“Forest Guardians are other worldly beings that, as their name suggests, guard forests from harm and destruction. They keep forests safe and clean for those who bare no ill will to nature to enjoy. They are harmless to humans who leave nothing but footprints and take only photographs.”
My uncle would tell this story during every camping trip. I was twelve years old when I asked him what the Forest Guardians did to those who didn’t treat the nature around them with respect, like we did.
“Well…” he started, “they may be mostly harmless to people like us but to those who take it upon themselves to try and ruin the forest, there is no holding back. They’re never seen or heard from again. Another missing person for the notice board.”
I went to bed that night under the stars beside the very carefully built fireplace surrounded by rocks, covered in sand to quench the flames before we took it apart in the morning wondering just how bad something referred to as a guardian could be.
My uncle got very sick a couple of years later and the cancer that went undetected for so long took his life a short time later. Before he died I sat by his bed and we had a broken conversation about memories of camping, fishing and hiking.
“Don’t forget the Forest Guardians. Look after the Forest and the Guardians will look after you. Look for their signs.” His voice wasn’t anything more than a whisper.
We moved later that year when my mom got a new job that took us to the city and it wasn’t until I was an adult in my twenties that I had an opportunity to go camping again. I jumped at the chance when a couple of my friends from environmental studies invited me along at the end of the semester.
The Friday that we travelled to our local national forest I had relayed my uncle’s story of Forest Guardians. They had found it interesting but nothing more than a childhood camping story at best, even going as far as theorising it was just a way to instil respect for nature in me from a young age and that it had done a good job. The rest of the car ride was spent talking about us finally being able to let loose and relax, drink beer and smoke weed.
The hike up to where we would set up our tents was slower than my friends would have liked; I was taking photographs and rubbings, notes on leaves and flowers. I regaled them with facts about bark types and root systems but they just wanted to get to our camp spot. Alex had picked the camping spot because of the open clearing; giving us a perfect view of the night sky. It was off trail by about half of a mile and this made me nervous.
My uncle had always told me to stick to the trail because they were there for a reason; “To guide you and keep you safe from harm. They’ll always lead you to safety.”
Despite my trepidation I followed Alex and Olivia through thick foliage as he guided us by map and compass away from the trail and into the deep forest. I tried my best to keep track of where we were by noting rock formations or fallen trees, a crop of brightly coloured flowers but by the time we arrived at the clearing I had little to no idea where we were or how to get back without help.
The clearing itself set my gut on edge; it was too clear and open. There was a circle of medium-sized rocks of various shapes to one edge of the large circular opening, thick trees, bushes and flowers surrounded us on all sides and there was a large wild thicket of a thorny plant I wasn’t familiar with along one full side of the circle.
Alex led us into the middle of the clearing and dropped his pack to the floor with a loud thud before turning to myself and Olivia “Didn’t I tell you this would be worth it?”
His voice echoed around us through the clearing making us stop and look towards the tree line; our eyes followed all the way around until we met each other’s gazes. Alex laughs and starts unpacking while Olivia sets about finding sticks for a fire later.
“Don’t forget we need rocks too. To surround the fire and stop it spreading.” I remind her and am met with an eye roll which irks me into a scowl. “I just don’t want to take any chances of the fire spreading.” I don’t catch her reaction as I make a dirt mound for the twigs and leaves to sit on and another mound to put out the fire before we settle in for the night; nobody had wanted to hike with a bucket of sand, so I remembered my uncle telling me that in a pinch damp dirt will do just as good a job.
By the time we had set up our tents the light was fading and the campfire was lit; Olivia had made it larger than I was comfortable with and had lit it before I could say anything but I had the distinct feeling that my words wouldn’t have made a difference to her. As I leant back on my pack and relaxed the conversation switched to why we chose our subjects.
“It was a no brainer for me. I care about the environment and the impact humans have on it; for better and worse. I want to be able to make a positive difference to it.” I smile proudly and look between Alex and Olivia who snort laughter.
“I needed an easy subject to count towards credits; ES was the way to go. I’ve hardly done any work and still I’m expected to pass.” Alex finished his second beer.
