June 2022 - unicorns

[Kaje]

A chance to let your fantasy imagination free with this month's picture; give us any words - flash fiction, haiku, stories, poetry - just make it YA and LGBTQ. I look forward to seeing your stories.

[Horaida]

Aster laid there silently, staring up at the sky. He considered letting it all end. It would be easy. His father would not be searching for him and his sisters rather prepared him dead. At least then, they’d have a better shot at the throne.
The prince had chosen him. It did not matter that both his sisters were of bearing age and beautiful. It was Asters spirit and strength that the prince had fallen for. He couldn’t have known that by naming Aster his betrothed that a price would be placed on his head.
He escaped the hunters best he could with no formal fighting training. He ran, hoping to find the spirit guides he’d only heard in fairytales across the kingdom.
Too bad, he’d fallen down a cliff and was waiting for death to take him.
“At least I loved.” That’s all Aster could ask for at the young age of eighteen. At least he knew the taste of Quinn’s lips. He had been inexperience in most things and Quinn wasn’t too shy to show him how.
A tear fell from Asters corner.
“Can’t I see you one last time?”
Behind him, Aster heard twigs snapping and hooves stepping. He closed his eyes, reining death, fearing that the hunters had finally caught up to him.
“Open your eyes child. We are not going to harm you.” He felt a nudge at the side of his head. Something hard as bone poking him. When he opened his eyes, he saw the guides. They had been companions through most of their lives. Aster didn’t know such a love until Quinn looked had asked him to dance and he’d felt that as long as Quinn’s eyes were on him, he could defeat any enemy.
Both guides touched their golden horns to his injuries and healed him.
“Today is not the day you will die. Now child, tell us why you have called for us?”
Aster stood, finding his strength had also returned. “I need protection. The court wishes me dead.”
“All Fae people are protected in these forests.”
Fae? Aster wasn’t Fae, he was human.

[Kaje]

Horaida wrote: "Aster laid there silently, staring up at the sky. He considered letting it all end. It would be easy. His father would not be searching for him and his sisters rather prepared him dead. At least th..."

Ooh, emotional and fascinating; that could definitely become a longer story. Thank you.

[Kaje]

Tall Tails

I peered through the windshield. The rain had stopped and visibility was better, but somewhere in the storm and the lashing water, I'd clearly taken a wrong turn. What had been a reasonable gravel road had turned into a muddy track that sucked against the car's tires. Trees closed in around me, thicker and taller than I'd ever seen in this part of the world. Almost like the old growth forests of the west coast, where leaves kissed the very sky, and trunks could hide a—

I slammed on the brakes, feeling the car slide and stop in a wallowing, muddy lurch that didn't speak well for starting up again.

On the road ahead of me, two gray horses— had to be horses, ignore the horns on their heads, you're getting loopy from the intense driving— stood peering at me from dark eyes below… okay, solid, pointy, undeniable horns. Single. Horns. Uni. Cornu. Yeah. That.

I waited for them to flit off into the forest and leave me to my delusions, but they wandered toward me, taking their time, long legs swishing through the damp undergrowth.

Slowly, slowly, I dug in the cup holder for my phone with its fucking useless GPS, because if I was going nuts, I wanted concrete proof. As I raised and aimed the camera, one of the unicorns turned to the other, bared long ivory teeth, and asked, "What do you think, Star? Is this my best side?"

The other one snorted. "You don't have a best side."

I dropped the phone down by my feet. Shit. I didn't dare take my eye off the unicorns to fish for it.

The one that wasn't Star ambled over to my side of the car and tapped on the window.

Roll it down? Don't roll it down? I didn't trust the glass to hold up to uni-horn, so I cracked it a fraction, a compromise.

The creature whickered, definitely a laugh. "Relax. I had lunch. I'm not in a mood for stupid human shish-kebab."

I licked dry lips, not having an answer.

"I assume you're lost?"

Well, that was easier. "Yes, I think so." I'm pretty sure. Joel would have said if he lived in the middle of an enchanted forest, right?

"Most humans are."

"Where… is this?"

"Right now, it seems to be the mud puddle you're stuck in."

The other unicorn came up beside him. "Don't tease him, Glitter. His blood pressure's high enough."

This had to be some kind of dream, right? I hoped I hadn't gone through a guard rail and landed in a hallucinating coma. "Star and Glitter? Those are your names?"

Glitter tossed its— no, definitely his now I looked— head. "Ridiculous rules. We get named by virgin girls, on our first foal adventure. No imagination, some of them. Besides, who are you to laugh at names, Ebeneezer?"

"Ben!" My response was reflex. Then, "How did you know?"

"Well, we are magic. For instance, I know that you're seventeen, you're on your way to meet your boyfriend's uncle, and you're a crappy driver with no sense of direction." He whinnied another laugh.

Star shoved Glitter sideways with a shoulder-bump. "Ignore him. He gets bored when we're off duty."

Glitter lifted his upper lip. "Are you telling me to quit horsing around, bro?"

"No, I'm telling you to grow up." Star sighed. "Listen, Ben, you came here by accident. That means something. Not many folk can find us, even when they're trying. But I can tell we're your future, not your present, and not soon. You jumped the gun."

"I wasn't trying to."

