing sun, Flack had halted to listen to the murmur of voices which were colouring the air behind him. Realising this, Shane began to listen to the faint murmurings behind them also.

"It is not real anger," said Flack. "Merely anger brought about by their fears. They all fear the much organised humans and who could blame them? If only the Chosen One, our Chosen One, would appear then, perhaps, they would have a chance against the humans but now... now, they are too afraid to fight. Tomorrow will be a day of much ..."

Suddenly letting out a huge gasp, Flack took Shane's attention as his forelegs buckled beneath him and he sank slowly to the ground, rolling over and onto his side. His back legs kicked vainly in the air, trying to find purchase with the ground and right his pain-wracked body. It was obvious that there was much pain in Flack, for huge balls of tears slowly appeared in the unicorn's eyes and then burst to run coursing down his face. But there came no more sounds from him as his legs shook with violent spasms as he forced himself agonisingly, painfully, to stand once again on all four legs.

Shane could only stare, watching the swollen veins and the rapidly twitching nerves that came from pure conscious, agonising effort. Flack stood before him, swaying shakily. The event had obviously been witnessed by a number of the beasts behind them but none chose to come with either care or with assistance.

"Are you unwell?" said Shane, feeling as though he was asking a useless, pointless question. He was facing Flack, crouched down, with his head turned upward toward the unicorn.

"Come, we must find a place of rest," replied Flack, beginning to walk forward, his legs struggling not to buckle and cause him to fall again. Slowly, and painfully, they walked back along the path that took them away from the mass of beasts.

Flack's pace was very slow and Shane could see that his face betrayed that he was concentrating hard on ignoring blinding, searing pains that would not go away. The most severe of pains would cause blinding flashes in his eyes and Shane could see that it was difficult for him not to stop walking. Shane could see that Flack was determined to keep move moving, and so he was putting up with the pains, 'Probably wishing that each one could be the last,' thought Shane.

Walking slowly beside the unicorn, Shane could feel behind him a mutual pity coming from a number of the beasts who had witnessed the stumble, the pain, and the agony which Flack had gone through, and was clearly still going through. Slowly, the two continued moving forward. Forward, and away from those who should be friends, but instead were one unit of fear and terror, and misdirected hatred.

Tortuously, they climbed their way back up to the ridge, through the shaded passage and back amongst the bushes and plants. At times, Shane wanted to speak but decided to remain silent as it looked as though the unicorn was putting all of his energies into getting to a place of rest.

Walking along the path that had lead to the tunnel onto the Essilon plane, Shane could see that Flack appeared to be concentrating on looking at the flowers and plants, as if trying to take his mind from the pains that seared through him, trying to forget that he just wanted to lie down and remain where he was, forever.

' _I wonder if the substance that Flack had eaten from the rock face is in fact a poison. Something that is designed to cause problems for the humans... and now, because Flack had eaten it he is falling ill.'_

They wound their way through the vegetation and slowly back down into the huge gully where the lions, tigers, leopards, and other big cats waited nervously in anticipation of the coming invasion of the humans. In silence, Shane followed Flack's lead as he turned to the left and proceeded moving along the gully; away from the cave that could at any time spill forth a disgusting stream of murderous humans. There was hope that in moving in this direction they may be able to hide from the humans for a while but, Shane knew, 'It could only be for a little while for, eventually, the humans would search us out... and then they would surely kill us.'

Shane tried to forget these thoughts and began concentrating on finding a safe haven for the two of them, a place where they could hide a while. His eyes scanned the extent of the gully ahead of him, watching it curve slowly away to the left, and he paid particular attention to the lower sides of mountain pass wall on either side of them, looking for anywhere that they may be able to reach where there may be a cave or a ledge, anywhere that could hide them from the eyes of the evil humans.

Shane could see that the rocky ground was more painful for Flack to walk upon than the grass and vegetation had been. With only the occasional gasp escaping his mouth he continued his painful trek leaving Shane thinking that, 'Just for a little while, it would be good if the hot sun would be hidden behind a cloud, giving us both some release from heat, particularly Flack.'

As they continued walking, Flack led the two of them toward the rising mountain side and sought progress amongst the craggy rocks and boulders. At first Shane was puzzled by this because these rocks were larger and he thought it would make things worse for his friend but then he realised that, occasionally, they would be covered in shade and the release of the heat from their skins obviously made it worthwhile for the unicorn.

Many times Flack had to stop for it seemed that all his energies had deserted him but he tried to do this when they stood within the shade of a large rock or overhang. Shane knew that the unicorn could not carry on much further and then, looking behind him, he thought, 'We have not moved far down the gully. If the humans came through now they would undoubtedly still be able to see us.'

"Rain!" Flack suddenly exclaimed, causing Shane to jump nervously and, as he looked overhead at the clear blue blinding sky, he said, "There are no clouds in the sky."

It was obvious that Flack was now in pain and now, the more that Shane studied him, with his face taut, his eyes wide, he began to feel as though the unicorn was becoming delirious.

'Perhaps the blue substance is really a poison after all,' he thought. 'And why should rain be of concern to him? Not a moment ago I was wishing for cover from the sun, as I am sure he was, so why should rain cause him concern? Is he imagining images that I cannot see?'

"Father, I am tired. I want to lie down. I do not care about the rain," whispered Flack, his face held rigidly pointed forward. "Mother, please tell father to rest here. The rains will stop soon..."

Shane listened hard, wanting to hear any other words that may come for the unicorn but then, one of Flack's hooves slipped from the edge of the rock that it was resting upon and Shane could see a shockwave of pain shooting through the unicorn's body, bringing his eyes back to the present.

Looking away, Shane surveyed the rising mountainside beside him, looking for hope, looking for a cave to hide within, looking for a sign of the 'Chosen One;' but he saw only rock, and more rock upon even more rising rock.

Flack began moving forward again, and Shane could see the new shockwaves of pain written in the unicorn's face as he moved each leg in turn. It was obvious that the rough ground was now sending more and more pain through Flacks continuously pain-ridden body. Shane believed that unconsciousness would soon rob the unicorn of his pains, though he was still fighting hard to keep moving forward, suffering his pains.

Shane watched in pity as the unicorn slowly moved forward, little by little, 'But making progress to where?' he thought.

"There!" Shane suddenly called out, seeing a dark opening a little way ahead of them. "It may be a place to rest," he shouted out, racing ahead of the unicorn, eager to go and see if they had at last found some kind of shelter from the sun and the evil intent of the humans.

' _A cave would provide safety for a while. Safety from the prying sunlight and the prying eyes of the great beasts, the tigers, lions, leopards, who would be waiting in the gully; the first line of defence against the humans and the first to surely die.'_

Running toward what appeared to be an opening, he thought about how none of the great cats had dared challenge the two as they had made their way through the gully. Instead, they had all looked on in silence, watching the painful progress of the crippled unicorn. They were probably wondering, 'Would the unicorn die before they did themselves when they took to battle with the first of the humans who came through the mountain passage?' Shane began wondering if it was respect for Flack's courage or for pity because Flack was deformed. He decided it could only be pity, for these beasts would not have witnessed Flacks fall and his courageous battle against the pain as he sought and was able to stand and to walk away, with no cries or moans of agonising pain.

A shadow that had lain ahead of him now looked more than a shadow. Increasing his speed, though it hurt going over such rough terrain, Shane raced toward it and found it to be an entrance to somewhere. 'Whether it is a cave or a passage that might lead us to the humans I do not know.'

"Wait here," he called back to Flack, "Let me check this out." And with that, he vanished inside the darkness.

Moving deeper into the darkness, Shane found that enough daylight leaked inside the opening to show him that this was indeed a cave and was somewhere they could rest for a while, out of sight of beasts, humans, and the sun. Turning around, Shane raced back outside, turned his head to the right and called out to the unicorn. "It is a cave. It is not very big, but it is somewhere in which we can hide from the sun and rest for a little while."

Flack had been standing still when Shane left the cave and now, with the information he had given to the unicorn, he watched Flack beginning to hobble slowly forward, each pain-filled step bringing him a little closer to the place where he could rest and seek freedom from his pains.

Shane could see the pain of every step causing Flack's face to contort in spasms as he placed each hoof upon the ground. The pains were now so strong that there was no longer any way the unicorn could ignore them. Moving to the unicorn's side, Shane walked with him toward the cave entrance, hoping that by being there he was helping the agonised beast. 'Though I doubt he even knows I am here,' thought Shane.

Shane continued walking slowly beside him, still hoping that he was assisting Flack by just by being there. The final few steps were taken and the two were moving into the coolness of the cave. It was not large and the light from the entrance lit up the extremities of the walls. There were no passages linked to this cave and, for that, Shane was grateful. 'Here he can rest safely for a while.'

Shane wondered how safe they would be here. 'The entrance is large and I am sure that the humans would find it if they searched around the mountainside gully enough.'

He was brought from his thoughts as Flack collapsed upon the cave floor and immediately fell into a deep, pain filled sleep. For a moment, Shane regarded the fallen body of the unicorn before he too fell down upon the ground; tired, hungry, and very nervous about what the future would bring. Shane lay there with his head on the floor between outstretched paws and he wondered what tomorrow would really bring.

"Tomorrow," he said aloud. "And then what?"

Wondering what would be the outcome of the battle between the beasts and the humans, Shane grew fearful as he realised that he and the unicorn were now outcasts. 'We belong to neither side. Does that mean we would have to fight both humans and beasts for our survival?' Sighing, Shane tried to imagine other beasts attacking him and Flack but, try as he did, he could not get himself to believe that that would even happen. 'But I am sure that we will fight with the humans.'

Hunger began to eat at his insides, but he dare not go outside. He had felt so sated earlier that he found it difficult to believe that he was hungry again so soon. He would not leave the cave, or the unicorn, for right now he just wanted to feel safe, to have no worries and to be able to relax away from the threat of the impending battle. Shane became fearful of what tomorrow would bring and then, as if to hurt him more, the sun suddenly began to wane and the light within the cave began to dim.

Shane stared at the outline of the unicorn until the sun had set so much that Flacks outline was no longer visible. Lying in the darkness, he could only hear the occasion laboured breath of the unicorn.

He shivered as the cold began to claw at him and so he moved closer to the bulk of Flack and curled himself up beside him, seeking warmth and comfort and then, he too, retired to dreams. 'Tomorrow would come soon enough,' was his last waking thought.

### REVELATIONS

### 23 - Revelations I - Revelation I

Shane was awakened from his drowsiness many times by the kicks, the spasms, the wild thrashes, and the moans emanating from Flack. Staring silently at the spasms that seemed to suggest that Flack's body was in a burning agony that would not let him enjoy a peaceful, restful sleep, Shane found that he could not attempt to guess as to the nature of the dreams that must be racing through Flack's haunted mind.

***

Flacks dreams were of his father and of his mother. Dreams that told him of a father who is taken from him in the night. No panic, no commotion, only a leaving.

And then dreams of a mother taken by the humans, amidst a brutal struggle that left a river the colour of blood.

There were dreams of the two squirrels, Chart and Brand, so innocent, so small, and so brutally killed because of the humans.

Visions of a mother covered with blood, scenes of squirrel dying in the hands of a human. Pictures of the squirrels holding hands, and then screaming, and then blood flooding over the scenes he dreamt.

And, as a backdrop to all of the images, there was the sound of many, many voices and screams; shouts coming from all of the races of beasts, all laughing, all scolding, and all hurtful.

There were beasts charging at him, suddenly slain by the arrows of humans and then the humans turning their arrows on him. He screamed when the arrows struck his flesh while the sounds of the Lioness's laughter washed over him.

And then the dreams would repeat over and over again, more powerful, angrier, and more deadly.

Flack whimpered in his dreams, cried in his dreams, and tried to escape from his dreams; but he could not.

***

Shane tried to sleep and could not for a long time but, eventually, there came a time, in the early hours of morning, where the journey, the events, the tiredness, all caught up with him and he too fell into a very, very deep sleep. He dreams showed him pictures of his brothers, Arrow and Sha, and his sister, Root. He could see the oasis on Arrow's coat and he tried to reach the oasis, to be with his brother, to be saved. His dreams became so intense that not even Flack's wild thrashings could awaken him.

Nor could he be awakened by the sounds of beasts being slaughtered and being butchered. The sounds were carried along the gully and washed into the cave where Shane slept but the noises did not wake him from his troubled slumber and, instead, they became the backdrop to his own fitful dreams. He could hear the sounds of beasts being slain deliberately and without sorrow, without pity, the human way, and the sounds continued for the hours he slept, his own legs twitching occasionally as he tried to run away from the sounds of human butchery.

***

The humans had found a way through the maze of tunnels in the mountainside and a continuous stream of them were pouring out into the land of Essilon. They had come with a single purpose and they were to carry out that purpose; they were to slaughter every single beast that they could find.

