Chapter 5
The Enemy and I
After gathering food and meeting a few of my neighbors, I flew back to where I had left the unicorn. He was still there and gratefully accepted some oranges.
"We usually eat grass, but fruit is also good for us. We enjoy fruit and plants. No meat, please."
I took the meat away from him and ate it. I had brought it for myself but had decided to offer it to him first. "So, what's your name?" I asked him.
"Brayan. And what is yours?"
"I... do not have one yet."
He eyed me curiously, but did not speak.
I finally said what I'd been wanting to say. "Who was at fault? Was it the Unicorns or the Dragons?"
He looked up at the trees, as if they would give him an answer. Finally, he spoke. "Not to offend you or to offend your race, but I believe the Dragons were at fault. We only used our talents to their fullest and couldn't help that we were better than them."
I nodded and tried to disguise the decision I was slowly making. He sat in silence, munching on his juicy orange. I sat against the tree, tearing at the meat with my claws and gulping it down.
"What should I do? Should I turn back to what I was before this whole mess started? Should I turn to a Unicorn? Should I stay as I am? Someone help me! I cannot make this decision on my own."
Brayan looked at me sympathetically and whispered,"Unicorn." I glared at him and he shrugged. "You asked, I answered. For one, dragons are not the most talented creatures. Two, they are ruthless and would kill you as fast as they would kill me. Three, you cannot turn back to human."
"What?!" I yelled.
"I'm sorry, it is true. Once the decision to become a Unicorn is made, you can never be what you were. Quint did not tell you this, but she had little time to find you."
I stared at him in disbelief. "So, I only have two choices?!"
"No. Actually, you have three. You can be a Dragon, Unicorn or a Dajon. Gafht is a Dajon."
I nodded and accepted the truth. "I cannot betray my friend Clant. But I want to be on the good side. What should I do? And how do you know I met Quint? How do you know I was even a human?"
He looked at me, and I could see understanding in those soft brown eyes of his. "Do you remember the stories? All of the little Unicorn and Dragon stories from your books? They were all real. We wrote those books. Then we came to people. No, not in our usual Unicorn form. We gave them ideas to start writing fairy tale books. The people caught on quickly, and soon most of our tales were known. But that's all they were, tales. At least, that's what everyone thinks. They are really true, but no one knows that yet. Go to your bed tonight, the one you've slept in since you've been a Dragon. Think of the stories. Then decide. Please judge each side fairly and give each side an equal chance. I'm sure you will be confident with your decision in the morning. I will wait here. I won't leave until you've told me your decision. As for knowing your identity, Quint knew about you all along. She somehow guessed that when you'd been captured by the Dragons that you'd turn over to their side. She described you to me and I was able to find you."
I nodded and quickly thanked him for helping me. He looked mildly surprised but seemed more happy than shocked. He gave me a warm smile and swung his head toward the sky. I nodded and jumped into the air, quickly flapping my wings. I gained altitude quickly and flew off toward the swamp. I had a lot of thinking to do.
That night, Clant came back. He said he would tell me of his adventures the following day, so we hopped in our beds. I lay in my bed and heard him snoring. I could hear the swamp water above the little rock cavern we were in. I listened to the noises, then remembered what the Unicorn had said. I closed my eyes and remembered each story I had read.
"I love you," said Clarise.
"Yes, and I you," said Claminton.
They laughed, and flew higher. The Dragons swooped down on them, and knocked them out of the air.
"Help!" screamed Clarise.
Claminton kicked at the giant lizards but was no match for the ten of them. He was knocked into the river and was carried away by the strong current. Clarise was carried away by the Dragons. Soon, Clarise would be submitted to torture. She would be tortured until she gave away the positions of the guard Unicorns. She did not give in and was killed a year later.
That was the first story I remembered. Not the exact, full story, but a short version of it in my memory. The stories were obviously not your usual ‘they had a war and the Unicorns won' kind of stories. They were very complicated and my mother didn't like them all that much. She let me read them, but she didn't really approve. I thought of another one and let myself form the pictures in my head.
