by Jesse Wilson
Chapter 3
Nymie was passed out on her bed, snoring away from a late night of watching old monster movies and snacking on chocolate bars. It was her month off and she had earned it after saving a small undersea village from a Cryo horn attack. Her phone rang and she ignored it, anyone calling would call back later. She didn't care about anything and only wanted to go back to dreams. Suddenly her phone answered itself.
“Nymie, are you awake, it's me Rex. We have a situation,” she groaned and turned over, putting a pillow over her head. “No, seriously I can hear you groaning over there, wake up, we have a potential black unicorn situation on our hands and this is obviously an all personnel on deck situation. I need you to wake up,” Rex said to her. The words black unicorn shot through her dreams as if they were a bullet and she was immediately wide awake.
“Black unicorns aren't real. Why are you pranking me on my month off, Rex?” she demanded to know. “No prank Nymie, this is the real thing. Maybe. Lexam wants it investigated, be here as soon as you can,” Rex said and the phone hung up.
Nymie sat up and her back cracked as she did so. “Trolls weren't meant to get up this early,” she said. The idea of a black unicorn was stupid and she didn't know what was going on. She turned on the news to catch the tail end of a developing story. “We'll have more on the attack on Larenville after this break,” the reporter said and it all went to a commercial that she didn't pay attention too. She'd never heard of that place but a feeling in her stomach told her that the phone call she got had something to do with this.
It was hard to believe a stupid trial of some royal dishwasher from the Northern Kingdom was over riding all but the worst stories this world had to offer. Not too many people cared about some village outside of the sea wall since everything almost came to an end, or appeared to. Nymie slowly stood up and shuffled her way into the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for work, even if it was her month off the call of duty was never one to be ignored.
“Am I going to die, doc?” a worried dwarf sat on the edge of a bed, sniffling. “For the third time, no, but you might want to get that mental problem you have checked out, it's just a cold, man. Go home and drink water, sleep for days and you'll be fine,” Boz said and started filling out a prescription for some kind of generic pain killers. “Are you sure doc, I mean my aunt had a cold just like this and a week later she was dead, dead you hear me?” the dwarf asked. Boz stopped writing.
“A week later you say? Well, sounds to me like it was more of a plague mage's curse, but I did a magic scan on you remember, no curses,” Boz said with a smile and he finished writing, ripped of the note pad and handed it to him. “Give this to the nice lady behind the counter and be sure not to sneeze on her, okay,” Boz said and the man took the paper, stood up and walked out without saying a single word.
“You're welcome you paranoid nutjob,” Boz said after the doors closed and took his latex gloves off when his phone began to ring. He answered it, “Yeah, what is it,” he said, annoyed at the last patient and walked out of his office so the cleansing charms could work.
“You bet I'm ready to get out of this hellhole,” Boz replied. “A black unicorn, you're kidding,” Boz said as he brushed his golden hair behind his pointed elf ears. It sounds like a good hunt and money for nothing but sure, I'm up for it,” he said and smiled.
“Meet you soon,” he said and hung up the phone. The medical officer took off his white overcoat and tossed it over the chair. He pushed a button on the wall and the microphone clicked. “Sarah, call in Dr. Norb. I've been called away on royal business,” he said into it. “Will do, thanks for the notice this time, doctor,” she replied and he smiled. “Yeah, sorry. I'm forgetful about the little things like telling people where I am going, it's a problem,” he replied and let the button go. He took off his long white overcoat and hung it on a nearby doorknob.
He took one last look around and walked out the door. Boz was a little excited, he'd always believed in the possibility of the black unicorn existing, but at the same time a little afraid of it.
##
Evie was meditating in her underwater chamber before an image of Elrox, the god of the sea and the creator of all her kind. She had been sitting cross legged in the middle of her room for hours thinking about nothing, trying to channel the Ethereal ocean. She was wearing nothing but a thin, see through ceremonial robe exposing her smooth, green interlocking scales of her body. Then the statue began to speak to her.
“Evie, answer the phone,” it said in a soft whisper and continued, “You will be needed for what comes next,” the statue finished and Evie jumped out of her position, only to immediately float back to the ground. The statue had never done anything before let alone spoke, but as she looked at it now there was nothing different about it. Sure, enough the phone rang and she picked it up.
“Hello?” she asked.
“I was expecting you, I'll explain later,” she said into the phone and never took her eyes off that statue. “I'll be at the castle as soon as I am dressed,” she said and hung up before Rex could even say goodbye.
“Not sure what you think I can do, Elrox, but I will do my best to do what you're expecting me to do, or, you know, try,” Evie said, the Elroxian mage swam upright in a second. “Zolt,” she said and at once her thin robe turned into a much thicker green robe to match her green scales, it was thick and flowed in the water weightlessly. An emerald staff appeared in her hands and she smiled, spun it around in her hands. A bright blue shaft of light appeared around her, then she was gone leaving nothing but a column of bubbles behind in her wake.
