Greymist Grove #atozchallenge

 

For the A to Z Challenge, I'm having twenty-six flash fiction pieces from my Foxwick Kingdom and its surrounding neighbors. Soon A to Z Flashes of Foxwick will be available in e-book format. You can add this to your Goodreads list here.

 

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Greymist Grove

“I once saw a unicorn in Greymist Forest,” Orin said, his arrow notched in his bow.

“A unicorn, really? Everyone knows unicorns don’t come to men.” Quaylin crept forward as the mist swirled throughout the trees.

“Well this one didn’t get the decree.” Orin watched every step he took. One wrong move would send their game in flight. If the brothers came back empty-handed again, he doubted Quaylin’s wife would let them sleep inside for a month.

“What did it look like?”

A bird flitted through the trees. Orin paused and listened, but the quiet sounds of the forest continued. They hadn’t scared away their prey yet.

“Well?”

“Keep your voice down.” The trees and heavy fog slowly thinned. Once they entered Greymist’s grove, they would be able to set up and wait for a deer to come by the stream. “As for the unicorn, it looked like a horse ’cept with a horn.”

Quaylin laughed. “Sure it wasn’t a horse?”

“I’m sure.”

The brothers stepped through the mist and into the grove. A trickling stream flowed nearby. The bubbling water sounded like music to Orin’s ears. Birds tweeted in the distance. A clean, sweet scent of fruit trees rushed through his nostrils as he turned his face toward the shining sun. There were few things greater than the outdoors.

“Do you see that?” Quaylin lifted his bow.

Near the edge of the forest, two dark shapes drew closer.

Orin’s blood rushed through him as his heart rate increased. He squinted to see the creatures clearly when he recognized them.

“Hold your arrow, Quaylin.”

“Why?”

“They’re unicorns.”

The brothers froze as the unicorns crept from the forest. Their silvery hair gleamed in the sunlight. Horns shone proudly from their foreheads. The unicorns danced to the stream, sipped the water, and then disappeared into the misty forest.

With a wide grin on his face, Orin nudged Quaylin. “Told you I saw a unicorn.”

Now if you want to learn more about authors, I’m featuring up to three per day on my blog Surrounded by Books Reviews. To find the other participants, click here.