The Ancient Ritual
[timeline: approx. 300 years after the splitting of the worlds]
Tifla stood alone on the hill in her Unicorn form. Near her, in a tight group, milled the bachelor herd. The only bachelor not in the herd was the Unicorn Leader Rais. It was the darkest hour before dawn. That was the appropriate time for the ritual to begin according to the elder of the Unicorn herd Tifla would have been happier if the ritual was not so public. She almost wished she hadn’t accepted Rais’ offer. She went through this ritual once before, during her very first heat. She didn’t like it then and she didn’t see how it could be any better this time around. Maybe it would’ve been better to hide in the hidden retreat in the Western Lands like her brother's mate suggested. The problem with that solution was that it would prevent her from protecting the world as the Ancient Creators designed. She was a Protector Unicorn and duty overwrote any personal considerations. She shifted nervously. It seemed to Tifla that most of the local human population was there as witness. Among the crowd were her human friends, Lady Tara and Zaid, her husband, along with Tifla’s daughters, Nura, baby Jalala, and her brother Fahd in his black Unicorn form. Bravely beside her brother stood InuTala, his very pregnant mate. She was the only demon present that day and it made her uncomfortable. Expelled from her Demon Wolf clan, InuTala chose to mate outside her species. Fahd also suffered some from mating with his love but Rais blessed the union, so no one dared to appose him. Even so, Fahd and InuTala chose to leave their herd and live in the Western Lands. They only came to support Tifla.
The elder walked out on the cliff which jutted out above the valley providing the perfect stage. Standing beside the elder was Lady Tara, Zaid and leader Rais. Lining the cliff edge were their guests and the members of the herd that were not participating in the ritual. Tara was starting to worry about Tifla as she watched the bachelor herd was getting wilder and more animal-like, feeding off her dear friend’s pheromones.
“I’m beginning to regret pushing Tifla into this ritual,” Tara said to Rais and Zaid. “I had no idea that it was going to be like this. She was just freed from a year of suffering and abuse. Now she’s going to be chased by a whole herd of male Unicorns in hormonal frenzy? This can only end in disaster.”
“Do you want me to call it off?” Rais asked.
“NO!” Nura interjected. “Mylady, I’m just as guilty in pressuring my mother as you are. It’s the only thing Mother can do if she wants to still help this world defeat the enemy that is causing everyone so much pain. I think we are going to need her! She’s been through this ritual before. She agreed to it with eyes wide open.”
“Still,” Tara said, “I don’t think she really thought about how it would affect her psychologically! We can surely figure out some way to find and defeat this enemy without her.”
“That’s not the feeling I get and neither does she. We are going to need her. Therefore this must be done,” Nura said.
Tara wondered how this usually kind, loving daughter could suddenly sound so cold. Then she looked at Nura, holding her little sister close. There were tears in her eyes. Jalala was also affected. The baby was gripping the fabric of her sister’s dress in balled fists and crying softly. They were worried too. Tara gripped Zaid’s arm.
“We have to trust them, Love,” Zaid said, putting his free arm around his wife’s shoulders.
A sparing match between two of the bachelors developed but was interrupted as the elder started his speech.
We are taught that when the Ancients created us, before we adapted to the ways of the humans, Unicorns did not have mates. The ancient females would cycle and the males would compete for the right to sire her offspring. The female in heat designed the contest. Through it she would test the competitor’s endurance, intelligence, and cunning, as well as their strength. Only the winner would be allowed to couple with her. This ritual insured that the strongest, cleverest genes carried forward to the next generation. The ancient ritual has since been replaced by courtship and love. Still the ritual remains in the memories of our eldest. Today, before us stands Tifla. Her mate was tragically killed thus she is now in heat, unmated. Tradition says she must choose either a new mate or submit to the Ritual. For the sake of our species, Tifla has chosen the right to Ritual. The trial she has chosen is “the chase”. The competitors will attempt to outwit her as she leads them on a complicated chase. Competitors will be allowed to change form when appropriate and to use whatever powers are at their disposal, as will she. Competitors that have been disqualified must return to this valley immediately. The contest ends when the coupling takes place. The contest begins... NOW!
