Hunting Abbadon
This is a short story from a larger work I'm working on called Sycamores Before the Flood, a historical fantasy set in 4th century Egypt. It may or may not make it into the final work, but I sort of started working on it as a proof of concept, since most of what I have for it is scattered fragments, and I'm in research hell.
In this, the main character, Kalashire, is invited on a hunting trip by another soldier while they're granted leave. What are they hunting? Why, an escaped unicorn, of course!
(But the unicorn is also a metaphor. No points for guessing what its a metaphor for, however).
Warnings for: graphic violence against animals, depictioms of misogyny, harassment, and homophobia.
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It was not the custom of their enemies, but under the yoke of those same enemies, each man in Kime had been made a farmer, unless he was a Hellene or lucky. So the wisdom prevailed that soldiers, like plots of land, should be switched around so as not to deplete them. This was how Kalashire found himself on leave; it was his first, and he would be returning without his father.
At the thought, he bent his head low, staring at the road dust as he walked. He would need to tell his sister and brother himself.
"Are you on leave as well, brother?" Mina asked him, startling him out of his thoughts. He and Nahroou had caught up with him without his notice.
"For now." Kalashire replied, putting on a mask of wry humor. It was not successful; he must have flinched.
Mina laughed. "Ease yourself. I have a proposal that may cool your desire to be back in the fighting."
"What proposal?" Kalashire asked warily.
"A village a day away claims to have spotted 2 unicorns." Nahroou said, some dourness coloring him. "And- something that's more than gossip- it is known that one of the merchant families of Antiöe was trying to import some- and they failed to arrive."
Kalashire stared at him, taking a moment to catch on. "You want to hunt? Have you lost your sense?"
"That's what I asked him." Nahroou squinted at Mina.
Mina was unfazed; when God made him he had not given him a sense of shame. "If you won't hunt with me, at least accept my hospitality. Unlike you, I have a cart and a horse."
This was true: while Mina was not from down the river, his family was more prestigious, and his personal provisions had been such. Their unit had made use of that very cart while on duty, and it seemed they'd make use of it traveling upriver.
Walking would mean by the time Kalashire reached home he'd have to turn around immediately at best, and hiring a mule had been his current plan. Unfortunately for him, mules thought him foul. He'd been mentally steeling himself for being bitten. "Fine. And I might as well accompany you on the hunt and keep you from getting killed.
"Nahroou looked behind him. "Oh, lord save me."
Onhet, also from their unit, was rushing down the road towards him, Tsanna keeping her pace alongside.
They stopped not far away, and Onhet wrapped an arm around her shoulders to support her as she slouched, catching her breath. "Is this a last gathering before heading home?" He asked them.
"Something akin to that. Mina wants to kill a unicorn."
Onhet's face crumpled with disgust. His Prophet had declared even the killing of plants to be sinful; Kalashire doubted he wanted to explain to his Elect that he needed to be cleansed of the sin of going out of his way to hunt a unicorn.
"You can't believe everything you hear. Even if people say there's a unicorn, that doesn't mean it's true."
"What's the harm in seeing if if is?" Mina asked him.
"I suppose there isn't any- if you somehow have no relations that worried about you the past 6 months."
Nahroou glanced at Kalashire, who had his mask firmly in place. Kalashire did not know if it bothered him, truly, but if it did, he did not show it.
Mina laughed. "Well, I certainly don't have a girl to bring back home before I can marry her." He clapped Onhet on the back and winked at Tsanna.
She flushed, corners of her mouth dropping. "I'm his woman, not yours, you dog."
"A dog, am I? Does that make you a hare?"
Onhet knocked Mina's arm off him, also frowning. "You joke too much, Mina. I hope you know how to keep a still mouth during your hunt." He nodded to Kalashire and Nahroou, then the duo took their leave.
Mina stared after them.
Kalashire nudged him. "I thought you wanted to hunt unicorns, not hares. Besides, she doesn't like you and your parents would cast you out if you brought home a follower of Mani."
