The Black Unicorn

War In the Hills

The first was that I noticed many of the men garnishing the signature white cloak of the order. Though it was mostly tucked into their armor as to not get caught on anything.

The opposing side was very obvious to me, as I had seen them every day since Master Ambrose came to the land. His undead army, fighting and hacking away at the ranks of the order.

They were easier to defeat than the normal men, but they didn't die. Squinting, I saw one instance of one soldier getting cut in half, only to reach out and grab another soldiers detached lower half and connect himself to it like a puzzle piece. He then got right back up, and continued fighting as if nothing ever happened.

I could not tell which side was currently winning even with Master Ambrose having the upper hand of an undead army. There was just too much going on down there for me to really see what was happening.

Malicia reared her head back and snorted as she gazed down with contempt at the opposing soldiers. Even from her back, I could see the glow of her fiery eyes alight the very air around them with her displeasure. One of her hooves kept pawing up the dirt. Digging down and flinging it back up effortlessly.

" What... What do we do?" I asked, rather lost on what help I could be in this situation. I was not in any sort of useful when it came to the art of war and battle. I was only a peasant girl who happened to fall in love with an infamous warlord warlock. Every single time I was in danger he, or Dracal always came to my rescue. As loathed as I was to admit it, I was a baby bird in the maw of a cat. Relying on my Eagle guardians to protect me from being eaten.

A low sort of rumble came out of the elegant beast I was riding. A quiet little chuckle that I was barely able to recognize. She did not look back at me as she responded. She continued to stare down at the battlefield. Her disgust was now replaced with amusement. I could not tell if she wanted to be down there herself or not.

" We wait now. The order made a grave mistake. All they have here are pawns and knights. If they wanted to even put a dent in my forces then they should have brought at least their bishops to the fight. They die slowly now, but surely." She cackled out.

The tone of her voice startled me. I had to remember that she was now no longer a pure Unicorn. She was now technically a demon. Hatred and anger burned in her heart. She would gladly crush the skulls of anyone who dared oppose her now. And when she did, no tear would be shed from her eye as she spilled blood.

She could probably feel how unnerved I had now become, though I don't think it bothered her. It just came naturally with her being a creature of cruelty.

My eyes lifted up from her head and back to the battle raging below. Malicia was right, the order was slowly losing. The dead just would not stay dead, and once a member of the order died they would get back up as well. Now serving Master Ambrose and Malicia. Killing their once friends and allies and making them join each other in death to follow the command of their new masters.

From this distance, it was hard to tell which of the order knights were alive or undead. For the undead ones were still in their signature white cloaks, and many on both sides were stained red with the scarlet of their friends.

I could smell the blood and the stench of the death even from up on the hill. There was just so much of it. All of it was needless. All of this could have been avoided if the order had actually done what it was meant to.

I sighed again as I looked at the hills surrounding the battle. It was mostly empty, and rather peaceful outside of the battle range. The green grass rolled with the wind and blue streams carried water to quench the thirst of the land. It was beautiful.

A far, far, far away structure caught my eye. It was so distant that I could barely even see it. In fact, my eyes had skimmed over it once or twice already. I had to squint my eyes to try and make out the buildings and my heart leapt with shock and joy as I realized that I was in my home region!!

I can't believe I did not recognize these hills. I must have been away from them longer than I thought. The structures so far away were the town square. Which meant that my family was closer than I ever could have thought.

Not only that, but it baffled me that the ruins of an ancient city, and also the home of a grand spirit being, were so close to where I grew up. If my dad had known about them he surely would have told me. So maybe even my own neighbours had no idea that it was even there.

I was shaken out of my thoughts as Malicia snorted and started rooting down the hill and towards the battle. My eyes trained down to the figures below. The orders ranks were now in critical condition. There was no way for the survivors to escape. They now fought formidably until they were overrun. This battle will be finished in a matter of minutes.

My heart started to beat a little heavier as we got closer to the chaos. I had been in the midst of screaming and dying people before, but those had all been slaughters. I had never been this close to an actual war before.

The smell of blood was now so strong that it was making my stomach queasy. When I took a breath all I could smell was copper. It was so overwhelming that I was surprised I could hold my reaction to gag back. Be as slim as it was.

The creature stopped at the very edge of the field. Crouching down slightly to get me to slip off before she herself charged into the battlefield. Leaving me all by myself at the very edge of the bloodshed.

I glanced around nervously at all the undead soldiers as they hustled about towards the last few remaining enemies. My hands were up by my chest as I shifted my weight nervously. What exactly was I supposed to do here?

A flash of purple caught my eye and suddenly... I couldn't breathe.

There he was. My Warlock, my master, my Ambrose. He was in the middle of the field, pulling his bloody sword out of the chest of a fallen warrior, but his eyes were on me.

He kicked the corpse aside, only for it to reanimate and start getting clumsily to its feet again. My Master started towards me. All of his undead soldiers who were in the way shuffled to the side. Telepathically linked to the sorcerer who commanded them.

Tears dripped down my face as he took him in. He had not been taking care of himself with my capture. His hair and beard were longer and unkempt, stained red with the splattering of enemy blood. The skin around his eyes was so red they looked burned. His scalp was also scarred over from his own gauntlets. How much had he clawed at himself?

I smiled and healed my hands out to him. Not caring anymore as I stepped into the area of battle. Staining the bottom of my cloth slippers with the spilt blood. I didn't care anymore. I wanted to hold him in my arms and tell him that it was ok now. That he didn't have to hurt anymore.

My sight on him was broken as a figure in the distance caught my vision. One of the last of the remaining dozen warriors got back up from the ground. Though he was not dead.

He was missing one of his arms entirely, and the bloody stump shot out blood like a fountain. He was not going to be dead much longer. What was noticeable about him though was that his cloak was not white, it was a sparkling silver. Almost as if he were engulfed in a liquid metal that moved around him fluidly.

He snarled, showing his bloody teeth as he hoisted a spear, the blade gleaming in the light of the sun. Just before the life left his body, he hurled the spear at my Masters back.

The image so long ago of the attack in the market came flashing back. Where the man with the sword his Master Ambrose in the arm so hard it should have lopped it off. His armour had protected him though. He was untouched.

A gasp spilt forth from my mouth as the blade was suddenly engulfed in a living darkness. The metal became black with swirling shadow. It hit Ambrose in the back, and the blade burst out of the other side of his chest. Showering me in his blood.