Somehow, the humans had found out about the Armada of the Beasts and over a time stories began to be told. It was told that the beasts were to march upon the humans and destroy them. At first, these stories remained as stories but then word was brought that many beasts were heading toward the mountains. Beasts of all kinds were walking together, all heading for a singular destination, and then the humans began to pay more serious attention to the stories that had grown, and then they decided to take action. The human camps grouped together, slaughtering all their animals, and then the humans had set out for the mountains.

If there was to be a day of reckoning then the humans were not going to wait for the day to arrive, they were going to make that day arrive. The groups of human groups began to join other human groups, killing those that wanted to remain apart from the main group, the red-clothed humans killing any of the blue-clothed humans that they came across. On many occasion, the blue clothed humans decided to join the amassing red-clothed army rather than be slain.

The human army grew, with smaller groups moving through the forests, all heading to the forest that bordered the desert over which the stream of beasts had been seen to be moving, heading toward the mountains that appeared to be their final destination. The human groups began joining together and heading toward the mountains and, now that they had arrived, they were going to ensure that if there was to be a battle then they would be the victors.

The humans poured through a number of passages, fighting bees and wasps, winning over them and then through the mountain to do battle with the wild tigers, lions, pumas, and any others beasts that tried to stand in their way. Many humans died and many great cats died and the air continued to be filled with the sounds of slaughter as the humans continued to pour through and many other beasts came from the plane of Essilon to do battle with them. The air was filled with the sounds of slaughter.

The battle moved on, up towards the peaks and through the vegetation and into the passage that led onto the great plane that was Essilon.

And through all of this Shane slept and Flack slept, and the murderous day carried on without them bearing witness.

***

It was only a single shaft of sunlight entering the dark cave that made Shane awaken and face the happenings of a foreboding day. He yawned and stretched, his very actions concealing other noises in the distance and then, as he became still, his ears heard many sounds in the distance even though his ears did not want to.

' _Human shouts and screams! Many, many of them! And the screams of hundreds of beasts in great agony!'_

Shane startled, shaking his head, the message was clear and was reaching his fast awakening brain. 'The battle must have commenced!'

Nudging the unicorn in the belly, he tried franticly to awaken Flack but there was no response. In fact, there was no movement at all that Shane could perceive. Fresh panic seized Shane. In the semi-darkness of the cave, he nuzzled Flack once again but still he could not get a response.

' _I cannot hear the unicorn breathing!'_

Leaping to his feet, he began sniffing around the body of the unicorn. There was a slightly different odour emanating from the unicorn and he felt, with his nose, a huge, damp lump along Flack's flank. To Shane, it smelt of ruptured and putrid skin; of puss and blood. Shane tried to work out what had happened. 'Obviously, during the night, Flack's 'deformities' must have burst. The skin has ruptured, causing the unicorn to bleed to death. Flack is dead! The unicorn is dead!' Shane could not believe it. He had known that the unicorn was not well but for fate to have him taken away now when he needed him the most was just too cruel. And then he thought of how lucky the unicorn was. 'Flack has escaped being butchered by the humans, something that I know that I will not be able to avoid for very long.'

Shane cried out a long, mournful howl, reverberating around the cave and escaping from the opening and out into the gully.

Deep anger caused his neck to bristle and then, slowly and deliberately, he stalked from the cave. The sunlight, momentarily, blinded him. His eyes adjusted and he gazed down and along the gulley.

Lying in the distance, he could make out the bloodied bodies of the Lions, the Tigers, the Puma's, the Leopards and all the other members of the big cat family that had tried to thwart the human's movement into Essilon. The big agile cats were agile no more. Bloodied and misshapen, they littered the ground like scattered leaves from at tree in the autumn time. 'All of these giant fighters, the hunters in the animal world, had been the main defence of Essilon. These were some of the ones whose duty had been to stop the humans, to destroy the humans but, sadly, they had failed.'

Lying amongst the red-stained bodies, Shane could see the multitude of humans that they had managed to slay before the human numbers had proved too much and they were slain themselves. A smell came wafting along on the breeze and dived, violently, into Shane's nostrils. He tried to blow it out but the odour refused to go. The smell was very familiar to Shane, who had spent his life in a human camp; it was the smell of an animal being roasted over one of the dreaded human fires.

Shane suddenly bolted forward, running in a frenzy of hate and anger as he ran down into the gulley and began racing towards the fallen beasts of Essilon. Beyond the initial dead beasts that he had seen there now loomed a new picture of horror. There were thousands of beasts lying dead across the rocky expanse that led up to the ridge that held the way onto the Essilon plane. The whole of the area was bathed in red, the blood of the fallen beasts and of the humans that they had been able to kill before being killed themselves.

Stopping for a moment, Shane's eyes scanned the landscape of death and mutilation, trying to find any sign of movement. There was none and so, satisfied that there were no humans moving amongst the dead, he began running forward once again.

Weaving in and out of the bodies of dead Tigers, Leopards, Lions, Buffalo, and other beasts that he could no longer identify, he turned to his right, running up the steep climb that would lead him up toward the ledge that held the vegetation and the path to the Essilon plane. The stones underfoot rolling from beneath him, Shane leapt towards higher ground each time the small avalanche seemed determined to cause him to fall or drag him back. He had strength and energy in abundance and was pleased that he was climbing the steep slope far faster than the previous day.

' _What will I find up here? Are all of the beasts already dead? Am I the last survivor?'_

Seeing the slope to the ledge ahead of him, Shane powered his legs and leapt upwards in leaps and bounds, trusting his instincts as his paws made contact with the loose rocks and then, in a final flurry of a light dust shower, he leapt onto the ledge itself.

Holding still, he looked around the area, seeing a number of dead beasts not too far from him and, further in the distance, moving toward the natural tunnel that led onto the Essilon plane itself, he saw movement. For a moment, he had hoped that he would see the clear sign of triumphant beasts coming out from the plane of Essilon but, in an instant, he knew the movements were not made by any of the beasts from the plane.

A few humans were walking around in the distance, slowly moving toward the gap in the mountain that would take them down onto the great plane of Essilon, where all of the defenceless beasts waited in the hope of a 'Chosen One' arriving to save them.

A plume of smoke was rising to his left and he could clearly smell the roasted carcass of an animal. He had seen this many times before in the human camp and had accepted it as a way of life and that the only reason he was never eaten by the humans was because he was useful to them. His mind leapt to his mother. 'What has happened to her? Did she leave the human camp and seek out Essilon? Did the humans slay her because she was an animal and did not wish to risk her turning upon them?' Shane's eyes began watering. 'My mother was old. She could do them no harm...'

The scene of smoke from a fire that had obviously been used to provide the flesh of a beast as food for some band of humans now filled him with disgust. 'How is it that the humans can do these kinds of things? Is it a sign of greater intelligence?'

Hearing the sounds of human voices behind him, Shane realised that some must be approaching the climb up to this ledge. Keeping low, he charged forward, dashing between the larger rocks to try to ensure that he kept out of sight as much as possible from any backward glances by the humans ahead of him.

He knew that he did not have a plan and that his only immediate goal was to reach the animals on the Essilon plane. 'Even if they do not want me, I know where I should be on this day,' he thought, resolutely.

Further on, the amount of grass increased as did the bushes. He could see the path that he and Flack had taken the previous day but he now felt it would be too dangerous. It was the only area that was clear of the thicker vegetation and bushes and it would provide him less cover.

'What!' he exclaimed to himself, pulling himself to a halt. Before him lay a patch of brown, wet looking ground and, in it, he could see the slime covered hand of a human poking out and upwards. 'Quicksand,' he realised, and then thought how fortunate both he and Flack had been when they had deviated from the path and moved towards the blue covered mountain walls that lined this place.

'That is why the path is marked by the lines of bushes. It is a safe way through this area!' Sounds drifted toward him and, instinctively, he crouched low and held himself there. With his eyes peering upward, trying to see above the tall grass that stood in his path beyond the quicksand and human hand, he had to raise his head a little before he saw the movements of humans further ahead. They were slowly and tentatively moving amongst the trees, obviously aware of the dangers around them.

' _At least the humans here are occupied fully. That will lessen the chances of them seeing me as they will be more interested in the ground immediately around them. I must keep away from the humans and try not to let them see me as I make my way towards the mountain tunnel.'_

Remaining still, Shane used his ears and nose to help him locate any other humans that were nearby. It was difficult. The air was filled the scents of blood and death and his ears could easily hear the faint rustling of the plants around him but could not hear the clear sounds of the humans. They were moving slowly and appeared to be talking in whispers. 'Perhaps the humans believe that there are other beasts waiting to attack them. I wonder if there are?'

And then, just as if to prove it true, a human began running wildly ahead of him and the sound terrified him totally as he realised that the human appeared to be running in his direction. Before Shane could decide which direction he should choose to run in, he caught sight of the human above the grass a little ahead of him. It was a red-clothed human and he was screaming loudly with his arms flailing wildly and, as Shane tensed for a fight, he began to become aware of another sound. It was the buzzing sounds made by many angry bees.

The eyes of the human widened as he saw the face of Shane ahead of him and it was obvious to Shane that he thought that he would have to contend with a dog attacking him as well as the bees and the human tried to stop running, his head looking around for help that did not appear to be coming. Bursting through the grass, the human looked stupefied for a moment as he realised that he was plunging downwards and, as the human fell down into the quicksand, he saw the look of real fear draw itself over the human's already tortured features.

Ignoring the attentions of the attacking bees, the human tried to turn around, trying to pull himself toward the side of the quicksand pit, but the long grass simply ripped away from its loose anchorage point in the wet soil.

Moving backwards slowly, Shane pushed himself back into a clump of bushes that were there, trying to hide himself from the sight of any other humans who should come this way. No other humans came and, as Shane stared at the face of the screaming human, seeing the red lumps that were all over his face and neck, he saw that the small cloud of bees rose into the air, away from the human, and then darted off in the direction that they had came from.

The human continued to struggle and Shane just lay still, watching the human as, little by little, he was dragged down into the wet, squelching sand.

The human's eyes were upon Shane as his head slowly sank from sight. His hands were stretched upwards, clawing at the sky as if gripping a cloud was now his only way out of the sandpit ands them, slowly, the arms sank a little lower and the hands went limp.

The droning of the bees intensified a little way away and then another human began to scream and shout and Shane knew that the human would be racing through the vegetation, trying to get away from the pursuit of the bees and their stings.

A movement to his right caused him to look down and Shane was surprised to see a line of black scorpions moving past him, walking around the sandpit and moving deeper into the vegetation ahead of him. They barely made a sound and Shane knew that it would be the humans who made a sound when then encountered the scorpions. Feeling that the humans would be occupied with defending themselves, Shane thought that now would be a good time to make a break for the tunnel that led to Essilon. 'If I am fast and keep away from the humans then there is a good chance that I will be able to get through them.' But then, as Shane tried to decide the best direction to move in, he heard a sound from somewhere behind him. It was a strange sound that he had never heard before but something told him that what made it was big.

Holding still and hardly daring to breath, he found his eyes focused on the hands in the sandpit as he tried to force himself not to flinch or make any movement. The sound grew louder and louder, coming closer and closer toward him, almost sounding like something was racing through the vegetation behind him and then the sound stopped suddenly, leaving an eerie silence in the air around him.

The sound began again and the way that the vegetation broke as something passed through it seemed to suggest to Shane that, 'Whatever it is, it is now moving slower but it is still heading in my direction.'

Shane was preparing himself to bolt from his cover amidst the bushes and race to his left, around the sandpit, when he felt the mass of something heavy begin moving along somewhere to his right and very close. Suddenly, with a cracking and breaking of small branches, Shane jumped up and spun to his left, crouched and ready to attack, when he saw a sight that almost made his heart stop beating.

It was the head of a snake but it was not like any snake that he had had ever seen. The huge head that stared at him from slightly above his height was almost the size of his whole body.

'An Anaconda,' Shane thought, trying to determine what kind of creature he was facing.

Remaining still, Shane watched the snakes gigantic head hold steady for a few moments as he observed the olive green background overlaid with black blotches along the side of the body that he could see. The head was narrow compared to the rest of the body, with distinctive orange-yellow striping on either side. The eyes were set high on the head and seemed to be analyzing him.

The snake flicked a huge tongue into the air briefly and then, satisfied with what it had found, the giant head began to retreat back through the bushes. Almost immediately, Shane heard the continued progress of the huge snake as it continued on its journey past him.

'Obviously, it is searching for human prey,' Shane thought, feeling relieved as he realized that his heart had been beating wildly.

Through the bushes, he could see the olive green skin sliding swiftly and almost silently past him. When the snake stopped for a moment, Shane realised that it was hard to see it as the black patches that ran the length of its body added to its camouflage and it was only when the snake continued forward again that he was able to clearly see it moving once more.

