The 5th Hero is a Beast [Queer LitRPG Isekai]

The unicorns were perplexed about the presence of the human in their glade, a location so highly protected by magic and illusions that normal humans were incapable of even approaching the border, let alone entering.

Yet this was undoubtedly a human with beast companions, as the system failed to register the kjerrborn as beast nor did it provide an alternative such as dragon or unicorn.

While the kjerrborn slept for hours on end, many council meetings were held to determine the causes of this curious intrusion and what to do about it.

Groups of the magical beasts formed and disbanded across the glade over the rest of the night, well into the daylight hours. From the air, the movements looked like bees, buzzing to and fro to convey information to every relevant member of the hive. Er, herd.

The cub woke up before the kjerrborn stirred. She was a curious one, climbing onto her hindlegs to peer out over the sleeping beast at the crowd of four-legged things in the distance.

The illusions that unicorns maintained were for their own safety. Many beasts would hunt a solitary horse, more still would hunt a unicorn if given the chance, as their meat tended to have beneficial effects.

So on the rare chance that a unicorn trotted around outside of their isolated glades, scattered across the western half of Amnasín, it was as a deer. Or a goat. Occasionally a horse, if the land was pastoral rather than forested.

But within the glades, there was no such illusion pressed into the minds of beasts. The only entities affected by the protective illusions here were humans, as dragons were incapable of finding the hidden glades without express invitation.

The cub did not see the other beasts as deer. These were unicorns and they were creatures that the juvenile kjerrborn was unfamiliar with.

The akergryph didn't see the glamour either. She was, in fact, familiar with the magical beasts as her beastmaster wandered into this glade previously. It was as a fish hawk, capable of sensing the magical barrier by the sight of near indetectable colors, but Pipkin remembered surveying the lounging unicorns with curiosity before her beastmaster left the area.

Regardless, the akergryph had a new task at talon.

The cub grew bolder as the hours passed, growing bored of laying by the still sleeping kjerrborn. She would wander a few feet, cautiously stepping toward the patient unicorns before dashing back into the perceived comfort of the kjerrborn's presence.

Pipkin chided the cub as she took more steps away, yet her attention was split too. There were insects swarming her beastmaster, attracted to the blood – breakfast and a job.

One of the unicorns' council meetings resolved, suggesting that the foal-minders be relocated near the kjerrborn so that the cub could play without fear.

The cub was anxious about the movement, but her reservations disappeared once a unicorn pressed its horn into the soil, a vetta tree sprouting and growing rapidly.

She wasn't as efficient as her dad, however her claws were still built for digging. She was left crunching happily on the roots with her face covered in dirt and debris, watching nearby foals gain confidence to play in her presence.

It was true, the unicorns possessed no concern about a kjerrborn in their midst. It was a rare occurrence, certainly, but no rarer than the unicorns themselves.

But a human, even in the form of a beast? An uncertainty.

Several guards were sent to the foal-minders, just in case the kjerrborn woke up grumpy and aggressive.

The council elected to allow the kjerrborn-human to stay with several arguments supporting the decision.

First and foremost, the kjerrborn was obviously seeking shelter. Even Stands-Against-the-Wind, a stallion known for his temper, could agree that there was no intended malice in the kjerrborn's presence.

Second, the human possessed the Mark of Rodu the Wisen. It was subtle, only a faint glow of magic hidden underneath the red fur, but it was certainly noticeable to the unicorns.

Unicorns did not engage with dragons by choice, not by the instincts of natural enmity. It was true that the physical prowess and sometimes magical ability of a dragon was a force that few could dream of countering, yet…

Unicorns could do so. Their illusion magic could slip through dragons' notice and their more combative magic was as effective against dragons as any other magic. Horns tended to pierce hardened scales and enormous hearts just as well as a sword.

Yet that was so… human – to seek to kill another when there was no conflict in place.

If dragons had the predatory instincts to hunt and kill, as all dragons did, then the unicorns simply removed themselves from the dragons' lands.

That was why Amnasín was the home of the unicorns. The nearest dragons were distanced so that their rare hunts never overlapped with unicorn glades.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

And Rodu – Rodu the Red was a mighty foe, a menace to human and dragon alike. But, although Rodu the Wisen might smell of death and rot, he no longer hunted. That predatory instinct died the moment he ceased to have a beating heart.

Rodu was a friend to unicorns. Not a guest frequently met or sought out, but a friend regardless. They crossed paths whenever the great dragon wandered to visit the dragon Ilyna in Staareaux.

He would land on the Altar of Kings, a wild monument near the unicorn glades where the Amnasín royal lineage was traditionally chosen, and wait for a convoy of unicorns to arrive for discussions and gossip.

To have Rodu's Mark, which was not one casually endowed, was intriguing.

The different versions of approval had meaning to the educated. A blessing was always freely given, unseen and thus without the vainglory of a trophy.

But a mark was received through contact with the blood of a dragon – or rarely another sentient beast. Dragons were known to enact marks given that their blood was caustic, damaging the skin on contact.

