Chapter 4: A Sighting

The white creature stood out like a sore thumb amidst the foliage, ears flicking occasionally as insects tried to land on it. But it was most certainly looking at them, even bobbing its head slightly as Janesca’s continued her movements to get Alexander’s attention.

The woman ran a hand over her face. “Don’t make me slap you.”

The threat made Alexander drop his almost reverential gaze as he turned his attention back to the female paladin. “Sorry. I got distracted for a while there. What were you saying?”

She glanced toward the setting sun. “I said you are clearly no threat for right now. So instead of being bound conventionally, we will settle with these.” She reached behind her waist and brought out a pair of cuffs. They looked like iron, but they were bound together by a string of what he suspected to be magical light.

The bright spectacle made the unicorn in the background tilt its head slightly, intrigued by the bright object. Alexander made a note of that as he made a face. “So you want both my hands bound? Sounds pretty conventional to me.”

She clicked her tongue. “Actually, only one of your hands will be bound. The other will be put on myself, allowing you to wander within several meters of me.” As she clipped one of the cuffs around her wrist, the light extended in length as she extended the other cuff towards him. “Given your poor state I doubt you can escape it. It will also allow you to sleep far away from me when we go to sleep.” She wrinkled her nose, and Alexander suddenly found himself remembering that he smelled horrendous. Like a swamp or a pile of rotten food. She roughly grabbed his hand as she clasped the metal to this wrist, the iron clasp becoming slightly painful as she firmly tightened it around his wrist. She looked disgusted to be this close to him.

Apparently, the dunk in the water did little to cancel the smell now that he was drying off. “Do be sure to get as far away as possible when we go to sleep.” She muttered. She turned around, likely to get some distance from him, before she paused with a start. She looked on, transfixed, as she saw the brilliantly colored creature.

But her awareness must have spooked it, because before either of them could blink it ran away quickly. It was only the rush of white and the sound of hooves rushing away that confirmed that it existed, and Janesca found herself blinking repeatedly as she attempted to register what she saw.

“Was that a...” She trailed off, shaking her head after several moments. After staring at the place where the unicorn once stood, she found herself walking a few steps to the side as she looked at the sky. Bringing her fingers to her lips, she blew out a shrill whistle that was loud enough to have several birds take flight in a flurry of feathers as they darted away.

Alexander then heard something coming towards them from the bushes, and it took barely any time at all for a maple-colored horse to approach the armored paladin. Complete with a saddle and a pack of equipment, the creature bobbed its head as Janesca gave it an affectionate pat.

She moved to remove a sleeping roll, hands maneuvering to undo the laces and knots that held it to the creature. “I only have one, so you will have to make do with an extra blanket. I will also be generous and allow you to sit by the fire for a few hours. I’ll give you water and food too, I’m not heartless.” She fixed him was a quick stare. “But after that I expect to do as I said earlier and sleep far away.”

Finally able to move, Alexander found himself visibly shrugging in response. Despite being a prisoner, he was being offered a free meal and warm fire. Compared what he could be experiencing right now, it wasn’t that bad of a place to be. All he had to do was escape her somehow before they reached Irdelios. He had no idea how he would do that, but he may be able to figure out something. But since he’s here, he might as well get more information.

He has, after all, learned a great deal from her already. “So where exactly is Irdelios? And how far away is it?”

Janesca glanced up at him as she finished laying down her bed sack, armor creaking as she made her way to her horse again. “The amount of information you do not have—or claim not to have—is truly astounding.” was her sour reply. “That said, Irdelios is a city to the far west. It is a city defined by its lush vegetation and towering trees. Nearby is a great monastery dedicated to Zackaios, where you have allegedly murdered several druids who reside there. It will take us at least five days to get there.”

Alexander leaned back at the familiar name. “And Zackaios is...?”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “The God of Nature. Now stop pestering me with these menial questions.” She spared a glance at his sitting figure, and raised an eyebrow. “And since the stun effect of my attack has worn off, why don’t you do something useful and gather firewood? I’ll even give you a knife so it's easier for you.”

Throwing what looked like a serrated kitchen knife on the ground before him, she immediately turned her back on him. Her confidence that he was unwilling or unable to stab her while her back was turned was palpable.

He crossed his arms, another question forming on his lips, but he kept his mouth shut. He wasn’t exactly eager to anger his meal ticket. After taking a glance at the darkening sky, he found himself rising on weak knees as he made his way towards the tree line. The same one where he saw the creature of his affections.

Pushing his way through some shrubs, he looked around for signs of white mane. They should stick out like a sore thumb in all this green. Finding nothing, Alexander found himself giving a silent sigh of disappointment as he bent over to pick up any dry wood he can find.

He hoped it wasn’t scared off for good. Zackaios did mention that one would be nearby when he awoke, but he was pretty sure he also implied that unicorns were normally rare. That he was “lucky” to even wake up near one. He hoped he didn’t already lose his chance to befriend the skittish creature.

