The Poppet

So this is my book I’m writing for NaNoWriMo. I’ll update it every time I make a new chapter. There are a few things that will be different from my short stories page: First, the newest chapters will appear at the bottom of this page instead of the top. Second, all of the chapters are subject to change.
[Note: If you want to find the newest chapter, simply use ctrl+f, type in the name of the newest chapter, and press enter/return. This will highlight the newest chapter title.]

Newest Chapter: Epilogue

Chapter 1: Beasthunters

I guess my life is pretty good. I don’t have any particularly bad things happening to me on a regular basis, and I manage to get by in the food and shelter department. But hopefully today, my life is about to get a whole lot better.
“Renn! Get up already, you’re gonna make us late! And you said yourself you would be the one waking ME up!” said a voice from outside my window.
“Yeah, yeah! Give me a sec, okay?” That voice from outside my window came from my best friend, Joshua. The two of us were headed off to become Beasthunters – people who hunt exotic Beasts for a living. We figured it’d be more fun than farming and more ethical than crime, which were basically our only other options.
Anyway, I needed to get ready. I grabbed my bow and quiver full of arrows and slipped on my shoes, and was almost out the door before I remembered breakfast. I grabbed an apple and went out to meet with Joshua.
“Sheesh, you took your time. Why can’t you be more like me?” he said to me jokingly.
“Because if I was more like you, we wouldn’t stand a chance as Beasthunters,” I replied. “Besides, it’s not like we’re late or anything.”
“Well, so long as we hurry, we should be fine,” he said. “It’s right in the middle of the Forest, right?”
I should explain. Joshua and I, as well as a few others, live in Galefryn. It’s a farm village that produces crop for the kingdom of Fenheim. There’s a large forest known as the Great Forest between Galefryn and Castle Fenheim. This is where the Beasthunter’s Guild is located. And that’s also where Joshua and I are headed to become Beasthunters.
It was a great walk. Although that’s partly due to the fact that I love the forest. Even though it’s chock full of dangerous creatures, I can’t help but enjoy all the sights and sounds it produces. The way the rising sun shone through the trees, the little flecks of dust that were caught in the rays of light, and the blooming flowers all over the place. You could hear the trees rustle, the birds twitter, and the insects hum. It was a fantastic morning, which certainly helped.
Joshua and I spent the good part of the morning walking to the guild, but it would be well worth it when we arrived. It was a place as exotic and dangerous as the Beasts its residents specialized in killing. The Guild was overgrown with vines, but the fire inside gave it a beautiful orange glow from the inside out, even during this time of day.
“Well? What are you waiting for? Let’s go in!” said Joshua.
It’s not like it was the first time I had been there. In fact, Josh and I had gone to visit fairly often. There were all sorts of folks inside, but the one we cared about the most was Brin Stag, the current guildmaster. He was a burly man in his late thirties, and very intimidating. He had long dark dreadlocks, a fairly long beard, and ice-cold eyes that would stop any creature with a lick of sense dead in its tracks. He’d scare me if I didn’t know him personally. He’s a pretty new guildmaster, the last one only retired three years ago. Even so, he was still one of the more formidable Beasthunters in the guild at the time.
“Ah! Is that fresh meat I see?” said Stag with a big grin on his face.
“Hey, don’t call us that!” said Joshua.
“Stag! I assume you know why we’re here. Do you have a test for us?” I asked.
“That’s simple. For two greenhorns like you…” Stag stroked his beard as he pondered the Beast we should hunt. “I think bringing back the blood of a Fire Beetle should be enough.”
“A Fire Beetle? What’s that?” I asked.
Stag laughed. “Well, you’ll just have to find out for yourself, won’t you? Don’t worry, we won’t send you in unprepared. That bookshelf over there contains the bestiary that we Beasthunters have made over the years. Go on, use it to find yourself a Fire Beetle. Bring its blood back, and you’ll become official Beastmasters!”
“You’re on!” said Joshua. “We’ll bring one back by tonight, won’t we, Renn?”
“Yeah. But let’s figure out what it is and what it does first, okay?” I replied.
We searched the bestiary for a good thirty minutes before Joshua finally found something.
“Renn, look! I think this is it!” he said. He pointed out a page with a picture of a large, red beetle on it.
“Let’s see…’The Fire Beetle is a very difficult Beast to catch. While not particularly dangerous to humans on its own, it can raise its body temperature to extreme levels as a defense mechanism. It has a tough shell, but it can be shattered by a blunt weapon or cut by a sword blow. Once it has died, its blood can be harvested as a main ingredient in fire resistance potions.’ This is what we’re after? Doesn’t sound too bad,” I said. Not only that, but if the blood can really act as a fire resistance potion, it must fetch a pretty penny.
“It’d be hard to kill without weapons. Fortunately, we both have one. Although good luck hitting a beetle with a bow and arrow,” Joshua said to me with a wink.
“Shut up. Let’s just go already, okay? We’re wasting time. Where does it live?”
“It looks like it lives nearby, fortunately,” said Joshua. “‘The Fire Beetle lives in hollowed out stumps in the Great Forest. A Fire Beetle’s home can be easily recognized by the ash and burnt wood surrounding it.'”
“Right. Let’s go, then,” I said. Honestly, I was a little worried. Sure, it’s just a bug, but Stag sent us to hunt it for a reason. He wouldn’t give us an easy test just because he knew us. If anything, it would be more difficult than usual to complete. Anyway, at least it afforded me another chance to walk through the forest.
Joshua seemed more than a little exited. He was humming to himself and even skipped a little here or there.
“What’s the big deal?” I asked. “You should be on your guard. The Fire Beetle isn’t the only dangerous thing in these woods; you know that firsthand,” I said.
“Oh, come on, Renn,” he said, “Aren’t you exited? I mean, this is the chance you’ve wanted for years now. Cheer up, it’s not like we’re going to die.”
As much as I hated to admit it, Joshua was right. As long as we were careful, anyway. But right now, he was being the opposite of careful. Of course, he’s never been a stealthy type. Ever since I’ve known him, he’s wanted to do things his own way, and didn’t really care whether or not he was right. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t clever. In fact, I’m sure he’s cooking up a plan for getting that Fire Beetle in his head right now.
“So Joshua,” I said to him, “Do you know how we can kill this thing without getting killed ourselves?”
“Well, that’s what every Beasthunter needs to ask themselves, isn’t it?” he said with a smile. “But I think I’ve got something.”
“Really? Do tell.”
“Sure thing. First of all, we’re going to need to flip it over. That’s the tricky part, but let me handle that. Once it’s flipped, I’ll need you to pierce its belly with an arrow. Hopefully, that’ll be enough to kill it, and we’ll be golden.” See what I mean? We’ve barely been walking for an hour, and he’s got everything figured out. Sure, it’s not the most conventional method, but it’s a solid plan on paper.
But first, we had to find the thing. If it lives in hollow logs, then I know of a few in these woods.
“Let’s go this way,” I said to Joshua. “There are a few hollow logs over here that I know of…hey, what are you doing? This is no time to be picking berries!”
“Don’t worry, they’re an important part of my plan. I should have enough now, so we can go. I’m no good at this stuff, so you lead the way.”
That’s the truth. He couldn’t survive as a Beasthunter without me. But at the same time, I couldn’t survive as one without him.
At last, I found a log that matched the description in the bestiary. I immediately went silent, just in case. “Hold up! This looks like it could be the home of a Fire Beetle,” I whispered.
“Great. Leave this to me,” said Joshua. He took out the berries he had picked and squeezed the juice onto his sword blade. He took some clay out from his pocket, dug a little hole in front of the log, and put the clay there.
“What are you doing?” I asked. “Honestly. How exactly is this going to -”
“Shh!”
Just then, a beetle colored like a flaming coal took a tentative step outside the log. Joshua put his sword just above the clay, and the beetle seemed interested in the juice on the sword blade. He crawled onto it and –
Oh.
As I was just realizing what Joshua had set up, I was a little stunned when he gave me the cue to fire my bow. He turned over his sword, causing the beetle to fall shell-first into the clay. I could see it glow from the inside, and I could feel the warmth emanating from its body. It was so hot, in fact, that the clay began to cook into brick.
Joshua’s plan was nothing short of genius. He lured it onto his sword with the berries, and subsequently flipped it over so it would fall in the clay. Irritated, the beetle heated itself up. When that happened, it cooked itself belly-up into a brick. I smiled as I pierced its abdomen. We had killed our first official Beast.
“All right!” said Joshua. “We did it! Renn, we finally did it!” Joshua had a triumphant smile on. I can hardly blame him.
“Well, I have to admit, that was a pretty great plan. If it wasn’t for that, we’d probably be flailing around trying to impale it for quite a while,” I replied.
“Brilliant or no, it worked. And you were a pretty good shot – for a girl,” said Joshua.
“Hey now,” I said. “Let’s see you try to hit anything smaller than a wall with a bow.”
“True, true,” said Joshua. “But we should be getting back,” said Joshua. It was true. We weren’t out of the woods yet – literally.
“We should be careful on our way back,” I said. “We don’t want to come this far only to fail to something stupid, right?”
It was getting close to sunset. I didn’t want to camp out here, so it’d be best if we hurried back.
For the most part, we had a safe trip back. That is, until I smelled smoke.
“Hey, Joshua. Do you smell that? It smells like something’s burning,” I said.
“Don’t tell me the Fire Beetle is still alive!” he exclaimed. “After so much trouble, it better be safe.”
“No, I have it right here,” I said while patting my bag. “But something else is smoking.” I was sure of it now. It was getting dark, so it was a bit hard to see, but I could definitely tell that smoke was coming from somewhere nearby.
“What’s that light over there?” said Joshua. I could see it too. It was a bright orange light. Don’t tell me there was a forest fire? We went to investigate.
It wasn’t a forest fire. Forest fires don’t originate from houses.
“Help! Someone help me!” cried a voice from inside. I turned toward Joshua. “What should we do?” I asked.
“Renn, give me the Fire Beetle, now!” said Joshua.
“Yeah, sure, but why?” I said as I handed it over. He squeezed the blood from it into his mouth and tossed the now-empty, worthless husk aside.
“Joshua. We went through all that trouble to get that blood. And now you’re just going to DRINK it?!” He had thrown away our one chance.
“Renn, the blood serves as a main ingredient in fire resistance potions. If you’d open your eyes, you’d see that there’s a fire right in front of us, and someone who could use some saving. But if I’m wrong, and this potion doesn’t work, tell my story, okay?” There was a determination in his eyes I’ve never seen before. It’s not like I was going to stop him – he had already swallowed the blood. There was no going back now.
He charged in. I couldn’t see what was going on in there, but I could tell that he didn’t have much time. The house was falling apart by the second. Hurry up, I thought to myself. I can’t do this without you.
Just then, he emerged from the house carrying a frail old woman in his arms. I tell you, you could have made a masterpiece out of it. There was Joshua, but not the one I knew. This Joshua was a hero, not the cheeky kid a grew up with. He made a sacrifice to save a life. If I had remembered what the blood was for in the first place, I probably would have done the same thing, but…
“You IDIOT! How are we going to get into the Beasthunter’s Guild now, huh?!” I said. Despite my tone, I was just happy he was alive.
“Renn, I’m sorry. But…I had to,” he said. “I couldn’t just walk on by.”
“And for that, I’m in your debt. I don’t know what I can do to repay you, but if you ever need anything, I’d be happy to do the best I can to get it,” said the old woman.
“Hold up,” I said to her. “First, we need to find you a new home. There’s probably someone who could give you a home in Galefryn. Right, Joshua?”
“Yeah. You should come with us. How long have you been living here, anyway? Don’t you know how dangerous it is out here?” said Joshua.
“I did. But I suppose I’m to old to be a potion-maker anymore,” she said. “I had to live out there to get ingredients. I was always too poor to just buy them.”
“Well, anyway, we can at least take you back to the Beasthunter’s Guild. That’s where we’re headed,” I said.
“Oh, are you two Beasthunters?” she asked.
“Well, we would be, but somebody got it in his head that being a Beasthunter wasn’t important anymore,” I said, glaring at Joshua.
“Hey, cut me some slack, will you?” he said.
“I’m not entirely sure what you two are talking about, but I’ll be grateful if you take me to the Guild,” she said.
We did just that. It was right around nightfall when we got back to the Guild. Everyone was happy to see us.
“So, did you bring the blood back?” asked Stag. “We’ve all been waiting for you, you know.”
I looked toward Joshua. “Yeah,” I said. “It’s in Joshua’s stomach.” I’ve never seen Joshua look so sad.
“It’s where now? Explain yourself,” said Stag. I told him everything that had happened. By the time I was done, I couldn’t bear to look at Joshua. The poor guy was on top of the world just this afternoon.
“So let me get this straight. You two found the Fire Beetle and killed it, but Joshua drank its blood, gained its fire resistance effects, and saved this old woman?”
“That’s the gist of it,” I said. “Sorry we couldn’t complete your task. I guess we aren’t Beasthunter material after all…”
Everyone in the Guild but Joshua, the old woman and I burst into laughter.
“What are you talking about? Of course you’re in!” said Stag.
What?
“You saved that old woman’s life, right? That’s what being a Beasthunter is all about. Why else would we go around risking our lives? Sure, the pay is great compensation, but we constantly put our lives on the line to protect people. Anyone who is in it just for the money isn’t worth my time. You two threw away your one chance to achieve your dream to save a life, and that’s the kind of Beasthunter behavior I can get behind. So, starting tonight, you two are official Beasthunters!” said Stag.
Well then. I only realized the look on my own face after I looked at Joshua’s. I guess this day turned out okay after all. We killed a Beast, saved a life, and got our dream jobs. We wouldn’t have to be farmers or criminals after all.
“I’ll tell you what, it doesn’t get much better than this,” said Joshua with a big grin.
“I’m sure you’re right,” I said in reply. Tomorrow, we should receive our first official job. But for now, I was content to just enjoy the moment.

Chapter 2: A Shipment

It was another beautiful morning. I would have liked to take the time to enjoy it, but I had to head over to the Beasthunter’s Guild. Joshua and I were about to get our first official job, and I didn’t plan on being late. I got dressed, grabbed my bow and arrows, and headed over to Joshua’s house. I knocked on the door, but there was no reply.
“Joshua! Are you in there? We need to get going!” I said. The door opened. “Hinnuck? What are you doing here?”
Hinnuck was Joshua’s uncle. He took him in and taught him swordplay after his parents died. He was the Beasthunter Guildmaster before Stag was, and some say he could still beat Stag in one-on-one combat. I don’t know about that – Hinnuck was pushing seventy, after all – but he certainly looks the part. Bald, portly, and covered in scars, it’s no wonder people think he’s still what he used to be. But he wasn’t supposed to be here right now; he was supposed to be out fetching potion ingredients.
“Hello, Renn,” he said. “It’s good to see you. I heard from Joshua that you’re both Beasthunters. That’s fantastic!”
“Yeah. So where is Joshua? He should be awake by now. We have to get to the guild today,” I said.
“Oh? He already rushed out the door. He should be there by now. In fact, I’m surprised he didn’t grab you on his way.”
“Shoot! Well then, I should be going. Wouldn’t want to be too late on my first day as a Beasthunter, now would I? See you later, then!” I said. I waved a goodbye and started to run. If Joshua got there before me, I’d never live it down.
I burst through the door of the Guild. “I’m here! Sorry I’m late!” I said.
“Renn! It’s good to see you so early. But where’s Joshua? Shouldn’t you have brought him with you?” said Stag.
“Huh? But I thought he was here! Hinnuck told me that he got up early and came over!” I replied.
At that moment, Joshua came in the door, sweating and out of breath. “I’m…here,” he said.
“Joshua? Hinnuck told me you had already made it here!” I said to him.
“That’s…what he said…to me,” replied Joshua.
Hinnuck always was a bit of a prankster. Still, I have to hand it to him: he got both of us here faster than we would have just by telling a few white lies. That doesn’t mean I won’t tell him off when we get back, though.
“Well, whatever the case may be, I have a job for you two. Take this shipment of potions to Castle Fenheim. Return with payment in three days,” said Stag. “You can take a pack mule for provisions and the potions, but I’m afraid all of our horses are gone. You’ll have to walk.”
Great. It’s a two-day walk to Castle Fenheim on foot. Well, I guess it’s safer than hunting a dangerous abomination.
“No problem,” said Joshua. “We’ll be back before you know it!”We packed up and hit the trail. It was going to be a long walk, so I figured I may as well make small talk with Joshua.
“So Joshua,” I said, “Tell me why you wanted to become a Beasthunter again.”
“Renn, you know the answer to that, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but I was wondering if your reasons have changed.”
“No, they haven’t. I wanted to become a Beasthunter so I could kill dangerous Beasts. That’s always been the reason. How about you? Has your reason changed?” he said to me.
I had to think about that one for a second. “Well,” I said, “at first, I wanted to become a Beasthunter to spend more time in the Forest. And I was never a bad hunter when it came to normal animals, so I guess I just thought I’d be a natural. Plus, I couldn’t have you showing me up, now could I?” It was the truth. I had been a good hunter ever since I was a kid. It was my talent. Farming never interested me, and crime was my only other option. For a while, I thought I would make a fine pickpocket, but once I saw one get caught. It wasn’t pretty, and I ruled out crime as an option. That left becoming a Beasthunter as my only option. I’m half-tempted to say Joshua only wanted to become a Beasthunter because that’s what I wanted, but I couldn’t say for sure.
We kept walking until it was almost nightfall. “Let’s stop here,” I said. “We need to make a fire before nighttime, and Dollface here needs a break.” Dollface was our pack-mule. If you ask me, the name was given as an ironic insult. Even for a mule, she wasn’t a looker.
“Sure thing,” said Joshua. “I’ll go gather some firewood. You focus on setting up everything else.”
“All right, but be careful. We are surrounded by lethal monsters, you know,” I said.
I took care of the camp. Joshua got back just in time for me to start a fire before the sun completely set.
“We should post watches,” I said. “You never know what’ll jump out at you at night.”
“Sure,” said Joshua. “I’ll post the first watch. You focus on getting some rest, okay?”
I did as he said. If we were going to post watches, I would need all the rest I could get. I tried as hard as I could to get to sleep, and finally managed to do so. But when I woke up, it was sunny out, and Joshua was snoring away. He must have tried to stay awake all night.
“Hey, wake up!” I said to him. I shook him, but he wouldn’t budge. I wonder how long he stayed up? Anyway, I might as well make some breakfast. He doesn’t need to be awake for that.
He must have smelled the food, though, because he perked right up after I started cooking. Typical. “So, Joshua,” I said, “care to explain why you didn’t wake me up last night?”
He rubbed his eyes. “Yeah. When I was getting tired, you were already sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you up. Besides, you looked like you were having a nice dream,” he said.
“Well, whatever. We need to get a move on. Eat something, and then we’re leaving,” I said. I could tell he was still tired. “And don’t try anything like that again. If we’re ever in a situation like this again, then I want you to wake me up when you get tired, okay? What would you do if something had attacked us?”
Joshua just shrugged. He had some breakfast, and then we were on the move again. He seemed to have a little trouble walking. I almost felt bad for him.
“You know, if you want to, you can sleep on Dollface and I can carry the potions,” I said.
“Hmm? No, I’ll be fine…you don’t have to…” He trailed off. I guess he really needed that beauty sleep. I’ve gone nights without sleep before, but I was never this tired.
Fortunately, we arrived at the castle without incident. It really was a marvel. Despite this, it was surprisingly empty there. I’m not sure Joshua would even notice in his current state, and I had to give to potions to somebody, so I found a knight and talked to him.
“Excuse me, sir! My friend and I are Beasthunters, and we come bearing a shipment of potions from the Beasthunter’s Guild. Where should we take it?” I asked.
“Ah. The king was expecting you two. Please, come with me. I’ll take you to the court potion-maker; he’ll know what to do.”
He kindly escorted me and Joshua through the castle. It was quite the walk. I’ve never actually been in the castle before, but all of the stained glass windows and tapestries were certainly beautiful. I was so busy looking at them, in fact, that I wasn’t looking where I was going and bumped into someone.
For a brief moment, I realized the severity of my error. I wasn’t just carrying potions, I was carrying dinner for the next two weeks for everyone in the Guild. If anything were to happen to them, I’d probably be thrown out. All of my dreams of becoming a great Beasthunter would never be realized. And Joshua would probably get the boot, too. All I could do was pray that nothing happened to them.
And my prayers were answered. Our escort caught the box just in time. Both the person I had bumped into and myself were on the floor.
“Oof! Watch where you’re going!” said the person. I feel like I’ve heard his voice somewhere before.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “It was entirely my fault. I wasn’t paying attention, and I -” I had to stop myself. Once I got my bearings, I realized it was none other than the prince himself I had bumped into. Boy, I had really done it now, hadn’t I?
“It’s entirely all right,” said the prince. “Don’t worry yourself. It was partially my fault, you know.”
“Y-yes, sire. Excuse me.” I had almost completely forgotten about Joshua. I don’t think his sleep-deprived mind had processed everything that had happened in the last ten seconds, because he was just standing there with his mouth hanging open.
“Joshua, are you ready? Let’s go,” I said. “We need to get these to the potion-maker.”
“Um, actually, I think I can handle that myself,” said the knight. “You two are dismissed. Thank you for bringing this, I’m sure it will be very useful.” He seemed like he was in a hurry to leave.
“Nonsense, Quinn,” said the prince. “These two came all this way. Besides, they need payment for that shipment, do they not? Don’t be so brisk to brush them off.”
“Yes, sire,” said Quinn. He led us to the potion-maker, who was quite an odd man if I’ve ever seen one. He was nothing like Hinnuck: He was young, but there was a sadness about his eyes.
“Hello there, Tristan,” said Quinn. “These two Beasthunters bring a shipment of potions from their Guild.”
Tristan took a quick look at us. “You two came all the way from the Beasthunter’s Guild? You know, there’s a terrible menace in those woods,” he said.
“Don’t worry, we’re perfectly capable of handling ourselves,” I said. Although by the looks of it, that wasn’t true. Joshua was falling asleep on his feet and I was a little overwhelmed with everything that had happened today. Chances are good that neither of us looked like Beasthunters.
“Oh, I know that. But from what I’ve been hearing, there’s something roaming around that’s like no other Beast in those woods. Nobody knows if it’s a series of killings, or a new Beast, but people in the kingdom are worried,” said Tristan.
“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid this is the first I’ve heard of this,” I said. “Could you fill me in on what you know?” If this was a Beast, it was my responsibility to know about it.
“Well, all I’ve heard is that there have been bodies found. They haven’t been stabbed or poisoned, but they have…stitches over their eyes and mouth,” said Tristan. “No one has ever seen or heard of anything like it.”
Joshua finally perked up and said something. “Well, if you want my two cents, it can’t be a Beast. Every Beast that has killed a human has eaten it or saved it for later. None of them have killed for the sake of killing.” I guess he wasn’t as groggy as I thought he was.
“Well, whatever the case may be, you two should watch yourselves,” said Tristan. I get the feeling he’s seen a lot of Beasthunters exactly once.
“Careful is my middle name,” I said. “We may not look it, but we are Beasthunters.” Somehow.
“I’m sure,” said Tristan. “Don’t worry yourselves. It’s probably just a crazy man, and the royal militia will deal with him. Anyway, here is your payment. Now, run along. You’d best be going if you want to get back at a reasonable hour.”
He was right. We thanked him and Sir Quinn, and made our leave. Back through the woods we went until nightfall did come. We started a fire and cooked dinner.
“This time, I’LL post the first watch,” I said to Joshua. “We can’t have you losing any more sleep.”
“Yeah, I know,” said Joshua. “It won’t happen again, I promise.”
The forest was incredibly dark. I couldn’t see any stars in the sky. With Joshua asleep, I had nothing but the crackle and light of the fire to keep me company. I could have sworn I heard some twigs breaking nearby, but every time I readied my bow, it grew silent again.
Eventually, I got tired. “Hey, Joshua, wake up.” I turned him over to come face to face with one of the loudest snores I had ever heard. I don’t know how he kept himself asleep after that, but I eventually managed to shake him awake. “Don’t fall asleep this time, okay? Remember what that potion-maker told us.”
“Sure thing, Renn,” said Joshua as he wiped some drool from his face. “If anything happens or I get tired, I’ll wake you up.”
“Good. I’m counting on you,” I said. I got into my sleeping bag and waited to hear him snore. To my surprise, the next thing I remember is him waking me up. It was still dark out.
“Well, what do you know. You can take a hint,” I said.
“Come on, Renn,” he said, “Since when have I ever made the same mistake twice?”
I figured it would be best to leave that subject untouched and let him sleep. We continued to switch off all through the night, and luckily, nothing went horribly wrong. In the morning, we packed up and headed home.
“Hey, what’s that?” said Joshua. “It looks like…no, it couldn’t be…”
I ran over to where he was and immediately wished I hadn’t. It was a human body, propped up against a tree, and looked like a normal villager.
Except for the stitches over his eyes and mouth, that is.
The whole thing sent a chill down my spine. The way he…looked at me gave me the shivers. He appeared to be dead, and his eyes were closed, but I felt like he was staring directly at me. The stitches around his mouth seemed to form a smile. It was not something I wanted to look at for any longer than necessary.
“Let’s just go,” I said to Joshua. “I don’t want to stick around.”
“Neither do I,” he said. “Let’s hurry back, okay?”
We did. Neither of us spoke for the rest of the way back. What would we say? We both had one thing on our minds, and really wish we didn’t. We made it back safely, but whoever – or whatever – made that abomination is still out there. I felt like I needed a long bath and a good night’s rest. I dropped off the payment at the Beasthunter’s Guild and promptly went home.
But no matter how hard I tried, that mental image stayed with me. All I wanted was for it to go away. Eventually, I did fall asleep, and the image left my head for a little while.
But I knew it would be back in the morning.

Chapter 3: The Hunt

It was raining outside. I had no idea how long I had slept in. For some reason, I felt like I had to go see Hinnuck and Joshua. I should be getting over to the Guild hall, but I was feeling a little unsettled by the odd turn of events. I’ll head over there when this rain lets up.
I put on a raincoat and headed over to Joshua’s. Hinnuck let me in, and I immediately felt better when I was inside.
“So, what brings you over here, Renn?” asked Hinnuck.
“Oh, you know,” I said. “It’s just a crummy day, and I’m in a bit of a crummy mood. Your place is better than mine on days like this, so I thought I’d stay over for a bit and grab some breakfast.”
“Don’t even think about stealing our food,” said Joshua jokingly as he came downstairs. I was wondering where he had gone off to. “Are you going over to the guild hall?” he asked.
I shook my head. “That’s what I thought,” he said. “You’re just not feeling up for it, right?”
“That’s right,” I said. “That…thing we saw yesterday is still bothering me. And this weather isn’t exactly a perfect cure for glum.”
I heard thunder boom in the distance. “That’s the truth,” said Joshua. “Maybe we should wait until the weather gets a little better. Who knows? We might go to the Guild hall today after all.”
Waiting out the storm didn’t help. All I could think about was that horrible face I had run into yesterday. I tried to make small talk with Hinnuck, but he had made himself scarce. I was pretty sure Joshua wasn’t in the mood for idle chat either.
Eventually, the rain stopped. “We should be going,” I said. I got up from the chair I had taken and grabbed my raincoat.
“Hey Renn,” said Joshua. “I want to check the bestiary and see if there are any Beasts that would do a thing like…like what we saw yesterday in the forest, okay? I’m not forcing you to help me or anything, I just wanted you to know that.”
“Don’t be silly. Of course I’ll help you,” I replied. If he wanted to know, then so did I. “Let’s go before the rain picks up again.”
It was a little brisk outside, and there was a heaviness in the air. I don’t know if it was because it was foggy, or because of the mood I was in. Either way, Joshua and I made it to the Beasthunter’s Guild without incident.
“Well, look who decided to show up!” said Stag. “What took you two so long to get here?”
“About that,” I said. “It was raining for a good part of the morning, and we didn’t want to catch a cold.”
I got the feeling Stag wasn’t buying it. “You do know you’re supposed to be Beasthunters, yes?” said Stag. “A little rain never hurt anyone, especially not anyone who tracks and kills dangerous creatures for a living. Besides, we’ve got a roaring fire right over there. You could have warmed up over here during the storm.”
He did have a point. I didn’t really want to tell him that I avoided coming here because I was feeling lazy, so I apologized. Joshua did the same.
“Well, you’re lucky,” said Stag. “I don’t have any work for you today. But don’t just laze around all day. Make yourselves useful, all right?”
“Yes, sir,” said Joshua and I in unison. We did have something to investigate, so we weren’t being entirely useless.
But finding anything on that bookshelf proved to be a bit of a challenge. I knew how to read, but I never really got the chance to sit down and research something. Joshua, on the other hand, had all the time in the world to read. He lived with Hinnuck, who had all sorts of books on potion-making, medicine, and other science stuff I wouldn’t have the slightest idea about. But if I know Joshua, he would be more interested in the storybooks than the science ones. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t help us here.
“Did you find anything yet? All this stuff is beyond me,” I said. At least it gave me something to focus on.
“No, I haven’t,” replied Joshua. “I did find out about a couple of other interesting Beasts, though. I don’t suppose you’re interested in hearing about -”
“Let’s just keep looking,” I said. While I’m sure Joshua could provide all sorts of useful information on Razorback Bears and Vindfisks, I didn’t need to hear about it right now. Perhaps another time.
We rooted around on the shelf for a solid two hours, and came up empty. Things didn’t get any better when Stag saw the mess of books we had made. After fuming at us and reminding us that we needed to make ourselves useful, we had to reorganize all of the books we had pulled out. This day just got better and better.
After we had finished that agonizing task, Joshua and I really had nothing to do.
“So, I guess that was just a murdered body after all,” I said.
“Yeah. I guess so,” said Joshua. “It’s still a little freaky to me, though.”
It was freaky to me, too, but I really didn’t want to investigate any more. If the bestiary doesn’t have anything to say about it, then it’s really none of my business. Of course, there were a few Beasts that the bestiary doesn’t talk about, but they’re either extinct or foreign to the region. If it was just a crazy murderer, then I have no way of stopping him. Besides, that’s out of my area of expertise.
“We should get something to eat,” I said to Joshua. “We missed lunch, you know.”
“Well, what do you want to eat? I’m not too sure Stag would give us some late lunch after he saw that mess we made,” said Joshua with a shudder.
“True. Why don’t we go hunting?” I said. I knew I was going to regret saying this later, but I figured I may as well. “And if you want, you can tell me what you’re thinking while we’re out there.”
Joshua’s eyes lit up. He must have a million crazy theories going on in his head about this. The last time he was involved in a mystery and I asked him what he thought about it, he didn’t shut up for hours. I practically had to force him to stop talking just so I could go home. And that mystery was just about who stole Hinnuck’s breakfast. If he had his way, he’d be telling me his “thoughts” long after dinner had ended.
“Sure, Renn! Let’s go!” Joshua had already grabbed his coat. I let out a sigh as I grabbed mine. It was going to be a long day.