"Who says I want to bring her home?"
Nahroou frowned and narrowed his eyes, as he often did. "Didn't you say you'd convinced two other fools to come with you?"
"I did, I did. They went on to an inn; it's best that we rest tonight and set off tomorrow. If we start early, we'll be where the report came from by noon."
Kalashire sighed. "Let's go, then."
"Kalashire, Kalashire. You're almost as impatient as that heretic was."
"Much like the heretic, I have family affairs to settle. My brother and sister have bad news to receive."
Mina stumbled for the first time since Kalashire had met him.
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The evening had passed uneventfully. Kalashire had made himself on good terms with the other two men- a Dauid and Harmine, from the same village- and allowed Mina to feel his comment had been smoothed over, but had gracefully turned into bed early so he could get enough rest while accounting for an hour of staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep, and lacking any desire to do anything else.
They set out before the sun.
Nahroou and Dauid elected to walk for a stretch, at which point Kalashire and Harmine would get out and walk, allowing them to rest.Mina started chatter early.
"Everyone's fresh, except the smell of dear Holhol."
"You'd think after being the only one taking care of him for 6 months, you wouldn't be able to notice the stink at all anymore." Kalashire remarked.
"If only." Mina chuckled. "I suppose it's the price one must pay for peaceable feet."
"Oh, god." Nahroou said. "He thinks himself a philosopher."
Kalashire laughed. "From the school of dung. Half his students are beetles."
Mina picked up a spare walking stick and began prodding at Kalashire without turning his head. "Better than yours: a school of hot air, since that's all that's in your head."
Kalashire irritably dodged. "You're one to talk."
"I'd prefer air over dung," Harmine remarked, "but together I'd chose to make companions with a scorpion."
That made then both laugh.
"Surely we aren't that bad a pair!"
"I can hardly say, as a new friend." Harmine tilted his head. "You are the better judges, I can only extrapolate from what you say yourselves."
"Quit being a braggart, Min." Dauid said.
"Will you report me to our Abouna, Dauid?"
"What are friends for, if not keeping each other in account?"
"Fine group of comedians we've gathered here." Nahroou shook his head.
"You act as though we have something better to talk about."
Dauid spoke up again. "The unicorns."
That did effectively halt the prior conversation.
"All unicorns are male, you know." Mina said.
"Nonsense. How do they make more of themselves?"
"Perhaps they pop out of the ground, like plants." Kalashire said with no small sarcasm. It covered the racing of his heart, suddenly remembering a sight he'd seen while visiting the Therapeutae village.
"And what plants them?"
"Demons, obviously."
Harmine tapped his fingers on the side of the cart. "Some churches actually consider the unicorns as symbols of Iesous."
"That's perverse." Nahroou said. "A unicorn is more like a Hromanios than anything else. Certainly as brutal, if the stories can be believed."
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Mina and Holhol trotted off, looking for an inn. Mina had long decided to put him up while they were out; it was known unicorns were vicious, and would rip a horse to pieces if provoked.
Of course, the best thing to do was not to provoke a unicorn at all.
The town was larger than the one Kalashire had grown up in, and likely many of the villages around here came to it to buy and sell specialized goods. Narhoou looked to Kalashire as if he wanted to say something, but Harmine was scribbling out a merelles grid on the dirt, and cajoled them to set about finding suitable playing pieces.
The playing order was the same as their riding order- Harmine and Kalashire first. It seemed each of their close friends had determined it was best to put two tiring persons together so they could conserve their strength.
There were other people about; going about their normal lives, running errands, coming home from here, leaving home from there. It was not a distracting mass, not the way a true city could get, but Kalashire's attention could not leave them. To them, they could have looked like normal men, sitting in their traveling clothes just outside the town entrance. But the truth was, age and sex marked them out for why they had been traveling.
Unsurprisingly, he didn't win the game.
Dauid and Nahroou were in the middle of play when Mina returned.
