WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

This book is for sale to ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It contains substantial sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which may be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

All sexually active characters in this work are 18 years of age or older.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover Design: D.B. Story

Encounters: The Unicorn © 2009 D.B. Story

eXcessica publishing

All rights reserved

Encounters: The Unicorn

By D.B. Story

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A special thanks to Gorgo, Mulligan, and VW for their excellent and much appreciated proofreading.

Chapter 1

I was swindled out of everything I owned by magic, and I've never been happier in my life.

Of course I didn't always feel that way about it. In fact, in the beginning I was pretty upset. Sometimes you just don't know when you're well off.

My name is Barq, and this is my tale.

* * * *

Before any of this happened I'd already thought I was well situated. Just as I reached the age where a young man should settle down and get married—the upper age for that—I'd inherited a farm from my uncle. He'd had no children of his own since he'd never married. There can be an upside to that which I didn't recognize at the time.

It was a very good farm, the envy of many, with a strong stone house, reliable water supply, and a sturdy barn for the animals. The land was so rich that you need do little more than throw out handfuls of seed for the crops to spring right up out of the ground. The villagers said it was the best farm around.

Now I'd been born and lived three villages away, somewhat closer to the Enchanted Forest.

You've heard of the Enchanted Forest, haven't you? The isolated one by what we call The Main Town. It's the largest settlement for several days' journey, and the place where all the faires are held each season.

Now I've never traveled through the Enchanted Forest myself, and probably never will. Not only do you need to have the right feel for the hidden paths to the other side, but also the stories from those who do are just too wild to believe.

They speak of metal machines that you climb inside of, which then travel faster and further than the fleetest horse can gallop. And other ones that are much bigger, and actually fly up into the sky, full of people. Who can believe all that? The only thing that big in the sky would be a dragon, and none of those have been seen for several score of years now, thankfully.

There are other, more mundane, marvels that I can accept. Things brought over to barter on this side. Tableware, for example, more uniformly constructed than the finest village smithy can manage. Drinking glasses more evenly formed than the best glassblower can make. Immense panes of completely flat window glass, mirrors so perfect there is no visible flaw, and eyeglasses so finely ground that they actually work without giving the wearer headaches. Even without the other, unbelievable, stuff it must be a marvelous place over there.

Even so, many people who have visited the other side say they prefer to live here. Some the oldest generation still speak of fleeing a great war and its aftermath.

Even now, more move to this side of the forest than leave to go to the other side. Recently we all heard about a young man a few years younger than me who moved here from there and actually married a cow-girl. They were quite the talk of the town over that for a couple of years.

I'm not much of a traveler myself. Few of us here are. If I can't ride or walk there and return by sunset then it's too far away. I'm willing to accept the wisdom of those who have seen both sides of The Forest—that being the only Forest that matters—that this side is the better one to live on. Besides, I'm told by those who pass through sharing tales in return for food and accommodation, that life moves much faster over there. I'm a slower kind of guy.

I've also come to appreciate an honest day's work. I was raised on a farm where if you don't work, you don't eat. But this new farm was more than just a meal ticket to me. It holds a secret that makes it the most special farm in the entire world.

All would have been just fine except that I was a stranger here. As such, I fell prey to a couple of local witches.

It was my own fault really. Just being watchful and taking a few simple precautions will protect most ordinary people against most witch tricks. I'm told that on both sides of the forest, if it's too good to be true, then it probably isn't. However, not only was I distracted by memories of my childhood from those many summers ago when I'd visited here, but also my head was being turned by a celebration in my honor.

* * * *

Now I'd never been a celebrity before. I was just the first son of a farming family.

Suddenly now I was a prosperous landowner that everyone wanted to welcome into the village. And when they found out that I was single as well, all the local girls showed up that first night when I visited the village.

This was several days after my actual arrival, but my first trip into the village itself. I'd spent my first days settling things down on my new farm after receiving the abrupt news that it was mine, and that I had to leave immediately to claim it.