The Fire of Countless Stars

The Unicorn looked up at her, its eyes the color of the mountain sky at midnight, and containing just as many stars. “I will sleep,” it said. “I must save all of the energy that I can.” ​“Why come to me?” Willow asked, shaking and blinking away tears. “Why not go to the God-Emperor? He would give you magic.” ​“The magic is not his,” the Unicorn said. “I will not take his stolen gifts, will not be his prize to display, his pet to beg for his scraps. I would rather die.” ​“And let all things die with you?” ​The Unicorn’s eyes burned with the fire of countless stars. “Yes.” From short story by Jamie Lackey in the Triangulation: Extinction anthology.