“…So if that’s the case, then it was definitely the tailor. The only problem is, that doesn’t explain why the victim’s clothes were dirty, or why he was out in the woods in the first place.”
Joshua had been rambling on like this since we left the Guild. Unsurprisingly, we didn’t catch anything. I guess the animals were about as interested in listening to Joshua as I was. I won’t even pretend to understand half of what he’s saying. But as long as he’s happy, I guess.
“So Joshua,” I said. “Everything you said has merit to it, I’m sure. But we need dinner, and I have the feeling we aren’t going to get any if you’re so loud, okay?”
“Really? All of it has merit? Even my theory that it was a really lifelike doll?” He wasn’t going to listen. I suppose I had to, though.
“Joshua.”
“Yes?”
“Shut up.”
“…Okay.”
Finally. Joshua was a great guy, but I need my peace and quiet, too. And now, I could focus on my hunting. In the Great Forest, dinner is always nearby. That rule is true for humans, animals, and Beasts alike. There has to be some animal out there somewhere. It was my job to find it.
Sure enough, I found some tracks nearby. I couldn’t tell what kind they were. Maybe…a Four-Legged Luddod? I sure hope not. Four-Legged Luddods are fuzzy and cute on the outside, but their blood is made of a powerful acid. Not exactly edible.
But these tracks looked slightly different from Luddod tracks. Whatever it was, it should be my dinner. I’m sure Joshua can identify it when I find its home.
I followed the tracks until the abruptly ended at the base of a large tree. The Beast should be around here somewhere.
“Joshua. I need you to climb that tree and look for any nearby Beasts, okay? I’ll be right behind you.”
“Got it,” replied Joshua. He wasn’t the best at climbing tress, but I wanted him up there with me. Just in case. I followed behind him.
Joshua got a nice view of the woods, before he finally pointed at something far away. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t a Four-Legged Luddod.
“Do you know what that is?” I asked Joshua.
“Yeah,” he whispered back. “It’s a Smakug. From what I’ve heard, it’s a reptile with scales tougher than iron and a tail powerful enough to knock your head off. We should stay put until it goes away – Hey, what are you doing?”
I wasn’t paying attention anymore. If it was edible, it was mine. So what if its armor was tough? I had my bow, arrows and my eyesight. I was a safe distance away to aim. That was all I needed.
By the looks of it, this thing had no weak points. If its scales are as tough as iron, there’s no way I’ll be able to just shoot it anywhere. I’ll have to shoot it someplace where the scales don’t cover, like the eyes, or…
Yes. Yes, that would work. I pulled back the bowstring and aimed right at its head.
“Renn! Don’t shoot at it! If it comes over here, we’re dead!”
Not if I can help it.
I hit it square on the side of its face. Of course, it noticed something. But by the time it roared at me, I had another arrow ready to go. And this time, I could see a weak spot: its mouth. I fired again. The Beast staggered, roared again, and fell over.
I jumped down from the tree and pulled out my hunting knife. I may as well make sure it’s dead, I thought to myself. I walked up to it. He was a big guy. If I stretched out next to him, he would still be longer than I was, and that’s not counting the tail.
But better safe than sorry. I jammed my knife into the roof of the Beast’s mouth. I saw its eyes open wide, one last time. This was the worst part for me. Sure, it wanted to eat us, but it never really did anything wrong. It was just unlucky. And now, it was dinner.
Speaking of dinner, I had almost forgotten the time. The sun would set soon.
“Renn, you did it!” exclaimed Joshua. “I should also mention that the Smakug is one of the tastiest Beasts there is. So, what are we going to do with it?”
“I don’t know,” I said. If we tried to drag it back to the Guild, the Carcass Wolves would attack long before we would get there. But if we made camp here and had it for dinner, we would probably still end up eaten. There was only one thing to do.
“We have to burn it,” I said. “Grab as much meat as you want. That’s dinner. The rest burns.” It was sad, but I had made a stupid decision. If I had been paying attention to the time, I would have had the common sense to head home, but I was caught up in the moment. And now I had to pay for it.
We set up camp, and built a big fire around the Smakug. “Once the fire starts, we have to get as far away from here as possible,” I said. “The smoke will attract Carcass Wolves.”
“So where will we sleep, then?” asked Joshua.
“We’ll sleep in a tree,” I replied. “We should eat now. If we take fresh meat like this with us, we won’t end up much different.”
We both chowed down on the meat. Whoever said it was one of the most delicious Beasts knew their stuff; it was probably some of the best meat I’ve ever tasted. We didn’t have much time to enjoy it, though. As soon as we were done, we started moving toward a hospitable tree.
“Hey, hold up a second,” said Joshua.
“We don’t have time,” I said. “The Wolves are coming, you know.”
“Yeah, but doesn’t this place look…familiar?”
He was right. It did have an air of familiarity to it. But it felt like something was missing. At that moment, I saw Joshua’s face go pale.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Are you sick?”
“Renn…look at that tree.”
“Yeah? What about it?”
“Just…look.”
I did as he asked. After a few seconds, I realized what he was talking about. This was the place where we had found that body with the stitched-up face.
Only the body was gone.
“What…what do you think happened to it?” I asked.
“Carcass Wolves?” asked Joshua.
“No, there would be bones,” I said. “His family probably found him and gave him a proper burial. That’s all.” Even though this was a logical explanation, I found myself doubting it.
“Let’s keep moving,” said Joshua. “I’d rather not stay here.”
I agreed. We kept moving and eventually found a tree to climb. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world, but it was safe. Safe enough, at least.
The next morning, we headed back to the Guild. I told Stag about my mistake with the Smakug, and he told me to simply be more careful next time. I think he was too impressed to be mad.
Neither of us told Stag about the body.
It had been a long two days. A lot longer than what I expected. And I needed a break.
“Hey, Stag,” I said. “I know I screwed up two days in a row. Even so…could I have the day off?”
Stag thought about it. “Well, you did slay a Smakug. That’s an impressive feat, even for veteran Beasthunters. I suppose I can give you the day off, but you won’t be earning any pay,” he said. “On the other hand, Joshua did no such thing…”
I thought about defending Joshua, but then I remembered how long he had talked to me. In fact, if he hadn’t scared away all of the creatures in the woods, neither of us would have had to go through all that. I may as well let this be a lesson to him.
Oh, I am going to enjoy this day.

Chapter 4: Return to Fenheim

I woke up, got ready to go to the Beasthunter’s Guild, and prepared myself to face Joshua’s wrath. I more or less abandoned him yesterday, so I’m expecting quite a bit of rage directed at me. Not only that, but Stag was granting me favors left and right, which is rather out of character for him. He probably won’t be so kind today.
I made my way to the Guild and was met by four very angry eyes. Joshua was holding a broom, and Stag was holding a document.
“So, did you enjoy your day off, Renn?” said Joshua. Yup, he was mad.
“As a matter of fact, I did,” I replied with a smile. “How was your day off?”
Joshua tried to say something, but stomped off. In the meantime, I had Stag to deal with.
“So, Renn,” said Stag, “You abandoned your partner to go laze around. Do you have any idea what he went through? You should be ashamed of yourself.”
I did feel kind of bad. “You’re right,” I said. “But I don’t think an apology will be enough.”
“Well, you can figure something out on your trip,” said Stag. He shoved the document in my face. “Take this to King James. It’s your task to personally make sure he receives it. And take Joshua with you. You two need to make peace.”
“All right, fine,” I said. “But one of us may not make it back.”
I said it as a sarcastic comment, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it was a possibility. After all, I did abandon my partner. And Joshua was just as stubborn as I was. If we got into an argument, it wouldn’t end well.
“That’s your business, not mine,” said Stag. “I gave you a task, it’s your duty as a Beasthunter to complete it. Now go. Take that to the King.”
He was right. Whether I wanted to or not, I had to go. And as much as I hate to say it, I really should bring Joshua along with me. I went over to get him.
“Hey there,” I said. I put on my sweetest voice possible. “Look, I’m really sorry. I just…I had a lot on my mind, and I needed a break, okay? But Stag has a job for us, and he wants you to come with me.”
“Does he now?” replied Joshua. It was clear that he didn’t want to go. “Renn, do you have any idea what they made me do yesterday? I had to do all of the cleaning. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if this Guild hall is cleaner now than when it was built. I didn’t even get a chance to go home last night because I was so busy.” I doubted that. He probably spent most of the day moping around and didn’t get much of anything done, and then decided to spend the night here to keep up appearances.
“Look, I really am sorry, okay? And hey, at least you’ll get a chance to get out of here. We need to go back to Fenheim and deliver this information to the King,” I said.
Joshua thought about it for what seemed like forever. “Okay,” he said, “I’ll go.”
“Great! Let’s get ready, then.”
We went around to the back of the Guild hall where the horses were kept. There was somebody there cleaning up after the horses.”Excuse me!” I said. “We need to take this document to King James. Are there any horses we can use?”
“Ah,” he said. “You two must be Renn and Joshua. Well, I’d love to help you out, but the only animal here that Stag says you can take is this one.”
He led us to a stable where we were greeted by none other than our friend, Dollface. Perfect.
Well, it was better than nothing, I suppose. I grabbed some rations for the two of us, and the three of us went on our merry way.
Still, it was a little awkward. I’m sure Joshua was still upset at me. I really shouldn’t have taken the day off yesterday. But what’s done is done.
I tried to make small talk with him to lighten the mood. “So,” I said, “How was cleaning the Guild?” As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized the mistake I had made.
“Oh, you have NO idea,” replied Joshua. “Everyone was laughing at me, and people would knock stuff on to the ground just to watch me clean it. It was horrible.”
“Really? Joshua, you should be honest. Who was knocking stuff on to the ground?”
Joshua fidgeted for a bit. “Does it really matter?” he said. “All that matters is that it happened.”
“Don’t try to change the subject, Joshua.”
There was a second of silence. “All right, fine! Nobody knocked stuff on to the ground.”
“…And?”
“…And I didn’t really have to clean the whole Guild,” said Joshua with a sigh. “They gave me the day off.”
I knew it. There was no way Joshua wouldn’t be able to smooth-talk his way out of working. In fact, I was probably one of the few people who could keep him in check.
“Well, whatever. I’m a little mad that you lied, but we can call it even, yes?” I said.
“Sure,” he replied. “I don’t like being mad anyway.”
Well, that was cleared up. Personally, I don’t like staying mad either. I can’t blame Joshua for what he was trying to do, though. I suppose he thought that teamwork was more important than my peace of mind, and he would be right. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Stag was in on this, considering the way he acted. Even though he acts tough, he’s a pretty nice guy.
Anyway, it was getting dark. Joshua got some firewood and I prepared camp.
“You know, I’ve been thinking,” said Joshua.
“I’m sure,” I said. “What about?”
“Do you remember what that potion-maker said about the murder cases going on in Fenheim?”
“Yeah, I do. Hey, do you think that body we saw was -”
“I do,” said Joshua. “Whoever – or whatever – is responsible for those murders was probably responsible for the one we saw.”
“Wait a minute. After sunset, there’s no easy way in or out of the castle. This body was found out in the forest. The king needs to know about this!”
Every night, Castle Fenheim raises its drawbridge. This is the only easy way in or out of the castle. The drawbridge is always manned by two or more guards, even at night. If the killer was killing people inside and outside the kingdom, then the King needs to know about it.
The next day, we woke up and hiked as fast as we could to Castle Fenheim. We went into the castle, and showed the document Stag had given us to a guard. He escorted us to the throne room, where we were greeted by the King and his son, Prince Cain.
Oh yeah. I almost forgot about him.
I suppose it would make sense for him to be here, but I was still a little embarrassed. But that was unimportant right now.
“Um. We come from the Beasthunter’s Guild, and the Guildmaster wanted you to have this…your Highness,” I stammered.
“Very good,” said the King. “I am assuming Brin Stag gave this to you?”
“Yes, that’s correct,” said Joshua. “How would you know that, sire?”
“Oh, I used to know Brin. He saved my life, you know. Hasn’t he ever told you?”
Well, that was unexpected. I guess Stag had more of a past than I thought.
“Well, no matter,” said the King. “I suppose this is information on Beasts. I’ll have Tristan confirm this for me, of course, so you may leave. Good day.”
Joshua gulped. “Sire? There is one other thing we should mention,” he said.
“Oh? Please, fill me in,” said King James.
“Well, I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors. The ones about the stitched up bodies?”
The King scratched his chin. “Yes, I have. Go on,” he said.
“My partner and I found a body like that in the Great Forest a few days ago,” said Joshua. “Now, with all due respect, I feel like you should do something about this.” He braced himself for the verbal assault he was about to receive.
King James stood up. “I’m afraid I can’t do that,” he said. “I have matters that require my immediate attention, and could result in the lives of thousands, not just a handful. You have probably noticed it, but there is a drought over the farmlands of the kingdom. If it continues, there will be no harvest. I must find a way to save the people, so if you’ll excuse me.” He sat down again.
“But sire,” said Joshua, “It rained just the other day!”
“Well, it may have rained where you were, but it certainly did not rain over the farmlands. Either way, you two are excused.”
“Yes, your Majesty,” said Joshua and I in unison. We began to leave.
“Hold on a second. I think I have a solution that will work out for everyone,” said Prince Cain. “Why don’t I go with one of the knights to investigate this matter, father? It wouldn’t cost anything, and we wouldn’t be gone long.”
Oh, great. I hope he doesn’t remember my face. I turned away.
“Hmm…” The king thought for a second before making his decision. “I suppose you could, but -”
“Oh, thank you, father!” said Prince Cain. “I’ll make preparations for the trip right now.” He ran out of the room. Perfect.
“Ah, well,” said the King. “Look, you two. Cain doesn’t follow orders and he isn’t a hard worker. I truly do fear the day when he becomes king of Fenheim. Do me a favor and keep him safe from the Beasts that inhabit the Great Forest, all right? And if you can, talk some sense into him. You may leave now.”
“Y-yes. Thank you, your Highness,” I said. Joshua and I left and waited for Prince Cain and his knight.
And sure enough, he showed up. Which knight did he pick for his trip with us? Why, none other than Sir Quinn, the very same knight who escorted us to Tristan the last time we were here. I’m getting the feeling it’s not a coincidence. This will be a very awkward trip, but at least it means Prince Cain doesn’t remember me.
“So, Renn, where was it that you saw this body?” asked the prince.
Well, isn’t that just peachy. He remembers me after all.
“Um…well, it’s gone now, but it was in the Great Forest,” I said.
“So long as you know where it is, we’ll be fine,” said the prince. “Let us make haste. Where have you prepared your horses?”
“Yeah…about that,” said Joshua. “Hopefully you brought your work shoes.” I was a little concerned Cain wouldn’t know what “work shoes” were.
“Do you mean to tell me that you walked here? Well, that just won’t do! Please, allow yourselves to use our horses!” said the prince. Honestly, he probably only wanted them so he wouldn’t have to walk.
“I’m sorry, but we can’t,” I said. “What are we going to do with Dollface?”
Prince Cain stared at our pack mule. “You mean besides kill it?” he said. “I can give you a pack mule ten times better than this one.”
“I’m afraid that won’t do,” I said. “Dollface is one of our friends, and I won’t just leave her to die. We’re walking, and that’s final. Besides, didn’t the King say something about not spending any money?”
“Oh, whatever,” said Cain with a wave of his hand. “He wouldn’t miss a pack mule. Anyway, if you’re walking, Renn, then I’m walking too. We wouldn’t want to get separated, now would we?”
This was going to be a long trip.

Chapter 5: An Improvised Pyre

“So, Renn, tell me about yourself. We’ve got a long way to go, don’t we?”
Prince Cain’s heart was in the right place, I suppose, but at this point…he’s just annoying.
“Well,” I said, “I suppose I could share a little bit. Where would you like me to start?”
“Anywhere you like,” said Prince Cain. Great.
“All right, then,” I said. “I’ll start at the beginning. My mother died giving birth to me, and my father left me in the care of my great-uncle. I don’t blame him; he must have figured his father’s brother would be a better caretaker than he would. To this day, I’ve never met him. But maybe I will, someday.”
“Fascinating,” said Prince Cain. “Please, go on.”
“I will, if you’d let me,” I said. “Anyway, my great-uncle Jenkins was great to me. He was basically the only family I had when I was a kid. He taught me everything there was to know about hunting, but he never let me hunt Beasts. Why would he? He wanted to keep me safe. Still, I guess that forbidden fruit he put before me is what drove me to become a Beasthunter. And that’s about it, really. But if you want interesting stories, you shouldn’t be looking to me. Joshua’s the one with an interesting life.”
Joshua looked away. “I guess,” he said glumly. “I don’t really like talking about it, though.”
I can hardly blame him. The poor guy’s been through a lot. I doubt Cain would want to hear about it, so I tried to change the subject.
“Why don’t you tell us about yourself, Cain? It must be pretty interesting being a prince,” I said.
“You would think so, wouldn’t you?” said Cain. “But it’s not really all it’s cracked up to be. I get roped into all sorts of boring military duties, I have to attend weddings and such, and so on and so forth until I’m crazy enough to like it. But at least the food is good.”
Sounds like a classic case of spoiled kid to me. “But you have all this power,” I said. “People will do whatever you say.”
“No, not really,” said Cain. “But I’m okay with that. I can’t blame the people. In fact, I hardly do what people say anyway, so I guess it works out, huh?” If that was an attempt at a joke, nobody was laughing.
Sir Quinn spoke up. “Prince Cain, don’t delude yourself. I would gladly give my life to protect you. I swore I would, didn’t I? And many other knights did as well. You have more power than you realize, I think.” He was probably right. I guess Cain can’t be that bad if he’s got knights that will devote their lives to keep him around.
But it was getting dark, and we needed to make camp. “Joshua, you go get some firewood,” I said. “Cain, you can go with him if you’d like.”
“No, I’ll stay here and help set up with you,” said Cain. “Quinn, will you go help Joshua?”
“Of course, sire.” The two of them left, leaving me and Cain alone.
“So what should I do?” said Cain. “I am your third hand.”
“Well, isn’t this a surprise,” I said. “If I can tell the prince what to do, I guess that makes me Queen!”
“Yes, I suppose it does,” said Cain with a chuckle. “But honestly – I don’t know what to do. Could you tell me. Wait, no. Show me what to do, will you?”
Only a prince could be helping out and yet make it sound like he was still the one in charge. “Right,” I said. “Unroll those sleeping bags. Like this, see?” I grabbed a sleeping bag off of Dollface and unrolled it, the same as I always do. “Easy. Try it.”
“If you say so,” said Cain. He struggled to get the bag off of Dollface, but managed to unroll it with very little trouble. “Great! What next?”
“I guess you could get rocks for the fire pit,” I said. “There should be a river or brook nearby. Do you hear it? Bring some rocks back from there and that will be all,” I said.
“Oh, but I don’t want to get lost,” said Cain. “Could you please come with me? Just in case.”
So he was whiny and needy. Perfect. “Fine,” I said. “But the brook is really close by. I can hear it from here. It’s probably no more than forty feet away.”
I went with him anyway, and we got some rocks for the pit. “Hey, now that you mention it, we could catch some fish here. Hold on a minute while I grab my bow,” I said. I ran back to get it, but Cain stopped me.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I had the foresight to bring some meat along with me. We’ll be fine.” Oh no.
“Where is this meat now?!” I said. “We need to eat most of it before sundown, and burn the rest! Don’t tell me you don’t know about the Carcass Wolves?”
“No, I don’t. Remember, Renn, I don’t come out here,” said Cain. “If I would have known it was a problem, I wouldn’t have brought it. I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right,” I said. “Everyone makes mistakes, right? But we need to deal with it now. Grab those rocks and we’ll be on our way. Let’s hurry.”
By the time we got back, Joshua and Quinn had already returned. “Hurry! We need to start a fire!” I said.
I quickly explained the situation, and we managed to get a fire started before the sun went down. We were able to eat most of the meat, and we burned the rest. “We have to move quickly,” I said. “Come on, let’s move in the opposite direction as the smoke.”
“Why do we have to do that?” asked Cain. “We burned all the meat. We should be fine now, right?”
“No,” I said. “The smell of meat lingers on the smoke. If we stay here, the Carcass Wolves will find us. We have to get going.”
“If that’s the case, then why bother burning the meat in the first place?” asked Cain. “After all, the wolves would find you anyway, right?”
I sighed. “You have to burn the meat. The scent gets into the smoke, and then you move away from it. The smoke leads the wolves off of your trail. If you don’t burn the meat, the wolves just find you and eat you. That’s all there is to it. Now come on, we have to move.”
We packed up and Cain begrudgingly came along. We walked as far away as we could until we couldn’t see anymore.
“So…what do we do now?” asked Cain.
“Simple,” I said. “We find tress to climb and sleep there.”
“But what if we fall out?”
“Grab a sleeping bag. Do you feel the rope around it? It’s sturdier than it looks. Tie it around the trunk, and you won’t have to worry about falling.”
We all got settled in for the night. “The Carcass Wolves won’t get us here,” I said. “We’ll be fine. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but just trust me on this one. As far as I know, there aren’t any Beasts that eat humans that can climb trees. We’ll be fine, okay? Now go to sleep.”
It was a little hard to fall asleep, though. What if something did happen? Or worse – what if something happened to Cain? If the King found out, Joshua and I would both be dead. That’s not something I want to happen. But I can’t really do anything other than get some rest about it. And eventually, I did fall asleep.
I woke up to the sun shining in my face. I looked around. Cain had done a pretty poor job of securing himself to the tree, but he had made it. Joshua was fine, and there were no problems where I was.
Sir Quinn hadn’t been so lucky.
He was secure in his sleeping bag, but he had fallen off of the branch he picked, and was just hanging there. He hadn’t fallen to the ground, but he was most certainly dead.
I could tell because his face was stitched up just like the other body we saw.
I didn’t want to look. I didn’t want to scream. I did both.
Of course, Joshua and Cain woke up when they heard me. I couldn’t see Joshua – my gaze was fixed on Quinn’s body – but I could see Cain faint. I don’t blame him. In fact, I wish I could faint. Quinn was a knight. A capable warrior. I didn’t know him that well, but he seemed like an honorable person. And now, he was dead. End of story. No more Sir Quinn.
Meanwhile, Joshua was realizing what had happened. “That…that killer stuck again!” he said. Duh.
“Let’s get him down from there,” I said. “He deserves a proper burial.”
I went over to Quinn’s tree and began climbing. I cut him down with my hunting knife, and he landed with a thump on the ground. Joshua and I pulled him out of his sleeping bag, and I was able to get a closer look at his face.
It wasn’t pretty. I could see where the stitches had bored into his face. They made an X-shape over his eyes, and a criss-cross pattern over his mouth. No sane man would do this. Actually, I’m hesitant to attribute this to any human. It wasn’t as bad as the first body we saw, but that forced smile still gave me chills. I cut away the stitches, but I couldn’t pull them out of his face. I didn’t really want to, either, so I just cut them until they were mostly invisible and threw them away.
By this point, Cain had woken up. “I’m so sorry,” I said. “But there was nothing to be done.”
“You…you said we would be safe, Renn! Does THIS look safe to you?!” Cain gestured toward Quinn’s body. He was mad, and rightfully so. But I had no idea this would happen. How could I?
“Cain, I’m…I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” I said. “But would it have been any different if we stayed on the ground? That would have meant death for all of us. But this…this was something that I had no idea could happen.”
Joshua spoke up. “Come on, guys. What’s done is done. We need to give Sir Quinn a proper burial, right? He had his heart in the right place. He wouldn’t have wanted you to fight, I’m sure. So let’s just let bygones be bygones, okay?”
“Okay,” said Cain. “Let’s bury him then.”
“Wait,” I said. “We don’t have time for that. But we can still cremate him. Is everyone all right with that?”
Joshua and Cain nodded. We got to work, and had a pyre prepared in very little time.
“Um. I think we should all say a few words about Quinn,” said Joshua. “I’ll go first. Quinn – Sir Quinn – was a fine knight. One of the kingdom’s finest. No other would be worthy of the Prince’s approval, and he died protecting his kingdom. Sort of. He will be missed.”
“I’ll go next, then,” I said. “Sir Quinn saved my life. When I first bumped into you, Cain, he caught the potions I was carrying. If they would have fallen on to the ground, the consequences would have been severe. I probably wouldn’t be a Beasthunter, and I might even be dead. I would have lost my will to live, after all. But Sir Quinn protected that for me. And for that, I can’t thank him enough.”
“Sir Quinn…I don’t know where to start,” said Cain. “He was the kindest knight I ever knew. Even when everyone else was yelling at me, Quinn would be there for me, every step of the way. I wouldn’t be where I am today without him. He taught me a lot of things, and I daresay was more of a father to me than my own was. He truly was one of the greatest knights I have had the pleasure of knowing. Fare thee well, Sir Quinn.” Cain tossed a torch onto the pyre, and set Sir Quinn ablaze.
“I never wanted it to end like this,” said Cain as he looked on to Sir Quinn. “You should’ve had a more noble death. One more fitting. Instead, you die a meaningless and gruesome death. I wish you well in the next life.”
It was a tragically beautiful sight. Most people wouldn’t be happy to watch a burning corpse, but somehow I felt like this was fitting, contrary to Cain. Sure, it wasn’t a great or noble way to go. But to get a prince to care for you like that – especially a prince like Cain – he must’ve been a pretty nice guy.
“I wish you well, too,” I said to Quinn.
“And I too,” said Joshua.
There was a moment of silence before Cain spoke up. “Renn…Joshua…please, let’s go. I don’t want to watch this anymore.”
I didn’t either. Joshua and Cain turned around and started to walk back home.
But I could’ve sworn I saw Quinn’s body twitch. It was probably just rigor mortis or a log collapsing, but his head turned to face me. That wasn’t the weird part.
The weird part was that the stitches were back.
Maybe it was my imagination. Maybe it was due to the relatively traumatic experience of trying to pull the stitches out of his face. But it seemed real. Or at least, that’s what the hairs on the back of my neck told me. I hurried away to join Joshua and Cain.
I told Joshua and Cain about what I saw. They denied it.
“Of course it was just your imagination,” said Joshua. “How could string just ‘grow back?'”
“Yes,” said Cain. “You were just seeing things, Renn. Don’t worry. Besides, what difference would it make? It’s just string, right? Maybe you missed some when you were cutting the string away.”
“Yeah…that must be it,” I said. “Still, it’s a little weird, don’t you think?”
“I suppose so, but that’s not our concern right now,” said Joshua. “We need to focus on getting to the Beasthunter’s Guild. We have a mission to complete, remember?”
“Mission or no, don’t forget why I came along in the first place,” said Cain. “We were supposed to investigate those killings, were we not? I suppose we wasted an opportunity back there, but I had other things on my mind.”
“Don’t worry, Cain, we didn’t forget,” I said to him. “You’re right. But we should get back to the Beasthunter’s Guild. We do have a mission to complete, and we need to get some rest for tonight. We can investigate tomorrow morning, okay? In the meantime, I’m sure the other Beasthunters would be happy to hear your life stories.” I sure didn’t, but if I could keep him busy with attention, I could do some serious private thinking.
“Well, we’re almost there,” said Joshua. “I think you’ll enjoy the Beasthunter’s Guild, Cain. Nobody there really plays by the rules, and everyone there is pretty relaxed.”
“Sounds like my kind of place,” said Cain. “Let’s go, then. I don’t know about you two, but I’m hungry…”
I was a little hungry myself. Maybe I could talk Stag into giving us another break.
Or maybe I can’t.