Tifla was off like a shot with the bachelors hot on her heals. In seconds they were out of sight.
“Good luck guys,” Fahd said, “you’re going to need it.” He place his arm around his mate and turned to make his way down to the valley.
“Where are you going?” Tara asked.
“I know my sister. This will take hours, maybe even days.”
Rais nodded in agreement. “He’s right, the longer it takes, the more complicated the test and the better the outcome.”
Tifla ran hard and easily left the males in the dust. She was no longer the weak frail person rescued from death’s door. She was as strong as she ever was and she had the added strength of being in her true form. Of course, once the sun rose and the Demons started to awake she may have to deal with the difficulties they bring, but she would do her best to keep to the unpopulated areas. She hoped to keep well clear from any being that could interfere.
She carefully calculated her path. She couldn’t lose all her suitors at once; that would defeat the purpose. She just wanted to make her trail complicated enough to lose as many as she could.
Tifla knew how to lay down a difficult trail. All those years of playing the game with her previous children gave her all the insight she needed. She bounded over downed trees and bushes doing many turns, twists and double backs. After two hours of blazing a nasty trail, she went to the center of a field and stopped. After standing still for a full minute, she erected an air proof barrier around herself, turned and back trailed out. The barrier trapped her scent and the trail would now appear to have stopped in the center of the close cut clearing. She kept the barrier up while she crisscrossed her own path, still leaving no scent, all the way to the InuTala's hidden valley. If they were following their noses instead of using their eyes and brains, Tifla thought, this trick will stop them cold. Kalid was impressed. He watched his herd mates go charging after Tifla in the hopes of catching her immediately.
“Fools,” he thought.
Kalid would do his chasing differently. He traveled in a slower but ground covering lope. At this speed he could watch for infinitesimal changes to the sides of the trail she had blazed. He knew she would not chose to just check their endurance. She was going to change course and she will try hide it. He kept his eyes to the ground, searching for any sign that indicated her change in course. They had already been tricked once by her doubling back. She lost the first five competitors with that trick. They went blindly on without realizing their error for a full fifteen minutes and were disqualified. He shook his head at the backs of his disappearing competition. Did they think she would only do it only once? He intended to win this contest. It may only give him one night with her but that was one night more than he ever dreamed of having. The moment he heard about the pending ritual he drilled their elder without mercy for all the details. In fact none of the original ones were spared his interrogation. Soon he knew more about the ritual than anyone of the other bachelors short of having been through the experience. There were still more male than female Unicorns. Some, like Tifla's brother, where starting to look outside the herd for mates. The pregnancy of Fahd's mate was proof that they could procreate outside their species and Kalid was not at all sure this was a good thing. Kalid was a purist. Unicorns should mate with Unicorns! It's bad enough for the males, but what if the females start mating outside the herd? If they can still produce offspring, then it was going to happen eventually. Their blood will dilute, they would become mortal, and they would no longer be able to do what the Ancients created them for, protect the innocents from evil. This is why he admired the fact that Tifla chose the Ritual. Her offspring will be among the strongest of the Unicorns.
From the first time he saw Tifla, on the day she was returned to the herd, he was smitten. She was so beautiful but so sad. She was also pregnant, nearly full term, and the pregnancy made her radiant. She reminded him of his mother. His mother was one of the originals. No one else of the herd knew that fact now. Rais’s grandfather (also an original) and father were the only ones that had known and both were gone now. His family had not been part of this herd when he was born. They lived with the Suzaku herd. He joined this Otherworld herd later. When he heard that Tifla had suffered at the hands of a band of Human and Demon mercenaries, he knew he had found a kindred soul. Seeing her brought up the memories of Kalid's past.
Matsu, Kalid's sire, was from the Unicorn herd that once protected Suzaku. That was before they became the hunted. In the time of Matsu, the humans discovered a way that the Unicorns could be captured and deprived of their precious horn. The removal of the horn caused the Unicorn's death but the hunters didn't care because the horn could pierce anything, even Dragon hide and it made the hunters invincible. The Humans and Demons started hunting Dragons too and their numbers started to dwindle. he Eastern Land of Demon World was the first land cleared of Unicorns. The land turned dry and barren, barely able to sustain life. Next went the land around the Ancient's Black Tower. The Demon World and Suzaku herds went into hiding and the Dragons were starting to follow suit by hibernating.
