The Sampler Platter: A Little Bit of Everything

by Susan Skylark

No Greater Love

  The sun was not yet risen but the rosy hints of dawn lurked upon the distant horizon and the entire sky was a placid blue-grey in anticipation of its coming. A sliver of moon hung low on the horizon and the delicate silhouette of the poplars stood stark against the fresh snow. Ekron sniffed the air and scanned the horizon looking for the faintest sign of movement. Suddenly a shrill cry of battle rent the still air and a great unicorn stallion came charging out of the stand of poplars little hindered by the belly deep snow. The young stallion screamed his own challenge and raced to meet his rival. They met, reared, pawed the air, jumped, kicked, dodged, clashed horns, and performed the most graceful dance never witnessed by human eyes. With sides heaving and sweat freezing on their glossy coats, they ended their mock battle with the younger bowing his head gratefully to the elder who whinnied in delight. The young stallion’s companions trotted up and commented gaily in their own tongue about their friend’s performance while the elder stallion watched in amusement. There had been no real enmity between the two, simply an exercise to prepare the younger for his future and remind the elder of his past and the simple joy of moving. The old stallion whinnied a joyous farewell and vanished in the direction from whence he had come, once more about his own business.

  The half dozen young colts watched him go with no little awe, wondering if they would ever gain such wisdom, experience, and respect in the eyes of their own people. He was an old campaigner well over five hundred years old and much respected among his people. The members of the young band were all young males within five years of fifty and had only been away from their mothers’ side for a year or two. They would run together, learning of the world and growing in strength and wisdom until each was Called. Once Called, the summoned individual would quietly withdraw and seek out his own fate while the others went on as ever before, and occasionally a newly weaned colt would join them thus keeping their number ever around half a dozen.

  Unicorn society was odd when viewed from a human perspective, but then they felt the same of humans. It was a matriarchal society, with related females living together in small bands with their nursing foals. At around fifty years of age, the young colts left and joined a bachelor band such as this until their time of Calling. A filly stayed in her mothers’ band until she had borne and raised four or five foals, at which point she might also seek a life of service with one of the Brethren as the colts did almost from the time of weaning or remain indefinitely in the Wilds rearing foals if she so preferred. Mature stallions were solitary and protected the wandering bands of mares whose territory overlapped with his, even if he was not father to any of the foals therein. No stallion was considered mature and accepted back into unicorn society until he had served at least three hundred years with the Brethren. Some preferred active service to the Brethren to establishing their own territory and taking their place in unicorn society and were ever in such service until life failed them. The very purpose for which unicorns existed in the first place was to serve as friends and companions to the wandering Brethren in their varied and dangerous quests thus together serving the Master’s purposes.

  A unicorn had no say in choosing whom they would serve in such a manner; they simply felt a stirring in their heart and off they must go in search of their new companion or deny the impulse and turn rogue. Very few unicorns in the history of all creation had ever fallen into such rebellion but the results were always tragic. It was for this which they were made and in such that they found their purpose and joy. Their relationship to humans was a strange one. To the majority of humanity they were simply a legend and children’s tale; unicorns had little to do with ordinary humans and even if glimpsed were seen as nothing more than ordinary horses for such was often their guise when wandering in civilized lands. To the Brethren, those humans who had sworn their lives in service to the Master, they were dearest friends and beloved companions, often trading their lives for that of their human partners. In many parts of the world, the Brethren were thought as mythical as their legendary mounts but both continued their service to others regardless of whether or not their efforts were known or appreciated for this was their calling and their very purpose for being.

  Ekron was not sure how he felt about such service; he looked forward to that day with dread and dire curiosity. He both greatly anticipated and sorely dreaded that great day when all his immediate future would be revealed to him. It was his whole reason for being but also meant he might well die before his time. He was not sure he was ready to face even the possibility of death even for so noble a cause. He enjoyed life far too much. His companions had made their way out into the heart of the meadow and were frisking in the fresh snow and crimson glory of the morning. He had far too much living to do to die just yet. As if summoned by his thoughts, his heart stirred within him and he knew his time had come. He felt every impulse of his being drawing him south. He snorted in consternation and looked desperately to his friends who were enjoying the morning as only the young can. Rearing, he screamed in both joy and frustration as he charged into the midst of his friends to partake in their rambunctious joy; certainly there could be no danger in waiting at least a little longer before giving up his freedom and risking so much when he had so much living yet to do. His companions could tell he was uneasy but he was unwilling to discuss his thoughts and such was the beauty of the morning that their attention was easily drawn elsewhere.

