I
handed him the scroll and walked away into the woods. "I've taught you
everything I know," I said, "Let's see you put it to use." As I walked, I
unclasped my armor, letting the metal drop into the soft earth with a
dull thud. Helmet, cuirass, gauntlets, greaves, I wouldn't need any of
them anymore.
I heard Bernard unfurl the scroll. A minute later I heard his voice in the darkness. "I understand Master James and, for you service to the kingdom, I promise to make it a swift and painless death. I am just saddened that the guild makes retirement a priority instead of allowing us to hunt whatever monster it is that has been kidnapping children from the village." I heard the crunch of dead leaves behind me, but continued to walk unconcerned toward the woods. I knew that Bernard would follow the scroll's instructions to the letter and give me the allotted 3 minutes to make my peace before he came to kill me. Unlike me at his age, Bernard was a good kid. When I was in his position, I put half a dozen poisoned arrows into my master's back before he even reached the tree line.
Still, nothing could stop the terror in the back of my mind at what was about to happen next. There's no going back after you've done all the things that I've done, and I've accepted this is just the way things are. Proper society just wasn't a place for a monster hunter. And when you've done as much killing as I have there always comes a time when you become more monster than man. I should've come clean a couple months ago when I first noticed the fangs starting to grow in. Luckily, the guild caught me before I beheaded the orphan who stole my coin pouch last week. Unless he or she is killed in battle, at some point the guild requires a monster hunter be "retired" by their apprentice. Luckily for me, Bernard was an exceptional apprentice, some would say a guild prodigy. And that was what truly terrified me.
When I got to the tree line I drew my sword and planted it into the ground. It was a symbolic gesture, after all, monsters don't use man's steel. My 3 minutes of preparation would begin. At that point, I sprinted into the woods weaving through trees and over rocks. Even though I was essentially being sentenced to death, there was no point in making it easy.
After a minute, I slowed my pace. Even in the dark I could tell that the trees in this part of the forest were much younger than the rest of the forest. Thinner and shorter. It was the part of the forest where my master had limped into after I shot his back full of arrows. I knew that some poisoned arrows wouldn't be enough to kill him, so I set the forest ablaze, letting the flames chase him down.
It didn't take long before I could smell it, the stench of decay. It's a smell I'd become accustomed to after decades of monster hunting. Honestly, if I wasn't sniffing for it, I might not have noticed. I followed the until I was sure I was breathing in more decay than air. Finally, I found what I was looking for. A glimmering nail pounded into a tree. I got tripped slightly as my feet got tangled up in the mess at the base of the tree. After regaining my balance, I found another nail. And another nail. Finally I got to the small clearing with nails pounded into all the trees circling the clearing. In the center, the small burial mound of stones and dirt of my former master. With my hands, I dug up the mound, my finger nails cracking on the rocks and the sticks cutting into my skin. It took me a couple of minutes, but I finally got to what I was looking for - my former master. There was nothing left in the hole but his bones and sword, but that was all I needed.
"Master James, I know you're out here," I heard Bernard's voice in the darkness and he was close. He was an exceptional tracker after all, once tracking a pack of werewolves in the night through woods just like these. "I know that you're unarmed and unprotected. There's no way you can win in these conditions. Now come out and face your death."
I smiled as I heard the crunch of boots on leaves as I took what I needed from the grave. Bernard had given away his position too soon, treating this as if it were a dual, as if I was just going to be some creature which crawled quietly to its death. I turned quickly, swinging with the sword as I did. My blade found only air as I spun to find Bernard still at the edge of the clearing his sword still in its scabbard.
"So you came all this way to get a sword you hid? I thought you had come out here to die with dignity." His voice was filled with disappointment. Slowly, he moved into the clearing and drew the short sword from his side. I had to smile at that. Understanding that he only had a small clearing before he got into the trees, this was not the place for a longer weapon, especially that halberd he loved so much strapped to his back.
I shook my head at his words. "First of all, I'm not terrified to die. Quite the opposite, actually. I'm terrified that you won't be able to kill me. And you've only confirmed my fears by coming into the clearing to dual me as if I were still human. You should've shot me from cover of darkness with that crossbow you seemed to have left behind." I spun the sword in my hand and then threw it back into the hole. "Secondly, I came for this." I tossed the teeth of my former master at Bernard's feet. "I needed to show you this. That my former master was only a month into his transformation when I ordered to kill him."