Matsu, became separated from his herd during one of these hunts when some humans injured him during the chase. He managed to evade the hunters but he was too lame and weak to catch up with the herd. They had no choice but to leave him behind. He was found by, in his words, the most beautiful unicorn in the world. When she transformed to humanoid form there was a faint star on her forehead. Her name was Darafeth. She had also separated from her herd, the one in Demon World. She was in Suzaku searching for his herd when she found him. She nursed Matsu back to heath and they fell in love. A year after their mating Martina came in heat and gave birth to Kalid. Kalid’s family still searched for his father’s elusive Unicorn herd but they were unable find it. Each year after Kalid’s birth came another sibling until it was too difficult to travel with so many youngsters in tow. They were forced to settle down on the edge of a human village, pretending they were human. His parents quickly became the village’s healers. Life was peaceful and happy. Still, every spring, two months after the birth of each if his siblings, his father would leave and hunt for his herd, only to return three months later disappointed. It wasn’t until after the birth of his sixth sibling, that Kalid’s life drastically and tragically changed.
His father had left on his search two months earlier and they were just starting to look forward to his return. The village accepted them, even though the village families were a little jealous of their birth rate. Everyone was happy and the village prospered under Darafeth’s care. Unfortunately it prospered a little too well. It attracted the greedy eyes of a bandit band that had been raiding the nearby villages. One morning Kalid’s family woke to the sound of screaming humans.
The village was on fire and there were horsemen riding through it, some carrying bloody swords, the rest carried torches which they were throwing on the roof of homes not yet ablaze.
Only seven years old, Kalid was ordered by his mother to take his siblings and flee into the nearby woods. From the woods he watched his mother change into her Unicorn form and race to aid the village. She jumped right into the fight, taking out bandits and horses with lightning speed. Then a golden lasso settled around her neck. She hit the end of the rope so hard it flipped her off her feet, sent her head over heels. She landed hard on the ground. He watched his mother lay on her side just a second, robbed of precious breath, and then try to regain her feet. The horseman on the other end of the rope backed his mount up, preventing the Unicorn from rising by simply pulling her down again. She tried to channel her power down her horn but cord around her neck acted like grounding rod. She couldn’t charge up. The other men were on her in seconds and ended her life. One of the killers cut off her horn and handed it to the man with the lasso, apparently the leader. The leader held the horn high over his head and the men chanted his name. “Burkani!” “Burkani!”
Kalid and his siblings had seen it all. “Burkani,” he would never forget that name nor face.
They trembled in their hiding place, waiting for a chance to break away and flee from these murderers.
“Aha!” suddenly came a voice from behind them. The bandits had found the children.
“Run!” Kalid commanded his siblings as he was grabbed. His baby sister was snatched from his hands and tossed to another man. He watched as his next two youngest siblings were also snatched up. Panic set in and he now fought only for his own life. Kalid changed to his Unicorn form and stabbed his horn through the heart of the man that held him. As the human fell dead. Kalid screamed and rear kicked the face of another bandit who died before he hit the ground. Having fought free, Kalid fled, running without care of where he was going as long as it was away; away from his mother’s dead burning body; away from the killers; away from the burning village; the only home he had known most his life.
He fled on instinct; not realizing that he ran in the direction his father had taken two months earlier. His father found him that evening in human form cut, bruised and bloody, crying on the side of the trail. Matsu was returning with good news that came too late. He had finally found a herd. Not his herd, but the Otherworld herd. They welcomed him with open arms and were looking forward to adding his family to their number.
Matsu gathered up his son and healed him as Kalid wept. The boy told his father about what had happened and then collapsed into an exhausted sleep. Matsu carried his son in his arms back to the Otherworld herd. Leaving his son in their care, Matsu returned to the village in hope of finding more surviving children. Kalid never saw his father nor his siblings again.
