KILLING IN THE SANCTUARY

“Stay back, stay hidden. If they spot you, they’ll shoot you.” Guardian-Eileen tells me as we race towards the patrol jeep.

“What?” I ask, suddenly smacked with nerves. I’ve travelled to Kingsland Sanctuary in the Kingdom of Tunstall to meet the Guardians, the protectors of the last unicorns, and to hear what they are up against in what is being called “the war against poachers”. To be honest, I had never thought much about the plight of the unicorns. To be more honest, I only agreed to this assignment because I was promised a promotion at the end along with the ability to choose my own stories.

I knew the Sanctuary could be dangerous, but I’m not prepared to be facing danger before breakfast.

———————————————————————————————————————

The sun had just started to warm the sky when I arrived at the front entrance of Kingsland Sanctuary. I eyed intimidating signs along the tall barbed fence that surrounds the forestland:

RESTRICTED TERRITORY. NO TRESPASSING. TRESSPASSING = ILLEGAL. NO POACHING! POACHERS WILL BE PROSECUTED.

The messages are clear but, even with the latest announcement from the King that trespassing alone will land you in jail for life, it hasn’t stopped the flow of poachers taking the risk and finding their way in. In the last season alone, 204 poachers have been caught within the Sanctuary, and 32 unicorns have been killed.

I was met by two armed Guardians. I, like many of you, grew up hearing tales of the Guardians of old and seeing the iconic images of Guardian-Masae and Guardian-Garret in their long shepherd cloaks walking side by side with the unicorns. I admit I was surprised by the sight of the military-style uniforms Guardians wear nowadays.

A Guardian fixed me with an unblinking stare as he interrogated me about my purpose here while the other did a thorough search of my person. I remembered the rumour about the Guardians being able to read minds. I wondered if they were peering into my thoughts. They had been expecting me, but still, they needed to be cautious. Many tricks have been used to gain access to the Sanctuary.

It’s the unicorn’s horn that poachers seek. Though the purifying qualities of the horn halt when the horn is severed from the body of the beast, the horn still possesses the capability of providing a high when ingested in power form. But it is not just that buyers are after. It is the status. Owning a horn represents the ultimate symbol of power. To buy one costs you a fortune; to sell one makes you one.

“It is for your safety as much as ours” the Guardians told me as they asked me to hand over my recording devices. “There are people who will do unspeakable things to you and your family if they think you posses information that could help them get to a horn.” I pass them over quickly.

Once I was cleared, I was buzzed through the gate and collected by the Commander herself, Guardian-Coleman, in a rusty old truck. As we rumbled down the muddy road she apologized for the rough ride. “Everything here seems to be falling apart. We need more funding. It’s even a struggle to make sure the Guardians have good boots.”

83 years old, with a face weathered and scared from years of her work, Coleman is the oldest surviving Guardian. She possesses a genuine warmth of personality that I found comforting as we moved though the towering dark misty trees into the heart of the forest. She told me she’s been serving here since King Frederick pledged this land to the survival of the last unicorns and created the Sanctuary.

The radio on Coleman's shoulder crackled regularly with updates from Guardians. While she was kept busy passing instructions to them I scanned the foliage, wodnering if I would spot the bright white of a unicorn through the mist. As I searched I marvelled at the sight of a glowing flock of fae being chased by an iron-back dragon. I noticed the dragon had a device strapped to its stomach. Coleman explained that it’s a camera used to help monitor the goings on of the Sanctuary.

“One of the things we watch for is that the unicorns don’t wander close to the fence” she explained. If they see one close, the Guardians will call them in. To “call” a unicorn: that's what the Guardians have the special ability to do. They can sense when someone has no fear of them and when they completely and utterly mean them no harm. When they feel that, they will answer their call. Otherwise, a unicorn can be a mighty dangerous beast. If it senses you mean it harm, it will spear you through before you have a chance to run.

