Unicorn Lost

Presents

T	he dragon seemed to be humming to itself as it trudged along through the warren-like maze of canyons.

Kathy remained crouched in its paws, her eyes tightly shut against the sensation of air-sickness that being in the dragon's paw was causing.

"The Master will be pleased," the dragon chuckled. "Oh, so very pleased! Two unicorns in one week! My my! And here he said they were so unusual...that's why they call'em unique horns, he said! Well! I'll show him! Hum, hum, hum." As he rattled on in this vein, the jewel between his eyes sparkled and danced with its own inner fire. "I'm sorry I had to deceive you," the dragon went on, this time speaking to his prisoner. He held her as a human might hold an injured bird--firmly, but not tightly. "I hope you won't hold it against me...that I tried to...you know...seduce you."

"Is that what you were doing?" Kathy muttered uneasily. She cracked open an eye and hazarded a glance over the dragon's thumb.

"I sometimes wish I was a unicorn," the dragon said, with a smokey sigh. "Everyone loves unicorns. No one loves dragons."

Now Kathy looked up at him. His head looked unnaturally small on the end of his neck. He also reminded her, in an odd way, of a giraffe. "Lots of people love dragons," she told him, having to shout so he could hear her.

The beast shook its head. "No they don't. They're scared to death of us. I should know. I'm not welcome anywhere. Have you any idea what it's like to have everyone trying to stick pins into you whenever you drop in for a snack? And if you stay in your own cave, then you're constantly harassed by this knight or the other who wants to make a name or himself, or steal your supposed treasure!" The dragon chuckled. "They should know better than to meddle in the affairs of dragons--for they are crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside." Then it heaved another sigh. "Being a dragon is the loneliest thing. Why, if it hadn't been for the ogre, I wouldn't have anyone to talk to."

Kathy was gaining a little courage from the reasonable way the dragon was speaking, and so she asked it, "You talk to the ogre, then?"

"Oh, yes. Although, he is a bit short-tempered, he's been a lot nicer since I caught that stallion unicorn."

"Does it still live, then?"

"Why, yes, of course! The master wouldn't kill it--he needs it alive!" the dragon clucked. "Unicorns' magic is no good at all if they're dead!"

Kathy heaved a sigh of relief.

The dragon's leathery lips parted over his rows of scimitar teeth as he held up his prize for inspection. "And now that he'll have a mating pair-- he'll have all the power he needs!"

Kathy felt sick again. "M-mating pair?" she stammered. "Uh, Stan--that is your name, right?--Stan, there's a few things you've got to know about unicorns in general, and me in particular..."

But she never got to finish her thought, for at that moment, the dragon gave a flinch that almost hurled her to the ground. His genial expression evaporated and he whipped his neck around to glare down at whatever it was that had just assailed him. "WHO JUST HIT ME?" he roared, and the canyon echoed with it.

But there was no one behind him. Just a slightly-dented can of haggis.

-page oo44-
written by Nightstar

Copyright and Credit:
  · Florence from "Freefall" © Mark Stanley.
  · Magic Gardener © Hortmage.
  · Jeanette © Jeanette Isabelle.
  · Kathy from "Carry On" © Kathy Garrison.
  · Kamida © Guest #1.
  · ToraKiyoshi - Writer.
  · Tiger_T. - Writer.
  · White Pony from "Cross Time Cafe" © S.Kidwell.
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