“Goodbye Pauper, may you live a full life,” said Alec.
“But - I must find her,” he said.
This was ignored. The Hunter and the Warrior turned theirs backs and off they went, without a single look back. Their two large figures slowly got smaller until the thickness of the forest blocked them from his sight.
*
The Pauper felt hopeless, but he predominantly felt scared. He sat at the place they had set up camp for around an hour, shaking from fear as he felt the forest close around him. He hadn’t appreciated how menacing it had been. With the other two he felt invincible, now he felt like he was the prey and the forest the predator that he was evading. He finally managed to stand up. He pulled a small dagger from his boot, which he had kept on him for as long as he could remember. For some reason having this on him made him feel safe, until now. He held it in his right hand, with the point facing down and began to walk. He didn’t feel very brave though.
*
Alec and John had come upon the water and feared they were about to die. It was the purest of blues and seemed to flow from a large mountain that could be seen through the gap in the tree line.
“I tell you what; that pauper may have been a weak fella, but he seemed to know what he was talking about. I believe we may be getting close to it,” said John. He had feared this to be a tale, but it seemed to be legitimate. The two of them had reached the water and he knew they would find the beast now.
“He sure did; can you hear that?” said Alec.
“Yes, but where is it coming from?” replied John, who did not sound as brave now.
The sound was that of a song, and a beautiful one. They had heard that the sound of water would lead them to their death, but they couldn’t hear the water. John smiled and broke into a run towards the water.
“Let us follow the song before it disappears,” said John.
“But we must cross the water to reach the other side. The river is too wide to bridge and it remains this wide as far as the eye can see,” said Alec.
“I think we are going to find out if we are strong, or if we are soon to be dead,” replied John.
“The Pauper said we couldn’t follow the sound of the water, but I can hear no water, only the song. I think we may be safe to swim across. The currents do seem strong but we are stronger,” Said Alec.
“Good luck my friend and I’ll see you on the other side,” said John, who threw off the heavy parts of his armor.
He sprinted towards the water without a care. He reached the edge and attempted a dive into the river. His dive didn’t go according to plan and he smashed the water with his gut and winded himself. The water fought him towards the bottom of the lake but he powered across with all his strength and reached the muddy bank on the other side. Alec soon followed him and made it across to the far side. They continued running, despite John gasping for air once they reached the other bank, dodging the thick trees and the upturned roots until they came upon something they did not expect.
They had broken through the thickness of the forest into the middle of a glade of some sort. All the trees were at least fifty feet high and from every branch small white flowers had bloomed. Butterfly’s filled the skies and deer and all other sorts of forest wildlife occupied the floor. They continued to walk following the song and came across a hole in the ground. To call this a hole would be completely unjustified. It was a crater. It had a pathway, which circled around the edges slowly working its way down. The two of them followed it all the way to the bottom until they could see the glow. This was a pure light brighter than the sun and it dazed them. They covered their eyes and walked blindly to the middle of the area. When they uncovered their eyes there was a Unicorn that the legends could not have prepared them for. She was eight feet tall and around the same in length. She had a horn upon her head, which was a purest of white they had ever seen. Her eyes were silver similar to some of the trees and she was singing. John sensed that this was his moment and walked towards her.
*
Meanwhile, the Pauper had continued to walk through the forest. He had seen the river but had decided against swimming across it. He had never been in water that went above his waist, and to go in there would be suicide. He was becoming weaker now, the amount of walking he had accomplished was more than most would do in a month. It was the fifth day and he had been alone for an entire day now. He filled his water skin at the river and sat down upon a fallen tree that ran parallel to the rivers edge. All hope of finding the Unicorn had left his mind; he had eaten the last of his food supplies and was only concerned with survival.
However, something sprang to mind whilst he was sat there contemplating his death. An extract from the book he read as a child: Those who walk five days without hearing the sound of water will find her. He looked at the water and realized he could hear nothing. No sounds of the water splashing against the banks or the water rushing over the slope of the hill he was on. What he could hear was a deep grumble from his left. He turned his head a saw what must have been a Giant Grey Bear. He saw a thick paw come towards is head but ducked in time to avoid it. The Pauper was unsure of what it was because he stepped back off the tree he had been sitting on and tripped over an upturned root and fell over backwards. He didn’t fall to the ground but down a small hole in the ground. This hole seemed to be never ending, the Pauper tried grabbing the sides of the tunnel to stop himself rolling through it, but he could find nothing to grab; this tunnel appeared to be perfectly smooth. He continued to roll until some sort of bright light blinded him and he hit the spongy floor of some place unknown to him.
