Open Chronicles Seeing Through the Bottom of the Bottle

[Shuck]

Her chase was not without vigor, though she let the beast have some distance ahead of her. She wanted to nip at its hocks, to chase it until it collapsed in a frothing heap of exhaustion. But Joseph was on its back, and she felt herself tiring rapidly. Though she could take the form of shadows infinitely, manifesting herself again was more tiresome. Besides, she had felt death perusing her veins, and had lost a vital part of her life today before doing all of this running.

She was wiped, and was glad when she saw the horse coming to a stop. Panting heavily, she slowed to a trot and approached cautiously. Joseph avoided getting hurt by becoming a bird and the horse rolled on the ground to rid himself of the objects tangled around his flanks.

Except it wasn't a horse. Joseph began speaking to the beast as she came near and the bay turned his head, stamped and snorted as if impatient. It was then that she saw the horn, glinting in the late afternoon light.

"A unicorn?" she panted to Joseph, her voice colored by surprise. She had never seen one before!

// Joseph Meier //

 

[Joseph Meier]

Joseph nodded. He wasn't stupid. He wasn't going to look away from the unicorn. "Yeah." he said, keeping a respectful distance. "They're not the cuddly bastards people think they are. They're violent. Especially the stallions. Only calm around virgins, otherwise they're meaner than a dragon with a toothache." Joseph tried to touch the unicorn's neck gingerly and narrowly avoided having his fingers bitten off by a nasty flash of flat teeth. "I know this one. He's friends with a good friend of mine. No idea why he was in that damn market. Some idiots were probaly trying to cut off his horn."

He pointed to Shuck. "She needs to find the Unseelie fae. Can you get us to them?" he asked. The unicorn fixed her with a critical eye. The stallion seemed to be unsure if he wanted to help them or not. "Look, you owe me. I got you out of the city. Fuck knows where Heinrich is."

The unicorn flicked his long, lionlike tail and turned toward Shuck. She was interesting to him. He leaned his head down and sniffed at her, his ears slowly craning up from being pinned. She was cursed, in a most unusual way. He looked her over for a few minutes, then lifted his head and began walking in the direction of the mountains. Joseph took that as a yes. They couldn't get a clear answer out of the creature. The stallion couldn't talk. The unicorn did lash out with a vicious little split hoof if Joseph got too close.

 

[Shuck]

"Steal his horn?!" she replied in horror. "Who would be so stupid?"

Her naivety was showing, an inexperience with the world outside of her cemetery and her village. She couldn't fathom why a person would want to violate such magical creatures as this or what they would desire to do with the horn once they removed it from the beast. Humans confused her greatly.

The dog watched as Joseph spoke to the irritated beast, then as it turned its attention toward her. She stood her ground without fear, but rather curiosity. As the unicorn lowered its blowing muzzle toward her, she raised her own nose and gave it a few sniffs, blowing out her breaths into his nostrils. He seemed curious about her, and she wagged her tail gently in equal interest.

"I would greatly appreciate your services in this matter," she said politely. The unicorn didn't reply, but it turned and began walking away from the city. The dog looked over at Joseph, her toothy face opening into a sort of doggy smile. The two of them followed after him, though Joseph strayed too close for a moment and the unicorn kicked out a warning strike.

"He does not seem to like you much," the dog observed. "You said you share a mutual friend with him. Is that Heinrich?" She kept to his side, looking up at him as she spoke.

// Joseph Meier //