Arriving at the lakeshore, Tifla walked into the water, dropping her barrier. She laid down and rolled in the shallow waves enjoying how the sand felt scrubbing her back. She rose and shook. The water felt good. It was her first time at the lake. The smell of the waterfall was so refreshing. She walked over and stood in it, letting it fall down over her body. She decided this was the place she would wait to see how many manage to find her. Standing there regally with her back to the falls, she watched for her chasers.. If they came straight at her, she would start the chase all over again. That should be suitable punishment for their arrogance.
The rest of the bachelor herd had left Kalid in the dust. They were probably relieved, believing that one more competitor had fallen out of the race.
“There it is!” Kalid said to himself as he stopped in his tracks.
He lowered his head and examined the ground closer. It was just the slightest indentation and a couple of broken twigs and there was no scent but it was enough for Kalid to decide to turn and followed the bent grass, broken branches, and shuffled leaves to a shallow river. There, on the shore were her hoof prints leading into the water. There was no scent of her anywhere, in fact there was no scent to the trail at all. All animals leave scent behind. But this trail had none, For Kalid this just confirmed it was indeed Tifla’s trail. Somehow she had been able to remove her scent.
Kalid entered the water, reared to express his joy and then followed the path of turned stones until he found the tracks leaving the creek. He followed the path which seem to be more direct. She wasn't working in her turns anymore. She must have been pretty confident that her trail would have eliminated most everyone buy now, and she was likely correct. If he calculated correctly, she was heading toward the meadows in the center of Demon World with the lake that this very river fell into. He decided to take a gamble on luck. He turned toward the location of the meadows and galloped ahead full speed. In minutes Kalid stood just inside the edge of the woods. There, standing in the water, just off the shore was his goal. He was thrilled and astonished. He was the only one there! Had she outwitted them all? Now he had to figure a way to outwit her. How was he to get to her? From her advantage she could see anyone approaching. If she saw someone, would she run and start the chase would all over again? He suspected so. The goal was to outwit her, capture her and copulate with her. She was not just going to stand there and let one of us run up on her. She could have done that at the start or even done it without this ritual.
Kalid turned and cantered around the lake, staying along the tree line, out of Tifla’s sight. It was about a mile around the beach line. He saw a path that went along side the cliff out of her line of sight. Kalid changed into his human form and crept up the path. The path worked it's way along the cliff to behind the waterfall. The path opened up into a large cave, fortunately unoccupied. He made note of it but he was centered on his goal. He could just see Tifla's back through the falls. around to her. Finally, he was right behind her.
He removed his clothes and dropped down into the water behind the falls. The roar of the water masked the sound of his landing. Keeping low behind the water to avoid being noticed, he sat there, just back from the wall of water, drinking in her pheromones. He had to be ready when he made his strike. He felt his body react and rise in anticipation. He was ready. Kalid transformed and emerged from the wall of water. He quickly mounted her, locked his forelegs over her shoulders and grabbed the skin at her neck with his teeth as he searched for her entrance.
Tifla squealed in surprise and lunged forward. Kalid struggled to stay with her as she sought release. Tifla quickly realized she had been outsmarted. She stopped struggling at first, accepting the end of the Ritual, but the gentle bite grip on her neck and the feeling of this unknown stallion trying to find her entrance without any foreplay suddenly brought back the horrible memories of her rape. Suddenly she was in the grips of posttraumatic syndrome. She was there again, in the grips of Burkani and his men. Tifla lost it. She screamed in absolute terror, bucking, kicking and lunging. Kalid immediately released her when he heard the scream and observed, in horrified astonishment, Tifla scrambling toward the shore and changed into her humanoid form as she reached the wall . He then watched her sink to the ground and curl on the sand into the fetal position. There she sat rocking herself, nearly incoherent.
“What happened?” He wondered.
Kalid changed to his human form, fully clothed. His lust was gone. It evaporated with her scream of terror. His mother had screamed like that the day she died. He noticed that Tifla had not clothed herself when she had transformed. He held out his hands and closed his eyes. The elements gathered and a cloak formed in them. Slowly, in measured steps, he approached her. She didn’t even see him. Tifla had her eyes tightly shut, trying to squeeze out the images running through her mind.
