This is S. L.
Carlson, and I am pleased to be a BWL Publishing Inc. author. My books can be
viewed and purchased by visiting https://www.bookswelove.net/carlson-s-l
I have hiked
mountains, worked farmlands, and swum in oceans, but best love the woodlands,
lakes and rivers, where my settings take place. I have taught grades K-8, along
with a multiple other jobs, but anything to do with outdoor adventures is me.
While sitting alone in an autumn, I may or may not have been witness to magical
creatures.
War Unicorn: The
Ring is the prequel to the three books of The War Unicorn Chronicles. In it, we
learn that while removing a dead tree root, how Aldric (aka Rick) first
encountered Neighbor, the war unicorn, in an enchanted ring:
He sat on the edge of the dug-out trench and kicked at
the trunk with both feet. It wiggled, like his little sister Mercy’s, loose
tooth. He stood and shoveled another load. Something clinked, and then glinted
red in the shovelful of dirt. Aldric picked up the tiny silver box with a
silver circle attached. He slipped his finger through the circle. It fit perfectly.
Embedded on the lid were three red tear-shaped stones. He spit on it and rubbed
the box-ring on his shirt. The gems sparkled in the fading sunlight. His family
had never owned anything so grand. He wondered if people in a city like Nimrock
wore jewelry like this. Perhaps he could go to there to trade it. The ring was
legally theirs, for no one had owned this field before them, except for the
king. Maybe they could buy another field with it.
Aldric stuck it in his pocket and pointed at the root. “You
will come out.”
This was taking too much time. He flexed his biceps,
after two days’ worth of muscle-building from this root, it was time for it to
go. The quickest way would be to set the short trunk and root on fire.
Unfortunately, the sky was empty of clouds to draw down lightning. That was
really a good thing, because his father might cease any more spell-casting
lessons if rain clouds suddenly started disappearing, a sure sign magic was
afoot.
Fire. He clapped three times to get the attention of the
natural elements around him. Little puffs of smoke floated away from between
his hands. Calling out their rock family names, Aldric pointed to seven stones,
his hand moving to the rhythm of his voice. He continued pointing and singing,
directing them like a grand conductor of the choirs of old. Snap. Snap. Snap.
Snap. The stones struck against each other. Tiny sparks flew from the
encounters.
Aldric sang out in his off-key voice, “You’re going to
burn. Ha-ha.”
Stones danced toward the tree root, clashing together and
producing more sparks. The root finally caught fire. Aldric put the rocks back
to sleep and smiled. He sat cross-legged by the crackling flames, enjoying the
warmth on his face while the coolness of the earth soaking into his trousers.
A pulse beat within his pocket, like a heartbeat of a
bird. He drew out the ring and held it to his ear, listening. He shook it. His
own heartbeat quickened and then slowed to the same rhythm of the ring. He took
out his knife and jimmied the lid, flipping it open on an unseen hinge.
Suddenly, the flanks of a white horse appeared. Aldric
rolled into the dirt pile to escape the flying hooves. The animal ran about ten
paces and then spun, lashing out with its powerful hind legs. She was a
beautiful horse, with perfectly formed muscles, but if fire could flare from an
animal’s eyes, Aldric felt certain it could come from this one. She looked
angry enough to pull the tree root out with her teeth.
Something protruded from her forehead, a long thin
branch. Was she hurt? It made her look like a unicorn from one of his mother’s
hearth stories.
It’s okay, beauty.” Aldric made a reassuring clicking
sound. “I’ll get that out for you.” He
waved his hand and sang a calming song. His cracking voice couldn’t calm a
boulder, but he sang anyway.
As her front hooves touched the ground, she bounced back
up, head down, branch pointing at Aldric. She charged at him.
Startled, he rolled out of the way. He looked over his
shoulder for another assault, afraid the dangerous creature might run at his
sisters near the house. But she was gone, vanished as quickly as she appeared.
She wasn’t toward the river, or close to the north woods. He scanned the apple
orchard near their house. Nothing unusual.
Aldric released his breath, and then breathed in softly
as he listened to the land. His fire crackled and wind whispered through dried
grass in the field. He could barely hear the Red River rapids in the distance.
Perhaps his older sister, Sasha, saw the horse come her way. She spent a lot of
time down there lately. Aldric listened harder. The breeze rustled leaves in
the orchard, where Mercy and Baby Ann were singing to the trees. Their voices
were worth listening to.
Something was missing. Birds. Birds always chirped and
flew close to the orchard. Aldric would have thought the whole white horse
incident was merely his imagination if not for the silence of the birds.
Then, just as quickly, the birds started up again.
Aldric blinked. “How peculiar.”
The red gems on the closed ring glinted from the orange
blaze. It must have closed when he rolled away from the horse. Aldric opened
the lid again. In another rush of wind, the white horse reappeared and kicked
out with her hind legs. She leapt, barely clearing the flames at the last
minute. She turned, snorted, and stomped large front hooves. Her ears lay flat
against her head as she stared at him from the other side of the fire. The
horn, he was sure it was a horn now, flickered orange. She stood still, breathing
heavily, fire in her eyes. Or perhaps that was just the reflection. Aldric
extended his arms and re-sang the calming song. The unicorn seemed to cringe.
She stared at his finger with the box-ring.
Carefully watching the beast, he held a finger over the
open ring top. As Aldric shut the lid, he heard a mournful cry.
“Noo!”
The unicorn disappeared.
Aldric held the ring to his ear once more. He couldn’t
hear the pulse, but he sensed it. Did the animal shrink and live inside the
ring? He’d just take a peek.
As he lifted the lid, she appeared, ran the same ten
paces as before, spun and kicked out. The mare glanced around, and then shot
Aldric an irritated look. She trotted in a circle around the fire and him,
bucking and shaking her head and mane. Her muscles rippled with power. The thin
spiraled horn, not quite an arm’s length long, looked threatening. Aldric
didn’t take his eyes off of the unicorn as she circled, then stopped. He
wouldn’t give her a moment to disappear on him again. Aldric took a step closer.
The creature retreated a step. She kept a steady distance from him, as if an
invisible tether bound her.
“You don’t want to
be here, but you’re not running away.”
The unicorn looked left and right as if contemplating
that very thing.
“Here I am, thinking
out loud as if you understand me. I think I shall call you ‘Flame.’”
The unicorn blew out between her lips. “Bbburr. I think I shall call you ‘Stupid’,”
she replied.
To read more
of Aldric and Neighbor’s adventures in battles and magic, be sure to check out
my BWL Inc. Publisher Author Page at https://www.bookswelove.net/carlson-s-l
And for tidbits of unicorn fun, see my S. L. Carlson blog
and website at https://authorslcarlson.wordpress.com
