29. Jack
TWENTY-NINE
JACK
There was nothing that triggered the moment when the creature charged, nothing that set off the beast. Jack jumped to his feet, his right hand brandishing the wand.
A moment later, he called forth the magic inside, harnessing it with his will and bending the energy to do his bidding.
His wand danced with green magical energy.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw his father stand with his staff ablaze in green fire.
Sloan and Aareth began to wake, but all of Jack’s attention was on the mutant animal charging at them with a blood-curdling screech that befit a bird of prey more than a land mammal. Aareth was in a position with his back turned toward the beast, Jack was standing below him and Marcus across.
Jack let a fiery ball of magic fly. He knew it struck the animal, but the beast wasn’t slowing down. It was yards away from Aareth and closing fast. Two more cracks shattered the early morning silence as Marcus fired at the beast.
The animal stumbled but still moved forward. The brute was now only a few feet from a drowsy Aareth, who turned to face the animal. Jack knew he was Aareth’s last hope before the beast crashed into him with bone-crunching jaws and dagger-like claws.
The animal was dark in color with strange shaggy hair and a rounded head. Jack took a deep breath and released another bolt from the end of his wand. The magical beam sailed within inches of Aareth’s black hair. It landed dead center into the animal’s throat.
The beast crashed to the forest floor, skidding the last few feet to rest at Aareth’s worn boots.
Everyone took a few deep breaths before Aareth turned and looked at a shocked Jack. “Thanks, I owe you one.”
“Is it dead?” Sloan was wide awake now. She held her steam sword in hand. Her weapon was already turning a dull red as the blade heated.
Marcus stepped forward to stand next to Aareth.
Jack and Sloan followed to get a better look at their would-be killer.
The animal was no doubt a unicorn, but a unicorn the likes of which Jack had never seen.
The animal was larger than the forest’s typical white unicorn.
The dagger-like teeth and sharp claws instead of hooves were all wrong as well.
Native unicorns to this forest would be smaller, with flat teeth made for chewing grass and sturdy hooves to run. Not only did the physical features of the unicorn cause Jack to wonder at its origin, but the screech it made as it attacked was also disconcerting.
The animal was down, there was no doubt about that, but its giant chest still heaved in and out. A dark primal eye full of pain and anger followed them as they moved closer.
“I’m sorry, friend.” Marcus raised his staff and aimed it at the animal’s head.
The beam entered the mutated creature’s skull and penetrated brain matter, allowing the beast to finally find rest. Its chest quivered, then ultimately ceased to move. Jack looked at his father, who he knew hated to kill such an amazing animal.
“Do you think this is the creature that’s been attacking Burrow Den?” Aareth wondered out loud. “I mean, we’re only a day or two journey from the city now.”
“The descriptions we read of the animal responsible for the killings in Burrow Den and the paw prints that were recorded weren’t from a mutated unicorn.” Jack took a long look at the unicorn’s paws, comparing them to the sketch he remembered seeing at the palace.
“Jack, take a look at this.” Marcus crouched, examining the unicorn further.
Jack maneuvered around a still shocked Aareth and knelt by his father, who was examining the unicorn’s paws. Each paw had six toes, and even more disconcerting was the long white hair covering the animal. As Jack got closer, he saw the unicorn’s coat very closely resembled feathers.
“What does it mean?” Jack asked as his mind struggled to find an answer to the unnatural riddle in front of him.
“I don’t know,” Marcus clenched his jaw, “but this is not what nature intended.”
“What are you saying?” Sloan asked, examining the unicorn’s body over Jack’s shoulder.
“I’m saying,” Marcus stood up with a look in his eyes that Jack had never seen before, “that we need to get to Burrow Den now and stop whatever’s happening there.”