Pine slammed a spear of energy at the ward, driving it with his hooves. He kicked and slashed, using every iota of strength and energy at his command, but still the ward resisted, holding him out. A direct attack on the shield was doing him no good; he'd have to be more subtle.

He felt the pain of a soul in there, where he wasn't allowed. They were doing wrong; they were doing things that were unnatural. Many humans assumed that good had more power and would prevail, but it was not the case. Power was power, and while a balance and order of things existed, it could be superseded by enough power. Most individuals had extreme power; a group had ten times that. That was why he could not break through alone… not through a ward that had been created and was being maintained by a large group of powerful individuals. With all of their energy feeding into it, it was nearly impenetrable.

Pine needed help. There was nothing else to it. Giving the huge, cold well of power that circled the ward a wide berth, Pine galloped across the rolling hills of his section of astral plane. There were many creatures here, but were there any that would be willing to help? The unicorn sent out his plea on a wide scale, requesting assistance, but he didn't receive any offers. As he passed through the summer of the astral, dryads playing in the oak trees waved playfully to him, but they stayed in their trees.

Small gnomes pattering across the leaves of early fall greeted him, but did not say a thing about his request. Unseen spirits floating through the dark forests and swamps simply gazed at the unicorn with glowing eyes. A tall, pale autumn spirit, one who had been an acquaintance of Pine's for some years now, traveled with him for a bit, but then departed as Pine left his realm.

There were others to ask, of course… there were the powerful and hate- filled demon-like creatures that lived off of pain and misery, but Pine knew they would not help him. There were the more revered personas; deities, and Pine thought he might get help from them… as often as not they had the welfare of balance and life in mind. There were the thought-forms, the bogeys, the high court fae, the dragons, the guardian spirits; there were other unicorns…

And in his search, he stumbled across something he hadn't expected--- it was one of the doctors. Striding along through one of the forested swamps was one of those doctors, projecting into the astral to try and find spirits to help them, no doubt. Pine quickly slipped into the crowd of beings in the woods, hoping to remain unnoticed until the doctor withdrew.

And when the man did, Pine followed him. He followed the projection through a convoluted path, falling down, down… Pine threw his mind outward, his own projection carefully tracking the doctor back down into the castle.

Success. Pine looked around. The doctor had brought back a couple of rather weak elementals, and had apparently assigned them the task of creating a third. They huddled together in one corner, a soft glow of energy growing between outstretched 'hands' from both of them. They fed that glow, ignoring Pine, who silently slipped from the room and rushed through the castle. He was inside, now, but he figured he'd better keep a low profile so that he was not exorcised again. And still, through the ward, he could feel that cold presence… watching.



"You see… we're trying out this new procedure," Dr. Kasavin said, as he hooked up the IV syringe, tested it, and turned to smile at his patient, who was again strapped to the table. Johnny had his eyes screwed tightly shut, and his head was turned to one side, away from the glaring lights and the doctor.

There was little reason to explain the process to the patient but Dr. Kasavin felt that if Johnny knew what was happening, his added thought of the process would aid it to a small extent.

"Sometimes… as you may well know…" Dr. Kasavin stepped closer to the boy, a tight smile on his face. "We will be asked to resurrect someone longer dead. It is hard to do. As you may also know, the soul leaves the body upon death. It is as often as not that it is reincarnated into a new life and consciousness. Now how to recall a soul when it is already installed in that new consciousness? It's very hard to do, I assure you. This…" Dr. Kasavin paused to hold up the syringe, reaching out a gaunt hand to touch the patient's shoulder. Johnny flinched visibly.

"To do this, it becomes necessary to find the imbedded soul. And to find a way to release it back into its former self. Of course, you could kill the new body, but that wouldn't go over well, now would it?" Dr. Kasavin smiled. "We're testing out a new way to take care of that. To get the soul back. Especially if the new consciousness is still young, it shouldn't be too hard."

"You're backing yourself in deep," snapped Johnny weakly. "You'll lose something, somewhere, and it won't work…"

"I don't think so, my boy," Dr. Kasavin said, and he stepped up to Johnny, priming the syringe. The patient shuddered, perhaps feeling the approach of energy that the doctor was getting ready to do this with.