Bernard scooped up the teeth, slowly and with his eyes still on me and his sword still in his hand. Quickly, he took a look at the teeth. Then another, longer gaze. The third look held his gaze in horror. "These are fangs," he said, shakily. Then he looked at me, and I smiled.
"Did you smell it as you approached? I bet you didn't, the smell of death. In our line of work, it just becomes something we're so accustomed to that it doesn't even faze us. Did you think that I pounded those nails just to mark my way here? What if I told you that just a couple of days ago, each of those nails was pounded into two tiny hands , and from those two hands hung a child I'd feasted upon."
My apprentice dropped the fangs, and his sword. "You're the monster! You've been taking the children."
I smiled, wider than humanly possible, conscious of my fangs now shinning in the moonlight. "The Hunger has me, Bernard. It's up to you to stop me, to kill me. But I'm terrified that you won't be able to do it. That the guild has trained you on only how THEY want you to hunt, and not how you NEED to hunt. You really shouldn't have gotten so close." With those words I leaped, clearing the distance between the two of almost instantaneously, and sunk my fangs into his neck. His flesh filled my mouth and his warm blood sprayed onto my face. He was dead in a minute. I knew then that there was nothing that could stop me. And in the puddle that accumulated at my feet, I saw the reflection that scared me the most.
I'm back in it! I didn't write anything all November, though I started on a couple of things (never getting around to finishing any of it). Hopefully this means I'm getting back into the habit of writing, but we'll see. Once again, I got my inspiration from Reddit "You have fought monsters for years, and your apprentice is standing beside you. You realise what has happened with horror. You give them your last assignment as a monster hunter and have become the first monster they will hunt". I'm hoping I made this dark, though, I am out of practice so I'm guessing you probably saw that ending before we got there. Also, I seemed to have developed some sort of attention problem because I even felt like I may have rushed to get to the ending, as if I was getting bored of my own story and just wanted to wrap it up already. That might be a problem. Meh, or maybe I'm just out of practice.
I heard Bernard unfurl the scroll. A minute later I heard his voice in the darkness. "I understand Master James and, for you service to the kingdom, I promise to make it a swift and painless death. I am just saddened that the guild makes retirement a priority instead of allowing us to hunt whatever monster it is that has been kidnapping children from the village." I heard the crunch of dead leaves behind me, but continued to walk unconcerned toward the woods. I knew that Bernard would follow the scroll's instructions to the letter and give me the allotted 3 minutes to make my peace before he came to kill me. Unlike me at his age, Bernard was a good kid. When I was in his position, I put half a dozen poisoned arrows into my master's back before he even reached the tree line.
Still, nothing could stop the terror in the back of my mind at what was about to happen next. There's no going back after you've done all the things that I've done, and I've accepted this is just the way things are. Proper society just wasn't a place for a monster hunter. And when you've done as much killing as I have there always comes a time when you become more monster than man. I should've come clean a couple months ago when I first noticed the fangs starting to grow in. Luckily, the guild caught me before I beheaded the orphan who stole my coin pouch last week. Unless he or she is killed in battle, at some point the guild requires a monster hunter be "retired" by their apprentice. Luckily for me, Bernard was an exceptional apprentice, some would say a guild prodigy. And that was what truly terrified me.
When I got to the tree line I drew my sword and planted it into the ground. It was a symbolic gesture, after all, monsters don't use man's steel. My 3 minutes of preparation would begin. At that point, I sprinted into the woods weaving through trees and over rocks. Even though I was essentially being sentenced to death, there was no point in making it easy.
After a minute, I slowed my pace. Even in the dark I could tell that the trees in this part of the forest were much younger than the rest of the forest. Thinner and shorter. It was the part of the forest where my master had limped into after I shot his back full of arrows. I knew that some poisoned arrows wouldn't be enough to kill him, so I set the forest ablaze, letting the flames chase him down.
