Manticore_780 has a minion!

Illusions, Deceptions, Mirages the Guardian of Spades

The beast listened as the short, ugly man with the bulbous nose enticed the visitors to look closer. The tone of his voice was full of secrets: secrets of the glorious unknown, and secrets of a more underhanded variety. The beast sat in his cage, looking at the men with murky eyes. He had been trapped in this cage for years, long enough for his mane to become thin and dull when it was once full and glowing. He was the king of beasts, and he was sentenced to forever as a mere trinket in an old woman's sideshow.

The men knew not what they saw; they saw a mighty monster, with a face just like theirs, with giant paws, powerful flanks, and a poisonous weapon. The monster they saw paced his cage ferociously, just waiting for someone to get too close. The monster they saw had drool dripping from his fangs that were longer than a man's hand, easily, and could tear through flesh like it was thinnest silk. It is what they didn't see that was the truest monster: the cruel witch, the old woman who played puppeteer with their minds. They would see her soon enough, but they would not know it was her. From his place, the beast could see the cage that held the old woman. She was the main attraction, the ultimate at the end of a train of horrors.

At least, she was before.

The foolish woman had captured a real unicorn, and put her on display like she was an equal to her homemade horrors. It was sick, selfish, and stupid, but it was the creatures' salvation.
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The magician who played helper for the old woman could stand by and let the common animals rot in their cages, but he couldn't allow the unicorn to stay here. Every animal in the carnival watched with bated breath as the lanky trickster tried and failed to release the unicorn with his magic under the midnight moon, and they stopped breathing altogether when the magician was forced to pick the lock. With the lock opened and the unicorn set free, she calmly walked around the camp, breaking the locks of all the cages with her fabulous horn. The captured animals all ran to freedom, shedding the illusions cast upon them as they fled the carnival.

They had too much respect for the unicorn to thank her, to look at her, even, but they would always remember her.


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Profile by the wonderful Pinto!
Image from the movie "The Last Unicorn"