With winter drawing ever near, Etrius was one of many preparing. Leading Maul, who pulled a wooden cart full of firewood, candles, and a snow shovel, Etrius walked through town. For each breath that it took, a small white cloud appeared before vanishing in the wind. Passing a storage house, Etrius saw Decker resting in the sun. Aside from the bowl of water that had yet to freeze, was a couple of dead mice. Etrius wasn't sure how long mice would still run free given the colder weather and Decker hunting them. Etrius decided that it would check up on him every few days to make sure he had eaten.

Returning its attention to the road, Etrius saw Michal run towards it. Even in this weather, it would seem that he was hard at work.

 

"Lady Washington!" Michal greeted, walking beside it. "A letter from Guild Master Chaser!"

"Thank you." Etrius said, accepting the letter.

 

Glancing at the seal, it was a standard white one, so nothing urgent. Despite this, Etrius didn't plan on keeping him waiting for too long.

 

"Oh, and this one as well." Michal said, handing over another letter. This time from Adriana.

"I must be getting popular." Etrius said, putting both into a pocket in its robes.

"I'll say." Michal said. "You send and get a lot of mail. A lot for someone who just moved here."

"Must be keeping you nice and busy." It said.

"Yep, its a big help!" He said. "I get paid for each delivery. It might not be much but every little helps!"

"That's good. And before I forget, do you deliver packages, or just mail?" It asked.

"Normally it's just mail but for sending packages, the fee rises quite a bit. Especially in between towns." He explained. "If you want to send something to another territory, you're going to have to wait until after winter when the merchants start making runs again."

"Is that so?" It asked. "Well, that's good to know."

"If you ever need to send anything urgent we'll try our best, though I hope we don't need to run anything in a storm." He said.

"If that time comes, I'll be counting on you." It said.

"Got it sir!" He said proudly. "I have to finish the rest of my deliveries. Till next time!"

"Later." Etrius waved off.

 

As it continued on its way home, many of the townsfolk nodded or waved at it. Nowadays, it was hard for it to find anyone, aside from children, that were scared by its presence. Though on the odd occasion it moved around in its old cloak, people did seem more hesitant to look at it. Sometimes the crawling shadows would goad it into doing this for some cheap laughs, and Etrius was happy to oblige and share in said laughs.

After storing away its fire wood, candles, and putting the shovel inside the shed, Etrius settled at its table and wondered which letter to read first. Considering that neither of them were urgent, Etrius reluctantly decided that the guild master's was of more concern. After all, this was the first letter sent to it by any guild masters. Adriana's on the other hand was likely more of the usual since it was sent with a standard stamp. Opening it up, Etrius sighed. It was a request for an investigation that contained little in the way of information of what was to be investigated.

Putting it down, Etrius decided to cheer itself up by reading Adriana's letter. Opening it up, Etrius sighed. This too was a request to investigate whatever the guild master asked for. Her letter said that the guild master's letter would have more information, but it was not true. Etrius, who was still considered to be new to the area, was being asked to investigate something out in the forests that it had only been to a handful of times. Not only that, but they asked it to do this before the first snowfall, which according to the town's folk, would be coming any day now. Putting both letters face down, Etrius was about to sigh, but realized that it had been sighing fairly often recently.

Suppressing its urge to sigh, Etrius slung its quiver across its back, checked its knives, placed its kukri in its belt on the opposite side, and grabbed its bow. Heading outside, it locked its door and, for a second, wondered if it should use Maul. However, the request this time was not urgent and for the time needed to collect information from the guild master. With that in mind, Etrius headed into town, and towards the Hunter's guild to meet with the guild master.

With its hood up, Etrius walked through the town towards the central guild hall. Unlike in most cities where each guild had their own building, the guilds in Crasmere shared one building. This was both due to their relatively small size, and participating towns. In the Haywood territory, out of the five towns and seven villages, only the territorial capital of Crasmere actually has any form of building for the guilds. So, to save money, the guilds all inhabited one building, and many of the smaller guilds sometimes shared leaders. Those that were relevant to the territories economy or its security all had a dedicated leader. Guild master Chaser, was one of those leaders, he was also one of those guild leaders that concerned Etrius as a ranger.

Entering the large brick building, Etrius looked for, and quickly found who he was looking for. Sitting behind a counter, Guild master Chaser looked to be filling out some forms. Not caring about the curious glances directed at it, Etrius greeted Guild master Chaser.

 

"You called?" Etrius asked.

"Oh, Ranger Washington, I was expecting you." Guild master Chaser said. "Sorry for the sudden notice, but there is something I would like to speak with you about."

"Let's hear it." Etrius said.

"I got some reports of a strange creature out in the woods." He said. "I was told that it looks like a deer with two heads."

"Is it a deer with two heads?" Etrius asked.