A little Unicorn was playing in her backyard. She jumped into the air and flew above the clouds. She turned around quickly, because of the Dragons high above her. She dove straight down for ten feet, then turned a quick left. She flew on, until she saw the guard Unicorn. She tilted her horn into the sun and caught his eye. He looked at her, and she jerked her head in the direction of the Dragons. The Unicorn flew into the air and fought with the Dragons for a few minutes. Then he plummeted to the earth. He would be captured after they captured the little Unicorn. And that's just what they did. The location of the guards was not told, and the two Unicorns were tortured to death.
I winced at the thought of that story. I quickly changed to another short version of a story I had heard from a close friend.
"Aaaaah! Help me!"
The dragon grinned at his slowly dying victim and said,"You will give us the location."
"No! Never..." Frantay was fading away into darkness. The pain stopped for an instant, and she came back to reality.
He glared at her and commanded,"Tell me the location of the guards!"
She screamed as he lowered her into the burning craose.
Craose is like acid, only it burns through your skin slowly. The Craose was not only an acid, but when it was boiling, it was the perfect thing for almost endless torture. Almost endless. Unless you were left to burn in it. She screamed and screamed. Suddenly, her body went limp. She was quiet. Not a sound came from her. She looked lifeless.
"Check her!" the torture dragon called.
A soldier dragon stepped up to her and felt her horn. It was still warm. As soon as a Unicorn dies, its horn turns cold and slowly turns to stone. It can take from a minute to three years for a horn to completely turn to stone. She was lowered into the burning acid again, and she did not even flinch. The Dragon watched as she slowly burned. He finally lifted her out again. He untied her from the hook and dragged her to a large cage.
"Fine, don't tell the location. You can rot here instead," he spat.
The craose slowly burned her to a pile of ash, and so she died victoriously. She did not tell the location.
I cried at the memory of that story.
The Dragons had wanted the location of the guard Unicorns. When one guard was killed, another would come and take his place. The Dragons wanted the location of the place all the extra Unicorns were. But, they had never known, and never would know.
My decision was made, and I rose from my bed. I would not murder. I would kill to save, not for the sake of killing. I flew to my sleeping enemy. Looking down at him, I whispered goodbye and went to the woods where I slept peacefully for the rest of the night.
When I woke, I told the Unicorn what I had decided. He nodded solemnly and looked toward the sky. We were no longer enemies.
"You must change now, if you are truly serious. We must fly to the Sparkle right away, but not unless you're a Unicorn."
I sighed deeply and gave up my muscular, scaly body. I thought of the black Unicorn and slowly changed to it. I smiled at Brayan, and he smiled back. We walked through the forest, heading toward Lake Fisher. We were going to jump into the clear air over there and fly to the sparkle.
"So, do you have a true name for the sparkle in the sky?"
He slowed his pace and seemed to be thinking very deeply. Then he said,"We usually just call it the Sparkle. There really was no other name for the thing in the sky, and the way the sun makes it sparkle. I guess we just got into the habit of calling it that."
I nodded and remembered another question I'd wanted to ask long ago. "What makes the sparkle?"
He looked to the sky and waited for a break in the trees. When he saw the Sparkle, he answered me. "The Unicorn in charge carries a key around it's neck. That Unicorn has to watch over the key carefully. There is a special box, which sparkles when the sun shines on it giving us something to fly toward, and in this box is a strange glass door. The Unicorn turns Centaur and grabs the key. It puts the key in the lock on the box and opens it. Then, the Centaur will take a small glass stick out of the box. The stick is only a foot long. The Centaur stretches the stick till it is wide and long enough for a Unicorn to walk through. It will walk through the door and disappear. Then it will come back and nod it's head. We will then be free to pass through the door."
"Strange. I did not read this in the books. Why is it not recorded?" I asked him.
The Unicorn laughed and said,"We would never record that. If we did, the Dragons would know what the Sparkle was and try to imitate it. That would be just awful, that is why we do not record it anywhere. Each Unicorn knows the formula for the stick by heart."
I smiled and caught a glimpse of Lake Fisher ahead of me through the trees. We walked a little farther and came to the grassy bank by the lake. I looked at Brayan. He nodded. We jumped at the same time and spread our wings. Flapping to gain altitude, I kept my eye on him. I did not want to get lost in the huge sky, and he knew it better than I ever would. He flapped higher and higher. I copied his movements, finding it much easier to fly to the Sparkle. He kept looking around him, for Dragons is what I guessed. Faster and faster we rose, till I was out of breath. Brayan laughed and swooped down two feet. He landed on a cloud and rested there for a minute. I copied his movements and landed gracefully on the cloud beside him.
