Althea

Unicorns and Fires

Solomon: peaceful
Origin: Hebrew

When I woke up my head was spinning. That didn't matter to me; I could feel the warmth of a fire just beside me. I opened my eyes, fluttering my eyelashes so my eyes would adjust to the light. A tall dark figure stepped over me. I screamed and threw a punch purely out of impulse. A distinctly male voice groaned and the figure clutched his nose, followed by a scattering of laughter.
"Got beat by a nolie, eh Soly?" Someone called.
"Shut up Ezekiel. She's no nolie either." The man in front of me said.
"You're always so serious Soly, got a stick up your ass?" Ezekiel hollered back, drawing more hoots from the other men.
I scrambled back, hissing as I felt the sting in my arms.
"Will you all can it? You're scaring her! Careful little lady, you'll hurt yourself." He held his hands up and stepped cautiously towards me. The fire cast some light on his features. He was an ashy blond, with pale skin and steel blue eyes. He had a slim but muscular build and curiously pointy ears.
"Your scratches aren't healed yet. By some miracle you are immune to the Malignants poison, but that doesn't mean you should go running away."
"What is going on?" My voice broke. I hated how weak I sounded. The man must have mistaken it for a voice crack and handed me his canteen. He caught the doubtful look I gave it and he shook the container.
"I promise it's just water." I drank it gratefully, surprised by how thirsty I was.
"Thank you for saving me, but I have to get home. My mother must be terrified."
"If you say so, we'll bring you back with us the morning." He said, offering his hand. I took it gratefully, trying to work out the pins and needles in my legs.
"No, we go now." I said fiercely. He looked surprised at my sudden outburst.
"Okay, we go now. My name is Solomon by the way."
"I'm Althea, pleased to meet you." I huffed, brushing off my dress.
"Alright Miss Althea, this way." Solomon walked off past the fire and I followed, a little shaky.
"Solomon, care to tell me what's going on? Who are you? What is this place? What are Malignants?"
"One question at a time. I am Solomon, I'm a moth knight in the court of the Empress Philena."
"Wait, hold on, what? You look a little tall to be riding a moth. What even is a moth knight?" He stared at me, eyes wide.
"You must be joking. Did you hit your head?" I shook my head.
"I don't think so. Not that I remember."
"You really don't know then? Okay, well, I guess cougar's out of the bag... so, um, where to start..."
"Start with this empress lady."
"Empress Philena." He corrected, sighing. "She oversees all of nature. She rules the dryads, butterflies, moths, and the nolies. Um, dryads are,"
"I know what dryads are." I interrupted. "I've read a few books. Tree people right?" He laughed.
"Essentially. They have healing sap, which we used to mend your wounds. Now, you were taken by Malignants. Malignants are dryads corrupted by the Dark Arts. The Dark Arts is magic used for anything other than restorative and positive purposes."
"Magic? Right, okay. Magic isn't real. It's not even logical!" He laughed again.
"Humans, so desperate to discount anything outside of their 'logic' they'll ignore living, breathing proof. The supply tent is just a little further." He added.
"Okay," I said carefully, "suppose magic is real. Can you prove it?"
"No, I'm a moth. Only butterflies, witches, and Royalty can use it."
"Whoa, witches? Aren't they evil?"
"Did your books tell you that?" He teased. "No, witches and their male counterparts, druids, are what you'd probably call the priests and priestesses of Nature."
"You guys worship rocks and stuff?" I said in disbelief. He glared at me.
"No, Nature with a capital 'N'. She's our goddess, and that's the reason only girls can perform magic. Anyway, the witches and druids are said to be descended from the High Priestess, Nature's first daughter. Likewise, our Royal family, the monarchs, are descended from Nature's first son, which is why the Royal males can do magic." I thought about it briefly.
"Okay, so why can't non-Royal moths do magic?"
"The legend goes that Nature gave the Royals a people to look after and rule so they could look after lowercase N nature in her stead. So, common butterflies and moths were born. After the supply tent we're going to stop by the corral and grab Cassius real quick."
"Cassius?"
"My horse." He took a rather ornate sword from the rack in the supply tent, gave it a quick twirl. He smiled, satisfied, and hooked its sheath to his belt. After another quick shop through the rack, he tossed me a leather sheathed knife.
"Why do I need this?"
"These blades are spiked with dryad sap. It usually kills small Malignants, and stuns the bigger ones.
You'll need that knife in case there are more of them out there."
I gripped it tightly, feeling goosebumps crawl across my skin.
"I still have questions!"
"I'll answer them on our way to your place."
I followed him out of the weapons tent and a short distance to the rope corral. Several horses were milling about inside, snorting and chewing thoughtfully. Solomon let out a whistle, almost like he was trying to cat call one of the horses. Soon after a horse somewhere in the middle whinnied loudly and the herd parted. An absolutely stunning dapple grey stallion trotted forward, tossing his head and shaking his long white mane like he was acknowledging a cheering crowd.
"He's beautiful!" I gasped, eyes fixed on his approach. Solomon chuckled.
"Yeah, and he knows it too. He's very vain."
"What breed is he?"
"Lusitano unicorn cross."
"Unicorn?"
"You didn't think he was a nolie did you?"
"That's another question I have. What's a nolie?"
"Nolie is just slang for no life. Inanimate members of nature like rocks and certain plants, as well as creatures not descended from magical creatures. Humans for example." He smirked. "Horses come from unicorns, which is why they are tameable and zebras are not. Any cat from the smallest housecat to the biggest puma come from chimeras. Likewise with birds of prey and phoenixes. There's a whole field of study dedicated to this subject actually, and laws like a ban on experimental breeding."
Cassius had reached us before this point in our chatter and was obviously irked at being ignored. He stuck out a hoof, and I took it like I'd shake any human's hand.
"Cassius, this is Althea." Solomon said, introducing us.
"Greetings, noble Cassius." I said formally. He snorted, and lifted his tail higher. Solomon grinned, and stroked Cassius's finely shaped nose.
"Oh, he likes you. You've got his allegiance now. For all his faults, he will never abandon you. He's loyal till death." I smiled and scratched Cassius' chin.
"Glad to have him. Shall we go?"
"Of course Miss Althea."
It was a matter of minutes before we had Cassius saddled and were on our way through the woods again. I directed Solomon to the river and up the incline, and before long we were trotting along the thin sheep path.
"I smell smoke." Solomon said suddenly. I sniffed the air.
"Huh, mom must be cooking. Weird, it's so late." Solomon spurred Cassius into a gallop.
"That is not from any stove."
We charged up the path and into the courtyard. All I saw was fire. We were surrounded by it. My childhood home, up in flames, the sheep barn alight, even the wheelhouse was burning. My head and stomach seemed to mimic the scene in front of me, they were burning, pounding in synch, wild and uncontrolled. It all made me want to throw up, hide, or scream. I couldn't decide.
I leaped off of Cassius and ran for the house, Solomon hot on my heels.
"Mom!" I screamed, "Mom!" Solomon caught up to me and wrapped me in a tight bearhug.
"Althea, you can't go in there. You can't!"
"My mother, she's in there, she's in there! She's not dead, she isn't, I have to find her!" I sobbed struggling against Solomon's hold, pounding his arms.
"Althea, Althea listen, there is nothing you can do for her! We have to go, Althea, please." He scooped me up and placed me back on top of Cassius. "We'll get you to the Empress. She'll know what to do." I nodded absently, my head was buzzing and my body was numb. Solomon mounted again, and wheeled Cassius around. We galloped back out of the courtyard and I wrapped my arms around Solomon, my tears soaking the back of his shirt.