Scarlet Hunt

  Novel One out of a Three Novel series

  By Andrea Britanik (Andi Brit)

  Chapter 1

  The Unicorns

  The sun was just setting over the Ivory Deer Forest. Inside, amongst the dense trees, but withinside a small opening, lanterns a lit the faces of many people, making them glow an orange hue.

  “This is the fifth dead unicorn this month.” said the inspector, Arthur Gage.

  He got up from inspecting the unicorn, its body lying flat on the ground amongst the forest brush with its limbs limp in front of it. It was black and its hooves were shaggy with mane. Its horn was completely gone.

  “Cause of death?” said the detective, Philip Grove. He wore leggings and a knee-length tunic. His cap was feathered and red. His arms were crossed.

  “His horn has been chopped off.” said the magical animal scientist, Otis Hunt.

  “Yes, we know that, but how has it died?” said Gage. He put a hand on his hip.

  “It died because someone chopped it off.” said Hunt.

  “What do you mean?” said Grove.

  “I mean that for this species, the Puracornus, it will most certainly die if one takes the horn from the body and it’s for evil means.” said Hunt.

  “What type of evil means?” said Gage.

  “It could be anything, for illegal smuggling, a potion to harm someone, something like that.” said Hunt.

  “Ah, I see.” said Gage.

  “And I wonder which one was for this?” said Grove.

  “Time will only tell, maybe.” said Hunt.

  “No it will, it always does.” said Grove.

  “What’s spooky to me is that it’s always the same species, this Puracornus.” said Gage.

  “And why so many?” said Grove.

  “Not to mention in the same area.” said Adam Wingfield, Philip Grove’s partner.

  “Any thoughts?” said Gage, looking at Hunt hopefully.

  “Well, the fact that it’s always in the same area could be explained quite easily. The Puracornus species has a heavily dense population in this area of the wood. The amount taken can be because their horns are very valuable in price and they yield extremely powerful magical properties.” said Hunt.

  “Could be a decent motive.” said Grove.

  “What kind of properties?” said Gage.

  “For one, if you can make the potion right, it can be used to make it rain in any area of the world that you want, but it’s a small circumference. Two, it reveals all beings and objects made invisible by magic.” said Hunt.

  “Impressive.” said Wingfield.

  “You have no idea how great these creatures really are. And how valuable they are to our ways of life.” said Hunt.

  “Yes, yes, but, we need to find out who the culprit is to this matter and fast. We can’t be losing any more of these animals. They’re too important.” said Gage.

  “Or culprits, and I highly agree.” said Grove.

  Scarlet Hunt, a sixteen-year-old girl with brown hair and green eyes, sat at the kitchen table with her father, Otis Hunt. He had just filled her in on everything that he had learned in the case the night before and now they were eating breakfast near a big fireplace that was lit and warming the room. Today it was sausage, pancakes and eggs.

  “How horrible.” said Scarlet. She took a sip of her coffee.

  “Yes, it’s completely devastating.” said Otis.

  “Surely, it will be affecting people’s livelihoods?” said Scarlet.

  “Oh, yes, it already has. A lot of farmers rely on their crops growing by unicorn horn. And of course, that’s not an evil thing in itself.” said Otis.

  “And it wouldn’t kill the unicorn.” said Scarlet.

  “Precisely.” said Otis.

  “But using the rain to hoard all of the crops to yourself would kill one.” said Scarlet.

  “True. But only the one that you took the magic source from.” said Otis. Now it was his turn to take a sip of coffee.

  “I wonder if they’re connected?” said Scarlet.

  “It certainly seems so. It’s happened within the same amount of time. But who knows, it could be multiple people doing the same thing for some reason.” said Otis.

  “They could be hoarding the magical powers.” said Scarlet.

  “That’s a very interesting theory, but why would they be doing that?” said Otis.

  “Maybe they’re trying to build something?” said Scarlet.

  “Could be.” said Otis. He rubbed his chin.

  “Maybe I should change my major to being a detective. I like trying to figure things out.” said Scarlet.

  “Dear, yes, but you know, being a magical animal scientist is like being a detective in its own right and it’s only dealing with animals and their environment. I think it would be more suited for you. You love animals.” said Otis.

  Scarlet’s hand started to shake on her mug, so much so, that she had to put her coffee down.

  “Are you alright, Scarlet?” said Otis.

  “Yes, but for some reason, I keep thinking about that time on the river. Remember? And it makes my hands shake.” said Scarlet.

  “It’s probably some post trauma. You’ll be alright.” said Otis.

  “Okay, father.” said Scarlet.

  Scarlet, along with her two best friends Gemma Wood and Leonardo (Leo) Knight, a blonde girl with blue eyes and a boy with brown eyes and red hair respectively, walked towards the chateau with steep gables and high spires. This was the police station and Scarlet had a few questions for the detective, Philip Grove.