"Man, you don't really know how klutzy Dragons are until you glide as a Unicorn."
Brayan smiled and nodded his head in agreement. "We've got quite a story to tell Mistress. That's the lead unicorn's name. She will want to know a lot about you. We'd better get to the Sparkle so she has plenty of time to hear your story before night."
He jumped into the air and soared seven feet higher. I jumped up too and also soared seven feet higher. I looked to my right and spotted the Sparkle about a mile away. I turned in that direction and flew faster. Brayan also changed his direction and lowered his horn.
"Lower your horn. If the Dragons see the sun shining off it, the horn will glitter like the Sparkle. They will know where we are and will capture us."
"Alright, thanks for warning me."
We kept our horns down, but it didn't do much good. We had to keep looking up to see if we were heading toward the Sparkle. Brayan looked up again, and I saw his horn glitter.
"Brayan! Your horn! It's glittering. Keep your head down."
I warned him thoroughly so he would not do it again. But there was no need. The Dragons had seen the glittering horn and were soon up in the air.
"Dive!" yelled Brayan.
I dove down and yelled,"Split up!"
Brayan swooped to the left. I dove to the right. We flew in opposite directions, but there were to many Dragons. Ten Dragons in all. Five went after Brayan, another five came after me. I swooped low and dove into Lake Fisher. The Dragons followed.
"No! I'm so stupid! I'll never fly until my wings are dry!" I screamed under the water. I quickly resurfaced and took a deep breath. Then I plunged back into the water and swam as deep as I could go. I soon had to resurface, and that was the last deep breath I had to take. The Dragons gathered around me, still flying in the air, and grabbed my neck when I came up for a breath. Some grabbed my body, some held my neck, still others grabbed my mane. I was pulled into the air and flown dripping wet to the Main Room. That is where I would meet a terrible fate. I knew I would never give in, and I guessed I would die like all the Unicorns in the stories I had read. One Dragon lifted it's awful foot and hit my head with it. Everything went black.
I woke, sprawled on the stone floor in the Main Room. I glanced about me, trying to keep the room from spinning. My vision slowly cleared, and I could see Brayan on the other side of the room. He wasn't moving and had some blood trickling from his neck.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the little Unicorn who ran away."
I knew the voice and didn't even look. I didn't want to see his hideous face just then. I kept my eyes focused on Brayan.
"What's wrong? Ahhh, concerned for your friend. You don't have to be; he'll wake up."
I finally glanced over at him.
"So, the bold, what was your name? Oh yes, the bold noname has been captured. She has finally glanced at me and what is that? Her eyes are full of fear!"
I tried to keep the anger inside, but it was very hard. He taunted some more.
"So, tell me, why did the traitor come back?"
The truth was hard, but I knew that I would not tell it to him. He knew what had happened, and I wasn't about to give him the pleasure of hearing of my capture. Silence was the best policy right then. I finally turned my gaze on him. My gaze was one of hatred. He smiled at me and laughed to himself.
"So, you have not changed much. Silence is still where you look when you have no answers. Why don't you just ask questions?"
I stayed quiet and heard the irritation in his voice the next time he spoke.
"Just ask me a question. Any question at all."
No answer from me.
"Ask me!"
