“The first logical plan of action would be to find the great wizard.” Katherine informed her magical steed as they trotted along a thin winding mountain path, “because she knows where the enchanted grove is,”
Katherine thought for a second, “But then we don’t know whether said great wizard is still alive, so it would kind of make sense for us to go find the Enchanted Grove first,”
Katherine thought even harder and then gave up, raising an eyebrow at herself.
“I have no idea what we should do,”
The unicorn whinnied in agreement.
“Not helping,”
The unicorn shook its head, whinning again, louder this time.
“I wish Shelby was here,” Katherine moaned to the sky, “Magic is her gig, not mine,”
The unicorn dipped its head, jerking it backwards at speed, the glimmering horn nearly puncturing Katherine’s eye.
“Hey, watch it!” Katherine batted the horn out of her face, “What are you trying to tell me?”
Sparks flew off the unicorn’s horn in a series of bright flashes.
“Ohhhhh, of course, you’re magic!” Katherine whistled in disbelief, “Presumably you can sense other magic?”
The unicorn snorted as if to say: about dam time.
“Well then,” Katherine smiled, “Could you please take me to the Enchanted Grove,”
The unicorn shook its magnificent head from side to side.
Katherine cocked her head, slightly puzzled, “Why not?”
By this point the unicorn was fed up of trying to explain itself to Katherine so, with one final shake of its head, it focused on climbing the increasingly steep mountain path.
Katherine folded her arms across her chest, “Well that was a lot of help,”
As a result, Katherine was left with her own thoughts that plagued her mind, most of them being something to do with Shelby or this mysterious, magical Enchamted Grove.
She let herself relax on the unicorn’s back, falling into a hypnotic sway caused by the movement of its trotting.
She found the sway calming and let herself get lost in it, not paying any attention to her jagged surroundings.
Then, she began to hum a little tune to herself, one that she noticed Shelby use on occasion while she was brewing potions.
It was a sweet melody and as Katherine started to hum it for the second time, Shelby’s earthy smell drifted in the wind.
Katherine breathed gratefully at the little hint of comfort and took the opportunity to take in the lay of the land below her.
Gentle hills rolled to the horizon, covered in lush green grass with little creeks flowing here and there, interweaving with each other. Small speck-sized animals could be seen hopping around in the meadow under the rising sun over hovering at one of the creeks.
Katherine looked across the vast unexplored terrain and sighed to herself. An Enchanted Grove? Here? This was going to be harder than she originally thought.
The unicorn picked up speed down the mountain, hurtling faster and faster down the slope, making Katherine’s heart tremble in her chest as they went.
They zipped down the mountain and galloped over the plains, scaring the grazing deer and rabbits.
Katherine whooped as the unicorn vaulted over a small creek, landing with no change in speed as they continued over the hills.
There was no warning of what came next.
The unicorn skidded to a halt, rising on its back legs with a horrid screech, throwing Katherine and the saddle bag from its back, kicking out with its deadly sharp hooves.
Katherine rolled clear of the unicorn, glancing wide-eyed up at the wild unicorn, her mind flashing back to her dream.
The unicorn screamed as cracking noise filled the air around them and the princess watched horrified as some of the unicorn’s coat fell away, revealing bare bones.
Katherine’s stomach spun in dizzy circles as she watched the unicorn’s pink coat fall away into ashes.
Katherine could see the unicorn’s only remaining eye roll back in its head with fear as it saw pieces of its own coat fall away to ashes.
Katherine vaulted herself from the ground so that she was now standing at eye level with her unicorn. She reached for its neck and began to stroke her hand up and down, up and down in a comforting motion.
The more-than-half-dead unicorn began to calm down, fixing Katherine with a calm, but accusing, brown-eyed stare.
“I am so sorry,” whispered Katherine, hugging the unicorn’s neck, “I won’t make it will I? I won’t be able to save them,”
The unicorn whickered, stepping away from Katherine, so her arms fell from its neck to her sides.
She gave the unicorn a puzzled look. It responded by jerking his head forward, looking over Katherine’s shoulder.
On indication, Katherine turned round, blinking.
A figure cloaked in purple stood grinning at Katherine, a wizard hat perched on her head.
“Looks like we’ve found each other,”
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I Will Always Love You - Empires SMP S2 AU: Nature Wives
FanfictionKatherine and Shelby think they're safe. Safe from corruption. Safe from the curse. When a deadly past comes back to haunt them, they must find a way to keep each other alive. Even if it means sacrificing themselves.
