Unicorns Among Us

Many ages ago, when the world was young, magic was everywhere. It could be seen sparking in the morning dew, tasted in the clear sweet waters of rivers and streams, and smelled in the evening air. The magic of Life permeated all of existence, creating a time of bounty and joy.

A multitude of wondrous beasts and creatures shared the world. There were Dragons, Gryphons, Centaurs, Pegasi and many more… including the Children of Man. Yet none were more beautiful or more loved than the graceful Unicorn. In every forest of the world the Unicorns could be found. With their mystical, spiral horns they tapped the magic of Life, keeping it pure and free flowing.

At first, the Children of Man lived peacefully with the other creatures of the world. They shared in the bounty of the Earth, taking only what was needed and freely given. As the years passed, however, a strange sickness began to spread through the Children of Man. It brought with it hatred, greed, and a lust for power and control over the world around them. This sickness eroded the bonds connecting the Children of Man to the rest of creation.

When the Unicorns learned what was happening, they left their forest homes and journeyed to where the Children of Man had gathered. They had hopes of curing this sickness and returning the Children of Man back to lives of harmony and balance. When the Unicorns arrived in the lands held by the Children of Man, to their dismay they saw they were too late. The sickness had spread as quickly as a grass fire and nearly all had been affected to some degree.

Now, a great wall surrounded the homes of the Children of Man. The people who could be seen working the fields glared at one another in fear and suspicion. If one passed too close to where another was working, he was snarled at, as a dog snarls to protect a bone. Some were under fed while others had grown fat from eating more than they needed.

As the Unicorns approached the walls, they stopped and stared in horror. Adorning the gates of the city in gross decoration were the heads and skins of many, many creatures, including the head and magnificent spiraled horn of one of their own. The Children of Man had learned to kill for the sake of killing alone. With tears of shame and grief streaming from their eyes, the Unicorns turned and fled back to their forested homes.

All the creatures that were able chose to flee this world and the sickness carried by the Children of Man before it could spread to their own kind. Those who could not flee were either enslaved or were driven into hiding. Some were hunted into extinction. As the years passed, the numbers of the Children of Man grew and they soon covered much of the world. Creatures such as Dragons, Gryphons and Unicorns became legend, then myth, and then fairy tales to be out grown with other childish things.

Yet there still remain a few Children of Man who hear the tales and believe. They hear the roar of Dragons in the thunder of a summer storm. They see in sun-dappled waters the flash of nymphs and sprites at play and hear tinkling sliver bells of laughter. It is these Children of Man who work as best they may to undo the damage done by the sickness. They work to restore the connections between themselves and the rest of creation, then to help other to reconnect. They dream of time long, long ago when the world was young and all lived in harmony. They hope that time may come again and that the world will be reborn. And it is for this dream of a world reborn, if one is careful and searches the ancient forests of the world, one may find that there are still Unicorns among us.

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