"Your… demon-thing," Johnny said, just as Dr. Kasavin was lowering the syringe. "It told me that you had lost your humanity. It was wrong though, wasn't it?" Johnny's voice dropped into disgust. "You still care about money. About siphoning off half the income of this fat, arrogant, over-stuffed human society."

"It's not just that," Dr. Kasavin said softly, and he pushed the needle into Nny's arm.



Pine quickly located what he knew to be Johnny's specific soul pattern, and he reeled with the feelings accompanying it. The usual roiling negativity, yes, but this time it was accompanied by a strange, screaming agony that felt like one's vitals being sucked violently out of the most inner part of one's being. So much for keeping a low profile.

Pine didn't even have time to take a look at what was going on when he burst into the room. Alls he saw that was important to him was the pale figure of Johnny on the table, writhing, and above that, a sharper, more deeply intense version of who he was, and that was what was screaming. The doctor stood there, his power flowing freely, and with him was a machine that thrummed with a giant magnet. The unicorn didn't lose any time.



Dr. Kasavin struggled to concentrate, to aim and send his power towards the goal of wresting the unwilling soul from the body. It was a hard thing to do, harder than recalling a still-loose soul to an old body. Most of the former experiments, having to do with killing the patients and then re- calling their souls, had helped the doctors learn quite a bit. It was time for the next stage… first, make it work, then find out how to hide it from the public. The magnetic fluid that pumped into the human through the IV reacted to the giant magnet, creating a pull of energy that aided the doctor's attempt to yank the soul out of the body. Sweat covered his body, soaking the robe he wore, as he strained and concentrated. Eventually, they'd have to learn how to do this over a distance, and without the magnetic fluid. This soul was really resisting… but then, they all did. Dr. Kasavin thought he felt it tied to something, something ugly and cold, high above and beyond the ward, but he did not have the attention for it now. That was required by the task in front of him.

And suddenly, Dr. Kasavin felt himself hurled backwards, and his concentration broke. He felt the soul coated in a net of power not his own, before a familiar whirling energy clouded his psychic sight and left him virtually helpless. It lasted for several seconds, and then was gone as abruptly as it had arrived. Dr. Kasavin slowly stood. The table was empty, and Johnny was gone again. The unicorn… it was back.



Pine didn't know, really, if he'd done a good enough patch-up job. Having your soul nearly forced out of your body was a terrible ordeal, and very few recovered. There were a lot of things that could go wrong. The body often shut down if the soul was forced out, and starting it back up successfully could be tricky. Memory and knowledge might be affected, and the state of the physical body might drop badly.

Johnny seemed reasonably all right, though. Pine stood with him again under the walkway, gazing down at the human's limp body. There was one major asset a unicorn possessed, and that was the ability to heal. Had Pine been any worse in that field Johnny probably would not have lived. Still, Pine continued covering the human over with layer after layer of healing energy. Nny's mind, especially, was already a warped mess; he did not need it any worse.

Johnny awoke, finally, though he was never aware of having been unconscious. It was just one long, ugly moment of intense pain. The intense pain seeped away, when he woke, but he didn't notice that at first. He tried to scream, but found himself silent. Sharp spikes of pain lanced through his back, chest, and head every time he moved, and there was an ugly feeling deep inside... like he was torn open, and exposed, in a way that could not heal.

"Pine… what?" Johnny winced as he reached a hand out and found the soft muzzle of the unicorn. Suddenly, he began to shake, as the shock of the experience set in. His muscles quivered, and though the movement sent lances of pain through his body, he was powerless to stop it. The unicorn swiftly bent his head, and Johnny felt the tip of the being's horn against his forehead. His muscles relaxed, and the shivering stopped.

"Pine… take me home. Or something. Get me out of here…"

"I can't leave. I have to bring this out and stop it."

Johnny sighed deeply, curling up on the stone and covering his face in his hands. It was selfish to ask that, sure, but his pain and fear was quite intense enough to warrant it. Nny usually asked nothing of anyone, except to be left alone… and that right was being violated penetratingly here. At least, Pine was taking the time to keep the stupid bastards here from doing things too terrible… but they'd almost succeeded, this time. Even the memory of the excruciating pain made him tremble, and he looked up at the unicorn, feeling grateful to someone else for the first time in… a very long time.

