Later we continued to walk, and I held Ikko's hand so he wouldn't fall when he stumbled. I looked ahead of the trail and we were coming up a hill. I sighed and looked around the trees trying to entertain myself with the scenery. 'I don't know why, but this forest seems familiar to me. That's strange since I've never been here before.'
I suddenly caught a glimpse of something white in the corner of my eye. I turned my head but I saw nothing. Just a peaceful forest. I stopped subconsciously, and felt something very warm in my heart. 'I want to go into the forest for some reason.' Arine and Cienar turned back to look at me and Ikko squeezed my hand. "What is it?"
I broke out of the spell and walked over to Cienar and let go of Ikko's hand. "I'll be right back. Can you watch him for me?" Arine raised an eyebrow. "Where are you going?" I hesitated. 'Where AM I going?' I got an idea and looked to Arine. "I um, gotta pee. I won't be long." I turned and ran into the forest without another word.
I slowed my run to a walk as soon as I was out of sight. 'Why am I here? What was that I saw? I have to find out.' I looked around the forest and started to get that feeling again. 'Is this a trick? Is someone messing with me?' I approached a stream and stopped. 'I should go back.' I thought as I watched the sunbeams through the trees sparkle on the water. I was about to turn away when I heard something. It was faint, yet a beautiful sound.
I looked up and I couldn't believe what I saw. A white mare walked towards me out of the shade and into the sunlight. With the sunbeams against her skin, she glowed brightly in front of me. She was a beautiful horse, I looked to her face and there was a long horn on her head. It sparkled, and it was beautiful.
For some reason I felt connected with her. I was mesmerised by her beauty and how close she was to me. 'In all my life, I never thought I would see a unicorn, let alone get close to one. I thought unicorns never got close to anything. Since they're souls are so valuable, they've been hunted to extinction. So why did she come to me?' She slowly walked across the stream and up to me. She looked at me and I slowly reached out to pet her. She flinched, but let me. I pet her face and reached to touch my fingers to her horn.
I could feel the power in it, and it was so familiar. She then tilted her head so her horn brushed my cheek. I smiled. 'I don't know why I feel so at home here, but I want to enjoy this moment with her.' Then suddenly, I heard Arine call for me. I stepped back and looked behind me. There was no one there and I exhaled in relief. 'I should go back.' I turned to say goodbye to the mare, but she was gone. I looked around and she was nowhere in sight. 'That was weird.'
Later I came back to the trail where everyone was waiting for me. Arine had his arms crossed. "There you are! Come'on! We're almost to the town." Cienar began to turn around. "It's just over this hill, so not too much longer." I hurried up to follow them and took Ikko's hand.
We made our way up the hill and all the time I was trying to figure out what happened to me. 'It must've been a hallucination or something. It couldn't have been real. Why would I just happen to see a unicorn in a forest as small as this one? And why on Earth did it let me touch her?' I pushed the questions to the back of my brain so my head would stop hurting.
We reached the top of the hill and saw the town in the distance below us. It was alongside the beach and had docks with many ships and traders. Arine pointed to the docks. "We'll need a ship if we're going to make it to Devil's island. That's where the sorcerers castle is."
We started to walk down the hill and Cienar turned to Arine. "Why couldn't I carry all of you across using water?" Arine kept his eyes on the docks. "It's too far. And I'm sure that me and Ikko wouldn't like our wings being wet for that long." Cienar nodded and we made our way through the town and to the docks. We got looks from anyone who saw us, but that I expected.
There were a lot of fisherman there, merchants, traders, and it reeked of fish, seawater, and men. I held my breath when I could, and an old man approached us with a smile. "Can I help you fine travelers?" Cienar looked to him. "Yes. We need a boat." The old man pushed his glasses to his face. "A boat, well, that would cost a lot of money." Cienar tossed a coin to him and the man smirked.
"One gold coin isn't nearly enough lad." Cienar tilted his head. "Look at it again." He raised an eyebrow and held the coin up to his face. He suddenly gasped. "Why, t-this is a coin from the treasure of the lost city of Atlantis! How, how did you get this?!" Cienar smiled. "Let's just say that having gills is useful." The man looked at him surprised and realized that he was a siren. "A boat coming up right away! It'll be just a moment." He left and I couldn't help being impressed. "Is that common money where you come from?"
Cienar turned back to me. "No. I'm actually the only one who knows where Atlantis is." Arine's mouth dropped. "What?! Why didn't you tell anyone?!" He sighed. "When you've seen what I've seen, you would know that most things are better off left a secret." Those words went deeper into me than I thought they would. It was true in a way, like if everyone knew where the last of the unicorns were, hunters would come for them, and the balance of the world would shift and die.
Later after we had gotten our boat, I went out to get some food from the market so that we wouldn't go hungry before we reached the island. I headed back to the docks with Ikko still holding my hand. I hadn't let him leave my sight and he was fine about it. He was really quiet actually. He was usually quiet, but it was weirder now that he was a kid.
"Is something bothering you?" He was quiet for a moment longer. "Yeah, but you don't want to hear it." I looked down to him surprised. "Of course I do. Why wouldn't I want to hear it?" He sighed. "It's about the blood you gave me."
I blinked. "Oh. Was it, not good?" He looked up at me. "No. It was the opposite. I can't stop thinking about it. It also bothers me that the first time I tasted it was when I was in this stupid body." I was surprised. "You... Wanted to taste my blood before...?"