Sunday, February 26, 2017

Enchanted Creatures and Tall Tales


“Duck!” Carp calls.
Black Buck the Antelope drops to all fours and takes off at a full gallop.
The assassin-in-training takes cover in the grass seconds before four hooves and a silver torso pass before his eyes. Dirt flies around Carp's head as it passes over. Ground breaks where the creature's hooves land. The assassin-in-training watches as the hoofed animal runs Black Buck out of the field. The creature turns back around to face Carp, revealing red eyes. A single, black horn protrudes from its head. The unicorn bows its head, glares into Carp's eyes, and begins stamping its front hoof like an angry bull. It snorts.
Carp blinks, when he opens his eyes the unicorn is charging straight towards him at full speed. Carp curls his body, covers his head, and waits to feel horn pierce his skin. Just as the sound of hooves are at their loudest, a strange noise rings throughout the meadow. He opens one eye, then the other. He is alone. Carp stands up and looks around. The meadow is empty. He hears hooves approaching from the roadside and watches as one, then two, distinct horns appear in his field of vision. “It's okay. He's gone.” Carp calls out.
Black Buck makes his way to Carp in a matter of seconds. He sniffs the at the broken ground closely, giving Carp a once over as well. “As I was saying, you have to wait for Faerie to come to you. This smells like...unicorn. Although, I did not get a good look at our attacker.”
“It was a unicorn.” Carp confirms. “Male. Silver with red eyes.”
Black Buck nods and thinks for a moment. “I thought that you had never seen a unicorn before. How do know that it was male?”
“I watched as it jumped over my head. Some things are hard to miss.”
The antelope smiles. “Yes, yes, of course.”
“It chased you off and was charging at me when I heard strange noise. When the noise stopped the sound of the hooves disappeared. The unicorn was gone.”
The two continue their trek through the meadow.
“A silver unicorn. Isn't this exciting.” Black Buck says. “Are you sure that it was a silver unicorn?”
Carp picks a random hair off of his shirt, studies it for a moment, cups it between both hands and looks at it in the diminished light. The hair is a radiant silver that appears to collect and vibrate odd bits of daylight. He holds his hands up to the antelope.
“The luminosity is astounding. That is most definitely silver in color. I wonder if it was an illusion.”
Carp looks at Black Buck and waits for more information.
“Unicorns are white. Everything about them is pure. So pure they are a stunning and flawless white.”
“No, there were silver ones too.”
“'Were' being the important word. According to Faerie history, silver unicorns were unicorns enchanted by dark magic, enslaved, and taken into battle by ogres and dark faeries. That is why they became silver. Their hearts were no longer completely pure.”
“Which explains the aggression.”
Black Buck shakes his head. “His aggression was only fueled by his desire to run off other male creatures. His behavior is consistent with that of 'Starbhanach'.”
“Starbhanach?”
“It is Gaelic for 'rustling' or Pre-Mating Season. It is a time when male unicorns choose their territory and collect their herd before mating season begins. This is common for unicorns in the wild.”
“What's the big deal?” Carp asks.
“The silver unicorn was in existence over five thousand years ago and was never allowed to breed after their souls had been tainted by the evil of dark magic. They are extinct.”





“If Dobby is on a pirate ship, what does it look like?” Writer Lady asks.
Spots Wash looks at her and says, “Big. Big and piratey.”
“How do you know that it was 'piratey'?” Writer Lady asks.
“There were big fabric things that I wanted to climb on, there were people everywhere working and one man walking around funny saying the word 'pirate' a lot.”
“We were in the desert.” Smudge Mal says.
“It wasn't a desert that was a beach. The beach on the island.” Spots Wash says.
“When does Gilligan show up?” Tinkletoes mutters.
“Shh.” Writer Lady says. “I think that we may be getting somewhere.”
“We had to find dry land after the plane attacked.” Spots Wash explains.
“Describe the plane.” Tinkletoes says.
“It was big and black. With neat stuff of on it.”
“What kind of neat stuff?”
“Secret neat stuff.”
“It's like Batman's plane only way cooler.” Smudge Mal offers. “There were lots of people on it and a red car that flies.”
“That's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Monitor Man's voice softly resonates through Writer Lady's bubble. “They are describing Pirates of the Caribbean meets Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
“They're telling tall tales. We're not getting anywhere.” Tinkletoes says.
“They have no reason to make something up.” Writer Lady says.
“Don't worry Food Provider. Everyone was nice to us. The guy in charge, Phil...” Spots Wash says.
Writer Lady puts a hand to her forehead and turns her head away for a moment.
Tinkletoes is looking at Writer Lady. Writer Lady is waiting for a hole in the floor of the bubble to open so she can plummet into oblivion. Monitor Man has procured a pen and paper. He's writing everything down. Writer Lady can hear Monitor Man mutter, “Now all we need to do is to fit in some Ninja Zombies. Summer blockbuster, here we come.”

Entering Castle Gris Wearing Fuzzy Bear Slippers

“ Welcome Ma'am,” a voice says. Writer Lady turns to find Lady Gray’s guard standing behind her. Several ogres ...