The following short story won the Runner's Up award for the short story contest A Magical and Traditional Winter, hosted by WattpadUrbanFantasy and WattpadFriendsAndFamily.

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And that is how Unicorn became so famous, her name became known amongst the Common People, my mother says, concluding her tale of the first caprequos.*

Tell us another one, mother! my sister Milana begs.

Yes, another story! my brother Tadeáš chimes in. Tell us about Oryx Monoceras this time. He's my favourite caprequos!

I'm sorry little ones, mother says. But it's nearly time for the Winter Solstice Pledging Ceremony. The Hopefuls will be arriving shortly.

My heart does a little flutter as mother looks at me. I'm seven now, so it's finally my turn to participate in the Pledging Ceremony and meet my future Alchemist. The bonding ceremony tonight will only be a formality. The real bond won't take place until my Hopeful becomes a Chemist and passes the Joint Trial. But tonight is perhaps the most important night of my life. The weight of all that significance holds me fast, and I cannot rise to my hooves when everyone else gets up to leave the barn and venture out into the cold snowy field.

Dušan, are you nervous? mother asks so that only I can hear her.

A little, I admit, when in truth I've never been so nervous.

That's understandable, mother assures me. The night when I first met my Alchemist, I was so nervous I couldn't sit still. It seems you have the opposite problem. You're so nervous you can't move, aren't you?

I merely nod my head and fidget my white horse-like tail in the hay. Can you ask Barric to come carry me? I ask.

Barric, my mother's Alchemist, hasn't carried me in years, since I was only three. I miss when he used to lift me up in his warm arms. Mother looks at me, her gentle purple eyes somehow seeing deeply into me, and she nods. Moments later, Barric comes in and touches my nose. I blow air at him and flump my tail in the hay.

"Hello Dušan. Feeling a bit nervous, are you?" he asks as he bends down. With one giant heave, he lifts me up in both arms, holding me sideways with my long horse-legs dangling. I'm the size of a gazelle, and not too heavy, so I fit in his warm embrace just fine. He carries me out of the barn and into the wintery wonderland that our farm has become with the recent snowfall.

He sets me down, and my hooves touch the freezing snow. I blow air through my nose just to watch it puff and float up and disappear into the stars above my head, mixing with the swirling snow.

Besides me, the farm has five other seven-year-olds who can join the Pledging. I'm the only caprequos though. The other four are quadruplet volucerta** who hatched from the same clutch of eggs the year I was born. I'm convinced that everyone who comes will be here for a volucerta, and that nobody will want me. But I haven't confessed my fear to anyone.

Almost as though my thoughts have summoned them, Juliana walks by with the volucerta Pledges in her arms and on her shoulders. In their natural size, the four of them are as big as bearded dragons, with dragon-fly wings. Juliana lets them go and they fly to the recently extinguished fire, where they will be more comfortable in the warm embers.

I trot up and lay down in the snow, where my white-coloured silky horse coat blends in nicely. The snow chills my belly.

Hello Dušan, Kiana calls from the embers.

Hello everyone, I say back as I set my nose close to the extinguished fire pit.

Aren't you cold? Farid asks and he sticks out his tongue at a snowflake.

I'd never be able to lay down in the snow! Bijan pipes up as he flicks his wings at the snow that is falling on him.

I like the idea of emerging from the snow, I admit, but yes, it is very cold.

You're such a romantic! Omid says.

Well I think it's cheesy. Bijan snorts a cloud of smoke.

You would! Kiana says with a tiny dragon-esque growl. I think it's magnificent. We get to emerge from the smoke and embers, so why can't he emerge from the snowdrift?

Silence, children! my mother calls from the sidelines. The Hopefuls are coming.

I raise my head to see. Off in the distance, a small crowd has gathered, and several teenagers emerge from the crowd, dressed in fancy coats to commemorate the occasion. My heart flips in my chest at the sight of so many teenagers. There must be at least ten. Which means there will be disappointed Hopefuls who won't come away from this Solstice with a Pledgeling Chimaera. I allow myself to hope that someone has come here to seek me out. Mother has told me several times that Barric and Juliana publicise us as best as they can in Verdandi and other Alchemical dwellings around the world.

Maybe, just maybe, I may find my Hopeful tonight.

"Hopefuls, come forth," Barric calls out, and the teenagers approach. "For centuries, Natural Chimaera juveniles have Pledged themselves to their future Alchemists. We hold the Pledging Ceremony on the Winter Solstice to symbolise the new bond that will be formed, which will be made on the longest night of the year. It marks a new beginning on the shortest day of the year, when the new year begins anew. A new beginning for two souls that will soon be bonded in the most sacred of Amalgamations. It is a sacred ritual which cannot be undone. Choose wisely, young Chimaeras, and then join in the celebrations."

A calming melodic song begins to play as the snow swirls and the teenagers approach. Most of them circle up around the firepit, but a few approach me in the snow. I twitch my tail as I sit up and face them. The air is full of their puffs of breath. It occurs to me that I have to disappoint two people in choosing the one I will bond with. But my future Alchemist is here! I can feel it.

The realisation stirs my very soul.

I stand in a flourish of snow and shake off the flakes that had accumulated on my back and head. There are two girls and a boy approaching me. I trot around them, studying them, trying to get a feel for them. Behind me, Omid and Bijan choose their Hopefuls by flying to their shoulders.

I open my mind up to the first girl. At the first timid touch of her mind, I pull back. She feels foreign and unnatural to me. I snort and turn my head to the boy. He feels warmer, but still a stranger. My mother has told me many times: when you meet your match, you will know. The one will feel like you've always known each other, though you will be meeting for the first time. If you don't sense this feeling tonight, you can always wait until next year. There's no shame in that.

I turn to the last girl, who has strawberry blond hair and big brown eyes. Her almond-coloured skin stands out against the white backdrop of snow. She wears a magnificent purple dress and a turquoise cloak with furry fringe. I reach out my mind to her, and she tentatively reaches out to me. A sense of calm comes over me as the warmth of her presence washes away any apprehension I had held in my heart.

This is the one.

I step forward and lift my head to her hand. She puts her palm against my nose, and I blow air at her and nod.

"I'm Tajana," she says. "It's nice to meet you."

I rear back on my legs and let out a happy neigh, and the surrounding crowd cheers happily for me. No, I realise, not for me. For us.

~ * ~

* A caprequos is a Chimaera (Alchemical Beast) made in the image of Unicorn, the most famous of her kind, who was the Chimaera of the Giver Maria Prophetissima. Created with the Amalgamation Conversion by combining a horse and a gazelle.

** A volucerta is a Chimaera (Alchemical Beast) made in the image of Dragon, the most famous of his kind. Created with the Amalgamation Conversion by combining a lizard and a dragonfly.

Thank you for reading! If you are intrigued at all, please consider stepping into my urban fantasy world of the Fragments of Alchemy. The first book in the series, The Code Keeper, was a finalist in the 2021 Wattys. This short story is about Tajana's Chimaera, who is a minor character in The Code Keeper.

~A.C.