Custos Unicorium 1 ~Longe Aluid--Something Very Different~

Chapter Thirteen: Regroup

Koriun ran. Ran like a bat out of hell that unicorn did. He ran further than I ever would have believed possible. And faster. We'd never be caught. I would've relaxed a little if that wouldn't have caused me to fall off Koriun. That didn't sound appetizing.  

It was well into the night before Koriun stopped. I all but melted off his back and fell asleep right then. Managing to scrape a few leaves together in a crude nest, I lost consciousness to a deep, greatly welcomed, sleep. 

When I awoke, my nest had been re-done in a very luscious fashion, and a warm fuzzy shape lay next to me. Too small too be Koriun. Adjusting my eyes, and really looking at it, too dark to be Koriun. "Rayor?" I took a wild guess. It was before full-sun again. I hadn't got much sleep. 

The wolf lifted her head and turned it slightly to one side. Yes? 

"How can you stand to sleep with that thing so close to you?" Koriun's magnificent voice sounded a short ways off. I sat up, and touched muzzles with Rayor. Good morning. 

"I lived with the pack for over a year Koriun. Haven't I ever told you that?"  

"No," Koriun sounded a tad uneasy. 

"Another thing too," I said, clouded by sleep, "I don't stand when I sleep at all." 

Koriun snorted. "It's an expression." 

"Yet it makes a valid point. You've got some of that prey instinct about you, even though wolves know to respect unicorns. Don't be scared though, Rayor won't hurt." 

Rayor ducked her head, lowered her tail, and crouched until she was almost laying. You have my respect.  

Without realizing it, my eyes drooped, and my arm encircled Rayor. I fell back to my much-needed sleep. I don't think my wolf friend liked being cuddled all too much, but at least she didn't wake me.  

The next time I awoke, the night was collecting itself. A faint sound of hoof beats echoed in the distance. Rayor breathed deeply. She was asleep. 

"Hayden sees you as a mother-figure, you know." Koriun's voice startled me. I hadn't known he was awake. 

"Huh?" I asked sleepily. 

"He's lived longer without his mother than with. For the longest time he only had the Dispatchers. You're the only female he's connected with as long as I've known him." 

"Makes sense," I mumbled. Realization clicked. "That's them. They're on their way now." 

"They?" 

Automatically I'd picked up, even half asleep and through faint hoof beats, that there were two people on their way. "Hayden and someone else." 

"Oh. They're fast." 

Duh. Wow was I tired. "Yeah. That means I know who it is." 

I was right. I dozed tiny bits until the hoof beats were upon us and slowed Hayden, on horseback, emerged from the trees, along with another horse...carrying Josephine. Smart boy. He knew when he was in over his head on finding us, and went straight to the best. Horses weren't as fast as Koriun, but Josephine wouldn't waste time going off on random tangents searching for us.  

As I had expected, she didn't look pleased. After a quick scan of the clearing, she vocalized it. "What the hell do you think you were doing? You very fucking well know what the hell is out here! You were so advertent to wasting time, and now you've brought a unicorn way out into problem zones with hardly any protection!" 

"Don't explode there," my tiredness vanished at all the yelling, "I'm here, and Rayor could very well shred anything that she needed. You obviously trust us all since you've said more than you ever had to the rest of the trackers!"