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It was dark.
After traveling for most of the entire day, we’d only just broken into the loose set of trees that was the last barrier before we reached Norn. Yet, even though we were close, dusk had already descended and the last rays of sunlight were retreating from the world.
As Kye had said, Norn was only supposed to be about a day of travel away from Sarin. On foot, at least. But as the night crept in, stealing the last vestiges of light from the world, it looked like we were going to have to make camp. We were going to have to abandon hope of reaching Norn before it got too dark for us to continue through the trees.
But that hadn’t happened. Not yet, anyway. There was still sufficient light for us to see the greens of the leaves above, and that was more than enough. So despite the aches of soreness dragging down my muscles, we walked on.
For their part, at least the trees that led up to the mountains weren’t nearly as densely packed as the ones I’d become used to. In the fading light, the twisting branches that blocked out moonlight from above weren’t anything to scoff at, but they weren’t a big issue either. Even though as a knight I’d never had to do much navigating through thick woods, the environment around me was paltry. In the past few weeks, I’d risked my life in much worse than this.
But still, in rapidly fading light, I wasn’t one for taking many chances.
“Should we look for a place to set up camp?” I asked my companion in a low voice, making sure it wouldn’t reverberate through the open area.
Kye turned to me, raising an eyebrow before shaking her head. She didn’t even take the chance of talking. Instead, she only notched the arrow she was carrying in her bow and trained it on the shadows in front of us. I could even feel the slight lightness in the air that betrayed her magic.
“When?” I whispered.
Kye shot me a glare, straightening up. “If I remember correctly, there’s a side-clearing soon.” She flicked her eyes back to the front to scan everywhere the light didn’t reach. “We’ll get out there and camp a ways out. But I don’t want to—“
Rustling. Low and nearly inaudible, the sound of disturbed leaves drifted to my ears. I stiffened, my fingers curling around the hilt of my sword. I darted my eyes around, trying to pin-point the source of the noise. And when I did, Kye already had an arrow trained on the spot. I slowed my pace as the rustling grew louder, ducking lower as I waited for some horrible abomination to appear.
A small bird flew out through the leaves.
I blinked, furrowing my brow as I watched the little, red, feathered creature spiral in the air. Kye stopped as well, her bow dropping as she relaxed. After a few seconds, it turned away and darted back into the leaves it had emerged from. At once, unease settled in my gut, and Kye shot me a sidelong glance.
I’d seen that look before. There was a question in her eyes, and I could only nod when I realized what it was. She was suspicious. She thought there was something else hiding. And after having hunted with the woman a myriad of times, I trusted she was right. There probably was something else hiding, and I didn’t want to be caught off guard.
We crept on, step after step through the dark. Grass crunched under our boots, but among the oppressive silence, it almost didn’t make a noise. As if swallowed up by the night’s maw. I straightened, scanning the trees ahead more cautiously than I had in over a week. Because typically as hunters, we didn’t have to be as careful as our targets. That, however, only worked if we knew that we were the predators instead of the prey.
Memories of brief hunting lessons trickled into my mind. Ones from both past and present—from both my father and the Rangers themselves. But no matter what point in my life they came from, they said the same thing. We had to assume whatever was out there was hostile, and we had to be ready for the worst.
My lips pressed into a thin line. I squinted, letting my thoughts spin in the background as to not overtake my awareness. I needed to be as alert as possible for any—
Another rustle in the trees. I froze, perking my ears. The sound was more distant this time. It was farther away, and as I heard a shrill chirp, I tensed up. The bird. I strained my ears, trying to locate it in the increasingly dark unknown.
Remotely, I could hear movement in the brush. Movement and… something else. Something unfamiliar, and a bit odd. It sounded sharp yet muffled and erratic. Like the distant gnashing of teeth as if some beast was just now finding its dinner.
My skin crawled.
I looked up, holding my sword low. Kye shot a glance at me. I pointed at my ears. She got the message in short time. Then, taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and concentrated. The brisk air lightened even further around her, seeming to swirl with energy.
After another second, the sound came back. Sharp and gnashing all the same. Kye’s face went pale, a realization washing over her face. My stomach churned as she turned toward me, her eyes wide as the moon. She knew what the sound was, then. She recognized it. And the accompanying fear did not bode well for us.