“Same for me. I was told the professor was a push over as long as you did the assignments… I’d talk to my brother who did the same course last year about them and then write out what he’d said while padding it out. I always got straight Cs for them so my parents were happy and so was the professor.” Olivia nodded and held up her bottle in a ‘cheers’ motion before finishing it and throwing it to the pile.
I stared into the flames and chewed on my lip, realising I had never known my two friends the way I thought I had.
“If you never really had any interest why were you so passionate in the debates?” I finally spoke after a few minutes.
Alex shrugged and opened beer number three. “I want to go into management and you need to be good at pushing your ideas and standing your ground. It was good practice.”
“I was the best student in my theatre class for a reason. I know how to act,” Olivia responded coldly.
“Oh…” I said sadly, my eyes downcast. “I guess I had hoped more people cared as much as I did about our environment and what we’re doing to it.”
Neither Alex nor Olivia knew how to respond to this comment and instead decided to pull out a baggy of enough weed for a football team to have a good party. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not some prudish, anti-drug, anti-fun person - I’ve smoked weed and decided it wasn’t for me but would never stop someone else from enjoying themselves. I’d just never seen that much weed before and was astounded when Alex said it will be gone by the end of our long weekend while Olivia cheered.
“No ends on the floor… it all goes into the fire to be burned.” I spoke up. The solution wasn’t perfect but it would have to do.
“You really believe in those forest guardians, don’t you?” Olivia snorted.
“I have no reason not to and it doesn’t do any harm. I’d rather just be mindful that we don’t leave a mess behind, is all.” I shook my head as Alex offered me another beer, motioning I hadn’t finished my first.
“But…really? Some supernatural beings who look after the forests? Is there more than one?” Olivia continued.
“Of course. Each forest has its own guardians and the size of the forest dictates how many guardians are needed.”
“So… what? They’re watching us now?” Olivia laughs and looks around. “Oh great forest guardians!” She stands, “Please forgive us for our weed use and any other transgressions!” She turns on the spot and holds out her arms while speaking loudly. “We mean no harm to you or your forest…” she falls down onto her butt, laughing. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t keep a straight face!” she continues to laugh.
“You know you can be a real asshole.” I snapped at her. “What’s the point in mocking them?”
“Oh cool it,” Alex pipes up “It’s not like they’re actually real.”
“What makes you so sure?” I retorted.
“Have you ever seen one of them?” Alex shrugged.
“If you see them, you’re the one in trouble.” I answer simply and finish my beer and sigh. “I’m turning in… there’s been a lot of walking today. Don’t forget to put out the fire, please.” I shuffle towards my tent and take off my hiking boots, leaving them by the entrance before zipping up and laying on my sleeping bag. I spent an hour or so listening to hushed whispers about me and my ‘weird paranoid quirks’ while trying not to cry.
—
I awoke before dawn on Saturday and needed the bathroom badly, luckily I had come prepared with bamboo toilet paper which was much better for the environment. Slipping on my boots and unzipping my tent I was disappointed to find the fire dying but still burning. Checking my watch I sigh; it had been going all night and there was no sign that Olivia or Alex had even tried to put it out. I walk over and do the job myself, making sure the dirt was damp enough to work by adding some more water to it.
It wasn’t until I stood that I realised the two tents and packs were missing but the trash pile was still by the fire pit.
“Olivia? Alex?” I called into the lifting darkness and waited for an answer that never came. When did they leave? Why did they leave?
“Hello?” I call out again and hear a twig break in the distance. My need to use the bathroom was quickly forgotten as I bagged up the trash into my pack and took down my tent. As I took apart joining poles I came across a wreath hanging from one of them; it was made of unidentifiable leaves, foliage and flowers, even my torchlight didn’t help me with what it was made of, but there was no question of who - or what - left it for me.