Most of their gear had been left in the cart- they need more information before the hunt could begin, and there was no need to openly carry around things that would make people nervous. Harmine had made that clear, though none felt otherwise. It was more reminder to the air around them, that they were on leave.
"According to the stable boy, someone ten houses that way," Mina gestured, "saw them yesterday."
"Them?"
"It seems there are two."
Dauid's head snapped up as he wiped sweat from his forehead. "Two?"
Mina snorted. "Don't be afraid. There are still five of us. I managed to catch the butcher as he was about his business- we can go to him once we're done without cutting through town and he'll handle cutting the horn, separating the hide, and the rest."
Nahroou looked at Dauid. "You go with him. Make sure he asks the right questions."
Mina huffed, but only turned, expecting Dauid to follow. Harmine's brow furrowed, and he went along as well.
This left just Nahroou and Kalashire. Nahroou didn't turn his attention to Kalashire immediately. He gathered the stones they'd used been using as game pieces up, making a little pile of them.
"If you're burdened, it's better to relieve yourself quickly." Kalashire finally said, uncomfortable with the silence.
"I've known you a long time."
Kalashire inclined his head, still unsure of where this was headed.
"You've never mentioned siblings. Neither did your father."
Kalashire started to speak, but his mouth froze. That couldn't be right. Surely they'd said something once- yes, before now he'd only seen Nahroou when they traveled to buy special things, but surely his brother had come once?
Had things already been bad then?
"You don't have to tell me your family matters. It just made me realize… you've never told me anything about yourself by your own prompting."
Kalashire could feel the rough stitching of where his tunic had needed to be repaired where it pressed tight against his skin, and the cloying heat from wearing his thoracomacus and cloak, but he felt naked.
It was often said of Nahroou- he had a long and exacting memory.
"I've never thought of it." Kalashire said honestly, and immediately realized that was worse. It had taken him no effort to keep his life in shadow from a close friend.
Nahroou, to his credit, took it like a duck took rain. "I know. You meant nothing by it." He opened his mouth once more, but closed it before starting again. "Last chance to back out."
Kalashire smiled, mask re-donned. "And leave it four to two? That'd be cruel."
"It's dangerous."
"We're all used to that by now."
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According to the girl they'd spoken to, she'd been out delivering some sheep a distant neighbor had bought when she saw the two glowering at her a stones throw from the edge of the green along the bank. She'd done them the favor of describing the area, and thought it was about two hours away from her house.
According to Harmine, when Mina had questioned the wisdom of sending a girl on such an errand, she'd kicked him in the leg hard enough that he fell over.
"Damable girl." Was all Mina could say about the matter.
Kalashire and Nahroou had already gone and gathered their gear. There was the real purpose of the "walking sticks"; all of them had several spear tips in their gear. In fact, Dauid only carried speartips and a knife, no sword. The weapons were disassembled temporarily so as not to alarm anyone, but could easily be put back together. Some additional nails and a piece of wood, and a crossbar could be fashioned. It was a similar logic to what they'd heard of boar hunting.
Dauid got the honor of carrying the gear.
"I'd feel better if we were doing this with dogs." Harmine admitted.
"If you were anyone here, you wouldn't risk a good dog on some strangers." Nahroou had the rest of the gear.
"And they'd do all the work." Mina snorted.
"Oh, so that's why you're so eager for this."
"Of course. Why did you agree to come along?"
"To keep you from getting killed." Nahroou said.
"And the parts fetch a good price." Kalashire admitted.
Dauid hummed in agreement, and Harmine shrugged. Mina looked at them and shook his head. "No sense of sport…"
"I'm sure you enjoy drinking poison in your leisure time as well."
"I water my wine plenty. You, however…"
Kalashire kicked him in the leg, making Mina swear. "Nahroou, I think Kalashire wants you to fail in your goals."
"I'm playing. If I wasn't, I'd have knocked you down just like that girl did."
Mina rubbed his leg, now limping. "Knock me down after the hunt."
"Yes, reftosh. Shall I fetch you refreshments afterwards as well?"