Frowning as he kneeled by a piece of deadwood, Alexander found his eyes running up the length of the white light that ran to his iron cuff. It was thin and radiant, glowing with a yellow vibrancy that felt exceptionally light when he tried to lift it. Bringing both of his hands to it, he found that it was exceptionally durable as he tugged the magical bond. But that was something he suspected already.

But somehow Alexander found himself looking at it anyway, peering at it for any more information. He looked for miniature chain links hidden in the shine, runes that glowed alongside its length, and so on. It automatically shortened and lengthened depending on who moved, obviously, but he also noticed that interacted physically with the world. By which he meant it didn’t clip through objects. With its magical nature that would have been expected, but no, it hung and tugged at the edges of every piece of foliage he passed.

A small smile made its way onto his lips. He hoped he could learn more about more magical constructs like this. With that in mind he picked up a nearby piece of deadwood, fully intending to pick up any large bits of wood and any twigs that he saw. They burned better when they are dry, right? Good thing he wasn’t searching by the water.

He heard a rustling behind him, several twigs cracking underfoot as something large came by....and it was close. Too close. Like frightened animal, Alexander turned, fully expecting to see Janesca trying to strike him again. He didn’t think he was taking all that long, but it was apparent that the paladin’s patience had a limit.

Instead, what he found was a snowy snout being pressed closer to his face. Alexander would have screamed if he wasn’t so surprised. But that didn’t stop that smothered scream from coming out of his sealed lips as a startled whine.

The sound made the creature retract its head, ears flattening backward as it looked at the man before it. To say that Alexander was floor at being this close to a unicorn would be a great understatement. He was flabbergasted.

With a mane looking like royal silk and an angelic hide that practically shone in its natural gloss, he was reminded why the beast was often associated with princesses, royalty, and the like. It seemed too pure for this world...or at least too bright. Given its natural albino coloring, there aren’t many areas where it could hide reliably.

He remained frozen, unwilling to spook the beautiful equine as it maneuvered its head around him. Its nose flared, and Alexander praying to every god in existence that his smell was at least bearable now. One of its hooves smacked the ground agitatedly, like it wasn’t sure what to do next. But its attention eventually came upon the magical string that was currently running across the bushes behind him.

Quietly stepping beside him, the creature bent down to sniff the curious thread. It provided Alexander, who still remained absolutely frozen, the perfect opportunity to stare at its hind quarters and hooves. He honestly expected the tail to be filled with some bits of debris, dirt, or some sign that it had been traveling. But it looked just as pristine as the mane, with barely any blemish on any of the silver threads.

Similarly, its hooves lacked any cracks, dents, or deformations; which were somewhat expected for any wild horse. Even if it was a unicorn, the glaring lack of obvious imperfection has him frowning slightly. Unicorns were known for the beauty, yes, but their real valued qualities came from their untamed nature and prowess. Of wild grit and a ferocious will for survival. But this unicorn bore no marks from such a reality.

Combined with its tendency to flee, and he was beginning to wonder if Zackaios was lying when he said unicorns were not made with girly-ness and dainty-ness in mind. It seemed overly docile. Even as it unsuccessfully pawed at the light string, it looked overly demure. As it stood, the only thing that really made it stand out to stereotypical unicorns was its junk. But even male unicorns can be a little bit disappointing....it was still majorly cool though.

The unicorn in question bent its head down and gave the line a tug, which no doubt caught the attention of Janesca, and let it drop to the ground. Useless.

Alexander gave out a sigh. “Yeah. You better head out again, man.” He still held out hope that it had impressive magic—although hopefully not the sparkly kind.

As if offended that the line refused to collapse at its prodding, the unicorn stomped on it with one of its hooves, the impact so effective that the cord broke with a loud ‘snap!’. It made it look easy.

“I am sorry for doubting you.” Alexander said, watching transfixed as the cord started to dissolve from where it was severed. It made no sound, and it was light to begin with. If Janesca wasn’t paying attention, she might not even notice that the magical cord was gone....but that scenario was unlikely.

He also wasn’t too happy that he just lost a free meal. Still, what was that saying? Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth?

“I don’t suppose you have a plan?”

It fidgeted on its feet for a moment, making an abundance of noise as it prepared for some sort of sprint. But even Alexander didn’t expect him to run straight towards the makeshift camp.

Rushing at a speed that he could barely follow, Alexander saw the unicorn practically bush the heavily armored paladin to the side as dashed through the tree line and made a beeline to the camp site. She had barely begun to set up, it seemed, with the entirety of her horse’s inventory laid bare on the ground in organized stacks beside the beginnings of a fire pit.

The unicorn dashed those items into bits, practically bronking on them before he made his way to her horse. Whatever discipline it was trained with vanished when it reared itself on its hind legs, feigning an imminent attack, and the wood-colored horse found itself running for the hills as it escaped. All of this in less than five seconds.

Much like Alexander, Janesca was looking on wide eyed as they watched the spectacle. Although for Janesca it was probably more like seeing a ghost of something she already thought she saw before.

He didn’t need more of a distraction. Hoping that Janesca continued to remain stunned, Alexander found himself running in the opposite direction of the chaos.