“Look out for their signs,” my Uncle had said and I had asked what he meant. “They protect those who protect them and they leave… gifts… to those who need protecting or are no harm.” I had asked what kind of gifts would forest guardians leave someone. “Twig statues, odd looking rocks, foliage and berry wreaths…wreaths are special; it means they consider you a friend…” I nodded and stroked his hand, telling him to rest now, that he had taught me well. I stayed until the end; secretly hoping he would wake and tell me more, just one last conversation. One last story.
I attached the wreath to my pack and shouldered it with the help of one of the rocks from the formation. Once it was seated comfortably I looked around for both the sunrise and positioning of everything around me; it meant I could roughly work out where I needed to go to get back.
Once I had found my entry point I started on my way back, quickly noticing broken branches, twisted hedges, bushes and pulled flowers. I followed the trail of destruction hoping it would lead me to Alex and Olivia and I could find out what was going on. As I continued along this seemingly marked-for-me route I started finding items of clothing that I recognised as Olivias. What had they done? Where had they gone? Why had they done this? I collected the discarded clothing and trash as I walked, packing it away into my bag as I went.
As I neared a small clearing I took in the eerie scene; even though my watch said it was very clearly after sunrise, there was no sun getting to the clearing. There was a low ground fog that clung to my ankles and feet making them cold. Ahead of me was a stone structure that appeared to be of ceremonial use. There were carved figures either side; I stepped closer and realised they were made of individual bones that had been secured together. Bones of what? I couldn’t tell but I silently hoped they were animals. Carved into the “torso” of the figures was a simple lined symbol which was strangely familiar.
“If you really piss off the guardians, you’ll be marked with a symbol.” My uncle had told me while barbecuing. My mother had huffed and protested about his stories but he had ignored her and continued. “It’s three lines, six dots… an old Nordic sign called ‘Thuriaz’… it is referring to Thurse who was a Nordic giant of an evil being. People used to associate the forest guardians as evil and bad when they were just protecting and so to ward them off they would use this symbol. Over time the guardians started using it themselves.”
I heard a low undulating growl to my right and snapped my head to see what it was. A dark tall shadow walked into the forest; it was at least seven feet tall with extra long arms that ended in hooks which touched the ground. Their figure was sinewy and skeletal, as if trying to be human in form but couldn’t quite get it right. The hooks looked as though freshly sharpened and made of bone protruding from the mid arm area. The feet were in proportion to the rest of the body but the toes were long and thin with claw-like nails which dug into the earth as it took each step leaving a strange footprint in its wake.
The figure stopped and looked at me. The face was a blank slate with only indents where eyes, nose and mouth should be. The head tilted and then it turned to walk through a stone archway. I got the feeling I was being instructed to follow and as such, I did.
I kept a safe distance behind the creature and felt no fear towards it as I felt no malice towards myself. It simply led me down a hidden trail to another clearing where I saw my friends hung from two wooden frames.
Two stone brazier type structures were ablaze beside the frames and directly in front was a large dugout pit that I couldn’t see in. More figures like the one that led me here were hidden in the tree lines all around us.
Olivia looked over at me and screamed for help; she was naked and covered in cuts as if she had been dragged through the underbrush. Her hair was knotted and dirty with mud and sticks. Carved into her stomach and dripping blood was the same symbol from the bone figures. I looked on taking in everything else and my eyes came to rest on Alex who was also naked, dirty and bloody. The symbol was cut into the top of his thigh; he made no noise and I noted the blood down his chin and chest.
“Please! Help us!” Olivia called out and her following scream echoed around the silent space as if it couldn’t escape into the trees; like we were all in a bubble that closed us off from the rest of the world.
I tried to speak but nothing came from my mouth except a croak. I had so many questions to ask but couldn’t speak them at all. My vocal chords wouldn’t cooperate and instead I closed my mouth and just watched.
The creatures seemed to communicate in grunts and growls, low rumbles that I felt more than heard. Their hooks gesticulated towards me and then Olivia and Alex before I felt the wreath popped from my bag and held up behind me. I turned my head and saw a much taller creature holding it high before rumbling so low I could only feel it. The others looked at the wreath which was then placed on my head, they bowed their own heads and turned attention back to my friends.
