Welcome

In the forest, Roween darted around the trees, feeling the breeze and warm sun now warming the mid-summer morning. The trees were full, and the animals were nowhere to be found.

“The critters scurry, I do not see. What fritters make them want to flee?” Roween thought as she landed on a nearby branch.

She touched the tree and, using her magic, spoke to her friend. But, unfortunately, the maple told her that several hunters came through, which annoyed the fairy. She had been protecting the local creatures for most of their existence.

The fairy huffed, “No fair, they hunt them now. They never share when furrowed brow.”

She flew around the summer heat now pounding. But being a fairy, she worried not about the weather. She was magic. As she passed, Roween’s eyes noticed a flicker of shiny blue. She paused, the fairy spying a truck heading through the path of the forest and followed, its blue color making it easy to see among the forest green. As She followed, her mind thinking how she could usurp the hunters. But as she moved along, the trees became familiar, and when she saw the house, the truck stopped at she waited cautiously nearby.

As Ron stepped out of the truck, her heart soared as she felt the magic of the wooden ring he wore. “he has returned, and a new toy. Never spurred, oh such joy.”

Roween could see Ron and heard him announce himself as he opened the door to the cabin, making her smile. Roween had many things to do, and the forest demanded her attention. So she had stayed in his house while the magic creatures were being taken.

She flew closer and looked along the window frame. The front door was new, and the crack she had used to enter was no longer there. She flew to the kitchen, and above the kitchen window was a small door under a pitched roof. The fairy smiled, “you are thoughtful, that is true. Ever thoughtful, that, I thank you.”

Roween knew that the small door would allow her entry into the home. Not that she would not have found a way to enter. But, it was a welcoming thought that warmed her making her light glow brighter.

The fairy watched for some time, and she put the hunters in the back of her mind seeing her friend again. His arrival and the long-time promise to Linda were something she knew would be better among the two of them. And the fairy knew that the woods still needed her.

* * *

Along the forest, there was a blur of white. A wispy mane and tail could be seen flowing in the breeze. The sunlight was bright, and any average person would have trouble seeing anything from its brilliance. The form moved graciously along in the clear meadow. The creature’s head was lowering to sample the grass beneath its feet. Hearing a snap, the creature’s ear flicked, hearing a noise in the thick forest around it.

“Bram, you’re an idiot! I told you to be careful. We don’t want the cursed thing evading us again.” A man grumbled, pulling the other toward him as he leaned against a large tree. The dark goggles he wore looking sorely out of place.

Bram looked at the device he held, its screen showing readings that he had been trying to make sense of since they bought it from the auction. He fumbled with the controls and pulled out a small book, its handwritten notes barely legible.

The other flipped google up as he rolled his eyes, “Stop messing with that thing. We still don’t know what else it can do.”

“You know, Foster. I’m tired of you thinking you’re the only one who knows what we found. If I hadn’t read through this notebook, we would have sold it to that lady at that magic books shop.” Bram griped.

Foster looked to the small meadow before lowering the goggles again. “Yeah, I know. But, if we can catch this thing, we’d be famous.”

Foster looked back at Bram, “you sure this is what you said it was?”

Bram flipped through the tattered notebook, its edges littered with yellow and multicolored tabs. Bram nodded, “yep, looks like a horse, bright glowing light all around it, horn on its head.” The man flipped down his goggles as he looked to the small clearing, “yep, it’s a unicorn.”

Bram heard the metallic clicked from the gun, Foster inspecting it, making Bram ask, “you sure that stuff won’t kill it?”

“Hey. It’s like a horse, right?” Foster replied. “This is a horse tranquilizer. The thing should be fine.”

Foster aimed the barrel of the gun toward the creature. The man had to flip the goggles up several times; the dark obsidian glass made it difficult to see the sights. He aimed but hesitated.

“That book have anything about what this creature can do?” Foster asked.

Bram flipped through the pages. He read as quickly as possible before responding, “nope, just warnings.”

Foster turned, looking annoyed, “warnings? What warnings?”

Bram shrugged, “it just says you don’t look into its eyes. It’ll make you do things.”

Foster glanced toward the clearing, “what do you mean things?”

His partner closed the book in frustration, “how do I know? I don’t know anything about this magic creature stuff. I’m still freaking out about seeing those clear body things that make the wind.” Bram shivered, “I just think it’s weird seeing through something that looks like a little person. It’s creepy.”

Foster chuckled, “you’re scared of sylphs? Really according to that book, they’re harmless. But, you know, if we bring this thing in, we’ll make a lot of money.”

Bram put the book into his pack and looked toward the unicorn. They both watched as its hooves scraped the ground before it started into the trees. “It’s moving. You still going to shoot it?”

Foster shook his head. He watched as the unicorn walked gracefully into the forest. The man pulled out his phone and tapped it, revealing their GPS location. A smile appeared across his face, “it’s heading toward the stream. We can get it there.” He looked up at Bram. “it’d have to cross water. And that may make it difficult for it to escape. Should make it easier to catch.”

“How do you know that?” Bram asked.

The man with the tranquilizer gun smiled, “don’t you remember when you were a kid? No magic can cross water.”

“I thought that was only evil?” Bram replied.

Foster shrugged, “Evil, magic, what does it matter.” He moved from behind the tree, “come on. We’ve got a unicorn to bring in.”