  Yorin moved swiftly down the corridor in answer to the Lady’s summons; he had only taken his Oath the day before to officially become a member of the Brethren. He had been in Astoria for several years but was only just now old enough to join the Brethren. He wondered what it was that could cause such a venerable women to send for the least of her servants. A servant stood outside her usual audience chamber and admitted the petrified boy who bowed to the ancient woman seated before him; she nodded regally and gave him a small, sad smile. He stood before her, tense as only a new recruit can be before his much experienced and aged commanding officer. She said quietly, “Yorin I am afraid you must leave us for a time.”

  The flabbergasted boy asked, “what have I done or left undone that I deserve banishment my Lady?”

  She smiled weakly and said, “it is none of your doing. The timing is not to your advantage but things must be as they are. Your mother lies on her deathbed and writes desperately for your return ere she dies. I am granting you a leave of absence to attend to your grief and that of your family, but once the time of mourning has passed I ask that you return to us with all speed to continue your training. This is a delicate and awkward time for you but your family has need of you and I am not so heartless as to deny their request. Have you a unicorn?”

  His shock and grief showed plain upon his face and it took him a moment to regain enough composure to answer, “nay Lady, I am quite unattached at the moment.”

  She nodded grimly, “you will have to set out upon a normal horse then and hope a unicorn shall meet you upon the way. You have my deepest sympathies. May the Master ride with you.”

  He bowed deeply and very nearly ran from her chambers with tears threatening to spill from his eyes. He found a horse waiting in the stables already saddled; all he needed to do was secure his bulging saddle bags, and he was off with all the speed he dared at the start of such a journey. He rode quickly and within a week arrived at the house he had not seen in four years; the house he had fled in shame and terror. He wondered how his father would receive him and worried that perhaps it was already too late for his poor, dear mother. The farmyard was silent save the occasional chatter of the barnyard fowl pecking about in their endless quest for any speck of spilled grain or unlucky insects. An ancient dog, nearly blind and completely deaf with the years, lay upon the doorstep and raised his head slowly when he finally realized he was not alone save for the chickens. His tail thumped slightly but he dropped his head once more upon his great paws and resumed the nap that consumed
the majority of his waning hours.

  Yorin stepped over the dog, pushed open the door, and entered the old familiar kitchen where many bitter hours had passed whenever his father was home. A weak voice came from the adjoining room and his heart sank to hear such a feeble query from his mother. Yorin said in feigned cheer, “I am come at last mother.” The sound of weeping was the only reply and he hurried to her bedside. His heart eased to see that she was weeping for joy and that his presence brought some life back into her drab eyes.

  Her tears subsided and she looked him over boldly before smiling deeply and saying, “you have certainly grown into a handsome young man my dear child. I am glad you have come, for my time grows short and I would not have it run out without seeing you once more.”

  He sat there by her bed and told her of all his adventures in the years since their parting. It had been at her urging that he had set off for Astoria one tempestuous night afoot and with nothing but the clothes on his back, four years ago when his father had returned in a drunken rage far worse than the battering rain without. What she had endured at his disappearance he could hardly imagine and had not the heart to ask. His father had a murderous temper at the best of times, thought little of his wife and less of his son, and spent far more time at the tavern than in his own house. The man had come home late in a terrible temper and had found some small fault with his wife whom the boy tried valiantly to defend only to garner the wrath of his inebriated sire. The man might have killed the boy had he not fled into the night when his mother caught the evil gleam in his eye; she whispered in his ear the name of a place much beloved and oft dreamed of but never again to be glimpsed by her beautiful eyes. She had been a girl there and fallen in love with a traveling merchant, running away with a man whom she hardly knew. She soon found herself with child and the man reluctantly married her and settled in this very house. He could never quite forgive the woman for ruining his life as he saw it and blamed the child even more.