We past a patrol group cutting down a net from a tree. Coleman tells me that there are many other creatures Guardians work to protect as well as unicorns; creatures that are easier to catch but still profitable. The net had been placed by a poacher to trap fae.

I think back to exploring the bustling market in town a few days ago. An old woman recognized I wasn't from there and had beckoned me into a back-stall where she showed me a fae she was selling. It banged against the dirty tank it was being kept. It’s illegal to transport them out of the kingdom but she told me that if I fed it a drop of whisky before I got on my boat it would sleep in my pocket the whole way and no one would find it. I declined her offer.

After a long drive with, alas, no unicorn sightings, we arrived at basecamp. I got out of the truck I breathed in cool morning air laced with smoke from a breakfast campfire. My stomach grumbled. As Coleman lead me towards the headquarters tent I took in the sight of the simple tents the Guardians stay in when they stay at basecamp between patrols. I watched some training together in hand to hand combat. It’s an impressive sight. Each Guardian has to go through vigorous training in order to be placed at the Sanctuary and are expected to keep it up. One slip up can be the difference between life and death.

I heard a scream and saw through a medical tent door to where a man on a cot writhed in pain while a mage stood over him, hands extended, sweaty in her efforts to heal the gash on his face with her magic.

I followed Coleman into the headquarters tent where more radios crackled and hissed. A diligent and kind-faced surveillance tech, 29 year-old Guardian-Issac, recorded updates in a log-book. The tent was filled with maps of the Sanctuary, logbooks, and chunky computer monitors that displayed live footage from dragon-cams around the forest. They were marked with names (such as HELEN, FIN and MAYUMI) in white tape. Coleman told me we saw Fin on our way in. They choose the most docile dragons to cam. Issac spoke with a loving smile as he showed me deep scars on his arm from Helen. “Even the nicest can be tricksy”. He’s known Helen since she was a hatchling. They share a special bond. He saved her from a trap around the time he became a guardian. That was before an encounter with a poacher left him in a wheelchair.

Issac explained that sometimes cams spot poachers with time to allow Guardians to apprehend them before they are successful in their hunt. More often though, they spot the aftermath. Dragons will never eat a live unicorn but, with the fae population being scarce, they will now eat meat of those killed. When the cams spot a felled unicorn, sometimes the Guardians are able to catch the poachers before they escape the Sanctuary fence with a horn.

“Every time a poacher gets away with a horn, it tells others it is possible” Coleman said.

“What happens to the horns?” I asked.

“We burn them” Coleman answered.

“That hasn’t happened in a while though.” Issac said.

Coleman nodded sadly. “It’s hard to get to them in time when the forest is so big and our Guardians are stretched so thin”.

Issac pulled a file from a large stack. “Fin came across this first yesterday” he said as he passed me a stack of photos.

The black and white of the images did little to dull the horror of the bloody scene in my hands. The unicorn’s face was in pieces, the horn hacked out. “We called her Titania” he tells me. "She was an original." While many unicorns have been transported here from around the kingdom as their forests have diminished, there are still a handful of “originals”: ones that have always called this forest home. By the size of Titania’s horn, Coleman tells me, she would have been centuries old.

“She was still alive when the patrol group reached her”. I can hear Issac's voice catching, trying to hold back tears. Another photo shows a foal close by, similarly maimed. It's rare for unicorns to procreate, so I understand how substantial this loss is. Being so young, the baby’s horn wouldn’t fetch the price of an old horn, but it would still bring in a lot.

“Seeing this happen over and over doesn’t make it easier” Coleman said. “It gets harder to see every time.”

The demand for horns from wealthy buyers overseas has only grown since the unicorns were put on the Twelve Realms Wildlife list of the Nearly Extinct. The less there are, the more valuable they become, and the more people do to get them. The notorious Red Cap gang knows this well. They have been the ones largely responsible for seeking out local villagers with forest experience, providing them weapons to hunt, and coin for the horn once they get it. The coin the villagers make is nothing in comparison for what the Red Caps make in their sale, but it is enough to change their lives. The Red Caps have been using the profits from the sales to bring in illegal weapons and to fund their terrorist activities throughout the kingdom.