Chapter 6: A Prince’s Choice

We arrived at the guild hall. “Here it is,” I said to Cain. “Welcome to the Beasthunter’s Guild.”
“Well, it certainly is…whimsical,” said Cain. “Shall we go in?”
“Sure,” said Joshua. We entered and found Stag.
“Well, well, well,” said Stag with a chuckle. “Would you look at what the cat dragged in.”
“Hey!” I said. “Anyway, this is Prince Cain of Fenheim. Say hi.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” said Cain. “I appreciate all the work you and the other Beasthunters do to keep the Great Forest safe.”
“Well, as long as I get some cash out of it, I really don’t mind,” said Stag. “But thanks anyway. Come, make yourself at home.” He gestured toward a couch.
“Yes. Thank you for your hospitality,” said Cain.
“We wouldn’t have it any other way for our Prince, now would we, fellas?” The other Beasthunters gave their shouts of approval. “Ya see? You’re always welcome here, Prince Cain. So what brings you here?”
“About that,” said Cain. “Nothing good, I’m afraid. You see, in the kingdom, there have been reports of…strange…murders. Most of the bodies didn’t have a scratch on them, but all of them had stitched up faces.”
“Do you know what is causing this?” asked Stag.
“I’m afraid not. However, I’ve theorized that it is the work of a Beast. I have no conclusive proof of this, though,” said Cain.
“I see,” said Stag. “So you are asking us to research, track and kill a man-eating Beast that we know next to nothing about?”
“Yes, that is what I’m asking,” said Cain. “So will you do it?”
Stag thought for a second. “And how much would you pay us if we did catch and stop this Beast?”
“Yeah. About that…” Cain looked away and cringed. “I…I cannot pay you.”
“WHAT?!” I was almost certain Stag was going to start wrecking the place. He went incoherent for a second or two, but managed to pull himself together. The only thing keeping Cain safe – and the rest of the Guild hall, for that matter – was the fact that he was an important figure of society. If he was an ordinary commoner, I’m sure he would have been thrown out on the spot.
“I’m sorry,” said Stag. He looked like he was still trying to cool down. “But I can’t do things like this for free. Especially things like this. I need funds. As an incentive, yes, but also just to keep afloat so I don’t run out of food or anything like that. And I have to pay the other Beasthunters, you know.”
“I see,” said Cain. “I thought that might happen. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing more I can do about it. My father has decided not to fund you and your cause. If I had a say, this would not be so, but I’m afraid I don’t.”
Stag shook his head. “It’s all right, Prince Cain. Don’t worry yourself over this. But I’m afraid I can’t help you. Feel free to make yourself at home, though.”
“Hey, speaking of that, I don’t think it’s a good idea to head back tonight,” I said.
“Really? Why is that?” asked Cain.
“We may or may not have had a run-in with the Beast that is causing all of this,” I said. “We should head back when it’s light again, not right now. And we should take horses, Stag.”
“All right, fair enough,” said Stag. “You can stay here if you like. Or you could stay in Galefryn. It’s up to you.”
“Thank you for your hospitality,” said Cain. “But I think I will stay in Galefryn. There is an inn there, correct?”
“Yes…but if you have money for an inn, why can’t you pay us?” asked Stag.
“Erm…well…okay. I’ll stay at Renn’s house, then.”
“I’m sorry, what?” I asked. Talk about overstaying your welcome. “Don’t I get a say in this?”
“Relax,” said Cain. “It’s not often that someone such as yourself gets to live under the same roof as someone like me.” You mean someone as arrogant as you?
“Well, shouldn’t you stay at Joshua’s house? He would have a bed for you, you know,” I said.
“Hey, don’t push this on me!” said Joshua. “Let the prince stay where he wants to. Besides, Hinnuck turned that bed into firewood years ago.”
Whatever. If he wanted to stay at my house, he could stay at my house. It was true that I only had one bed, but I got the feeling I wouldn’t be sleeping in it tonight.
“All right. If you want to stay at my house, you can. I won’t stop you. But I still think you should meet Hinnuck, Cain,” I said.
“That’s fine,” said Cain. “I don’t know who he is, but if he can help us, that’d be great. But we should go.”
I told Stag that we had completed his mission, took Dollface around back to the stables, and we were on our way over to Joshua’s.
“So what’s it like? Living out here,” said Cain. “It must be interesting.”
“Maybe to you,” said Joshua. “But most people just farm. Really, the only interesting thing around here is the Beasthunter’s Guild, and you’ve been there already. Other than that, there really isn’t much.”
We arrived at Joshua’s house. He knocked on the door. “Hinnuck? You home?” We waited a while before Joshua let us in anyway.
“Hey – isn’t that breaking and entering?” asked Cain. “You could lose a finger for that, you know.”
“Well, that would be true, except I live here,” said Joshua. “Hinnuck is the closest thing I have to a father. He’s a nice enough guy, once you get to know him. If anything, he’s probably making some experimental potion as we speak.”
Joshua took us upstairs to Hinnuck’s lab. I had been there before, but it was quite the place. There were beakers full of mysterious substances, and all sorts of scientific measuring devices. Pages of books filled with detailed diagrams on Beast anatomy were scattered about all over the place. If I had a more scientific mind, I would probably love it here.
Hinnuck was standing in a corner making some kind of potion. “Ah, you two! You’ve made a friend, I see,” said Hinnuck.
“Yeah. This is the prince of Fenheim, Cain. Why don’t you two introduce yourselves?” I said.
“It would be an honor,” said Hinnuck. “Prince Cain, I am Hinnuck Gammal. I used to be the head of the Beasthunter’s Guild before Stag. It’s a pleasure.”
“Indeed,” said Cain. “Judging by the looks of this place, I’d say you’re a potion maker. Is this true?”
“I am,” said Hinnuck. “Is there a potion you need? As long as it’s not too exotic, I can have something ready for you fairly quickly.”
“No, that won’t be necessary,” said Cain. “These two just wanted me to meet you. Well, Renn in particular did, but I don’t know why.”
I spoke up. “Hinnuck, you can keep a secret from Stag, right? There’s something we need to tell you.”
I explained the situation to him. The whole thing, from when we saw the body in the woods up until we made it back to the Beasthunter’s Guild.
“And that’s it,” I said. “We suspect it to be the work of a Beast. You’re a potion-maker – it’s your job to know all about Beasts. Have you ever heard of something like this before?”
Hinnuck thought for a second. “Hm…no. No, I can’t say that I have. I’m sorry, Renn.”
“No, that’s okay,” I said. “But don’t tell any of this to Stag, okay? I think it would be best if we kept this under wraps until we have some concrete evidence.”
“I understand,” said Hinnuck. “If Stag got involved, it would just make this whole mess more complicated than it needs to be.”
“Thanks for understanding,” I said. “Now, Prince Cain here needs a place to stay for the night. You have a larger house than I do, so -”
“Hold it right there,” said Joshua. “I mean…I guess it’s okay, but didn’t Cain want to stay over at your place?”
“Yeah, but -”
“Look,” said Cain. “Neither of you have an extra bed, is that correct? So what does it matter where I sleep? If I want to sleep at Renn’s house, then that’s where I’ll sleep.”
“Price Cain, I hate to be the one to break it to you,” said Joshua. “But I don’t think Renn wants you over there.” Thank you, Joshua.
“Renn, is this true? Why? What’s so bad about me?” asked Cain. If only he knew.
“Nothing!” I said. “It’s…just…well, I’m not used to it. It would feel weird.”
“Nonsense,” said Cain. “Will that be all, then? If nobody has anything more to say, then we’ll be going.” I didn’t appreciate the way he said “we’ll.”
There was a bit of a silence before Hinnuck spoke up. “Oh! Before I forget! Renn, you like hunting with a bow, yes?”
“Hinnuck, you’ve known me since before I can remember. You know this.”
“Good, good. Well, you’ll be happy to know that I’m working on a few special potions, just for you. In the meantime, I have something for you, Joshua.”
Joshua looked up. “Oh? What is it?”
Hinnuck handed him a vial. “It’s a present,” he said. “For getting in to the Beasthunter’s Guild. Don’t tell him I told you, but every time there’s a new Beasthunter, Stag has me make them a potion, or something akin to one. Usually, it’s from whatever Beast they were tasked to slay, but in the case of you two…”
“Right,” said Joshua. Cain had a look of bewilderment on his face. I guess nobody told him about the Fire Beetle. “So if it’s not from the Fire Beetle, what is it from?”
“It’s made from the blood of a Springalt. It’s an exotic Beast that can reach incredible speeds, and yet maintain control. When you drink this, you experience something known as time compression: you will perceive time at a lowered rate. Some have said that it felt like time itself stopped for a moment. But be warned: it won’t last long, and it can only be used once. Take good care of it, and use it when the time is right.””I will. Thank you, Hinnuck.” Joshua accepted his gift.
“Renn, I’m working on a gift for you. It’s taking a bit longer than usual, though, so bear with me, all right?”
“Don’t worry about me. Take your time,” I said. Honestly, I didn’t think I would be getting anything. “I should go. If Cain wants to stay at my house, then I’m not going to stop him.”
“Okay. Goodbye, Renn,” said Joshua. “See you later.”
“Yeah. ‘Bye. Come on, Cain, let’s go.” The two of us left the room and walked to my house. I hadn’t noticed it, but it was already close to sunset.
“It’s pretty, isn’t it? The sunset, I mean,” said Cain.
“Yeah. Yeah, it is,” I said. “You can watch it if you want, but I’m going home.”
“Aww. You’re no fun,” said Cain. “Come on. Watch the sunset with me, will you?”
“Well…We really should get to my house. Even though we aren’t in the Great Forest, we could still be attacked by nocturnal Beasts. Trust me – I’ve seen it happen.”
“All right. Let’s go,” said Cain. “I’ve never been in a commoner’s house before.”
“Gee, thanks,” I said. “I hope you’ll like the floor in this commoner’s house, because that’s where you’ll be sleeping if you keep this up.”
“Hey now. I was just kidding, okay? You don’t have to put me on the floor.” Actually, I do. There’s no way you’re sleeping in the only bed I have. But thanks for giving me the excuse.
We arrived at my house. I suppose I never noticed it before, but it was in pretty rough shape. Then again, I guess everything is when a prince is looking down at it.
“This…this is your house?” asked Cain.
“Yup,” I said. “This is what I call home sweet home. It looks a little run down, but I suppose it’ll do for a prince. It’s better than sleeping outside, I guess. Honestly, I don’t know why you didn’t want to stay at Joshua’s or the Guild.”
“It’s fine. Great, even. Let’s go inside, shall we?” We did.
“Hmm…I like what you’ve done with the place,” said Cain. I took a good look around it too. It was the same as usual. Bear pelt on the floor. A little bed in the corner. An out of place wardrobe Jenkins had made for me. A table with a single chair. A curtain that could divide the room if needed. Besides that, there wasn’t much else. I didn’t have a fireplace, but I really wish I did. I could use a little extra warmth. Pelts can only get you so far.
“It’s not much,” I said. “But make yourself at home anyway.”
“Great! So where do I sleep?”
“I told you I only had one bed, didn’t I? Look, you can sleep on the pelt. I’m not giving up my bed.”
“Oh. So you were serious about that.”
“Of course I was serious. If I had an extra bed, I would’ve given it to you. But as it is now, it’s my house and my bed. If you want comfort, go stay at Joshua’s or the Beasthunter’s Guild. I’ve told you this.”
“Well then. The floor it is,” said Cain. I was impressed. “But let’s not worry about that yet. What do you have to eat?”
“Take a look. Eat whatever you want.”
“All I see is a bowl of apples on the table.”
“Well, at least you get to pick which one you want to eat.”
“You really don’t have anything else? No meat? No bread?”
“If I want meat, I’ll dry it and store it in a barrel that’s around back. When I have some, I bring the barrel in. Do you see a barrel?”
“No.”
“Then I don’t have meat.”
Cain just shrugged and grabbed an apple. I did too. “Enjoy,” I said.
I liked apples. They were easy to get a hold of, they don’t spoil quickly, and they were tasty. Cain, on the other hand…
“Blech! What kind of apple is this?”
“I don’t know. Don’t eat them if you don’t like them.”
“No, it’s fine,” said Cain. “I’ll eat it.” Bite by bite, he did finish it. It was a bit painful to watch, actually.
“If you’re done eating, then let’s go to bed. We need to get up early to get you home.”
I got into my warm bed. I felt a little bad for Cain, though. He didn’t know what to do, so he just crawled under the table and curled himself into a ball, using his cape as a sheet.
“Are you going to be okay there?” I asked.
“Yeah,” said Cain. “Don’t worry about me. I asked for this, remember? Good night, Renn.”
“Good night,” I said.
I woke up in the middle of the night. The full moon was shining in my face. Since I was up, I figured I may as well check on Cain. I looked under the table, but there was no sign of him.
I went outside. “Cain? Are you out here?”
“Renn, is that you?” I saw Cain over in the distance. “Come over here for a second.”
I did as he asked. “What’s the problem? Couldn’t sleep?” I asked.
“Something like that,” said Cain. “But just look up at the stars.”
I was somewhat familiar with all of the constellations. Even so, the night sky was always a thing of beauty for me.
“Renn, I’ve been thinking. About all of the things you’ve said to me since we met.”
“And?”
“I don’t know,” said Cain. “I guess I’ll have to think a little more.”
“Well, you do that,” I said. “You may as well admire the night sky while you’re out here. I’m going back to bed.”
“All right,” said Cain. “See you in the morning.”
“Yeah,” I said. I went back inside. What was Cain thinking about? All of the things I said? What was that supposed to mean? I guess I have been pretty mean to him. Not to mention rude. But you could feed me to a Carcass Wolf if I didn’t have a reason.
Prince Cain, I thought to myself as I drifted off to sleep. You are a mystery.

Chapter 7: The Stitcher

“Hey. Are you ready to go?” I looked under the table. Cain was curled up in a ball, trying to stay warm. I felt a little bad for him.
“Mm..Hm?” Cain gave me a groggy stare. “Wha…where…”
“You slept under the table. Remember? But now I have to take you back to Fenheim.”
“Oh. Right,” said Cain. “Yeah, I’m ready to go.” He rolled out from under the table and stood up with a wobble.
“Great! Grab something to eat on your way out.” Okay, that might have been a little much. I saw Cain reach for an apple before realizing what it was. He grumbled for a second before giving me the stink eye. The look combined with the bedhead and the fact that he was a prince gave me a chuckle.
“Don’t laugh at your prince,” grumbled Cain. “Let’s just go.”
“All right, fine,” I said. “Let’s get to the Beasthunter’s Guild and grab some horses.”
We did just that. I opened up the front door and talked to Stag.
“Okay. You need to give Cain and I some horses this time. We’ve got to get to Fenheim in less than a day, and we can’t do that on foot.”
Stag grumbled. “Oh, fine. Go take two horses from the stables around back.”
“Say, what is it with you and horses, anyway?” I asked. “You never want to give us any of yours. What, do you think I can’t ride a horse? I’m perfectly capable of riding, you know.”
“Yes, but -”
“Hey, you two!” Joshua walked in the door. “Are we ready to go?”
“Joshua?” I said. “I didn’t think you would be coming along.”
“What? Of course I’m coming! We’re partners, right?” said Joshua.
“Yeah. All right, let’s go get some horses,” I said.
The three of us walked around to the stables. Luckily for us, there were only three horses left. I said a quick goodbye to Dollface, got on a horse, and headed on my way. Cain did the same. But unfortunately, Joshua didn’t.
“You coming, Joshua?” I asked. No response. I went back into the stables to find Joshua trying to get into the saddle of the remaining horse. He appeared to be stuck.
“Um…a little help?” he said. This must be why Stag didn’t want to give us horses: Joshua couldn’t ride one. Perfect.
I got off of my horse to help him into the saddle. “Now that you’re in, you hold the reins like this,” I said, showing him.
“Y-yeah. Got it,” said Joshua as he struggled to maintain control of the horse.
“Whatever you do, don’t panic,” I said. “You’ll scare the horse and he’ll buck you off. Just keep cool and you’ll be fine.”
Somehow, he was fine. Although I don’t think he was very cool.
“You know, I don’t think you two make the best Beasthunting team,” said Cain. “You seem to be polar opposites in every way.”
“Yeah,” I said. “And that’s what makes it perfect. Joshua doesn’t know the first thing about surviving in the woods, but knows the weaknesses of Beasts. I don’t know too many Beasts, but if you tell me their weakness chances are I’ll be able to take them down. We work together. That’s what a team is.”
Good team or no, we made it through the forest before nightfall. Horses were great. We got to the gates and the guards let us through. The prince was with us, after all.
Even though it was still light out, people were heading home. We walked down the main street for a while, and it was surprisingly lonely. “This is strange,” said Cain. “Usually, people are out and about at this time of day.”
“That’s what I was thinking, too,” said Joshua. “People shouldn’t have gone home this early, right?”
“Right,” said Cain. “And that’s what the weird part is. I think we should investigate. Let’s go up to a house and ask if anything strange has been going on.”
We found a house and I knocked on the door. As it opened, I saw a woman’s horrified face. “What are you doing here?” she said softly. “You should be inside. Come in, and hurry.” I wandered inside, and Joshua and Cain followed. “Oh my – is that you, Prince Cain? I am honored to have you in my home,” said the woman with a bow.
But her home didn’t look like a home. It looked more like a shelter. I could see three trembling children over in the corner, and a rather strong man armed with a crossbow ready to fire at anything that would come through the door. This was a family that was afraid of something.
“What’s going on here?” asked Joshua. “We should be able to help; my friend and I here are Beasthunters. And, well, I’m sure you’re already acquainted with Cain.”
“You’re Beasthunters?” asked the man. “Then maybe you can help us. You see, there is a strange…thing…walking around outside. It tried to attack people, and even though it was stabbed, beaten and shot at, it did not fall.”
“What kind of Beast are we talking about here?” asked Joshua. “What did it look like, how big was it? I need to know these things before I can help you.”
“That’s the odd part,” said the man. “From what I saw, it was just an ordinary man.”
“That’s…no, that’s impossible,” said Joshua. “There isn’t a potion with healing properties like that. Maybe it was just an oddly resilient killer?”
“Well, from what I heard, it might be the Stitcher,” said the man. I saw the children in the back curl up at the mention of the name.
“Who is the Stitcher?” I asked. The man gave me a bewildered look.
“You really don’t know?” he said. “The Stitcher is the name the townsfolk have given to that serial killer. The one who stitches up the bodies that he kills.”
Oh. Good to know. After all, we’ve had quite a few run-ins with the Stitcher’s victims.
“Joshua, Renn, I’m going back out there,” said Cain. “I will slay this Stitcher.”
“Not without us, you won’t,” I said. “We’re coming too.”
“Please, Prince Cain!” cried the man. “Do not throw your life away like this!”
“Sir,” said Cain to the man. “No plan is perfect. No Beast is perfect, either. Therefore, there must be a way to kill this ‘Stitcher.'”
The three of us went back outside to find the Stitcher. Honestly, I would be more than happy to kill him. There is no logic to what he does. Why would he need to kill random people? And how come the people had so much trouble trying to kill him?We would find out soon enough. We found the Stitcher was trying to open somebody’s door. He was really going at it, too.
“Hush!” said Cain. “I think that’s him.” No kidding. Do you see any other people around?
“Well, what should we do?” asked Joshua.
“I don’t know,” said Cain. “You’re the idea guy.”
“Gee, thanks,” said Joshua. “At least that’s better than nothing.” Joshua closed his eyes. “Be quiet for a second and let me think.”
I don’t know how Joshua comes up with his crazy plans. But for some reason, he was drawing a blank today.
“Enough thinking. I can’t let that thing attack innocent people,” said Cain. Joshua tried to silence him, but realized he had a good point and opened his eyes.
“I think I have it,” said Joshua. “Renn, shoot it with your bow.”
“But that’ll -”
“Just do it,” said Joshua. “We don’t have time to argue.”
I fired at the Stitcher. As the arrow dug into his arm, he turned to face us.
Before, I really thought I had seen the worst of his work. He killed that stranger in the woods before, and he killed Sir Quinn. Sure, the villager was gruesome enough, but there’s something to be said for trying to “fix” Sir Quinn’s face. But as I looked at the Stitcher, I realized that I had no idea what I was dealing with.
The Stitcher himself had stitched up his own face, the same as his victims. But that wasn’t the worst of it. In addition to the face, his body was beyond broken. One arm was dangling at his side, the bone clearly sticking out through his shirt. Which, speaking of, was almost entirely in tatters. The whole front part of it was practically gone, exposing all of his wounds. And were they ugly. In fact, there were parts of him where I could see the insides of his body. I could see his heart pounding itself beyond belief. Somehow, despite having an arrow in it, it was still functioning. His intestines would have been dragging along the ground had they not been tied around his waist as a makeshift belt. I almost threw up at the sight of him. I knew now why people tried to hide. After the seeing damage that his body had suffered, I would want to run away too.
But I knew I couldn’t. I – we – had to kill this…thing. He should have died a long time ago.
“Joshua, what do we do?” I asked. I looked over at him, and I saw him trying to hold back vomit. If I hadn’t had years of experience skinning animals, I would be too.
Joshua swallowed. “Look at its head,” he said to me. I did. Something was off about it, besides the stitches.
“What about it?” I asked. “The fact that it’s stitched up?”
“No, the fact that it’s unwounded,” said Joshua. He was right. Despite the incredible damage to the rest of the body, the head remained mostly intact.
“Shoot it,” said Joshua. I readied an arrow.
The Stitcher started walking toward us. But it wasn’t a normal walk. He moved without pattern, and it seemed like he didn’t have full control of his body. He took wild, wide steps half of the time, but alternated between tiny steps. His upper body was flailing around, and he was leaving a very visible trail of blood behind. Taking all of this into consideration, it was very going to be a challenge to hit his head. I focused on it, and I fired.
I missed. I readied another arrow and fired. I was sure that it would be a good hit this time. But at the last second, his head jerked away. And it wasn’t normal, either. He tilted his head at an angle nobody would be able to survive without injury, and I heard a visible crunch. Now his head was just dangling in front of him. Somehow, he managed to pick it back up again and looked at me.
I couldn’t do anything. I was terrified. This…abomination had broken his neck and was somehow still holding his head up high. That shouldn’t be possible. As I watched on in horror, it ripped its own broken arm off. The sound was indescribably chilling. There was a large splash of blood, and he prepared to throw it.
I couldn’t stop it. He tossed the arm with unimaginable speed, and it hit me square in the stomach. I doubled over and fell on the ground, but I could still see what was going on.
Cain rushed the creature. Joshua tried to stop him, but Cain was too fast. He took a running leap and drove his sword into the Stitcher’s forehead. With an ear-piercing wail, the Stitcher twitched uncontrollably until he fell to the ground. Cain stabbed it in the head a few more times for good measure.
By now, I was able to get back on my feet. “Everybody!” cried Cain. “For killing innocent people, the Stitcher has paid with his life! You can come out now!”
Slowly but surely, people left their homes to see what was going on. There was a rousing cheer that almost got the image out of my head. Somebody tossed a torch onto the Stitcher’s body, and it burned in the middle of the street. We had done it. We had finally killed the killer. It was more relieving than happy, though. Even though I wasn’t the one who dealt the final blow, I still felt a little bad for the Stitcher. For some reason, I didn’t feel like any of this was his fault.
“Come on, Renn!” said Cain. “Let’s go to the castle. I finally did something my father can be proud of me for!”
I don’t know about that. But, Joshua and I went along anyway. What else would we do? It was too late to return home at this point.
As we entered the castle, Cain was greeted by servants and knights alike. Of course he would be. With treatment like this, it’s no wonder he’s so spoiled.
We entered the throne room. “Father!” said Cain. “I have brought justice to the one who has killed our innocent citizens.”
“Very good,” said King James. “Oh, it’s you two.” He looked at Joshua and I.
“Father, these two helped me out immensely. Without them, I’m sure I would have perished,” said Cain. That was only partly true. He probably would have been fine without us. That is, until Sir Quinn died.
“And what of Sir Quinn?” asked King James. “I trust he made a safe return?”
Cain hesitated. “About that. Father…the Stitcher attacked Quinn. But I avenged -”
“You let one of our best knights die?!” said the King. “Cain, I expected better of you.”
“I’m sorry, father. If there was anything I could have done, believe me, I would have done it by now and Quinn would be with us now,” said Cain.
They argued back and forth for a while. Eventually, Cain talked King James into believing it wasn’t Cain’s fault that Sir Quinn died.
“Well, I am just happy for your safe return,” said King James. “I am also happy that this murderer is dead. I believe there is cause for celebration. We shall have a feast tomorrow evening. Will you two be joining us?”
Joshua spoke up. “Well, I am honored, your Highness, but I’m afraid we -”
“Would love to,” I said, cutting Joshua off. It was only right to stay. Besides, we deserved a little break after going through all that, right?
“Oh, I’m so glad!” said Cain. “Come on, let’s find rooms for you two.”
Staying a night in a castle would be far different than staying a night in the woods. And probably far more terrifying.

