A beast stood there—huge and white. It was so large that at first she thought that it was a horse. Then she saw that it dwarfed even a stallion. Its broad antlers were like those of an enormous elk, yet webbing stretched between the tines, as if to catch the light of the full moon.
It tiptoed toward her, into the circle of light by the door, and she knew it for what it was—a Xie Chai unicorn.
It extended its snout, as if to catch her scent, and she put forth her hand for it, hoping that it might enjoy the allure of the rosewater perfume that she wore. Such animals could discern a man’s heart. It would tell her if she was good or evil.
She longed to be good, but she knew that her love for Huang Fa was too great.
The unicorn stepped near, and she was astonished at how huge it was. She saw its eyes, shining in the light of the lantern, all filled with some unimaginable desire.
Suddenly she caught its scent, the musky scent of a young man that often haunted her dreams. She knew that scent intimately, knew the young man’s clean limbs and sweet breath.
“Huang Fa?” she wondered aloud. The beast looked startled. The muscles in its shoulders bunched, as if it would dart away.
She knew him, knew what had happened. Huang Fa had turned into this magical beast, and yearning for her, he had come to her at last.
But how had this happened?
Inside the house, her little sister woke in the night. “Yan?” she cried. “Yan, I’m hungry!”
In that instant the unicorn grew afraid. There was no more coherent thought in its head, only nameless animal fear that now took over.
The proud beast whirled and bounded, leaping through the stream.
“Huang Fa!” Yan called, rushing to the edge of the porch.
A low fog covered the ground, and the unicorn bounded through it, as if leaping upon clouds, until it disappeared into the plum orchard, lost under a silver moon.
About this Story:
I was in China writing a script for a big fantasy film when I penned this short story. Originally I had planned on setting it on the American plains in the early 1800s, but after months of work in researching ancient Chinese history, mythology, culture and magic—and after traveling through the Gobi desert and into the areas where this story is set—I decided to create something a little more exotic.
At the same time, I was thinking much upon the theme of this story—how the older generation, time after time, depletes itself in an effort to feed its children. The result is a horrific story that makes use of ancient Chinese magic tropes, and which recently received some strong movie interest in China.
This story was first published in the “Way of the Wizard” anthology.
About the Author
David Farland is a New York Times Best-selling Author with nearly fifty novel-length works in print, whose work has been translated into dozens of languages.
He has won various awards for his work, including the Philip K. Dick Memorial Special Award for "Best Novel of the Year," the Whitney Award for "Best Novel of the Year," the L. Ron Hubbard Gold Award for "Best Short Story of the Year," and others.
In 1991, Dave became a judge for the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of The Future Contest, the largest contest in the world for beginning authors of science fiction and fantasy. He soon took over the position of Coordinating Judge, where he selected stories for publication, trained new writers, and oversaw the publication of the annual anthology.
In 1999 he began teaching creative writing at Brigham Young University, where he trained several students who went on to become superstars, including fantasy author Brandon Sanderson, young adult author Dan Wells, and international sensation Stephenie Meyer.
In 1999, Dave also set the Guinness record for the World's Largest book signing.
David has worked in a number of writerly jobs—as a prison guard, an ice-cream pie maker, meat-cutter, missionary, movie producer, video game designer, and editor.
His Runelords novel series is one of the most popular fantasies of our time, but he has also worked with other major properties, including Star Wars, the Mummy, and various video games.
Dave currently lives in Utah with his wife and five children. In addition to writing, David likes to hike and fish.
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