Pure gold (part two)

PURE GOLD (PART TWO)

Summer passed into a hazy warm memory as autumn arrived in a blaze of colour. The leaves turning
various shades of crimson,ochre,and brown. The green grass gradually fading and drying to a knee
high expanse of golden stems swaying in the breeze. The unicorns floating through it all, spots of
purest white like the sails of tall ships glimpsed from a distance.
One autumn evening a disaster struck the herd. While long shadows played across the billowing
grass, the unicorns seemingly ablaze in the orange glow of the setting sun. A dark spot appeared on
the horizon, approaching from the direction of the dying sun. The dominant stallion, eyes watering as he
squinted into the light, stood unsure of what to do as the spot grew larger.
A stray cloud passed over the sun suddenly revealing the shape of a creature swooping down on them.
A dragon of nightmare proportions. All red, and bristling with claws and hooked scales, a bestial snarl
curling back its snout to reveal great curved dagger like teeth. A gout of oily black and orange flame
shooting from its opening maw.
Circling high above the plains the dragon had planned its attack. The alabaster forms below easy
to spot against the yellowy brown meadows. Down it swept, fingers gripping convulsively, talons
glinting in the evening light, towards the batchelor group on the right of the main herd.
The stallion screamed out his fear and set the harem running for a canyon some five miles distant.
Bucking and swerving around them to keep the foals and mares together.
On the first sweeping pass the Dragon slashed its way through four young males, leaving their bloodied
forms where they lay. Beginning a slow lazy arc to swing down behind them once more. At a height
of one hundred feet the dragon noted the two distinct dust clouds. One,that of the batchelors, the other
much larger that of the harem and stallion.
Running flat out, necks extended,nostrils blowing hard, the main herd raced along the moors.Sparks
flying from their hooves so many in number it was as if each shed starry constellations at each step.
The scarlet winged horror plummeted out of the sky, the air became filled with the screams of
petrified unicorns. Down it came, the wind rushing over its ridged back. It arrowed towards the batchelors
bellowing in lust, a great blast of flame engulfing the galloping shapes. As the dragon shot overhead the
backdraft from its wings blew out the burning bodies, leaving behing a dozen charred corpses.
The harem, led by the big stallion thundered into the canyon their hooves barely touching the ground
so great was their speed. Surrounded on three sides by rock they finally ground to a nervous halt.The
stallion snorting the command to stay turned and began to trot back towards the dragon. Knowing that
when it had finished gorging itself on the tough bodies of his fellow males it would come looking for the
tender, juicy foals.
In the distance a tiny dust cloud started up.Heading towards the blood bath where the dragon
crouched, powerful jaws crunching through skin and bone.
The dominant stallion stood gazing at the countryside it loved, knowing that today was his last as
master of the herd. Turning, he shrilled out his challenge. The dragon looked up from its grisly feast, its
tail thrashing in anger. The stallion charged, speeding towards the dragons neck. The ground flew by
beneath his hooves, the air whistling as it was parted by his pearly horn. With dignity and pride in every
fibre of his being he hurtled forward.
The dragon growled, reared up and struck viciously. The stallion was brought to a slamming halt as
wickedly sharp fangs plunged into his throat then ripped clear. Staggering drunkenly the stallion sat as his
rear legs gave way, the dragons venom coursing through him. He sank to the ground, his eyes dimming,
cracks appearing in his horn as it crumbled away to dust, his heart stopped.
The harem stood alone and unprotected. The slim and dainty females and foals shivering in fright as
the dragon neared the mouth of the canyon in a peculiar shifting gait. A distant dust cloud resolved itself into
the shape of a unicorn, an oddly coloured unicorn.
The outcast tore across the grassland, sweat pouring down his flanks washing away the dust and dirt
of an animal with no self respect.Revealing a hide of rippling burnished gold.No longer the sandy
unicorn, he was now the only stallion alive, a stallion of pure gold.
At the sound of galloping the dragon began to whip around to face the new enemy, but was too late.
Unable to spot a sandy unicorn in the dry, brown grass from the air it had made a fatal error. A four and
a half foot bronzed horn ripped through the armour plating of its back skewering it neatly through one
lung and into its heart. The spitted dragon began to expand as the volatile gases for fire breathing
began to mix internally. With a flick of his head the golden unicorn withdrew his horn. The dragon
exploded in a ball of flame and viscera.
The golden stallion, head held high, trotted towards the harem. Who stood, heads to one side in a mark
of respect for the new dominant male.
Now a new herd of unicorns grazes the leaves in the forest meadow. Many of them now have golden horns,
a legacy of their sire. Once every few years a different unicorn is born.One with a coat of pure gold. A
direct descendant of the outcast dragonslayer.This golden animal invariably becomes the leader of the herd.

THE END