Abigail and the Angels

Chapter Thirteen

Jasmine led the way into the cave, followed by the others. The stench of blood hit the nostrils of each member of the rescue party, causing them to breath quickly.

“The smell gets worse the deeper we get… this is disgusting,” Audra complained quietly.

“I agree. It’s revolting,” Charlie nodded. They crept quietly through, treading carefully and keeping their eyes open for any unicorns.  Soon, they came to a narrow path with a light at the end.

“That light at the end of the tunnel is where we’ll most likely find Chase. Be extremely careful, though. I sense the presence of the unicorns is growing stronger,” Nate whispered. Their steps became lighter and slower, until they came to the end of the tunnel. Jasmine raised her hands, signaling the group to stop. She poked her head out the cave to see, as Nate said, another small clearing. The only difference was that this one lacked a water source and was littered with bones and sleeping unicorns. The largest difference, though, was the obvious larger cave at the back of the clearing. It emitted a gentle glow and a strong aura of magic. Jasmine turned to them.

“If we want to do this, we’ll have to be as quick and silent as possible,” she said quietly. She led the way through and the others followed closely behind.

“Where’s Chase?” Charlie whispered quickly.

“He’s definitely here. I can feel his presence,” Nate replied. Abigail scanned the area until something almost completely invisible caught her eye. In the back of the clearing. To the far left of the cave’s opening lay a figure, breathing in short, jagged breaths.

“There!” she whispered, pointing and maneuvering her way as quickly and silently as possible to him.

“Abigail, wait!” Jasmine whispered. But Abigail ignored her and kept going towards him. She kneeled down on her haunches and was instantly greeted by the smell of blood. He turned over and looked up at her, his face bloodied and bruised.“Abigail?” he whispered hoarsely. She looked down at him and tears spilled over her eyes.

“It’s me Chase. We’re here to rescue you,” she said. He looked in her eyes and gave a small smile.

“You shouldn’t have come, Milady. It’s too dangerous.” She smiled weakly and wiped his face gently before kissing him, her tears spilling onto his cheeks.

“Don’t tell me what to do and call me Abigail,” she said with a small smile as the others came up behind her.

“Hey, you doing okay buddy?” Nate asked, kneeling down next to him. Chase grimaced.

“Of course not, you idiot. I’ve just had my stomach eaten,” he replied dryly. Nate gave a lopsided smile.

“Right, sorry we took so long,” He said quietly.

“S’alright, mate, was only twelve hours or so,” he said with a weak, forced smile. Nate nodded and said with finality,“Alright buddy, we’re going to get you home now. It might hurt, okay?” he said softly, hoisting Chase up against his shoulder. Chase let out a silent cry and bit his bottom lip to suppress any other cries.  Nate skillfully moved him between the bodies of the sleeping unicorns and to the entrance of the clearing, followed by the rest. Jasmine then got to the front and turned around to face them.

“Right, so we do this like how we did to come in?” Jasmine whispered, placing her hands on her hips.

“Yeah, that’s the most logical way I think,” Nate agreed.

“I don’t care how it’s done, just get me home,” Chase groaned silently.  Jasmine nodded.

“Alright, let’s get-“ but before she could complete her sentence, a large gasp was heard from the far back of the cave.

“Oh jeez, now what?” she grumbled, looking in the corner. Near the lip to the innermost cave stood the King, his mouth ajar and his eyes wide.

“T-this is..” he murmured.

“Oh no…” Charlie said, watching him.

“Run,” Audra commanded.

“Wha-?” Abigail asked.

“This is amazing!” the King roared with a smile, startling and awakening the sleeping beasts, who had their eyes fixed on him. He spun round to see the face the others and his face dropped on seeing their expressions. He ran towards them, leading the unicorns to follow.

“Don’t lead them here, you idiot!” Charlie yelled, pushing the others to run, which they did. Nate ran as fast as he could while carrying Chase, followed by Abigail.

“Go in front of me, Abby!” he yelled. Wordlessly, she did as she was told. The group sprinted through the tunnel until the came to the end of the cave. Nate lifted Chase up and carried him, being as gentle as he could while running.

“We made it to the clearing, now let’s see if we can shake them off in the forest!”  Jasmine said to them. They ran through to the overgrown exit of the clearing, a trail of about, 15 unicorns still following them. Once they’d made it out, Jasmine led their way through the forest and managed to shake them off. Once they’d gotten to a small pond, Jasmine stopped running.“That would have been much easier to fly through,” she complained breathlessly.

“Then why didn’t we fly?” the King asked.

“I don’t know who you think ‘we’ are, buddy, but WE, as in the angels and your offspring, did not fly because one, it would entail having to stop to pick up Abigail because she can’t fly, two, when being chased by that many, flying becomes a hazard because you’re too scared to focus and you might crash and three, it would mean one of us would have had to have carried you, and you’re too big,” Charlie snapped at him. He sneered at Charlie and turned to Abigail, who was watching Jasmine, Audra and Nate set  Chase down gently on the grass for a moment to breathe.

“That looks serious,” Audra said, worry evident in her voice.

“It’s okay. Star will fix it. I just won’t be able to eat for a few days,” he said weakly. Abigail took his hand in hers silently and faced him, her back to her father. Chase’s eyes grew wide and he opened his mouth to say something to her, but his words were stopped with a scream. Abigail looked at where she was standing. She was no longer holding Chase’s hand. Upon her shoulders were her Father, the King’s hands. And through her chest was the bloodied horn of a dazzling crystal unicorn.