  Gemma stopped Scarlet and Leo stopped as a result too. It was raining lightly and the hoods of their cloaks were up.

  “Are you sure that you want to go thru with this?” said Gemma.

  “Yes, my father might not think that I want to be a detective, but I sort of do. Of course, I’ll still keep my major. But, you never know.” said Scarlet.

  “But is this plan of yours actually going to work?” said Leo.

  “I don’t see why not.” said Scarlet.

  “I think that we’re just going to have to trust you.” said Gemma.

  “I think so.” said Leo.

  “Come on, let’s go.” said Scarlet.

  The three continued on walking towards the chateau.

  The three of them entered into a large foyer and then went up to a wooden table in which a woman wore a French hood and big puffy sleeves. The back of her hair was brown and pulled into a hairnet.

  “Can I help you three?” said the woman.

  “Hi Mavis,” said Scarlet. The woman looked surprised that she knew who she was. “We would like to have a word with Mr. Philip Grove.”

  “And why is that?” said Mavis.

  “We have a research project that we’re working on for our school. One of our courses is animal murder investigation. And we were asked to get as much information as we could from a real life detective so we can continue to do our project.” said Scarlet.

  Mavis blinked.

  “And what’s your name?” said Mavis.

  “Scarlet Hunt, my father is Otis Hunt, he occasionally works with detective Grove.”

  “Oh, I see. Yes, you can go ahead.” said Mavis, and she waved her hand along.

  “Um, where’s his office again?” said Scarlet.

  “It’s on the fourth floor, number 416.” said Mavis.

  “Right, thank you.” said Scarlet.

  Scarlet, Gemma and Leo walked towards a rock slate that was in the middle of the room. It had four pulleys all around it. They stepped onto the platform.

  “Fourth floor, please.” said Scarlet.

  Immediately, the platform started to raise and raise and raise. There were no railings and Scarlet was too afraid to look down and so she just looked up. But she was already sweating a little.

  The platform rose and rose as they entered into a space which had a stone beam that led to one of the hallways. In fact, there were beams going in several directions on this level. But the platform had come to a stop, meaning that they were on the fourth level. They looked around at each and every sign. Gemma eyed the sign that said “416”.

  “This way.” said Gemma and she led the way stepping off of the platform and onto the beam. The other two followed.

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  They walked down the hallway and approached a door with the number 416 on it.

  Scarlet knocked a couple of times.

  In a little while, the door opened, and it was Philip Grove himself.

  “Can I help you?” said Grove.

  “I’m Otis Hunt’s daughter, Scarlet, and we’re here to ask you some questions for our school research project.” said Scarlet.

  “Oh, okay. Do you have a permission slip or something?” said Grove.

  “No. But you can ask my father…” said Scarlet.

  “No, it’s okay, I know Otis. He’s a good man. Why don’t you three come on in.” said Grove.

  Philip stepped to the side and let them in. They all sat in chairs that were across from Philip.

  “What class did you say this was for again?” said Grove, once he sat down.”

  “Animal murder investigation.” said Scarlet.

  “It’s a summer project.” said Gemma.

  “Ah. Well, go ahead, ask away. Of course, I might not be able to tell you, but…” said Grove.

  “We’ll accept all of the information that we can get.” said Leo.

  “First of all, how was the horn chopped off?” said Scarlet.

  “How did you know that?” said Grove.

  “My father told me, Otis.” said Scarlet.

  Grove shook his head.

  “Oh, that’s right. Of course. Sorry, I’m a bit tired. This is a really important case. I’ve been working on it tirelessly.” said Grove.

  “It’s alright. And I do agree it is an important case.” said Scarlet.

  “Which unicorn are you talking about? Just to be certain.” said Grove.

  “The most recent one I suppose. But, I would like to know about the others.” said Scarlet.

  “Of course, no problem. Well, the most recent unicorn had it’s horn chopped off by some sort of axe…” said Grove.

  Scarlet put up her hand.

  “Hang on, I should probably write this down.” said Scarlet.

  “Okay.” said Grove.

  She reached into her backpack that was made out of leather and pulled out her journal which was also made out of leather, but the journal was maroon and not black like her pack. She also pulled out a quill and a container of ink. She put the inkpot onto the table, dipped it in and then pointed it at her journal.

  “Okay, I’m ready.” she said.

  “Like I was saying, some sort of axe had been used. The serrations were smooth, so it was an axe that did not have any grooves in it and it was taken in one foul sweep. Expertly done, of course. Used by someone who knows how to use an axe, perhaps a lumberjack, or someone who works in the forest. It wouldn’t be uncommon in these parts, obviously.” said Grove.

  Scarlet scribbled some things down.

