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I'm Leonia; it's my turn with the other 23 fourteen year olds. We all must go through this ritual to prove that we can be part of the clan; we've trained from a small age, learning about control, discipline and what it takes to be at the top. We are turned out of the village and told to come back in 14 months, all I have with me is my bow and knife.

I decided to go towards the Piline area; I knew that there would be water, materials to build and some animals to eat. I would need to clear a boundary, build up high and have some look out places. It was going to be a long 14 months and I was competing against the others now, so I had to be careful and not take any chances.

I reached the Piline territory by mid afternoon and decided to climb the hill. I had a look around and saw a small stream which led to a small lake. This looked perfect, time to get down there and get something organised, I had to smile while I thought about Regon my mentor. He probably would hate this place, to easy he would say, the others would be trying to take it all the time, but I do like a fight.

Time to set up for the night, a small camp, just set up my string bed up amongst a couple of the trees. I'll eat some of the short bread first, no fires yet, no point giving away my position too early. I decided to climb to the top of the tree and scan around, I saw the village lights, but all the others must have had the same idea as me, no fires as yet.

4 months have passed now, I've fought many of my friends now, none have taken my camp, and everything is in place now. It's time to just leave my camp and look around my surroundings more. Find out what the area is like and see if I can find anything that might be useful for the clan. I decided to go towards the Valion Mountains, no-one goes near there as nothing lives or grows in that area, Regon would love this place.

I'd reached the Gal peak of the Valion Mountains; there was a small watering hole and a few caves. I decided to sleep in one of the smaller caves, you never know what might be here and someone might have followed me. About 2am I heard a noise, I went into a defensive stance, waiting and listening. This didn't sound like footsteps; these were hoof noises, what the hell could be this away up here.

I edged forward, it was hard to see in the darkness, but as my eyes adjusted I saw the silhouette of a horse. This was weird; a horse shouldn't be up here. There was nothing to eat, no where the horse would live or any shelter from storms. It was drinking from the water; it lifted its head and turned towards me. All I could see was an outline of its features and a single horn on its head.

Leonia thought to herself, this must be the dark unicorn that she heard about. God I thought this was a story the elders told the young ones. I never thought I'd ever see him, the dark one, oppisite to the light. This is one of a few of these creatures who keep the balance. She must be careful.

Learn more about this author, Oonagh Mccaughan.
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