Bartoc, the unicorn hunter, stood over his prize. A white unicorn bathed in a coat of Sardinian that glinted and shimmered in the full moonlight. The Unicorn neighed, frantically struggling against the fowler's ropes, its legs sinking deeper into the boggy mire. Its Sardinian coat marred by the deepening mud.
The beast stopped struggling. The breath from its nostrils vented like icy flames in the moonlight. Its whimsical eyes pleading to Bartoc’s very soul in unveiled fear. But Bartoc knew the wiles of the beast and the depth of their deception. A beast that used their horn like a wand, bringing the unwary under its spell, to do their bidding. Plunging them into a dreamscape where they would dream until their body withered and died, leaving a haunted smile on their weathered face.
Virgin’s of esteemed beauty were less lucky. Their very soul sucked from them to feed the beast's beauty and replace it as their own. Their bodies never found, only rumors of what befell them passed down from generation to generation.
Oh course, a few sought to sever the horn from the beast's head. To wield its power for their own nefarious schemes, but they too reaped an unpleasant demise. Their corpses a warning to those that contemplated following that path.
Bartoc had lost many a huntsman in his pursuit of the wretched beasts. And now he was the last. But it didn’t matter. This would be the last. This was the queen of the beasts. After tonight, there would be no more. His revenge would be complete.
This was the one that robbed him of his beloved so many years ago. He remembered it like it was yesterday. The night of their wedding. His bride on the edge of the woods. Lured there by the foul beast. Her slender form silhouetted in the moonlight, illuminating her wedding dress. Her arm outstretched towards him, longing in her eyes. A flash of white, a horse like scream, and she was gone. Only the Sardinian-ghostly shimmer of a unicorn fading into the moonlit woods. From that moment on, Bartoc dedicated his life to hunting the cursed beasts. The blade of his axe, stained red with the stench of their blood.
But in all this time, Bartoc had not found the one he sought.
That was until tonight...
He had captured the queen. He could smell the scent of of his true love on this one. Tonight, Bartoc's revenge would finally be quenched with the blood of this beast.
Bartoc raised his axe above his head. The blade glinted in the moonlight, reflecting the evil in Bartoc’s eyes.
The Unicorn struggled, knowing its end was near.
Bartoc tensed. The weight of the blade shifting in his hand as he prepared to strike.
A voice, as soft and fragrant as a summer's breeze, breathed across his very soul. A voice he would never forget, the voice of his one true love.
He steeled himself, clinging to his hatred, forcing it through his body like a rage. “Your wiles will not work on me, you foul beast. He raised his axe once more. You took the life of my wife, so now I will take yours.”
The voice grew louder; the words washing over him, reaching to his very soul. He glanced into the beast's eyes, and for a moment saw the reflection of his one true love staring back at him.
Bartoc stumbled backwards. His axe fell beside him and his head cracked against a tree. Pain surged through him in a sea of stars. He slumped unconscious to the ground.
When he awoke, he was bathed in a brilliant white light and in the distance, the slender form of his one true love, adorned with the dress from their wedding night.
She approached him, the ropes that bound her slid from her shoulders. Her silvery hair trailed behind her, willowing like a mane as she walked. Beneath soft brown eyes, rose-red lips smiled beneath a moonlit, pale face. Her eyes fulled with a love that pierced to Bartoc’s trembling soul.
She crouched at his feet and kissed his trembling lips. Her fragrance filled his nostrils, melting the last of his hatred like the sun on the early morning dew.
“Si… Sireene! But how?”
Sireene nursed the back of his neck. “My love, I’m so sorry for deceiving you, but on the night we were to marry, I was called to the land of the north. A summons I could not refuse. Word came to me of your pursuit of my sisters and I have only just this night returned.”
Bartoc wept. “But my love. I killed your kind in my rage. My hate consumed me like a rottenness that eats to the bone. It is a price that can not be repaid. In my weakness, I have dishonored your memory and my heartfelt joy, for your return has been swallowed up by a grief I cannot bear.”
Sireene wiped away his tears with the softness of her hand. “But my precious Bartoc. My eternal love. All is forgiven. And all will be forgotten. For on this night, we will begin anew. The memories of the past will fade like a whisper on the wind. I will be by your side forever. Your tears will be forgotten and I will give you the life your heart has always dreamed of.”
“But my love. I am so tired. The burden I carry is too heavy to bear.”
“Rest, my love. said Sireene, resting her hand against his chest. Soon your burden will be gone.”
Bartoc felt a warm glow around him, enveloping him in an ocean of contentment. Sireene’s words faded into the dark warmth of sleep.
Sireene softly kissed Bartoc’s lips. The salty taste of her fragrant breath filled Bartoc’s lungs. And through this gesture, Bartoc dreamed the dream of a life spent with his one true love, from the moment they met to the day the sun set on their lifetime of love. His dreams fulfilled in a moment of time. Until they returned to the earth and were buried together by each other's side.
A tear ran down Bartoc’s face. He breathed his last breath. His life spent, his body withered and gray. A smile on his face etched into his weathered face. Fulfilled with no regrets.
Sireene smiled. And with outstretched hand, gathered up Bartoc’s memory into her palm, drawing it into her chest where it would live forever. With one final kiss, she rose to her feet and transformed into the queen of the unicorns with a shimmer of white.
Others joined her from the shadows and bowed at her feet.
“It is done. She said, but his memory will live on."
With a flick of her tail, they galloped into the moonlit trees. Their lives free from Bartoc, the last of the unicorn hunters.
And so ends the tale of Bartoc, the last of the Unicorn hunters.
But Bartoc’s death was not in vain, as some believe.
For unicorns believe his memories would pass down from generation to generation, for there was some truth in what Sireene said, queen of the unicorns. Bartoc was her first and her last, and now she carries the memory of him with her always. The only man that she would ever love.
The End
Picture created by AI on NightCafe
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