Chapter 8: A Bow and a Match

“Hello there, Beasthunter,” said a voice. “Prince Cain has asked you to join him for breakfast. You need to wake up.”
I groggily opened my eyes and realized that I didn’t belong here. I was sleeping in a large bed with what used to be pure white sheets. A servant – probably the one who wanted me to wake up – was standing next to my bed. The sun was shining through a window onto an extravagant table with a bowl of fruit on it. There were no apples in the bowl.
“Hm…Five more minutes,” I said. I tried to recollect the events of the previous night. I’m pretty sure somebody took me to this room, and I just went straight to bed. Either way, I may as well wake up now. I hate losing daylight.
I got out of bed and followed the servant outside.
“Where are we going?” I asked as we walked down the hall.
“Oh, we’re just going to Prince Cain’s room,” said the servant. “It’s right down this hall.”
We wandered into a room that was even nicer than mine. It had a bigger bed,a bigger window complete with curtains, and a bigger table. Prince Cain was sitting at one end of it, and there were two delicious meals that I could smell from the doorway on the table. I sat down and dug in – it had been quite a while since I had an honest-to-goodness meal.
“Good morning, Renn,” said Cain. “How are you finding everything?”
“Mmhmh,” I said. Cain looked perplexed, so I swallowed my food and repeated. “Great, thanks.”
“That’s good,” he said. “I see you like eggs and bacon.”
“Yeah,” I said. “It’s been a while since I’ve eaten like…well, like royalty. Usually my breakfast consists of apples, berries or dried meat.”
“Well, you won’t have to worry about food here,” said Cain. “Honestly, it’s the best thing about living in the castle.”
“Say, where’s Joshua?” I asked. “Didn’t he sleep here, too?”
“He did. He’s probably just still sleeping, is all.”
“You didn’t feel the need to wake him up? You don’t even have a plate of food for him!”
“That’s true, but -”
“Whatever. I’m going to go find him. We need to get home, anyway.”
“You aren’t going to stay for the feast tonight? You said you would, you know.”
“I’ve changed my mind,” I said. “Besides, castles aren’t really my style.”
I left in search of Joshua. As I got farther and farther away from Cain’s room, I realized how mean I must have sounded. I more or less abandoned him. I decided to turn back and apologize, but I realized I had no idea where I was going. Pretty soon, I was entirely lost. There weren’t even other people around. That is, until I bumped into Tristan.
“Oof! Well, if it isn’t the promising young Beasthunter!” said Tristan to me.
“You remember me?” I asked.
“I never forget a Beasthunter’s face,” said Tristan. “Besides, I heard about your assistance with Prince Cain. You’re something of a hero, you know.”
I blushed a little. “Well, not really,” I said. “I didn’t do anything special…”
“Nonsense,” said Tristan. “I’m sure Cain couldn’t have survived without you and your – say, where is that young man? Joshua, was it?”
“About that,” I said. “I went to look for him, but wound up getting lost myself. Could you help me look for him?”
“Of course,” said Tristan. “Right this way.”
We weaved through the hallways of the castle until Tristan led me to a door. “If I remember correctly, your young friend should be in here,” he said.
I opened up the door and saw Joshua laying in bed, snoring away. The sun had probably been up for a few hours, yet he was still sleeping like it nighttime. I shook him awake.
“Huh…wha…?” He was barely conscious.
“Hey there,” I said. “Rise and shine. Come on, we’re leaving.”
“But…but we just got here,” said Joshua with a yawn. “We’re really going home already?”
“Yes,” I said. “So up and at ’em.”
“We aren’t staying for the feast?”
“…Only if you want to,” I said.
“Then we’re staying for the feast,” said Joshua. He blinked and got out of bed. “Where’s Prince Cain?”
Tristan spoke up. “If you wish to see the prince, I’m almost positive he will be in his room.”
“Tristan!” said Joshua. “It’s been a while. How have you been?”
“Oh, the usual,” said Tristan. “Come, let us go.”
Tristan escorted us to Prince Cain’s room. Joshua made idle chat all along the way, telling Tristan all about our little adventure with the Stitcher. I pushed the visions the conversation was giving me out of my head.
“And here we are,” said Tristan. “Enjoy yourselves. And – just between the three of us – make sure Cain has a good time, too. He may not look it, but he does get lonely around here.”
I had never really thought of Cain as a lonely person before. After all, he lived with his father in a gigantic castle, and saw all sorts of servants and knights every day. I, on the other hand, didn’t really know too many people for most of my childhood outside of Joshua and Hinnuck. If anyone was lonely, it would be Joshua and I.
I knocked on the door. Cain called us in. “Hey,” he said. “I see you brought Joshua along.” I noticed Tristan retreating down the hallway. He nodded at me and put a finger to his lips. I nodded back.
“Cain, look. I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier,” I said.
“Apology accepted, but you don’t really have anything to apologize for,” said Cain.
“No, that’s not true. I should apologize for what happened this morning.”
Joshua shook his head. “Wow – how long was I out?” he said.
“Too long,” I said. “But it doesn’t matter. I came back here to tell you that we’re going to stay for the feast after all. But we’re leaving tomorrow morning, okay?”
“Fine by me,” said Cain. “The question is, what do you two want to do until tonight? We have a whole day to work with here.”
I thought about it for a second before coming to a conclusion.
Archery.
Cain escorted me to the training grounds and I had my pick of all sorts of beautiful bows. Of course, I had some nice memories of my own bow, but in the end it just doesn’t stack up against the ones here. I grabbed a nice one and we went outside.
“The targets are over there,” said Cain. “Let’s see if you can hit one from here.”
I calmed down and readied an arrow. There was a lot going on: people were milling about, knights were training, there was idle chat everywhere, and there were archers on either side of me. But I had to calm down and focus. The target was probably something like thirty feet away. I aimed, prayed, and fired.
After I let go, I closed my eyes. “Bulls-eye!” said Cain. “Great job!”
He was right. I let out a sigh of relief. It had been quite a while since I had to hit something so far away.
“Thanks,” I said. “Let’s practice a little more.”
We did, and as I fired a little more, I got a feel for aiming this new bow. “Any chance I could hang on to this?” I asked.
“Well…” said Cain. He thought about it for a bit. “Why do you want it? You already have a bow, right?”
“Yeah, but it’s old and the range isn’t nearly as good as it is on this one,” I said. “So can I keep it?”
Cain was torn. “All right. But don’t tell my father about this. If he thinks you stole it, I’ll cover for you, okay?”
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s go find Joshua.”
“What for?”
“He’s a little rusty too. Hey, maybe you two could spar!”
Cain laughed. “Do you really think he would be able to beat a prince? If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s swordplay. It’s practically the only thing my father is proud of me for!”
There was an awkward silence after that. “Let’s just go find Joshua,” I said.
Joshua decided to spend his day with Tristan. Why he would choose to spend all day inside a dank, smelly room full of dangerous chemicals instead of outside in the sunshine is beyond me, but to each his own. Cain and I made our way to Tristan’s potion-making lab.
“Hey, Joshua!” I said. “How about you spar with Cain?”
“Well, that’s out of the blue,” said Joshua. He was focused on getting some chemical perfectly mixed with another one. I watched as a drop fell from the beaker he was holding. It fell into a jar full of blue liquid, which quickly turned a sickly shade of green. The room began to stink even worse than before.
“Ew! What is it that you’re making?” I asked. “It smells like death!”
“Well, you’re halfway right,” said Joshua. “It’s a paralysis potion that Beasthunters put on swords and arrows. A few drops and some skin contact is all it takes, and you’ve got yourself an easy dinner. Tristan taught me how to make it.”
“Yes, and you did very well for your first time,” said Tristan. “Excuse me, Renn, but you seem to have acquired a new weapon. May I take a look at it?”
“Sure,” I said. I handed my new bow over to Tristan, who scrutinized it for a little while.
“Where did you get this?” asked Tristan.
“Um…I found it laying around?”
“Well, it shouldn’t be,” said Tristan. “This bow and quiver have some special properties to them.”
“Oh?” I said. “What kind of special properties?”
“Well, first of all, this quiver is something given to expert Beasthunters,” explained Tristan. “If you look in the bottom of the quiver, it’s sectioned off. Potions are poured into these sections, and arrows are put in them. The end result is that you get a multitude of potion-covered arrows to prepare yourself for almost any situation.”
“That sounds useful,” I said. “What about the bow?”
“In case you didn’t notice before, the string is actually string from a Spindle Spider,” said Tristan. “It stretches easily, but retains tensile strength quite well. In other words, your arrows have more power and range behind them. And the wood itself is dyed with blood from a Silblod. It’s almost impossible to snap, burn or break. I must say, Renn, you’ve got quite the weapon there.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I didn’t know it could do all that. I thought it was just a really nice bow.”
“It is a really nice bow, but it’s much more than that,” said Tristan. “It’s a Beasthunter’s pride and joy. You can only get one after becoming a top-class Beasthunter. Wherever you got it from, you should put it back.”
“You’re right,” I said. “I don’t really deserve this…”
“Nonsense,” said Cain. “You helped me kill the Stitcher, right? That should be enough.”
“Cain, I don’t think you understand,” said Joshua. “A Beasthunter only gets to be top-class when they’ve slain an incredibly dangerous Beast. The Stitcher wasn’t even a normal Beast.”
“Let’s just drop it, okay?” I said. I didn’t really want to discuss whether or not I deserved something that people have spent their whole lives or died trying to get. I wasn’t even a Beasthunter a month ago. And I really didn’t want to talk about the Stitcher.
“So why don’t you two spar?” I said to Cain and Joshua. “Come on. I’ll be watching.” Joshua looked at Tristan, who gave him a nod of approval.
“Right,” said Cain. “Let’s go, then. But be aware that I’ll turn you into mincemeat.”
“Yeah, right,” said Joshua. “What, you think you’re better than me when it comes to swordplay?”
“Well…yeah,” said Cain. “Swordplay is kind of the only thing that I’ve done for the past, oh, I don’t know, fifteen years. How about you?”
“Let’s let some things be surprises,” said Joshua. “Let’s go.”
I don’t know who would win in this match. While it’s true that Joshua has a lot of experience, Cain has been practicing his whole life. I guess I would just have to wait and see.
The two of them went into a tent full of armor. Only Cain came out wearing some. Joshua looked the same as ever, save a wrist guard and a different sword.
“No armor?” said Cain. “You’ll be skewered!”
“Only if I get hit,” said Joshua. “I find that armor slows me down.”
“Well, your loss,” said Cain. “But just to be safe, why don’t we use blunt swords?”
“Nah,” said Joshua.
Cain chuckled. “You really are stupid, aren’t you? Well, if you get wounded, it’s your own fault. Come on, let’s spar.”
The three of us arrived at a relatively open space. “Are you two ready?” I said. “3…2…1…go!”
Cain immediately lunged at Joshua. Joshua kept his wits and sidestepped the attack. Before Cain could do anything, Joshua had already made a counter strike. This would have been the end of it, if it wasn’t for Cain’s shield. There was a clang of metal and the fight continued.
The two of them exchanged blows for a while. Cain would strike, and Joshua would parry. Joshua would strike, and Cain would parry or block. But as the battle dragged on, it became clear who the victor would be. Cain’s movements had gotten sluggish, and Joshua had only slowed down a little bit.
“Need a break?” said Joshua as he dodged a wide slash.
“I’ll just break you!” exclaimed Cain. He turned around to come face to face with Joshua. In a flash, Joshua had struck at Cain’s sword, sending it flying. Cain got into a defensive stance with his shield.
“What now?” said Joshua. “Are you just going to block all of my hits?”
“That’s the plan,” said Cain. “Would you prefer it if I got myself skewered?”
“No, not really,” said Joshua. “But good effort, anyway.”
“What do you mea-”
Joshua tumbled between Cain’s legs and put his sword tip on the back of Cain’s neck. “This is what I mean,” said Joshua. Cain fell to his knees and put his hands up.
“Fair enough,” said Cain. “Congratulations. You’ve beaten me.”
“Thank you,” said Joshua, “But I didn’t win anything. If I wore armor or you didn’t, I’m sure you would have won.”
“I think you both did well,” I said. The fight was over – it shouldn’t continue after a victor had been decided.
“Thank you, Renn,” said Cain as he got up. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go wash up. Tonight’s feast is almost upon us.”
“I should go, too,” said Joshua, even though he hadn’t broken a sweat. “I wouldn’t want to stink up the place.”
“Right. Let’s go,” I said.
I was pretty hungry.

Chapter 9: Water Lily

The feast was glorious. In fact, it had probably some of the most delicious food I had ever eaten. Unfortunately, there were a few things I didn’t like about it.
First of all, I had to use table manners. Now, I’m all for politeness, but when food like this is placed in front of me, I want to eat it. I don’t want to go through a whole song and dance about it.
Second, I had to make idle talk to strangers. Not only strangers, but rich and powerful strangers that could kill me if I offended them. The thought was terrifying. Fortunately, comments such as “Isn’t this wonderful?” and “How are things going in your kingdom?” would get them going, and I wouldn’t have to say another word for a good long while.
Finally – and this was perhaps the worst part of it – I had to dress up. I had only “dressed up” once or twice as a child. Then, it was kind of fun. Now, it’s more or less the equivalent to an iron maiden. I couldn’t breathe, pins were scratching at my back, and I could barely walk in heels. But at least I got some nice compliments.
All in all, though, it wasn’t anything special. In fact, it was rather boring. At least the food was good.
After the feast was over, I retreated to my room. I got out of the ridiculous thing that passed for clothing around here, slipped into my regular clothes, and promptly fell asleep.
Unlike last time, there was no servant to wake me up. I had no idea how long I had slept. I went out to go find Joshua so we could leave.
Unsurprisingly, I found myself lost again. I asked a servant where the guest room was, but he merely led me back to the one that I slept in. Frustrated, I set out again in search of Joshua’s room. Or Cain’s. At this point, I’d be happy to find either one of them.
Somehow, I managed to stumble my way into Joshua’s room. He was awake, and sitting on the edge of his bed, facing the window.
“Hey, Joshua,” I said. “Are you ready to go?”
He looked in my direction. “Give me a sec,” he said. I couldn’t see what he was doing over there, but it looked like he was tying the sheets around himself.
“Joshua, what are you – oh.”
It looked like yesterday’s sparring match didn’t go quite as well as Joshua was hoping it would. I don’t know how I missed it, but there was a large gash across his stomach that had clearly been made by a sword. As he ripped the fine, expensive sheets into bandages, they turned from white to red. It was a good thing Joshua knew about medicine. I’d worry about him, but this wasn’t the first time he had been injured.
“Fix yourself up and let’s get going already,” I said. “I don’t have all day.”
“All right,” said Joshua. “Next time you get a giant cut in your stomach I’ll remind you to hurry up.”
“Oh, you big baby,” I said. “I can barely tell you were scratched.” That wasn’t true, but at least the cut wasn’t deep.
Cain walked in. Joshua did his best to cover up his stomach as quickly as possible.”What’s going on here?” asked Cain.
“N-nothing,” said Joshua. “Could you please leave for five minutes?”
Cain looked at me and then back at Joshua. “Whatever for? Come on, you two have to be going home, right? Renn said so herself.”
“That’s true,” I said. “But give the guy a second, would you? He’s badly in-”
“-sisting that you leave,” finished Joshua. I almost forgot – if Cain found out that Joshua had been cut, we would never hear the end of it.
“Well, all right then,” said Cain. “Renn, will you come with me for a second?”
“Sure,” I said. Once we were outside of Joshua’s room, he asked me a question. “Renn, what did you do with that bow? The one they give to top-class Beasthunters?”
“I put it back where it belongs, of course,” I said. “Why do you ask? You don’t seriously think I deserve it, do you?”
“What I think isn’t important,” said Cain. I would like to immortalize those words on a tablet, but Cain continued on. “But the bow is missing.”
“Well, that’s not my problem, is it?” I said. “Search my room. Search my stuff, if you want. But I didn’t take it.”
Just then, Tristan came up to us. “Ah, Renn,” he said. “I was looking for you.” Tristan was holding the bow.
“Tristan?” I asked. “What are you doing with that?”
“Take a look,” he said.
“I don’t see anything different,” I said as I examined the bow.
“That’s all right,” said Tristan. “But look here.” He pointed to an intricate carving on the bow and the quiver. As I looked closer, I noticed that it was a flower blossom.
“It’s a beautiful flower,” I said.
“It’s more than that,” said Tristan. “This flower here is a water lily. In fact, it’s your namesake. Interestingly enough, the first Queen of Fenheim rather liked water lilies, and in fact, they are a part of the Three Flowers. Do you know of them?”
“No,” I said. “I’ve never heard this before.”
“Oh boy,” said Cain. “Settle in for a history lesson.”
“The Three Flowers were a group of flowers that are said to cure any illness,” said Tristan. “The first Queen sacrificed herself to a Beast to save the kingdom. She was eaten by the Consumer of Kingdoms, a Beast that has not been seen here since her death. But from the pictures I’ve seen, it was a rather monstrous Beast.”
“So what does that have to do with flowers?” I asked.
“Well, when the Queen died, the first King was in anguish. He didn’t know what to do, and his daughter was sick. But he saw a vision of his wife, and set out on a journey. He found a water lily, a white rose, and some other flower that no botanist has been able to identify. He brought these three flowers to the Princess, and ground the petals into a powder. After drinking this powder, the princess was saved.”
“So my name means one-third of salvation?”
“In a way, yes,” said Tristan with a chuckle. “But water lilies more commonly represent peace of mind. The white rose is often used to represent peace of spirit, and the Third Flower represents peace of body.”
“And when you bring these things together, you can cure anything, right?” I said.
“Right,” said Tristan. “More or less. But nobody even knows what the Third Flower looks like, and nobody here has seen a white rose for over one hundred years. So if you’ve got any plans for bringing people back to life, scratch them.”
“Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning on it,” I said. “So I’m supposed to have a peaceful mind? Well, if that’s the case, I was misnamed.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” said Tristan.
“Well, whatever,” I said. “So what compelled you to carve that water lily into the bow?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” said Tristan with a chuckle. “It’s a gift to you!”
“Wait, why? I don’t deserve it!”
“I didn’t say you could have it yet,” said Tristan. “But when the time is right, this bow is yours.”
“Well, that’s sort of…stupid,” I said. “What if I die before I become a top-class Beasthunter?”
Tristan was silent. “Then I’ll give it to you posthumously,” he said.
There was an awkward silence before Cain spoke up. “Well, thank you for that, Tristan,” he said. “But we should be going, right, Renn? Or should I say…Water Lily?”
“Cain?”
“Yes?””If you ever call me that again, I’ll punch you.”
“Sorry.”
Joshua wandered out of his room. “Well, look who decided to join us!” I said. “Come on, let’s go.”
The three of us walked to the stables. “There are three horses that we brought, but only two of us going home,” I said. “How are we going to work this out?”
“Easy,” said Cain. “You just take one horse back without its rider.”
“But if we do that, we won’t be able to go fast enough to get home in one day,” I said.
“It seems like the only way,” said Joshua. “Let’s load up the third horse with food and go.”
We did just that. Joshua struggled to get on his horse, but he managed. We said goodbye to Cain, and we were off.
As we entered the woods, I felt a sense of freedom. I could go where I wanted here. It was wild and untamed, and even though it was full of dangerous Beasts, I could fight them.
Joshua seemed to perk up as well. He seemed happier, but he was in deep thought.
As we made camp, he spoke up. “Renn? There’s something I need to tell you about.”
“What is it?”
“Well…it’s about the Stitcher,” he said.
“As long as it’s nothing disgusting, go right ahead,” I said. I really didn’t want to have nightmares tonight.
“Well…that depends, but do you remember his face?”
“Yeah, I do. Now that you mention it, something seemed off about it,” I said.
“And his clothes?”
“Sort of,” I said. “I don’t really want to remember his shirt.”
“How about his pants, then?”
“I do remember those.”
“Does any of it remind you of something?”
“No, not really,” I said. “Why do you ask?”
Joshua looked down. “I think…I think the Stitcher was that villager we saw in these woods.”
I didn’t want to believe it. But the more I though about it, the more I realized that he was right. The face was the same. The hair was the same. The shirt was practically gone, but the pants were the same.
“But…how is that possible?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” said Joshua. “But there’s something strange going on around here.”
That was the truth. “Well, we should get some sleep,” I said. “We need to wake up early and head to the Guild. If it makes you feel better, we can tie ourselves to trees like we did with Cain and Sir Quinn.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” said Joshua. We put out the fire and crawled into trees.
“Good night,” said Joshua.
“Good night,” I said.
Just before I fell asleep, an image of the Stitcher’s face popped into my head. It truly was a horrible sight. I woke up with a start, but there was nothing there. I was going to have nightmares, no doubt about it.
Eventually, I did manage to get to sleep. But when I awoke, I heard scratching at the base of a tree. A badger? Or something else?
I looked down. I really, really wish I hadn’t.
There was a burnt man there, and he was wearing armor. But that wasn’t the worst of it.
He had those stitches over his eyes, too.
Not only that, but there was something familiar about him. No time to worry about that, though. I shouted to Joshua to wake up, and struggled to get my bow, which was hanging on a nearby branch. With a lot of effort, I managed to grab it. I stuffed into the sleeping bag I was in and reached for my quiver.
By this time, Joshua was awake and aware of what was going on. “Renn!” he shouted. “I’ll be right there!”
“No, don’t climb down!” I said. “It’ll get you!”
Joshua started to climb down anyway. The thing below me started to climb up the tree. I guess it got a foothold. But I still needed to get my quiver. As I reached for it, I bumped it out of its branch, and all the arrows save one tumbled on to the ground.
One was enough. I readied my only chance at surviving this, and prepared to fire. One chance, I thought to myself. You get one chance.
I heard the thing getting closer and closer to me. I pulled back even harder on the bow.
I heard the tree branches cracking beneath me.
And then I saw the face.
I got a good look at this abomination before I fired at it. Its entire face was seared off, and there was nothing but blackened and raw skin to cover it. On top of that, there were those eyes and that mouth that I hated so much. The X-shape stitches were somehow worse here than they were on the Stitcher.
But I only saw it for a second, because the force of the arrow I put into its skull was enough to knock it off the tree. I let out a sigh of relief and looked to Joshua’s tree, but the sleeping bag was empty.
On the ground, Joshua was standing over the thing. It was unnaturally sprawled on the ground, and I’m sure it had broken a few bones in the fall. Joshua looked ready to drive his sword into its face, but he hesitated for some reason.
That was a mistake.
The burnt creature grabbed Joshua’s leg. Joshua swung his sword at the wrist, cutting the hand clean off. Even though the arm went limp, the burnt hand was still clutching Joshua’s leg like a vice.
Joshua hobbled away to a safe distance, and the creature picked itself back up again. It was a truly terrifying sight. It lunged for Joshua’s face, but Joshua got there first and plunged his blade into the skull. I could see the tip of the sword exit the head through the back, and the whole body went into spasms before going limp. Joshua pulled the sword out of its face, and looked away.
I clambered down to see what made Joshua hesitate like that. As soon as I got a good look at the thing, I realized why.
This wasn’t just any stitched-up body.
This was Sir Quinn.
I don’t know how, or why, but Quinn came back to life after being stitched up. He must have escaped the funeral pyre and wandered off into the woods.
At the very least, Joshua was right. Someone – or something – was bringing these stitched up bodies back to life.
“That’s…Sir Quinn, isn’t it?” I said to Joshua. “That means you were right.”
“I know,” said Joshua. “I know! But I don’t want to be right. How? How is this possible? There are no Beasts that can bring people back to life, so -”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “It’s out of our control. What we need to worry about right now is getting back to Stag and telling him about it.”
“You’re right,” said Joshua. “I…I just…I feel bad about killing Sir Quinn.”
“You didn’t kill him,” I said. “Something else did. You just prevented his body from killing you.”
“No, that can’t be right,” said Joshua. “There’s no way…is there?”
“The science doesn’t matter right now,” I said. “Come on. Let’s go back.”
“All right,” said Joshua. We packed up and left. Unlike last time, we didn’t have time to give Sir Quinn a proper burial. He was doomed to lay there. Limbs broken, face stitched up, and burnt skin all over. He deserved better, but there was nothing to be done.
When we got back to the Beasthunter’s Guild, there would be a lot to tell.

Chapter 10: The Shifter

“Stag!” Joshua and I burst into the Beasthunter’s Guild. “We need to tell you something!”
“Whoa, slow down, you two,” said Stag. “We’ve got a crisis over here.”
“What’s wrong?” asked Joshua.
“One of our best Beasthunters has been mortally wounded,” said Stag. “And from the looks of it, it was the Stitcher who caused it.”
“But that’s…That’s not possible,” I said. “I watched the Stitcher die. How did he come back to life?”
“Renn, it happened once before,” said Joshua. “There isn’t a reason why it shouldn’t happen again.”
“I don’t know what you two are talking about,” said Stag, “But he’s still coherent, if you want to talk to him.”
Stag led us over to a table with a man on it. It wouldn’t take a doctor to tell that something was wrong with him – he was sweaty, breathing heavily, and clearly suffering from something. But what really did it were the stitches on his face.
Joshua and I went up to him. “Hi there,” I said. “Please tell us what happened,”
He turned to face us. Unlike the rest of the bodies I had seen, his eyes and mouth were still open behind the stitches. He tried to mumble something to us, but I couldn’t hear what it was.
“Could you repeat that?”
“It…waf…a…mmph,” said the Beasthunter. “It attaf’d mm. I tmfhed to stuff it, but I couldn’t mmph away.”
“I think he’s trying to say something attacked him, but he couldn’t get away,” said Joshua. “Go on.”
“It stmphed my face. It waf fary,” said the man.
“It stitched his face, and it was scary,” said Joshua. “What did it look like?”
“It had a ffider body, wif a…a…”
“Come on, stay with me,” said Joshua. “A spider body, with a what?”
“A…human face,” said the man. I saw his eyes close behind the stitches in his face. He stopped moving.
“Let me take care of this,” said Stag. He picked up the deceased Beasthunter, slung him over one shoulder, and began walking outside.
“Hold on,” said Joshua. “You have to kill him first.”
Stag gave Joshua a bewildered look. “Didn’t he just die a second ago?”
“No,” said Joshua. “At least, I don’t think so. Check his pulse.”
Stag put to fingers to the man’s neck. “No, he’s definitely dead,” he said. “We all saw him die.”
“Just trust me on this,” said Joshua. “You have to cut off his head, or do something like that. Otherwise, the body will come back to life.”
Stag glared at Joshua. “Have you been eating strange plants in the woods again?”
“What? No, it’s true. Ask Renn. She’ll tell you.”
“He’s right,” I said. “That’s what we came to tell you about.”
Stag put the man down. “Please, fill me in,” he said.
Joshua tried to explain everything we had seen, and told him all about the Stitcher and Quinn.
“So let me get this straight,” said Stag. “When a body appears with these stitches and isn’t promptly killed, it’ll wander around on its own and attack people?”
“That’s the gist of it,” I said. “But don’t forget about the part where they can survive horrible injuries without slowing down. The only way to kill them is to stab them in the head, as far as I know.”
Stag nodded, and took the body outside. “Don’t follow me,” said Stag. “Nobody has to see this if they don’t want to.” He closed the door behind him.
After a few minutes of worried chatter, Stag had returned. He wasn’t carrying a body.
“Renn, I think we should try going through the bestiary again,” said Joshua.
“You feel free to do that,” I said. “I’m going on a hunt.”
“By yourself?” asked Joshua.
“Yes,” I said. “I need some time to think about everything that’s happened over these past few days.”
“All right,” said Joshua. “I’ll try and dig up some information on this…thing.”
I left the Guild and went into the woods. I didn’t know what I was going to hunt. Whatever came my way, I suppose.
But I didn’t need time to think. In fact, that was probably the worst thing I could do. My best bet would be to just stop worrying about everything that’s happening and just hunt.
I found some tracks. They looked like rabbit tracks to me, so I followed them. But eventually, they ended, and I didn’t find a rabbit or a rabbit hole. I did, however, find a campsite. It looked like it had been abandoned recently – the fire pit was smoking, tents were set up, and there was rabbit meat on a spit.
But it was silent. I couldn’t even hear birds, let alone people. I went into one of the tents.
“Hello?”
No answer.
“Is anyone there?”
Still nothing. I decided to examine the tent. It was made of a fairly high-grade material, and it was large enough to house two or possibly three people. There were two sleeping bags, in this tent, but they were in disarray, as if the occupants were in a hurry.
I exited the tent and went into the other one. There were two sleeping bags in this one as well, but only one was in disarray. The other one had a body in it, but the sleeping bag was covering the face.
“Anyone alive in there?” I asked. The sleeping bag shuddered a little.
Now that I look again, the body in this sleeping bag was very tiny. It didn’t belong to a fully-grown person, unless they were very short. I decided to pull back the cover so I could see who was inside.
It was a little girl. I turned her over to look at her face.
She was still sleeping, but there was something odd about her. First of all, why was she the only one still here? If she was camping out with her family, why didn’t they bring her along? The whole situation was very strange.
“Uh…wha? Where am I? Who are you?” The little girl opened her eyes and looked at me.
“Hello there,” I said. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Where’s everybody?”
I bit my lip. “Your family ran off,” I said. “Something must have scared them away. I’m sorry, but I don’t know where they are.”
“S’okay,” said the little girl. “I know where they are.”
She got up out of her sleeping bag and left the tent. She stretched out and looked at the still-uncooked rabbit.
“Yay, lunch!” She went over to the spit.
“Hey, you shouldn’t eat that. It’s still raw -”
She pulled off a leg and started chomping away. “Don’t swallow that, you’ll get sick!” I said.
I heard a gulp. The girl gave me a smile. “What’s your name?”
“Me? I’m Renn,” I said. “Don’t worry, we’ll find your family soon.”
“Don’t worry ’bout ’em,” she said. “I didn’t like ’em.”
“That’s not very nice,” I said. “When you see them again, you should apologize.”
“You should ‘pologize when you see ’em,” said the girl.
“Why? I didn’t do anything,” I said.
“You’re pretty,” said the girl. “I like you.”
She dropped something. I hadn’t even noticed. She had completely consumed the rabbit except for the bones.
Uh-oh.
“Don’t come any closer,” I said. “You’re…you’re not human, are you?”
“Whassa human?” asked the girl. “Sounds yummy.” She started to walk toward me.
I didn’t have any desire to fire an arrow at her.
That is, until her face deformed into a gigantic mouth.
I was looking at a Shifter.
I should count myself lucky – few people have ever seen a Shifter before, and almost nobody knows what they truly look like. There aren’t a whole lot of them, and they are rarely able to take on human form. That is, unless they’ve eaten one…
I fired an arrow at her stomach. It hit home, but it didn’t do anything at all. If I wasn’t certain before, I was now: this thing was not human.
My only option was to run. I didn’t know very much about Shifters – that was Joshua’s specialty. They probably have a weakness somewhere, but I wasn’t going to stick around and find out what it was.
I wasn’t surprised to hear it give chase. Fortunately, since it was still in a little girl’s body, it was slower than I was. I ran out of its line of sight and climbed a tree.
The Shifter hissed. “Where’d ya go?” it asked. “I’m still hungry.”
From the tree I was in, I could see it changing form slightly. Its skin would change from green to purple to normal, and its arms would switch between regular arms and slimy appendages without hands. If it wasn’t out to eat my brain, it would be a fantastic sight.
But that was besides the point. I had to figure out a way to kill this thing, and fast. I couldn’t hide in this tree forever, and it’s clear that my arrows don’t really affect it much. So what does? It must have a weakness.
I thought and thought, but I kept drawing a blank. My best bet was to just stay as silent as possible and wait for it to go away. But when I thought about it, that would be denying the fact that I am a Beasthunter. I work to protect people, and letting that thing back into the woods alive would be doing anything but. It was getting flustered and wandering around looking for me. I took a second to really think about what was happening.
As far as I could tell, the Shifter only had two forms: its human one, and its regular one. It is probably more than capable of shifting its vitals around in either form, but from what I’ve seen, its Shifter form has a bit of translucency to it. If I could get it to turn into its normal form, I could probably find its heart or brain, and quickly dispatch it.
Yes. This was the best option. The only question is, how do I get it to turn into its normal form? Unfortunately, I had an idea.
I climbed out of my tree. “Hey there! Looking for me?”
The Shifter hissed and charged at me. It was clearly hungry and flustered. I made sure I had my hunting knife concealed in my hand. This plan had about a fifty-fifty chance of working, but I figured I could manipulate those odds a little.
The Shifter was getting closer. I fired one last arrow, just for good measure, but it simply lodged itself in the Shifter’s forehead. A tentacle pulled it out and the assault continued.
I let it grab me. It made all sorts of noises, but it they were mostly happy ones.
“The two of us’ll have lotsa fun together!” said the Shifter.
My hunch was right. As it prepared to turn me into a snack, it transformed into its original form. Fortunately, I was prepared for it, and threw my hunting knife into its gaping maw as hard as I could.
The Shifter roared, and let go of me as it tried to figure out what was happening to its throat. I didn’t give it the chance, and fired as many arrows as I could at its colorful organs that were shifting around inside it. I had no idea what was what, but I was at least doing some serious damage.
At last, it fell to the ground, little more than a dress and a pile of goo full of arrows. But I couldn’t just leave it like that.
I took out everything that seemed to be an important organ and put them in my pack. I’m sure Hinnuck would have a use for them. And the rest…
I found a few flowers and planted them where the remains of the Shifter were.
“Rest in peace, kid.”
I headed back to the Beasthunter’s Guild. I would have to be quick if I didn’t want the Carcass Wolves to get me.
This hunt was a lot different than what I expected.
When I got back, I went over to Joshua. He had pulled almost every book off of the shelf and made an even bigger mess than when we were both researching.
“So did you find anything?” I asked.
“No,” said Joshua. “Did you enjoy your hunting trip?”
“…It was a little more stress-inducing than I thought it would be,” I said. “So what now? We’ve exhausted all of our resources. How are we going to find this Beast?”
“Easy,” said Joshua. “We’re going to Fenheim.”
“What, again?”
“Yes, again. There is a bestiary there that is even greater than this one. In fact, it’s probably the only one better than this one.”
“And you think it’ll tell us more about this…thing?”
“I’m almost sure it will.”
“Well then. We’ll go tomorrow,” I said. “Oh, and one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Don’t ever go into the woods by yourself.”
“Is this going to be a lecture?”
“No. No, just…I don’t want you to die out there. When I was hunting, something came up where I could’ve really used your help. I don’t want either of us – or really, anyone – to be in that sort of situation.”
Joshua gave me a serious look. “Okay. Whatever,” he said. He started cleaning up all of the books that he had strewn about the room. I wasn’t sure if I got through to him or not.
“So are just going to stand there, or are you going to help me clean this up?” asked Joshua.
“Neither,” I said. “I’m going to go home.” I smiled and walked out of the Guild. Joshua could handle a few books. Besides, I needed to see Hinnuck.
I knocked on his door, and he let me in.
“What brings you here, Renn? You should know that Joshua is at the Guild.”
“Oh, I know,” I said. “But I have something to give you.”
“Really? I have something to give you as well,” said Hinnuck. “Come upstairs.”
I followed him into his lab. “I’ll go first,” I said. “Here. I think these are organs from a Shifter, and I thought you could use them.”
Hinnuck inspected them closely. “Where…No, how did you get these?”
“That’s not important,” I said. “But could you tell me what they are, at least?”
“Well, they are Shifter organs, that’s for sure,” said Hinnuck. “But these are from a baby. They aren’t fully developed yet.”
“Can you use them?”
“Well, yes,” said Hinnuck. “But the effects won’t be very powerful.”
“What kinds of potions are they used for?”
“Shifter organs are used in disguise potions,” said Hinnuck. “If you mix a drop of blood into a potion with Shifter organs, then you can temporarily take on the form of whatever you got the blood from.”
“Sounds useful,” I said.
“Yes – but there are side effects,” said Hinnuck. “And with organs as undeveloped as these, they would be very powerful ones.”
“What kind of side effects?”
“Let’s just say you wouldn’t want to drink a potion like this,” said Hinnuck. “You would become trapped in another form forever, and your mind would slowly deteriorate until you went crazy. I’ve seen it happen before, and it wasn’t pretty.”
“Yeesh,” I said. “Then what is your present for me?”
“Well, it’s not as morbid as yours is,” said Hinnuck, “But I think you’ll enjoy it.”
“What is it?”
“Here they are,” said Hinnuck. He handed me a bunch of arrows.
“What are these?”
“They’re arrows,” said Hinnuck. “I thought you were an archer!” He chuckled.
“Yeah, but what do they do?”
“These arrows are very special,” said Hinnuck. “The arrowhead is composed of all sorts of different metals, see? And each one has a different damaging effect depending on the Beast you hit it with.”
“For example?”
“Well, you know about the Bavergund, don’t you? It has a deadly bite, and is usually impossible to take down without a nickel weapon. Fortunately for you, nickel is just one of the many ores in the arrowhead, so you can take them down with ease.”
“Thank you, Hinnuck,” I said.
“Be warned, Renn: these arrows won’t take down everything,” said Hinnuck. “Sometimes arrows won’t work.”
“Not a problem,” I said. “That’s why I have Joshua, right?”
Hinnuck just laughed. “Come and see me anytime, Renn.”
I thanked Hinnuck again and went home. Tomorrow, I would be going back to Fenheim with Joshua. I would probably see Cain again, too.
But that’s a small price to pay. After all, I want to bring the Beast that’s stitching up people to justice, and if going to Fenheim is the only way to do that, then I’ll gladly go.
But for now, I just wanted to sleep.

