The Queen stepped in front of the cave, its bulky muscles rippling beneath its pristine white coat as it let out a couple ragged growls. There were multiple crude pink scars along its torso, and from what Káel could make out, its horn was covered in scratches and sticky brown stains, especially near the tip. His heart flipped with a sickening spike as the Queen twitched in motion to look at the cave, instinctively driving him back into the shadows for safety. He paced his breathing, taking in the murderous air that hugged him through the chilling shade of the cave.
Never in his life had he imagined a unicorn like that. After all, they were commonly associated with harmless rainbows where he came from.
The Queen gave the furry white creature another bellowing growl of a snort, and dragged its horn back and forth across the dirt, carving a line of death in front it that the small ball of fluff didn't dare to cross. The three baby unicorns came up behind it again, continuing their cruel play as they stomped on its drooping tail.
Káel poked his head around to watch the scene again, his eyes resting on the two folded limbs attached to its back. It had wings. "Why doesn't it just fly away?" he whispered extra quietly.
The girl looked through the vines grimly. "I don't think it can, the poor thing looks spent. It must have accidentally stumbled upon the herd. They're not gonna let it go."
"They're gonna kill it? Why?!" Káel watched the small creature as it whimpered and yelped with every hit, a disgusted feeling growing in his chest.
The girl sighed, her expression washed over with pain as she couldn't take the sight either. "For sport most likely, we'll wait here until they leave."
"That's stupid." Káel growled, watching the tiny white creature turn brown as the baby unicorns rubbed it in the dirt, its pitiful cries were as sharp as a blade driving through his heart and straining his eardrums.
He couldn't take it anymore.
Unicorns were horses.
Really big horses.
Káel smiled at the comparison that slightly lessened his fear, crawling to the back of the cave and carefully scooping another flower out of the ground. He gave the girl a pinched smile, his hands shaking from the raw nerves assaulting them as he handed the one the girl had picked to her.
He ripped a long strand of his undershirt off and tied it around his nose, constantly darting his gaze to the girl.
She was staring at him blankly, holding the flower with pure confusion on her face.
Meanwhile, Káel was just hoping this would work, because otherwise, he was screwed, and being impaled by a unicorn on this planet was not how he wanted to go.
He turned to the girl, his shaking smile hiding under the dark scrap of cloth. "Hold your breath." She was catching on and grabbed his wrist as he was about to leap from the cave, looking at him with speechless terror and shook her head. "Run when you see the opportunity."
Káel tore from her grasp and ran right past the Queen, straight for the baby unicorns. He tackled the side of one of them, knocking it over with a squeal, as he tore the black flower in half, releasing a hissing cloud of orange mist. They switched their attention from the creature and viciously stabbed at him, one of them managing to slash his arm and kick his shin.
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COBALT: The Red Phantom (Book One)
Fantasy[Featured: EDITOR'S CHOICE] Káel didn't think his life could get worse after being abducted by an alien posing as a Russian exchange student. Until that 'one day' turned into three months, and he was forced to get cozy on a post-war planet fresh out...
