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I peer out to see him already back on the ground, his tranquiliser wand up and aimed. More Rangers appear from various directions, some phasing in if they have the ability, others running or flying or galloping. Each creature in the sanctuary has a non-invasive tag on them, which is how we managed to track them all down in order to bring them back to the sanctuary (though there were issues with some) and how these Rangers knew where the eunixa was without me having to radio it in.
I suck in a breath when the eunixa dodges the sleepy spell Zenin just fired at its face with a pre-loaded wand given he can’t use magic himself. Only witches can.
The eunixa morphs into a puddle of an oily-looking substance before lunging to the left and morphing back into its gigantic, slimy shape. The white-haired vampire takes it all in stride as he phases behind it. The other Rangers keep their distance, letting him draw the creature’s attention while they all take aim with their own wands. Two of the Rangers are witches, and their hands move as they build a giant net of magic, the tattooed runes on their skin glowing lightly with their power.
My heart thuds in my throat as the eunixa suddenly spins on its mass of tentacles and charges at three of the Rangers blocking the path on its left. Two of them manage to fling themselves out of its way in time, but the third, a pink-haired centaur, holds his position as he fires a sleeping spell with his wand. A single preloaded spell isn’t strong enough to take the beast down on its own though; they’ll need to hit it with at least five more. So the creature roars, then grabs hold of the centaur with six of its slimy tentacles.
The Ranger screams as he’s hauled towards the beak, which opens like one of those paper fortune tellers, with two rows of sharp teeth on each side. The eunixa’s tentacles start to crush the centaur’s bones, squishing him into a shape that’ll fit nicely in its mouth.
Pulling my walkie talkie up to my lips, I demand all the healers get to the area now.
My eyes dart to Zenin, wondering why he isn’t jumping in to save one of his own. He’s had plenty of time. But as my gaze tracks across the chaos below me, I quickly realise why.
The two rangers that jumped out of the way are now repositioned with their tranquiliser wands aimed at the beast. They fire, but despite their proximity to the eunixa, their shots are the last ones to hit as the sleepy spells from all the other Rangers are already flinging towards the beast now that it’s stationary. The giant net the two witches created also flings forward and wraps itself around the slimy beast.
The centaur’s screams slowly die, and the eunixa’s red bulbous eyes start to close. It wobbles on its tentacles for a few seconds, then falls over, having been hit with nearly a dozen sleeping spells nearly at the same time.
Zenin approaches with his wand still up. As soon as he nudges the creature and makes sure it’s really out, he gestures for the healers to come in. They rush over, and with a team effort, the Rangers help separate the eunixa’s tentacles from the centaur as they both stay asleep. Once the pink-haired half-man, half-horse is free, the healers surround him and wrap his body in a white light, straightening his limbs and healing the pucker bruises the eunixa’s tentacles left on him.
I breathe out heavily. Thank gods, they’re both okay.
Although basically every zoo has a shoot-to-kill policy for eunixas due to them not attacking to get free or because they feel threatened but rather just because they like attacking anything and everything, everyone who works here loves animals before themselves. Which is why there is also a giant, legally-binding sign at every entrance of the sanctuary saying that to enter is to do so at your own risk, and the animals’ welfare will come first.
After shutting my window, I hurry down the two flights of stairs to outside. Zenin comes up to me.
“Thanks for saving me,” I say.
He shrugs.
“So how did she escape?” I ask, glancing over his shoulder at the eunixa, who is now being lifted by the two witches to be taken back to her enclosure.
“She just arrived, and the sleeping spell they had on her wore off during transportation. They found her on a different dimension to ours.”
I shake my head. “They should have realised different dimensions affect our spells in odd, unpredictable ways.”
“They’re new.”
My eyes widen. “And they went after an eunixa?”
“There was a mess-up with the trackers. They thought they were going after a micro unicorn.”
“How did they manage to capture her?” I ask, my jaw slack.
“Lucky bastards found her while she was asleep. They tranqed her some more before trying to bring her back.”
Which then went horribly wrong. I shudder as I imagine their surprise when she woke up. “Are they okay?”
“Yeah.”
Iri, his second-in-command, walks up to us, shaking her head of red hair. “What he means is they died.”
“Zenin!”
He shrugs. “Okay is neutral. Dead is neutral. Same thing.”
Before I can say anything to that, he walks off. I shake my head as I turn to Iri.
“Please make sure all the Rangers understand what can happen in interdimensional travel.”