Kye grabbed my arm. I twisted, my eyes blooming like fearful flowers. “We need to split up,” she hissed.
I shivered, ripping my arm from her grasp. Split up? The idea sounded insane to me. Some creature was lurking in the woods. It was hiding from us, and if simply its sound had been enough to scare Kye, I didn’t want to meet it on my own. I had no doubt about my own ability with the blade, but in my new body, I didn’t want to take the chance.
Kye noticed my hesitation and shot me a cold glare. I met her gaze with a nod, and she nodded right back. Despite myself, I understood. I remembered the lesson she’d given me when I’d first become a ranger. Whenever our dynamic switched—whenever we became the hunted instead of the hunters, it was better to split up. Sometimes it didn’t make sense, but it gave more safety to the group overall.
I repeated her advice in my head. The words bounced off the edges of my skull until I convinced myself to follow them. The truth in them stuck out. I knew the premise was that if one of us got attacked, it ensured the other wouldn’t be. All one ranger had to do was be as loud as they could to alert the rest of their group to either help or leave and save themselves. So when kye gave me another firm nod, I swallowed my worries and nodded back.
Without even waiting another second, Kye bolted into the trees. She left me standing in open air like a fish out of water. I almost opened my mouth, almost tried to call out to her one last time, but I bit it back. And when the wind slapped me in the face, I spurred into action.
I crept through the trees as carefully as I could. My footsteps clattered softly against the dirt, but in the splitting quiet, they were almost all I could hear. Around me, the world seemed frozen. It was unnerving. Besides for the howling wind, nothing else moved. Nothing else made any sound. Not even the creature lurking in the dark.
I rolled my neck and pushed away the fear. I didn’t give in to it. Not like I had when I’d first been chased through the woods by a pyre wolf. With Kye here, there was no way I was leaving. No way I was leaving her to deal with it alone.
I just had to stay vigilant, I told myself. That was the plan. I kept repeating the words through my head as I stalked through silent brush, and it seemed to keep my nerves in check. It seemed to ward off the distracting thoughts that had grown since the beast had applied its lifeful curse. And if I kept—
A noise. I wheeled, steeling myself and straining my ears. Sharp and splitting, it sounded like something taking a breath in the trees to my right. It wasn’t immediate, but it was close enough. I threw up my guard and raised my blade, ready when the noise came back.
My blood ran cold as I recognized what it was.
A sniff. Short, feral, and distinctly humanoid, something was smelling the woods. It was smelling for me I realized. I took a step back, scanning the shadows for some form. But I couldn’t find one. I couldn’t find anything in the dark—a fact that worried me most when the sniffing came back.
It came, lilting on the air as if trying to blend in with the ambience. But I latched onto it. I tracked it as it sounded again, and again. And again. Until at one point, it came far too close and something instinctual inside me screamed that I wouldn’t be hearing it again.
I twisted out of the way as the creature surged out of the trees. But even though I’d been expecting it, it was still fast. Too fast. Faster than it should’ve been. I only barely leapt back as pale flesh filled my vision and I swung my blade down into it. Contact rattled through my hand as steel tore through the thin black cloth covering its chest and ripped flesh as it went.
When I tried to pull it out though, my eyes widened in horror. In the next second, I’d expected to be dashing away. But instead, my blade was lodged in place as if the blood trickling out over it latched onto it and didn’t let it go.
My eyes widened in horror, a scream catching in my throat as I wrenched backward. Resistance pained my muscles, but eventually I tore the blade out and stumbled back. As soon as I looked back up at it though, it was already dashing again. The blurred mixture of tattered dark grey cloth and pale skin was on me in an instant. I tried to block with my blade. It was a useless attempt.
I went flying.
With a force far greater than I thought possible for the humanoid creature in front of me, it threw me. Thin arms pushed me back, cutting themselves on my blade, and I hit the ground hard. My back slid on the dirt and a dull pain draped over my skull as I grimaced in agony.
My vision blurred as I tried desperately to raise my head. As I tried desperately to scramble away with aching muscles. Only when more fire poured into my blood was I able to sit up, thoughts spinning. I bit back the pain and gripped my sword at the ready.
Scanning the trees around me, I tried to blink away the blur. I tried to push back the haze of painful disorientation so that I could locate the feral thing. As soon as it had rammed into me, I’d seen it running from the corner of my eye. Somewhere back off into the trees. But I needed to know where it had gone.
