The Deception

by Suzanne de Montigny

  Ulysees brayed, and then reared up, striking Drachen’s chest. The human catapulted back against the gate, stunned. As Ulysees charged forward, Drachen twisted around and slid through the rungs of the fence.

  Ike stumbled out of the cabin, swinging a lantern. When he saw Ulysees, he carefully laid it down, reached a slow-moving arm to grab a cord off the wall, and crept toward him. “A young stallion, eh? And where did you come from?”

  Ulysees pawed the ground, ready to charge again. Steam flared from his nostrils. Ike’s rope sailed through the air. The unicorn let out a furious neigh and jolted back as it encircled his neck and tightened. He lowered his head, tugging, fighting, but the rope refused to release its grip.

  You say I can trust humans, Darius? His mind screamed again.

  Words filled his head. Fight, Ulysees! Fight for your freedom!

  Ulysees clenched his teeth and dug his hooves in the sod, moving back two steps. Three. Four. Unicorn and human fought against one another, pulling, tugging. Blood oozed from Ulysees’ skin where the rope cut in. His legs trembling, he heaved with all his might. Just as his knees were about to give, Téo leapt from behind Ike. His neigh rang loud as he threw his full weight at Ike’s shoulder blades. The human let out a loud grunt and sailed through the air. He landed on his chest.

  “Let’s get out of here!” shouted Téo.

  They dashed to the gate … only to find Kayden blocking it.

  The human grinned, revealing yellow teeth. “I’d ’a never thought we’d get ourselves three unicorns. This is our lucky day, boys.”

  Drachen cautiously crawled through the slats of the fence and joined his brother while Ike picked himself up, groaning, and limped toward them. When they all met, they stood united, their lips drawn up in sinister smiles.

  Chapter 27

  Xavier

  The unicorns faced the humans, awaiting their next move. Eyeball to eyeball they surveyed each other. Ulysees pawed the ground. Alannah and Téo stood poised, ready to leap. Then from far away, the sound of hooves drumming the earth, made them turn. Soft at first, it grew louder and louder until the silhouette of a horse appeared.

  It was Xavier!

  Galloping at full force, he jumped the gate and scattered the humans. He swung around and aimed his giant hooves at the frail wood of the gate. With a great heave, he reeled against it until it cracked, but he wasn’t done yet. He kicked it over and over until it was reduced to a pile of kindling.

  “This way!” he shouted.

  Without hesitation, the unicorns leapt past the terrified men, over the pile of debris, and after Xavier.

  “Don’t let ’em get away!” shouted Drachen.

  He lunged, making a grab for the rope that still dangled around Ulysees’ neck. It slid through his hand until he caught the loop at the end.

  “Gotcha!” he cried through gritted teeth.

  Ulysees felt the weight of the human drag behind him. Pushing forward with all his might, he tried to shake him, but the human still clung to the rope. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spied Alannah drawing up alongside him. She leapt and aimed a swift kick at Drachen that hurled him through the air.

  “Alannah?” said Ulysees, his voice pitched high with surprise.

  “Not bad for a filly, eh?” she said, letting out a triumphant laugh.

  “You’re obviously feeling better.”

  They galloped away, the moonlight illuminating the path before them, the wind of freedom whipping through their manes. Ulysees’ heart soared. They had freed Alannah – and with the help of a horse!

  You were right, Darius, his mind sang, though I hate to admit it.

  Never again would he scoff at horses or call them Big-Hooves. It was those big, hairy hooves that had set them free.

  They followed Xavier until they had traveled far up the trail into the woods. When they reached the place of their birth in the spot hidden among the trees, Ulysees stopped. “This is where we used to live,” he told Xavier.

  Standing in the semi-dark, Ulysees cherished the memories of his old home where he had nestled beside his dam, listening to the lively conversation after Icarus and Ramah disappeared each night. His teeth clenched when he thought of the meadow where he had learned Darius’ – not Jaresh’s – three skills at the cruel hands of Icarus. Farther away, he saw the faint outline of the praying tree. Remembering how they had suffered before in its stench, he shook his head. It didn’t matter anymore now that he knew he and Téo had been right all along.