Suddenly alert, Issac points to a dragon-cam monitor:

“Helen’s onto something!”

Issac knows the dragons flight patterns intimately. He could tell by the heightened intensity in which Helen dipped and weaved through the trees she sensed something out of the ordinary below.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I don’t know yet.” He hammered the clunky monitor with his fist trying to break up the static.

I found myself holding my breath as we watched closely for what Helen might find, hoping desperately it wouldn’t be a similar sight to the images still clutched in my hands.

Then, there! Through the static on the screen, we all saw something moving on the forest floor below.

Static overtook the image.

Coleman hammered the monitor, trying to clear up the static.

Finally, it cleared. We could see the image clearly.

It was a child!

The dragon circled above it, giving us a good view. Small, probably no more than five summers, the little boy looked as though he was lost as he moved unsteadily though the ferns. He clutched something small in his hand but I couldn't see what it is.

I was shocked by the sight of a child in the Sanctuary. It’s well known the forest is full of many dangerous creatures that would make quick work of eating this boy but neither Coleman nor Issac acted like it was an uncommon sight. I wanted to ask about it, but Coleman and Issac had already snapped into action.

“Who’s available?” Coleman asked quickly. Issac, already checking the logbook, had the answer immediately: “Group 6 just came back. But they haven’t slept yet.”

I watched Coleman rub her face. I could see her exhaustion, see that this job was weighing on her. “Anyone else would take longer. I’ll have to send them.”

“Guard-Eileen, come in” Coleman radioed.

“Here” a voice responded.

“We’ve got a child spotted at 48 degrees 19 9 North, 5 degrees 34 40 East.”

“Alone?”

“Yes. Maybe abandoned.”

Suddenly, a group of men and women carrying automatic weapons and axes burst out of the trees and scooped up the child. They looked relieved to have found him.

Coleman updated Eileen: “Correction: five adults are with the child. They don’t appear to have a horn. Yet.”

A bearded poacher looked up. Looked directly into the camera. He swiftly aimed his gun.

“No!” I heard Issac exclaim as the man took his shot.

BAM. Helen’s camera went black.

Coleman radioed her command quickly as she lay a comforting hand on Issac’s shoulder: “I need your patrol to move out now. Find them.”

“Copy that”.

“We have a reporter here. You’ll take her with you.”

“Copy that”.

“You want me to go with them?!” I asked.

Coleman met my eyes with an unflinching gaze: “You’re here to report what the Guardians are up against, are you not?”

“Yes.”

“Then go.” Coleman’s order was direct. “And don’t slow them down.”

“Copy that” I replied.

———————————————————————————————————————

So here I am, trying desperately to keep up with the group of five Guardians as they load hastily and efficiently into the open back patrol jeep. Eileen repeats her instructions “Stay out of sight. If they spot you, they wont hesitate to kill you.”

“You sure you’re up to this?” A tall muscular man in his 40s snaps at me. He is Guardian-Angus. Ex-Military, he fought at the Battle of Tunstall Bay. I can tell by the blue tattooed bracelet that he fought for the Alliance.

“Yes” I answer as confidently as I can. I hope they can’t ready my mind and tell I’m lying. I catch a sharp-eyed woman looking me up and down. Like the others she is strong and covered with mud from their recent patrol. I notice the price tag is still attached to my hiking boots. I've never felt more out of place.

“Coleman said take her, we have to take her” she says.

As we speed out of basecamp towards the child’s location, Eileen cranks upbeat music on the radio. The joyful tune seems at odd with the mission at hand, but I remember this group hasn’t slept yet and this may be to energize them. A woman with wild dark hair and eyes, Guardian-Susan, dances along playfully.

“Why would they bring a child into the Sanctuary?” I am finally able to ask.

“It’s a common tactic.” The sharp-eyed Guardian answers. She is Guardian-James.

