Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonheart or The Last Unicorn or any of the characters portrayed in either film. If I did, I'd be stinking rich and would have better things to do with my time than write fanfiction. But where would the fun be in that?

Creatures of Legend

She seldom left the safety of her forest, only venturing beyond the security of its boarders when her heart ached for something lost long ago. Her hooves made little noise as she walked down a worn dirt path with her head bowed and her eyes downcast. She dared not look at the world around her, a once beautiful world turned ugly over the many years. Her kind may have been saved but man was still ignorant of the wonders around him; she dared not look at those who would mistake her for a mere white mare.

She ignored the man driving the horse-drawn cart as he went by, saying she was a lovely creature and he would envy the man lucky enough to ensnare her. Years ago she would have lashed out at him and run off in a blind rage soon after, but she knew better now. Men were simple-minded, greedy beings. They could not see true beauty, and what they thought was beautiful they had to own so no other could have it. The logic that drove man onward should have sickened her but it was only another cause of sorrow now.

When the man on the cart was far ahead of her, barely noticeable as he was taken over a small hill, she wandered off the pathway. She walked until she felt certain no man would find her, then settled down in a small thicket on the edge of a woodland that she was unfamiliar with. She turned her gaze to the evening sky, regarding it as though she would look at any other immortal creature. Dark clouds that promised rain later crept slowly forward, erasing the vibrant colors of the setting sun from existence. She wondered how many more times the sky and the storm would court in such a painfully dull manner, if they would ever grow tired of one another.

Her eyes were drawn from the bright oranges and golds vanishing slowly to an approaching form breaking through the darkness of the clouds. She canted her head to the side as she watched the creature, carrying itself on massive wings, draw itself closer at an alarmingly fast rate.

---

Draco glanced once over his shoulder as he soared. The village was but a disappearing speck behind him. No doubt Bowen was receiving his pay for a job well done this very moment. There was also no doubt in his mind that the renegade knight would spend quite a bit of that hard earned money at the local tavern and on the young women who happily threw themselves at him after he had slain the dragon.

He found himself smirking at the thought of Bowen being in the company of women while intoxicated. One could only imagine where that would lead, but Draco didn't care to dwell on the thought. Shaking the lewd thoughts from his mind, he brought his attention to the clouds above him. The scent of the rain the storm clouds above and behind him was strong. The rains to come would be strong and probably last the night and most of the day tomorrow. Brow furrowing as he looked down to the ground, he searched carefully for anything to be used as a shelter for his human companion. Should the knight decide to draw himself away from the booze and breasts and join Draco for the night, he would be well taken care of.

There was a gleam of white below that suddenly caught the copper's attention. Halting in mid-air, rising up and flapping his wings vertically to keep himself upright, he rose his brow as his eyes fell upon the cause of the eerie shimmer. There, tucked away among brambles and small trees, was a creature he had not seen since his youth, when man was awestruck by the things of legend, not eager to own them for their beauty or hunt them out of growing fear. This legend was captivating, with her pure white body, silver mane, startling blue eyes, and elegant horn on her forehead.

She was staring at him, regarding him with a look only a creature born of the same magic could. Deciding it could not hurt, and that he had nothing better to do with his time, Draco met her gaze as he started a slow descent. Landing, he gave her a polite nod before approaching.

"It has been a long time since I have seen a dragon," the unicorn said in a hushed voice, never pulling her deep blue eyes away from Draco. "The last I saw was but a head in a prince's hand, a trophy of sorts."

"I see," Draco said in a calm tone.

"Yes, but it was a long time ago," she said, turning her attention away from the dragon and looking to the sky again. Perhaps if she stared at the sky long enough she would dream her way back to the place in her past she so often searched for in vain. "Tell me," she spoke again as she watched the clouds darkening, "are there others like you?"

"No," he replied without a second thought.

"So you are the last," she stated, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. She looked at him with a sense of understanding hidden in the depths of her eyes. "That is a tragic fate, dragon."

"Yes, but I suppose there is no running from destiny," he said in that calm manner once again.

She gave her full attention to him once more. "Do you wish for death?"

Why those he interacted with seemed compelled to ask him that questioned was beyond him. "I do," he admitted, "but I'm not ready to die just yet."

"I would think you would be eager to surrender your life," the unicorn said. She could remember a time long ago when she had been almost ready to give herself to a monstrous creature just to be with the rest of her kind under the waves of the ocean. Though, that reasoning had been the result of panic due to finding herself trapped inside a frail, slowly dying human body, the thought in of itself had given her momentary comfort then.

"And I would be, had I not forsaken myself."

His response was cause for her to widen her eyes. "Forsaken yourself?" She watched as he placed a hand to his chest.

"I gave half my heart to a dying boy years ago, in hopes to keep a vow all dragons made and unite man and dragon once again." He lowered his hand to the ground, then eased himself onto his stomach, laying in front of her. "I knew there was a wickedness in him, but I thought my heart could change him. I had never been so wrong."

