The Last Unicorn Warrior

III

                           ~Ten Years Later~
I have spent my whole childhood in fear, and most likely, my entire life will be spent like that as an adult. Even with Ulla's cloaking spell, I'm still paranoid about someone coming to finish the job. With Ulla's horn, I have tried to locate other Unicorns, but there's no other Unicorn in the world. We are a rare, and most hunted animal due to our magical horns. It is only Ulla and me in the world. I came to accept that after many years of searching for others. After those ten years, I am now a teenager who doesn't know how to transform into their spirit animal.

I've had no success. Ulla would talk me through the process, but I still don't know what I am doing wrong. At the age of fifteen, everyone should be able to transform, but here I am sitting in a dirty hotel room at age eighteen, and not able to change. It's a painful process. My bones crack and try to mold to the anatomy of a horse, but it's too painful that I have to stop or else I'll end up killing myself. The only thing I've mastered is having my horn come out through my skin.

Getting off the dusty wooden floor, I fix my off-white lace dress. I drape a white cape over my shoulders and pull the hood up to cover my face. Today I plan on going to the market. "Are you sure it's safe to go to the market?" Ulla's silky voice asks me.

"I have to, I need the ingredients for the spell to allow me to find the new firm," I say to her reassuringly. I could tell she's unsure about it. I can feel her uneasiness through my veins. I was looking in a mirror, and I see my mother looking back at me. It doesn't help to get over what happened that night when I resemble her. Exiting the hotel room, I give the key to the room back to the office boy, and then I was out to the door.

The market is a swamp of a place. The fact people can stand to be here for hours of their short lives astounds me. I look around the bunched up area to find the vendor of the item I'm looking for. Black sand and moon water are hard to find in this mortal land. In a purple tent, I see black sand and a jug. I thread my way through the crowd to the shop. A person wearing all black stands in the tent. A cape hides the person's face, but I can see long blonde hair coming out. "What is it you're looking for?" The person's voice asks me. I can sense he or she is not human.

"Moon water...and black sand." I quietly say. I look at my hands, feeling embarrassed for no reason.

"How much do you need?" The person asks me. I bite my lips.

"Just a jarful of moon water, and a sackful of black sand," I say even quieter than the last time. The person giggles at me.

"Here you go." I see the small feminine hands hand over a sackful of black sand, and a jarful of the moon water. I hand her what I believe is twelve silvers.

"Thank you." I politely say. I carefully grab the clear jar and heavy sack from the counter. Turning around, I hear the girl giggle once more, but this time it wasn't a pleasant one. I place the items in my bag and head towards the nearest forest.

"I need to stretch my legs." I hear Ulla say with some urgency. Once I was sure I was alone in the deep forest, I sit down on a log and lift my arm slightly up to reveal my unicorn birthmark. I close my eyes and focus my energy on opening a passage to allow her to come out. A soft muzzle rubs my cheek lovingly. I open my eyes to look at my grown-up white Unicorn. I pat her muzzle. Her black eyes project a galaxy of stars.

"Go run wild, Ulla." I happily say. "With caution," I add very sternly. She nods her head and gallops in a circle as I lay out the materials: an old crumpled map, the black sand, and a photograph of the firm back then. Bringing out my horn, I mutter the spell in Latin. "Amet in me tu eris ductor meus urbe fruentis coepi initia et exitus. Et alia eodem ingenio vivere. Deduc me in semita." I grab a handful of the sand and scatter it on the map. "Et alia eodem ingenio vivere. Deduc me in semita."