Page 30 of Forging Bonds: Part Two

Its fur is as black as you can get and almost seems to absorb the light around it, and its mane and tail have threads of gold, silver, and copper threading through it and adding to the general sparkle that encompasses the whole of it, the sparkle that is beginning to fade.

I know nothing about unicorns, not about the creatures. I don’t know about their likes or dislikes, I don’t know about their habitats or what they eat, and I don’t even know what their gifts are. However, I do know from the stories told at the Obsidian Market that they are fierce fighters, extremely deadly, and they like to live far away from other people and supernaturals. I thought all of this was just tall tales that the dealers told everyone to make their wares seem more legitimate, and it must have worked because they were never short of customers.

Anger threads through me as I think about the kinds of things that they were selling. Unicorn horns were sold for millions of dollars, but that was nothing compared to the blood. The shimmering gold blood that was sold in tiny two-milliliter bottles was sold for tens of millions, and I’m noteven exaggerating. They were nearly always sold out and had a waitlist of customers who wanted them.

I always thought it was fucking insane.

Looking at this creature now, my anger grows at the fuckers that could hurt these beautiful creatures, they’re a dying breed, brought to near extinction thanks to being hunted and because of the magic that their blood and horns carry.

Huh, I guess I knew more about them than I thought I did. I frown, I don’t know how, I really did think that they were the stuff of fairytales and legend.

Another pained sound snaps me out of my confusion. The unicorn is really badly hurt, and I need to get its leg out of the giant bear trap that is clamped down on it, and has torn into its leg, making it bleed.

Fuck.

Whoever has set that trap has definitely done it in the hopes of catching a unicorn and will be back to check their traps. I have no idea how long I have to free it, but I do know that I need to do it as quickly as I possibly can. I know that it is probably going to attack me. It’s in pain and it is fucking terrified, and since I have no idea what kind of magic it has I could be dead the moment that it sees me, but I can’t walk away. I can’t leave it in pain, and I can’t leave it to its fate, which is very definitely death and an extremely painful death as well.

Chapter Eleven

Neith

One thing that I do know is that the blood from magical creatures that is valuable has to be extracted when they are still alive, otherwise it loses its magic, and they will drain a creature dry, making sure that they get every single drop, which is an incredibly painful process for the creature. I see no reason why it would be different for unicorns.

Beginning to move forward, I freeze before I make it around the edge of the giant tree that I’m hiding behind, and glance at Asael in my hand. It is a massive risk to walk out there without him in my hands, he’s pretty much the only defense that I have since my magic is still really only a slight trickle and nothing that I will be able to use to attack or defend myself with if this does turn out to be a trap of some kind, or if the unicorn itself attacks me.

However, if I were injured and trapped and some stranger came out from behind a tree wielding a sword, I know that I would be even less likely to trust that person and probably go into full panic mode as well. I would be almost certain that they were the person who set the trap in the first place, even if they tried to reassure me that they weren’t.

People lie.

Hunted people, or in this case, creatures, are even more sensitive to that and just assume that everyone is lying to them.

I want to help this unicorn as quickly as I can, and in order to do that, I need it to trust me just a little bit.

With this in mind, I ask Asael to disappear, but to be ready in case I need him with seconds to spare. He buzzes in my hand and then does as I have asked.

Now that he is gone, and my hands are empty, I cautiously move forward, and the unicorn's head immediately snaps in my direction. It panics, trying to get away and tearing the teeth of the trap deeper into its leg.

I hold my hands up, “Whoa, steady. I’m not going to hurt you. I know you probably don’t believe that, and to be honest, I wouldn’t either, but I promise you I don’t intend to hurt you. I want to help you before whoever did this to you comes back.”

I have absolutely no idea if it can understand me or not, but if it can’t, I’m hoping that it will interpret the gentle way that I’m speaking and my body language to mean that I don’t intend to hurt it.

It must understand what I’m saying to a certain extent because it stills, watching me with fear, and such exhaustion that I don’t know whether it believes me or if it has just given up, and that breaks my heart. I move toward it cautiously, and keep my eyes on it as I crouch down. I can’t risk kneeling since I’m not going to be able to get away quickly if it decides to stab me with its horn, and although it is a supernatural, it is still an animal, and hurtanimals behave unpredictably, especially when they aren’t sure if you are helping them.

I decide that the best way to help gain its trust, and to stop it from attacking me, is to talk to it and since I am the queen of talking absolute shit that’s what I do.

“Oh, this looks really bad,” I wince. “I mean, you probably didn’t need me to tell you that, you can feel it, so you know that it’s pretty bad. If you’re squeamish though, definitely don’t look at it.”

I glance at its face, and I swear that it raises its eyebrows at me, but I’m pretty sure that at this point, I’m imagining things. So, I carry on talking.

“I’m going to talk through everything that I try to do to make sure that you know what I’m doing. I hope that you can understand me, but if not, that’s fine. I’m still going to tell you,” I explain as I lean closer, and it tenses. “It’s okay, I just need to see how I can approach this. We need to do it quickly. I want you out of here before whoever did this comes back to check their barbaric trap.”

I lean forward again, and this time it stays still, once again allowing me to inspect where the teeth of the bear trap are going into its leg.

“Okay, so I’m going to take my jacket off and wrap it around the teeth on either side, here and here,” I explain as I point to the place where I intend to hold onto. “Then I’m going to try to pry it apart. It’s going to hurt, it’s pretty fucking deep in your leg, and because of that it’s going to hurt like a mother fucker to pull it out. Hopefully, my plan will work, and once you’re free, your healing will hopefully kick in. If not, I should be able to clean and bandage it for you, and then you can get out of here as quickly as possible.” I pause and frown slightly as I add, “To be honest, if you’re up to it, as soon as I free you, just run. I am really worried about the people who set this coming back for you.”

Looking at the unicorn, who seems to be listening intently, I add, “Got it?”

It surprises me when it nods, but I smile and thank my lucky stars that it can understand me because it makes this so much easier.

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