Clear hearing came back as cold air struck my face. I strained my ears, trying to grasp at any sounds that I could. For a few moments, everything was still; all I could hear was the pounding of blood in my ears. Nothing else. Only the repetitive thump and the terrifying, deafening silence that surrounded it.
Then I heard it. My blood froze, only adding to the rising breathless pain in my chest. From the trees to my left, the rustling returned. I whipped my head in its direction, ignoring the throbbing of my skull. My hand tightened around my sword and I stumbled to a hunched position. My eyes scoured the trees for anything. Any speck, or rustle, or—
Movement. And it came running. My eyes bulged, straining to track the pale beast as it rushed toward me. Despite its humanoid form, it moved inhumanly quick.
It had closed the gap before I could even get a breath into my lungs. I lurched backward, preparing my blade when its face came into view. The thin, waxen, human-like face stared at me. It wore a crooked smile with cracked lips that stood out as the only color on its face. The only color except for its grey, bloodshot irises that were full of something. Full of an insatiable want, a desire, a hunger. As soon as I looked into its eyes, a deep fear washed up from the back of my mind and cut me to the core. The strike I’d been ready to make faded before I could do any damage.
Pallid, claw-like fingers swung at me. They aimed at my neck as uncoordinated movements that gave me just enough time to interrupt them with my blade. For a moment, the ice-cold fire in my blood pushed back the fear and I sliced through the creature’s wrist. Blood flowed out over steel as I attempted to haul backward. As before, however, it wasn’t quite that easy.
The creature seemed nearly unfazed by the strike. It stared right into my eyes. With its other hand moving at a speed I couldn’t counter, it grabbed me by my tunic and lifted me off the ground.
Fear washed up. It whipped at me like crashing waves and tore away strength as it went.
As the thing raised me, it bored into my eyes. A shudder wracked through my body at the revolting sight. And some instinct deep inside of me rebelled, slicing forward with my sword.
It simply grabbed the sharpened blade.
Using its long, horrifying fingers, it grasped the sword without hesitation and ripped it from my hands. The bloodied weapon clattered in the dirt, useless. It left me useless. Defenseless. Overcome by an increasing panic as a fate I feared more than any other reared its head.
I balled my hands. Curled them into half-fists and started striking the beast. I kicked my feet out at it, brushing its tattered cloth and bruising its ghastly skin. It reeled, wheezing some kind of horrible breath and inhaling sharply through its nose. But still, it looked unaffected. Instead of dropping me or running away, it just stared into my eyes and ignited the fear that was already there.
My mind fogged over despite my best attempts to stop it. All I could think about was the terror. The unnaturalness of it all. It pulled at deep, fragmented memories that I barely even remembered. Showed me sights I’d never seen. Yet somewhere in the fog, a spark of hope sprung up. It reminded me of… something else. Something I could have been doing to stay alive.
Latching onto it though, all that I did was scream.
Louder than ever before, my shriek split the air. It rattled off through the trees and would’ve alerted anything listening in for hundreds of paces around. All it truly seemed to do, though, was anger the creature holding me up. Slowly, its brows came together and its nostrils flared again.
Then it slammed me into the ground.
As soon as my eyes flitted shut, I regained control of my body. But as soon as I hit the ground, that control was knocked from me like air being pushed from my lungs. I wheezed, blinking rapidly as an ache spread into my bones. Above me, the creature smiled again and crouched over me, slashing again for my neck. I raised my arms and covered my face, trying to defend from its strikes. But all I got were burning cuts on my skin and blood spilling out over my arms. In pure desperation, I kicked out at the thing. But it only bought me momentarily relief. It kept up the barrage. It kept up the pain.
The creature growled at me. Its lips cracked open and it tried for my neck. I rolled out of the way, skidding over the dirt as the creature missed me by a second. But despite my singular save, I knew it was in vain. Every second, its attacks became more vicious. The pain became more agonizing. I couldn’t keep it up forever, and deep inside, I knew I was going to die.
The visage of the reaper loomed over me like a phantom. I gritted my teeth, rebelling against its image. It had been the one to curse me to this life, after all. It had been the one to trick me—to exploit my mind and force me into a new body. On a new continent. To face new threats that knew nothing about. But still, I lived on. Because whether it had been intended or not, my vitality was a blessing. It allowed a means for my end—a second chance against death.