  As the years passed and he fell ever deeper into self-pity and despair, his drinking habit consumed him and left his family bereft of what little they had ever had of a husband and father. The boy had walked for many long miles, until at last, bedraggled and nearly starving, he finally reached the city of refuge that his mother longed to see once more. He gratefully took his place among the Students and it was not long before he had decided that he wished more than anything else to one day join the Brethren. He finished his tale nervously by saying, “I hope you can be proud of me mother for I have joined the Brethren.”

  She smiled deeply and her eyes twinkled as she whispered, “then you have made a far wiser use of your life than ever did I. You are the only good thing I ever did and I am most certainly proud of you.”

  He beamed at her words but sobered quickly as he asked, “and what of you since I have been gone?”

  She shrugged weakly and the fire in her eyes dimmed again to near lifelessness saying, “it is much as it always was. Your father is rarely home anymore which sadly in his current state must be seen as a small blessing, at least for my sake. He blames you for most of the miseries in his life and me for the rest. He pities me a little because of my illness, which has spared me the worst of his wrath, yet he cannot bear to look upon me and has fallen into despair and bitterness thus he tries to drown the worst of his sorrows as he always has. I think deep down he does still cares about me. You must not blame him or hold any bitterness towards him, no matter how it might be deserved, it will only cause you to fall into the same pit that has so ensnared him.”

  Yorin smiled sadly, “I have learned to forgive mother. Coming home was the hardest thing I have ever done but in so doing I have finally laid to rest all my bitter feelings of the past.”

  She smiled and said, “then I may die in peace knowing your own hatred will not consume you.”

  He sighed, “it is not hatred mother nor has it ever been. Certainly I have been angry and more deeply hurt than words can say; bitterness was also my companion until I found hope in One greater than myself. But it is pity that has moved in my heart these last sundered years.”

  “I need none of your pity wretch!” came a thundering and slurring voice from the kitchen. His mother seemed to shrink into herself as Yorin’s father stomped into the room and looked derisively at his own son. “Who told you to come back beggin’ at my door boy?” scowled the man.

  Yorin stood and said patiently, “mother wrote to hasten my return saying she was deathly ill. That is the only reason I have come. Fear not, for I shall ride on as soon as I may and shall be no burden to you.”

  The old man snorted, “they’ve made a right sissy out of you. I knew you would never amount to anythin’. Stay if you must but you won’t be seein’ anythin’ of me.” He turned on his heel with much swaying and withdrew suddenly and violently from the house.

  His mother smiled wanly, “that went much better than I had feared. My time is not long dear heart and then you may return to happier climes.”

  He sat once more and held her hand saying, “I will miss you mother, is there naught that can be done?”

  She smiled sadly and said, “so many years of toil and sorrow have taken their toll upon me child. I have not the will nor the strength to rise from this bed. Death is perhaps an easier road with a happier horizon than I have had in all the terrible years of my later life and I go willingly and peacefully. Do not mourn my son, for we shall meet again in the Master’s bright country. Your father thought me a fool for believing such ‘tales’ as he calls them, he still does, but it is the only bright spot in all these dark and dreary days. I have made mistakes in my life but I know that the Master’s blood has atoned for them and he waits to greet me when all my mortal striving is done though I, least of all deserve such favor.” Yorin’s eyes were wide at her revelation about her thoughts on death. She smiled weakly and said, “do not think me suicidal lad. It is only that I know my weary years have finally come to an end and that I may finally find the peace and joy that have eluded me since childhood. Can you look down upon me for welcoming such a morning?”

  He stroked her wispy hair and said, “nay mother, I can only share your joy in the hope that will come after all your long and bitter years. But know that I shall miss you terribly. Thank you for setting me upon the path of true joy. Though my life began in sorrow, my later years have been blessed with joy and peace.”

  She smiled once more and they sat long in silence taking great pleasure in the mere presence of the other. Yorin must have drifted to sleep for he woke to find the first glimmerings of dawn coming through the window. He looked down upon the peaceful face of his mother, as if she were lost in some sweet dream, but his smile soon became a sob as he saw that she was beyond drawing breath. “Dead is she boy?” sneered his father from the doorway, “she would’ve died a month gone had she not been holding out for hope of seeing you. At least she troubles me no longer. You would do well to do the same.”

  Yorin wiped away his tears and said, “is that all I ever was to you was a burden?”