  “Poachers?” said Leo.

  “Perhaps. But, we really don’t know yet.” said Grove.

  “And what about the other unicorns, four was it?” said Gemma.

  “Yes, there were five total. And the other four were all killed in the same way, their horns were chopped off and then died.” said Grove.

  “They died because something evil was done.” said Scarlet.

  “Yes, that’s correct.” said Grove.

  “And the serrations?” said Leo.

  “Some were smooth and some were rough.” said Grove.

  Scarlet scribbled down some more notes.

  “How many of each?” said Gemma.

  “Three were rough, two were smooth.” said Grove.

  “Were they confined to certain areas or was it random?” said Leo.

  “It was random.” said Grove.

  “It seems like there was more than one.” said Gemma.

  “A very real possibility.” said Grove.

  “But why only the Puracornus?” said Scarlet and she tapped her chin with the top of her quill.

  “They must like it or it gives them something that they really need.” said Grove.

  “Or for somebody else.” said Leo.

  “True.” said Grove.

  “This seems kind of silly, but, were all of the unicorns the same color?” said Scarlet.

  “No, some were white, some were black. The ones with the smooth were black and the ones with the rough were white.” said Grove.

  “Interesting.” said Scarlet and she wrote some things down.

  “These are some very good questions, but I must plead you to not go investigating this crime on your own in any way. It’s too dangerous. However, you can always ask me questions.” said Grove.

  “I promise that we won’t.” said Scarlet, although, Scarlet wasn’t so sure of this.

  “So, anymore questions about this unicorn business?” said Grove, putting his hands behind his head.

  “Which sections were the unicorns each found in?” said Scarlet.

  “Why do you have to know this?” said Grove.

  “It’s research.” said Scarlet.

  “Research for what?” said Grove.

  “I think that they’re trying to train us to be detectives or something.” said Gemma.

  “Ah. Well, I can’t remember off hand, but I do have the list of it somewhere,” said Grove and he opened a drawer and shifted through some scrolls. He pulled one out. “Here we go. Here’s the list. But, you promise me that you won’t actually go to these locations, right?”

  “Of course we won’t.” said Scarlet and she wrote down each of the place names.

  Gemma gasped.

  “Look, this one’s not far from where you live Scarlet.” said Gemma.

  “Huh, how about that?” said Scarlet.

  “You promise me?” said Grove.

  “Yes, I promise. We won’t go investigating.” said Scarlet.

  “Good.” said Grove.

  “One last question.” said Scarlet.

  “Go ahead.” said Grove.

  “Were they all expertly chopped off?” said Scarlet.

  “No, they weren’t. Some of them had knicks on their head from where they weren’t chopped off properly, or they took too many swings to get it off. Some amateur. It’s disgusting.” said Grove.

  Scarlet, Gemma and Leo all had their hoods back on again as they left the chateau building.

  “You know we’re investigating these places, right?” said Leo.

  “Oh, yes, I am very certain.” said Scarlet.

  “It sounds dangerous.” said Gemma.

  “The more the merrier.” said Scarlet.

  It was nighttime now and Scarlet, Gemma and Leo all had their lanterns out as they traveled through the woods outside of Scarlet’s house, Whimsical Forest.

  “You know what I’m thinking?” said Scarlet.

  “That this was a horrible idea and that we should go back right now?” said Gemma.

  Leo rolled his eyes.

  “No, I’m thinking why were these unicorns taken from five different places and not just one place? There would have been plenty to choose from in Whimsical Forest alone. I see unicorns all of the time here.” said Scarlet.

  “Maybe they were unlucky on the nights that they chose to hunt?” said Leo.

  “It could be, or for some other purpose.” said Scarlet.

  “Like what?” said Gemma.

  “I haven’t the slightest idea.” said Scarlet.

  They came across a slab of rock that had a bunch of moss growing about it. Scarlet looked down at her piece of paper.

  “This was where one of the white unicorns was found with the rough serrations. Right here on this slab.” said Scarlet.

  “Ugh, there’s the blood.” said Gemma, and she looked away.

  Scarlet looked to where Gemma was looking, and sure enough there was some blood on the slab that was to the far right.

  “This one must have been one of the messed up job ones.” said Scarlet.

  “Yuck.” said Leo.

  Scarlet pulled out a vial from her cloak. She walked over to the blood, which was dried. But when she stuck her vial over the blood, the blood began to liquidize and drop upwards into the vial. Scarlet stopped when it was about halfway full. She closed the cap of the vial and put it back inside of her cloak.

  “I wonder what results that will bring?” said Gemma.

  “We’re soon to find out.” said Scarlet.

  They were now walking through the Druid Grove forest, lanterns in hand. Branches tugged at Scar’s cloak and she tugged back at it to free it.