"You might as well, it's the friendly thing." Mina promptly dodged as Kalashire swiped at him.
"Stop it, you two." Nahroou scolded. "This is serious business. Besides, for all we know we're walking faster than that girl was- it's better to be quiet and alert so we don't get surprised."
Kalashire thought to himself that the girl had only mentioned them looking at her, so how dangerous a surprise would be was in question, but Nahroou had a point. It wasn't really worth arguing.
Were unicorns intelligent? Would they know their aim by looking at them? Kalashire assumed them to be much like horses or some other four legged beast, but what did he know? All any of them had were stories.
He looked to Mina, casual as ever. If none of them had agreed to come, he would likely have given up.
As if he were of the same mind, Dauid spoke up. "Do we need to do this?"
"Mm?" Kalashire said, quietly encouraging him.
"Money is nice, but I'll live without it. So far, they haven't been causing any trouble- no senseless gorings, or destroying property. I don't need to be praised either, I know my skill and bravery well enough."
"If you wish to leave and wait for us at the inn, you're free to do so." Mina said.
Dauid said nothing more, and neither did Kalashire.
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They'd stopped not long before the spot the sighting was reported at, having indeed made it there sooner than two hours. To no one's surprise, the beasts weren't still there, though signs they had been were.
Nahroou and Mina went forward to scout and track, as they were the most quiet and least nervous, respectively.
Kalashire, Dauid, and Harmine had set about reassembling the spears. The plan was not to immediately engage the animals, but to see where they were and any obstacles, return and discuss any issues. That said, they both brought their swords with them: unlike Kalashire's single edged semi-spatha, they each carried a gladius.
The matter of their armor wasn't much of an issue. They each had donned a leather thoracomaci and pteryges before even entering the town, and some covering to wear on the road over top. All had had bad experiences with Hromanios soldiers in the past, and while the heat was wretched, they'd rather take the heat than walk brazenly as those men had.
Kalashire discarded his casula, finally too sick of the heat to bear it anymore. They were out of the way of most people, and frightening someone by the sight of his armor was the last concern any of them would have if someone wandered into their hunt.
Dauid readily discarded his lotix as well, before going back to hammering a nail through the wooden crossbar on Mina's spear.
"Do you think our reftosh will scold us if he notices we put a nail through these?" Kalashire asked aloud.
"If he does, I'll remind him he didn't pay for them." Dauid picked it up and examined it closely.
"And I won't be joining you in whatever punishment he gives you." Harmine remarked.
"How cruel. And I thought we were almost like brothers to each other."
Harmine elbowed him. Kalashire was sure he'd only imagined Harmine giving him a look. He hadn't given any inclination of his… affliction. There was no reason to give him a look.
Kalashire settled for double checking his work, and triple checking it. There wasn't a flaw to be found; not one that could be fixed, at least.
Mina and Nahroou were back within an hour of them finishing the work.
"Well?" Dauid asked them.
"We saw two of them, like the girl said." Mina said, stripping off his kaihmic. "They didn't notice us. It's a fairly flat area, no trees. A few large rocks. They're fairly docile now, but on alert."
Dauid hummed. "Not that much cover, then."
"No. Some plants, but none higher than the knee. I expect they might move soon." Nahroou agreed. "You and Harmine have throwing spears, yes?"
"Yes, we do."
"You two and I will be up first: we'll wound, and attempt to kill the two of them. If they don't die, it's Mina and Kalashire, since they know how to use thrusting spears."
"Lucky us." Kalashire muttered.
Mina clapped him on the shoulder. "Really, you shouldn't be so gloomy. It's not like you."
Kalashire give him a look through the mask that he hoped conveyed some flippancy, before standing and taking his weapon and cloak in hand. "Let's be off then, unless there's something else we should know."
The walk was tense. Nothing interrupted them. Kalashire strained his ears, trying to ensure they all kept quiet. The sound of insects only added to his anxiety, somehow.
Mina and Nahroou led, and the latter abruptly held up an arm. He indicated they drop lower to the ground.