The sun was over the horizon, just long enough for Tayne to close the black shades to block the light out. Tayne was relocated from the Morglands to serve as a unicorn hunter. Tayne's work dove into the deeper, worse part of hunting. There were types of unicorns out there living beings should never come near, and this is what he was good at. Tayne lay down in his bed, shifted just enough to get comfortable and close his deep red eyes when the phone rang.
“Son of a snozbucket who the hell is calling me,” he said, reached over for his phone and pulled it to him. “Damn it, what do you want,” he growled and answered it. “Black unicorns aren't real, you're drunk on something, go home,” Tayne growled back to him and almost hung up. “You know, I don't care if the world is coming to an end, I had a long night. A pair of blood horns were hunting just outside of Nyrn last night. Three kids were taken and I, well, I lost them. The unicorns are banished but I was too late I need a break,” Tayne said, not one to hold back on some of the things he had seen, “I'm tired,” he finished saying.
“What do you mean Lexam wants everyone on board, we don't work together. Who's going to patrol if we are all out on a wild goose chase. This feels like a trap to me. Doesn't it feel weird to you to call in all the top people to just one spot?” Tayne asked, he was tired but not stupid. This was less to do with being objective and just not wanting to go out in the daylight even more.
“Fine, Bonnie, you don't need to start barking out the royal orders, I'll go if I have too,” he said and groaned about it. Vampires didn't need to sleep but the sunlight drained their strength and energy to the point that sleeping was a great option. He hung up the phone, threw off the covers and sat up again. “Xy, don't let the sunburn be too bad, that's all I ask,” he said a little prayer as he stood up and made his way to his refrigerator and opened it. There was no light on the inside.
He pulled out a large glass bottle of human blood, opened it and drank half of it in one shot. He wiped off the residue on his mouth and the blood reenergized him immediately. He closed the bottle and put it back into the fridge. He walked to his closet and got dressed.
All it was this time however was a pair of black jeans and a t-shirt to match. He slipped on his shoes, sunglasses, and grabbed his keys. Tayne opened the door and winced at the intensity of the sun. “Daylight is so overrated,” he said and quickly made his way to his car and got in.
&n
bsp; He started it and switched the windows to daylight mode. Immediately they filtered out most of the sunlight rendering the outsides completely black. Black windows were illegal on cars except for those considered undead, or in the Morglands. If any guard pulled him over he'd be sure to give them a piece of his mind.
Drask was spending her morning watching the news, drinking hot rum and soaking her feet in hot water that was near boiling wrapped in a light blanket and nothing else. She was in heaven as far as most dwarves were concerned. Being a unicorn hunter was tough work but it was very rewarding and she used her money well to live the best she could.
“Come on, we all know that Kenders opened up the blade, convict the little twerp and get it over already,” she shouted at the television but had no urge to do much more than that. She set her rum down and picked up her pipe put it between her lips and inhaled a large amount of smoke. It made her feel better. It was a long night as a Diamond horn clawed its way out of the ground and decided to terrorize a small town. She just got home only two hours before the sunrise and she was relaxing the only way she knew how to do it.
Then the phone rang.
“Damn it, what in the seven hells is this about, why is my phone ringing,” she glared at it, angrily. Took another puff of the pipe to try to calm down then answered the phone. “Yeah, what do you want,” she said in one breath and narrowed her eyes, the commercial for some new pill they made was just about over and the trial was going to be back on and she wanted to see it play out.
“No, I just got home, everything hurts so I need to recover. I'm not a machine or a vampire. I have limits,” she replied as the commercial came to an end. “You don't even know anything about a black unicorn, nobody does besides one small line of ancient nonsense, it's not even a thing,” Drask replied, not buying any of it.
“Lexam can go screw himself and his waterlogged throne, I'm not going anywhere,” she yelled again as her show came back on.
“What do you mean its mandatory?” she asked him and put the pipe down. “Fine, but I'm not driving. Send a car out for me, no, a limo. Bring a limo. I need to sleep on the way there, I've been up for about two days fighting a diamond horn. It's banished, no worries, I'll be ready but you better be on time,” she said and pushed the button to hang up. “I'll guess I'll never know if you did it, but I know you did it,” Drask said and narrowed her golden eyes at the television. She stood up and her body rebelled as her bones cracked into place and muscles strained. She stepped out of the cooling water as the blanket around her fell off around her on to her chair. She slowly walked to her bedroom threw open her closet and began pulling out things to wear.
In her tired state of mind nothing was quite making sense anymore. She threw on an old green t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Neither one fit quite right, the pants were too tight and the shirt was too big. “I'll have Evie fix it later, who cares,” she said and stumbled out of the room and straight into her front porch. “Lights off, please,” she said and not only all the lights went off, but the television too.
She sat in her rocking chair, pulled her golden brown hair back out of her face and leaned back into the chair. “Any time now,” she said and looked off into the sun shining through the mist, she saw a black limo coming in her direction. “I have to figure out how they get around so quick,” Drask said, fighting off the latest urge to pass out before they arrived.
“I called all the top ranked hunters and they all, well, they all agreed to show up for this,” she said and Rex looked at her. “Agreed, you practically told them not showing up would be considered treason, you really think that any of them would have said no?” Rex replied to her. “Well sometimes you need to do whatever it takes to get your way. If this is real enough to get the King all worked up about it, we are obligated to investigate it with all hands on deck don't you think,” she said and Rex just shrugged. “It'll be the easiest money we ever made,” he replied then changed the subject.
