The Alchemists Academy Book 2: Elemental Explosions by Kailin Gow Read Free Book Online Page B

at the horses in the next field, Wirt couldn’t help revising his opinion just a little. The creatures there weren’t cute, or cuddly, or any of the other things he had instantly assumed that unicorns would be. They were as big as the largest horses back home, rippling with muscles, and when they raised their heads, their horns shone wickedly in the sunlight.
    One of the creatures ran up to the edge of the field, and, as though sensing that eyes were upon it, reared dramatically. Its hooves were huge, and would easily be enough to crush a skull, while the damage the thing’s horn might do didn’t bear thinking about.
    “Are they aggressive?” Wirt asked.
    “Hugely,” Sir Percival said. “There are some people, of course, who claim that virgins are largely left alone by the creatures, but frankly, I find that they are just as vicious towards absolutely everyone who gets near them, regardless of anything like that.”
    Wirt could believe it. As he watched, the unicorn that had reared headed back to the herd and started to fight with another of the creatures, the two horse-like beasts using their horns to fence with one another. After a few seconds of that, the unicorn that had been with the herd ran clear and headed for the other side of the field. It had a lengthy cut down one flank. Wirt looked around him. The girls who had previously seemed so excited to be working with unicorns suddenly looked a lot less happy about it.
    “It seems like we’re just in time,” Sir Percival said. “It is getting near the breeding season, you see, and the young males can fight to the death if we let them. We need to separate them out from the herd and move them off into other fields.”
    Wirt couldn’t help another look at the field. The first unicorn was rearing again, showing off that vicious looking horn. It had a dark smear of blood on it. “Um… does that mean we have to go in there?”
    “Of course it does,” Sir Percival said, sliding off his massive backpack. “What did you think we would be doing out here? Now, does anybody among you know how to use a lasso?”
    Nobody did, prompting a certain amount of muttering from the knight about the things they taught children these days, followed by what seemed to Wirt to be a very short demonstration of how you were meant to use one. That done, Sir Percival handed them each a lasso and told them to get in the field.
    “Remember,” he said, “the key thing is not to let them see any weakness.”
    They went in, mostly very reluctantly. Even Wirt wasn’t quick to climb over the low dry-stone wall that surrounded the field, while several of the others seemed to be doing their best to hide behind one another. They crept forward as a group, and frankly, Wirt suspected that the only thing keeping them from running out of the field was the presence of Sir Percival at the back of them.
    “Oh, this is silly,” Alana said, moving forward from the group. “It shouldn’t be dangerous if we just work together.”
    She headed for the nearest unicorn, which happened to be the big stallion that had just seen off a rival. Gathering up her lasso, she whirled it around her head once, and then threw it. It sailed through the air sweetly, landing over the creature’s golden horn and cinching tight. Unfortunately, that left Alana trying to control the creature alone. So when the unicorn reared, she was dragged forward, stumbling in the mud of the field.
                The key thing, as Sir Percival had said, was not to let them see weakness. Well, the stallion could see it now. Alana was practically helpless. Almost as fast as Wirt could blink, the unicorn lowered its horn and charged.
                Several students tried to ready their lassos, but they didn’t know enough about what they were doing to do so quickly. Sir Percival was right at the back of the group, where he couldn’t do anything, and Alana didn’t have a solid enough footing to throw herself aside. If