"Storms that strong can tap into earth magic and thin the barrier."

Glitter said, "If you'd pulled over, like a sensible person, you'd have been fine."

I frowned. "I didn't want to be late. Joel's uncle is the most important person in his life. Shit, I'm going to be really late, aren't I?"

"Not necessarily." Star threw a look at Glitter who'd muttered, "He sees unicorns and worries about being late to a tea party." Star continued, "We'll get you back on the road, and on time."

"It's not that I'm not fascinated…" Trilled, terrified, perplexed, confused. "…to meet you, but this is about Joel. He's the first boyfriend I've had, the first person I really loved since Mom passed. And he listens to his uncle and I really want our meeting to go well. What if his uncle doesn't like me? What if he says Joel can do better?"

"Just be yourself," Glitter said gruffly. "You're a unicorn-friend. Well, unicorn-acquaintance, so far, but you have potential. He's lucky to have you."

Star said, "For once, I agree with Glitter. Mark that remarkable event on your calendar. Be yourself. We'll get you there, you do the rest."

"But." I waved at the huge trees and the mud. "I'm lost. And stuck."

"We'll get you unlost and unstuck." Glitter thumped the car door with his horn, making me jump.

"Go live your life," Star told me. "We'll meet again, one day."

"When? What—?" I grabbed the steering wheel tight as the two unicorns stepped to either side of my car, lowered their heads, and lifted with their horns under the front bumper. The nose of the car rose, impossibly, and in the moment I though we'd overbalance, the whole thing lifted, spun, bounced, and landed, shocks reverberating.

Outside the window, scraggly poplar woods dripped with rain and a sign said, "Carsonville 3 miles."

Ahead of me, a solid gravel country road wound between fields and trees. Headlights approached, and a pickup went by in a swoosh of damp pebbles. A light drizzle pattered on the windshield, then stopped.

Nothing moved, beyond the gentle sway of branches in the dying breeze. No horses, with or without uni cornus, ran, or laughed, or told me unbelievable things.

Had I passed out? Hyperventilated and hallucinated? Was I just going round the bend?

A car honked behind me, then pulled over and passed with a less-than friendly gesture out the window. I realized I was stopped in the driving lane. Hurriedly, I threw the car in gear and stepped on the gas.

Three miles to Carsonville. Three miles to Joel, whose solid kindness will help me figure this out.

I took a curve a little too fast, and something rolled across the passenger seat. Not my phone. I glanced down to the floor and there the damned phone sat, next to my foot. And on the seat, a bottle of some kind of booze.

I don't drink. I'm not legal.

I've never had booze in this car.

At the first wide shoulder, I pulled over and parked, reached for the bottle, touched it. The glass was solid and cool against my fingers. I read the label. Lagavulin 16 Year Single Malt Whiskey.

What the actual fuck?

Under the bottle was a small square paper note.

In a scrawled, rough hand: Joel's uncle likes good booze. Give him this.

Below it, in perfect cursive: He also likes ingenuity. When he asks you where you got it, tell him you drove to Underhill for it, where your age is just a number. He'll know what you mean.

Underhill? As I blinked at the words, they faded, the paper shrinking, becoming a dried leaf that crumbled in my fingers. The bottle remained, solid glass, bar code on it, website url on the label.

What if the unicorns have it in for Joel's uncle? What if they wanted me to give him a potion? A poison?

I almost threw the bottle out the window, but the memory of Glitter's eyes and Star's voice didn't feel like a threat.

I dug my phone out of the footwell and tapped Joel's contact.

He answered right away. "Hey, are you okay? We had a hell of a storm come through. I hope you pulled over safe while it passed."

"I'm fine," I said slowly. "Closer than I expected. I'll be there in a few minutes. And I have a wild story to tell you."

"Just bring yourself. Uncle Tam can tell enough wild stories for any ten people."

"Does he like booze?" I asked. "The good stuff, I mean?"

"Yeah. He's big on the aged whiskeys. But he knows you're seventeen. He's not expecting a present."

I nodded, enough times to make my neck a little sore. "Well, sometimes we get the unexpected. I'll be there in ten. I can't wait to see you."

"Me either. And don't worry. Uncle Tam will like anyone I love."

"You—"

"I love you, you dork. Now get your ass out here."

"Yes, sir. Will do. Can do." I put the car in gear, and paused. "I love you too. More than… more than unicorns." With that ridiculous declaration, I set the phone in the cup holder and drove.

Joel's laughter echoed through the car from my phone's speaker. It was probably my imagination that heard the faint echo of two braying laughs from much, much farther away.

######

[Mere]

Kaje wrote: "Horaida wrote: "Aster laid there silently...

emotional and fascinating; that could definitely become a longer story. Thank you."

Seconded -- I want to meet the prince and find out about the Fae!

[Mere]

Kaje wrote: "Tall Tails

I peered through the windshield. The rain had stopped and visibility was better, but somewhere in the storm and the lashing water, I'd clearly taken a wrong turn. What had been a reaso..."

I hope this is going to turn into a Necromancer-length series! <3

[Kaje]

Mere wrote: "Kaje wrote: "Tall Tails

I hope this is going to turn into a Necromancer-length series! <3..."

LOL - I have to get book 6 out before anything else gets to be a series. I'm hoping for August.