The Lady of the Forest
At this point both John and Alec turned around to see the Pauper face down in the grass splayed out on the ground.
“How on earth did you get here Pauper?” asked John.
The Pauper who was quite dazed at this point sat up to see the faces of the two men that had left him and the most dazzling sight of the Unicorn.
“I came through a hole in the ground I think. There was a bear I think, and some roots, and a tunnel, which I rolled the entire way down. I appear to have dropped my dagger too. So good fellows, what is going on here?” he replied.
“Well, we have found the beast and now we will make our wish,” said Alec.
“I will begin,” said John. “I demand the most powerful of weapons from you; a blade that will kill any man. A blade that will never blunt. A blade that will make men fear it. That is what I demand from you,” he said.
The Unicorn then looked over towards Alec, who took this as his chance to demand what he wanted.
“I want a bow from you beast. I want a bow that can shoot an arrow to the moon; a bow that will make me the envy of every other hunter and a bow that requires no arrows,” he said.
In front of John, a two-handed blade appeared, a great-sword that had a blade that was six feet long. The blade appeared to have red veins running through it that looked as though they contained tiny flames.
In front of Alec, a bow that was six feet in size also appeared. The bow was silver apart from where he put his left hand to hold the bow, which was a bright gold. The bow was extremely light and the smile upon Alec’s face showed its worth to him.
John held out his hands to take the blade by its ebony hilt, which was inlaid with gold and silver. He made a swipe with the blade and looked overjoyed with it. It could not have been more than a second later when the blade took on a flame which spread to his body. The blade became wild cutting into him until he let it fall to the ground. It did not land though, but rather it continued to fall through the depths of the forest floor. John screamed in agony as his skin was blistering across his body till he burst into flames and fell to the floor, never to move again.
Alec becoming worried by this looked to draw the string of his bow to release an arrow at the Silver Unicorn. The bowstring would not move though; he gave it all his strength, he pulled at it until the veins on his neck looked like they may break throug
h his skin.
“You may have got what you wished for, but what you wished for may not have been what you wanted,” said a beautiful voice.
It was as though the voice was a lullaby. All that heard her voice became mesmerised by her. The Pauper continued to look on at everything that was going on in quite some shock.
“The warrior asked for the most powerful sword, so I gave it to him. Who was to say that such a mortal man could handle this sword? To handle the most powerful sword you must be more than just a man. To handle the most powerful sword the warrior failed to recognise that he should have asked for the most powerful sword he could handle. If you are wondering why you cannot draw back the string of that bow, the answer is most simple. No bow could ever send an arrow to the moons above our heads. To make a bow capable of sending an arrow that far would require the most powerful string that no man, no matter how strong, could ever draw back. Your wishes were granted, your wishes have been no different to those before, but the failure to obtain what you wanted is your own,” she said.
Alec had become lost for words; the warrior was beside him in a small pile of ash. He stood there with the bow he could not use in a state of shock. He let it fall to the ground and took off, walking up the slopes to the top of the crater, head down and a sullen look upon his face. As he moved up the spiraling slopes Alec waved the Pauper over so he may join him. The Pauper shook is head and stepped closer to the Silver Unicorn and Alec turned away, never to be seen again.
“What is it you demand?” asked the Unicorn.
The Pauper looked up in surprise, taking in the beauty of the creature in front of him.
“I demand nothing from you good lady, I only ask for one thing. I only ask for one of your silver hairs so I may make the most beautiful necklace for my wife,” he said.
In front of him a silver hair appeared. The hair looped around and formed a knot and from it hung a small horn, of the most pure of whites that emitted a faint glow and pulsed with a small humming sound. When he listened closer it sounded as though it was a song, a lullaby of pure beauty.
“Thank you lady, for being so generous. May I ask why mine worked?”
“You asked for a hair, nothing more, nothing less. I have followed you since the second day of your journey for that is as far as I dare to walk. You have always kept in your mind that you would only ask for something for your lady wife. You have been unselfish in your journey. I found that endearing, now go back to your wife and present her with this and she will be yours till your last breath. One question for you though Pauper, what is your name?” she asked.
“My name good lady is Charles. Goodbye and I thank you for everything,” he said.
Upon his last word he was facing a gap in the trees. He soon realised this was where he had begun his journey and walked through it back to the The Unicorn where his wife, Juliana awaited his return.
The Lady of the Forest Page 2