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I really couldn’t forgive myself if I let them get past me and take the unicorn.

The poor creature has been through enough, and I will absolutely not allow it to go through anything else if I can help it.

Fortunately for me, I am used to going up against more than one person in a sword fight and so I quickly get my head into the game and within moments I am dodging, weaving, spinning, and stabbing.

One of them quickly succumbs to my sword and falls to the floor as dead as the dick grabber.

The last one left alive doubles down on his attack and I quickly ask Asael to split so that I can defend myself better.

It’s obvious by the slightly erratic movements of the last attacker, that he’s beginning to tire and if I’m being honest with myself so am I.

It's because of this that I don’t block the next swing that’s aimed at me and barely manage to dodge out of the way so that it doesn’t slice my stomach open.

Instead of seeing my insides become outsides, I manage to move just enough that it slices along my hip instead and I hiss in pain, but don’t let it distract me, and use his moment of triumph against him as I stab him in the stomach with one sword and then pull it upwards.

Asael is so sharp that it takes barely any effort on my part and as the fucker looks down in shock at his stomach, my other sword swings around and takes off his head, hearing the splash as it lands in the fast-flowing waters of the river.

The water will take the head away quickly and it saves me the job of having to separate the head from the body in order to make sure that he doesn’t put himself back together again.

I don’t even wait to see it go. I know that he is dead.

Glancing around the clearing, I listen intently, stretching my senses to see if there are any more threats nearby.

I don’t pick up on anything, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t anything nearby.

I quickly send Asael away and then turn back to the unicorn.

“Are you okay?” I ask, as I rush over to it. It snorts and looks at me like I’m crazy. Which considering it’s just seen me fight and kill three supernaturals and I’m currently bleeding, might be a fair assessment.

I glance down at my hip, it’s not that bad. I’ll live.

“We need to get you out of here as quickly as possible. I have no idea if any of them called for help supernaturally or not, or if there are more on the way. I don’t want to risk it,” I look over the trap on its leg as it watches me curiously.

It must be magic dampening in some way and that’s why the unicorn hasn’t used any magic.

I revert back to talking it through everything that I’m doing in the hopes that it’s reassuring the unicorn and not making it think that I am absolutely insane.

“The question is how am I going to get you out without causing you unnecessary pain? Because let’s face it, I’m pretty sure that I only thought that it was moving earlier and it actually wasn’t. ”

The unicorn huffs, and seems like it’s saying your guess is as good as mine.

The voices mutter, but they don’t seem to be saying anything of any significance, they’re just there in the background.

So it’s no good hoping that they might help me, or even speak like they did when I asked them about my parents or when I was in the cell.

I spend longer than I would like staring at the trap digging into the unicorn’s leg, before it finally clicks.

Asael.

He is wickedly sharp and if anything can cut through the metal of the trap, it’s going to be him.

Especially since the metal most likely has magical properties to it which means that anything else that I try probably won’t work.

I do need to make sure that I explain my plan clearly and carefully to the unicorn because the last thing that I want to do is to freak it out and make it injure itself or me.

If I break the trap and it spooks him, his first reaction is going to be for him to attack.

Which, to be honest, I would probably react the same way if I were in its position.

I keep calling it a him, but I have no idea if that’s true and I’m not about to check.

Turning my attention away from the trap, I look back at the unicorn, “Okay, so I’ve had an idea, and I really don’t want you to panic so I’m going to explain it to you,” I begin to explain, and it tilts its head to the side as if it’s listening to me.

I carry on explaining my idea as quickly as I can, “As you probably saw, I have an enchanted sword, and I think that the only chance that I have to get this fucking bear trap off you is to use him to cut through the enchanted metal of the trap. At least that’s the plan, I have no idea if it will work or not, but I think that it’s our best shot. ”

I look at the unicorn expectantly, and it hesitantly nods its head once.

Trying to smile reassuringly, I call Asael to me and then speak to him, so he hopefully knows what I’m asking of him.

“Alright, Az, I need you to cut through the metal of the trap.” I study it for a second and then point, “I think here should release the mechanism. If it doesn’t, then we’re going to have to cut it closer to the unicorn’s leg, and I really don’t want to do that if we can help it.

Understood?” Asael buzzes in my hand, and I smile.

Looking back at the unicorn, I add, “I’m going to cut the mechanism of the trap now.

If it does free you, try to move really carefully and allow yourself enough time to heal at least a little bit before you get up and leave, it’s in there really deep. ”

I hope that the unicorn has understood me because it just risks hurting itself more and prolonging its time to get to safety if it tries to leave immediately.

I really don’t want to waste any more time than I already have, so I crouch down near the trap, but not too close, and work on the mechanism of the trap with Asael.

It sparks as his magic interferes with the magic that is blocking the unicorns and probably strengthening the trap itself as well, but thankfully, the unicorn doesn’t react and panic.

A huge amount of relief courses through me when the trap springs open and the unicorn stays where it is. Working quickly, I cut a slice of fabric off my shirt and then send Asael away again, after I have thanked him.

“I know that you probably don’t need this, but we don’t want any of that blood getting anywhere, and being used for nefarious reasons, or anyone using it to locate you with a spell or even follow you.

So I’m going to wrap the wounds, I’m really sorry if this hurts you,” I explain, and then quickly get to work wrapping the wound.

Once that’s done, I head to the river, moving around the bodies of the men I killed, and I thoroughly wash any sign of the unicorn blood off me.

I then spend far longer than I would have liked to searching around for a leaf that’s sturdy enough and big enough so that I can carry a decent amount of water in it.

Once I’ve finally found one, I turn back around and see the unicorn standing up and watching me closely, to be honest, I’m really surprised that it didn’t immediately take off as soon as it realized that it could stand, but as I get a closer look I realize that it is keeping the majority of its weight off the bad leg, so maybe it can’t quite move yet.

I smile, “I’m glad you’re up. I’m just going to clean the blood off the trap and off the ground. For the same reasons that I bandaged your leg.”

It watches me closely as I do exactly what I told it that I was going to do, and I have to assume that it’s watching me to make sure that I don’t take any of its blood for myself.

I have absolutely no desire to take any, it’s not mine to take.

It’s as simple as that. Once I’m done and I make sure that there’s absolutely no trace of the unicorn, I stand there and frown at the trap left behind.

I washed it, but I’m not sure whether there would be anything minute left behind, like trace evidence or something that someone would be able to use in a spell to trace the unicorn.

Especially since this is a Choosing task, so I’m being watched and someone is going to recognize this place, they just are, and the temptation will be too strong for many supes.

They won’t do what I’m doing, and most will want to see if the unicorn is still here, or if they can find some trace of it that would allow them to track it.

There are a lot of desperate people out there, and desperate people do desperate and dangerous things.