James tells me how the Red-Cap gang finds kids and brainwashes them into wanting to call a unicorn. It’s easier for kids to get to that pure place of having no fear and meaning no harm. It is tricker with adults. Any hint of wondering what one might do with the money the horn could bring, the unicorn will know. “Sometimes they find orphans on the streets. Sometimes they buy ‘em from desperate families. Sometimes they steal ‘em” she says. “They’ll send the kid with the poachers, telling ‘em they’re being taken to see the unicorns. They’ll be brought into the Sanctuary and, when they get in calling-range of one, they’ll call. The poachers will hide a ways off and shoot it when it comes. After, if the kid makes it out of the forest alive, they’ll go back to the Red-Caps. They’ll be told what they did was illegal. That they can never tell anyone. Most of ‘em end up working for the Red-Caps forever” she says.

When she turns away Angus whispers: “She was one of those kids. She found her way out. Found her way back. Not an easy thing to do.” When I look for the Red-Cap’s tell-tale branding mark on James’ neck I can see a larger burn extending over where it would have been.

Scars are not uncommon an uncommon sight in this group. Whether it be from encounters with poachers or working through the treacherous terrain of the forest and the many dangerous creatures within, I can see the marks of many battles survived. Again I find myself feeling silly and thinking, of all things, about my makeup.

In the city it is a common practice to wear a shimmer over eyes. I didn’t think anything of it when I put it on by habit this morning. I must look ridiculous to them.

I notice Susan stop dancing and stare at me with her dark eyes. I hope she doesn’t know I’m thinking about make-up.

“The shimmer you’re wearing…” she says to me in a low voice with a strange accent, “It comes from ground-up fae bones.”

I’m immediately horrified. “I didn’t know” I tell her. I really didn’t.

“It’s ok. You know know. And now you can choose what to do with that information.” A bright-eyed young man, no older than 19, reassures me.

I scrub the shimmer off with my sleeve and vow never to use it again.

The young man’s name is Thabo. He doesn’t wear the badges of a Guardian yet. He has just finished training. He was at the top of his class so was pulled up early to fill out the patrol when one of the Guardians was killed in a shadow-wight attack. He tells me this is his first patrol. If he does well he will take his final vows and be promoted to Guardian.

I ask ask what made him want to become a Guardian.

“I never imagined being one” he says. “When I saw a unicorn for the first time, it was during a fire in our town. The forest nearby was burning, it had spread into our streets. I felt the unicorn before I saw it. I can’t describe the feeling. Then, though the smoke, I saw it. It had been driven into the streets by the fire and was terrified. I didn’t even notice that I was calling it until we were safely out of the town. After that… I just knew.”

I think about the sacrifices this young man had to make in order to be here. One of the rules to being a Guardian is that they must cut themselves off from their family and friends outside of the Sanctuary in order to dedicate themselves fully to their job. I ask him if he misses his family.

“Yes, but they are proud of me” he says. I see Eileen’s jaw clench. I ask her how her family reacted. “They weren’t happy.” She won’t expand.

The kingdom has been suffering since the wars, and the dragon-pox that swept the twelve realms has only made things harder. A horn can bring wealth into a community. There are many who are angry at the Guardians for preventing that.

Eileen tells me “I’m here because I need to be. Unicorns have walked this earth since the beginning of time and they’re meant to walk it forever. If there's a day they’re gone it is our fault. Our human greed. They aren’t for us to take. If they're gone it means humanity has failed this world. I can’t let that happen.”

“Me neither” Susan says. She tells me that she knows what it is like to be one of the last. Though she looks human, I learn she's a selkie; a sea creature able to change from seal to human form by shedding their skin. Her skin was forced from her by poachers and sold in pieces. Without it, she couldn't return home to sea. As she looks at the trees passing, she tells me “the trees remind me of the kelp forests I swam as a child. They’re all gone now.”

As I look out at the trees, I spot a moss covered skeleton of an old stone home. It is an eerie reminder of the people that used to live here before the King’s soldiers drove them out to create the Sanctuary.