Chapter 11: Research in the Castle

It was back to Fenheim for Joshua and I. We met at the Beasthunter’s Guild. It was noticeably more quiet than it usually was. I have a feeling people were worried about that Beast running around. I mean, it did kill a Beasthunter, so it must be pretty powerful.
“Are you ready to go?” I asked Joshua.
“Yeah,” he said. “Do we have to take horses this time?”
“Of course,” I said. “If we walk, then more people will die to this thing.”
“Right. I thought so,” said Joshua. He sighed and we walked to the stables.
It didn’t take long to ride through the Great Forest. It was a relatively boring trip – I think Joshua had a lot on his mind. That, or he was just focusing on riding. Either way, we made it to the castle without incident.
“So, where are the records?” I asked.
“Let’s not resort to them just yet,” said Joshua.
“I didn’t think they were a last resort,” I said. “If we aren’t here for the information, what are we here for?”
“Easy. We’re here to talk to the King.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“If we get funding from the King to kill this Beast, then it’ll go a whole lot quicker. If not, well, then at least we tried.”
“I’m game if you are,” I said.
“Let’s go, then,” said Joshua. We entered the castle.
We found a servant and asked for an audience with King James. This was important. The servant led us to the throne room.
“Yes? What is it?” asked the King.
“Your Highness,” said Joshua. “We request your aid.”
“Whatever for?”
“There is a Beast on the loose. A top-class Beasthunter died trying to defeat it. We need help from you in order to kill it.”
“What could I possible provide for you?” said King James. “You’re Beasthunters – killing Beasts is what you do. You shouldn’t need my help for anything.”
“Oh, but we do, your Majesty,” said Joshua. “Like I said before, a top-class Beasthunter couldn’t take this thing down. But, if we had access to proper weapons, we could -”
“What are you suggesting?” said the King.
“I…” Joshua gulped. “No, the whole Beasthunter’s Guild needs your aid. We need you to provide money for weapons.”
“Absolutely not,” said King James. “There is a drought going on in the kingdom, didn’t you know? I have to devote my funds to keeping the people alive with the food we have, and buying food from nearby kingdoms is the only way to do that.”
“But just the other day, you were having a feast -”
That struck a nerve. “You will silence yourself,” said King James. He stood up. “I remember you from last time. You two were the ones who my son went with a few days ago, weren’t you?”
“Yes, that is correct. Your Majesty,” I said. Now that I think about it, we asked him for money then, too.
“Look,” said the King. “I didn’t have any money then, and I don’t have any money now. Leave me be. I have other matters to attend to, you know.”
There was nothing more we could do. It was a shame, but that was just how it was. We bowed and left the throne room.
“Well, it was worth a shot,” said Joshua. “Come on, let’s go find Tristan. I’m sure he knows where the records are.”
We wandered around in the halls for a bit before stumbling into Tristan’s lab.
“Oh, hello, you two!” said Tristan. “What are you doing here?”
“Look, we don’t really have time to chat,” I said. “Where are the records on Beasts kept?”
“Hm…let me see…” Tristan thought for a second. “Ah. Follow me, they’re right this way.”
We did as he asked. Tristan led us through a bunch of hallways, and we seemed to be going down.
Eventually, we came upon two tiny wooden double doors. “Here we are,” said Tristan. He pulled out a key and I was met with the largest and mustiest library I had ever seen.
Despite my preconceived notions of libraries, this one in particular was very impressive. It was gigantic, and there were all sorts of books on countless subjects. There were also beautiful pieces of artwork that went from the floor to the ceiling, and ancient artifacts scattered about. The whole place had a rather timeless feel to it.
“It’s…amazing,” said Joshua. “I’d love to look through it sometime, but do you know where the section on Beasts is? We’re kind of in a hurry here.”
“Of course,” said Tristan. “Go down that way, and take a right as soon as you can. It’s the fourth shelf on the left.”
“Thanks,” said Joshua. He ran off. I didn’t really want to follow him.
“Renn, aren’t you going to go do some research with your friend?” asked Tristan.
“That’s not really my specialty,” I said. “Besides, Joshua prefers to do things like this alone.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” said Tristan. “You should go join him. For his sake.”
“Well…all right,” I said. It’s better than risking running into Cain, I guess. I went down the same way that Joshua did and found him reading a book already.
“Renn, check this out! There are all sorts of Beasts here that I’ve never heard of! Have you heard of the -”
“I’m sure I haven’t,” I said. “Come on. We’re looking for a Beast that brings the dead back to life, and stitches up faces. That shouldn’t be too hard, right?”
Wrong. I lost track of how much time had passed since we came down there. All I knew was that I was hungry.
“Joshua, I’m going to see if I can’t find something for us to eat.”
“Mm…yeah, sure,” said Joshua. He interest was in a book. I had to get out of there – the library was getting to me. It was a little too…indoors for me. I stepped outside and was met by more hallways. I really needed to get outside.
I went upstairs and found a window. To my surprise, it was dark already. Joshua and I had been down there all day…with nothing to eat. I needed some food, and fast.
And the best way to get free food around here was through Cain.
I sighed. If it meant food, I guess I had no choice. I found the prince’s room and knocked on the door.
“Enter,” said Cain. He sounded different than when he was talking to me or Joshua. He was stern, and confident. It was a little unusual, actually.
I went inside. “Hi.”
Cain dropped the book he was reading. “R-Renn? What are you doing here?”
“To be honest? Looking for -”
“Looking for me? That’s so sweet of you! But you know, I’m a little busy right now. You really came all the way from Galefryn just to see me, huh? Well, the least I can do is give you something to eat.”
Yes, please. I practically tackled the bowl of fruit that was on the table.
“Whoa! Slow down there, Renn, or you’ll get a stomachache!”
I swallowed. “Right, because I don’t have one already from hunger.”
“Well, it’s your stomach, not mine,” said Cain. “But I would feel better if you slowed down a little.”
I hated to admit it, but Cain was right. I finished off a handful of grapes and stopped. Besides, I needed to bring some down to Joshua.
I grabbed the bowl and headed for the door. “Bye, thanks for the snack,” I said.
“Hold on a second!” said Cain. “Why are you even here? Don’t tell me it’s because you wanted something to eat besides apples.”
“No,” I said. “I came here with Joshua to research the…” I remembered that Cain was the one who killed the Stitcher in the first place, and that he didn’t know about Sir Quinn yet. “…The Stitcher.”
“Whatever for? He’s long dead,” said Cain. “I can confirm that.”
“Yeah, well, it’s a little complicated,” I said. “I bet Joshua could explain it better than I could.”
“Oh, so Joshua’s here, too?” Cain looked a little sad.
“Why don’t you come downstairs and join us, Cain? It’ll be fun.” That was a lie.
Cain thought about it. “Sure, I don’t see why not,” he said. “I suppose it could be fun. Where are we going?”
“Oh, just to the records near the bottom of the castle.”
“Great. More reading.”
“Thank you. Finally, somebody around here appreciates my taste in, well, not reading.”
“Much obliged,” said Cain. “We should go down there, though. I bet that’s why you wanted to bring the food, huh?”
“You got it,” I said. “Let’s hurry.”
It didn’t take nearly as long to get there when Cain was with me. He knew the castle just as well as Tristan did, but he wasn’t as slow. He was practically skipping down there. Servants were giving us rather odd looks.
Finally, we arrived at the old doors again. Cain opened them. “I can’t believe you just left Joshua down here to rot,” said Cain. “Nobody ever comes down here, you know.”
“We do,” I said. “Come on, let’s just find him and give him something to eat.”
We found him asleep in a pile of books. From the looks of it, he couldn’t take researching anymore. “Hey there,” I said. “Wake up. I brought food.”
Joshua slowly opened his eyes. “Renn…I…I actually found something! And is that a tangerine?” He grabbed it and started to eat.
“What did you find?” I asked.
“Oh, Cain, you’re here too,” said Joshua. “Well, it was only a matter of time before you showed up.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing, nothing,” said Joshua.
“Just tell me what you learned down here already,” I said.
“Right,” said Joshua. “Take a look at this.” He pointed to a page.
“This ancient Beast was known as the Poppet,” I said. “It killed its victims by stitching up their faces. After the body died, parasites in the brain would bring it back to life. The Poppet’s victims – more commonly referred to as Marionettes – would then hunt more prey. The only way to stop a Marionette is to destroy the brain.” Yeesh.
“So basically, the Stitcher that I killed…” Cain trailed off.
“That’s right,” said Joshua. “What you fought was nothing more than a Marionette. The real deal is still out there somewhere.”
“There’s more,” I said. “While few have seen the Poppet, those who have say that it has a human’s upper torso and a spider’s lower one. It is large, but quick. Nobody has seen a ‘King’ Poppet before – only Queens and Marionettes.”
“Gross,” said Cain. I had to agree with him on that.
“Needless to say, this is unlike any Beast out there today,” said Joshua. “Normally, Beasts either eat humans or don’t bother them. This one…it just seems to torture them.”
“There must be a reason it does what it does,” I said. “How else would it survive?”
“Speaking of that,” said Joshua, “Why has one reappeared now? What happened to all the rest of them?”
“Who knows?” I said. “That doesn’t matter now. We have to find a way to stop this thing. Does it have any weaknesses?”
“I couldn’t find any,” said Joshua. “But we should take this information to Stag anyway.”
“Right,” I said. I grabbed the book and put it in my bag.
“Hey – that’s castle property!” said Cain. “That’s stealing, you know.”
“Oh, who cares?” I said. “You said it yourself – nobody comes down here. Besides, we’ll return it if you want it back.”
“…Fine,” said Cain. “Let’s just go already.”
“Of course,” said Joshua. “Let’s…wait a second. Cain, you’re not coming with us, are you?”
“Sure I am,” said Cain. “If we head out right now, my father won’t have a chance to yell at me!”
Joshua just shook his head. “If that’s what you want,” he said. “Get a horse and let’s go already.”
“Right behind you,” said Cain.
The three of us walked as quietly as we could. Eventually, we managed to sneak over to the stables. This would have been fine…but Joshua’s horse wasn’t quite ready to be woken up in the middle of the night.
It whinnied, alerting everyone to our presence. That was our cue to get out of there as fast as possible. Fortunately, two Beasthunters and a prince were faster on horseback than a single stable servant on foot was. Cain tossed him a gold piece and put a finger to his lips. Everything was going well, but it was too dark to get very far in the forest.
We made it about halfway through before we were forced to stop. “I hope you didn’t bring meat this time,” I said to Cain. He just smiled and tossed me a tangerine.
“Enjoy your meat-free dinner,” he said with a grin. “After that, let’s all get some sleep.”
“No, let’s not all get sleep,” I said. “We need to post watches.”
“Of course,” said Cain. “I’ll post the first one, then.”
“Sure you will,” I said. “What do you know about staying up late?”
“Plenty,” said Cain. “I may find them boring, but I have been on hunting trips of my own, you know.”
“Great,” I said. “Then I’ll just be getting some sleep over here.”
“All right. Good night, you two,” said Cain. “You won’t have to worry about a thing while I’m on guard.”
That was so corny it hurt. At least it pushed the thought of dying to a random wild creature in the middle of the night to the back of my head.
It wasn’t very long before I fell asleep. And it wouldn’t be very long until I woke up again.

Chapter 12: The Risks of the Forest

I woke up with a start. I had a bad dream, but I couldn’t remember what it was. Either way, the sun was shining through the leaves in the trees, making tiny rays of sunlight all throughout the forest. It was pretty late in the day by now. I sat up in my sleeping bag. Cain was sitting up. He must have switched off with Joshua and let me sleep.
I walked up to him and tapped his shoulder. He didn’t move. I gently shook him. He still didn’t move. I sighed and slapped him upside the head.
“Ow! What was that for?” asked Cain. He looked at me groggily. But the way he looked at me showed…fear.
“What is it?” I asked. “Is something wrong?”
“Well, my head hurts,” said Cain, “but other than that, I’m fine. I must have fallen asleep while watching.”
“That’s your own fault,” I said. “You should have woken me up, you know.”
“Well…I didn’t really want to disturb you,” said Cain.
“You’re not so different from Joshua, you know that?”
Cain winced. “Hey there,” he said. “I’m a prince, you know.”
“Speaking of, where is Joshua?”
“I don’t know,” said Cain. He looked around for him. “Did he run off that way?”
“Well, you were the one on watch,” I said. “Then again, you did fall asleep. Come on, we’re not leaving him here alone. Let’s find him.”
Cain headed off in a direction. I headed off in another one.
As soon as Cain was out of sight, I heard him.
“Oh no,” he said.
“What is it?” I ran over to see what he was talking about.
“No…it…no…there’s no way…”
I couldn’t form a coherent sentence.
“Joshua’s a Marionette.”I couldn’t bear to look at him. I couldn’t look at my friend when he was like this. But the glance that I got was more than enough. His face had been stitched up, just like the countless other victims.
“Wait, Renn,” said Cain. “He’s still breathing.”
I forced myself to look again. It was true – Joshua’s chest was moving up and down.
“He’s…alive,” I said. “Come on, we have to get him back!”
“What are you talking about?” said Cain. “Back where?”
“Back to Hinnuck,” I said. “He’s a healer and a potion-maker. If anyone can fix this, he can. But we have to hurry.”
We put Joshua on a horse and rode off to Hinnuck’s house. The trip probably didn’t take as long as I thought it did, but it seemed to take an eternity. While we were riding, I constantly checked back to see how Joshua was doing. We tied him to the saddle so he wouldn’t fall off, and he was doing surprisingly well.
“Don’t worry,” said Cain. “We’re almost to Galefryn.”
It was true. We arrived there in less than an hour, and got Joshua to Hinnuck’s house. I didn’t bother knocking.
“Hinnuck! Come quick!”
Hinnuck came downstairs from his lab. “What is it, Renn?”
“Joshua…he’s…” I couldn’t bring myself to say it.
Hinnuck saw Joshua’s face. “My,” he said. “That can’t be good.”
“Here,” I said. I pulled out the book we had gotten from the library and explained about the Poppet. “Can you do anything to save him?”
Hinnuck thought for a while before coming up with something. “Renn…if you want to save Joshua, then I need the brain of a Trehorm.”
“Done,” I said. “Where can I find one?”
“It’s not that simple,” said Hinnuck. “A Trehorm is one of the deadliest Beasts known to man. A single drop of its poison can kill dozens of men.”
“I don’t care what it does,” I said. “Where can I find one?”
“There’s a very good chance you’ll die,” said Hinnuck.
“Where can I find one?”
“I knew a top-class Beasthunter who has died from a Trehorm bite.”
“Where can I find one?”
“You’re not going to give up, are you?”
“No.”
“That’s the girl I know,” said Hinnuck. “All right. I’ll tell you. But be careful.”
“I will,” I said.
“A Trehorm is a giant snake. When I say, giant, I mean giant. It’s longer than you and Prince Cain – hello, by the way – put together, and thicker than a tree. It could swallow either one of you easily…I’m sorry, but what is the prince doing here?”
“Don’t mind me,” said Cain. “I was in the neighborhood when it happened.”
“Whatever you say,” said Hinnuck. “Anyway, Trehorm. Giant snake with deadly poison. Oh, did I mention it has three heads?”
“I think you left that little detail out,” I said.
“Right. It has three heads,” said Hinnuck. “All of them are full of deadly toxins. Don’t get bitten. And if you want to kill it, you have to kill all three of its heads. If you don’t, the head will grow a tail and separate itself from the main head. Make the same mistake twice, and you have three one-headed Trehorms to deal with.”
“Got it. Three heads, kill ’em all, don’t hurt the brains. Is that right?”
“Yes. I really only need one brain, though,” said Hinnuck. “It has healing powers, and it’s probably the only thing that can save Joshua at this point.”
“You still haven’t answered my question,” I said. “Where can I find one?”
“Right,” said Hinnuck. “They live on the edge of the Great Forest, toward the Tar Swamps.”
Lovely. The Tar Swamps were, well, swamps full of tar. It’s hot and there isn’t much life there. Except for the Beasts too vile to inhabit the Great Forest, that is.
“All right. I guess I’ll be on my way, then.”
“You’re leaving for them at this hour?” asked Cain.
“Well, yeah. Joshua isn’t going to heal himself.”
“Fair enough,” said Cain. “Will we be able to make it there before nightfall?”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I know a shortcut.”
“We best be off then,” said Cain.
“We?”
“Yes, we. I’m not letting you go there alone.”
“I can handle myself.”
“Right. I’m coming with you.”
“What if something happens to you? You’re the prince. What would the kingdom do without you?”
“I mean less to the kingdom than you do,” said Cain. Ouch. I’ve never seen him so humble before.
“Thanks, but you’re not going,” I said. “I can handle this.”
“What are you going to do to stop me?”
“…Fine. If you want to come along so badly, then get going already.”
Cain smiled, and we were off. Now I would have to watch his back as well as my own.
As we left the edge of the forest and got closer to the swamps, I could feel the life getting farther and farther away. The sun was beating down, trees were dying, and there were no birds or other woodland creatures. There were all kinds of insects. And these particular ones liked to bite. By the time we got out of this, we would be itching for days.
Other than the bug bites, we made it safely to the Tar Swamps. Now came the tricky part: finding the Trehorm.
“So where should we start looking?” asked Cain.
“Not the swamps,” I said. “See that white thing over there? That’s a bone. If you fall in, you’ll get stuck, and if I can’t pull you out, then you’re done.” Cain took a step back from the swamp.
“Well, where else is there to look?” asked Cain.
“We could try the nearby woods,” I said. “The trees there are fairly decayed, but a giant snake could live there.”
“That’s better than nothing,” said Cain. The more I looked at him, the more he looked out of place. His blond hair and purple cape just didn’t mesh well with the browns, yellows and blacks of the swamps. He shouldn’t be here; he should be in the castle.
I called out to him as he turned over a rock. “Are you expecting a giant snake to be under a rock that size?”
Spiders, millipedes, and other insects scuttled out from the rock. Cain promptly dropped it. “You never know,” he said.
I found a big, hollow log. I looked through it, but I couldn’t see any giant snakes. I did find more bugs, though. They seemed to be about the only life here.
As I looked up, I proved myself wrong. Birds were circling over something on the other side of a small tar swamp.
“Over there,” I said. “There’s something over there on the other side.”
Cain looked at me. “Renn? There’s something here, too…”
Whatever was on the other side of the swamp wasn’t what we were looking for. Cain had stumbled into a Trehorm.
“Run!” cried Cain as he dashed past me. I quickly followed. If we could get to the woods, where there were more trees, we might stand a chance.
I remembered those arrows that Hinnuck got me. Maybe they would be of use here. As soon as I got my breath back, I drew one and fired at the Trehorm.
I hit. The thing roared, but there wasn’t much change in its attitude. Apparently, one arrow wasn’t enough to take down a ten foot long snake. Fair enough.
Cain, on the other hand, felt like attacking the Trehorm head-on was the best course of action.
“Cain, don’t -”
I tried to stop him, but he cleanly sliced off one of the Beast’s heads before I had the chance.
Watching the body grow out of the severed head was…odd. And terrifying. Because now, we had two giant venomous snakes to deal with.
“Defend yourself from that one,” said Cain. “I’ll keep this one busy!”
I fired an arrow at the smaller snake. It turned to look at me, and slithered over before I had a chance to ready another arrow. I kicked up some dirt in its face to slow it down, and retreated to fire at it.
My arrows were probably effective, but only if they hit. A one-headed Trehorm is a lot smaller than a three-headed one. I repeated the same strategy until I got a hit in. Unfortunately, it didn’t do much. The small snake hissed and continued its attack.
It must have a weak point. I tried to fire an arrow into its mouth. I got it in on the first try – lucky. But it didn’t do anything.
That was strange – normally, on tough-skinned Beasts, their mouth is their weak point. I suppose it made sense – what if the Trehorm bit itself? Since that didn’t work, I had to think of a new plan.
I only had one idea left – hit it in the eye. That was the only way. I fired an arrow, but I missed. Its eye was only about the size of a coin, and it was moving at an incredible speed. There was no way I could hit it.
There must be a way I could slow it down. That would be my only hope.
I had an idea. I ran away as fast as I could toward the swamp. I stood on a little cliff and taunted it. The snake charged at me.
It came at me fast, but I was faster. Just before it bit me, it tumbled over the cliff and fell face-first into the swamp. I tugged on its wriggling tail, but I couldn’t pull it out. Eventually, the tail stopped moving entirely.
Well, that was one brain wasted. I could only hope Cain wasn’t dead yet. I ran back to help him out.
He was in quite the predicament. While I was dealing with my own problems, the two-headed snake has split again. Both heads were circling him. They attacked at the same time. There was nothing I could do.
Fortunately, Cain was quicker than they were and stepped out of the way just in time. The two snakes bumped into each other. That was my chance.
“Cain!” I said. “I’ll distract one! Make sure you get a brain!”
I shot an arrow at one, and it followed me. I guess this head wasn’t any smarter than the one it was next to, because this one fell into the same swamp trap that worked for the first. I ran back to Cain as quickly as I could.
He hadn’t killed it yet. It lunged for him, but he blocked with his sword. I saw the teeth penetrate the cold steel weapon, leaving two large holes in the blade.
Cain took the opportunity to grab both ends of the sword. With the Trehorm by the teeth, there was nothing either of them could do to each other. “Renn, it’s up to you!” cried Cain. “This isn’t easy!”
Cain was pushed back a little by the giant snake. I didn’t have much time to think. I pulled out my hunting knife. I tried to stick it into the snake’s side, but the blade broke in my hands.
“It’s no use!” I said. “There’s nothing I can do!”
“Well, you better think of something fast, or we’re both dead! Come on, I know you can do it!”
I grabbed one of the arrows Hinnuck made me and jammed it into the snake’s side. To my surprise, it actually worked – there must be something in them that Trehorms are weak against.
The giant snake reared back and raised its head high into the air, taking Cain with it. Its tail smacked into me so fast I couldn’t see it.
I flew back and hit a tree. I was losing consciousness quickly. I tried to ready another arrow, but I hit the ground before I could. My head was spinning. The last thing I saw before blacking out was Cain hanging on to his sword for dear life.
“Renn…Renn, are you okay?” I heard Cain’s voice as I came to. When I opened my eyes, Cain was standing over me. He was holding a brain in his hand, and there was a dead Trehorm behind him.
“You…did it,” I said. “But how?”
“Easy,” said Cain. “I broke free of its sword and fell into its mouth. I used my sword to widen the cut you made with your arrow and cut myself out from the inside.”
“You…went through all that?”
“Yeah. It was the least I could do. Come on, we have to hurry.” Cain helped me up and the two of us headed back to Galefryn.
Thanks to our efforts, Joshua had a chance.
Now all we had to do was make it back in time to save his life.