But Pine was not watching him. He stood still, gazing outwards somewhere. His warm eyes sparked and flashed every few seconds, and the rigid way he stood… it almost looked like he was confronting something. His presence started to fade, and Johnny sat up suddenly, but doubled over again in pain. Not even a unicorn; a 'perfect' being? Not even that was trustworthy. Unfortunately, Nny was in no state to take care of himself at the moment, and if Pine left for some reason, he'd most certainly be doomed back into the clutches of the 'doctors'.

But when Johnny's thoughts quelled and then fell silent, he just gazed at Pine, and he almost felt… something there. Like there were soft strands of some material running through and around the unicorn, and through to… somewhere… Nny's brow furrowed as he attempted to follow the strands with his mind, but as he did, he touched on something he did not like at all. Something familiar, and it seemed to sneer at him the moment he touched it. He'd never been able to before, but all of a sudden he could feel its taint in his mind. Could feel the wide gaps in memory, the foreign feelings that he had been unable to recognize, before, as not his own… all of this had the stink of that presence.

He'd fought it, for a long time. And then he had thought it had been gone, but apparently, he still had some connection to it… else why this continued confusion of events? This continued insanity and memory loss? And the bad energy that followed him everywhere? And now he could feel it, really know it was there, not just be able to deduce it from the circumstances. It was still there; it still had its dirty claws hooked into his brain. Looking over at the fading unicorn, Johnny felt a surge of anger and distrust and knew it didn't come from his own mind. Of course.

Johnny's eyes narrowed and he carefully tried to sit up again, leaning heavily against the wall. That… thing wouldn't want Nny to hang out with a unicorn; Pine had proved his power and probably could fight it off. Or could he? He thought Pine was doing that now, fighting with the thing in Nny's mind… and he didn't look very successful.

Though he didn't know how, Johnny tried to hang onto the unicorn's presence. If he left again, Nny would be alone with these insane bastards and he didn't know how lucky he would be the second… or was it the third or fourth… time.

It must've worked, or something else had happened, for Pine solidified again and turned back to the human. Looking into his eyes Johnny felt that same resentment and anger, but he could tell that although it was fueled and encouraged by the thing in his mind, it was his own feeling. A unicorn is perfect, Nny thought viciously to himself. What am I? Human. Those doctors, they've done it, they've escaped the superfluous needs and desires of the human being… no; no they haven't. Wouldn't it be nice? To be able to cast off those unwanted urges, to be able to use the power of your mind anyway you so chose without the emotions and needs of your body distracting you and getting in your way?

This thing, in his mind… it could help him be that way. It could help to erase those urges like it had hidden his memories; it could help him be cold… no! Nny shook his head violently and nearly fell over again from his sitting position. A sharp pain rang through his skull and he groaned, pressing his hands tightly to the sides of his head. These were not his own thoughts. They were that creature's.

"Johnny," said Pine, and that voice, so pure and gentle compared to the ugly ones swimming around Nny's head. He felt that resentment again, felt the thing in his mind fueling the anger almost enthusiastically. Of course it wanted him to hate the unicorn. Things would go much easier for it if he did.

"There is nothing of me for you to hate, Johnny," the unicorn said. Damn beast! Trying to get on his good side… just trying to make him feel worse about what he had to be.

"We'll be good on our own, Johnny," another voice whispered to him. "You don't need this ideal following you around. Be who you are and what you can be within that, don't let paragons bring you down." No! Nny bit down a yell that rose in his throat. He tried to think, to insist to himself that the thing was wrong… he'd felt Pine was good and that Pine wanted to help him, that was plenty enough! You're deluding yourself, Nny…



Pine, instead of reassuring his charge directly, through his mind, found he had to keep most of his attention on the pocket of negativity outside the ward. It was coming in, and that ward was not stopping it. Slowing its progress, yes, but certainly not stopping it. So Pine threw his own energy into the ward, pushing back the creature, attempting to keep its prying tentacles from reaching farther into his human's mind. Unfortunately, he could not stop it much better than the ward could.

Pine felt Johnny's own thoughts warring with the thing's. Indeed, it was trying to turn him against the unicorn, and Pine was afraid it might succeed. But even in fighting to keep the thing behind the ward and away from his charge, tendrils of it were still leaking through… over the link with Johnny's mind.