The Unicorn Hunt

For *pallanoph's "myth reinvented" contest (submittd JUST in time!). [Edit: I won! I won? Wow! Props to *pallanoph for running such a fun contest! ]

This is an idea I've been toying with for a while, so I took the opportunity to visualize it. I imagine a modern-day take on hunting unicorns wouldn't be about killing them and taking trophies but about tracking them, radio-collaring them, and monitoring their population. So don't worry, that gun barrel protruding from the helicopter is loaded with a tranquilizer dart, not a bullet.

I also figured since unicorns are legendarily elusive they would live somewhere relatively inaccessible, making them difficult to study. Ayuittuq National Park is on my 'bucket list' of amazing places to see someday (preferably before the last remains of the Penny and Barnes ice caps melt completely) and the idea just came together.
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On the fifth day out, their pilot spotted something standing on the ice. The helicopter swung low, blades chattering, and the creature took to its heels. It didn't run like a pronghorn, noted Dr. Lim; it ran like a cheetah. The spine flexed tremendously, giving the animal an immense, flying stride, and those broad, furry hooves with their clever toes kissed the glacier with effortless grace. The neck stretched forward and that tall, twisting, single horn cut the wind like a falcon in the dive. Dr. Wells shouldered the tranquilizer gun.

"My God, it's fast!" Dr. Lim couldn't take her eyes off the galloping animal.

"Sixty-five- no, seventy!" informed the pilot, "Eighty-five! Ninety-five! A buck ten! Jesus! Take your shot, Doctor!"

Its heels sent up tiny spurts of ice with each thrust; an intermittant thread of steam jetted from its flared nostrils. The upright flag of its mane rippled silver in the snowlight. Dr. Wells leaned into the rifle and squeezed the trigger. The little red dart sank into the animal's flank and waved with the motion of its stride.

It slowed, uncoordinated. Finally, it stopped, legs shaking, ribs heaving, and watched the helicopter land.

"I've seen bears go down quicker," murmured Lim as the rotors wound down. Still it stood, horn pointed at them, trembling. It inhaled deeply, and then it knelt, folding long, graceful legs beneath it. It lipped the ice. Then it stretched out on it's side with a sigh.
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Watercolour & acrylics
art (c) JL Tansey