Chapter 13: Elegy of a Beasthunter

I burst into Hinnuck’s house. Cain wasn’t far behind.
“We’re back,” I said. “And we brought brains.”
“Good,” said Hinnuck. “He’s fading fast.”
Cain handed Hinnuck the brain of the Trehorm. “All yours,” said Cain. He shook his hands off. “Hey, does anybody have a towel?”
“Now isn’t the time for joking, Cain,” I said. “Let’s just hope Hinnuck can save Joshua, all right?”
“Right,” said Cain. “It’s out of our hands now.”
Hinnuck was in his lab. Cain and I decided it would be best if we didn’t disturb him while he worked, so we stayed on the first floor.
“Do you think Hinnuck can make it in time?” asked Cain.
“What do you think?”
“You know him better than I do,” said Cain. “Why don’t you tell me first.”
“Well…all right,” I said. “I don’t know Hinnuck as well as I know Joshua. I know he’s very good at what he does. I also know that Joshua is like a son to him. If anything were to happen to Joshua, I know he would blame himself more than anyone else. He’ll pull Joshua through because he can’t live without him.”
“…Fair enough,” said Cain. “I don’t know Hinnuck at all. But if what you say is true, then I think Joshua will be just fine. You don’t have to worry, okay?”
“I can’t help it,” I said. “He was the only kid around here that was my age when I was growing up. We became Beasthunters together. I wouldn’t be where I am now without Joshua.”
I tried to stop them, but a solitary tear got through. Joshua went through so much trouble as a kid. He didn’t deserve this.
Cain wiped the tear away. “Don’t cry,” he said. “Everything’s going to work out, I promise.”
“You can’t know that,” I said. I had to look away. I didn’t want anyone, let alone a prince, to see me like this.
“Come on,” said Cain. “Don’t be like this. Cheer up, it’s not all bad, right? Think positive.”
I appreciated the effort Cain was putting forward, but it didn’t change anything. The truth was, a positive attitude was useless at this point. I had no control over anything that was happening to my friend.
And that was the worst feeling in the world.
The two of us waited impatiently. There was nothing else to do. Eventually, Hinnuck came back downstairs.
“Is he okay?” I asked. Hinnuck gave me a sad smile. His eyes were gleaming.
“I think he’s going to make it,” said Hinnuck. “The potion seems to be working!”
I let out a cry of relief. My friend – my Beasthunting partner – wasn’t going to die after all. I rushed up to see Joshua. Hinnuck didn’t try to stop me.
“Joshua!” I said. “You’re okay!” I did my best to give him a hug, even though he was lying on a table.
“Hey, Renn,” he said weakly. He had marks on his face where the stitches used to poke through. But the stitches were gone now.
“You don’t sound good,” I said. “Don’t worry, you’ll be back on your feet soon. Then we can go get this Poppet or whatever it was called, okay?”
“Renn, look,” said Joshua. “I don’t feel very good. I’m going to pass out again soon. So before I do…I just wanted to tell you…something…” Joshua coughed. From the look of it, he was still recovering. I had to give both Joshua and Hinnuck some credit, though: it’s not easy to survive a brain-eating parasite. If he had to pass out for the healing effect to finish, then that was fine too.
“What did you want to say?”
“Renn…I wanted to tell you…good luck,” said Joshua. “I’m not the only one who loves you.”
“Is that your roundabout way of telling me you love me?”
“Yes,” said Joshua. “I care about you…and…I want you…to be happ…y…” He closed his eyes. I had tears in mine. My friend was going to live.
“Go to sleep,” I said. I hadn’t noticed, but I was holding his hand. I let go and turned around to see Hinnuck and Cain standing behind me.
That was embarrassing. Hinnuck had tears in his eyes, and Cain was looking the other way. I turned back around to look at Joshua.
Something wasn’t right. Joshua’s hand went cold.
“No,” I said. “No, no…”
I watched as the stitches closed over his eyes and mouth again, pulling him away from me. Keeping me from happiness.
“NO!” I cried. But the stitches didn’t go away.
Joshua wasn’t coming back.
“Hinnuck…what did you do to Joshua?”
“Renn, I -”
“What did you do to Joshua?!”
“It wasn’t my fault!” cried Hinnuck. He rushed over to feel Joshua’s pulse. “This…this pulse was fine just a moment ago! He was on the upswing!”
Cain came over. “Renn…don’t look.”
“What are you planning on doing, Cain?”
“Renn…you know what I have to do.”
He was right. I did know what he had to do. In order to keep Joshua from going crazy and attacking people as a Marionette, his brain had to be destroyed. Cain pulled out his sword. The sword still had holes in it from the fight with the Trehorm.
“Don’t look, Renn,” said Cain. I turned away. I couldn’t look.
But I could hear.
I heard the cold steel pierce my best friend’s skull. I heard the spastic twitching that Joshua’s body did on the table.
And then I heard nothing.
That big brain of his…was gone for good.
I ran outside and into my house. I had to cry. And not just a couple tears. I ended up crying myself to sleep.
I woke up in the middle of the night. My stomach woke me up. I hadn’t eaten anything all day, after all. I grabbed an apple and walked outside.
There was enough starlight to see, but there was no moon in the sky. How appropriate.
I sat down on the grass and looked at the stars. What would I do now? I thought to myself. I took a bite of my apple.
“There she is,” said Cain. I looked over to my left and saw him coming toward me. I sat up.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“I thought we could just talk for a bit,” said Cain. “Maybe it would make you feel better.”
“I’d really rather not,” I said. “I just want to sit here. Alone.”
“Come on,” said Cain. “You won’t want to be alone forever.”
“Maybe I will,” I said. “And maybe I won’t.”
“Why don’t you want to tell me about him?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“He was your friend, wasn’t he? There must have been something you liked about him.”
“There were a few things,” I said.
“In the mood to share them?”
I sighed. “You never give up, do you? Fine. I’ll tell you.”
“Great,” said Cain. “Maybe start at the beginning?”
And so I told Cain all about Joshua. “Joshua didn’t have a warm and comforting childhood,” I said. “Both of his parents beat him. Eventually, Hinnuck stepped in and took him away. Funny thing is, Joshua was the only thing keeping his parents together. With nobody else to hit, they started hitting each other. Eventually, they ended up killing each other.”
“Yikes,” said Cain. “That must have been rough.”
“No kidding,” I said. “But Joshua didn’t really like talking about it. I feel like he just wanted to leave his past behind. Anyway, Hinnuck was the head Beasthunter when Joshua started living with him. That’s how he learned swordplay, and why his style is so unique. It’d designed to take down Beasts.”
“I see,” said Cain. “That would explain why he was able to beat me when we sparred.”
“That, or you were just incompetent,” I said. “But that’s not important right now. Eventually, Hinnuck retired and became a potion maker. That’s when Joshua took an interest in Beasthunting, and why he’s so knowledgeable about Beasts.”
“Sounds like he had a full life.”
“Yeah,” I said. “He did.”
We remained silent for a while after that, and just looked at the stars.
“What did you like best about him?”
“What?”
“What did you like best about Joshua?” asked Cain.
“I don’t know,” I said. “He was just a nice guy to spend time with. Sure, he was annoying sometimes, but he cared about others more than himself. He would give his life for somebody. And that’s…that’s why this is so hard to take.”
“What do you mean?”
“He didn’t give his life for somebody else. His life was taken from him. Unwillingly. It isn’t fair.”
“A lot of things aren’t fair,” said Cain.
“And how would you know?”
“Believe me when I tell you that I haven’t exactly had an easy time at the castle.”
“Please,” I said. “You spend all day reading, practicing fighting, and eating. When you’re done with that, you go to sleep in a giant, comfy bed.”
“Is that really what you think I do all day?” asked Cain. He laughed. “It’s not that simple. But I’ll save it for another time.”
“Good,” I said. “Now will you leave me alone?”
“All right,” said Cain. “Look, I hope you feel better. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Why did you do it?” I asked.
“Do what?”
“Kill him. Joshua, I mean.”
“Oh, that? With the sword? What, did you want to?”
“No. But it seemed so…cold.”
“Hey, I was sad to see him go too,” said Cain. “I think if circumstances were different, the two of us would be good friends.”
“You’re probably right about that,” I said. “So are you going or what?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m going. Good night, Renn.”
Cain got up, and I was alone again. Good.
After that little talk I had, I really was feeling better. But I didn’t want to sleep. I took tiny bites of my apple until it was gone. I spent the rest of the night staring at the stars.
As the sun came up, I had reached a decision.
I was going to kill the Poppet.
I went back to bed, but it was a useless effort. It was too bright to sleep now. I grabbed another apple for breakfast and went over to Hinnuck’s.He behind the house, digging a hole.
“Is that really where you want it?”
Hinnuck turned to look at me. “Where do you suggest I put it?” he said. “I don’t think Joshua would mind having it so close to your house, anyway.”
“Fair enough,” I said. “You notified Stag?”
“Yes.”
“Are we going with the traditional Beasthunter sendoff?”
“Yes.”
“When will everything be ready?”
“In about an hour, I’d say. Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
“There are a few things I need,” I said. Hinnuck shrugged, and I went inside.
I went upstairs. Joshua was still there, and he still had stitches on his face. I chose not to look at them too much. I felt around in his bag for the potion Hinnuck had given him. I wouldn’t want to waste that. I also grabbed the book we had gotten from the castle. If I was going to kill this Beast, I needed to know everything about it.
After that, I went back to my house. I needed to get something from under the bed.
Soon enough, people had shown up to Hinnuck’s house. Cain, Stag, and the old potion-maker were the only people I recognized.
Stag spoke up. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “We’re here today to remember a fellow Beasthunter. Everyone here will take something that you’ve come to associate with Joshua, and put it in the grave. In this way, he will have something to remember you by. Who would like to start?”
“I will,” I said. I tossed in a doll that Joshua had made for me when we were kids.
I remember it like it was yesterday. My great-uncle Jenkins had made me a doll for my birthday, but I had lost it. Joshua was set on making one of his own, and tore through Hinnuck’s clothes to find material for it. In the end, I found the original doll, but Joshua’s was better anyway. For the rest of that day, the two of us played with both of them. It may seem strange to some, but that was one of the best days of my life. Of course, Joshua got into trouble the very next day for ripping up all of Hinnuck’s clothes.
“I’ll go next,” said Cain. He tossed in his sword with the holes in it. And probably the same one that he sparred Joshua with.
Stag walked up and tossed a book into the grave. As it flew by, I saw the cover. It was Joshua’s favorite book as a little kid – “The Cloud’s Dream.” I remember the story as well. Basically, it was about a cloud who wanted to live with all of the people down on the ground. He cried and cried, but turned into rain in a lake, which the people swam in and loved. I always thought it was stupid – crying doesn’t solve anything. But Joshua liked it because he thought the cloud had figured out a creative way to get what he wanted.
The old woman we had saved when we tried to become Beasthunters tossed in a potion. She looked at me and smiled. “Without your friend’s help, this potion wouldn’t have been completed,” she said.
Several other people threw stuff in the hole. Finally, Hinnuck tossed something in – Joshua’s sword. It made sense – it was something that had kept him alive countless times, and something that Hinnuck had given to him personally. As his trainer, Hinnuck probably felt like this was the best option. I can’t say I disagree with him.
Stag spoke up. “Has everyone tossed something in? Good. You may all go home if you wish.” People wandered off in various directions. Only Cain, Hinnuck and I stayed. Hinnuck carried Joshua down and put him in the hole. I looked in it. There was so much stuff there, it covered the bottom.
“You two aren’t leaving, I guess,” said Hinnuck. “Anything you want to say to Joshua?”
“I do,” said Cain. “Joshua was a great person. He only wanted the best for everyone around him, and I – nay, the kingdom of Fenheim will be sore from his loss.”
“Very good,” said Hinnuck. “Renn?”
“I…I liked Joshua. Loved him. There, I said it. We did all sorts of things together, and I feel like he had a good run, even though it was short.”
“Joshua was like a son to me,” said Hinnuck. “Despite having a childhood where everyone hated him, he grew to love everything around him. If he was still alive, I’m sure he would say this is too much, but it’s not. If anything, it isn’t enough. He will be missed.”
“Goodbye, Joshua,” said Cain.
“Goodbye, Joshua,” said Hinnuck.
“Good…goodbye, Joshua,” I said.

Chapter 14: Hunting for Caves

Before I went to bed, I read a little bit on the Poppet. Apparently, it lived in caves the last time it was around. It seemed to attack people in the Great Forest, so I might as well look for caves there first. Who knows? I might actually stumble upon something.
The more I thought about it, the more it filled me with rage. This Beast didn’t kill for food, it killed for fun. I don’t know how or why it disappeared for so long, but I’m glad it did.
Eventually, I drifted off to sleep. I had been through a lot lately. It’s been two days since Joshua died, and Cain is still here. He says he’ll stay here as long as he can, but I have a feeling King James is getting a little worried about him. For all the king knew, Cain had been kidnapped. Guards were probably searching through the Great Forest right now looking for him. I hope not – it’s hard to spend two nights in the forest without at least a little expertise in Beasthunting. If anything, at least a few have died by now. It’s amazing how little the king values life. Unless that life happens to be his son’s, of course.
When I woke up, there was a commotion going on outside. It sounded like a fight. I don’t know who would be fighting in Galefryn – especially at this hour. I looked outside my window to see Cain trying to hold off a few guards that were clearly trying to get him to come back home. He didn’t have his sword, but was doing surprisingly well with a broomstick.
I ran outside. “Is there a problem?” I asked.
“Renn!” cried Cain. “Look, something’s come up. I’ll have to see you later. Here’s a little something to remember me by!”
Cain deftly retreated from the guards towards me. Before they caught up to him, he gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. I blushed. Afterward, he let the guards grab him by the arms and drag him away. He gave me a wave before vanishing into the woods.
I was a little mad at him. Why did he have to do that? It certainly wasn’t the time or place. I suppose he did it because he would be at the castle for a good long while, but still…
I shook it off and went into the woods. I figured I may as well see if I can’t get Stag to assign me a new partner. I knew full well it wouldn’t be the same without Joshua, but I don’t want to end up the same way.
“Hey, Stag,” I said. “So I was thinking about hunting that Beast that has been killing everyone recently.”
“The same one that you think killed Joshua?”
“That’s the one,” I said. “And I was wondering if I could have a partner to go with me.”
“Well, that’s sweet, but I’m afraid you’ll have to do this alone,” said Stag.
“Why’s that?”
“Look around,” said Stag. “Do you see anybody here willing to throw away their lives like that? They saw a top-class Beasthunter die to this thing. And it’s not like Joshua was exactly incompetent. If you find somebody who wants to go with you, then more power to you.”
“Why don’t you go?”
“Me? Are you really asking me to go with you?” Stag laughed. “Honestly, I don’t even know why you’re here. I bet you want to do this all by yourself, don’t you? Let me tell you a little story. When I was just a child – younger than you, barely able to fight with a sword – my mother was killed by a bear. I saw it happen with my own eyes. I swore to hunt down and kill that bear with my own two hands. Do you know what happened next?”
“Nope,” I said.
“Some other Beasthunter beat me to it. I felt a small wave of relief – the monster that killed my mother was dead – but more than anything, I felt more anger. All the time I spent training, all the time I spent dreaming of how nice it would be to see that bear dead, none of it mattered. All those emotions of vengeance had no place to go.”
“What are you implying?”
Stag sighed. “I’m ‘implying’ that this is something you need to do yourself,” he said. “If you don’t handle this on your own, you won’t feel any better. Hasn’t there ever been a time when you wanted to do something, but someone else did it first?”
“Well, yeah,” I said. “All the time.”
“And how did that make you feel?”
“Pretty bad, I suppose.”
“Has it ever been over something this dramatic or important to you?”
“No,” I said. “So you’re saying I shouldn’t waste my emotions?”
“…More or less,” said Stag. “Renn, I wouldn’t wish anything bad upon you. You’re a sweet girl. But you have to do this alone, or you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
“I understand,” I said. “Thank you, Stag.”
“Hey, I’m only doing my job,” said Stag. “Now go.”
I left the Beasthunter’s guild. Stag was right, though – this was something I had to do on my own.
I thought about some possible places caves could be. If I remember correctly, there was one only a few hours north of the Guild. I couldn’t remember any others, so I went ahead and scouted it out.
I got there before the sun set. I made a little fire outside the mouth of the cave. I realized that I was unprepared for this – I didn’t bring any sort of potion except for Joshua’s, and don’t have many arrows left. To top it off, my hunting knife was broken. Hopefully, I wouldn’t need it.
I lit a torch, took a deep breath, and went inside. It was normal enough in there. A little soggy and smelly, but it was fine otherwise. A bat fluttered over my head. I looked down and immediately realized why it was so smelly in the cave.
I felt a ray of sunlight hit the mouth of the cave. The sun had set just enough to shine right into the cave, and I dropped my torch in surprise. I put my hands up to shield my face.
Bats. Bats everywhere.
They were clearly the only things living in this cave. There wasn’t anything here other than rocks, bats and poo. I stumbled back outside into the fresh air, and saw hundreds of bats fly out of the cave and into the sunset. I suppose I startled them out of their cave early.
I wiped off my boots, put out the fire, and trudged back home. I hadn’t found anything. At least maybe tomorrow I would have a chance to prepare myself a little bit. I crawled into bed and went to sleep.
The next day, I went back to the guild. There was a rough map of the forest there, and I may as well look it over. I also wanted to see if I could get myself a new hunting knife while I had the chance.
“Oh, Renn!” said Stag. “I was looking for you.”
“What is it?”
“This arrived after you left.” I could hear a few Beasthunters chuckle as he said it. Stag laughed a little himself.
“What? What’s so funny?”
Stag handed me a scroll. The seal was broken.
“Did you guys read this?”
“What? No, of course not!” said Stag. He could hardly contain himself. It was clear he was lying. “Why don’t you read it aloud?”
“All right, fine,” I said. I opened it up and began reading.
“My dearest Renn -” I was cut off by the snickers of Beasthunters. “If you want me to read it, you should shut up,” I said to no one in particular.
“My dearest Renn,
I have long been remiss for your company. I’m going crazy here in this castle. You should come see me sometime soon, or I’ll have to sneak out again.
-Your Prince, Cain”
By the end of it, everybody but me was bursting with laughter. “It’s not funny!” I cried.
“Not funny? Look at yourself, you’re as red as a beet!” cried Stag. Which, of course, didn’t do any favors for the color of my skin.
“You’re all crazy,” I said. I stomped over to the map. If they were going to read it anyway, they could’ve been a little nicer about it.
After scanning the map for a bit, I found another cave that wouldn’t be too far away. But first…
“Stag, are there any hunting knives I could borrow?”
“This isn’t an armory, you know,” said Stag. “A Beasthunter’s knife is his tool. If you don’t have one, you may as well give up on Beasthunting.”
“Well, that’s a shame, because I broke mine hunting Beasts,” I said. “Look, I just need one to be safe. I’ll give it back when I return.”
“A Beasthunter doesn’t borrow a knife,” said Stag. “If you want one, make it yourself or get someone to give it to you. But don’t just treat something so important like a loan.”
“Fine,” I said. “At least you can give me that letter.” I snatched Cain’s letter out of Stag’s hand and wandered off to the new cave. I wouldn’t need a hunting knife anyway. What would I run into in a cave that I would want to cut?
Still, I needed to get a new knife soon. Stag was right – it was a tool, and an essential one at that. The one that I had broken on the Trehorm was probably my third hunting knife. Maybe Cain would be willing to give me one…
But I couldn’t worry about that right now. The sun was nowhere near setting when I got to the cave, so I didn’t bother making camp. I would be in and out of there in no time, and be back by dinner.
I fashioned myself a torch and lit it up. I crossed my fingers and hoped this one didn’t have as many bats.
I was lucky – there were no bats to be found. This cave was fairly small – there was no way a Beast like the Poppet lived here. I sighed and turned around to come face to face with a bear.
He was just as surprised to see me as I was to see him. He seemed upset that something had entered his home. I tried to make a sneaky escape, but he was big enough to block the cave mouth. He didn’t seem hostile – if anything he looked like he had a hard day. He turned around and I saw a large gash across one side.
Even though he was a bear that would kill me and eat my liver given the chance, I couldn’t help but feel bad for him. He was a victim of the food chain. He didn’t do anything to deserve this, right? I sat down next to him and patted his head. He let out a big sigh and closed his eyes.
He was pretty tame for a bear. At any rate, I still needed to get out of there. There was no way I would be able to squeeze past him at this point, so I resigned myself to petting him.
It really wasn’t so bad. I thought about all the reasons why this bear in particular didn’t feel like eating me. Maybe he wasn’t hungry. Or maybe he just didn’t see me as food. I hoped the latter was the case.
I also took a while to just relax. A lot of things had been happening to me lately. Funny that the most stress-free event of them all would be spending a few hours with a bear in a cave.
“You’re a pretty nice bear, you know that?” I said to the bear. “I know a few people who could learn from you.” The bear just grunted and closed his eyes.
I read that letter that Cain had sent me over again. It was a strange letter to send to me. Does he really miss me that badly? What was so special about me, anyway? I haven’t exactly been the nicest person to him. Not that I felt guilt for that.
My thoughts were cut short by the bear raising his head up. “What is it?” I asked. I knew I wouldn’t get a response, but this bear was nicer than some people I knew.
The big bear shambled outside. I followed – As nice as the bear was, I didn’t want to be stuck in there with him any longer than necessary. When I stepped out, I realized why the bear was so anxious.
I was staring at an injured bear cub, and a mother carrying a second cub in her mouth. I had a feeling that one didn’t fare as well.
Something had done this to this family of bears. As they wandered inside, I couldn’t help but feel bad for them. Sure, they were just animals, but their family was ravaged by the forest just like so many others. I was reminded of how harsh the forest could be, even to a bear.
I hurried back. Maybe Hinnuck could give be a new hunting knife tomorrow. At any rate, there were only three more caves to check out. Hopefully, I would be luckier next time.
As soon as I got home, I collapsed on my bed. I didn’t even have time to read any more on the Poppet. It didn’t feel like a very long time before I had woken up again.
I went to go see Hinnuck. I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. I didn’t have a key to get in, and I wasn’t about to break in. It seems I never catch a break…
I went out in search of a third cave. This one, unlike the other two, actually showed a little promise. It was a part of a small bluff, and I couldn’t see inside of it. Maybe this one would be the one.
I went in. The third time is the charm, right?
I couldn’t tell if it was more of a charm or a curse. What I found in there was somewhat disturbing.
The walls and floor of the cave were entirely covered in thread.
I went to go touch some of it, to see what it was made of. It felt sticky, but it didn’t seem to be like giant spider silk.
That was because it grabbed hold of my hand and started creeping up my arm.
I grabbed for my hunting knife to cut away the creeping thread. And promptly realized I didn’t have one. This day got better an better.
If I couldn’t use my hunting knife, an arrowhead would do the trick. Eventually. I slowly hacked away at the thread, and managed to slow it down enough to get free. And then I had a brilliant idea.
I reached for my torch. Surely this stuff would burn, right? Unfortunately, I had dropped it at the mouth of the cave. Even better, it was just outside of my reach. I ran to get it. And – lucky me – fell on my face. The thread on the floor had locked my legs in place. I was stuck. At least I was mostly out of the cave. I grabbed an arrow in each hand and started cutting. It got to the point where I had to get new arrows because the old ones were growing blunt.
This stuff kept coming back. By the time I had gotten free, the sun had set. Perfect – I would be walking home in the dark. I needed to get out of here as soon as possible.
Before I left, I heard something skittering and moving around. I don’t know what it was, but I’m glad I left before it did.
I made it back home in the middle of the night. I lit a candle and started to read a little more on the Poppet. I had a hunch.
“The Poppet makes its nest in cavelike places,” read the book. “It coats the walls in its parasites, which remain dormant until a host large enough or smart enough to contain them arrives at the nest. They act as a sort of defense mechanism for the nest, keeping it safe from intruders. However, they are easily killed with fire or gas.”
I didn’t know how to get poisonous gas, but I guessed Hinnuck would have an idea on how to get fire. If I was going to go deeper into this cave, I would need something better than a torch – I would need hands-free fire. I couldn’t risk having my torch hand getting caught in the thread. Or rather, brain-eating parasites.
I didn’t have any trouble sleeping. Tomorrow, I would talk to Hinnuck. I just had to hope he was home.

Chapter 15: The Flammanin

The next day, I went to go see Hinnuck. I was lucky – he was home this time.
“Renn,” he said. “Come in.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I have an odd request for you today.”
“Really?” asked Hinnuck. He poured himself a bowl of porridge. “Hey, do you want some of this?”
“Please,” I said. “It’s been a while since I’ve had something other than apples.”
“Then be my guest,” said Hinnuck as he handed me a bowl. “Now, what was that request?”
“I need a way of making fire,” I said.
“Please,” said Hinnuck, “You can make fire with the best of them.”
“Whatever you say, but I need my fire to be hands-free. I can’t hold a torch for this job, or anything like that. Can you help me out?”
“I’d be glad to,” said Hinnuck. “Hands-free fire, eh? Now that’s an interesting challenge. Let’s see…” He thought to himself for a second. “Yes, that would do it, but…”
“What would do it?”
“Well, it’s a little risky,” said Hinnuck. “I don’t know if it would work.”
“Try me.”
“Well, all right,” said Hinnuck. “There is a Beast in the Great Forest known as the Flammanin. It resembles a rabbit, but there is a certain trait about it that makes it exceptionally hard to hunt.”
“What’s that?”
“Well…first of all, it has incredible speed. It’s probably one of the fastest Beasts out there. But more importantly, it is sheathed in flame when awake.”
“Sounds like fun,” I said. “So I can’t get too close to it?”
“Right,” said Hinnuck. “But you can’t hit it with arrows, either. It moves too quickly.”
“We’ll see about that,” I said. “And if I bring this thing to you, you can turn it into something that makes hands-free fire?”
“Something like that,” said Hinnuck. “But only one person has ever caught a Flammanin before, and they lived a long time ago.”
“Well, how did they do it?”
“Nobody can remember,” said Hinnuck. “Nobody can even remember who did it. But the records are somewhere, so somebody must have.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” I said. “Oh, and thanks for the meal.”
“It’s a pleasure,” said Hinnuck. “Is there anything else I can do for you, Renn?”
“Wait.” I slapped my forehead. “When I was fighting the Trehorm, I broked my hunting knife. You wouldn’t happen to have a spare, would you?”
“I might,” said Hinnuck. “But you know, you really should have your own.”
“Please, Stag already lectured me,” I said. “I’d rather be safe than sorry. And when am I going to find the time to get a new hunting knife, anyway? Surely Stag knows that, right?”
“He most likely does,” said Hinnuck. “I’ll tell you what. If you can bring me the eye of the Flammanin, I’ll give you a hunting knife. Does that sound like a deal to you?”
“Deal,” I said. It was better than nothing, at least. “So where could I find a Flammanin?”
“Somewhere close to water,” said Hinnuck. “They need to extinguish themselves at some point, right? If you were a rabbit that was on fire half the time, where would you want to live?”
“Good point,” I said. “Thanks. For everything.”
“No, thank you, Renn,” said Hinnuck. “You’re the only one of us who is willing to try to kill this thing.”
“I’m doing this for personal reasons,” I said. “If the Poppet hadn’t killed Joshua, I wouldn’t be much different from any of the other Beasthunters.”
“Fair enough,” said Hinnuck. “Good luck, Renn.”
I went out in search of the Flammanin. If it lived near water, I’m assuming it would live by a creek or river, seeing as the nearest lake is three days away from Galefryn. There was a creek not far from my house, so I decided to walk up and down that one first.
Eventually, I found a rabbit hole. Lucky me. I distanced myself from it, and a rabbit wandered into it. I suppose it wasn’t home to a Flammanin after all.
As I went to head up the creek again, I saw the rabbit dart out of the hole faster than I had ever seen a rabbit move before. As it hopped off into the distance, I noticed its tail was singed. Quickly, I realized that the hole was surrounded by burn marks. I was right in the first place – what else would live in a rabbit hole and burn rabbits out of it?
Before I knew what had hit me, I had fallen into the creek. A quick shake of my head later, I saw the Flammanin. It had flame-orange eyes, and was sheathed in flame as Hinnuck said it would be. I drew an arrow and shot at it. Before the arrow even left my bow, the Flammanin had bounced off of a tree and dove for my stomach. It knocked me into the creek again, and returned to guard its hole. My shirt had a black spot on it where the Beast had attacked.
I was reeling, but I managed to get my footing again. This thing isn’t going to go down easily, I thought to myself. If I was going to beat it, I would need a different strategy. Something unconventional.
Something that Joshua would think up.
Before I had time to grieve again, the rabbit kicked me in the stomach again. I fell back into the creek. I was starting to be thankful for it – I would’ve been burned to a crisp if it wasn’t here.
I tried to shoot the Flammanin again. It was stupid, but it was all I had. This time, it went straight for my head. I barely had time to gasp before moving out of the way. I smelt burning hair. Better than burning flesh, I suppose. Besides, I needed to get my hair cut sooner or later anyway.
Clearly, I couldn’t hit this thing without attacking me. I looked it in the eye. It didn’t really want to hurt me; it just wanted to protect its home. I could care less about the hole, but I did need to kill it. I slowly inched my way out of the creek and to the hole. If I was going to stand a chance against this thing, I needed to do something that would make it angry. I had an idea, but I needed it to make a direct attack at me.
I quickly raised my foot into the air and stomped with all my might onto the dirt next to the hole, causing a pitfall. Before the Flammanin could do anything, its home was destroyed.
Now that it was angry, I prepared for a head-on attack from it. I saw it hop from tree to tree, leaving burn marks every time its feet touched the bark. It was moving fast enough to be a blur of flame, but I was pretty sure it was bouncing so fast it wasn’t touching the ground.
That was my chance. As fast as I could, I grabbed the potion Hinnuck had given Joshua. It was a tiny vial, and I downed it in one swig. I grabbed an arrow with each hand.
As my body processed the potion, time seemed to slow to a stop. I could see the Flammanin making an attack at my head. I readied the arrow in my hand to defend myself. The Beast was fierce looking – it had its teeth bared at me, and I would probably die if I took a direct hit from it. Fortunately, my motor skills as well as my reaction time had improved from drinking the Springalt’s blood. I managed to impale the Flammanin before it had a chance to touch me.
The potion’s effects didn’t wear off quite yet, though. I saw the look in its eyes change from one of rage to one of fear and sadness. I was sad, too. I had used the potion Hinnuck had made Joshua, and I could never take that back. It was useful, of course, but I felt bad about it. I suppose it was better than letting the potion go to waste, though.
As the potion wore off, I saw the Flammanin fly off into the distance. I forgot – I hit it faster than a normal human could’ve ever possibly managed to. It’s no surprise that it went flying off into the creek. As I saw it make a splash, I felt incredibly weak. The world was moving normally again, but it seemed to be moving more quickly than usual. I took a moment to catch my breath – I needed a rest after essentially slowing down time.
I wandered down to where the Flammanin had landed. It was a sad sight – a Beast so rare and powerful had just died pitifully. And I didn’t feel any more power after beating it. Anyone that drank a Springalt’s blood would probably be able to kill one. I picked up the lifeless Beast and wandered back to Hinnuck’s house.
“Hey, Hinnuck,” I said. “How about that hunting knife now?” I put the Flammanin down on the table. Hinnuck came downstairs.
“You actually did it,” he said with surprise. “I’m proud of you, Renn. How did you manage it?”
“I used the potion you gave Joshua back then,” I said. “Remember? You gave me those arrows then, too.”
“Hm,” said Hinnuck. “I was wondering if my efforts were wasted or not. I’m glad to see they weren’t.”
“You’re not upset?”
“Why would I be?”
“That was a present for Joshua, and I used it. It doesn’t feel right.”
“Renn, Renn, Renn,” said Hinnuck. “You used it when you needed to. Joshua would’ve done the same. It’s fine. I would have been more upset if you had wasted it.”
“If you say so,” I said. “Anyway, yeah. Here’s your flaming rabbit.”
“I see it did a number on you,” said Hinnuck. “You’ll be needing a new shirt. And a haircut.”
“Yeah, I know,” I said. “So how are you going to turn this thing into hands-free fire?”
“That doesn’t matter,” said Hinnuck. “But if you must know, I -”
“On second thought, don’t tell me,” I said. “But I’d very much appreciate it if you gave me a hunting knife now.”
“Yes, of course,” said Hinnuck. He pulled out a long, shiny, knife and laid it on the table.
“Is…this your knife?”
“No, no, no,” said Hinnuck with a chuckle. “I would never use something as extravagant as this.”
“It is beautiful,” I said.
“It’s made of orichalcum, you know. The blade is unbreakable and will never dull. Not only that, but the hilt is bound with the leather of a Turgrin. It will never slip out of your hand, and it provides more control over every cut you make. It’s the cream of the crop when it comes to knives.”
“I…I don’t know what to say. Thank you, Hinnuck.”
“Don’t thank me,” said Hinnuck. “Thank your father.”
“Come again?”
“This was your father’s hunting knife,” said Hinnuck. “He went through a lot of trouble to get it. Well, actually, he won a bet, but that’s besides the point.”
“Are you implying…that…that my father was a Beasthunter?”
“You didn’t know?” Hinnuck looked shocked. “Jenkins never told you?”
“No,” I said. I let out a laugh. “I suppose it makes sense, though.” I could hardly believe it. My father wasn’t entirely useless after all.
“Now, you know that I knew your father quite well, didn’t you, Renn?”
I nodded.
“He was actually supposed to be the head of the Beasthunter’s Guild, but I got the job instead. I asked him why he turned it down, and he just said it wasn’t for him. This all happened when you were a baby. He left shortly after that, and never told me why.”
“Great,” I said. “My dad is one of the greatest Beasthunters and one of the worst dads at the same time.”
“I wouldn’t say that -”
“Are you kidding? He left me in the care of his uncle. My mother was dead. I never had the chance to get to know either of my parents.”
“Maybe he didn’t want to put you in danger. Did you ever think of that?”
I swallowed. “Still -”
“He was a Beasthunter, Renn,” said Hinnuck, cutting me off. “What if he died when you got a chance to know him? He thought about how that would make you feel, and decided that he never wanted to put you through that. I don’t blame him for what he did.”
“Then why didn’t he just quit being a Beasthunter?” I asked.
“Renn. Would you ever willingly quit being a Beasthunter?” said Hinnuck.
“You did.”
“That’s different,” said Hinnuck. “I was too old for the job, anyway. Besides, I still help out. That’s beside the point. Would you quit being a Beasthunter if something came up?”
I thought about it for a minute. Would I ever want to give up?
“No,” I said. “What else would I do?”
“Exactly,” said Hinnuck. “Your father had a gift. He didn’t want to waste it. You should give him a little credit.”
“I suppose you’re right,” I said. “I guess I can give him that much.”
“Anyway,” said Hinnuck. “Your father wanted you to have this in case you became a Beasthunter. I was thinking about giving it to you instead of those arrows, but you weren’t ready for it then.
“I haven’t been a Beasthunter for a month yet,” I said. “What’s so different about me?”
“You tell me,” said Hinnuck. “You’re not a little girl anymore, Renn.”
He was right. It had only been a few days, but I had changed a lot. It was strange, but it felt like becoming a Beasthunter was in the distant past.
“Well, if I ever do see my dad again, I’ll thank him for his kindness,” I said. “In the meantime, I’ll thank you for yours.”
“I’m honored,” said Hinnuck. “I should probably get to work on that fire now, yes?”
“Please,” I said. With everything that had been happening, I almost forgot why I was doing this. I needed to burn that cave of parasites. Hopefully, the Poppet would burn with them.
In the meantime, I tried to get some sleep. I would need it for later. But I couldn’t fall asleep after everything Hinnuck had told me.
My father was a Beasthunter.
I will find him. It may not happen soon, but I’ll do it.