Deciding that it would be wise for him to remain where he was for a little while, Shane thought, 'The Anaconda is a large creature and the time when it attacks the humans would be the best time for me to continue forward. The size of the creature will ensure that the humans cannot murder it swiftly and while they are occupied I may be able to make good progress.'

When Shane could no longer hear the sound of the snake moving through the vegetation, Shane became aware of the sounds of the bees again and then, after a few moments, there was the sound of another human shouting and screaming. Hearing no sounds of the human racing through the vegetation because they were too distant, he was aware when the human suddenly stopped shouting. Shane imagined that the human had run into another quicksand trap, though he could not be sure. 'The stings of bees of wasps can be poisonous and so the human may have died that death.'

There came other shouts from the humans in the area, sounds of them communicating and, even though he could not understand their words because they appeared muffled, he was sure that they were planning at ways in which to defend themselves.

Silence appeared to return to the area and so, hoping to find a good position from which to begin his rush toward the Essilon tunnel, Shane turned and headed to the left of the quicksand pit, avoiding following the path that the giant snake had taken. 'I have no doubt that the snake will be trying to locate the nearest humans and so that would be an area that is best avoided.'

Crouching low and moving through the tall grass, he was sickened when he came across the body of a horse. There were arrows in its sides and much blood had drained from its mouth, leaving a black patch that ran from the creature's teeth to the ground. The top of the head was bloodied and it appeared to have had a leg broken.

Shaking his head, Shane knew that there would be many more animal casualties that he would see this day. 'I only hope that I am there to take the life of just one of these evil humans. They are butchers! They are murderers!'

As if fresh in his senses, the smell of death and blood seemed to overwhelm him; making him feel sick inside, and Shane simply shook his head slowly and made his way around the dead horse. 'Flack is indeed fortunate to have died the way he did as he has avoided the vileness of a death that is brought about the humans.'

Raising his head a little, he searched the area ahead and to his left and right. There were a few humans that he could see, all of them moving slowly towards the entrance to the Essilon plane and all seeming to be preoccupied with where they were walking.

Grateful that the perils of the area were keeping the humans attention, Shane decided that the path would be his quickest route, 'Otherwise, I will have to travel slowly through the vegetation in case I should run into the quicksand or any other traps which have been put in place to catch the humans.'

Moving further to his left, Shane maintained a low posture and would pause behind each bush, listening for sounds of danger in the nearby vicinity.

A distant scream from a human made him smile for a moment and then, the roar of a great beast followed by much shouting of humans, brought home to him the fact that another creature had died at the hands of the humans. He could not tell what kind of creature the humans had killed but he was pleased that he did not here the cheering and laughing that the humans normally did at such an event. 'The humans are scared because there are many dangers here for them. I must be careful, for the humans will no doubt be wary of anything that moves that is not their own.'

Suddenly, a huge trumpeting sound took his attention, making him instantly lift his head and look ahead of him. 'It's an Elephant,' he thought in awe, as he saw the size of a beast that he had only ever been told about before.

The elephant appeared to be stomping on the ground, slowly turning in small circles, and Shane realised that there must be a human beneath the weight of the beast. Other humans came running toward the elephant, firing arrows and throwing spears and, as it looked as though the elephant was beginning to slow, the was a violent eruption of green that began to obscure one of the humans who was firing arrows at the elephant.

Realising that it was the anaconda, Shane could only stare in bewilderment as the huge snake coiled around the human, dragging him downwards and out of sight. Although the other humans continued to shout and fire their weapons, the human held by the anaconda made no sounds at all and then, suddenly, the other humans were racing away from the scene and, watching them flee, Shane was startled to see the anaconda leap through the air, taking down another human. The elephant, still with arrows and one spear protruding from its body, began rushing forward a little and then began stomping its huge feet upon the ground once again.

Immediately, Shane thought it must have been the first human that had been grabbed by the giant snake. 'The snake is not eating its prey; it is simply damaging them enough that the elephant can finish off the life of the human. Are they working together, or is the elephant making best of the opportunities that it has been given?'

The humans were scattering wildly and Shane could see about six of them running when one suddenly dropped from sight and vanished amidst the long grass and vegetation. He could not tell what had felled that particular human. 'Is it another creature or is it simply the quicksand?'

There was obvious fear coming from the humans, as their shouts denoted panic. The elephant moved to another location and began stomping upon the ground once again and then, off to Shane's right, he thought that he caught a glimpse of olive-green flashing out but, when he turned to look properly, there was nothing to be seen amongst. 'But there does appear to be another human missing from that group.'

The elephant continued to bellow its cries and the humans continued their shouts. Gathering themselves, they once again began to fire arrows toward the elephant, making the huge beast roar in pain and anger. Flack wanted to run and try to help the beasts but he knew that he was no match for the arrows that the humans fired. 'I would be struck down before I could be upon one of them.'

Throughout the area, he could see that other humans were moving into view, each of them moving toward the elephant and the cries of the other humans. A large group of about twelve humans began moving in from his left, heading slowly and cautiously toward the fighting with the elephant.

' _It is good that they cannot race so easily to the others of their kind. They are wary of the quicksand that is around them.'_

Suddenly, the slow approaching and cautious group began to run and scream and he could see that one of them seemed to be struggling with his leg, running only a short distance before falling out of sight and into the long grass. Shane was sure that the loud cries he now heard were coming from where the human had fell, but he could not be sure. There was a lot of shouting and screaming going on around him and he was sure that the sounds were even coming from areas in which he had not seen any humans. 'Perhaps there were humans in hiding and they are now exposed because of attacks by the insects, maybe even the scorpions.'

Turning towards the elephant and the snake again, he was surprised to see one of the big cats leaping through the air. 'I think it is a lion,' he thought, as a blur of light brown descended on a human and the two vanished from sight amongst the long grass. Human screams were coming from many places and, for a brief moment, Shane had belief that, 'The beasts will win this day.'

From somewhere not too distant, Shane heard the buzzing of the wasps or bees and then, frighteningly and not too far ahead of him, a human leap into view, running wildly, his arms flailing in the air, dropping his spear as he raced to escape the attention of the small swarm. The swarm chased him and he continued to run until he fell from sight and his shouting stopped.

More shouts from humans erupted from the far left and, turning his head, Shane saw another group of the red-clothe humans and was confused by the sight of them carrying torches. Flames licked from the dry grass and oil covered sticks that they each carried and, as Shane first thought, 'Why would they need light at this time of day?' he realised that they were using them as protection from the bees and wasps.

With their arms waving all around them, they were keeping the majority of the swarm at bay. It was obvious that many of the flying insects would be burnt and killed as they tried to set themselves upon the flesh of the humans.

Shane had never been saddened by the death of insects before but now, right here, for those that were dying as they tried to attack the humans, he felt very saddened, his mind instantly recalling the strange bee that had spoken to him.

The humans began a slow run forward, keen to get close to where the elephant, anaconda, and lion were attacking the few remaining humans of the other group and then, to Shane's delight, the lead human fell from sight, making the following humans come to a halt. They appeared to watch the ground ahead of them for a few moments before moving forward once again, taking a path away from the ground in front of them.

'Quicksand,' thought Shane, moving forward slowly, hoping that his slow movements would not easily be detected amongst the fighting activities that were going on around him.

Taking his chances, Shane began moving quickly in the direction of the path. 'I wonder why the humans did not stay upon the path?' and then, thinking about the horde of humans that would have come charging through, he realised that they would have been spread wide as they advanced across this area.

Slowly, the humans became aware of him but most of the humans seemed content to totally ignore him, probably seeing a single dog as being of no concern to them. Reaching the path, Shane turned to his right, almost losing his footing as he scrambled to increase his speed. Shane had hopes that this wild dash of his would be too quick for the humans to be bothered with and, as he would be trying to avoid humans, they would not see him as a threat and would, hopefully, continue fighting with the more dangerous creatures in the area.

A few humans threw stones from a distance and twice arrows were shot in his direction. Shane managed to avoid them and kept on going. He was determined to join the remaining beasts for the final battle in this war against the evil humans.

Around him, he could hear the trumpeting of the elephant, the roar of the lion as it raced to take down another victim and the brief cries of a human that was caught in the grip of the anaconda. The humans were shouting amongst themselves, but were more communicating with each other, trying to assist each other in what must be done to defeat the animals around them.

Leaping suddenly, Shane barely cleared the body of a human that had a dead cheetah lying across him. The flash of blood that flew past below him revealed how ferocious their battle had been.

There were a number of humans off to his left, moving among the trees, and Shane was pleased to see that none had their heads turned in his direction but then, seeing them moving into a open area, he drew himself to a halt, crouching low, remaining perfectly still in case any of the humans should choose to look in his direction.

Keeping his head below the level of the grass and small bushes near him, Shane concentrated on listening for any sounds nearby that would indicate danger. Everywhere around him there was a deathly silence and the only sounds he heard were those of the elephant and anaconda somewhere ahead of him and to his right; even the shouting humans seemed to have all gone quiet.

'But when you cannot hear the humans,' thought Shane, 'that normally means that they are up to something, planning something...'

A dark patch caught his eye and then, turning to his left, Shane saw a dark mass slowly emerging from the grass on that side of him. What looked to be a patch of creeping blood, turned out to be thousands of ants going on a determined march. Seeing that they were heading away from him, heading up along the left side of the path, Shane turned to peer into the grass where they were emerging from, and he shuddered as he saw the grotesque white skull of a human smiling immobile back at him. The rest of the human's body appeared to be dark and then, as it seemed to move, Shane realised that the army of ants were abandoning it and moving on to seek other prey.

Fearful of the creatures, due to his proximity to them, Shane ran forward, keeping to the right of the ants and remained crouching low as he ran blindly through the grass and bushes until he was sure that he had left them some distance behind.

Hearing the sounds of human voices that appeared to be near, he halted, motionless, while listening to see if his movement had been detected. The sounds of the humans were moving slowly away to his right and so, in order to remain hidden, Shane decided to move off into the thicker grass to his left, moving cautiously because he could not be sure what may be laying that direction.

The smell of blood was heavy in the air and much of the grass that he moved through was soaked in drying blood. He came across a human lying face down but he could not be sure what had killed him and then, beyond the dead human he found another dead human, lying on his back with his sightless eyes staring up into the sky. Continuing forward, moving wide of the bodies, Shane then came across the body of a lion. A spear through its neck pointed lazily towards a low horizon. There was much blood on the body of the lion. 'And there is much blood on your claws,' thought Shane, 'and I am sure that you did much damage to the humans before they killed you.'

Just beyond the lion, Shane was shocked to come up against a huge grey rise and it was only when he was moving around it that he recognised it as the body of an elephant. Stopping to look at the head of the beast, he saw that there were many, many arrows and spears stuck in it body. One of its enormous tusks had been broken close to the mouth itself. Its eyes were closed and it looked almost as though it were simply asleep; though Shane knew that that was certainly not the case.

Moving past the elephant, he stopped for a moment to look at the torn and bloodied arm of a human. It lay amongst a group of yellow flowers, destroying the beauty the flowers themselves tried to give to the world.

About to move forward, through a clump of long grass, Shane stopped when he heard a strange sound. He recognised the sound, though it appeared to be multiplied many times over. Pushing his head slowly through the grass, he was shocked to see the ground suddenly fall away from him, revealing a pit within which were hundreds of small black and red snakes. Their bodies writhed and twisted over the forms of at least four human figures. None of the humans were moving; they were simply lying there in the pit and staring upwards with bulging eyes and bloated looking features.

Backing up, Shane retreated back towards the dead elephant and then chose another direction to move in, though he ensured that as well as crouching low, he also keep his movements extremely slow and balanced. The smell of blood, human and beast, was very strong through this area and the bloodied grass and broken and flattened bushes spoke volumes of the battles that had taken place here. There were human spears, some with blood upon them, some broken with the deadly end missing, and Shane could only wonder which beast had taken the brute force of the weapon.

There were many bodies littering the area but Shane chose to go around them, always averting his eyes from the murderous scenes, seeing his own mortality in every dead creature that he came across. He had believed that if he could reach the Essilon plane and join with the Armada of the Beasts then he would be virtually indestructible but now, after seeing the powerful beasts that had already been slain by the humans, he no longer had the confidence to believe that he would survive the setting of the sun of this day. 'But a chance to find my family is more than I could wish for,' thought Shane, trying to bolster his personal need for survival.

He was fast becoming sickened by the smell of death that was all around him, though he was grateful that he could no longer smell the burning carcass that some of the humans had most probably feasted upon.

Stopping suddenly, because he heard a sound just ahead of him, he froze, his nose checking the air for scents but leaving him confused by the multitude of odours in the air. 'Is it human or beast,' he asked himself, tensing his muscles and preparing himself to race off, and hoping that the direction he chose would not lead him into one of the traps.

The noise had stopped but now, as he listened, he heard it again. Something heavy was moving slowly just ahead of him. Remaining crouched low, he was hoping that, whatever it was, it would simply move away. 'Perhaps it is the same anaconda again, or another one?'