  There was a small opening up ahead, and they walked towards it.

  “What is this?” said Leo.

  “It’s called Circe’s Alcove.” said Scarlet.

  “I don’t see any signs of a unicorn being here.” said Gemma.

  “There.” said Scarlet, pointing to some bent over pieces of grass that was by a large lumpy tree trunk.

  The three of them walked over to it.

  “And look, footprints.” said Leo.

  There were footprints leading towards the bent grass.

  “It’s coming from that part of the woods.” said Gemma.

  “Let’s go see where they lead to.” said Scarlet.

  They entered into woods, following the footprints of the unicorn.

  “It was definitely running, until it collapsed over there in the alcove.” said Scarlet.

  “How can you tell?” said Leo.

  “Look at the spaces between the prints. They’re very wide strides.” said Scarlet.

  “Oh, I see.” said Leo.

  “What do you think caused it to run?” said Gemma.

  “The hunter, of course.” said Scarlet.

  “Or maybe it was running from something else and then the hunter just took advantage of it?” said Leo.

  “That could be and it was running from both perhaps.” said Scarlet.

  “These prints just keep going on and on. We should just head back.” said Gemma.

  “I agree.” said Scarlet.

  Scarlet, Gemma and Leo now walked amongst the Fairy Woods. Lanterns out, Scarlet led the way. They walked along a narrow path along a bubbling creek. It had stopped raining now except for a light sprinkle and the moon was beginning to peak out from amongst the clouds. They made it to a place in the creek where it was sandy and quite shallow.

  “This was where the third unicorn was found.” said Scarlet.

  “How do you know that?” said Gemma.

  “Because look,” said Scarlet, pointing to the sky. “It’s aura is still here.”

  Up above, amongst the dark sky, was a beautiful rainbow of colors, glowing amongst the blackness. Every once in a while, there were twinkling sparkles within the vertical cloud of glow.

  “It’s beautiful.” said Leo.

  “The Puracornus does leave its mark for some time doesn’t it?” said Gemma.

  “Yes, and I think that it’s wonderful.” said Scarlet.

  Gemma looked down from the sky and to Scarlet.

  “Scarlet, how could this unicorn die?” said Gemma.

  “I don’t know, but this aura, it means something.” said Scarlet.

  “What’s that?” said Leo.

  “I can’t remember. But it’s something. It says something about it in one of my books. We have to go back to my house to look at it.” said Scarlet.

  The trio walked up to a giant oak tree that had many thick, twisting branches going each way. It had many turrets sticking out of it at multiple places, as well as balconies.

  “Home sweet home.” said Scarlet.

  Scarlet walked over to a big bush that was at the side of the house. She pulled out a broom that had a crooked handle and fine, stiff branches at the end of it. She brought it back over to the rest of the group and mounted it. She gestured for Gemma to get on and she did, behind her. Scar kicked off the ground with her boots and they took off into the air. They flew behind the tree and to a back door that was way up in the tree. They hovered above the balcony that was next to the door. Gemma hopped off and walked into Scarlet’s room. Scarlet repeated this process with Leo and when she dismounted on the balcony, the broom instantly fell into Scarlet’s hand. She followed Leo into the room and quietly shut the door behind her. She really hoped that she wouldn’t wake up her parents, who were asleep several floors down, but her father was a bit of a light sleeper.

  Gemma had her crystal wand alight and it glowed a light blue. The entire top was crystal. She held it in front of her face. Scarlet got out her wand as well, also a crystal, but hers glowed a bright purple. She didn’t want to give her parents any clue that they were up to no good in her bedroom. So, for now, it would have to be the wands only.

  Scarlet walked over to the bookshelf and scanned the light of her wand over all of the spines of many different leather-bound books, of all shapes and sizes and of many different subjects, including a World Bestiary, which was like an almanac for all of the magical animals in their world. It was quite big and heavy, so she handed her wand over to Leo.

  “Here, hold this.” said Scarlet, and he did so. She grabbed the book off of the shelf and brought it over to her four poster bed, Gemma and Leo, with their wands, following her with the light.

  She laid the book down onto the bed and flipped it open. She ran her finger down the index until she came across “Unicorns”. She flipped to the correct page, which was page three hundred and fifty four. She ran her finger down the page.

  “Auras, auras, auras. Where are they?” said Scarlet.

  “Here.” said Leo and he pointed to a part on the page.

  “Ah. Thank you.” said Scarlet and she scanned the paragraph.

  After she read the paragraph, she closed the book shut.

  “That was fast.” Said Gemma.

  “Auras aren’t just marks left by a unicorn when it dies sometimes, it’s also a mark that means that it was stalked for a very long time and it had to work very hard to get away. Meaning, that whoever was hunting this unicorn, was very desperate to get it.” said Scarlet.