That second chance was not ending tonight.
I twisted, curling my fingers into a fist and throwing it toward the humanoid thing. My knuckles cracked against its jaw, sending its head twisting. It regained composure in short time, but I was already swinging again. This time from below, my bloodied fingers rammed up into its jaw. The creature staggered, fury entering its bloodshot eyes. Then it sniffed at me one more time and resumed its assault.
I curled my knee and forced it upward, once again interrupting the dreadful attacks. It growled once again, the savage sound sending a raking shiver down my spine. But I kept at it. I kept fighting back with ever last dreg of strength I could find. Some part of me still expected death. It still expected that in an instant, I’d hear the rattle of the reaper’s scythe and it would be all over.
But that’s not what I heard. At once, with its claw-like fingers still dug into my arm, it wailed. A bloodcurdling screech emanated from its lips, overpowering everything else in the air. Eventually, the wail trailed off, leaving only the faint sound of sizzling beneath its skin. I squinted, perking my ears and scrambling backward at the opportunity.
The twang of a bow.
An object struck through the air and tore into the creature’s shoulder. The sizzling sound grew louder, as if its blood was literally boiling. It shrieked and growled, writhing before returning its eyes to me. Once again, they filled with unbidden anger, but even that was interrupted. Another arrow followed quickly after and lodged itself in the side of the creature’s head.
The soft burning grew louder still and the feral thing hunched over.
I scuttled away, staggering up to a stand as I made sure my body still worked. Scrapes, cuts, and bruises littered my skin. Blood flowed from them and stung against the brisk air. But I was alive.
It hurt. It hurt like hell. Everything did. But it was a sign of my vitality. It kept me grounded in reality and was a better thing to focus on than the slowly-softening screams of the demonic grey-eyed monster. Stretching my legs, I confronted the soreness and the pain.
Something felt off.
I knew I was alive—the exhaustion itself was proof enough of that—but I didn’t feel whole. Some aspect wasn’t the same as before. My muscles twitched and my fingers flexed in anticipation of some object that wasn’t there.
I only thought for a moment before I found my answer lying on the ground. There, in the dirt a few paces away, was my sword. A million-pound weight lifted from my shoulders
“You okay?” a familiar voice asked. A muted whisper barely above the howling wind. I furrowed my brow, grasping my blade anew before turning to see who it was.
It was Kye. A breath slipped between my lips. Of course it was Kye. It couldn’t have been anyone else. “I-I’ll live.”
She nodded at that, taking another step forward toward the nightmarish creature. “At least for the world’s sake it’s dying.” Before her, pale flesh twitched in the dirt. Its movements dampened, and dark blood stained its tattered clothes. “I’m just grateful I don’t have to see the reaper come to take its soul.”
I froze, my hatred of the beast piercing the haze of exhaustion. “What?”
“I’m glad I don’t know it,” she said. “That my soul does not care enough about its soul to witness its moment of passing. And I’m glad it’s passing at all.” Kye’s lips twitched into a smirk. “Because that was my last sunlight arrow.”
“I’m glad, too,” I muttered. “It can be taken away with no one to watch it for all I care. I don’t even know what it is.”
“A kanir,” Kye said. She fixed me with a glare that put weight into her words.
I stiffened, the term resonating somewhere in my memories. Somewhere I couldn’t access through the ceaseless waves trying to pull me under. But whatever it was, I knew that it was bad. “Oh.”
I nodded a bit, words getting lost in my mind. I wanted to ask more questions—about kanir or about whatever arrows she’d been using. But it all seemed like too much work. It was too complex of a task when I was barely staying afloat as it was. I needed rest. True, healthy rest. So my brain allowed me the one question that mattered.
“Can we find a… a place to set up camp yet?”
My companion froze, straightening. She glanced at me, finally taking stock of my battered form. Then she nodded. “Yeah. It’s too dark to make any more progress, regardless.” My head bobbed lazily. “You must be glad I brought sano leaves, aren’t you?”
A dry chuckle fell from my lips as she started off. I glanced back at the demonic thing that had attacked me, my eyes questioning its existence. But I didn’t even get that far. It felt like too much work.
So I just clutched my sword close to my chest and followed my companion into the night.
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