squealing and pawing the ground in distress. Three of the riders threw their ropes, catching him around the neck. As he struggled to back away, the others advanced. Men taunted the stallion with their whips, making him kick and try to rear. When his feet lifted, they threw more ropes, circling the nooses around his powerful feet. As a group, they wrestled the unicorn to the ground, throwing themselves on top of him the moment his knees touched the grass.
Even with the weight of six on his back and men all around holding ropes anchoring him to the ground, the stallion kept fighting. His eyes rolled back in his head, his legs thrashed, and I could hear his screams from the cliff. I’d never heard a unicorn make a sound before, and hearing it now sent a chill through my entire body. His screams were different than a horse, higher in pitch, with a vibrating tremor that made him sound almost like a singer at the crescendo of a magnificent performance.
The leader of the group advanced on the now subdued unicorn, holding what looked like a handsaw. The stallion tried frantically to spear the man with his horn, but three of the followers held the animal’s head in place. Still he tried, snorting and staring his captor in the eye, silver-tipped horn poised like a sword toward the leader’s heart.
Kill him , I found myself praying. Fight them. Kill him, and it’ll all be over.
The saw began to tremble in the man’s hand as he swiped it again and again across the base of the stallion’s horn. Fragments the size of fingernail clippings covered the earth like snow. Beside me, I felt Kara start to shake. Her whole frame quivered with silent sobs. The horn fell to the ground, and all at once the stallion quit struggling. The men climbed off him and loosened their hold on the ropes that bound him.
The group’s leader reached for one of the ropes around the unicorn’s neck. He turned and the stallion followed him, as meek as an old broodmare. His eyes seemed to blink back a heavy sadness, the only echo of his proud battle song.
THEY CAPTURED another before they rode away: a filly, small and with delicate-looking legs and bones. The men underestimated her, and I almost cheered when she drove her horn into the thigh of one of her would-be captors. When they finally wrestled her to the ground, her success cost her. The injured man’s friends whipped her mercilessly until her white coat ran with dark blood.
When their dust trail cleared on the horizon, Kara pulled her knees up to her chest. Her eyes and cheeks were puffy with tears. She struggled to speak, but her voice choked and clogged. “I’ve never seen anything so awful. I’ve been dreaming about seeing the unicorns for years. When that stallion appeared, he was everything I’d ever imagined and more… beyond beautiful. And what they did to him… what they made him….”
I nodded, wrapping my arm around her shaking back.
“I want to know what they do with them,” she said, wiping her eyes and peering up at me. “I have to know.”
“I don’t think we want to know.”
She lifted her head from my shoulder and looked me in the eye. “No, I have to know. Not knowing is the worst for me. I’ll imagine everything possible. We have to find out. Please.”
The way her blue eyes widened would be my undoing.
I knew those men were dangerous. They carried guns and whips and braved the unicorn’s sharp horn to get what they wanted. If they could wrestle down a 1300-pound unicorn stallion, a beast made of solid muscle, what could they do to us? Plus, I’d never seen a stone like that before. It seemed to harness energy from the lake. But, against all logic and sense of self-preservation, I found my mouth forming the words: “It’s only noon now. We still have the night and the morning tomorrow before anyone will expect them back… if they’ve not gone more than a few miles, I could track them.”
Kara sprang up. “Tell me how I can help.”
“It’s
Even with the weight of six on his back and men all around holding ropes anchoring him to the ground, the stallion kept fighting. His eyes rolled back in his head, his legs thrashed, and I could hear his screams from the cliff. I’d never heard a unicorn make a sound before, and hearing it now sent a chill through my entire body. His screams were different than a horse, higher in pitch, with a vibrating tremor that made him sound almost like a singer at the crescendo of a magnificent performance.
The leader of the group advanced on the now subdued unicorn, holding what looked like a handsaw. The stallion tried frantically to spear the man with his horn, but three of the followers held the animal’s head in place. Still he tried, snorting and staring his captor in the eye, silver-tipped horn poised like a sword toward the leader’s heart.
Kill him , I found myself praying. Fight them. Kill him, and it’ll all be over.
The saw began to tremble in the man’s hand as he swiped it again and again across the base of the stallion’s horn. Fragments the size of fingernail clippings covered the earth like snow. Beside me, I felt Kara start to shake. Her whole frame quivered with silent sobs. The horn fell to the ground, and all at once the stallion quit struggling. The men climbed off him and loosened their hold on the ropes that bound him.
The group’s leader reached for one of the ropes around the unicorn’s neck. He turned and the stallion followed him, as meek as an old broodmare. His eyes seemed to blink back a heavy sadness, the only echo of his proud battle song.
THEY CAPTURED another before they rode away: a filly, small and with delicate-looking legs and bones. The men underestimated her, and I almost cheered when she drove her horn into the thigh of one of her would-be captors. When they finally wrestled her to the ground, her success cost her. The injured man’s friends whipped her mercilessly until her white coat ran with dark blood.
When their dust trail cleared on the horizon, Kara pulled her knees up to her chest. Her eyes and cheeks were puffy with tears. She struggled to speak, but her voice choked and clogged. “I’ve never seen anything so awful. I’ve been dreaming about seeing the unicorns for years. When that stallion appeared, he was everything I’d ever imagined and more… beyond beautiful. And what they did to him… what they made him….”
I nodded, wrapping my arm around her shaking back.
“I want to know what they do with them,” she said, wiping her eyes and peering up at me. “I have to know.”
“I don’t think we want to know.”
She lifted her head from my shoulder and looked me in the eye. “No, I have to know. Not knowing is the worst for me. I’ll imagine everything possible. We have to find out. Please.”
The way her blue eyes widened would be my undoing.
I knew those men were dangerous. They carried guns and whips and braved the unicorn’s sharp horn to get what they wanted. If they could wrestle down a 1300-pound unicorn stallion, a beast made of solid muscle, what could they do to us? Plus, I’d never seen a stone like that before. It seemed to harness energy from the lake. But, against all logic and sense of self-preservation, I found my mouth forming the words: “It’s only noon now. We still have the night and the morning tomorrow before anyone will expect them back… if they’ve not gone more than a few miles, I could track them.”
Kara sprang up. “Tell me how I can help.”
“It’s
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