They did, placing their cloaks on the ground as well and splitting up to take advantage of the two noted rocks.
Kalashire peeked out.
They were great and terrible things. The body was like that of an oryx, though more dense and powerful. They were larger, overall, with long legs, a hide in red and black, with a stripe of white down the spine. And of course, at the top of their heads was a black horn, on either side covered with spines, giving it a serrated shape.
There was still a good distance between them and the beasts. Kalashire looked to Nahroou, raising his eyebrows. Would he be able to hit either of them from here? Kalashire wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to run to meet them without being outstripped himself.
Nahroou was determined, face set. If he was to turn back, he would have done it earlier that day.
The three of them took aim. They were not lucky enough to kill immediately, though the arc of the three spears as they sailed through the air was certainly impressive.
Puzzlingly, neither of the beasts took flight, instead tossing their heads with full indication they were ready for violence. It was a half mercy that one of then was injured in the flank, making running a chore.
Kalashire readied himself to rush out, but froze upon hearing two small sounds.
No, Kalashire had not seen a unicorn before, and yes, he only had stories, but he was a man who had grown up around a great deal of animals, and knew the call of a yearling beast when he heard it.
Mina had heard too, but paid little mind. After a moment of hesitation, Kalashire joined him, heartbeat loud in his ears.
It was too late to change tack now.
Kalashire was too tense to think, only running and keeping his hands steady. The tip went into its shoulder, and at the same time the animal's leg failed it.
As it fell, it knocked into Kalashire, hard. They both went down, and he scrambled for his blade, putting the edge to its flesh as quickly as he could. His other hand blindly sought a grip, in an effort to hold the head still. He caught the ear at the base, and held fast even as the combination of earth and animal knocked the air from his chest.
He and the beast were still for a moment, both weakened.
Kalashire's grip tightened on its ear, some of his panic replaced by a deep, wretched sorrow. They had only been trying to protect the two young ones.
The creatures dark eyes settled on him, wet, ragged breaths ravaged enough to feel on his thighs through the flaps of his armor and his tunic. It knew it was to die, it knew they were all to die, and it hated him for it. It was an animal, he realized, that had spent much of its life in a cage. Unicorns were never captured once fully grown. Death was better.
Kalashire's eyes stayed locked with it as he pressed the sword edge to its throat, and pulled a good, quick cut across it.
As the blood welled forth, he realized he hadn't given much consideration to this part, assuming distance, or that he'd be in more control. A spare spurt of it hit his lip; nothing from his waist down was spared from the gush of red.
He could not help but remember the weight of his father in his arms on that terrible night a few months prior, blood smearing over his clothes then too. Kalashire had the mad thought that if he was going to spend so much time bloody, it might be better to walk around naked.
He didn't know how long he sat there, legs pinned under the mass of the thing. He couldn't stand those eyes, accusing him even in death.
A butterfly alighted on the corpse, seeking out the tacky blood smeared all over it. Kalashire reached to touch it, but it naturally fluttered away.
Finally, Kalashire felt hands grab at him, and it startled him out of the state he'd found himself in. He wiggled out of the grip. "What am I, a child? Push the thing off me if you want to help."
Nahroou appeared at his side, hands up. "Ease yourself. You looked like you were elsewhere."
"Well, I'm not, you heretic." Kalashire snapped, squirming out from under the corpse at last.
Nahroou's eyes narrowed, and he held his hand in front of his face as the extent of the gore smeared over Kalashire was made evident. "Mina went back to town to get the cart for transporting the bodies." He said, voice muffled.
"I'm going to find my cloak." Kalashire muttered.
He shook his head, trying to steady himself. He looked around for Dauid and Harmine, and wished he hadn't. They were busying themselves with the two yearlings- not dead, not yet, but it wasn't a sight Kalashire found pleasant.
His cloak was exactly where he'd dropped it. The others had already been retrieved. He picked it up and stared down at it.It was still hot.