  Moonlight cast an eerie shine on the four. Their steaming breaths lit up for a moment before disappearing into the dark night.

  Ulysees and Xavier regarded one another.

  It was Ulysees who spoke first. “Thank you, Xavier. If it wasn’t for you, we’d be curing the living dead until we died.”

  Xavier tucked his head in and gave a sheepish smile. “It was nothing, really. I’ve just had enough of Drachen and his brothers. He’s a cruel master, and I don’t want to be his horse anymore.”

  “Then come and join our herd,” said Téo. “I’m sure we could convince Icarus of your worth because of your actions.”

  Xavier’s smile faded.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Alannah.

  The horse shook his head, blinking fast. “I still remember that day. We had so much fun, and then Icarus came and said I was no good … because I was a horse.” He cast his eyes down.

  A wave of anger swept over Ulysees. “He was wrong – dead wrong, Xavier! You are worth just as much as any unicorn. You hear?” His voice trembled. “You’re far greater than Icarus ever will be.” He paused, regaining his composure. “Come back with us. Be one of us.”

  Xavier’s eyes stopped blinking, and he broke into a grateful smile. “Thank you, but I have another place I need to go to.”

  “Where?” asked Téo.

  “It’s up in the mountains. There are people. They’re building something, some kind of a shelter – a really big one. Good people. You can see it in their eyes.”

  Ulysees’ ears twitched at Xavier’s description. Is that who you’re talking about, Darius? Is it?

  He furrowed his brows. “Where?”

  Xavier gazed up at a small, glowing form in the night sky. “See that star cloud? If you follow its tail, it’ll take you right there. But it’s a long way from here, not far from where they captured Alannah. There’s a woman who lives there. I’ve heard them call her Ali. Animals listen to her, even wild boar and lions. She’s very kind. If I can find these humans, I think I’ll be safe from Drachen.”

  Ulysees’ ears pricked up at the mention of wild animals. Could it be Ali who trapped the deer?

  “Then travel with us,” said Téo, his voice resolved. “We’re going the same way. Let us introduce you to our herd so they’ll see horses aren’t the enemy. Afterward, you can join those humans.”

  Xavier bent his head in thought and nodded. “Alright, then. After all, we’ll be safer in a group. Let’s go.”

  Breaking into smiles, the four creatures headed up the old trail. They laughed and shared tales long overdue about their adventures.

  Later, when the night was nearing its end, and signs of dawn awakened with the softest twitters of birds, Ulysees took Alannah aside. He brought her to the edge of a small lake where the moon still reflected in its rippling waters. He dipped his head in to drink, and when he raised it again, their eyes met.

  “Alannah,” he said. “I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost you.”

  She looked away, her lips curved up in a shy smile.

  “I want you to be my mate,” he said. “I want you by my side, and I promise that I’ll always protect you.”

  Alannah looked into his eyes and whispered. “I would like that very much.”

  They moved forward and pressed their cheeks together, their hearts content, until the sun peered over the horizon signaling the new day and the rest of their lives.

  Chapter 28

  Hoof Prints
>
  Drachen picked up a rock and threw it down with such force it split in two. He cursed his brothers. He cursed the unicorns, but most of all, he cursed Xavier.

  “Stupid colt! I take him everywhere with me so he can be with his dam, an’ I let him feed as much as he wants, and what does he go an’ do?” Drachen picked up a piece of wood and thrust his foot through it, breaking it with a loud crack. “He runs away with my unicorn. My unicorn! A stupid horse! I should’a known better than to trust him when I saw him hangin’ around that little mare like they were long lost friends.” He flung the piece of wood across the pen, and then stomped to where the gate had stood, throwing his arms out in frustration.

  “Well it’s kind’a yer fault.” Kayden picked himself off the ground, his breath heaving. “Ya treated that colt pretty bad. Always whippin’ him up and makin’ him carry loads too heavy fer his age.”

  Drachen whirled around and glared at Kayden, clenching his fists. “I only whipped him to get him to listen.” He picked up another rock and threw it.

