A Forest So Dark and Deadly

Chapter 1

A unicorn killed my dog when I was fifteen.

Even this many years later, I can still hear the frantic barking followed by the predatory shriek of the unicorn when it cornered her before it ripped her throat out.

I shiver.

Water fills my ears as I float on my back, my arms stretched out to the sides to balance myself as I bob on the waves and keep an eye on the shoreline. One of the beasts stalks along the rocks maybe a hundred yards out, its black coat nearly camouflaging it in the inky, pre-dawn twilight.

Good luck on trying to get to me.

I know they hate water and can't swim worth a damn, which makes it safe for me to bathe in the lake this morning and have some sort of peace.

The beast stumbles on a rock, its hoof catching as it makes a hissing sound and I can't help but smile. It jerks its head up and looks up at me like it can sense me smiling, its black eyes glinting back at me.

Just a little bit longer.

Dawn can't get here fast enough. The sky has the faintest tinge of gold to it, a few clouds skimming by high above me. I look to the opposite shore at the other black shape sitting patiently at the edge of the water. Triangle shaped ears, dark eyes, a massive, broad head and a muzzle full of teeth that makes up Nixia's only surviving pup, Zira.

One of her ears twitches almost imperceptibly when I look her way, but her eyes are focused on the other shore, on the beast that she's been trained to kill. The iron spikes on her collar glint menacingly, like a dare to any beast that tries to grab her by the throat.

A low rumble starts in the distance and I tilt my head up to listen as it grows louder and I recognize the sound.

Propeller blades.

The unicorn lifts its head, its ears flicking forward to listen. It shakes its coat and bares its teeth at me before it slinks towards the tree-line in a hesitant retreat. With a final lash of its lion tail, the shadows swallow it whole as the rumble becomes a roar.

A Condor-chopper soars over the treetops, the surrounding maple trees flailing wildly in the downdraft as the aircraft veers overhead. Gold and blue paint covers the exterior and in less than a second I'm gasping in a breath of air and diving under the waves.

A security personnel transport straight from the Warden's collection, which only means one thing: someone is going to be executed.

With my history? I know it could be me.

I drift far beneath the waves, letting the weeds growing on the bottom of the lake drift around me like cool, black fingers as I stare upwards. Even this far down I can feel the thrum of its twin propellers as it slices through the sky, the ugly, gold and blue aircraft disappearing as it flies toward Fawald.

I stay down as long as I can, listening and not believing for a second that I'm safe.

My breath runs out and I push off of the mucky bottom, my hands clasped in front of me like an arrow as I break through the surface. I quietly gasp in a couple breaths before I start for the shoreline where Zira waits. I check the shore behind me and bolt up the stretch of pebbles to grab the ragged towel hanging on a tree-limb by the water.

I wrap the towel around me, patting my skin dry as I then wring out my hair and twist it into the towel before I let it fall loose around my shoulders. I tug on my clothes before pulling on my boots, checking the sheath on my belt to make sure my knives and whip are still there. I check the chamber on my pistol, the six bullets still there as their brass casings glitter in the early morning sunlight.