Fwooooosh.

The wind arose. Impartial, chilling, and impetuous, it whipped everything hindering its path. The snow, like an immaculate curtain, veiled the horizon.

Sniff

A nose reddened by the fierce cold, pulled back instinctively a string of snot in the middle of jailbreaking. Leaving it roaming unrestrained would cause painful frostbite to the young face to which it belongs.

However, another fluid glided along the face. It came from above and contrasted greatly with the landscape because of its crimson color. A few seconds were enough to harden the viscous liquid on the person’s tender skin.

The latter didn’t seem to mind. Neither the enormous wound on his forehead nor the icy wind scratching his face had an effect on him.

In the storm’s heart, the kid stood as still as a century-old fir. His face looked strange. Despite the pain assaulting him, his facial muscles remained as stiff as rock. His gaze was scarier. His eyes were wide open, however, there was no light in his blue-colored pupils. They seemed devoid of any life and were reflecting the coldness surrounding him.

“Heh…”

A laugh escaped his tumid lips. He lowered his gaze toward his hands. His opened palms no longer had their original colors. They now shared the hue of the frozen liquid on his face.

It wasn’t just his hand. The snowy soil, beforehand as clean and immaculate as a stainless canvas, was now painted crimson. Many dark dots filled the scenery and strengthened its grimness. They were corpses. All wore outfits similar to the kid’s.

There was one in particular that drew the gaze. He was the closest to the child and his hand was gripping tightly the boy’s ankle. Only his upper body, covered by a mantle identical to the one worn by the kid, remained. Even the head was no longer bound to it. 

«Heh...Heh...Heh....»

The boy laughed again. The large smile splitting his face was full of madness.

«He-»

While he was falling into hysteria, he felt a grip on his leg. His gaze fell before focusing on the corpse holding his ankle. It was no longer in the same posture. The arm grabbing the boy’s ankle, previously stretched, was now bent. The other one was leaning on the ground like a beast ready to pounce at a moment's notice. A queer noise of tearing flesh was mingling with the storm roar.

Wyyyyynnnveeeerrrrr

The boy’s expression froze as he heard the wind whispering in his ears.

A moment later, a spine erupted from the headless corpse and pounced on the kid! 

«Ah!»

The young hunter opened his eyes with a startle. He scanned briskly around looking for any threat that might be lurking.

But he saw nothing of the sort. Not even a shadow of the goats hunting him. There were only trees with fiery foliage and a mattress of leaves on which he laid. While his blood pressure was slowly decreasing, intense bolts of pain assaulted his body. His head and ribs were reminding him that he didn’t come unscathed from the earlier confrontation. The boy grimaced. 

[ Back to square one,  huh … Once more… ] Wynver thought while massaging his sore forehead.

[ Huh?] 

The scarred boy had started reviewing his earlier ‘battle’. However, he went only halfway through it, when he suddenly smelt something. It was a strange scent. It felt like the fool stench of decay. It weighed on his nose as if something was pressed on it. Yet, if he wasn’t careful with each breath, he felt as if he would lose track of the scent. 

In fact, it happened a few times, but for some strange reason the scent kept on coming back. The boy felt something in his nostrils. It wasn’t itchy like earlier. It felt more like something was coming out. Annoyed, he quickly fumbled in his pocket and took out a small handkerchief. But, before he could blow his nose a drop fell on the white tissue.

The boy froze.

The drop was red. As red as blood.

His eyes quickly expanded and his heartbeat soared. He stretched his arm. Fortunately, his staff wasn’t far. His hand tightly closed on the weapon, while his body straightened up. And with a wide swing, he swept his surroundings with his staff. 

“Ouch!” complained a voice behind him.

In the blink of an eye, Wynver turned toward the voice. His already raised arm fell repeatedly on the thing that was still behind him a moment ago. The ‘thing’ in response kept retreating until being cornered against a tree.

“W- Argh … Wait! Time-out! Time-out!”

The ‘thing’ was yelling something. Wynver managed to hold back after listening to the voice. His assaillant seemed panicky. They were on all four with their trembling hands shielding their head.

The young hunter coldly watched the unknown individual. They wore a red mantle with a two-eared hood. Their figure implied that they were younger than the boy.

[ A kid? What are they doing here? How did I not notice them?]