  Kayden ducked. “Yeah, but a lot o’ times it was only ’cause you were in a bad mood. Animals can only take so much, ya know.”

  “Wha’do you know about animals, and especially horses? Ya think yer so smart. Animals are stupid. Ya have to whip ’em up to train ’em. They don’t understand anythin’ else.”

  Keeping a safe distance from Drachen, Kayden ventured. “I’m not so sure they’re that different from people. I mean, why do ya think me and Ike don’t live with ya?”

  “Cause you’re both too lazy to work a piece o’ land!” shouted Drachen, spittle flying from his mouth.

  “Not really. We were thinkin’ of strikin’ out on our own and gettin’ ourselves our own plot.” He paused. “It’s ’cause all ya ever think about is what you want, and if ya don’t get it, ya turn all mean.”

  “I have to be mean. You guys never listen.”

  Drachen’s thoughts slid to the day he gathered up his courage to visit Mama. Guilt had gnawed at him that he hadn’t been brave enough to lay eyes on her in her diseased state, but leper or not, he needed to talk to her. He needed to tell her how difficult life was; to tell her how much he missed her. Surely, she’d have words of comfort for him. He knew he had failed to seek an honest life; that his heart had turned to stone, but that’s what life had given him. It wasn’t his fault. She’d understand.

  Armed with a pack full of food he had scavenged, and dressed in clothes he’d stolen, he took the trail that led to the colony. Nearly grown now, he walked with more confidence than he had before. After all, he had learned the ways of the backstreets and could defend himself if he had to.

  When he heard the lepers’ bells tinkling from the colony, he took a deep breath and stepped into the clearing, smiling as he had seen Ali and the old man do. His heart beating fast, he scanned the settlement, pushing down his revulsion of the sick. Where was she? Straining his neck, he searched, but couldn’t find her.

  An old couple raked the ground before him, bent, their clawed hands clutching their tools.

  Swallowing, Drachen addressed them. “I’m lookin’ fer my mama,” he said, standing tall, keeping his voice steady.

  Vacant eyes in tired faces stared back.

  He tried again. “Have ya seen my mama?” Again, his request was met by silence. Maybe they couldn’t hear him.

  Drachen searched the eyes of the others for a sign they understood – anything, but no one returned his gaze.

  Then a voice at the edge of the clearing answered him. “She’s gone, Drachen.”

  He turned to face the speaker and froze. It was Ali, her eyes piercing his façade of bravery. He knew she saw how scared he was.

  “What?” he said, his confidence draining away.

  “She died last week.” Her voice was gentle, apologetic.

  Drachen’s breath caught. His head spun, and the noises of the woods surrounding him began to fade away. He felt sick. For a moment, he thought he’d pass out until the forest sounds slowly returned. Desolation swept over him. “W-what happened?”

  “It was the fever – it moved through the colony fast.”

  Drachen bit a trembling lip, fighting to keep control. This couldn’t be happening.

  “She asked for you right before she died,” said Ali, her voice kind. “She said to tell you it wasn’t too late, that there’s still time.”

  “Wha’do ya mean?” His words were no more than a whisper.

  “You can still live an honest life.”

  Drachen grabbed at any bravado he could muster, but instead answered in a quivering voice, “But I can’t. No one’ll let me.”

  “Yes, you can,” Ali said. “You’re old enough now to find your own land and lay a claim to it – till your own soil.”

  Drachen peered at Ali through moist eyes, helpless and confused. He opened his mouth to talk, but instead, his lip began trembling. Dropping the food, he turned and broke into a run, his half-boy, half-man man tears flowing freely as he navigated the trail back home. When he got back to the shack he and his brothers shared, he cowered for days, refusing to speak. His brothers had been terrified. Then, after a week, he rose and set out to find his land.