“Let's go see Voltarice,” he said, changing the subject and Bonnie just shook her head. “It's been awhile since she's been up and running we've taken care of her, you'll see,” Bonnie replied and the two of them walked away from the chaotic command center back to the elevator.
“Keep the star, Rex, you may need it in the future,” Bonnie said to him as the doors opened and they stepped in. “Well thanks for that, I'll keep it safe I promise,” he said and the doors closed around them.
The trip wasn't very long and due to the magical nature of the elevator, down or up wasn't exactly a direction they could tell they were going. Minutes later the doors opened and the two of them stepped out in to the docking bay.
Chapter 4
Before them the great airship Voltarice sat there in silence, it was just as he remembered it being. A massive silver airship that was designed to do this job. “It's a thing of beauty isn't it?” Evie asked, already there in the loading bay, waiting for them in her green robe. Rex jumped at her voice, he didn't see her there.
“Yeah it is, how did you get around the wards?” Rex asked her and she smiled. “I helped ward the place, remember, I know a few things. Teleportation spells are great thing,” she replied.
Rex still didn't look at her. “The others will be here soon, you might as well get on the ship and start getting ready to leave,” Rex said and turned around only to see a fading blue light. “Oh,” he said to himself and sighed.
“Mages are so hard to talk to sometimes,” he said and started to walk towards the ship. “Bonnie, go back to the command center and make sure that there isn't anyone trying to start anything on fire, alright. We'll need you there. Keep a lid on this from the media until you hear from me. I am sure some nosy reporters have already beaten us to the punch but contact the networks. Tell them it's more air time they can dedicate to that stupid trial, it should work,” Rex said, Bonnie nodded. “Yeah, I'll see if I can't get Lexam on the blackout, too,” she said and walked back towards the elevator.
“Alright ship, let's see if I still remember how to run you,” he said to no one and walked towards the thing. Voltarice scanned him at once with a blue beam and immediately Rex was transported onto the ship. “Welcome aboard, Commander,” a voice said to him and he smiled, no one had called him that in a while but he didn't mind.
“Thank you, Voltarice, could you give me a status report, please,” he asked as he walked towards the bridge. “We are ready to go any time you wish, everything is one hundred percent,” the computer voice said to him and he smiled. “Perfect, as soon as the rest of them get here we can leave,” he said and kept walking down the white halls. “Understood, Commander,” she replied and went silent.
One by one the rest of the crew began to arrive. It was only about an hour after the last phone call. Rex watched them all show up as he sat in the chair and couldn't help but laugh at himself. These people rarely worked together unless their districts over lapped.
They didn't get along and if there was anyone else he could have called he would have done just that, but these were the top ranked unicorn hunters in the Western Kingdom and he needed them now. He could only hope that it was all for nothing in the end and everything he was confronted with right now was nothing more than and a false alarm and an easy paycheck for all of them.
Rex got out of his chair and started to make his way towards the teleportation room. He knew they would all come aboard at the same time. No one liked being first in this group, except for Evie, but she liked to stay in her water filled chamber.
Not that he blamed her for that, being an Elroxian on an airship was marginally difficult at the best of times.
Rex stood outside of the chamber. “Four crew members teleporting now,” the ship said to him and a blue light flashed, they were all standing there before him. “Hi guys, how's it going?” Rex tried to lighten the mood but none of them were happy to see him really.
“Shove off, little man,” Nymie said to him and stormed past him, Drask said nothing, too tired to talk and follow
ed her. “Hey, Rex, I'm glad to see you at least,” Boz said and reached out to shake his hand. Rex returned the gesture and was happy at least someone was in a positive mood.
Tayne glared at Rex and cracked his neck. “Are all the supplies on this can yet? I'm thirsty and don't want to eat one of the scrubs that are running around here,” he said and Boz looked at him. “I could give you a bloodpatch you know, it could help you, Tayne,” Boz said and looked at him. “Yeah, but I've seen plenty of vampires get addicted to those things and go really bad. I think I'll just stick to the old-fashioned thing, but thanks anyway,” Tayne replied and Rex interjected.
“Yeah, the supplies are on board. I have your quarters stocked with all the blood you could ever need, just make sure you don't ask where it came from. I know you like the human stuff but we got some from everyone,” Rex said and both Boz and Tayne shuddered at the thought.
“I guess it'll have to do, thanks,” Tayne said and started to walk down towards his quarters. “Don't worry Boz, the sick bay is equipped too. I hope we won't need it, or you, don't take it personal,” Rex said to him. “Honestly I hope you don't need me either. I don't want to put any of you back together, so let's stay safe out there alright,” Boz replied and started to walk down to the sick bay. Rex smiled, but he knew that Boz really wanted to play the heroic medic type so he could brag about it at some point to show off.
“Great, my crew leaders are all overly tired and cranky. I guess I can do auto pilot,” he said to himself and began to make his way back to the bridge by himself.