Chapter 16: Cain’s Return

I woke up and went to Hinnuck’s house. Whatever he was making, it should be ready by now.
“Anybody home?” I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. As I was turning around to leave, the door opened.
“Good morning, Renn,” said Hinnuck. He rubbed his eyes. “I had a late night.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “Did you finish it?”
“Indeed,” said Hinnuck. “Come in.”
I followed him up to his lab. He picked up a ring with a large jewel in it and gave it to me.
“Thanks, but I wasn’t really looking for jewelery,” I said.
“It’s not just any ring,” said Hinnuck. “This is your key to fire. Put it on.”
I slipped the ring on my finger. “I don’t feel any different.”
“That ring is probably my greatest work,” said Hinnuck. “Let’s go outside, shall we?”
Hinnuck walked me outside. “Now then. Try using it.”
“Try using what?”
Hinnuck sighed. “Do you see that orange jewel set in the ring?”
“How could I miss it?” I said.
“That’s the Flammanin’s eye,” said Hinnuck. “As long as you have that ring on, you should be able to summon fire from your hand whenever you please.”
I didn’t believe it. “Sure,” I said. “And I’ll grow wings and fly if you put a bird’s feather on my finger, is that right?”
“Trust me,” said Hinnuck. “Just try and summon fire from your hand.”
I tried to to what Hinnuck asked, but no fire was coming out of my hand. “It’s not working.”
“Let me try,” said Hinnuck. I slipped the ring off and gave it to him. He put it on and in minutes, he had made a small spark in his hand. It grew into an ember, and was a full-fledged flame in no time.
“Good, it’s not broken,” said Hinnuck. “Do you believe me now, Renn?”
“…Yeah,” I said. “That’s impressive.”
“Give it a try,” said Hinnuck. “I believe in you, Renn.”
I put the ring back on. I focused all of my energy into making a fire in the palm of my hand. I squeezed my eyes shut, but I didn’t feel anything happening.
“It’s working!” shouted Hinnuck. “You’re doing it, Renn!”
I opened my eyes. To my surprise, there was a flame in my hand. Oddly enough, it didn’t burn me. It didn’t even feel warm.
“It isn’t hot,” I said.
“Oh, it is,” said Hinnuck. “It’s no different than a normal flame. It doesn’t burn the wearer, though.”
“That’s convenient,” I said. I suppose it made sense. After all, the Flammanin was able to survive while constantly on fire. “At any rate, this will work for what I need. Hinnuck, I can’t thank you enough.”
“I’m glad to have been a help,” said Hinnuck. “One more thing before you go.”
“Go on,” I said.
“Don’t use the ring for too long,” said Hinnuck. “I don’t know what sort of side effects it has yet. But constantly summoning flames from your hand can’t be good for you, so use it wisely. Can please you do this for me?”
“Of course,” I said. “I understand. Don’t use the crazy ring too much because I could suffer a horrible fate, right?”
“Something like that,” said Hinnuck.
I thanked Hinnuck and left. If I wanted to get to the nest a little quicker, I could take a horse, and to do that, I needed to go to the Beasthunter’s Guild again. I opened the door to see Stag pacing in the middle of the guildhall.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“It’s…nothing, Renn,” said Stag. “Don’t worry about it. Why are you here, anyway? Shouldn’t you be off killing that Poppet or whatever it was called?”
“Yeah, I should, but I’d like a horse. Can you give me one for the day?”
“I’m sorry,” said Stag. “I’d like to, but they’re all gone.”
“What? Again? Stag, you need to figure out how to manage your horses.”
“It’s not that,” said Stag. “I mean they are literally all gone.”
“What? Why?”
“A knight and a few soldiers came by. They said the king needed them more than we did.”
“That’s odd. Did they say why?”
“No,” said Stag. “And there’s something else. Until further notice, the king has ceased funding for the Beasthunter’s Guild. If this keeps up, we’ll have to close down forever.”
“Nah,” I said. “Come on. You’ll pull the Guild through it. If worse comes to worse, we all know how to hunt. We won’t starve.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I don’t plan on letting that happen,” said Stag. “I’m going to see the king. You go off on your quest or whatever you want to call it.” Stag slung his giant sword over his back and walked out of the Guild.
Come to think of it, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen Stag go hunting before. In fact, I’ve never even seen him leave the Guild. When Hinnuck was Guildmaster, he went on hunts all the time. As far as I know, Stag hasn’t been on a single one since becoming Guildmaster. He certainly looked like he could kill Beasts, but I have to wonder just how good of a Beasthunter he really was. If he wasn’t competent, he wouldn’t be the Guildmaster. But just how exceptional is he?
I couldn’t worry about that right now, though. I hope Stag can convince King James to fund the Guild again. In the meantime, I’ll go to the Poppet’s nest.
As I got closer, thoughts of vengeance clouded my thoughts. It would feel so good to finally kill the Poppet. If I could burn it out while it was still in its nest, then all the better. And maybe – just maybe – things would calm down again.
But something else had come up. I felt a presence nearby. Something was following me.
I looked around, but I didn’t see anything. Before I convinced myself that I was hearing things, I heard a branch break nearby. I whipped my head around, but I only saw a shadow.
“Who’s there?” I asked. No response. I pulled out my bow. “Come out.”
I heard something behind me. I whirled around, ready to stick an arrow in whatever vile Beast wanted me in their stomach. And then I realized that what was in front of me was far, far worse than any Beast.
It was Cain.
“Easy there!” cried Cain, taking a step back. “I just wanted to surprise you, is all!”
“Congratulations,” I said. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see you,” said Cain. “Why is that so bad?”
“Shouldn’t you be at the castle?”
“I should,” said Cain. “But when have you ever cared?” I only care now because you’re here.
“Leave,” I said. “I’m doing dangerous work.”
“What kind of dangerous wo-”
“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “I’m doing this alone. Which, by the way, is something you shouldn’t be. Go back home. I don’t want to see you.”
“What, you didn’t appreciate my little going away present?” said Cain. I blushed. “Come on, Renn. You can tell me.”
“Fine,” I said. “I’m going to go burn down the Poppet’s nest.”
“The Poppet…that was the name of the Beast, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I’ll help you out in any way I can.”
“Good,” I said. “Then help me out by going home.”
“No way,” said Cain. “I’m staying here. To protect you.”
“Please,” I said. “Joshua beat you in a fight. You really think you’re competent enough? What if we run into the Poppet? What will you do then?”
“No,” said Cain. “What will you do, Renn? Fight it? You can’t beat it alone. You have to know this by now.”
“I can do whatever I want,” I said. “Look. I’m going the the nest. Do whatever you want, okay?” I walked off in the direction of the cave. Cain, of course, followed me.
It wasn’t long before we arrived. “Is this it?” asked Cain.
“Yes,” I said. Cain went in. “Wait, Cain -!”
But it was too late. Cain had wandered in. It wasn’t long before I heard his scream. He had fallen into the same trap that I had.
I sighed, and cut him free. He stumbled out of the cave. “What in the king’s name was that?” said Cain.
“‘That’ was what I’m going to get rid of right now,” I said. “But before I do, have you learned your lesson?”
“What lesson?”
“It’s too dangerous for you here,” I said. “Accept that and go back to your castle.”
“Not a chance,” said Cain. “I’m staying here, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” If nothing else, Cain shared Joshua’s stubbornness. Well, at least it won’t be my problem if he dies.
“Fine,” I said. “Now stand back.”
“What are you planning on doing out here? You’re not even in the ca…” His voice trailed off as the fire burst forth from my hand.
I shouted and sent a pillar of flame barreling into the cave. “There,” I huffed. “That…should do it.” I felt a little tired. One of the side effects of using the ring, I suppose. Or maybe Cain had just gotten to me.
The two of us waited until the smoke died down. “I didn’t see a Poppet come out of there, did you?” asked Cain.
“No,” I said. “Maybe we got it?”
We wandered into the cave. There were smouldering parasites all over the floor. The fire really did a number on them. Now that they were gone, this cave looked a lot more normal.
“I don’t see a Poppet in here, either,” said Cain. “Say, how did you do that? With the fire?”
“Beasthunter’s secret,” I said. “It doesn’t matter now anyway.”
“Well, we could use it for a light right about now,” said Cain. “It’s getting dark, you know.”
“It sure is,” I said. “Give me that stick.” Cain picked up a stick from the ground that would serve as a torch fairly well. I set it alight and we went deeper into the cave.
“Boy, you really did a number on this place,” said Cain. He was right. Even I was surprised at how far the fire had spread. But apparently, it hadn’t spread far enough, because there was no sign of the Poppet anywhere in the cave.
“Look,” I said. “Let’s just go. There’s nothing here.”
“All right,” said Cain. We started walking out of the cave. I was still upset the Poppet wasn’t here.
As we got to the mouth of the cave, I realized that night had fallen. Great – we would have to walk home in the dark. I saw Cain wander outside only to dash back in again and draw his sword.
“Renn,” he whispered, “don’t move.”
“What did you see out there? Cain?”
And then I realized why he was so upset.
A Marionette had wandered into the cave.
I suppose they all came back here at some point or another. It makes sense, though. This is – or rather, was – where their leader lived. I didn’t recognize this particular Marionette, though. Of course. Why would the Poppet exclusively target people I had met?
“We can take him,” I said. I readied an arrow, but Cain had already lunged forward. I couldn’t shoot with him in my way.
Luckily, he managed to take it out with a quick stab to the brain.
Unluckily, there was another one. And another. And another.
Soon, the cave was filled with Marionettes. And they all wanted to kill us. We were intruders, after all.
There certainly were a lot of them. One seemed to be a blacksmith. Another one was a farmer. A third was a soldier. All of them…they all had real jobs. They were people. But not anymore. Now, they were nothing but hideous, empty husks of their former selves. I was thankful it was dark – I didn’t want to look into their soulless eyes.
“Renn, do something!” cried Cain. I wanted to, but it was too dark to shoot anything. All I could see were blurs. And why waster arrows when I had to hit them in their heads?
I realized that I only had one choice. “Cain, get behind me!”
“What? No! You’ll just -”
“GET BEHIND ME, NOW!”
Cain dashed behind me, but kept his sword ready. I took a deep breath.
“Forgive me, Hinnuck,” I whispered under my breath. I let out a loud yell, and the fire from my hand burst forth stronger than it did when I burned the nest. I directed it toward the Marionettes.
They kept moving toward us. I felt woozy, but I kept up my assault. I couldn’t let them get near us. A few of the ones in the front started falling down.
“Renn, stop! You’ll hurt yourself!” cried Cain. “Please!”
But I couldn’t stop. Not now, not when I was so close. I had to get all of them. If even one of them got to us, we would be history. I couldn’t rely on Cain.
I felt my eyes closing. The fire was significantly weaker now. It barely left my hand. But there were still so many Marionettes…
There was nothing I could do. My eyes closed. I heard Cain let out a roar and rush toward the horde.
I was helpless. All of my hopes were on Cain now. Everything I was fighting for, everything I wanted to do, it was all up to him now.
I wished him luck.

Chapter 17: The True Prince

“Huh…wha…where am I?” I opened up my eyes and found myself in a bed in Hinnuck’s house.
“Renn! You’re awake!” Cain was standing over me. Hinnuck was over in the distance, but came running when he heard Cain.
“Finally,” said Hinnuck. “You’ve been out cold for almost a day now.”
“What happened to me?” I asked. I was still a little woozy.
“The Flammanin’s eye…you used it too much, didn’t you?” said Hinnuck. “You were starving when Cain brought you here. I gave you some food, but you didn’t wake up. I feared the worst…until now.”
“Wait,” I said. “You said Cain brought me here?”
My memory was coming back to me. We were in a cave. There were Marionettes, and I used the Flammanin’s eye a little too much. But I couldn’t remember anything after that…
“That’s right, I did,” said Cain. “After taking care of the last of the Marionettes. You fell asleep after using that crazy fire. I didn’t know what else to do, so I carried you here.”
“You carried me all this way? But that’s half a day’s walk away…”
“I know,” said Cain. “Believe me, I know.”
“Thank you.”
“Well, I wasn’t about to let you die,” said Cain. “I couldn’t just leave you there.”
I should be happy that Cain saved me, but I wasn’t. I owed my life to him. I didn’t want to owe my life to him. I’m sure he would probably have me doing all sorts of crazy, stupid chores for him now, with this as an excuse.
“Renn, look,” said Cain. “I want you to forget this ever happened.”
Well then.
“But promise me one thing,” said Cain. “Promise me that you won’t treat me like a baby. Like somebody who can’t handle themselves. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself and of you, okay? You can’t ignore that now. Will you promise me?”
I thought about it. I had treated Cain pretty poorly. But on the other hand, he didn’t exactly have a whole lot of respect for my feelings either.
“Cain, you’re going to do whatever you want to anyway,” I said. “Even when I was trying to stop you from coming along, you didn’t listen.”
“But I don’t like it when you tell me I’m useless,” said Cain. “Have you forgotten that I’m a prince?”
In all honesty, yes. I had forgotten.
“Well, it’s not like you act like a prince,” I said.
“True,” said Cain. He smiled. “Just promise me you won’t talk me down anymore.”
“Fine,” I said. I extended my arm. “It’s a promise.”
“Great,” said Cain. “You need to recover. Let me know when you’re ready, and we can hunt this thing. Together.”
“Cain?”
“Yes?”
“Why do you want to hunt this thing? Not even the Beasthunters want to go after it.”
“…Renn, the Poppet is killing citizens of Fenheim. I can’t let that happen. It’s my duty as prince to protect the people.”
“Yeah, but Beasts have been killing people since before either of our great-grandparents were born,” I said. “What makes this one so different from all the others?”
“I don’t know,” said Cain. “But there’s something unnatural about this one. Besides, I have a more personal reason for wanting it dead.” Cain headed downstairs.
“What reason is that?” I asked. But Cain was already gone.
I sighed and resigned myself to recovering. I looked at the Flammanin’s eye. Hinnuck hadn’t taken it off, which was kind of surprising. It really was a thing of beauty. I took a minute to appreciate the ring itself. Hinnuck must have been up all night making it. I looked at the other side, and there was a small water lily etched into it. Why Hinnuck did that, I’ll never know. At any rate, I needed sleep. I haven’t caught the Poppet yet, but at least I stopped the Marionettes from attacking more people. That was good, but it wasn’t good enough. As soon as I was feeling better, I was going after the Poppet again. I closed my eyes, and I was asleep before I knew it.
When I woke up, I was feeling much better. Hinnuck had placed a bowl of porridge next to the bed for me. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until just now. I dug in and was finished in seconds. I was feeling much better after eating, so I went downstairs. Cain was reading the book on the Poppet.
“Oh,” he said. “You’re up.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Ready to go?”
“Ready when you are,” said Cain.
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll get my things and we can go.”
“Do you have any idea where it is?”
“…No.”
“Where should we start looking?”
“I don’t know. Maybe in nearby caves?”
“It’s better than nothing,” said Cain. “Let’s go.”
I grabbed my stuff and the two of us were off. There was a cave near the one that the Poppet made its nest in. It was still a while away, though. The two of us entered the forest.
I didn’t say anything. What was there to say? There was an emptiness in the air. Neither of us had anything to say to each other. Cain looked uncomfortable. He was distracted, and didn’t show any interest in anything. It wasn’t like him.
“Cain?”
“Y-yes? What is it, Renn?”
“Do you want to talk about something?” Even Cain’s endless rambling would be better than this silence.
“Talk about what?”
“Well…how about yourself? I don’t know much about you.”
“…Okay,” said Cain. “But there isn’t much to tell.” I doubt that.
“Obviously, I was born into royalty,” started Cain. “I grew up in the castle. I didn’t like it there. The whole thing felt like a giant dungeon. I couldn’t go where I wanted to or do what I wanted to – I had to be king when I grew up. Everybody around me told me this day in and day out. I was sick of it. What if I didn’t want to be king? But nobody really cared what I thought, or what I wanted to do.”
“So what did you do?”
“What? Nothing. What could I do?”
“I can’t answer that for you,” I said. “But you did run away twice since we met. Are you telling me you’ve never run away before that time?”
“I never really considered running away,” said Cain. “What was out there that I didn’t already have? At least, that was until you came along.”
“What’s so special about me?”
“I…don’t know where to start with that one,” said Cain. He broke eye contact. “Anyway, after running away, I realized that being king wasn’t for me. I don’t want the responsibility of thousands of lives on my shoulders.”
“Why not? Lots of people would kill for an opportunity like that.”
“Because that’s not the end of the story,” said Cain. “I would have to listen to people and do as they said. What good is a king who doesn’t listen to his advisor? And if they screw something up, the people blame me.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way. You don’t have to listen to other people. You’ll be the king. You can do whatever you want to.”
“But what if what I do is wrong? I don’t want to start any wars or kill anyone.”
“Then don’t.”
“But then every other kingdom will take advantage of me,” said Cain. “There’s no way for it to work out, ever. My father is a great king. I know this because he’s trying to save the lives of his people even as we speak. And that’s what a good king does.”
“How do you mean?”
“Oh, come on, Renn. You haven’t heard about the drought over the farmlands? We didn’t have a very good crop this year, and the king is providing food for all of the citizens.”
“Oh. Right,” I said. “If I’m remembering correctly, Stag went to go talk to him about that.”
“Why’s that?”
“Something about King James not funding the Beasthunter’s Guild anymore. It’s not important now.”
“Hm…I see,” said Cain. He looked like he was in deep thought. Eventually, he stopped walking.
“Is something wrong?”
“Wha…? Oh, right. Let’s keep moving.”
“Is there anything else you want to tell me about?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. There’s nothing you need to get off your chest?”
Cain looked away. “No. Not yet, anyway.”
“Why not?”
“It’s not the right time.”
“It’s better than just walking.”
“…You really want to know?”
“Sure.”
“It’s…kind of important to me.”
“Go ahead.”
“Well…all right,” said Cain. “Renn…I’m…what I’m trying to say is…”
“Spit it out.”
“I think I’m in love with you, Renn.”
Of course he was. Everything made sense now, though. The kiss on the cheek, the strange letter, and his odd behavior after Joshua died.
“I’m, uh, honored,” I stammered. I tried to sound impressed, but I really wasn’t.”
“You like me too?”
“Um…let’s just keep moving.”
“Well, do you?” How was I supposed to respond to that? “No?” “Sorry, but you’re not my type?”
“…Cain, look. You can like – love – me all you want. But I don’t feel the same way about you.”
Cain looked sad. “Oh. I…see.”
“Come on,” I said. “We’re almost there.”
The silence that followed was even more awkward than before. Slowly, I started to put everything together. When he said he had a reason to run away, he meant me. I was his reason. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it was actually pretty sweet of him to do that. In fact, I don’t think I give Cain enough credit. Sure, he’s a prince, but from what it sounds like, it isn’t as easy as it sounds. And it’s not like I hate him. He saved my life, after all.
When I put it all together, it was hard to believe Cain was lying. He really did care about me. At least, that’s what his actions say.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Sorry for what?” I looked over, and Cain was on the verge of tears.
“You…you loved Joshua more, didn’t you?”
I hated to admit it like this, but it was the truth. “Yes,” I said. “I liked Joshua more than I like you.”
“Renn, I can’t hide this anymore. It wouldn’t be right. Do you remember how Joshua died?”
“I could never forget,” I said. “Why are you bringing this up now?”
“Renn…” Cain was crying now. “When we were on watch…the two of us talked after you went to sleep.”
“What’s so bad about that?”
“He…Joshua told me his feelings for you,” said Cain. “He said he loved you. At the same time, I was falling for you. I was mad, Renn. I wasn’t thinking clearly, and I…”
“What did you do?”
“I…I was on watch. And I saw it, Renn. I saw the Poppet. It was dark, but it was still the most horrible thing I had ever seen in my life.”
Things started to fit together in my head. “Cain…you…”
“The Poppet attacked me,” said Cain. “I was going to die. And…and…”
“Say it.” I already knew.
“I…used Joshua to protect myself,” said Cain. Neither of us could stop the tears now. “He was asleep, helpless. He didn’t even realize what was going on. Renn…I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”
“You…killed…Joshua? YOU KILLED JOSHUA?!”
“Renn, I -”
“LEAVE. NOW.”
Cain hung his head and walked away. I don’t know why he told me this. I knew he wasn’t lying to me. I guess he couldn’t take hiding it anymore. He was a coward and a killer. Not only that, but he tried to make me fall in love with him. I sincerely hope he realized just how sick of a person he really was. He had everything he could ever want, and it wasn’t enough for him. As soon as danger presented itself to him, he pushed it on to somebody else. My friend.
Part of me thinks he did it on purpose. He was competing for me with Joshua. I couldn’t take it anymore.
I curled up in the middle of the forest. I had to do something with all these emotions, so I cried.
I felt stupid. A real Beasthunter wouldn’t just break down like this. Maybe I wasn’t Beasthunter material after all. I wasn’t sure of anything anymore. All I knew was that I had to kill the Poppet. I had to focus on that.
I got up and wiped my face. I couldn’t see with tears in my eyes. I went over everything I knew about the Poppet. It built nests in caves. It doesn’t attack massive numbers of people at once. And every victim it’s had has been male.
That last bit was interesting. Was that because the Poppet was like the Queen of its species? That would make the most sense. So if it doesn’t attack people for food, it must attack them to keep its species alive. I didn’t even want to know the details of that, but if it was true, then by killing all those Marionettes, I prevented a bunch of little Poppets from running around. If all of the Marionettes return to the nest at night, then that would mean that the Poppet was the last of its species now.
I was feeling much better now. I had a chance. I could get rid of this thing for good. But before all that, I heard a scream.
I ran to its source. Whatever the Poppet was doing now, wherever it was, this had to come first. It was my duty as a Beasthunter to help people out like this. Hopefully it wouldn’t take too long. I wanted to hunt the Poppet as quickly as possible.
I got my wish.