It didn't take long before I could smell it, the stench of decay. It's a smell I'd become accustomed to after decades of monster hunting. Honestly, if I wasn't sniffing for it, I might not have noticed. I followed the until I was sure I was breathing in more decay than air. Finally, I found what I was looking for. A glimmering nail pounded into a tree. I got tripped slightly as my feet got tangled up in the mess at the base of the tree. After regaining my balance, I found another nail. And another nail. Finally I got to the small clearing with nails pounded into all the trees circling the clearing. In the center, the small burial mound of stones and dirt of my former master. With my hands, I dug up the mound, my finger nails cracking on the rocks and the sticks cutting into my skin. It took me a couple of minutes, but I finally got to what I was looking for - my former master. There was nothing left in the hole but his bones and sword, but that was all I needed.
"Master James, I know you're out here," I heard Bernard's voice in the darkness and he was close. He was an exceptional tracker after all, once tracking a pack of werewolves in the night through woods just like these. "I know that you're unarmed and unprotected. There's no way you can win in these conditions. Now come out and face your death."
I smiled as I heard the crunch of boots on leaves as I took what I needed from the grave. Bernard had given away his position too soon, treating this as if it were a dual, as if I was just going to be some creature which crawled quietly to its death. I turned quickly, swinging with the sword as I did. My blade found only air as I spun to find Bernard still at the edge of the clearing his sword still in its scabbard.
"So you came all this way to get a sword you hid? I thought you had come out here to die with dignity." His voice was filled with disappointment. Slowly, he moved into the clearing and drew the short sword from his side. I had to smile at that. Understanding that he only had a small clearing before he got into the trees, this was not the place for a longer weapon, especially that halberd he loved so much strapped to his back.
I shook my head at his words. "First of all, I'm not terrified to die. Quite the opposite, actually. I'm terrified that you won't be able to kill me. And you've only confirmed my fears by coming into the clearing to dual me as if I were still human. You should've shot me from cover of darkness with that crossbow you seemed to have left behind." I spun the sword in my hand and then threw it back into the hole. "Secondly, I came for this." I tossed the teeth of my former master at Bernard's feet. "I needed to show you this. That my former master was only a month into his transformation when I ordered to kill him."
Bernard scooped up the teeth, slowly and with his eyes still on me and his sword still in his hand. Quickly, he took a look at the teeth. Then another, longer gaze. The third look held his gaze in horror. "These are fangs," he said, shakily. Then he looked at me, and I smiled.
"Did you smell it as you approached? I bet you didn't, the smell of death. In our line of work, it just becomes something we're so accustomed to that it doesn't even faze us. Did you think that I pounded those nails just to mark my way here? What if I told you that just a couple of days ago, each of those nails was pounded into two tiny hands , and from those two hands hung a child I'd feasted upon."
My apprentice dropped the fangs, and his sword. "You're the monster! You've been taking the children."
I smiled, wider than humanly possible, conscious of my fangs now shinning in the moonlight. "The Hunger has me, Bernard. It's up to you to stop me, to kill me. But I'm terrified that you won't be able to do it. That the guild has trained you on only how THEY want you to hunt, and not how you NEED to hunt. You really shouldn't have gotten so close." With those words I leaped, clearing the distance between the two of almost instantaneously, and sunk my fangs into his neck. His flesh filled my mouth and his warm blood sprayed onto my face. He was dead in a minute. I knew then that there was nothing that could stop me. And in the puddle that accumulated at my feet, I saw the reflection that scared me the most.
I'm back in it! I didn't write anything all November, though I started on a couple of things (never getting around to finishing any of it). Hopefully this means I'm getting back into the habit of writing, but we'll see. Once again, I got my inspiration from Reddit "You have fought monsters for years, and your apprentice is standing beside you. You realise what has happened with horror. You give them your last assignment as a monster hunter and have become the first monster they will hunt". I'm hoping I made this dark, though, I am out of practice so I'm guessing you probably saw that ending before we got there. Also, I seemed to have developed some sort of attention problem because I even felt like I may have rushed to get to the ending, as if I was getting bored of my own story and just wanted to wrap it up already. That might be a problem. Meh, or maybe I'm just out of practice.
