Saturday Short: The Unicorn’s Augury (Part 1)
Title: The Unicorn’s Augury (Part 1)
Author: Aspen Lee
Twitter: @razorthinstudios
Website: Razor Thin Studios (Aspen Lee)
“It cannot be, Raisie.”
Raisie looked away. She could not bear to reply but knew she must. “It is, Talia. As much as I hate to admit it is.”
“You saw this?”
“With my very eyes, I did.”
Talia lowered her head. The day had come, the day of prophecy and a dark day it was. She looked up at her lifelong friend, “You know what this means?”
Raisie bowed and took her place. “It must be done. It is written.”
“You are my life long companion, my only friend.” Talia knew better, but the objection had to be presented.
Raisie held her tongue for a moment. She granted her friend the moment. “All will be lost otherwise.”
“What if the prophecy is wrong, Raisie? What if our foremothers were wrong?” Talia said before she looked up and away from Raisie. She couldn’t face her. Not with what she must allow.
“They are the elders, Talia. We spoke of this before. I must insist that you fulfill the prophecy and deny the humans.” Raisie fluttered her wings to draw Talia’s attention to her, which she obliged.
There was silence now between the two. Tearful eyes peered at one another in a lament that really needed no words. “I will miss you dear friend.” Talia broke the silence behind a veil of tears.
“And I you, Talia, but remember I will always be with you.” Raisie said as she stifled her sobs. “Be strong.”
Talia lowered her horn to Raisie. “In fulfillment of the prophecy, I offer to you my alicorn. By the power and wisdom of the elders and the blood of a virgin Fae shall keep us from human harm.”
Without a word Raisie placed two small hands on the tip of Talia’s horn. “Raisie,” Talia whispered.
“For Atunia.”
Talia lowered her horn to the forest floor. The wail that came from Raisie was one she could only have heard in her darkest nightmare. She saw too the blood of her friend spill over the emerald carpet. Talia closed her eyes and pushed a little more. When she was certain Raisie was dead she lifted her head with Fae impaled upon her horn.
“It was suppose to be for healing,” she screamed into the dying day. “It was not meant for killing.”
Above, from the glowing-green heavens the elders appeared. Without a word, without acknowledgment they took Raisie from her and fluttered away.
Talia stood along side the brook. It was their spot. The place Talia would come to with Raisie to talk and wonder about the beauty that made up Atunia. Now it was a place that bred loneliness.
“I am so alone, Raisie.”
Silence blanketed the glen and Talia was truly alone. No other would dare befriend the lone unicorn because of the spoken prophecy. One would have to in time, that too is written but for Talia it mattered little. Raisie could never be replaced.
The glen seemed larger. Talia turned from the brook and pranced (not because she wanted to, but because that is what unicorn’s do) north to the landing. It is the place that Raisie would spend much of her time when she was not with Talia. It was the only place that connected their world with the human world.
The gaze in her eyes told of her heavy heart. “The prophecy demands the flesh of one to save the alicorn.” The dictation parted from Talia with little pride. She was the center of the existence of Atunia. She was the last unicorn and her preservation vital to the continuance of the Fae land, Atunia.
For as long as tales have been told, the unicorn remained the favorite tale or tellers and the prize the greatest of folklore.
“I do not care, Raisie. The payment was far too great.” Talia lowered herself to the soft moss covered ground. She lay her head down, remembering her times with Raisie.
She had lived a long life by Fae standards. Raisie was old and wise, while Talia had only finished the establishment of her alicorn. It was by all accounts a fantastic alicorn, one worshipped by the Fae, who would happen by her field. Many came, but most kept their distance out of fear of the prophecy.
The prophecy said the one would seek the humans at the northern point and if ever encountered throw her life down beneath the alicorn to protect the precious gift of another world. Raisie did just that, as was foretold.
Still Talia could not accept it. No matter her agreement with her dear friend and her promise to her to continue the way of the unicorn upon her passing, if it ever came to be.
Talia allowed her thoughts to wander and fell to slumber as the nightshade began to fall over the glen. The afternoon escaped with her morning, a day lost which was something far too precious, however she cared none at the moment.
“Raisie, I do miss you dearly”
