54 Chapter 54
Harry couldn't just leave the unicorn to die though and he'd rushed forward (sending Hedwig flying from her perch on his shoulder) as he pulled one of his last four Healing Crystals and a roll of gauze from his Inventory without any hesitation, hoping it would work on the creature. He quickly dropped to his knees beside the creature, unrolled the gauze to form a large square pad, and pressed the gauze over the gaping wound near the Unicorn's neck in an effort to stop the severe bleeding with one hand as he used his other to activate the Healing Crystal.
He'd stumbled upon the Unicorn far too late for the crystal to do any good though (or the crystal hadn't worked for the creature) and it died just minutes after Harry had found it (the creature already more than half dead when he'd stumbled upon it); the equine holding Harry's gaze as it breathed its last breath. The moment he withdrew his hands from the Unicorn's now dead body, his magic reached out and shattered it as it had with every other death he'd witnessed over the past several months and as he fully expected due to his belief that he was still in a virtual game world.
The last vestiges of the Unicorn's magic left behind a gift for Harry in return for his efforts to save him; Unicorn Mane, Tail Hairs, Hide, the Unicorn's Horn, and the Unicorn's Heart. The hair and hide had gone into his Inventory automatically (as it was supposed to) but both the horn and the heart had been left floating in the air just above the ground where the horned equine had been laying when he'd found it.
The horn was about a foot and a half long and made from what looked like pure silver. The heart, however, had taken the appearance of a delicate flower that appeared to be made from spun glass with tiny motes of sparkling silvery white light trapped inside the center and its petals chased through with thin threads of silver, gold, and ivory.
Harry didn't have any time to mourn the loss of the Unicorn or appreciate the gifts it had left behind for him as he was immediately attacked by an unknown creature wearing a black cloak. It didn't take him long to figure out that the man-like being attacking him had been the one to kill the unicorn; the silver blood coating the front of the was cloak kind of a dead give away. Harry scrambled backwards as a sickly green spell shot towards him and he just barely dodged the terror inducing beam of green light using Sprint.
The tree that was hit in his place exploded violently and Harry quickly pulled his dragon-scale shield out of his Inventory and used it to shield himself from the second green light the creature fired at him, deflecting it back at his attacker. Harry hurriedly pulled both his dragon bone dirk and his Dragon Wire out of his Inventory during the brief pause in the battle caused by the creature dodging its own spell.
The eleven year old then prepared to counter attack but as he wove the knots to create a lethal spiked net trap, a large centaur leapt over his head and chased his attacker off. Heart still beating madly over the unexpected attack and abrupt interruption of said attack, Harry fell into a defensive stance as the half human and half horse being swung around to face him once his attacker had vanished into the forest.
"I am not here to harm you, Harry Potter," the palomino centaur with white-blonde hair and ageless blue eyes assured Harry as he brought his hands forward to show he was unarmed. "My name is Firenze and it is my duty to watch over you while you are in our forest. A duty I have been carrying out since the night you first ventured into the forest during the Month of Janus*."
"Why? And how do you know my name?"
"The stars heralded your arrival many moons ago and the heavens spoke of the tides of change you would unleash upon the forest that is our home. Many in the herd believed that you would bring death and destruction to our home and you have; though not in the way we feared you would. That first night you entered our domain we followed you and prepared to strike you down the moment you attempted to attack an innocent."
"Only, you sought out our enemies and the more prolific pests that have long been a blight on our home instead and struck them down. There are those within the herd that believe we now owe you a Debt of Honor for bringing about a period of prosperity and peace to our forest through your efforts to cull those creatures that would prey upon the innocents of all species that dwell beneath the branches of this ancient forest. Because of that, I was selected to be your guardian while you tread beneath the boughs of our home."
"I'm not sure I understand… if you have been following me all this time, why didn't you show yourself to me sooner? Why now? Why did you chase off that monster that had attacked me? And you still didn't say how you knew my name."
"The entire world knows your name, child; even the heavens speak of you often. As for your other questions; you are a powerful young mage, Harry Potter, but you are not yet strong enough to face the cruel creature that has been slaying the unicorns. It is my duty to protect you from that which would harm you while at the same time allowing you the freedom to face those creatures that you seek to challenge. I had not revealed myself to you sooner because the herd did not wish our presence to drive you out of the forest in fear or anger."
"Oh. You're very good at Hiding because I never once Detected your presence. Can you tell me more about that creature you chased off? Are there many of them inside of the forest or is it a Boss Monster of some type?"
It took a long time for he centaur to reply and when he did it wasn't to answer Harry's question, "Do you know what unicorn blood is used for, Harry Potter?"
"Can you please call me James…? I don't care for my first name much and no, I have no idea what Unicorn Blood is used for aside from possibly being an ingredient for some kind of potion."
"Only the foulest and most evil of potions could be made from the blood of a unicorn and no sane mage would seek such a thing for it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn and steal its blood. Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime," Firenze stated gravely as he shifted about in obvious discomfort over the present topic. "Additionally, drinking the blood of a unicorn will keep one alive, even if he is an inch from death, but at a terrible price. The moment the blood touches the drinker's lips he will be forever cursed with a half-life because he has slain something pure and defenseless to save himself.*"
"How terrible," Harry murmured as he pulled Hedwig close when she dropped down out of the trees to land on his shoulder to comfort him and he shivered at the sudden chill he felt that had nothing to do with the current weather or Hedwig's icy scales. "I don't understand why a person would do such a thing though."
"As a centaur, I can not pretend to understand what drives a human to do the things he does."
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