  The man laughed darkly, “finally some understanding. Be useful for once in your worthless life and see to your mother. Then ride off and never look back. I want nothing to do with you or your precious fairy tales.” He stomped off into the growing day leaving Yorin the lonely task of burying his mother.

  The man nearly ran from the house once he was sure the boy could not see his desperate haste. He was not sure how he would cope without the old hag, probably the same as he always had. He was so deadened with bitterness and self-pity that there was little room left in his shriveled heart for feelings for aught but himself. He hated the boy, for even the merest sight of him was a painful reminder of his failure as a husband and father. The woman still held some small bit of fondness in his heart, if only the pleasant stirring of half forgotten memory but that was growing dimmer as the years passed and soon she would be forgotten co
mpletely. He took his usual seat at the tavern and ordered his usual draught though the day was hardly begun. A few travelers were finishing their morning meals but otherwise the place was deserted.

  Well into his third mug of the local brew the old man groused, “idiot boy! Why did he have to ride back into my life! Why did that wretched woman ever swoon her way into it either?” He raged on about the idiocy of his son and the pathetic state of his life for all the world to hear. Two strangers sitting nearby exchanged an intrigued look before joining the vociferous man at his table.

  “Family trouble ay?” asked the grey bearded man.

  The drunken man nodded, “the worst. My idiot son has returned to visit his dying mother, she passed this morning, and he had best ride for parts unknown or I will make him regret it.”

  Said the short stranger, “he is alone then?”

  Yorin’s father laughed bitterly, “as alone as me. No one would miss him if the earth should open up and swallow him. It would do us all a favor if it did.”

  “He has money?” asked the bearded man.

  “Bah,” scoffed the old man, “he has money enough to ride. What do I care if he has a penny in his pocket? He can starve for all of me.”

  “Whither is he bound?” asked the short fellow.

  The man shrugged, “he rides north as soon as he has seen to his mother’s remains.”

  The two exchanged another significant look and suddenly withdrew from the inn after buying the man another round of ale. He looked around in surprise but quickly forgot his odd visitors as he partook of their generous gift.

  Yorin placed the last stone upon the cairn he had erected over his mother’s grave. He smiled sadly at her final resting place before swinging into his saddle and turning the horse towards home. He mourned more for his father’s blighted soul than for his poor mother; he idly wondered if there were any way to touch his ashen heart. His attention was pulled back to the present as his horse whickered a greeting to the horses on the road ahead. Two ragged men sat their mounts, blocking the road and both held bows at the ready. Yorin wasted no time in turning his horse and putting his heels to his flanks but the poor beast could not outrun an arrow and the boy soon lay unmoving on the ground. With no one to spur him on, the gelding stopped his flight and curiously sniffed at his unseated rider. The short bandit took the gelding’s reins while the bearded man helped himself to anything of value the boy had upon his person. As he searched the prone form, Yorin groaned weakly. They had thought the wound fatal.

  The short man laughed, “leave him, he will be dead soon enough. Finish your job before someone finds us.”

  They shared a laugh and quickly vanished with the horse, Yorin’s sword, and his purse. They were conmen, not usually prone to murder but the situation was too much to resist. True the young fool had very little of value upon him but the horse alone was worth the effort and no one would miss the young rascal as far as they could tell. It was a perfect crime. They swiftly rode off with none the wiser.

  Yorin lay unconscious with an arrow in his back, not knowing that a great debate was taking place not far from his prone form. Ekron had emerged from the bushes along the road and stared miserably at the dying boy. He had spent weeks dithering about and enjoying himself or at least trying to enjoy himself in various innocent pleasures, but he had discovered that one cannot truly enjoy oneself when one is blatantly ignoring something that must be done. He had finally come south, slowly, for he was not eager for this meeting, only to discover that his procrastination had surely cost the poor boy his life. He could feel the flickering and wavering of the boy’s strength as his wounded body struggled to go on with such terrible insults working against its most valiant efforts. He felt a deep yearning to help the boy, as if they had been friends all their lives and now his best and dearest friend was in deepest need. He knew what he could do but did he dare do it? Should he die on behalf of a boy he had never met? Was it his fault that the human child could not keep himself from such mortal harm? Must he rectify the wrongs endured by others?