Suddenly, with a finality of breaking twigs, the bush just ahead to his right was sliced down the centre as a huge clawed paw came into view. Startling Shane, he recovered quickly realising that it was the paw of a grizzly bear. There came then a low moan, throaty and pained. The huge bloodied claw now rested slightly off the ground, supported by the thick lower branches of the bush and, as Shane stared, he saw fresh blood dripping from what were once pure white claws. There came no further sounds and the massive paw remained still and so, knowing that he had nothing to fear, Shane edged forward slowly, moving around the bush and pushing himself forward on trembling legs, as he sought to see the beast that lay just ahead of him.

A long glistening snout was visible through the grass on his right and, as he saw it, he saw the great head flinch as the bear became of aware of movement close to it. Shane froze, watching the dark eyes that studied him through the grass stems, watching the eyelids close slowly and then being forced open again quickly.

Not understanding why his legs still trembled, Shane moved forward, moving out of the grass to stand before the bear. It was lying on its back, with one arm thrown back over its head, the one that Shane had seen come crashing onto the bush. There was a dark sheen to almost all of the bear's body and he knew that it had to be blood. He could smell beast and human blood very strongly and then, shocked, he saw something jutting out of the far side of the bear neck. It was the broken stump of a spear. The bear tried to move its head to better look at him and so, to aid it, Shane moved a little closer to the bear face, wanting to let it know that it was another beast that was near and that the bear had nothing to fear.

With a gargling, deep throaty voice, the bear tried to speak.

"Has the Chosen One arrived?"

Shane did not know what to answer. 'I do not want to tell the bear that I was one who had been cast out of Essilon. That it was I that was blamed for leading the humans here when the Chosen One had not yet arrived.'

"There have been signs," said Shane, wanting the bear to feel hope in what was surely his dying moments.

"That... is... good," replied the bear, his eyes remaining open and fixed upon Shane.

Shane squirmed beneath that gaze, knowing that he had lied to the beast. 'It is only what I would want to hear if I was in the same position as the bear,' he thought, trying to justify his lie.

Shane did not know what else to say and, as he struggled with that thought, he heard a branch snap behind him and then, cursing himself for allowing his vigilance to drop, he turned around to be confronted by the shape of a red-clothed human standing holding a spear. The human had his arm drew back and was ready to throw the spear as soon as Shane made a move to run.

The bear groaned, causing the human to stretch his neck and peer towards what he had believed to be a dead bear and Shane could see the indecision in the human's face as he tried to determine which beast should be the target of his weapon.

Turning away from the human, Shane looked into the eyes of the bear, thinking not of himself, but thinking that, 'It would be good if the bear could be released from his misery, but I have no doubt the human will choose me as I am uninjured.'

Turning back to face the human, Shane watched as the human jerked his arm, threatening to throw the spear, his eyes firmly fixed upon Shane.

Closing his eyes, Shane knew that it would be pointless to try to run because he knew how accurate the humans were with their spears, 'Especially at this close range...'

Suddenly, there was a roar and as Shane turned to his right, he saw the bear rolling over and climbing to its feet. The sudden movement had unnerved the human who, stepping back had tripped and went falling onto his back. As the beast got to its feet, Shane saw the human was once again standing, pulling his arm back in readiness to throw the spear and then, suddenly, the human vanished behind the fast moving shape of the bear as it leapt upon him, his shape disappearing behind the massive weight of the beast as the two went crashing to the ground. Suddenly, everything was silent. The bear lay unmoving upon the ground with the human pinned beneath his weight. An outstretched arm of the human twitched a few times and then fell still.

Shane felt ashamed of his actions, 'Why did I just stand by and watch? Why did I not try to attack the human myself?'

There was no further movement from the bear, not even a slight rising that would show he was still breathing. 'He used his last energies to protect me,' thought Shane, feeling miserable inside, almost as if it were his own fault that the beast was now finally dead. Then, realising that there could be other humans around, Shane sniffed the air while turning and moving in the direction that the bear had been lying. 'I would hope that the fact that the bear was alive would mean that there are no humans or traps in that direction.'

Running quickly, he raced into the thicker, blood-soaked grass, feeling that he should be safe for a little while because there was a path in the grass where the bear had obviously dragged his body to reach the place where Shane had encountered him. Eventually, and unsurprisingly, there came a place where Shane could see the fight between the bear and humans had taken place. There were six human bodies lying strewn in the area, some of them when in one piece, most had limbs torn from their bodies, left to fall to the ground close to where the human had eventually died.

'You put up a great fight, my friend,' thought Shane as he deftly snuck through the area, seeking the longer grass that lay beyond the bodies.

Knowing that he must be nearing the area where the blue walls on the mountain pass would begin, the place where Flack had eaten from the rock, Shane knew that he must be prepared to return to the path soon and make a final mad dash for the tunnel that led through to the Essilon plane, before he was seen and killed by an y roaming humans.

A human suddenly jumped out in front of him, shocking his heartbeat almost from its natural rhythm. A second human then leapt out from concealment behind another large tree. The first human was already raising an arm, with his eyes twinkling in glee as he quickly balanced a spear, moving his arm into a throwing position.

Shane had ground to a halt and was now backing away a little. He needed to run away but the only way he wanted to travel was forward. There were sure to be traps around him and he did not want to risk running into one of them. The humans were blocking his way through, smiling broadly, as if they seemed to sense his need to join the great beasts upon the plane, but they were not going to allow him an easy passage, if any passage at all. Slowly, Shane moved backwards and forwards upon his haunches, trying to give the human as little to aim at as possible. He knew that there would be more humans coming up behind him and, for the first time, he truly felt that all was lost.

Then, in flurry of giant feathers and piercing talons, a great eagle was upon the head of one of the humans, though Shane could not determine if this was the same giant bird that had greeted them when they had first emerged from the honeycomb of tunnels. The great bird tore with savage ferocity at the humans face. Its huge wings spread out and around the humans head as if to say 'this spectacle is mine.' The human, in screams of agony, sank to his knees upon the ground, dropping his spear as he tried to get a grip on the bird, but a sharp beak and talons kept his hands at bay.

Then, mercilessly, the evil human's companion sank a long spear into the great bird. Flapping its wings violently and twisting, the eagle could not break free and then, with great effort, the human twisted the stick away from the other human and rammed the stick towards the ground. The spear pierced the ground, its shaft travelling completely through the already dying eagle, pinning the bird to the ground. Then, quickly picking up a rock that was lying close by and only just avoiding the eagle's valiant last attempts at trying to pierce him with its great beak, he brought the rock crashing down upon the eagles head. With a sickening crunch the skull collapsed and the birds frantic, fluttering stopped almost immediately.

Looking at the scene, Shane saw the wind ruffling the eagles limp feathers, with the sun high-lighting the blood. It was a pitiful sight and then, slowly, the weight of the bird's body began to gradually tilt the spear toward the ground, eventually halting at an angle slightly pointing upward away from the ground.

The lack of movement from the now dead eagle brought the human to thinking back to the dog but even as he turned, rock in hand, a shape came up and at him with such ferocity that the human never ever had a chance to cry out.

Shane's anger had erupted, and when he had seen the human beginning to turn to face him, the anger flowed right in the direction of the human. His powerful jaws gripped the throat of the human, who tried to land a blow upon the dogs head with the rock that he still held. His arm continued to hit him but Shane hung on determinedly. Shane shook his head, as his paws tried to seek purchase on the body of the human and, as he struggled with this, the human suddenly went toppling over. The human had only landed a few glancing blows to Shane's back before he started to topple backward to the ground, his raised arm releasing the rock that he held and, as he landed, there was a crack as the humans skull snapped as he landed on the same sharp piece of rock, his arms went limp and Shane felt the life draining from his disgusting mind.

Letting go of the human's throat, Shane saw the evil head fell back to hit the rock a second time with an almost sickening squelch. Looking at the terrified features of the human, Shane stared hard and angrily at the sightless pools of absolute emptiness that were once the human's eyes.

Beginning to feel the pain along his back brought upon him by the few blows that the human had managed to deliver, Shane began to stagger away from the area, concerned that more humans may arrive at any moment. Struggling to keep his walking straight, Shane realised that the blows from the rock had done more damage than he had first thought.

An arrow snapped into the ground. A second arrow also missed Shane and buried itself into the eye socket of the human that Shane had killed.

The other human, the one that the eagle had attacked, was running around the rocks, obviously sightless, falling over, and crying in pain.

Ignoring him, Shane bolted off as quickly as he could for he did not know how many more arrows were already whistling their way toward him. The sticks of death bounced from the few rocks around him or buried themselves in the soil. A whistling in the air told him they had arrived at their destinations when they were close. He knew that he would probably not hear the one that struck him. Some were very close, and he knew that he was fortunate to have turned when he had on a number of occasions, 'Otherwise I would already be dead.'

Ignoring his pain, Shane continued racing forward as fast as he could, dodging the flying sticks and trying to put as much distance as possible between him and the humans. There was the danger of traps amongst the grass and bushes and he had to hope that he would not stumble into any of them as he made his run to freedom. His eyes were constantly scanning the area around him, looking for a place in which he could hide for a little while. Leaping over and swerving around the bodies of the dead beasts and humans that he came across, he was eventually relieved when he no longer heard the sounds of arrows zipping through the air. 'The humans have given up on catching me or they know that there are more of their own kind ahead of me who will try to take me down. Perhaps I could lie amongst the grass, pretending I was dead, and wait there until my pains had time to heal.'

Shane did not believe that the humans would allow him that luxury so easily, 'But, if I could lie beside the body of a dead beast, after rubbing my coat in the blood, perhaps it would be enough to fool the humans for a little while. It would be good for a chance to regain my strength before I joined the Armada of the Beasts...'

The flying sticks of the humans were no longer striking the ground around him and there had been an eerie silence for a little while now and so, sure that the humans had given up their deadly pursuit for the moment, Shane allowed himself the luxury of slowing his speed, grateful that he was lessening his chance of plunging into some deadly, hidden trap. In that silence, Shane realised that he had not heard the trumpeting of the elephant or the roaring of the lion for some time and he wondering how they fared. 'Have the humans taken them?' he questioned himself. Then, almost in answer to his prayer, there came the sound of the elephant from somewhere far to his right. Stopping, raising his head, Shane peered across the distance, at first seeing nothing and then, catching a movement, he spied the elephant moving out from behind a small clump of trees. On the elephants back, there was the lion, which now roared a defiant snarl into the air and then, as Shane watched, he saw the lion leap from the back of the elephant and go charging through the grass. 'Off to attack another evil human,' thought Shane, noting that the elephant picked up speed and went off in the same direction as the lion, trumpeting loudly while swinging its massive head in the air.

Soon, Shane was moving through longer grass and he saw, ahead of him, humans wandering through the vegetation. Spurting to the left, he went racing amongst the bushes, hoping his flight would not be seen by any of the humans and then, through pain, he suddenly found himself coming to a halt. He lay down, panting, and became aware that his back was sticky and wet. He could smell the blood and he knew that it was his own, 'The human did more damage than I had realised or first felt,' he sighed, feeling to be beaten before he could reach and join the Essilon Armada.

Calmness took over him as he realised that to lie here hiding would only mean he died a slow, painful, and lonely death. He knew that he had to join the beast armada. He wanted to be with his own kind when death took him from his pain. Standing up, his panting heavy, he began moving through the bushes and grass, trying to get ahead of the humans who travelled the area to his left and right. It was fortunate that they were shouting and singing for it ensured that any noises he made were left un-betrayed.

After he had gotten ahead of the few bands of or red-clothed humans and was sure he was out of sight, he burst back onto the path, ignoring his pains and then sped off in the direction that would lead him to the tunnel that would take him through to the Essilon plane. As he approached the great hole in the rock face, his heart raced wildly for he knew that he was now so very close to his goal and so, seeing no silhouettes of any humans outlined within the tunnel, he plunged into it, enjoying the darkness and feeling that, for a little time, he was hidden from the eyes of the humans.

Within the tunnel, he was saddened to detect the bodies of many beasts and humans who had fought and died here. Wherever possible, he went around the dead though, at times, he walked upon a floor that was not made of stone and it made him cringe.

Once pleased to be in the darkness of the tunnel, he saw the circle of light ahead of him and knew that he would be glad to be out of the tunnel quickly, for the stench of blood and death almost overwhelmed, almost making him feel as though he should just give up upon his goal.

When he was through the tunnel, he stopped abruptly, his breath left him and he stood aghast, staring numbly at the hundreds of great beasts lying slain upon the ground before him. Occasional fires burnt amongst the carnage and the smell of smoke hung in the air, carrying within it the scent of lives lost. The sun remained high in the sky; though a few lazy clouds drifted close to it, preparing to hide from its shamed face the butchery that had occurred beneath its warm gaze.

