The Adventures of the Barbarian . . . and Friends!
__________II The Unicorn__________
It was not long after the departure of the forest creatures that the barbarian noticed the familiar sounds of a challenge--not quite the hark of an enraged warrior on the battle field, but with just as much anger nonetheless. It was the sound of a cloven hoof pawing at the earth, and heavy breaths being forced out of flared nostrils.
With the challenge ringing in the air, the barbarian instinctively pulled his sword just as he heard the charge of hooves galloping towards him from behind. In a leaping step, he twirled the great sword to the side, chopping downwards to strike at his opponent, but with a loud clash his blow was parried by a thin, shining lance of white which coiled like a seashell to a sharp point. He looked up as his rage began to over come him and saw the prettiest little stag probably in the world which was the owner of the horn parrying his sword. It's velvety skin was the careless colour of sea foam, and the wild locks of its dandelion soft mane cascaded through the air as the animal arced its long, slender neck preparing to lung for a second attack. Bucking into the air and kicking its cloven hooves at nothing, it viciously wagged the long horn above its eyes while screeching out a beautiful but piercing trill of anger.
As the pretty white stag lifted its horn, the barbarian lifted his sword as well and was over taken by his rage. The fight was on.
Springing with its hind legs, the creature stabbed forward. In a human version of the attack, the barbarian leaped towards the attacker, pulling the heavy blade through the air. Their weapons clashed loudly, and they danced in circles parrying one an other. His bulking muscles tensed as his boots made deep imprints into the soft earth as he pressed the sword forward which was held fast by an equal amount of force on the horn. Rippling muscles were visible under the velvety coat, and the white beast kept its head low as it pressed its horn against the man-made steel, cloven hooves digging into the ground, and long tail whipping at the air letting the furred tip flare like a white flame. All the while, the beast tried to drive the man out of the forest but couldn't move the struggle one inch, and all the while, the barbarian tried to drive the creature away but couldn't budge the battle one step.
Deep in the struggles of a pointless deadlock, the two remained in hours of strength verses brute strength, might verses persistent might, steel verses magical horn.
At last, there was a shift of movement, not so much as one giving under the other, but more of a knowledgeable nudge and the forest heard the sudden shriek of the man. The bloody hilt fell to the ground along with the rest of the great sword in one loud echoing crash as the barbarian flinched back, clutching his wounded hand, "Ouch!"
With a trill of premature victory, the beast bucked up once more, tossing its silky locks of silvery white mane in a cool evening breeze and the barbarian could see the crimson tip of its white horn tap at the edge of the moon. But suddenly, he didn't really feel so much like killing the white beast, after all, it was the prettiest thing he'd ever seen in his life, and he realized this now.
But the creature didn't seem to find as much beauty in him, and its cloven hooves fell back to the earth causing a thundering crash with more force then the beast weighed. Sliding its horn into aim once more, the white stag lunged again for the man, galloping like a knight would charge into battle with lowered lance.
Obviously counting on its opponent's great size and massive strength, the creature greatly underestimated his agility as the barbarian tripped to the side and watched helplessly as the horn was driven deep into the trunk of a nearby tree.
At first, the poor beast only snorted with anger, stomping each hoof into the ground and tossing its tail poutingly, but soon it realized that jerking its head away from the tree just wasn't an option. Pinned to its own tree, the beast trilled and stomped and kicked its legs in utter frustration.
Even knowing the beast's intentions to stab its horn through him, the barbarian approached and knelt down beside its immobilized head as it whinnied and pouted, "Poor thing! No be mad, I fix."
The animal's wiry muscles tensed as he slowly lifted his large, uninjured hand to its head. The animal probably assumed that the man would claim his victory by tearing the beast's head off at the neck. But instead, with as much gentle care as one his size could, he slowly stroked the stag's head at the base of the horn, combing locks of white curls away from its eyes. After a moment of gently caressing the animal in an attempt to soothe its anger, he closed his hand around the horn and braised the arm of his wounded hand against the bark of the tree. With one mighty tug, he freed the beast from its humiliating prison and quickly stood up, stepping back away from it not sure if it was still mad at him or not, "It be okay, pretty deer, fight no more."
The white beast watched the man warily for a few moments, listening to him speak. Two pointed ears lifted forward as a pair of twilight-violet eyes stared from the sea foam white face. At last, the beast spoke in a trembling voice that held the sound of innocence only small children and young maidens could possess, "N-no man has ev-ever t-touched me before."
"Me sorry!" the barbarian hastily apologized, hearing the pretty animal talk in such a sweet, frightened voice seemed to just break his big, barbaric heart, "Little deer hurt?"
Both ears peeled back shyly at the man's apology and the white beast took one step nearer, as if in meek curiosity and a low breeze carelessly tossed about the creature's delicate mane and the tassels of white trimming the ankle of each cloven hoof, "S-silly man," the stag laughed, a sound which resembled jingling bells or trilling flutes, "I am n-not a d-deer. Unicorn. Th-that is w-what I am." Then the animal that was now named Unicorn, lifted its head as if it had something important to explain and would have a hard time stuttering it out, "M-men are n-n-not allowed in m-my forest. I u-usually just k-k-kill them." Both of its ears curled forward gently as its shadowy-violet eyes looked over the large bear of a man, "B-but you have p-p-proven yourself t-true of heart. A-and I might kn-know why you r-r-rage. C-c-come now: th-this way."
This time when the unicorn's cloven hooves met the ground, it was as light as feathers brushing against the earth. And with an ancient and wild grace that no mortal beast could recreate or claim, the unicorn danced away from the man, over the fallen sword and to the edge of the trees. It's horn shimmered in the moonlight as it flicked through the air, beaconing for the barbarian to follow.
"You-knee-corn," the man scratched the top of his head while retrieving his sword and watching the little deer-like beast dance, "Unicorn: me like."
Back to Table of Contents<<<------------->>>Onward to the Next Episode