The unicorn shook her head. "Yours truly is a sad fate. The last of your kind, and now there is no hope you will gain your hard-sought immortality after death."

Her words stung but he hardly let the pain show, knowing she was simply telling things as they were. "I suppose so, yes," he gave a solemn nod.

"I am sorry," she apologized.

"You needn't give me your apologies. I have accepted my sins and what is to become of me when my time does indeed end."

"And then what?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"After you are dead and there are no more dragons in the world, how will man survive without your kinds vast knowledge of things?"

Draco offered the older legend a small sad smile. "Man will be lost and rely on the scriptures of the past when he is need of knowing what dragons knew, but of course this will be in vain as man will be too pig-headed to fully comprehend what has been scrawled across parchment by once wise men."

She chuckled quietly. "I fear you are right."

"And what of your kind? Are there other unicorns?" He asked suddenly.

"Of course. We remain hidden in our forests to protect ourselves from man."

"Do you fear for your future, unicorn?" Draco inquired.

She was silent for a moment before she speaking. "Unlike dragons, who live and die, unicorns are immortal. We need not fear death as long as we seldom show ourselves."

"And what will you do when man completely ceases to believe in you? When your kind are but white horses in the eyes of man."

She grew silent once more, turning her attention to the sky. She knew he was right and her kinds fate was unavoidable but she often liked to believe that could one day change.

"Forgive me if I've upset you," Draco said quietly.

"The truth is often upsetting. I suppose we will carry on and live, only able to truly be ourselves in the memories and fables of man."

Draco blew out through his nose, plumes of smoke rising from his nostrils before he sighed softly. "What are you doing out here on the roadside?" He asked, suddenly sensing the need for a change in subject.

"Searching," she replied, the rise in her voice telling him she was grateful to be involved in a different conversation.

"What for? If you don't mind my asking."

"The past."

He cocked a brow. "Do you not remember yourself?"

"On the contrary, dragon! I remember who I was all too well, but all that was is to remain in the past. Those I am searching for have long since departed the world." The last of the humans she once traveled with to die was Molly. The unicorn came to her as she sensed her life fading, just as she had gone to Schmendrick and Lir. Molly left the world peacefully in her sleep, old and grayed and withered, holding onto her lover's old blue cape. "Perhaps I am searching for a reminder of what was."

"And what was?"

The unicorn's eyes shone with a sense of mirth for a brief moment as she allowed herself to remember things all too vividly. "A time when I traveled with a magician and a woman. A time when a human man meant more to me than all the world."

"You fell in love?" Draco asked incredulously, "I thought immortals such as yourself were incapable of love."

"We are – I was. But the magician transformed me into a human woman to save my life. As a result I fell in love, and now I still feel love for him, and part of me regrets what I had to do, that we could not be." They shared a moment of silence before she spoke again. "And do you, dragon, deal at all with humans presently?"

Draco chuckled. "Oh, yes. In fact, I am waiting for my human companion."

"It... It is nice while it lasts," she murmured, once again turning her attention to the sky above.

"It is," he agreed. She sighed softly and brought herself to her feet slowly.

"I should be on my way," she said, giving the dragon a polite bow. "It was nice to meet you, dragon."

"Draco," he said, feeling bold enough to correct her.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You may call me by my name. It's Draco."

"A human word for dragon," she remarked.

He chuckled. "Yes, the human I am waiting on decided to call me that. And since he's unable to pronounce my true name, it is better than always being called 'dragon'." He was pleased to hear her chuckle softly, her voice carrying beautifully on the wind that was picking up rather quickly. "And do you, my dear, have a name?"

She fell silent, shifting on her hooves as she stared at the ground. Unicorns did not take names, simply referring to one another as "friend" or "brother" or "sister," but she had once been called something other than "unicorn" by the humans.

"Amalthea," she said in a hushed tone. "You may call me Amalthea."

"A rather human name for a creature such as yourself, hm?"

"A schmendrick once called me that. It was the name my love knew me by," she explained as she started to walk away from him, walking down the dirt path once again, though this time she walked in the opposite direction.

"I wish you luck on your search, Amalthea," Draco said as he stood, watching the majestic beauty tread carefully on the man-made path.

"My search is over," she said without looking over her shoulder. She did not need to search for that reminder anymore, not now since she decided to wear the name Schmendrick had given her. "May your journey, until the end, be kind to you, Draco."

He smirked to himself as he watched her walk down the path until he could not see the shimmer of her horn or the glimmer of her coat in the last light of the sun. "One can hope. One can always hope," he said quietly to himself as he spread his wings and took to the sky once again, resuming his search for shelter.

Perhaps one day, before unicorns and dragons were nothing but man's memories, he would meet with her again.

-End