I ask the Guardians what they think about the rumour that King Frederick gave this land to the Guardians in exchange for a horn whenever he wants one.

They are all immediately offended. Angus practically yells at me when he says “No one here would ever let that happen! You hear?!”

He tells me about a unicorn who was killed. Oberon. He had been living by the lake that bordered the top of the Sanctuary. Its river ran all the way through and out of the Sanctuary. After he was killed, without him purifying the water with his horn, flocks of Fae got poisoned then dragons died for lack of food. It was also reported that villagers downstream started getting sick. “This is more than just saving the unicorns, see?” Angus barks.

I know there are factories situated above the Sanctuary. I wonder if they had anything to do with the poison in the river.

Susan speaks softly: “Every piece of this world is connected. If the unicorns disappear, it will not be long before this world perishes.”

The jeep lurches to a halt and I follow the Guardians as they jump out. We’ve gone as far as the road will take us. Now we need to go into the forest.

I run with them as they dash through the trees. James tells me to watch exactly where they step. They know the dangers of forest well and how best to avoid them. Though I’m not as graceful as the Guardians as they leap over logs and dart through thicket I surprise myself at being able to keep up. Though thorns tug at my clothes and cut me I stick close to Thabo who is at the back of the pack.

When he notices how close I’m following he tells me it’s important to keep a few meters back. “If we’re in a clump it’ll be easier for poachers to shoot us all quick”.

I fall back.

After awhile I feel the group slowing. I'm thankful for the pause as I'm quite out of breath. They have come to the location of the child’s sighting.

I see the dragon, Helen, laying shot on the ground. Eileen quickly snaps a few instant photos of the crime scene. Part of the Guardian’s job is to provide evidence to law enforcement. I notice the teeth and claws have been removed. Popular for necklaces, they can fetch a good price.

I find a wood-carved unicorn toy in the mud. That must be what the child was holding. I put it in my pocket.

The Guardians, well trained in tracking, are quick to locate the poachers tracks and race off in their direction. With the poachers head start they can’t waste time.

Then, they hit a dead end. Try as they might, they can’t find new tracks, can’t find which direction they should be going. It seems the poachers have a tracker with them, someone who knows how to confuse them.

Then we hear a voice calling:

“Help! Help!”

Wary, the Guardians head in the direction of the voice.

Through the clearing, we spot a man shoulder deep in mud. I recognize him as the bearded man who shot down Helen.

“Where are the others?” Eileen demands.

“They left me. Please help!” With every movement, he sinks further.

The Guardian’s are all alert. This may be a trap. They ready their weapons and move forward carefully scanning the trees. Once determining to the coast to be clear, they quickly use ropes looped around their waists to pull the man to safety.

Angus immediately slaps hand-cuffs on him and Susan checks him for weapons.

“Please”, the man cries, “I have two little girls. They're sick. I’m the only they have left. Please, I need to get back to them!”

“Help us, and the judge might be lenient” Eileen says. “Where did they go?”

The man points into the forest. “They have a map. They’re heading for the lake by the three boulders.”

I see the Guardians exchange anxious glances. “That’s where Taiga drinks”.

“He was only just called there last week. How did they know?” Susan asks.

I sense their unease. Someone on the inside must be tipping the Red-Caps off. It couldn’t have been any of their group. They are tested routinely, asked to call a unicorn, to prove the vow to protect them still holds strong. They all just completed a test.

But they don’t have time to think about that now.

They quickly form a new plan:

They know the poachers will be slowed in their efforts to get over the river. Eileen remembers where a tree recently fell farther up which will give them a quicker pass. They can use it as a shortcut and cut off the poachers before they get to the lake.

With Thabo being given the task of keeping the man with him on a rope, the Guardians head off following Eileen.

It isn’t long before I hear the rush of the river, see the glassy water and see the fallen tree. As I make the precarious journey over the river I wonder why it would be difficult to pass though the water. It looks calm and shallow enough. It’s when I see the snake-like bodies of the Nguruvilu slipping through the water that I understand why it will take the poachers passage will be difficult. I hope the child will not be caught in their spindly fingers.