A strange sound came up from the Essilon plane to greet Shane. There seemed to be a monotonous tone carried in the wind and it was a moment or two before Shane realised that the distant red-clothed army of humans were chanting some death march or song, preparing to launch a final attack upon the mass of silent beasts that stood before them, trapped by the arrangement of the mountain walls around them.

The red-clothed humans were spread out in a huge line, hundreds of humans deep in their savage thousands, and, as Shane watched he could see the human army slowly advancing towards the living beasts, which were backing away from the murderous line of humans. All of the humans had their backs to Shane, and with their red clothing they reminded Shane of all the blood he had seen spread over the grass and bushes that he had passed through to get here. But there were so many of the humans here that he could not see an easy way through them without him being seen, and this disheartened him.

In a stunned silence, he could only watch as the advancing humans slowly and deliberately fired their arrows and threw their spears to bring the nearest beasts to agonising death. The Essilon plane was a huge square grassland, carved within a mountain range the mountains bordered three sides and the only way out was blocked by the human army.

' _How can it come to this? This is not a battle; this is a simple slaughter being carried out by the humans in exactly the same way as they have slaughtered many beasts before. The fact that there are so many hundreds of thousands of beasts does nothing to balance the sides in this war to the death.'_

He could see that all of the humans were down there facing the beasts; except the few who remained in the grassy area on the other side of the tunnel, all of them specifically gathered there to finish off any injured beasts and slay any others that they come across.

Two thoughts crossed Shane's tired mind. One was that he felt he had wasted his time in bringing Flack to Essilon. 'I had felt so sure that Flack was going to be something special but now, for all that I can tell, Flack is dead. Dead in a cave that no human had found. Killed, but not by human hands but instead by a deformity of his own.'

The other thought was that he should try to reach the other animals and join with them for the final battle. 'Though it will not be a battle but, instead, it will be a slaughter.'

Beginning to run forward, he was hoping that he would be able to dash amongst the crowded humans safely, hoping that he would be quick enough to race between their legs before any could react to his presence, and then break through to the other side and somehow manage to dodge the human weapons as he raced to join the beasts.

His running was painful. His back hurt and from somewhere inside him he could feel the rasping of a broken bone. He tried to ignore it and continue forward, keeping low and manoeuvring himself amongst the many bodies, beast and human, that littered the ground.

Suddenly, he stopped. A figure had caught his attention lying amidst the bodies of beasts that he was moving through. It was the shape of a dog laying quite dead upon the ground, with a bloodied mouth and with eyes staring into nothingness. Shane had not seen him for three or four seasons but he knew his brother, the oasis shape on the coat, the scent. There was no doubt he had finally caught up with Arrow.

With huge tears, he moved his face toward his brother, "I told you that I would catch up with you one day, didn't I?" said Shane, through burning tears and dry throat. He gently licked his brother's face and then, as anger welled inside, as hatred surged and his mind began to scream, three arrows simultaneously slammed into him. Two hammered into his back and one plunged into his neck. The arrows jolted his body but were not enough to knock him over. Shane remained standing there in shock. He managed to think of the humans behind him. 'I should not have forgotten they were there.'

Then he thought of his brother beside him, his mother, his father, his family. His mind began to cloud over, memories began to fade and pain began to recede. His eyes remained fixed upon his brother, Arrow, as his body went limp and he toppled over onto his side, to lie there beside one of his family. His body gave a final twitch as blood seeped from his deadly wounds and his eyes, though open, became sightless.

Shane was finally at rest.

***

In a cave along the gully, Flack's body gave a huge jolt, his legs began shuddering and, from the darkness of a paralysed sleep, his mind screamed. His body was dragged, almost involuntarily, into a standing position until he stood there, muscles quivering and shaking and with sweat dripping from his body even though the cave was cool.

With a cloudy mind, his eyes searched the dimness of the cave but, except for himself, the cave was empty. 'Shane has gone.'

On unsteady and not long awakened legs, he moved toward the cave entrance and, as his head craned forward to examine the outside, the sun dazzling him, robbed him of any immediate sight.

His eyes adjusted to the brightness of the day and his first glance was back along the gully in which he and Shane had travelled the previous day. 'I must have slept the whole of the night? I wonder where Shane has gone? Perhaps humans came this way and he led them away from here? I hope that he is safe.'

With his eyes remaining unbelieving at the scene down the gully, his legs automatically moved him forward, carrying him completely out of the dull confines of the cave and into the harsh reality of the scene spread before him. And now, looking down the gully, he could see that many beasts lay dead and that there looked to be many humans also but, from what his eyes could determine, there were many, many beasts that would never rise again.

With the thought that, 'the battle is over and the humans have had a murderous rampage. I must find Shane,' shouting within his spinning head, Flack began racing down into the blood-soaked gully. His body felt strong and well rested, and the distance between him and the carnage was quickly gobbled up as he increased his speed, believing his hooves would find good purchase upon the path he chose.

The scene was clearly evident before him as he recalled that, 'On the previous day, this place had held only rock and loose stones. It is a difficult place to walk across and a difficult place to die upon.'

Reducing his speed to a slow walk, he began moving through the strewn corpses of lifeless tissue. The scent of death was heavy and the air was still, 'Not even the insects have come to this place.'

The blood was black, dried hard by the sun and only in places where is still seeped from the dying did it shine in the sunlight. Trying to ignore the twisted bodies of those lying around him, Flack kept his head hung low, searching the ground for the smallest of details that may indicate that Shane may have come this way. Failing to ignore the atrocities that had occurred, he could not help but examine the bodies of the dead beasts that lay around him. Their final death expressions were that they had had no hope and it seemed to him that they had had no hope because the Chosen One had not appeared from the sky to carry them into battle, into a victory over the humans that would result in a land that lived in peace.

Stopping to look into the face of a tiger, its expressionless eyes held staring up toward the sky, 'It is almost as if the eyes were still searching for something.' He cursed the Chosen One, thinking, 'That is, if the Chosen One had ever existed.' And then, as he began to think of the great number of beasts that were upon the plane beyond the ridge, he heard the low thunder of many voices. It was the voices of the humans, voices that were being carried through the tunnel in the mountainside, telling of a battle to come upon the Essilon plane.

Bolting along the gully, he found he had to go leaping over a number of beast bodies that were in his path. Inside, he realised that he felt sick, deeply sick at the sights that he was seeing. His mind had tried to close them off but in every bloodied beast he saw his mother, his mind finally telling him that, with a doubt, his mother was no longer alive. Sweeping nausea through him, the pains in his sides returned with a vengeance, almost forcing his forelegs to buckle and so he forced himself to a halt. With his muscles shaking, he found that the sea of blood and flesh before began to dissolve in a blur. He knew tears were welling in his eyes and so, for fear of being confronted by a human, he blinked many times, trying to clear away the wet tears.

Walking forward, with his eyes only just showing the mass of death around him, he saw a human body lying face down over the body of a lion. The human still held a sharp wooden stick in his outstretched arm. Flack stared at the human figure; the ragged red robes that were torn and tattered did not even flutter in the wind.

"What kind of a creature are you?" Flack asked the silent figure; waiting a few moments for a reply that he knew he would never hear. "Why are you so destructive? Why do you have a need to kill that is not born out of necessity?"

Staring at the matted hair of the dead human, Flack began to hate the creature more than he had ever hated anything he had so far met in his short life.

"Because of you I have lost my father, I have lost my mother, and I know that I will lose my own life, just as the lives of Chart and Brand were taken because of the evil creatures that you are."

The stench in the air seemed to be growing stronger and so, with the distant shouts and calls of the humans who had gone through the tunnel and onto the Essilon plane, Flack began to walk slowly forward once again, moving to his right to once again begin the steep climb that would take him up to grassy area that led to the mountain tunnel.

Sending his body leaping over and racing around the bodies of both human and beast that lay dead upon the rocks, his hooves were hammering the ground as if it were the grounds fault for everything that had happened, until he had to slow down to begin the steep climb beneath the glare of the sun. The boring sight of nothing but rock before him had now become something of beauty, for he no longer had to look upon the fallen beasts that lay behind him. The climb was not as tough as the day before for, although he still had pains, he did have energy now that was not at his disposal on the previous day. Nearing the ledge that would take him onto the level area that held the grassland, he felt renewed vigour from the pains in his sides as they sought out his undivided attention.

Pulling himself over the ledge and grateful to once again be on level ground, he quickly scanned the area ahead of him for humans. Suddenly, from where once his pains had come there now came no pain and so, turning his head to try to better see his flanks, he could only make out the blood covered deformities. His deformities had grown larger, though they no longer felt painful, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before they destroyed him. Feeling embarrassed and angered by his deformity, he suddenly reigned himself up, his forelegs reaching high into the sky. His voice appeared loud and angry as he called out two words, "Mother! Father!"

He bolted forward in fury for the grassy area, seeing the faint trails of smoke rising into the air from wherever the humans had, for whatever reason, started their fires. He could see no humans in the area ahead of him but then, as he began to race in the direction of the tunnel, he saw a looming pit ahead of him, exposed behind the tall grass as he came fast upon it. Kicking with all of his might, he leapt high across the pit, landing heavily on the far side and almost stumbling as he came to rest.

He had seen something in the pit as he had leapt across it and now, turning around, he walked back and looked into the hole that had almost brought him to harm. He saw that it was full of snakes and the bodies of a number of humans. Thinking about the pit and what it could mean, he raised his head and looked around the grassland and bushes. 'I have to believe that there are many of these traps in this place. It would be wise to return to the path that I walked with Shane.'

The vegetation area remained looking surreal and peaceful; the tall grass, bushes, flowers, and trees, all seemed to be an unnatural image drawn upon the blank canvas of a cold grey mountainside. There were no humans in sight; at least none that he could see that were walking through the grassland, though there was plenty of evidence of humans who had fallen to the beasts. Sadly, Flack also had to acknowledge that there were other beasts here that had been killed by the humans. Between the ledge and the beginning of the grassland, he could see twenty or so human bodies and, spread out amongst them, there were at least eight bodies of the fallen beasts.

The human voices reached him from the tunnel and reminded him of how cautious he should remain. There were no humans to be seen moving around the area but he knew that, 'For all the serenity in this place, there are traps set in place for the humans. I do not wish to fall into these traps, nor do I wish to fall as prey to a hidden human hunter.'

A movement caught his eye, momentarily sending panic through his mind, but he quickly calmed when he saw that what was moving was definitely not human and so it had to be a beast.

A huge grey creature stood in the distance, its body covered in what appeared to be darker patches. Staring hard, he saw the beast move forward, heading towards the blue mountainside wall. He could see a large appendage that hung from the face of the beast and, although he could not be sure, he felt as though he had seen a few singular large spines sticking out from what he believed was the creature's neck. Evidently, the creature had not seen him and then, as Flack was about to move in the direction of the creature, he saw it stop as the front legs of the creature gave out and it sank to a kneeling position. It was obvious that the creature was hurt and, even as Flack made to move slowly in the direction of the creature, seeking an ally, he saw it topple over, its huge bulk rising above the tall grass.

He knew that the creature was not going to be rising again. 'I wonder who or what you were? What did you do this day? I hope your pains are finally gone...'

Moving off to his right and with a heavy heart that was aching more because of the sound of a large cheer coming from the humans beyond the tunnel, Flack went slowly and carefully towards the path. Amongst the grass he came across the bloodied and mutilated bodies of both humans and beasts. Seeing the bodies saddened him, 'Why did it all have to come to this? I wish I understood more of this land in which I live.'

Carefully approaching a smouldering fire, he saw the skinned and roasted flesh of an animal that was smaller than him. 'I believe it is called a wild boar,' he thought, with no interest in questioning where we had gotten that knowledge from. The image of the beast burned deep in his mind and then, turning his head, he fought off the stomach wrenching that seemed determined to make him vomit. Taking deep breaths, Flack moved away from the smouldering fire and carcass and made his way toward the path. Raising his head suddenly, he searched the area around him, looking for any signs of the humans who may be lying in ambush.

A calm and steady breeze played upon the heads of the grass before him, sending light green waves riding over the vegetation. Holding his head high, he began following the path, his eyes fixed upon the place where he believed the tunnel to be. Trying to ignore the stench of rotten flesh that was around him, he tried to only see the greens and yellows of the grass and bright yellow and blues of the flowers that were scattered amongst the grassland.

The noise from the humans beyond the tunnel had become more subdued and quieter. He could still hear a loud murmuring but he had no idea what it meant for the beasts that were in Essilon. 'Are there any beasts alive on the Essilon plane? Have I slept for more than a day and the battle is over?'

Ahead of him, he could see the blue mountainside walls on his left and right and knew that, where they met against a barrier of rock, there was the tunnel that would lead him through to the Essilon plane; to the place where the voices of the humans were coming from.

