Fablehaven Chapter 4

Kendra drew the taught bowstring to her cheek, eyes on the target in front of her. She let out a breath and released. The arrow whistled through the air before thudding into the target's center.

"Great job babe" Bracken called from the far side of the clearing smiling at her

"I had a great teacher" Kendra called back flirtatiously

She closed her eyes and allowed herself to become a unicorn and trotted towards Bracken, shifting her mane suggestively. Bracken smiled knowingly and when she reached him she morphed back into a human he lifted her up and carried her into the house. He kissed her slowly as he took off her shirt, kissing her swelling belly and further down. She moved her hips against him, moaning in pleasure as he took the rest of her clothes off. He toyed with her breasts, playing with their fullness before taking his clothes off.

"Please" Kendra whimpered

With a groan Bracken thrust into her she cried out in pleasure and rocked back to meet his thrusts, he cried out her named as he erupted and then he felt her come as well. For an endless moment they were rigid. Then he collapsed on top of her, completely spent. They lay there together for a while sweaty and thoroughly satisfied. He finally rolled off of her and pulled her into his arms, nestling her head on his shoulder.

"I love you" she murmured

"I love you more" he whispered back

She fell asleep in his arms secure in the knowledge that she was safe.

Kendra was at this point four months pregnant; she and Bracken had created a comfortable life together, every day they trained. Kendra was able to will her horn into the weapon of her choice, and the gleaming silver bow was always accompanied by a sheath of twelve razor sharp arrows. She and Bracken also did training in their horse forms. Unicorns had special face guards that they used when fighting in horse farm, so they could fight with their horns and not be gored in the eyes. They also practiced riding; Unicorns had been known to ride into battle upon one another's backs for a long time. This was an honor that mated pairs only took part in, and a scarce few at that. A unicorn was at their rider's mercy, it was impossible to gore somebody if they were on your back. Bracken usually practiced riding Kendra, since if she was going to be pregnant for most of the foreseeable future, it would make so much more sense if she was in horse form, where she would be considerably less vulnerable, and able to maneuver with relative ease.

Bracken snorted and tossed his great head, pawing the ground and flipping his mane. He towered over Kendra's mere 15 hands; he was at least 18 hands tall and very powerfully built. She was slighter more waiflike, her coat was a coppery color and she had lovely brown eyes, Bracken was silver with bluish silver eyes, a traditional color. Agad speculated that their children would most likely be able to be a very wide range of colors, which would be a first for unicorns. Kendra's family still heartily disapproved of her early marriage, but there was little they could do about it, and they were becoming more resigned as the days went by. Seth on the other hand was thrilled; Bracken and Kendra had both allowed him a couple rides on their backs, but not often at all. Seth hoped that their children would be freer with the rides. Kendra was feeling skeptical about the whole accepting rider's thing. It was okay when Bracken rode her, it was actually sort of a turn on sometimes, but it made her nervous. She was very aware of her vulnerable sides; she had to protect her unborn child, no matter what.

When Kendra woke up she went to take a shower, she smiled when she heard the curtain being drawn back. She felt strong arms wrap around her as he kissed her softly on the neck. It was early in the morning and the sky shone with the first lights of dawn as they ate breakfast. That day they decided to work on riding Kendra pranced nervously as Bracken gently urged her on with his mind. She lunged into a gallop and charged the conjured apparition of a soldier that Bracken had whipped up for their practice. She lowered her head and plunged her horn through the apparition's armor, at the same time Bracken cut enemies down with his sword. It was also easier for Bracken to fight from Kendra's back because she was so short, Bracken actually looked rather comical on her, his legs hung nearly to the ground and he towered over her neck and she could see him out of the corner of her eye as he leaned forward.

At the end of the day Kendra collapsed into bed, exhausted. Bracken was there already, reading some mystery novel, all of the sudden he stiffened and he looked as if he was seeing something far away.

"What's wrong" Kendra asked, alarmed

Bracken turned to face her, his face grave

"Agad is contacting me, there's a team of men trying to retrieve the translocator, and he needs us to go stop them"