“Tifla?” he softly inquired. “Tifla, are you alright?”
Gently he laid the cloak around her. She squeaked at his touch and he backed off but he refused to leave. He sat on the ground as close as he dared. What in the world happened to her?
She gripped the cloth around her.
“Jalal?” she said barely above a whisper. “Jalal, I thought Burkani killed you.”
Who was Jalal? Kalid wondered. Wait, isn’t her daughter named Jalala? She’s thinking of her mate, the one that was killed. He saw Tifla open her eyes and look straight at him but she didn’t see him. She saw Jalal. She reached out a hand to stroke his face. Kalid caught the hand in mid air and held it gently.
“Tifla, I’m not Jalal,” he said.
She tilted her head in puzzlement.
"My name is Kalid,” he added
“Kalid… the ritual… you won.” She said as she returned to reality.
“Yes,” He responded with a sigh. “I’m so sorry to have caused you such distress. What happened?”
“I don’t know, it was like being thrown back in time.”
“This Burkani, he cause you harm, didn't he?” It was the same name. It had to be the same man. The one who killed his mother.
“Yes. I thought I was being raped again.”
“Raped!” Oh lord, what have I done? “Why where we not informed of this? Tifla, I'm so sorry. I never would have come at you like that if I had known. You should have never agreed to this ritual.”
“I had to do something. Jalal is dead and I’m in heat. Every male for miles around would have eventually been affected. I rather mate this way according to tradition, than hide and end up raped again, this time leaving a child behind.
“So, what do we do now?” Kalid asked.
“Finish the ritual,” she said rising and changing back into a Unicorn.
Kalid also rose. “Very well, but this time we’ll do it right,” he said, transforming.
Tifla looked at him. He was very beautiful. She hadn’t missed his resemblance to her former mate.
True to his word, Kalid was slow, sweet and gentle. They paired together several times, moving all around the area near the castle of the humans. They finally ending where they had started, in the meadows. This time with the sun setting on the water they made love as humans. After their final mating, Kalid turned to her.
“Tifla,” he said “I will always be there for you and our child, no matter what, but I want to let you know that you won my heart from the moment I first laid eyes on you. I know you just recently lost your mate and may not be ready yet but if you are willing, I would be most honored to have you as my mate.”
"I don't know Kalid," she said. "We've just met. I can't say 'yes' yet, but I'm not going to say 'no' either. We have eleven months to get to know each other better. Let's take it one day at a time."
Kalid was thrilled! He had a chance! The two of them returned to their true form and made the trek back to the valley where it all began. Much fanfare and celebration occurred upon their return. Everyone gathered around the couple with congratulations. As Tifla grew quiet and withdrawn, Kalid moved closer to protect her from the prying questions. Most took the hint and backed off.
When Nura approached, Tifla changed to her human form and hugged her and the baby. Kalid stood back, remaining in his true form. His transformation during this ritual was the first time he took his human form since the night his father left him with this herd. Only Tifla now knew what he looked like. Kalid laid his head across her shoulder and nuzzled her close to his chest in the equivalent of a hug.
Tifla threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you, Kalid, for everything.” She released him and turned. She took her crying baby daughter in her arms and put her to her breast as she walked off in the direction of the castle. She was still living among the humans that rescued her, not quite ready to join a new herd. Kalid hoped he could change all that, for both their sakes.
Tara, and Zaid looked after her. Nura touched both their shoulders to get their attention.
“She’s alright,” Nura said. Then she walked between them and followed after her mother. Tara and Zaid looked at each other, shrug in unison and then started their own trek back.
“What was that all about?” Rais asked Tifla's dark brother.
“Just concerned friends.” Fahd responded. “It's time I got my wife home. She doesn't like being the center of so much attention."
"What's it like? Mating to a Demon Wolf?" Rais asked.
"For me, it's heaven on earth." Fahd said with a smile. He bowed to his leader and raced after the others.
Kalid ran up the hillside to the cliff face so he could watch Tifla as long as he was able. As the mist barrier swallowed her up he whinnied his farewell, but not his final one. If he had anything to do with it, Tifla will become a permanent part of his life and this herd. She was not safe with the humans, of that he was certain..