Glancing to his right, he could now see that he was almost level with the elephant that he had seen earlier. It did not appear to have changed position in any way since he had seen it fall to the ground and now, at this closer range, he could also see that it was not spines that grew from the elephant but was spears that had been stuck there by the humans.

Seeing the real size of this beast, Flack wondered, 'What chances have I when the human's can deal with an animal of such bulk and strength?'

Looking away from the deceased beast, he increased his pace while his eyes maintained a watch on the winding path that he took, his eyes always watching for sudden movements amongst the grass while trying hard not to stare upon the dead beasts that appeared to litter the whole of his journey.

The sounds of the humans increased as he moved across the grassland and he began to grow ever more fearful of what he would find when he travelled through the tunnel. 'Will I get through the tunnel? Might there not be humans left there to guard it from access by any other beasts?'

Abruptly, he found his way forward blocked by what he believed to be a huge tree trunk across the path.

'It does not appear to be a tree trunk,' he corrected himself, seeing the olive green colour and dark blotches upon the shape. Halting, he stared at the shape, noting the glistening upon the surface and then, bolstering courage because it did not move, he approached the shape cautiously.

'It is a snake,' his mind told him, 'It is a giant snake!'

Looking to the left, he saw the shape change and become the head of the beast and, thought the tall grass he saw a number of arrows embedded in the flesh of the creature. Two human legs protruded from the mouth but they were not moving. Turning, Flack walked back onto the path, walked back the way he had come for a small distance and then, turning to face the body of the snake, he ran towards the body, leaping in the air as he approached and then he went soaring over the unmoving bulk, landing heavily on the path beyond. Without looking back, he continued to canter forward, his eyes searching and scanning the area ahead of him for more signs of the dead, the dying, or those that were very much alive and determined to cause him pain.

The light suddenly faded from the land and, glancing upwards, Flack saw a single grey cloud passing in front of the sun and, even as he looked, the sun's rays shone out from over the top of the cloud, blinding his eyes. A moment later, the sun was completely released and he could feel the warmth upon his face and back once again. The shouts of the humans erupted from beyond the tunnel and then, as he listened, faintly he heard the sound of a roaring beast. 'It is not a human cry! It must have been one of the beasts and that means that the battle is not yet win by the humans.'

Increasing his speed, Flack moved into the shadow of the mountainside that was before him and, though the light dimmed, he could see quite clearly see all that was around him.

The land appeared to be washed of its vibrant colours except for the two blue walls of the mountainside that now lined his path. There were many more trees in this area, all of them looking eerie as they were bathed in the blue light. 'It feels as if I have entered another land,' he thought, studying the strange blue light and wondering, 'Would it be wise to try to eat the fungi from the walls again?'

Suddenly, in the midst of his deliberations, there came a scream and, reacting quickly, he reared and then turned and began to race back along the path he had been travelling, moving back out into the sunshine. He knew the scream had been human and he had known that it was not the sound of a human crying. A pain lanced his side and so, turning his head as he ran, he saw a human spear protruding from the ground behind him. Slowing his pace abruptly, because he knew that he was out of the range of the human, Flack turned to face the vile form, trying to determine its location and whether he would be easily able to get past and into the tunnel beyond.

His eyes searched the shadowy area ahead of him and then, finally, he was rewarded by the sight of a human crouching low and racing through the long grass, obviously trying to find another covered position from which he could attack again. Reacting fast, Flack began charging forward, determined not to give the human time to prepare for another attack. 'I cannot risk the human hiding from me and leaving me vulnerable to another of his weapons.' The human heard the pounding of his hooves before he had reached his place of cover and so, turning to face the charging creature, the human quickly swung an arm over the opposite shoulder, retrieving one of his arrows and then, as his blue-light covered form tried to bring the arrow into line upon the bow, his head raised to look into the eyes of Flack as he came bearing down upon the human.

Even as the weapon fell from the human's grasp, Flack's horn pierced the stomach of his attacker as Flack continued moving forward, carrying the human with him and whose arms were now hanging to each side of Flack's head. Slowing to a halt, Flack could feel the blood of the human pouring out onto his head and so, knowing that the human was still alive though severely wounded, he held still, feeling the human's hands trying to get purchase upon his head, trying to lever his body away from the horn that he was now embedded upon.

With a squelching sound, the human pulled himself free and, as Flack quickly raised his head for fear the human may try to continue his attack, he watched the human clutch at his stomach. Flack's eyes remained clear and he knew that the red clothes that the human was wearing had absorbed most of the human's blood, soaking it up before it could run into his own eyes. The area was silent and the human remained unmoving. Flack did not feel the need to continue his attack. 'The human is no longer a threat to me.'

Then, as he was turning his head away, a movement caught his eye. The human was grasping over his shoulder, trying to retrieve another arrow.

'Without the bow to fire the arrow, he must be going to stab at me with it,' thought Flack, instantly feeling foolish for having let his guard down. Knowing it would be too late to turn away and turn, Flack tried to move back before the human could lash out and, even as he did this, he suddenly heard the human scream once again. His arm held frozen in the air, the human's scream continued and then the human began to topple backwards and, as Flack watched, the human vanished completely from his sight.

The air became more choked with shouts of agony from the unseen human and so, curious, Flack moved slowly forward, wondering, 'Should I even be taking this risk?' A movement near the ground caught his eye and so, glancing down, fear in his mind, he relaxed when he saw a line of small creatures moving through the grass, moving away from him and suddenly vanished from sight as they neared the area where the human's cries were coming from.

'They are scorpions,' he told himself, 'and they appear to be in a hurry.'

Moving slowly forward, Flack saw a dark expanse appear ahead of him, instantly realising that it was a pit and then, grateful that he had not continued his charge with the human pinned to his horn, he peered down into the blue lit abyss. The human was in the pit, writhing upon a ground made of dead humans and snakes. The scorpions were tumbling into the pit and striking out at the human with their venomous tails. The human screamed again, trying to twist away from an attacker but, whatever way he chose, another attacker was waiting for him. Turning away, Flack moved back to the path, feeling no sympathy for the human and glad that his cries had now suddenly ceased. Cautiously, he stared at the area ahead of him, knowing, 'It would be so easy for another human to be hidden in this dim-lit area.'

Bolting forward, he had decided that he would make less of an easy target if he were moving fast. 'If a human appears near me I will simply charge straight toward them. I cannot risk slowly down and making myself an easy beast for them to prey upon.' His pounding hooves were echoing all around the blue lit area and even though he knew that any human would surely know of his presence, he continued on his way. The trees to his sides seemed stark and unmoving, betraying no sign of hidden humans. His eyes had grown more accustomed to the dim light and he was sure that he would be able to see any movements made out amongst the grass and bushes that were closest to him.

He would not look behind him for any signs of pursuit or attack. 'If I keep moving quickly, any humans that are there will soon fall behind and I should be out of their weapon range quite quickly.' With the trees to his sides becoming a blur to him as he thundered along the path, he became ever more confident that he would be able to get through the tunnel and join the beasts. 'I wonder if the Chosen One has now arrived?' he pondered.

The darkness of the rock face ahead of him grew expansive and ominous. His eyes searched for a sign of the blue portal that he had seen the previous day, 'If I can find the portal then I know that the tunnel is to the side of it.' Knowing that the path was ending because of the reflected blue glow becoming more visible on the rock surface, Flack slowed his pace to a canter, his eyes remaining ever vigilant as he felt that he was now presenting an easy target to any remaining humans. There was nothing but silence around him, even the shouts of the humans on the plane had faded into nothingness, and the land around him became even more surreal and mysterious.

Halting, because the rock face was no more than four body lengths ahead of him, he found that it was only the sound of his own breathing that disturbed the silence around him. His forelegs involuntarily stamped the ground, disturbing the silence and almost startling himself. Advancing forward, he suddenly turned his head to the right, hearing a rustling sound. Studying the darkened trees nearby, he thought, 'It is only the breeze in the leaves.'

His eyes searched deeper into the darkness, looking for any slight movement that would betray the presence of humans, but he could find nothing out of the ordinary. Settling his nerves, he faced forward again and, as he studied the rock face, he perceived a singular point of darkness that did not reflect the blue light cast by the mountain walls in the distance to the sides of him. Moving toward the darkness, he knew that it was indeed the tunnel that entrance that he was searching for and, try as he could, he could still see no sign of the portal that had been here the previous day. 'The portal has been removed; vanished, in the same manner that Shane spoke to me about, no doubt.'

The dark opening loomed large in his vision and, as he was about to enter, Flack halted, listening for any sounds from the tunnel. Against a faint backdrop of human sounds, he heard nothing. Knowing that it was difficult to not make sounds upon the rock floor, he had to assume that there was nothing, beast or man, moving around in the tunnel.

With a final glance at the serenity behind him, he began to walk into the tunnel, immediately pleased that the total blackness did not remain, as a faint blue glow lit up the area just ahead of him. His hooves were sounding stark and heavy as he continued deeper into the tunnel. Easily turning without colliding with the rock walls when bends occurred, he found that the blue glow remained with him, always moving with him, and just enough to show him what was immediately ahead and ensure that his passage was smooth and free from incident.

Occasionally, he came across human weapons lying upon the floor, 'No doubt dropped in the human haste, trying to get through the tunnel quickly and onto the Essilon plane, keen and eager to draw the blood of the beasts.'

The sounds from the Essilon plane seemed to suggest that all of the humans in the world were whispering to each other, developing plans and methods of attack in secrecy. The smell of smoke reached his nostrils and he knew that the humans were, 'Out there, burning their fires, eating, drinking and being bloodthirsty in the savage way that they always do.'

The darkness of the tunnel seemed to continue into forever and, impatient to know what was happening beyond the tunnel, he increased his pace to a level that allowed him the luxury of being able to stop easily in the event of anything threatening coming into the blue glow lit area just ahead of him.

Racing through the dark passage as this acceptable speed and with only the sound of his hoof beating pounding the stone floor and occasional human artefact, Flack was filled with relief at the moment he saw the blue circle of light that indicated the end of the passage. The final stretch of passageway was straight and this allowed him to increase his speed even more. Staring at the circle of blue light, he tried to absorb its brightness more and more, preparing himself for the light of day that would come his way as he finally left the dark confines of the mountain.

Growing larger and larger, the blue hole was racing toward him and then, pulling himself to a halt as he crossed the threshold, his eyes were squinting into the daylight as the smell of death and burning fires drove deep into his senses. An indistinct image presented itself to him and then, as his eyes adjusted and dust settled around him, he was shocked by what he saw as the image came clearer.

A massive line of red-clothed humans were immediately before him in the distance and, beyond them, he could see the millions of beasts that were trapped upon the Essilon plane. The red-clothed line was at least thirty or forty humans deep and, as something caught his eye, Flack saw a flaming arrow launching from the human line, rising up in the air and then turning before angling downwards and racing through the air to land in the flesh of one of the huddled beasts. Unsure whether he heard the distinct sound of the beast cry amongst the racing babble of sounds that came from the plane, Flack stomped his forelegs hard upon the ground and the sound they made now made Flack think of the last heartbeat of the beast that had been struck by the flaming arrow.

The slope that ran from where he was and down onto the plane was littered with the bodies of many beasts. Looking at the carnage, Flack could only see the bodies of a few humans close to where he now stood. Beyond them, it was as if a red river ran from the passageway was carrying the beasts down onto the Essilon plane below. 'Except that this river no longer flows,' he thought grimly, looking at the still and silent blood-covered beasts that lay before him.

Shaking his head, he began to feel despondent. The line of humans facing the beasts looked to be impenetrable to him. 'I am lost to the beasts. I do not think I will be able to join them because there are so many humans blocking my path. But I have to try...'

Watching, he could see that the many thousands of humans were hoarding the beasts slowly to the far side of the plane. Many were already there and could go no further, for the plane was surrounded on all sides by the mountain ranges of Essilon. The only way out was back though the passage that Flack had used to reach here.

' _The far mountain range... and those to the sides, the beasts before them and the humans before them, with an area covered with the bodies of hundreds of dead beasts reaching from the humans to where I now stand.'_

And then, as his eyes more closely examined the dead beasts nearest to him, Flack recognised a limp and bloody figure which lay upon another.

' _Shane!'_

With his legs beginning to tremble slightly, Flack slowly moved forward, cautious in case he should awaken Shane from a sleep which he now knew had became an eternal rest.

Gazing down at the bloodied figure, seeing the murderous arrows that pierced his flesh, he saw Shane's face was a mixture of anger and shock, 'And perhaps tinged with a little relief. Nor does the light breeze stir your fur, just as the sound of the chanting humans does not awaken you from this final rest.'

Flack could see that the blood upon Shane had long dried beneath the heat of the sun and he wondered how long ago it was that Shane had left the cave. His eyes caught sight of another body close to Shane and, as he stared at the markings upon the fur of this other dog, Flack realised that Shane had found one of his brothers just before he had died. 'Did they die together? Or did Shane come across the body of his brother before being struck down by the human arrows?'