Was it this person that carried him while he was unconscious? He began to feel bad about the bruise marking the stranger’s pale skin. The kid was rather lucky. If Wynver didn’t act in a hurry but used one of his skills, the stranger would have surely ended in a seriously bad state. Bad enough to not be able to move for weeks.

Then the hunter saw what the stranger was gripping in his fist. A rusted shovel, with bloody stains.

[ Nope, there’s no mistake. This kid didn’t come with good intentions]

Wynver took a step forward. The red hooded kid was still trembling.

[ Wait… Red hood?]

The boy felt his muscles tightening and cold sweat dripping on his back. Only one person in Touravel’s Oasis donned this clothing.

“ Witch…” 

“Apprentice.” added Red Hood.

“ Huh? ”

“ I… I’m currently far below grandma’s level. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’m harmless. Can… Can I go now?”

“ Keep dreaming ”

Wynver strengthened his grip on his staff and squinted his eyes. What was the witch apprentice doing here? Where was her master? Probably not too far. What were they even doing here? Were they after him? It would not be the first time ‘those people’ had threatened him. But wasn’t resorting to these two a bit too much?

“Phew…” sighed Red hood. “At least, I tried”

The boy became tenser after hearing her. He had every reason to be so.

Acabris Acabra…

A profound and ethereal voice reached the boy’s ears. This was spell-casting! 

Acabram!!

 Without warning, his assailant stretched her arm, her shovel now a few inches away from the boy’s face.  With how close his opponent ‘staff’ was from him, dodging was the last thing to hope for. Without wasting any more seconds, he crossed his arms in front of his face.

Wynver closed his eyes and braced himself. He prayed internally for the spell to not be a powerful one. He was quite fond of his remaining arm after all. A hopeful thought crossed his mind at this time. Red Hood called herself an apprentice. It could well be that her spells weren’t anything to be concerned about. But, still. This was witchcraft. Who knows what kind of strange effect this spell would have?

Three seconds went by…

And nothing happened.

The boy, taken aback, lowered his arms to check their conditions.They were perfectly fine. He took a look towards where his opponent was. There was no one there. He looked around and made out a scarlet figure scampering away deeper into the woods. 

[She tricked me?]

Wynver banished those questions from his mind and went after Red Hood. He had to catch her before she met with her master!

His sides weren’t of much help. They kept throwing at him bolts of pain, which made the pursuit laborious. Fortunately, thanks to the immediate crisis that he felt, his mind wasn’t much focused on the pain, making it easier to bear. And his target, previously thirty feet ahead, seemed tired. Maybe because she was a bit loaded? Her right hand held her shovel while to her left arm was hanging a wicker basket. Not a very convenient gear for running away.

[Why does she have a basket?]  thought the boy as he drew closer to the witch apprentice. 

He was now fifteen feet away from her back. But as he increased his pace -to his side's dismay- Red Hood fell.  The boy stopped dead in his tracks, with his guard up. For a brief moment, he wondered if this was a trap. She already tricked him a few seconds ago. He was thus very cautious. 

Until he saw a deformed root near her foot. 

[She tripped?]

But, far from admitting defeat, Red Hood rolled on her side and disappeared behind a tree’s trunk. Wynver rushed there, ready to catch her. He saw nothing.

He frowned his eyebrows in confusion.  

Fwooosh!

Leaves rustled behind him. His gaze instinctively went toward the sound’s origin. A scarlet figure was running away with awkward strides.

[... How did she get there?]

The young hunter dashed once more after the witch apprentice. But this time, he didn’t hurry to catch up. Instead, he maintained a certain distance between him and his prey. He didn’t want to lose her if she disappeared again. 

Meanwhile, Red Hood seemed to have more and more trouble running. Her strides were becoming clumsier. With how many times she kept on tripping, it was almost miraculous that she wasn’t eating dirt yet. Her breath became rougher and spasmodic. She was at her limit. Even Wynver could notice it, despite being on her back.

 Sensing that the situation was turning to her disadvantage, she veered suddenly to her left. Red Hood was hoping to confuse her pursuer and gain some ground. Unfortunately for her, Wynver was no fool.  As if he had foreseen her move, he also turned left at almost the same time. Their trajectories had become parallel. Wynver increased his pace and caught up to Red Hood. He ran at her side. Between them was a space big enough to house a tree. 

Tree that they will reach in a beat. 