  It was the perfect plot of land, lying at exactly the right angle to the sun, with a brook running through it. He had turned to his brothers for help clearing it, and they had been only too glad to start a new life with the promise of more food. They worked hard, felling trees and clearing rock. At first it had gone well, until it came time to build the house. How clumsy his brothers had been. How many times had they built a wall only to have it tumble down? Drachen had grown frustrated, shouting orders, scolding them, and criticizing them. Who wouldn’t? Sure, they were still boys, but they needed to grow up. Then, one morning, after one of Drachen’s particularly nasty bouts, he awoke to find his brothers gone without even so much as a good-bye. They had returned to the shack to take up their previous lives. Stupid brothers. They’d had their chance and they’d thrown it away.

  “So what now?” asked Ike, tearing Drachen from the deep recesses of his memories back into the present. “The whole town’s gonna show up tomorrow, and we’re missin’ a unicorn – an’ the colt. We’re gonna be the laughin’ stock.”

  Drachen burned within. “Who cares what the others think ’cause we’re gonna find ’em, and when we do, we’ll have ourselves three unicorns instead o’ one, and then who’s laughin’?”

  The brothers stood silent for a moment until Ike asked, “How we gonna track ’em when unicorns leave no prints? It’ll be the same as last time when they disappeared.”

  Drachen was stumped for a moment. Then he raised a finger when he came to a realization. “But horses do. If they’re together, all we gotta do is follow Xavier’s tracks.”

  Chapter 29

  Danae

  The unicorns and Xavier traveled on, each night growing cooler than the last. They followed the tail of the cloud of stars in the sky. It was slow going traveling with a horse, but they didn’t mind.

  On one such night, they caught sight of the tall mountain peak that marked the entrance of the valley they had once fled. “There it is,” Ulysees said, pausing to gaze up, “The valley of the bones.”

  Xavier let out a low rumble. “I remember. We passed through it, too.”

  “Did you see all the skeletons?” asked Ulysees, his coat rippling.

  “Yes,” said Xavier, “and Drachen was so scared he tried to force me into a gallop. I couldn’t since I was so loaded down.” He turned his head and reached to a rough patch of skin on his backside. “He got so mad, he whipped me. I still couldn’t gallop, and so he beat me harder until his brothers stopped him.”

  The unicorns stared at the deep scars in the moonlight, and then turned away, clicking their tongues in disgust.

  “Looks to me like the monster was Drachen,” said Ulysees.

  Xavier nodded. “That’s why I had to leave.”

  The moon rose higher in the indigo
blue sky, illuminating the mountain peak a dusty rose. Frogs croaked and night birds called. Mist rose from the ground, filling the air with the tangy smell of ferns.

  “It’s breathtaking!” Alannah sighed. “If only we could have stayed.”

  “Like Danae did,” said Téo. He gulped. “Do you think maybe he’s still alive?”

  “Who’s Danae?” Xavier’s brows furrowed.

  Téo shifted his weight from one hoof to the other. “He was an old stallion who always stuck up for us no matter what. He knew Icarus was wrong because he remembered the old days. Then when he started to tell us all about it, Icarus tried to …” He choked on his words.

  Xavier’s head tilted to the side, his eyes compassionate.

  “He was like an uncle to us,” said Ulysees, retelling the story of Danae’s battle with the Great Stallion, and how they had been forced to leave him, bleeding from his wound.

  “Why don’t we see if we can find him?” asked Xavier.

  “Because of the giant beasts,” said Ulysees, his ears flicking.

  Téo shook his head. “But Darius said he was the last of the dinosaurs.”

  “What if he’s wrong?” said Ulysees.

  The four of them stood quiet, eyes wide.

  Alannah’s hoof thumped decidedly. “I say we at least try.”

  “Me too,” said Téo.

  “Alright, let’s do it!” said Ulysees.

  Their decision made, they settled for the night under the wide canopy of a tree. When the sun rose, bringing the forest to life, they fed on the flowers and grass that grew alongside the trail, and then set about on their way. They trudged along the path that ran next to the creek until, from a distance, they could see the large slab of stone that signalled the entrance to the valley.

  “That’s where we came through the first time,” said Ulysees. “And if I’m not mistaken, there should be a lake on the other side of this.” His heart beating fast, he led the others past the monolith and entered the sunny meadow where they had last seen Danae.