And then, in seeing that grizzly spectacle, Flack realised without any doubt, without hiding behind any hope, exactly what had happened to his mother. 'My mother had not only been captured by the humans, she had been killed by them!'

He thought of himself hiding while watching her fighting and struggling with the humans in the water and how the cursed humans had finally captured her. And now he realised just what that bloody patch was that ran upon the water when the humans had taken her away.

Tears began streaming down from his huge, unblinking eyes. They were all tears of pity, tears for himself, for his mother, for his father... for all beasts.

Rearing up, he bellowed his anger into the human voice-filled air, staring towards the distant line of humans and not seeing one evil, cursed face turn to look upon him.

Slowly, and with all hope gone, he turned his back upon the plane of Essilon, moving slowly back towards the mountain passageway. The sounds of dying beasts becoming more distant as his mind closed the sounds from him, trying to ensure that his mind did not imagine the unimaginable horrors that were happening to the beasts upon the plane.

Flack could take no more. His existence had been one of pain, interspaced with love; love that though warm and tender, nonetheless, had been taken from him.

He turned his back to the humans and began walking back through the passage, back through the vegetation area, out onto the rocks, across the rocks and then, with a grim determination taking a grip on him, he increased his pace and began to climb the side of the mountain. His eyes were searching for a quick route to ascend as high as he could; searching for a place that had a clear fall, an uninterrupted fall from the highest high to the ground below, a long fall that would terminate suddenly. Higher and higher he climbed.

The sun burned down hard and Flack's vision blurred at times and, whenever his vision did become blurred, he saw faces before him; faces of those he loved and whose images faded from view as he sought to look harder upon them. His mind was made up, determined and yet numb, though his legs were working with deliberate precision as he sought out every step to take him to the highest point he could reach upon the mountainside.

One singular thought passed through his mind, over and over again. 'If I can destroy my horn by breaking it into pieces upon the rocks, then it has at least robbed the humans of any chance of taking it from me as a trophy. If I can do nothing to the humans then I can at least rob them of one of their miserable pleasures.'

He was to die, he would throw himself from these mountainous rocks, and he would be free of his anger and frustration, finally released from his pain and torment. Ultimately, the loneliness and anger would be gone from him. At last, along with the sun, he had found the highest place he could reach to look down upon the murderous world in which he had lived for so short a time. He stood straight and erect, with his head high, his mind clear and resolute, his fears gone...

With unblinking eyes staring down the mountainside, he could not see the details of the ground below clearly. He could see the colour of the cold, hard rock, but he could not see any details. And then he leapt.

He leapt from the rocks to a sheer drop of over one hundred and fifty body lengths and, with the wind rushing up past him, he closed his eyes to hide from him the stone of his demise.

He felt no fear.

He felt nothing.

He felt relief.

### 24 - Revelations II – Revelation II

Suddenly, he was haunted; haunted by faces. Faces looking at him, faces of those that he knew so well and of those that he loved so much. He saw the faces of his mother, his father, of Chard and Brand, and of Shane and then there came the sound of voices; voices that were telling him "No!" He tried to ignore the voices as he fell, but they were too loud, too insistent.

"Fight!" shouted his father's voice above all others, adding, "Kick, my son. Kick!"

The faces swirled around him, all calling out to him, pleading with their eyes and their voices. Around and around him, their pictures flew, but it was his father's voice that was always louder than the other voices; loud, and yet with a hint of stern reproach, with a hint of pleading, with care, and with love.

All of the voices were pleading with him, whispering loudly and staring with tear-filled eyes. They were telling him not to die. Yet he knew he was to die, the air rushing past him told him that with no uncertainty. And yet, still the voices pleaded, commanded, begged, and urged him not to die.

"Kick my son!" roared the voice of his father once again.

Suddenly, Flack kicked out as he was commanded and every limb that he had struck out against the air, striking against nothing. And then, a strange awareness came over him. He had felt his limbs kick when he had ordered them to, but now he was aware of something different, something strange, yet something familiar. Suddenly, he acknowledged the existence of two limbs that were new. Two limbs that extended from his flanks. He could feel the wind ruffle through and across these new limbs. He held them stiff, forcing them outward upon an angle that fought against the wind rushing up past him and then, suddenly, he was no longer hurtling towards the ground.

' _I am flying!'_

And now he knew that the deformity that had been growing upon his sides, and that had been causing him so much pain, was a pair of mighty white wings. Beautiful wings covered in brilliant white feathers.

The ground shot swiftly past below him and then, slowly, the mountain began to diminish in size, falling away below him as his body sought out the pure whiteness of the clouds and, as he soared, he was aware of pains at the point each wing met each flank, though this was a different pain than the previous pains he had experienced. The pains of agony were now gone. These pains he now felt were pains of birth and Flack felt as though he was truly re-born.

He felt natural! He felt free! He felt he could go anywhere, do anything. He began beating his mighty wings, angling them slightly, and then began flying upwards faster, higher and higher, until he was finally up amongst the clouds. And the clouds breathed with him, flew with him, and were as white as him. He rose and fell upon the winds, dipping under clouds, sometimes driving through them. His heart was full of joy, full of pleasure. The thought of trying to end his life could not be any more absurd than it was now. He felt fresh, vibrantly alive, and strong. He wanted his mother and father to see him now, for he felt that they would be so very proud of him.

And then Flack remembered something. He had something to do! He knew that now.

He stopped his beatings wings and leant his great head forward, angling his fore-body downwards, and then he was whistling his way down, down through the many clouds, through the air that cradled him, through the distance between himself and the Essilon plane.

The wind came rushing past him producing a mighty roar in his ears and he felt the air being forced apart as he dove through it. He felt good. He felt strong.

Suddenly, with the quickness of a silver shooting star, the clouds vanished and there below him he saw the huge mass of beasts and the line of many humans advancing upon them.

Down, down he flew.

He angled a wing and his whole descent began to veer to the right, moving him silently and speedily away from the humans and beasts below. Beyond the mountains and out of sight of the humans, he turned and started heading directly back toward the mountains, knowing that the plane of Essilon was on the other side of the mountain in his path.

The mountain was now looming closer and he beat his mighty wings furiously, gaining speed and momentum, his urgency great as he sought to return to the beasts and then, as the mountain rocks became clearly visible, he beat harder upon his wings, angling them so as the beats would chase the air below him. He began to climb steeply once more into the sky.

He soared, almost vertically, up the side of the mountain. The wind tried to slow him down but he pushed the muscles in his young body even harder and the wind began to lose its resistance. His speed increased dramatically and then, suddenly, he shot up past the peak of the mountain.

Immediately, he stopped pounding his wings as his body continued, with momentum, slowly skyward, slowly slowing down.

He leant forward, tipping his frame so that he could better view the scene below, the scene that showed him that the humans were advancing toward the severely beaten beasts that had seemed to have given up all hope.

The battleground was now spread before him, with the humans to his left and the beasts on his right.

***

The humans were gazing directly ahead and none could see the mighty beast that flashed through the air to their right. Instead, the humans continued gazing forward, continued advancing, and continued destroying the beasts that were the closest to them.

Savagery hung in the air and danced upon the despair of the beasts, a few of which had kept their eyes toward the skies, awaiting any sign of the one who would come to save them.

Some of those beasts now saw a shape in the sky and tried to determine what it was. And some of those beasts died at the mercy of the cruel weapons of the humans just as a gladness and relief washed over them as they studied the sky. Some beasts died happy, regardless of the agony.

***

Flack witnessed these scenes and could not halt the anger hat was flaring up within him. His body was now leaning heavily forward and beginning to descend.

'But it is not fast enough,' he told himself, as his mighty wing's beat the air, huge mighty beats, becoming faster and faster. Flack's body pumped all of his energies into his wings, powering them into a downward flight that was assisted by gravity itself and, as the ground came looming toward him, Flack pulled back and began to level out his flight.

He was coming fast towards the humans from their right-hand side, gliding silently, hearing their chants and shouts, smelling their evil stench, and hating them even more than he could ever have imagined. He approached them silently from a direction they cared nought about.

Their weapons were clear to him now, as was their evil human heads.

Swiftly, he had pulled himself from his dive to level out at just about the right height above the human heads and then he flew as a shooting star himself and then, as he went blazing across the humans, his hooves caught many with blows to the head, blows that he knew they would not walk away from to kill any other beasts again. The humans dropped in the same way that birds had dropped after being struck mercilessly by human arrows and spears.

Eventually, he reached the end of the long line of humans, leaving many dead and injured humans behind him as he gracefully swept up into the higher air. Not one human weapon had come towards him such was the shock of his attack.

***

Many humans had witnessed his flight of death - if not all of them - but also every beast had seen what had happened and they took great strength from this.

Shouts of "The Chosen One has come!" began to echo from the Essilon mountains as the message was spread amongst the beasts.

And then, while the humans tried to reason out the attack from this strange beast, the animals took heart and, as one, they began to charge. A huge stampede of bison, buffalo, elephants, dogs, bulls, tigers, lions, and many more beasts led the charge... with many, many thousands behind them to follow.

The humans had stood too sure of themselves and as surely as night takes away the day the beasts took away their lives. They charged in a maddening roar that almost shook the surrounding mountains back into the dust from which they were formed.

The humans killed the leading beasts but could not cope with the many thousands hurling themselves towards them all at once and so they receded to become nothing more than a huge, red stain upon the plane. The hunters were slain by the hunted. It was a just ending.

***

Flack circled high the sky, watching the fair and just victory so deserved by the beasts. The wind caressed him and, for the first time in a long time, he felt a kind of peace settle within his heart.

When the stampede was over and there was not a single human left standing, Flack banked to the side and lined himself up for a turn that would bring him in to land upon the Essilon plane amongst a large group of beasts, which included the giant Lioness.

The lioness stood staring in awe at Flack as his feet touched the ground and he ran for a short distance with his great wings outspread.

***

There was to be a great rejoicing, but first the whole world was to be given the word of God. Every beast heard, and every beast listened, to this voice.

And God said unto the beasts, "The end of all the humans has come before me; for this world was filled with violence through them; and behold, I have destroyed them with violence, and with the beasts.

The humans had been the greatest design of all my creatures, their bodies and minds were the most adaptable. They chose to adapt to evil ways; to destroy the beasts that I had also created, in love and in beauty. And now, the souls of all beasts shall be entered into the bodies of all humans and the humans shall then become the beasts when their souls have passed into them.

Fear not my children, for thee have been given the joy and pleasure of God, and now you shall inherit this world. Make thee a world of love, love shall be in this world and without.

The humans shall now become the beasts of burden and their first generation shall remember from where they came, as will the first beasts to be entered into the human frame.

Do not be harsh upon the new beasts, for they are still my children and I love them.

Go forth in peace and thee will be rewarded in peace. Go forth in anger and thee shall be rewarded in anger.

I command thee to lie down and go to sleep. Thee will awaken in human form. Do not displease me as the originals and do not disobey my laws, for my laws are given through love.

Lie down in peace; awaken in peace; live in peace; for this is the word of God."

***

Flack felt a huge tiredness come crashing crash down upon him, his mind tried to fight to remain awake, to argue, but the insistence was too strong; he could do nought but surrender to its command.

A mighty hush then descended upon the land as, almost all in unison, the beasts slowly fell to the earth and rocks on which they previously stood, crawled, lay, or ran upon. It was a gentle slow-motion tumble into a strange type of oblivion.

The land remained in silence as the work of God was carried out.

### 25 - Revelations III - Revelation III

Flack slowly became aware of returning of his senses, his closed eyes hid from him the sight of promised changes as his mind struggled to life and to recollection. He began wondering of where he was and what events had preceded his arrival to the now.

Through sealed eyelids he could sense the strength of a hot, glaring sun burning down upon him and then, suddenly realising that he was lying upon his back, fighting an accepted instinct to roll over, he unresistingly sat upright.

His eyes opened quickly and the sun tried to force blindness upon them.

With what felt like a natural reaction, he cast a limb between his eyes and the power of the sun and, astounded, he saw that the limb that moved across his vision was something new and strange to him.

Fascination caused him to lower the limb and to gaze upon it and what he saw took his breath away. He saw a limb that terminated in five slender digits. He slowly flexed and turned the limb in front of him and, for no obvious, special reason, his 'mind's eye' told him that he was looking at one of two hands that he now possessed and which held opposable thumbs.

Flack knew a change had come and he wondered where this change would take him. 'To what place do I now belong? Which world will destiny make my home?'

### Artwork

Front cover artwork - Unicorn Sacrifices - by Stuart William Hagan.