He didn't want to cover up, truthfully. He wanted to be naked, if anything.
It wasn't that he'd never killed before. He was a soldier. He was a farmer's son. He had. This time simply... struck him. That happened sometimes, surely?
He looked to the river, several meters away, shook his head, and began walking back.
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Mina, wise for once, had managed to find some ratty lengths of fabric for wrapping the bodies in. None of them were keen to sacrifice their cloaks, and Kalashire imagined their owners hadn't minded temporarily parting with them upon hearing what's blood they'd be stained with. He'd also brought water, rope, and fresh clothes.
As he slumped against the wall of the cart to rest, Kalashire wondered, quite seriously, how more unicorns came to be if it was that they were all male. Did they just appear? Did two older ones appoint themselves as parents? Was it two, or simply collective responsibility?
Some of the rope was for the yearlings. They had no horn, and at first might be mistaken for a more common animal from a far away land. It was quick work to bind them to the cart, so they would walk behind. They would sort out what to do with them later. Kalashire had a suspicion as to what was in Mina's head about the matter, but knew whatever it was, he could not be dissuaded.
Mina took the cloth from the cart, handing it to Nahroou. He approached the body of the one Kalashire had not had to kill with rope he had slung over his shoulder.
Kalashire felt frozen in place as several things happened in rapid succession.
First, the loose soil by its nostrils was stirred- it'd been being stirred the entire time, but the movement was so small and subtle he had not noticed it.
Second, Mina had not noticed it either, and was well within the reach of its horn.
Third, that horn slashed through the air, catching Mina hard on the arm. He was knocked back, blood rushing forth as he swore, hand clapping over the wound.
It's head fell back to the ground, a few heavy ragged breaths still in it, before the earth stilled entirely.
Mina breathed through his teeth. After a moment of Mina steeling himself, Nahroou was at his side, having torn off a strip of fabric. He wrapped it around his arm.
Kalashire started to move towards him, a moment too late, and was waved off. The two of them bound it's legs and began dragging it towards the cart.
Kalashire was useful enough to at least help them lift it up into the bed, and again for the second one. Nahroou set about covering the bodies. Dauid handed him a skin of washing water, and poured some of it over each of his own hands.
Kalashire looked at the puddled water, and wiped at his lip, which still had blood on it. Brow furrowed, he wiped again.Soon, he was madly scrubbing at it; in his reflection, the shape remained.
His blade was stained as well, he realized. He'd thought some dirtier water was simply clinging to it, but a flick confirmed the blade was dry. It wasn't as though blood remained; the grey glint was simply now marked with streaks of orange on its edge.
He turned to his companions, still rubbing at it. They were taking care of the blood as well. None of them bore a stain.
Kalashire knew already that when he got a proper bath tonight, he'd find his legs not simply bruised, but stained as well. Mina's scar would be one he bragged about. Kalashire wasn't sure what others would say looking at him.
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Further notes:
This story plays with the older idea of unicorns are horrifying and dangerous. There are plenty of positive associations with unicorns as well in Coptic culture; in my experience they are in fact, more common. For more about monstrous unicorns: https://www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de/index.php/2019/04/26/jesus-and-the-unicorn-easter-and-the-harrowing-of-hell-in-coptic-magic/
If you're curious about the deal with Onhet, he's a Manichean, which was/is sort of a Christian sect considered heretical and sort of not, especially later on; early Manicheans often considered themselves Christians, but after a certain point they stopped doing so.
Kalashire's sword has a special significance; it's based on a depiction of The Massacre of the Innocents from Abu Hennis. It's basically a rectangular blade with a right triangle cut out of the tip; similar blades were found at the Ballana graveyard in Nubia.
"Kaihmic" is not an extant Coptic word, it's from the words for sheath and mantle to describe a type of fitted coat of Persian origin found in Coptic graves. The evidence for this is a little later than the setting, but I'm not above a little fudging.
Apologies for any inaccuracies with the details of spear hunting, but in my defense neither I nor any of these characters have gone spear hunting before.