I run with the Guardians through the forest.

Suddenly they halt, listening. Gun shots echo through the mist.

They race off in the direction of the shots.

Then, there! Through the trees we spot the poachers! Soaking wet, a freckled red-haired man is inspecting a bite mark. A towering muscular woman shoots into the river, keeping the Nguruvilu from crawling after them up the bank, as a wiry woman with wild blonde hair pulls herself up from the river. A stocky man wearing a sports shirt watches from the side.

I can’t see the child.

Eileen shoots an order at me “Stay back! Stay hidden”. I duck for cover in the ferns.

BANG! The blonde woman fires at a Nguruvilu clinging to her leg. It drops off dead.

“Hands up!” Eileen yells as the Guardians fall into formation surrounding the poachers.

When the tall woman turns around I can see she is holding the child.

The red haired man swiftly raises his gun.

BAM! BAM!

It happens so fast I can’t tell who shot first.

I see Eileen fall. I see the red haired man fall. Both shot. Both dead.

Angus’ gun smokes.

BAM! BAM! BAM! Shots are fired from either side.

The child screams.

The Guardians take cover behind trees, sending hand signals to each other. Thabo ties their captive poacher to a root.

The rest run back out at the poachers.

BAM BAM BAM!!!

I see the expertise of the Guardians training as they dart bullets and close in on the poachers. The poachers’ weapons are high tech and efficient, but the Guardians move with stunning skill.

The tall woman shoots at James.

James rolls, avoiding her shot, then shoots the woman’s leg. The woman falls to the ground, releasing the child. The child runs.

I watch Susan and Angus disarm the stocky man and the blonde woman and throw them to the ground. Thabo joins them, quickly putting them in hand and leg cuffs.

I hear the screech of a dragon above. I see it dive after the boy as he runs into the trees.

I abandon my cover and run after him.

BAM BAM! Dirt flies up around me as the tall woman shoots.

I feel a shot cut through my shoulder.

James tackles the woman to the ground.

Just at the dragon is reaching its talons towards the boy I throw myself between it and the child. I feel the talons rip at my back, trying to claw for the child. The dragon is young, not big enough to carry me away. I punch up at its nose with all my might.

It screeches.

I feel the talons give way. I hear the beating wings as it retreats.

I catch my breath, holding the child tightly.

I notice the gunfire has stopped.

I look towards the riverbank.

The poachers, the living ones, have all been disarmed and restrained.

“It’s ok” I tell the boy. “You’re safe”.

I take the carved unicorn from my pocket and hand it to him.

I look back to the riverbank.

The poachers look stunned. I wonder if they are thinking about the life awaiting them in prison or the families they will be leaving behind.

Susan is trying to stop the bleeding in Thabo’s arm. I press my hand into the wound in my shoulder trying to stop the bleeding.

I see Angus kneeling over Eileen. He closes her eyes. Then he looks to the body of the poacher he killed. Even from this distance I can see the blue tattoo of the Alliance around the fallen poacher’s wrist. At another time he may have fought side by side with Angus.

I notice tears are streaming down my face.

“Come in, come in” I hear Eileen’s radio crackle with Commander-Coleman’s voice.

Angus picks up.

“Guardian-Angus here. Guardian-Eileen has fallen.”

“Anyone else?”

“No.”

“The reporter?”

“Still with us.”

“Did you apprehend the poachers?”

“Yes.”

“Good. You have the horn?”

“We got to them before they found the unicorn.”

I hear a pause before Commander-Coleman replies: “Good. That’s good”.

The disappointment in her voice doesn’t go unnoticed. Silently, the Guardians exchange nervous looks.

Angus disconnect the radio.

Then…

I feel something.

A tingling comes over me. A faint ringing in my ears. A warmth spreads through my veins. The hairs on my neck stand up.

I look behind me.

There it is.

Staring at us through the misty trees:

A unicorn.