It took all I had to keep from laughing. I was irritating him, and he knew I was winning. He glared at me, and called three guards to him. He whispered to each of them individually, then called them together as a group. He pointed to Brayan, and they walked over to him. The first guard kicked him. Brayan slid across the floor. The next Dragon grabbed his mane and yanked him to his feet. Brayan's ears twitched, and his eyes opened. The Dragons were no longer holding a dead weight. Brayan's hooves scrabbled against the floor. The Dragons laughed and kicked his hooves out from under him. They grabbed his mane and yanked him to his feet. The first held his neck. The second had a firm grip on his mane. The third walked to another room. He quickly appeared with a large dagger. Brayan's eyes grew big, and he tried to kick the three. It was no use. Two dragons were too strong, let alone three. They yanked his head back, exposing his neck. The Dragon holding Brayan's mane smiled mockingly, and the rest did as well. The Dragon with the dagger in his left hand gestured to Brayan. He took one of his scaly fingers and dragged it across Brayan's throat. Then he held the dagger up and did it again with his finger. I knew what he was implying. That Dragon wanted to cut Brayan, and I wasn't going to let that happen. Brayan struggled, but the knife was held up to his throat. He froze and looked at me with pleading eyes. I was standing two hundred feet from him. I was on the other side of the room, and I knew I would never make it there before his throat was sliced. I looked around me for something, anything. Nothing I could use was there. I reared on my hind legs and took off across the room. I ran straight for the three Dragons. They laughed with delight as I neared them. Then I felt arms on my neck. Something slung me down to the ground, and I struggled to get up. Something heavy landed on me, and I was not able to move a hoof or leg. The weight lessened, and I was yanked up by my mane. Three Dragons surrounded me, and one drew a knife out of a leather belt around his waist.
"Brayan!" I screamed.
There was laughing to my right, and I jerked my head toward it. The Dragon with the dagger brought it up to my throat. I heard the slap of a tail on the stone floor, and the Dragon lowered the dagger.
"So, we do not talk until we are threatened?" Clyte shook his head frowning.
I tried to look away. I would not give in to my anger and get myself killed. I stood where I was, silent.
"Let him go."
I jerked my head in Brayan's direction and watched as the Dragons reluctantly let go of him. I sighed. At least he was free. For now, he was free. Clyte was clearly tired, and he let it show. Waving a clawed hand toward the tunnel we always came through, he walked to a door at the back wall, and slipped into what, I guessed, was his room. Twenty guards rushed in and led us to the doors. We walked out the big doors and into the tunnel. At the mouth of the cave, the Dragons made a quick right. They totally surrounded us, and we barely made it through to the next room. I gasped for fresh air in the grassland and followed the guards to a nearby door. Gafht ran across the grass, looking startled.
"Uh, what are you doing? Why are you a Unicorn?"
"Because I now know the truth," I told him, and followed the guards to the door.
They opened the door and revealed hundreds of cages. The cages caught both of us off guard. They led us to the nearest cages and shoved us in. I was in a cage across from Brayan. The cages were lined up against the walls of the narrow room. The room was long but narrow. One row of cages on the left and right walls. We sat in our cages as the Dragons walked out of the room. They closed the door, and only the lanterns hanging on the inside of the door lighted up the room.
"Brayan, I didn't think this would happen. I mean, I never believed I would end up like the Unicorns in the fairy tale books. I will try my best to die honorably if I have to."
Even in the dim light, I could see Brayan's eyes brimming with tears.
"I have the same thoughts. I just never knew. I never knew it would come to this." He broke down crying, and I maintained my tough appearance.
"Please Brayan. We both feel like crying our eyes out, but we mustn't. We must maintain our composure, control our anger and keep silent. These are our only allies. Please, I will break down crying too if you continue. You must stop, we have to stay strong if we are to withstand torture."
Brayan nodded and sighed. He curled up in a corner of his cage and slept. I curled up in a corner of my cage and slept also.
"Stupid, insolent, insignificant dragon! How could you do this!"
The yelling had continued for a half hour, and I was tiring of it. One of the Dragons had done something, obviously disgraceful or clumsy, and was getting a firm scolding. I yawned again, and waited at the back of my cage. Brayan finally awoke.
"What is that awful racket?"
"Oh, the little dragon outside dropped a tray of food. The food was for us. He wasn't even supposed to be serving us, but he was headed in here. He dropped the food, and Clyte ran to see what had happened. Clyte's been scolding him for an hour now," I told him.
Brayan shook his head and curled up to go back to sleep. I was bored but decided sleep would be a good thing. I curled up in my corner and tried to block out the yelling Clyte and crying youngster. It didn't do much good. I could not sleep with the racket. I stood and counted the cages. It took me more than an hour to count the ones I could see. After counting them, I lay back down in my corner. The yelling had stopped fifteen minutes earlier, and I slept in peace for a couple hours.
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