by Setlu Vairst
***
Behind them, a bee continued to work upon the flowers, always quickly moving on to the next, always heading in the direction along which the two beasts had just disappeared.
The bees wings beat a gentle throbbing upon the zephyrs and played a peaceful, gentle sound around the trees, shrubs, grass and flowers... and somewhere not too distant, humans went about their business of survival by the cruellest means.
NUMBERS
19 - Numbers I - One Two by Two
The two, as one, journeyed on for two days and for two nights and still they had not reached Essilon. On the third day it began to rain. Flack became frightened by this strange phenomenon. It was the first time he had ever experienced rainfall and yet, somewhere in his mind, he felt as though it were not; he felt as though he knew of rain, terrible rain, and he knew that they could be deadly and even though he could not explain his feeling he felt sure that it would be nothing that Shane could answer for him and so he did not raise the subject.
Flack felt sure that Shane had seen his nervousness from the moment clouds began to gather overhead, blocking out the frail sunshine that had pierced the canopy occasionally and the brighter sun that had been replaced by dark clouds when they had raced through their last clearing. At first it was only the clouds but, now that rain had begun to fall, driving its way through the protective canopy of the forest, Flack had found his anxiousness increased many times.
By Shane not mentioning Flack’s increasing change in mood, Flack was grateful because it would not be anything that he could explain. ‘Perhaps, that is all it is, the rains are new to me and it is the newness of them that makes me feel apprehensive. Shane does not appear to be worried by the rains and so then neither should I’
He knew that he had been stopping and pawing and stamping the ground each time their seemed to be a darker tinge to the air as the black clouds coverage of the skies became more complete. There was no way that Shane had not seen the powerful worry build up in him and he must have realised that the darker the sky became the more regular he stamped and pawed at the ground with nervous anticipation, as if he was expecting something more to invade the air. Then, with a sudden burst of lightning, there came a loud shout from Flack and, as the thunder bellowed almost immediately after, Flack bolted away and ran directly for the nearest group of trees and shrubs.
Shane could not keep pace with the incredibly fast gallop and had to allow Flack to charge ahead, hoping that the unicorn would not trip or collide with anything hidden in the darkness. Not long after, Shane too had reached the trees which Flack had chosen as his refuge from the on-coming storm.
Panting heavily, Flack stood there with his body soaked with the rain which had come screaming from the sky just after the thunder had echoed his loud moan across the countryside, and he watched the eyes of the dog that came running to him, seeing the look of concern and worry and, more importantly, puzzlement, on his features.
With Shane continuing to stare at him in amazed awe, Flack watched him as he shook his coat, sending streams of waves outward from his body in waves, and then begin advancing closer towards the huge towering, shivering frame of Flack. Looking down at Shane, with his fear obvious in his face but more so within his eyes, Flack blinked and then slowly turned his head away from the gaze of the dog, feeling embarrassed.