  He looked upon the boy in near panic. He knew his duty but had ignored it. He knew that this tragedy could well have been prevented had he done what he should have from the start. The pitiful creature was no older than himself, nothing but a foal! Did the poor thing deserve death more than he who had delayed when he knew he should make haste? If anyone was in the wrong, it must truly be himself. Had not the Master done the same for all the wandering and rebellious world yet he was without blemish or fault and more so was the Maker of those for which he had shed his own precious blood. Was not the unicorn made in his very image and was not it their duty, just as much as his, to take the place of those whom they loved more than life itself? Ekron felt a great peace within himself as his harried mind finally submitted willingly to the duties for which he had been born. The greatest gift of the unicorn is the ability to take a mortal wound upon himself and thus spare the life of his dearest friend though at the cost of his own. He was made in the image of the Master and this gift was but the smallest echo of the price paid by the Master himself for all of his fallen and desperate creatures.

  He was about to enact this last noble transaction when he was startled by the faint laughter of a female of the human variety. He laid back his ears at such an uncouth disturbance at such a time but more so for the evil taint that emanated from the woman. She was a shabby creature in her middle years and she did not seem in the least afraid of the legend that stood in his full glory before her nor at all concerned that a dying man lay between them. She smiled keenly and said, “not yet beastie. I know what you are about though I never thought to meet a unicorn with moral conundrums! Do not look so surprised, I cannot read minds but the struggle was writ plain on your face. If you die in the boy’s stead I will drive a dagger into his heart and that will be the end of you both.” The stallion screamed in fury and pawed the air but she did not look impressed in the least. She said, “I will however make a deal with you.” He eyed her balefully and she took his obvious meaning to be that he would not bargain with such a villain. She sighed, “have it your way beastie but it seems such a waste of life on both your parts. What if I said you could both survive this little debacle?” Now he was curious and she continued, “I have some skill with healing though my more useful skills will not work much if at all on the likes of him. I can however devise a more traditional method of cure in this instance. In exchange you must serve me until I release you or I succumb to death.”

  Ekron glared at her in astonishment that she would make such an offer. She laughed derisively and said, “my meager lifespan is nothing compared to yours and I would put you to no devious use. Having such a fantastic creature in my keeping alone, would do much for my reputation amongst those of like profession. You did not wish to die only moments ago, why now is it even an option when you know your sacrifice would be in vain? What is a few years compared to eternity after all?” He looked again at the stricken boy and glared at the witch. He knew she spoke truly yet he could not attack her unless she threatened the boy which she would not while Ekron lived. It would break his spirit to endure such slavery but he could see no other option. He nodded miserably and she laughed horribly but wasted no time in keeping up her end of the bargain. She had come upon the scene completely by chance and her devious mind soon devised a plan to make a most interesting use of the situation. She said to the beast, “can you not take on some form more amenable to moving this poor wretch to my cottage?” Ekron nodded glumly and suddenly appeared as a rather shaggy donkey which knelt down that the witch might place the prone form upon his back. Together they trudged towards her house, the one triumphant and the other miserable. Ekron tried to console himself with the fact that the witch could not live more than fifty more years and that he would then be free of her but his heart quailed to think of what he must endure in the interim. Slowly his courage failed and his
great heart broke in despair, for a unicorn cannot live in chains. By the time they reached the wretched little hovel the unicorn had become the donkey he appeared.

  The witch was not pleased with this unforeseen result of her bargain but it was an interesting turn of events. She would keep her end of the bargain and perhaps she could find some other mischief to wreak once the boy was fully recovered. The wound was ugly but not necessarily fatal, especially tended with her special remedies and uncanny skill. Her dark magics would not work on such a one for their source was the antithesis of the boy’s wretched Master but her more traditional medicines might suffice. She had unusual luck with a certain substance derived from a rather common mold in cases such as this; it seemed to have the ability to ward off the wound fever. Within a fortnight he was well on his way to recovery. He was still sore and bruised but he was no longer upon the brink of death. He knew nothing of his host and she said little to him and would not until she was certain he was fully healed. He was curious but so weak that he had no strength for prolonged conversation with someone who was unwilling to speak. Finally the day came when he felt well enough to begin his journey home for he was quite eager to return to Astoria.

  Finally the hag spoke candidly, “leaving already? Are you not more grateful to one who has spared you from death?”