Produced using images available free or in the Public Domain.

~~~~
About the Author

Setlu Vairst has had a wide and varied working career, primarily in computers and teaching but also as Licensee and Taxi Driver to name a few others. Living in the North West of the United Kingdom with his wife, sons and three dogs, he spends most of his time tapping away on the keyboard in the 'kitchen which is no longer a kitchen.'

~~~~
Authors Notes

Unicorn Sacrifices is the 5th book in The Occasion Mists series. Essentially, it is the same story as Unicorn - Journey Beyond Forever but with a number of important differences/enhancements.

The story begins much earlier in the journey of Laranki and Soreecilor and includes a scene depicted in another story only this time, for the most part, the story is told through the eyes of other characters.

Further in the story there is a whole new scene now included that was not included in Unicorn - Journey Beyond Forever. There is an event hinted at by the characters in Unicorn - Journey Beyond Forever but, although the acknowledgement is there, it is written in such a way that the reader would simply continue reading and not make 'too much' of what was said/hinted at. This scene totally changes the context of the story and ties in the Unicorn's story completely with Dragons of Terra Sphere.

These two pieces totally change the whole of the original Unicorn's story because the reader is made aware of major events that reshape the original story and give a clue as to how 'big' The Occasion Mists really is.

There are two clues in Danny and the Seagull who Came Back... From the Dead! Which begin to show how the first 3 stories are linked. One is easily found and is 'dropped' on the reader so that they have no doubts that the stories are entwined. However, it will take a keen eye and mind to find the second clue, which would have to be done in retrospect.

The scenes which are violent are more barbaric in this version of the story.

Initially, my idea for Unicorn - Journey Beyond Forever was for a story that the reader would like to read again at a later date. I have taken this concept further and developed the story so that as well as having the original story for the reader to reread there are added new pieces that will greatly enhance the reading experience.

This book will be released free of charge and is better read as book #5 in the series.
Thank you

Thank you for reading this story and I sincerely hope that you enjoyed it enough to recommend to other people. I would love to know what you thought about the story yourself and so, if you feel so inclined, I would be happy to receive an email from you with your comments on the book.

setlu@setluvairst.com

http://www.setluvairst.com
Dedication

Sometimes in life, there are times when we have no choice but to grow up and move on, taking the fruits of our decisions and scattering them around and hoping that some of them land in the most fertile of places.

~~~~
The Stories of Setlu Vairst

### Unicorn – Journey Beyond Forever

(The Occasion Mists – Hint 1)

The unicorns had the best of reasons for not taking refuge in the Ark. The sacrifice would have been unbearable, even more so than the sacrifices to come. They had a destiny with a fate not of their choosing but held on to a promise of hope for survival. In a race to keep above the rising waters a temporary sanctuary is found but, unknown to the unicorns, this place of safety is a pathway to a new land that will have them confront their greatest fear; the loss of a loved one.

With a destiny to be fulfilled, a young unicorn must make a journey to a place called Essilon but there is the ever-present evil of the humans who are seeking out all beasts and destroying them. Essilon is to be the final stand of the beasts against the rampaging humans.

The unicorn finds that the struggle to reach this place is a battle in itself, but he is not alone in believing his destiny lies in reaching Essilon before the final battle commences. Why, he has no idea - his companions seem to know more about him than he does himself. If the young Unicorn can reach Essilon will he, as he hopes, be reunited with his parents or will he never learn their fate? And if he does survive, what then? That will not be the end, but merely the beginning...

~~~~

### Danny And The Seagull Who Came Back... From The Dead!

(The Occasion Mists – Hint 2)

Would You Be-leaf it?

A boy who is all alone in the world, a seagull from heaven who wears a party hat and red jacket, and two dogs who have escaped from the dog pound, all have an amazing adventure when they 'shrink down in size' and travel to Caterpillar Kingdom to do battle with an evil alien called Chagga Toombe.

The seagull angel has been allowed to return to Earth for just a few days; and the Owl God can only hope that the seagull does not discover, and use, all of the powers at his disposal.

Watching over them is the mysterious Ada, and Danny, Bongo Wiggins, Brixan, and Little Jakey, all get themselves into some strange situations brought about by the seagull angel. Together, upon this journey, they all learn the true meaning of friendship and love.

Meanwhile, Bird Heaven is visited by the Dog God, the Bee Queen, and the Spider Queen, all of whom are greatly concerned by the events that are occurring on Earth; events that are happening because a certain seagull angel has begun to use his magical powers.

### ~~~~

### Dragons of Terra Sphere – Part I – Deadly Sanctuary

(The Occasion Mists – Hint 3)

When two worlds divide

The sequel to 'Unicorn - Journey Beyond Forever' begins in the time before the unicorns; a time when the Dragon's peaceful co-existence with man has come to an end.

Humans are actively seeking out and destroying dragons, stealing dragon eggs, forcing the dragons to seek a sanctuary called Heart.

What evil force is at work and driving the dragons from the lands? What will happen to Grafee, a lone dragon, who flees from the humans, seeking safety in the Bad Lands; a place where even greater dangers await her?

Live the lives of two generations of a dragon family as they fight for their survival, a survival that will depend on all of the remaining dragons searching out and facing their greatest enemy, and releasing the dragons that have been kept prisoner for over a thousand years.

### ~~~~

### Cobwebs of Pearl

(The Occasion Mists – Hint 4)

Imprisoned; no one can feel your pains but you!

Heart, an ancient city that holds the occupants of descendents of Earth and Alien beasts, is on a constant vigil, always watching for signs of an alien invasion. Brought together as a group, and whose 'soul' purpose is to protect the Earth itself, the dwellers of Heart are only slightly suspicious about an inward bound comet heading towards the Earth from a dark region of the Kuiper Belt.

As a precaution, one of the dwellers of Heart is dispatched to Earth to check up on the arrival of the comet. However, because they expect no trouble, the Heart Dweller is expected to use their time on Earth as a holiday; a chance to familiarise themselves with current affairs, styles, and language, should they need to work covertly on the Earth in the near future.

No sooner has the Heart Dweller arrived on Earth when any idea of a holiday is forgotten. A huge spider stalks the cities of Earth, living on fresh human prey, whilst seeking out pieces of rock that have fallen from outer space.

Wherever the spider goes, then so does its humanoid captive, a powerful visitor from Heart whose own mighty powers have been quelled by the new powers and intelligence of the mutated spider.

The spider keeps the captive alive only because, with the right kind of union, the spider could benefit from the powers of the visitor from Heart and, combined with the powers from the strange comet fragments, the spider could rise to be the most intelligent and powerful evil to have walked the Earth.

Two forms of intelligence are in a battle to the bitter end; an end which might leave one of them still alive, or maybe none.

### ~~~~

### Unicorn Sacrifices

(The Occasion Mists – Hint 5)

Three lives sacrificed so that an old world can have a second chance.

The unicorns had the best of reasons for not taking refuge in the Ark. The sacrifice would have been unbearable, even more so than the sacrifices to come. They had a destiny with a fate not of their choosing but held on to a promise of hope for survival. In a race to keep above the rising waters a temporary sanctuary is found but, unknown to the unicorns, this place of safety is a pathway to a new land that will have them confront their greatest fear; the loss of a loved one.

With a destiny to be fulfilled, a young unicorn must make a journey to a place called Essilon but there is the ever-present evil of the humans who are seeking out all beasts and destroying them. Essilon is to be the final stand of the beasts against the rampaging humans.

The unicorn finds that the struggle to reach the place is a battle in itself, but he is not alone in believing his destiny lies in reaching Essilon before the final battle commences. Why, he has no idea - his companions seem to know more about him than he does himself. If the young Unicorn can reach Essilon, will he, as he hopes, be reunited with his parents, or will he never learn their fate? And if he does survive, what then? That will not be the end, but merely the beginning...

This story is a more adult version of 'Unicorn - Journey Beyond Forever,' and has scenes which are more directly linked to other books in the series. This version also has extended scenes and complete new scenes that are not included within 'Unicorn - Journey Beyond Forever.'

This book is a chance to revisit 'Unicorn' but it has much more to show you than the original story. For example, you will see the thought process's from the point of view of others in various scenes. It is intended to be read after 'Cobwebs of Pearl.'

Discover something more of the secret past of Chart and Brand. Find out what really happened during Laranki and Soreecilor's journey toward the Ark when they encountered the dragons. Find out the truth about an incident that is only hinted at by Shane in the story 'Unicorn' and wonder what was the purpose of the alien in being there... and more...

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### The Little's Voyage

(The Occasion Mists – Hint 6)

In Space, no one can hear you chuckle!

From Spider Heaven to the Elfain Village is only a small journey when compared to the voyage that four familiar friends will embark upon as they go to seek out the source of the evil that was Chagga Toombe.

A strange alien race, called the Transloovians, work and toil within the honeycomb chambers of a dead moon, seeking out a precious material whilst trying not to fall prey to either the Grimshankles or to alien attack ships.

The Strange Invaders have another plan in which they hope to attack the Earth and wipe out mankind, leaving the planet empty and ready for them to colonize and this time it looks as though they will succeed. That is, unless a boy named Danny, a Seagull called Bongo Wiggins, a spider who was just settling into the after-life, and a bee who thinks he's John Wayne, can all come up with a plan to defeat the aliens before they launch their attack on the Earth.

Leaving Earth on a very special type of spacecraft, the four friends will embark upon a journey from which only three will return. The stakes are high and Danny begins to see just how deadly the enemy of Earth really is. For the first time he is going to feel the loss of a close one, for the first time he is going to realise that he is going to have to grow up and leave his innocent childhood behind.

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### Within the Heart of Time – Part 1 - Unknowing

(The Occasion Mists – Hint 7)

Sometimes fun and love are all you need; sometimes it's lies!

On a mission to save the Earth, Flack has no idea of who he is, what he is, or how he got here and yet, somehow, he must put together the pieces of a puzzle he does not know exists and, if he fails, then so too does the Earth!

Awaking, as if for the first time, Flack discovers that he has more powers at his disposal than the rest of humanity and, for a while, it is 'fun' to play with these powers but it does not take long for the real reason of his being there being revealed to him.

Assisted by strange visions of a unicorn with cryptic messages, Flack soon realizes just how deadly his situation is.

He has an unknown mission with an unknown outcome and his own fate, and the fate of humanity, rests solely on him working out the puzzles and dealing with a deadly enemy.

The time for fun and games has to stop; the time for action has arrived.

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### Arthurian Time Crisis – Part 1 - Magician

(The Occasion Mists – Hint 8)

Time For Love And A Love For Time

Flack and Ashley are trapped in the time of King Arthur and Merlin, where they have both inherited disabilities that will affect their chances of survival and which also renders then being unable to communicate with each other.

And so, not able to join forces, each has to find their own allies as they prepare to face the alien invaders who are controlling armies and destroying all those who are found to be able to use magic in these medieval times.

A man claiming to be Merlin – though he is not – and a dragon that is much more than just a dragon, both discover the alien threat to the world and each must seek out their own individual way to defeat the aliens as their own future's and that of the Earth itself are in the deepest of peril.

### The Occasion Mists

(The Occasion Mists – Final Hint, Part 1)

Set in the afterlife, this is the story of a soul; a soul on a journey to find the true meaning of life. Ormi-Sarm is that soul and the afterlife holds many surprises. Won't Ormi-Sarm be a little bit annoyed to discover that he is .....?

Enduring punishments for crimes committed as a mortal, Ormi-Sarm can do nothing except experience those retributions; and God can do nothing but hope that he will, eventually, see the true meaning of life.

Delivered primarily with speeches, and interlaced with poetry, short-stories, and occasional humour, 'The Occasion Mists' might take you on an expedition of yourself. Ideas are put forward in this book which the reader may agree with or reject but, in the end, it will always be the reader who makes his own decisions; after all, it is their own life.

Do you want to know what 'astrology' really is? Or do you want to know the reason why people 'Spontaneously Human Combust?' If you do, then this book could answer many questions and provide you with many more; even help you find new ideas.

The pages are meant to be scribbled upon and to make notes; haven't you always wanted a book that you could scribble in? Look closely at the text; there are many puzzles in this book, and it will take a keen eye and mind to find them all. The first reading will not be easy, but there are secrets to be found and subsequent reading will surrender more. Any doubts about this book... then place it back upon the shelf where it can await another.
The stories listed here are linked together and entwine magically. The recommended reading order is:

Unicorn – Journey Beyond Forever #1

Danny And The Seagull Who Came Back... From The Dead! #2

Dragons Of Terra Sphere – Part I – Deadly Sanctuary #3

Cobwebs of Pearl #4

Unicorn Sacrifices #5

The Little's Voyage #6

Within the Heart of Time – Part I – Unknowing #7

Arthurian Time Crisis – Part I – Magician #8

Within the Heart of Time – Part II #9 *

Arthurian Time Crisis – Part II – Dragon #10 *

The Grimshankle's Ghosts #11 *

Danny And The Cold Xmas *

The Occasion Mists

* Works in Progress
