Rowyn

Winged knight in shining armour. (©SunBlind)

Once upon a time there was a beautiful unicorn filly who lived on Unicorn Island and her name was Rowyn. She loved to dance and play with the rest of the unicorn herd, and she could often be found writing poetry, since that was her magical talent. She loved the Island very much and was very happy. But sometimes she was lonely. She needed to only look to the unicorn pairs of Alidus and Nimue or Rhadia and Alywyn to see how happy they were. Even her cousin Gothien found a mate called Verylla.

You see, Rowyn often dreamed of her Stallion with Silver Horn. He was strong and handsome, but caring and loving. Together they would sing beneath the golden sun, or race in the light of the moon. His mane and tail would fill the air when the wind blew through it, his hooves would not touch the ground as he walked. And so Rhadia set off to find her Stallion with Silver Horn.

The other unicorns were sad to see her leave, but wished her well on her journey. The herd formed a circle and opened the portal to other lands. As Rowyn did not know where she should go, she decided to let the magic bring her where it would. So the unicorn mare closed her eyes and stepped into the swirling vortex.

When she opened her eyes again, she was somewhere else. It was very dark here. There were no trees, no grass, no rivers, no sky. There was nothing but rock. Rowyn was afraid but pretended to be brave. She was sure she would find her Stallion with Silver Horn here.

She travelled through many winding passageways and soon discoverd she was lost. Her feet hurt since unicorn hooves were not meant for travelling through rocky, uneven caverns but for galloping across vast grasslands or bounding through hidden forests. She shivered in the cold and longed for the sun to break through the stone ceilings of this place.

Then Rowyn heard a strange hiss from behind her. Could she have imagined it? But then she heard it again. Moving no more than a statue would, she waiting for the thing to pass. Hopefully it would not see her. But it did.

The dragon had hunted these caverns for many a year and creatures soon learnt not to venture too deep within its twisted tunnels or risk being caught in the dragon's deadly jaws. You see, the dragon Srrresss feared the blinding sun which protected the creatures outside the caves. He dared not venture forth at night for the moon shone down its baleful eye upon him. So, as time passed and fewer and fewer animals lost their way in the caves, the dragon become more and more hunger, and more and more cruel.

Srrress let out a hiss of pleasure when he saw the white creature before him. He was tired of feeding on mindless mice, they barely were a mouthful, but this one was large. It was also strong and that horn upon its head could not be ignored. The dragon let out a hiss of joy. This would be a challenge, it had been so long since he last had one.

"Welcome," the dragon whispered. "Are you lost? If you would like I could show you the way out"

Rowyn let out the breath she was holding. "Yes, thank you. I would like that and would be very grateful."

"Come then," came the slippery voice. "I am Srrresss, and this is my home."

"I am Rowyn, a unicorn. I don't suppose you've seen others of my kind?"

"Not in a very long time," the dragon said as he began walking. He noticed how gingerly Rowyn placed her hooves. She was in pain, that was good. She wouldn't be able to fight as well. "You seem tired, come, I'll bring you to my rooms and you may sleep a while."

"Please, I'd rather go outside now," Rowyn disliked the way the dragon looked at her, with one glaring eye.

"Don't be foolish, it is night outside and many dangerous creatures roam these lands. You are safe with me."

Seeing no way to avoid his hospitality, Rowyn agreed to go with him, she was tired after all. Though he seemed to find this all very amusing. She would keep an eye on him. Srrresss brought her to a large warm cave. The floor was covered with gold and jewels and other treasures of his hoard. He gestured that she may sleep upon it, obviously not aware that a unicorn would much preffer the soft grass near a stream. But she lay down just the same and tried to sleep.

Rowyn remained awaked, regardless how tired she was, but Srrresss thought that had fallen asleep and licked his fangs. Very quietly he slithered up to her. Sensing danger, Rowyn opened her eyes and saw the gaping, smoking mouth of the dragon. She jumped up and kicked at the dragon with her hooves and slashed at him with her horn, then galloped away as fast as she could.

She ran a very long time, every step caused her greater pain, sometimes she would stumble and once she fell to her knees, scratching them, but she did not stop. Srrresss was not about to let this one get away. Finally she saw a faint light ahead of her, the way out. With the last bit of energy she had she raced through the opening into the night outside.

The dragon would not have followed her during the day, but the clouds covered the moon, it would not see him tonight, and he was so hungry. And so he too left the cavern.

Rowyn could barely move her legs anymore, but she forced herself around the bend of the mountain path, only to be forced to stop by a wide abyss. There was no way she could jump across. She was trapped! She looked behind and saw the cruel dragon stop when it spied her. His mouth opened into a ghastly grin, and he ran his tongue along his teeth. He was going to enjoy this, and moved towards the frightened unicorn.

Just as he was close enough to attack, Rowyn shrieked and the moon broke through the clouds. The dragon hissed in rage and swore at the silver eye above his head. But he was not going to let his quary escape, not this time. He prepared to attack once more when a dark shadow appeared to rise up from the moon herself. It came swift as lightning and silent as the night. The dragon could take no more, not now that the moon was sending her minions to defend the unicorn. Srrresss roared in anger and returned to the empty darkness of the caves.

Rowyn prepared herself to be attacked herself by this shadow of the night. But it landed gently before her and stepped into the light of the moon. A winged unicorn stallion stood before her, his horn reflecting the silver light of the moon. He bowed gracefully before her and cocked his head to one side.

"Fairest filly, I am Githraniel. May I take you home?"

And so Rowyn returned with Githraniel, and the love between them grew with every passing moment. Though he lived way above her, in the realm of the Winged Ones, he often came down to see his mate. And as she raced along the beach at night, he'd soar above her amongst the stars. As she wrote poems of love for him, he would quietly nuzzle her and let her rest her head against his neck.

And so they lived happily ever after.

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• Text © SunBlind
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