“Oh god please! Please help!” Olivia was sobbing my name and begging but… I didn’t want to help her or Alex. My feet were firmly planted to the floor and even if I did want to help, I couldn’t move.
Alex lifted his head and let out a keening, wailing noise. Blood seeped from between his lips and poured down his chest when he opened his mouth to reveal the missing tongue. I didn’t wince or turn away, I didn’t feel sick. I understood.
These creatures were the Forest Guardians. These beings were keeping the Forest safe from those who didn’t respect it. My uncle never told me what happened to those who were caught by the Guardians; he would go silent and shake his head before changing the subject and now as I watched the Guardians moving I understood why.
They started with Alex. A hook held up his face from under his chin, moved his face from side to side. I could see the fear in Alex’s eyes as another Guardian stepped behind him and cut him open down his spine. I didn’t need to see what they were doing to know what was happening. The cuts were precise and slow to prolong suffering. His grunts and cries of agony were muffled by the tree line as he was painstakingly skinned alive. He was passed out before they had finished his arms and I dare say dead, before that had completed his torso. I hoped he was dead.
Olivia screamed while watching the skinning because she knew she was next.
The skin was held up in triumph before her and laid on a stone slab that I hadn’t noticed before. It was similar to the first I had seen in the previous clearing and I wondered if it was an altar of some sort used by the Guardians for offerings.
Next they removed fat, muscle, sinew, all internal organs until they had only his bones. They picked out the largest bones, considered their shapes and dimensions before discarding what they didn’t want in the pit.
Olivia was hyperventilating and her screams had become rough from the damage she had done to her vocal chords. I was mesmerised by what was happening in front of me, I was disgusted and amazed and proud and angry all at the same time.
But I understood it needed to happen.
The process was repeated on Olivia and I had an errant thought about what had caused them to cut out Alex’s tongue. I wonder if he had run his mouth as if he could have stopped any of this by doing so; these beings are as old as time. None of his words would ever strike fear into them - they had seen it all, feared nothing and survived. They would continue to survive.
By the time I had come out of my thoughts Olivia had either passed out from shock or died. Her screams had fallen silent and there was only the sound of skin being cut and removed. They repeated the full process on her and again discarded the bones they didn’t want into the pit.
The Guardians disappeared into the forest tree line and I was alone. The spell was broken, the bubble popped and the sun was shining on to the altar. Birds started to sing and I waved my hand in front of me as insects buzzed about.
I turned and began to walk. I didn’t know where I was supposed to walk but I followed the cracking of twigs until they led me to a flowing river and I realised I hadn’t had any water in hours. My watch showed me it was after midday and I knelt by the water to drink from my cupped hands.
After only a few moments listening to the water and the wildlife I again stood and started walking, following the sounds of more breaking twigs, rustling bushes and low rumbles until I was on a marked trail with signs pointing in various directions.
Before starting towards the car park I turned in the direction I believed the Guardian was hiding.
“Thank you.”
Something was thrown at my feet and I looked around the floor to see a pebble. I picked it up and realised it wasn’t a pebble, it was a cut piece of bone with a symbol carved onto both sides. Three lines that looked like half a tree. I learned later this was ‘Fehu’ another Norse rune that is considered lucky and a symbol of hope.
I don’t remember how long I walked down the trail and reached a Ranger outpost. I didn’t tell them everything but I did tell them my friends had gone missing. I was asked a barrage of questions and I answered them to the best of my ability.
When the older man who looked like had seen far more than he would ever admit said “we can’t promise anything with this forest, but we’ll have a look.” I understood he knew what I had seen. He held my eyes for longer than needed to make sure that I did understand. I nodded and thanked them, told them if they needed anything here were my details. They took them and we went through the motions as if they would make any difference.
“Nice wreath you have there.” The older man said.
I reached up and took it off to look at it “I… didn’t realise it was there.” I lied, he nodded again and told me quietly it would be best if I went with the officers when they arrived and tried to forget.
I kept this to myself for fifteen years and now as my own children are interested in camping, a whole new cycle starts and I have more people to teach.
If you look after the forest, the Guardians will look after you.