  The boy bowed formally and said, “I am deeply grateful for all you have done and if there is something within my power to repay your kindness please speak that I may know it.”

  She laughed at his exceeding politeness and said, “will you not stay on and work for me for a time?”

  The boy said reluctantly, “alas dear woman, I am not my own master but am bidden to return whence my duty lies. Is there nothing else you might ask of me?”

  She laughed all the more, “you Brethren are all the same, is there never a time when your duty does not come first?”

  He looked at her blankly and said quietly, “it is who we are.”

  She scoffed, “and how were you planning to get back to Astoria? It is a very long walk.”

  He nodded, “I will walk if I must.”

  She motioned for him to join her and he followed her curiously to the stable. There was nothing in the ramshackle barn but an old roan cow, a pig, and a shaggy little donkey; Yorin could see nothing to interest his host. Certainly she could not be offering him the services of the poor little beast! She laughed, as if anticipating such a thought but kept silent as he approached the creature. His ears perked up and his eyes brightened in interest but they were as dull as any other unthinking creature’s eyes. Yorin could not explain why he felt such a fervent desire to greet the shaggy beast. The witch laughed at his confusion and said, “know you not who this is or perhaps I should say was?” He stared at her blankly. She said in confusion, “do you not know your own unicorn when you see him?”

  He said in a stricken voice, “I have yet to meet the noble creature.”

  The woman smiled viciously, “this is he. I came upon him desperate to spare your life with his though apparently you were strangers at the time. I talked him out of it for I promised to kill you if he did. He agreed to serve me until my dying day if I healed you by more traditional means. I did not anticipate him dwindling so quickly into a common beast of burden but it is as you see. What will you do about the situation?”

  Yorin stared at her in disbelief, “how can you be so heartless?”

  She mocked him, “how can you be so maladjusted! I am human therefore I am selfish. I care nothing for your endless preaching of selflessness, no one can live like that! I take advantage where I can and so I survive; that is what it is to be human.”

  He said weakly, “what must I do to free the wretched creature?”

  She smiled in anticipation, “would you forsake your Oath for his sake?”

  The boy looked stricken but nodded, “I would cease my service to the Brethren if it would free the poor creature.”

  She shook her head, “no, I mean forsake your beloved Master completely, not just withdraw from the Brethren.”

  The boy shook his head, “that I cannot do.”

  She scowled, “very well, if I cannot deny your precious Master your service perhaps I can render it useless. Would you trade your sight for the creature’s freedom?”

  The boy stared at her in disbelief, “you cannot be serious!”

  The hag laughed, “of what use are jokes at a time like this? I am quite serious. If you wish for the brute’s freedom it will cost you your eyes. How much does the poor thing mean to you?”

  The boy sighed heavily, “of what use can such a bargain be to you?”

  She cackled malevolently, “no practical use perhaps but it shall amuse me no end. What say you?”

  The boy gave her a desperate look, “is there no other way?”

  She crossed her arms, smiled smugly, and firmly shook her head. He looked upon the hapless donkey wondering how such a magnificent creature could be reduced to so pitiable a state. He could not leave the poor beast to his fate if there was anything within his power to rectify the situation. The sadness and pity upon Yorin’s face were soon replaced by grim determination as he said, “very well witch, let it be as it must.” She laughed long and hard and ushered the boy back into the house though he found nothing amusing in the whole ordeal. In the house, the old woman discovered she had a visitor. By the look of him, he was badly in need of something for pain. The disheveled man turned to face them as they entered and his face flushed with sudden anger and utter hatred as he recognized the boy.

  “You!” screeched Yorin’s father, “will I never be rid of you! Perhaps this time you shall not be allowed to walk away from the encounter!”

  The hag’s smile deepened as she looked to the boy and asked, “and what has my charming guest to do with you?”

  The man spat as he sneered, “this young cur is regrettably my son and the reason for all the misery in my life. Step aside woman and let me make an end of him.”

  The woman laughed, “you would kill your own son?”

  He nodded grimly with something like madness tingeing his voice, “he has brought nothing but disaster upon his entire family and it is the least he deserves. I let him ride off once but not again; he shall have no second chance.”

  Her smile deepened as she said, “perhaps it would be better to inflict as much misery upon him as he apparently has bestowed upon you?”