"That seems unlikely. I've never heard of animals with more than one head." He said.

"I've seen quite a few cows and turtles with two heads." It said.

"I find that hard to believe." He said.

"Your lack of belief doesn't make it untrue." It said.

"Well, some of the hunters are spooked and want someone to drive it off or kill it." He said. "They think it's some sign from the devils, not that I believe it."

"This has nothing to do with my line of work, and even if it did, I don't start working until the new year."

"Is it not your job to patrol Lord Haywood's forest?"

"It is. And it's to catch poachers and smugglers, and I don't know about you but deer, two headed or not, don't do either of those things."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"Why not hold a competition to see who can bring it in?"

"I thought about that, but too many of the hunters are too scared to go out and look for it."

"So you want me, a newcomer, to go out alone and look for it?"

"I was thinking about having a few volunteers go with you. I know that a lot of hunters would feel more comfortable if a ranger where to go with them."

 

Etrius took a moment to think. A two headed deer, although not necessarily related to its job, was from the sounds of it disrupting normal hunting activities. That would mean that any last minute hunts that would normally happen now won't, or will happen in reduced numbers. Even if there is no loss of food in the store houses, some people may go hungry if they cannot access them. Not only that, but Adriana, or rather Torie, asked it to help, so it really had no other choice but to help. Having said that, Etrius like many others in the town still had some preparations for winter. Conveniently it did need some more meat to make things more comfortable.

 

"Yeah, I suppose it will." Etrius nodded. "When should I expect to head out?"

"It's a bit late to call them today, so how about meeting here tomorrow afternoon?" Guild master Chaser asked.

"That'll work for me." Etrius said.

"Thank you for this." He said.

"It is technically my job." Etrius said. "Is there anything I should know about?"

"Nothing that comes to mind." He said. "With winter coming, everything has slowed down. Without this sighting, I suspect that we wouldn't have needed to contact you at all."

"I hope we can resolve this quickly." Etrius said. "Even after arriving early, there's still plenty of things that I need to prepare before snow starts falling."

"With how much of your house you needed to rebuild, I'm surprised you aren't in even more of a hurry." He said.

"Not everything is fixed, most of what's left are minor issues that I can fix over winter without worry." It said. "Rusty hinges and rotting window shutters."

"It seems like everyone has to deal with those, come winter." He nodded. "And what of your horse?"

"I was going to hand him off to the guard's stables tomorrow. I was told that they can take him at any time."

"That's good."

"Well, if that's all, I'll be off."

"Until tomorrow."

 

Taking its leave, Etrius headed down the same path it came, however before it could make it far, Etrius saw a crawling shadow scuttle into the sunlight. Using the clouds as cover, it darted across the street. This, although odd, was not too rare for them to do. Most of the time it was them hunting, other anomalous shadows. Before it could continue on its way, another shadow darted across the road. And then another. Even when there were no clouds to provide them with cover from the sun, they moved unnaturally across the street. From above, a Deacon let out trumpeting warning. It had not moved from outside of the town, but rather it was always there. Glancing up, Etrius saw its eyes watching the shadows move. As more moved from across the surrounding town, one of the Deacon's eyes turned to Etrius.

 

"You want to deal with this?" Etrius asked.

 

Instead of answering, the eye looked at the location the shadows were heading. The air around Etrius grew warm and from the eye, Etrius saw the air shimmer with an unseen heat. Suddenly, there was the sound of metal twisting. In the place in which the shadows had gathered, there was a flash of light. Not bright, but as if someone had made a spark in a dim room. As soon as the light appeared and disappeared, the shadows dispersed.

 

"Gotta learn that someday." Etrius muttered.

"Learn what?" Torie's voice called out.

 

As Etrius turned, the Deacon retreated to reveal Torie along with her maid and guards heading its way.

 

"Out and about in the town, I see." Etrius said.

"Aye, same as yourself." Torie nodded.

"Why are you talking like that?" Ethan asked.

"So what were you talking about?" She asked, ignoring him.

"I was just thinking that I should learn some new card games." Etrius lied. "Maybe even try out that chess game that the witch hunters keep talking about."

"I see." She said. "If you ever need another person to play with you, feel free to ask."

"If time allows it." It nodded. "Are you prepared for winter?"

"As prepared as ever." She said. "Have you found any difficulties in preparing?"

"Nothing too difficult." It said. "Though I say that, not knowing how severe the winters here are."

"Should the worst come to pass and your dwelling prove to be unsuitable, know that there is lodging in town." She said.

"Noted." It said. "If that is all, I'll take my leave so you may continue your business."

"Before you do, might I ask for your escort?"

"By the looks of it, you have plenty of capable ones. Is my presence truly needed?"

 

Smiling, Torie held out her hand which Etrius, though hesitantly, accepted.

 

"What might today's destination be, Lady Haywood?" Etrius asked.