Marks were blood-trophies, proof that one could injure a dragon and live, earned only when the dragon itself did not die in the process. It was literally a mark of acknowledgement that one was a worthy challenger – to not die nor kill, yet clash with the legendary beasts.

Marks were splatters, blood-cauterized wounds. They were rough and unintentional.

Yet, Rodu was called wise for a reason. He shaped the marks into symbols, words on occasion.

The one on the kjerrborn was an archaic symbol for transformation.

If Rodu chose this human, there was a reason for him to do so. Perhaps it would come up at the next gathering on the Altar.

Regardless of their approval of the presence of the kjerrborn, what to do with the human was still up for debate.

Shine-at-Streambreak took it upon herself to deal with the poor beast while the council argued over hospitality laws. The unicorn was named for her coat, a strawberry roan on the lighter end of the spectrum, like the dappled mica in the sand of a stream.

She urged a few sympathetic others to find food for the kjerrborn while it rested; the ability to produce vetta trees was only available to those with the magic of growing, and the trees were not large enough to sustain such a beast.

Ever the bold one, Cloud-Fall was more than willing to lend their magic to Shine-at-Streambreak, even if this task was risky.

The unicorn approached the sleeping kjerrborn cautiously, the faint aura of magic erupting from their horn as they used magic of the soil to grab onto the metal spear head.

There was no way to do this slowly or gently. Cloud-Fall snorted in nervousness before using their magic to crush the wing guard of the spear head so that it could not catch on the tusks, then pulled the weapon free of the kjerrborn's face.

Cloud-Fall and Shine-at-Streambreak both squealed and reared as they were startled by the kjerrborn waking up from the pain of scabs ripping off their skin.

Hallvar grunted and groaned, pawing at their face as the removal of the spear changed the pressure on their sinuses and flesh. They stood panting in mild confusion as the blood dripped down, though that wasn't what was confusing.

There were like way too many deer just standing and staring at the kjerrborn, dead on. At this range, even the one-eyed kjerrborn could see that the beasts were looking directly at them, ears angled and everything.

Several large deer, larger than Hallvar was expecting, huffed and stomped at the ground in irritation. Others were watching somewhat calmly, though their sides heaved with heavy breathing.

The cub bounded over, having been playing an odd game of chase but don't touch with her new friends. She learned that touching often meant a kick to the side, which was confusing for the cub who just wanted to playfight.

Hallvar laid down once more, legs folding under the weight of continued exhaustion. They licked the dripping blood from their paw before sniffing the cub. There were new smells of the foals, of the stream. And vetta root too.

The pain and tiredness apparently allowed the human-mind of Hallvar enough grip to make most of the thoughts, though they had little desire to put energy toward thinking too hard.

A doe stood and approached, nickering softly at the cub and nudging her with its face to move away from the kjerrborn. Nickering? Did… did deer nicker?

The kjerrborn just needed to… to catch their breath. Yeah, that was it. Hallvar laid their head down to watch the shape of the cub amble about in the near distance.

They glanced over at another approaching deer, this one slowly getting closer and closer until the beasts' noses were practically touching. Okaaay… Hallvar didn't react, because the deer wasn't doing anything. Just sniffing and looking.

A warmth began radiating from their injury, and in Hallvar's mind the sharp light of nerves misfiring filled their empty vision.

It was confusing but not immediately painful. Hallvar lifted their head a bit, almost headbutting the deer, but nothing changed aside from their piercing headache fading away.

That was nice, they guessed. Did the deer have a slight healing aura? Were these healing deer?

Hallvar was prevented from deep thinking, only the kind of shallow, ill-informed thoughts of a feverish mind persisted.

Without as much pain, the kjerrborn fell asleep readily, snores grumbling softly across the glade.

The council approached, bickering about Shine-at-Streambreak's decision to use magic of the body on the intruding human. She argued that if human wasn't part of the discussion, the glade would have readily healed an injured beast without a second thought.

The unicorn insisted on healing the kjerrborn again, until the wound was fully closed. She could not return sight to that eye, nor could she replace the damaged eye, but she could ensure that it would not get infected once the kjerrborn left.

Besides, it was hospitality to feed a guest, and this one hadn't eaten.

The Voice of the Herd agreed to some of the various councils' dismay. While not a ruler by force or magic, she was a ruler by wit and intelligence.

It would be foolish to deny hospitality to one of Rodu's marked, despite the odd thing's humanity.

—

After a few tense discussions between the guildmaster and the Court Mage, it was discovered that there were several parties forming to hunt the now legendary red kjerrborn.

Some of the parties were adventurers, others beast hunters, and even a few soldiers were looking to take time to find a new trophy.

The guildmaster was far too late to prevent Guillaume from targeting the red kjerrborn, receiving notice through word of mouth that the hunter left directly from the [ territory ] shortly after Hallvar's disappearance.

The Court Mage worked some magic, "reminding" the populace via a decree that although kjerrborns were not a protected beast like unicorns, they were symbolic of Amnasín. Therefore, such an unusual beast as the red kjerrborn was under protection of the Crown.

Behind closed doors, the Queen was equally amused as she was concerned that the endurance hero managed to paint such a large target on their back in such a short amount of time.

Did the hero not learn from their past?