  The man glared at her thoughtfully and asked, “how?”

  She laughed maliciously and said, “put out his eyes. Let him spend the rest of his days begging in darkness.”

  His smile echoed hers and Yorin felt an unconscious shiver run down his spine as he watched his father approach the hearth and withdraw a glowing poker from amongst the coals. He slowly approached the boy who took a step back until the witch caught his eye; he sighed and stayed his flight. The man laughed villainously, “I like how your mind works witch. Death is too kind a punishment for the likes of him; a long miserable life is just the thing. Stand your ground boy for once in your useless life or worse will come of this!”

  Yorin offered no further resistance save to scream in agony as he fell to his knees clutching at his ruined eyes after the fell deed was done. An equine scream of confusion, grief, and pain came from the stable and echoed the anguished cry of the boy. The man and the witch stood by and their awful laughter filled the house. The man scoffed, “pathetic wretch, it is the least you deserve. Why did you not offer any resistance? You are nothing but a milksop and an embarrassment to the human race.”

  The man received no answer for just then the door banged open and a man rushed in with drawn sword. “What is going on in here!” gasped the stranger as he looked upon the horrible scene before him.

  “Put up your sword fool,” groused the witch, “you have no legal right to threaten us.”

  The man’s face was white as mil
k and he brandished his poker as if it might avail him against the stranger’s sword. The stranger was aghast, “how can you say that! Look what this fellow has done to the boy!”

  The hag laughed all the more, “the boy agreed to the price.”

  “Price?” asked the stranger incredulously, “what price?”

  A nervous whinny came from without and the boy rose shakily to his feet and said, “help me to the door.”

  The stranger gently gripped his shoulders and led him to the door where a dejected and grief-stricken Ekron stood in all his glory, save that he was draped in darkness as if he were in mourning. The boy flung his arms around the great neck and the creature draped his head across the boy’s back; they stood silent for several minutes while the full story was told and received though no word was spoken. There was shock and grief and remorse and horror which was soon covered and forgotten in the love and forgiveness that flowed between them. The unicorn whickered contentedly, at long last at peace within himself and the ubiquitous glow, common to his race in their natural form, once again surrounded him. The others looked on in astonishment and confusion.

  Once the boy drew his attention away from his much troubled friend, there was a sound of ripping cloth and the stranger handed him a thin strip torn from his tunic to cover his vacant eyes. He then intoned, “will someone please tell me what has transpired here?” The boy sighed and told the full tale, including Ekron’s part in it. The stranger nodded grimly and stared in disbelief at the hag who seemed to be enjoying the situation immensely.

  Yorin’s father suddenly dropped his poker in disbelief and shock was written strongly upon his face, “there can be no such love! You cannot be serious! You did not even know the beast yet you were willing to endure blindness for his sake? What have I done? What have I done? I thought you were the weak one in the family and the cause for all my wretched years, but now I see that you are stronger than ever I could be and I myself am to blame for all the misery endured not only by myself but also you and your poor mother. How can such a thing be?”

  The stranger clapped the boy on the back and said, “because the Master first did such a thing for us, that by trusting in him we might also do the same for others.”

  The man could only shake his head in confusion and look desperately at the boy who could not see the pain written in his father’s eyes. “Can you forgive me lad?” begged the man, “not only for your eyes but also for everything you have endured at my hand?”

  The boy smiled weakly and said, “I forgave you long ago. Now you must forgive yourself and be willing to let the Master do the same.”

  The man was amazed, “he would forgive such as I?”

  The boy laughed joyfully, “if you will let him.”

  The boy’s flabbergasted father bid him farewell and went off with the stranger, who happened to be one of the Brethren, who had been passing through when his unicorn had alerted him to Ekron’s disquiet and they came to investigate. The man spent the next several days listening in wonder to the Brother’s many tales and for the first time in his life finally felt at peace within himself. He succumbed not long after to the carnage that so many years of hard living had wrought upon his body, but it was not without hope that Yorin buried his father next to his mother. Yorin returned to Astoria, and though blind, became one of the greatest Philosophers of his day. Ekron could not restore his friend’s sight but he could act as his eyes whenever they were together and in this way, Yorin was able to get around with much ease despite his lack of vision.