Wynver composed his breath and gathered strength in his legs. With a sudden acceleration he would get in front of the witch’s apprentice and cut her path. 

Thus , when his foot landed, he immediately leaped forward. In the blink of an eye he passed the tree and turned to the other side, ready to receive a dumbfounded prey. 

However, only a cold autumnal breeze struck his body. Red Hood had vanished again.

Wynver’s frown deepened.  He took a good look around him just to be sure. She couldn’t have gone far. 

Indeed, less than a second later, he found her where he was just before passing the tree.  Her strides were becoming increasingly unstable as she was getting farther away from the boy.

The boys’ eyes opened wide at this moment. Realization dawned in his mind: Red Hood was using the trees as a smokescreen to perform her tricks. They would not work as long as he did not lose sight of her. 

A vicious smile split his lips as he went after Red Hood once more. He strengthened his grip on his staff. He did not use it until now because of the trees. Earlier they were scarcer, but the deeper they went into the forest, the closer the trees were to each other. It would be hard to swing the weapon here. That didn’t mean he could not use it like a javelin.

The boy began altering his running stance. He raised his stick above his shoulder then stretched his arm in front of him, his torso facing his side. His stride became larger until a last one that put him to stop. Then like a catapult, his arm launched the stick toward Red Hood.

Bonk!

The projectile flew like an arrow and struck the runaway’s head. The shock threw her right against a tree’s trunk and she slid on the ground as streams of fiery leaves fell on her body.

Without a moment to spare, the hunter rushed toward her leaves covered figure. He was only a step away from the scarlet mantle shrouding her when a violent itch assaulted his nostrils. 

The boy could not hold himself. He bent down as he let out a powerful sneeze. 

Bang!

A shovel blade had swept the air just above the boy’s head before colliding with the tree where Red Hood had collapsed. The poor vegetable had no choice but to let go of its remaining leaves.

[Where did this come from? Red Hood collapsed right in front of me… Did someone else join?... LIke her master?]

As the boy raised his head and turned around,  he found answers to his questions. There was a kid in a long dark robe breathing loudly at his side. Rusted colored curls surrounded a juvenile face soaked with sweats and ruined by freckles. Her eyes, as dark as the night, seemed to pop out of their socket as she stared at the boy.

[Red Hood?]

It was obviously her. Even with the hood the boy had caught glimpses of the dark clothing donned by the kid. Moreover her body was strangely bent with her hand stretched toward him while one of her legs pointed toward the leaves bundle where laid her crimson hood. It lead him to believe she had come from behind the tree.

[ I see… She tricked me again. Fortunately, there will be no do-over this time.]

The boy took advantage of Red Hood’s surprise– along with the fact that her shovel was stuck on the tree.  He recovered his weapon with a swift swipe of his arm and pounced on her. When Red Hood realized what was happening it was already too late.

The boy’s shoulder met her belly and the girl lost the little breath she had left as well as a little of her awareness. When she woke up a second later, the girl realized she was on the ground and could no longer move. The boy had trapped her legs with one of his. His second one trampled on one of her wrists while the second one was restrained by his hand. 

The boy’s remaining limb was strangling her with the long wooden stick. It all happened in less than a second. The girl's eyes shook with fear. The boy looked like he had some experience at close-quarter fighting. And judging by her frail limb it wasn’t the case for her.

Acabris-

“No need for that” interrupted the boy “You don’t actually know how to cast a spell right?”

Her words died in her throat and any pretense of calm fled the girl’s mind. She began struggling under the boy’s grasp. However this too was pointless. Like a vicious trap, the boy’s grip never let go of the girl's limbs.

“C-can we make a d-deal?” tried the girl as she gasped desperately for air.

The boy’s gaze hardened and the girl nearly choked on her saliva. His clothes were in tatters; covered with dirt and blood. With his body blocking the sunlight she could only focus on his icy gaze. The witch apprentice felt like being stared down by a hungry wolf numb to his prey's plea and ready to enjoy a warm meal of fresh innards.

“I don’t make deals with wi-” began Wynver with a chilling voice.

Grmmmmmbllll

Before being interrupted by his stomach gurgling. He turned towards Red Hood’s fallen hood. Specifically toward the basket lying near. A sweet and fragrant aroma was coming from there. A scent that woke his stomach up. 

The boy could not help but swallow hard.

Red Hood didn’t miss this chance.

“Errr… H-How about a bite?”