Chapter 18: The Poppet

As I ran to the voice that let out the scream, I realized that I was in for more than I bargained for.
The voice was Cain’s.
He was pointing his sword at something I couldn’t see. It was obscured by a tree. But it must have been pretty terrifying, because Cain was yelling his head off and retreating.
I didn’t have long to wait before seeing what Cain was so afraid of. The thing advanced from the tree.
There was no mistaking it – the thing Cain was yelling at was the Poppet.
I don’t blame him for yelling. In fact, I had to keep myself from shouting out in horror. The Stitcher was nothing compared to this. It had the lower body of a tarantula. It was pitch black and had little hairs all over it. But that wasn’t then end of it. Its upper body looked like a man’s, only covered in tar. It was the darkest thing I had ever seen.
And its head was perhaps the most terrifying. Even from this distance, I could see its facial features perfectly. It seemed to have something white over its head, like a sock. But when the sock seemed to wriggle around, I realized that its entire head was covered in parasites. It had black X’s over its eyes, and its mouth was jagged and as dark as the rest of its body. Despite threatening Cain, it never once opened its mouth. I had to wonder whether or not it was real.
As its hands moved to grab Cain’s head, I readied my bow.
I should let Cain die.
But then I would be just like him.
I fired an arrow at the Beast’s hand. The arrow punctured and got stuck in the middle. Despite its strange head and lower body, it had relatively human hands. They were a solid black, but that changed quickly. Parasites left the hand and pushed the arrow out of the Poppet’s hand. I saw it harmlessly clatter to the ground. The parasites formed something like a glove around the hand before retreating back into it. I had done no damage whatsoever.
But I had gotten the Poppet to notice my presence. It turned its disturbing head and looked at me. It had the same dead stare that all of the other Marionettes had, but was somehow just as mortifying, if not more so. It forgot about Cain and slowly wandered over to me.
If I was right, and it only attacked males, I would have nothing to worry about. We would be in something of a stalemate. Still, I took this opportunity to shout to Cain.
“RUN!” I cried. Cain nodded at me, and ran out of sight. Coward. But I had other things to worry about right now. Namely, the seven-foot tall abomination that was wandering toward me.
“Let’s see what you’ve got,” I said. I fired an arrow directly between its eyes. Lucky shot. The Poppet fell over and hit the ground with a loud thump. Its legs wriggled around for a bit, but then it lay still.
Was that it? I just had to hit it in the head? I started to walk over to it to make sure that I wasn’t going crazy.
I wasn’t. I watched in horror as the arrow started to fall out of the Poppet’s head. The parasites seemed to be pushing it out. I ran back a good way before the Poppet picked itself up again.
What was this thing? It had no skeleton to speak of. It could heal any wound, even a life-threatening one, with ease. Cain was right about one thing – this was in no way natural.
I figured if I couldn’t kill it, I might as well slow it down. I fired an arrow at one of its legs. I aimed it to cut the leg off instead of hit it.
With a sickening squelch, the leg dropped onto the ground. The Poppet stumbled. I saw more parasites forming a shape of a leg. It was covered with that black tarlike substance again, and it looked as good as new.
Great. So it was composed entirely of parasites.
I couldn’t beat this thing. Not with what I had to work with. I ran to climb a tree in the hopes of waiting it out. Unfortunately, I seem to have annoyed the Poppet by this point. It came after me, but it didn’t seem to be moving very quickly. Maybe it just wanted me to leave. Truth be told, I wasn’t entirely against the idea.
But as I scrambled up the tree, I realized I had forgotten a very potent weapon – the Flammanin’s eye. I smiled and turned to face the creature.
I unleashed a burst of flame at its head. But before the flame could get there, some of that black liquid from its neck covered its face. The fire dissipated harmlessly after hitting the slime. Before I could consider how much creepier the Poppet was with a featureless face, the stuff was gone.
How was I going to beat this thing? It was impossible. You could cut it, burn it, shoot it, crush it, but it wouldn’t matter. It was a creature of goo and parasites. With those two things working together, it was impossible to beat.
I had no choice. I had exhausted every option I had, save running. So that’s exactly what I did.
But the Poppet was out for my blood now. I was a threat to it. Wherever I ran, it followed me, getting closer by the second. I scurried up a tree to think of a plan.
I couldn’t fight it without losing, and I couldn’t run from it without getting caught. What in the world was I supposed to do?
“Come on, Renn,” I said to myself. “You can think of something.”
As it turns out, I didn’t have too much time for that. Thanks to having spider legs and humanlike arms, the Poppet proved to be fairly adept at climbing trees.
So I climbed higher. Eventually, the branches it was on wouldn’t be able to support it, right?
Wrong. Parasites shot out from its fingers and grabbed my leg. I used the Flammanin’s eye again on the long strand connecting us.
For some reason, the parasites burned. This wasn’t a good thing for me. First of all, the Poppet covered its hand in that black slime before the fire reached it. Second, the burning parasites were still attached to my leg. Third, the tree branch I was on was now on fire.
Things were looking bleak for me. I said a quick prayer, brushed the parasites off of my leg, and jumped to a branch in a different tree. But that didn’t end up well for me either.
I grabbed onto the branch just fine. But then the branch broke off in my hands. I fell onto the ground with a loud thump. When I tried to run again, I noticed an intense pain in my arm. I glanced at it while scrambling to get up.
It was broken.
This took the cake for “worst possible thing that could happen to me in one day.” If I didn’t have a plan before, I didn’t now. How was I supposed to shoot with a broken arm? I hid behind a large tree and tried to lift my arm, but I just couldn’t do it. I could barely move it more than an inch, let alone aim with it. At least my legs were working. I dashed away before the Poppet could find me, and slipped the Flammanin’s eye off of my useless hand. I could at least use that.
It wasn’t long before I found myself at a creek. I waded across it and continued on my way. But when I looked back, the Poppet was still on the other side of the wide stream.
Water. It couldn’t go into the water. Of course – it would fall apart. The current would turn it into nothing more than a puddle.
I couldn’t help but laugh. I hadn’t won, but I had reached a stalemate. I sat down for a second and just took a breath.
I wasn’t safe yet, but as long as I kept a close eye on what the Poppet was doing, I might as well take a rest. I was going to need it. I needed to kill this thing. Water was its weakness. But how do I exploit that? I scooped up some water from the stream, and splashed it at the Poppet. It just moved out of the way.
Even now, even after I had found the Poppet’s weakness, I couldn’t beat it. It may be possible, but I wasn’t going to do it today. And I couldn’t get home now that I had crossed the stream. It was guarded by a bloodthirsty Beast, after all. I could do something about this arm, though.
I ripped off my sleeve and got a good look at it. It really was broken – there was a visible bend between my shoulder and elbow that shouldn’t be there. I grabbed two sturdy-looking sticks, ripped my sleeve up some more, and fashioned myself a splint. Even with that, I was in no position to fire a bow. There was really only one thing I could do now.
“HELP!” I cried at the top of my lungs. “SOMEBODY HELP ME!” One way or another, something was going to find me. I could only hope it was friendly and didn’t like the taste of humans.
I cried until my voice went hoarse. It seemed like forever, but after looking at the shadows on the ground, I realized it hadn’t been more than a few minutes. I couldn’t even cry for help anymore. I had to hope for the best and wait this out.
Every so often, the Poppet would try and extend some parasites out over the stream to me, but I burned them before they got the chance. In this way, I figured out that the Poppet can’t cover itself with its goop until it stops moving parasites. Once that happens, the only way to get rid of it would be to cut it or splash it with water. I had to be alert and burn it before that happened. Otherwise, it was probably capable of moving itself all the way across the creek, and I wouldn’t be able to stop it then.
The only problem was, I was getting hungry. And tired. Using the Flammanin’s eye took quite a bit out of me, and I was using it quite often. I needed to eat something. Luckily for me, I brought an apple along in my bag. I pulled it out and took a big bite.
I’ve never had an apple that tasted as good as this one did. It was bursting with flavor, but I didn’t have much time to savor it. The Poppet was trying to cross the bridge again. I fired a blast of fire at it. Now that I had a food source, I could keep that up for a while.
It was a shame I didn’t have common sense. When I went to take another bit of apple, I realized that I had set it ablaze. I leaned over and put it out in the stream, but it was too late. It was burned to a crisp. I sighed and tried to take a bite. Now, it tasted like ash. At least it was better than nothing.
It felt like forever, but I had only been sitting here for a few minutes. At this rate, I would run out of energy, the Poppet would cross the stream, and I would probably die a horrible death. The so-called stalemate was almost over.
Or so I thought.
Before I realized what had happened, the Poppet got a running start and crossed the creek in one jump. I stumbled to get up, and we resumed our chase. Honestly, I felt like the mouse cats would play with before eating them. I don’t know if I was going to get eaten or not, but I sure felt tormented. If I was caught, I would turn into a Marionette or worse. I chose not to think about it.
I constantly looked back, and the Poppet was keeping its distance from me, coming after me at my own pace. I tested this by slowing down and speeding up slightly, but it always matched my speed, staying at a distance that was a little too close for comfort. I had a feeling it was afraid of getting a faceful of fire. I had half the mind to give it one. The only thing stopping me from doing that was the fact that I would pass out before I had a chance to get away.
Even without constantly blasting the Poppet with fire from the Flammanin’s eye, I was running out of breath. I could only move so fast, and my arm was reaching an unbearable level of pain. I fell against a tree, unable to continue this pointless game. I would be dead in a few seconds anyway.
The Poppet slowly came after me. I should be scared, but I just let out a laugh. “Go on,” I said. “Do it.” I knew it wouldn’t understand me, but I said it anyway. “Kill me. You’ve ruined my life enough, so why not go all the way?” The Poppet turned its head slightly and stopped to stare at me.
“You think that’s funny, huh? Go ahead, laugh. You did it. You beat me. Don’t torment me any longer than you have to.”
I don’t know how or why, but the Poppet seemed to understand me. I looked into its eyes – or rather, where its eyes would have been.
And it smiled at me.
I don’t know how, but it managed to move its mouth into a jagged grin. My smugness turned to terror. For some reason, that smile terrified me more than anything else this thing was capable of.
And then it spoke.
“I’m sorry, Renn.”
It lunged at me.
I closed my eyes.
I heard…the splash of water?
“RENN, DO IT!”
I opened my eyes up again to see a half-melted Poppet staring at me and Cain holding a dripping canteen behind it. I knew what he meant. Now that it was weakened and had lost control of its skin, I fired a blast of fire at it.
The Poppet struggled, but it was too late. It was burning up from the inside. Cain and I watched as it turned into a burning pile of sludge and ash. As the embers rose into the sky, I knew it was over.
The Poppet was finally dead.
I let out a sigh of relief. I was beat. A lot had happened today. And honestly, I was just glad it was finally over. I closed my eyes, and started to pass out. Before I fell unconscious, Cain caught me.
“It’s okay, Renn. I’ve got you.”

Chapter 19: All Gone

I woke up with a start. I remembered that I was fighting the Poppet, and that I had broken my arm. I checked my surroundings and found myself in Hinnuck’s house. My arm was wrapped up, and there was a wrap on my leg where it had been burned.
“Hey,” said Cain. That was right – he splashed the water. “Glad to see you awake.”
I looked to the side. I didn’t want to see his face. “Whatever,” I said. “Just go.”
“Look, Renn. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry isn’t enough, you know.”
“I know,” said Cain. “But I feel like I have to make it up to you somehow.”
“And how do you plan on doing that?”
“I’ll get you whatever you want,” said Cain. “You can go wherever you want and do whatever you want to.”
“Cain…I can sort of do that already,” I said. As a Beasthunter, I was able to take care of myself. Well, most of the time, at least.
Cain sighed. “You’re right,” he said. “But can’t you just give me a chance?”
“Why? Why should I? You killed my best friend.”
“Renn, we both know I wasn’t thinking straight then,” said Cain. “If I had been, I would have avoided it instead of…instead of…” He trailed off. I didn’t blame him. I think that somewhere deep down, he liked Joshua.
“Whether or not you were thinking straight, it doesn’t matter,” I said. “Joshua is dead, and it’s your fault.”
“What if things had turned out differently?” asked Cain. “What if Joshua was the one who threw himself in front of me?”
“But you said yourself,” I said. “Joshua was sleeping, and you used him as a shield.”
“What if I was wrong?”
“Let’s not talk about ‘what ifs,'” I said. “What happened, happened. And that will never change. No potion in the wdorld is powerful enough to bring somebody back from the dead.”
“I know that, but -”
“Cain, you’ve said enough. I’m done talking. I would appreciate it if you were, too.”
“Whatever you want,” said Cain. He got up to leave. “But before I go, can I at least leave you with a few thoughts?”
I grumbled. “Sure.”
“Thank you,” said Cain. “First of all, I love you, Renn. I would never want to cause you pain. Second, what happened that night was a mistake. And I tried to make it better, didn’t I? I hunted the Trehorm with you, I helped you kill the Poppet, and all that stuff. You really think I did that just to be with you?”
“Yes.”
“All right, fine, that was part of it,” said Cain. “I didn’t want to see Joshua dead. He was everything I should be – well-read, intelligent, good with a sword.”
“So you killed him out of envy?”
“What? No! Renn, have you listened to a word I said? Joshua didn’t deserve to die.”
“So why did you do it?”
Cain was on the verge of tearing his hair out. “Renn. I didn’t kill Joshua. The Poppet did. And I – we – killed the Poppet. Everything is right again.”
“No it’s not,” I said. “Everything is wrong. My childhood friend is dead. My arm is broken. You, the prince of Fenheim, are in some potion-maker’s house apologizing to a rookie Beasthunter. If that’s right, then I want to be wrong.
“So what now, Renn?” said Cain. “I’ve tried to convince you that what happened last night was an accident. You won’t believe me. I offered you whatever you wanted, and you declined. So what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know,” I said. It was the truth. “I have a lot to think about.”
“But you never want to see me again, is that right?”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” I said. “But I’d very much like to be left alone for a while. Go back to your castle, Prince Cain.”
Cain turned around, but stopped before leaving. “That’s the first time you’ve called me that,” he said. “Goodbye, Renn. Whatever you decide to do, I wish you the best of luck.” He went downstairs and left.
I took a moment to process everything that had happened. I had been through a lot. My stress levels were high. Now that there was nothing left, I would finally be able to relax by myself.
But I knew that was nothing more than a delusion. I had nothing to do now. I tried to get up, but I couldn’t manage even that. The fight with the Poppet had taken a lot out of me. Even now, the Poppet was tormenting me. And considering the nightmares that I’ll probably have, it’ll continue to torment me for as long as I live.
I decided that I could use a little more sleep. It was difficult to fall asleep with so much on my mind, though. My friend was dead. I would never get to see Joshua again. I didn’t want to see Cain again. I would never go through an ordeal like that again.
Tears that were a mixture of relief and sorrow fell down my cheek. I ended up crying myself back to sleep. When I woke up again, Hinnuck was dressing the wound on my leg.
“Hello, Renn,” said Hinnuck. “Good to see you up.”
“The same to you,” I said. “How is that injury doing?”
“Pretty well, considering,” said Hinnuck. “Look. Cain told me everything. He didn’t really leave when you told him to run away. He couldn’t make himself do it. You should be thanking him for saving your life, you know. Did you?”
“…No,” I said. “I told him to leave.”
“Whatever for?” said Hinnuck. “I was beginning to enjoy his company.”
“Hinnuck…on that night when Joshua turned into a Marionette, the Poppet attacked us. I was sleeping, but Cain was awake, and he…he killed…he killed Joshua. He used him as a shield to block the Poppet’s attack.”
“I see,” said Hinnuck. “And you wouldn’t do the same?”
“No, I wouldn’t do the same! That’s absurd!”
“You do know Prince Cain liked Joshua, right? I’m sure he would never want to kill him,” said Hinnuck.
“That’s exactly what Cain said! He was trying to explain his actions away.”
“Renn, you’ve never been good at forgiving people. When you and Joshua were kids, and Joshua made a mistake, you would get mad and yell at him. I remember exactly what happened afterward. You would go on home, and Joshua would fall into my arms and cry.”
“What? That’s ridiculous,” I said.
“It’s the truth, I swear,” said Hinnuck. “And despite the way you treated him, he still ended up loving you. Because he understood that you didn’t know what you were saying, and he was able to forgive you for it.”
“Yeah, but I never killed anyone,” I said. “It’s an entirely different subject.”
“Renn, what’s done is done,” said Hinnuck. “You can’t change the past. But you can change your future. Is this really what you want? To grumble around wishing things had turned out differently?”
“I…no,” I said. “But I can’t forgive Cain.”
“Why not?”
“He killed Joshua in cold blood!”
“So?”
“So?! So he doesn’t deserve forgiveness!”
Hinnuck just sighed. “Prince Cain made a mistake. It was a dire one, yes, but that doesn’t change anything. It’s not as if he wanted Joshua dead and found an oppotunity. It was the same with you and Joshua – you didn’t know what you were doing or how much you were hurting him, but he forgave you anyway. Again, and again.”
“Stop,” I said. “I…please don’t tell me I hurt Joshua anymore.”
“But you did,” said Hinnuck. “Joshua was a great kid. And you could be, too, if you had a heart like his. But, I can see that you don’t.” He got up. “That leg should be fine now. I’m done here.”
“You’re just going to leave?”
“What can I say? I have things to do,” said Hinnuck. “But I want you to think about what I said, Renn. Consider it carefully, and then make a choice.” He left me alone.
I got up. Hinnuck was right – my leg felt fine. But my arm was still broken, and I couldn’t lift it more than a few inches from my side. That was all right. I decided I would go to the Beasthunter’s Guild and inform Stag of what had happened. After all, I had killed a Beast that had gotten the better of a top-class Beasthunter. Maybe I would be bumped up to top-class myself.
I walked through the forest alone. I found it a far more depressing place now. It was where Joshua met his death sentence,  where I was almost killed on multiple occasions, and where the monster of my nightmares resided. Even so, I had some happy memories of it, too. Like the time Joshua and I killed the Fire Beetle. Or the hunting trips Jenkins would take me on when I was just a little girl. In fact, the majority of my life happened right here in these woods. It was something I pondered as I opened the Guild’s doors with my good arm.
But Stag was nowhere to be found. “Hey, has anybody seen Stag around here?” I said. “I’ve got some important stuff to tell him.”
Somebody spoke up. “He went to go see the king a few days ago, I think,” they said. “He was supposed to come back today. He should be here in a few hours or so.” Well, at least I had some time to think.
Looking around the room, I noticed that the Guild was a tad more glum than usual. That must be because King James cut the funding. If I remember correctly, that was why Stag went to go see him in the first place.
I stared at the roaring fire for a long time. I looked at the ring Hinnuck had given me. It was funny – you would think that after my first blunder with it, he would have taken it away from me. And yet, he didn’t confiscate it from me. It worked out in the end, but now that I thought about it, it seemed like…like he had forgiven me for my mistake.
Was I supposed to forgive Cain for what he did? According to him, it was just a mistake. He would take it back if he had a choice. And that’s what a mistake is, more or less. Something you wish you never did.
But I didn’t have time to make a decision, because Stag burst through the door. “I’m back, everybody! And great news! We’re funded again!”
There was a rousing cheer for Stag. “How did you manage to do it?” asked a person in the crowd.
“Well, let’s just say that King James wasn’t exactly an honest king,” said Stag. He went into a detailed story about how great he was and how difficult everything he did was. The long and short of it was that the King had lied about the drought to smuggle food to other countries, increasing his own wealth without raising taxes. In this way, he increased his wealth without the people rioting. As far as they knew, there really was a crop shortage and the king was just doing the best he could to feed them. In the end, Stag got the king to stop smuggling food and keep funding the Beasthunter’s Guild. It was a victory for everyone.
“I’ve got some good news, too,” I said. I told my story about the Poppet to everyone. There was another round of cheering for me.
“Renn, do you know what this means?” said Stag. “You’re now an official top-class Beasthunter!”
“But I didn’t kill the Poppet myself! I had help!”
“Oh, come on,” said Stag. “You killed a Flammanin. And a Trehorm. And Hinnuck told me you killed a Shifter.”
“Well, technically I didn’t kill the Trehorm myself, but -”
“What, do you not want to be a top-class Beasthunter? You’ve got what it takes. My decision is final.”
“Thank you, Stag,” I said. “Hey, there’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”
“Go ahead.”
“It’s…kind of personal. Could we maybe go somewhere where we wouldn’t be overheard?”
Stag lost his cheery mood. “What’s this about?”
“Nothing bad, I promise,” I said. “I just need you to help me make a choice that’s kind of important to me.”
Stag thought about it for a second. “Sure, why not? I’m in a good mood today. Let’s go.”
The two of us walked through the woods until we were out of earshot from anyone else. “Now, what was it you wanted to tell me?” asked Stag.
I explained everything to him. The story about Cain killing Joshua, his apology, and what Hinnuck told me.
“And that about covers it,” I said. “So what should I do?”
“What do you want to do, Renn?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking you, Stag.”
“If you don’t know what the best course of action is, you need to wait,” said Stag. “That’s how you hunt. Watch and wait, and then strike.”
“This isn’t the same thing,” I said. “I’m not hunting anything.”
“You’ll figure something out,” said Stag. He started to head back to the Guild.
“So that’s it, then? I drag you all the way out here, ask you for guidance, and you tell me ‘I’ll figure it out?!'”
Stag paused for a moment. “Yeah, that’s pretty much what happened,” he said. “Do you really want my opinion?”
“Yes!”
“Fine,” said Stag. “Renn, I’ve seen a lot of people die. Not all of them did for a good reason. Some died in hunting accidents, some died for other reasons. None of them are coming back. I’ve made some mistakes, too. We all have. Some of them are worse than others.”
“That’s basically what Hinnuck told me,” I said.
“I didn’t finish,” said Stag. “When I see a Beasthunter make a mistake, and they sincerely apologize, I forgive them. They meant no harm, and they do their best to avoid making that mistake again. One time, a Beasthunter made the same mistake twice. Do you want to know what I did to him?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“I forgave him again,” said Stag. “But I put him on cleanup duty for the next two weeks. I could have kicked him out of the Guild – the mistake he made was pretty grave – but I chose to keep him around. And do you know what? He became a top-class Beasthunter the very next month. All I had to do was give him a chance.”
“So you’re saying I should forgive Cain for what he did?”
“I’m telling you not to sell him short,” said Stag. He started to walk away. “I’m not you, Renn. I can’t make your choices for you. If I could, I know what I would have done already.”
Stag wandered back to the Beasthunter’s Guild. I sat down and thought about what he had told me.
I knew what I had to do.

Chapter 20: Epilogue

After Stag talked to me, I went to Castle Fenheim. Cain was there, and waiting for me.
“Renn! What are you doing here?” said Cain. I don’t blame him – the last time we had met, I told him I didn’t want to see him again.
“Look, Cain,” I started. “I…uh…I forgive you for what you did.”
“You mean…”
“Yeah,” I said. “Joshua’s death was a mistake. Just…never make a mistake like that again, okay?”
“Yes! Yes, of course! So does this mean I can come see you whenever I want to?”
“…I suppose it does.”
“Oh, thank you! Thank you, Renn! Honestly, I was going to drive myself mad if I had to stay locked up in this castle for any length of time.”
“Won’t your father be upset?”
“Don’t worry about him,” said Cain. “I’ll just tell him you’re a good friend of Stag’s, and give you full access to any part of the castle. Come here and see me whenever you want to.”
I smiled. I didn’t think so at first, but I felt better after forgiving Cain. It felt…right. For once, something in my life had gone right. The two of us spent the rest of the day together. Cain deserved it, after everything I put him through. And you know what? I actually enjoyed myself.

Almost three years had passed since I had forgiven Cain for what he did. There was a chill in the air – winter was almost here. I liked the winter. It gave a bit of an edge to everything. My senses were sharper than in the haze of summer, and the whole forest was coated in a silvery-white sheet of snow. It was that time of year when there was snow, but nothing had frozen over yet.
A lot had happened since then. I had gone on several hunts, and taught Cain a little bit about the forest. I learned a little more about Beasts myself.  Tristan bestowed me with the bow he had modified for me, and it was my pride and joy. I’ve killed a lot of Beasts with it.
Hinnuck did a lot for me, too. Every time I went on a successful hunt, he was able to synthesize up a potion for me. I took care of them, and made sure not a drop was wasted when I needed to use them. There was really only one thing that I wanted to do now.
“So you’re really going, then?” said Hinnuck. “In search of your father?”
“I am,” I said. “I’m 18 now, aren’t I? The law is that Beasthunters from Fenheim are allowed to go hunting in other kingdoms once they turn 18.”
“That is the law,” said Hinnuck. “And you are going on something of a hunt.” He chuckled to himself.
“Anything else you want to tell me? I’ll probably be gone for the duration of the winter, you know.”
“Did you say goodbye to Cain? He’s going to miss you, you know.”
“I know,” I said. “It’s not like I’m never coming back, though.”
“Let’s hope so,” said Hinnuck. “Well, then I guess I’ll be seeing you.”
“Yeah,” I said. “See you later, Hinnuck.”
I stepped out into the brisk, cold air, waved a goodbye to Hinnuck, and started on my journey. Apparently, my father – Ralph Forester – was headed to the kingdom of Talrin. On foot, it was about a two-week journey. I had a long trip ahead of me, but I was well-prepared for it.
Along the way, I hunted. Rabbits, squirrels, small Beasts, anything edible. It was a long and lonely trip, but I found a few villages to take shelter in after the first week. Everyone there was very kind, giving me free food in exchange for my stories.
I always told the same one – the one about the Poppet. In the end, I never really knew why the Poppet was there in the first place. It seemed like it was placed there by a higher power to torment people. But that didn’t matter now – it was never coming back.
I also asked about my father whenever I stopped by in a village. From what I heard, everybody knew who I was talking about, but nobody knew where he was. That didn’t help me out very much. Maybe the king of Talrin would know where he was. It was better than just stopping by in every village asking about him, I guess.
I made it safely to the castle. Once I was inside, I told the guards I was a top-class Beasthunter here on official buisness. They took me to the king. He was a jolly-looking fellow – he had a bit of pudge to him, rosy-red cheeks, and a twinkle in his eyes. He seemed much nicer than King James did.
“Excuse me, your highness,” I said. I took a bow. “I am looking for a man by the name of Ralph Forester. He is an extremely skilled Beasthunter, and I have to find him.”
“Good ol’ Ralphie, eh?” said the king. He burst into laughter. “I knew he’d be gettin’ himself into some sorta trouble eventually!”
“Do you know where he is? Your Highness,” I added.
“Ralphie went out to sea ’bout month ago,” said the king. “I reckon he’s back by now.” This king didn’t seem very…kingly.
“So he’s not at sea, then,” I said. “Where is he?”
“Well, he stopped by here ’bout three days ago, and gave me this,” said the king. He pulled out a necklace that had a beautiful sparkling jewel set into it.
“It’s beautiful,” I said.
“Darn tootin’,” said the king. “Told me it brought good luck or somethin’.”
“That was very kind of him,” I said. “Which direction was he headed in?”
“North,” said the king. “He headed out on foot, I reckon. I’ll tell you what: if ya bring me somethin’ fancy like this here necklace, I’ll give ya a horse ta go after Ralphie with. Deal?”
“Certainly,” I said. “Will this do?” I rooted around in my bag and pulled out a bracelet Hinnuck made for me. It didn’t have any special properties or Beast parts in it, but it did look nice. He had gotten it for me as a birthday present two years ago. I decided against giving him the Flammanin’s eye – I still found uses for that, and who knows what would happen if I gave it to a king? Especially a king as crazy as this one.
“Well I’ll be,” said the king. “This right here is some quality craftsmanship.”
“So can I borrow a horse?”
“Sure can, young lady,” said the king. “You can keep one if ya want to!” He let out another laugh. “I like your style. What did ya say your name was?”
“Me? I’m Renn,” I said. “Renn Forester.”
“Oh, so ol’ Ralphie went and had a kid, eh? He never told me,” said the king. “Go on. Your old man’s waitin’ for ya.”
“Thank you, your Highness,” I said. I took my leave and a servant escorted me to the stables. I hopped on a horse and rode north into the snow.
It would still be a while before I would catch up to him, and there was nothing but plains ahead of me.
It was getting dark, and a snowstorm was brewing. I saw a light off in the distance. It couldn’t be my father, but I might as well go say hello to them. Who knows? They might be able to point me in the right direction. At any rate, I may as well rest with them. Neither of us were going to get anywhere once the snowstorm hit.
“Excuse me!” I said. “Care to help me build a shelter?”
“I’d be glad to!” shouted the stranger. We met up, I dismounted my horse, and we started digging a hole in the snow.
“Say, you wouldn’t happen to have seen a man pass through here, would you? Went by the name of Ralph Forester?” I asked.
The man looked at me. “Can’t say that I’ve seen anyone pass through this tundra,” he said. “I’m sorry about that. Why are you looking for him?”
“It’s kind of personal,” I said. “He was my father.”
The man stopped digging.  “Why are you looking for him?”
“When I was born, my mother died, and my father left me in the care of his uncle,” I said. “Then he just…left. I don’t know why he did it, though. There were certainly times where I wanted to see him. Know what his face looked like. Fall asleep in his lap. That sort of thing.”
“I…see,” said the man. He resumed digging the shelter. “So you’re his daughter, then. Why don’t you tell me about yourself?”
“Well, I’m Renn Forester. I became a top-class Beasthunter a few years ago,” I said. “The rest is…kind of a long story.” This was how it always started whenever a stranger took me in. But somehow, this time was different.
I told the stranger about everything that had happened to me. He didn’t ask questions, like most people did. He just sat and listened. When we weren’t taking breaks, we were digging the shelter. Eventually, we had dug enough to protect us from the snow. By then, my story was almost over.
“And that’s why I’m here now,” I finished. I sighed. It was probably the fifteenth time I had told that story this week.
“Very good story,” said the man. “So you fought a Poppet, eh?”
“With the help of the prince,” I said. “Wait. You know what I’m talking about?!
“Of course,” he said. “I fought one myself. You know, that was pretty clever of you to figure out its weakness was water. That’s not in any of the books about it.”
“There are other books?”
“Erm…yeah,” said the man. “I happen to be a traveling Beasthunter, so I’m sort of familiar with all kinds of Beasts.”
“You must have a very interesting life,” I said. “I’d love to talk to you about Beasthunting sometime.”
“And the same is true for you,” said the man. “Beasthunting is my passion.”
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty tired,” I said. “Want to get some sleep?”
“Yes,” said the man. “And, uh…If you want to, you can sleep in my lap.”
“Excuse me?”
“Isn’t that what you said you wanted to do? You never got to sleep in your father’s lap, right? Well, you can treat me like I’m your father. Don’t worry, I don’t mind.”
“That’s very kind of you, but I’m afraid I’ll have to decline,” I said. “I barely know you.”
“Yes, of course,” said the man. He looked away. “Well…good night, Renn.”
“Good night…what was your name again?”
“Um…that doesn’t matter, my identity isn’t important,” said the man. He was clearly hiding something.
“Come on. You can tell me. I told you mine, it’s only fair.”
“Uh…my name is, uh…Eric,” said the stranger. “Yeah. Eric.”
“Eric what?”
“Eric…um…Snownight?”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Funny coincedence, right?”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Fine, you caught me,” said the stranger. “All right, I’m a bandit hiding from the king. I can’t give you my name or he’ll catch me and have me hanged. Now, neither of us would want that, would we?”
“Where’s your gold?”
“I, uh, I hid it,” said the man. “And I can’t tell you where because you’ll go find it.”
“So you can tell me you’re a bandit, but you can’t tell me your name? That seems awfully backwards to me.”
“Look, I’m just shy about my name, all right? I’d prefer it if you didn’t know who I really am.”
“All right, fine,” I said. “If you feel that bad about it, I won’t bother you about it. Good night, stranger.” I closed my eyes.
There was something of a peaceful silence afterward. All I could hear was my own breath and the wind outside. It was…nice.
“Ralph.”
“What?” I asked.
“Renn…I’m Ralph Forester. Your father. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. I just thought it would be weird for you to meet me like this.”
“…It’s okay, dad.”
“You’re not mad at me? For running away and all that? For abandoning you when you were just a baby?”
“No,” I said.
“Then why did you seek me out?”
“Because I wanted to meet you,” I said. “It seemed like the right thing to do.”
“Well…thank you,” said my father. “I did it for a reason, you know.”
“Care to fill me in?”
“I didn’t want you to miss me when I was gone,” he said. “If you never knew me, it wouldn’t be as heartbreaking for you if I died while Beasthunting.”
“That’s why Hinnuck said you left.”
“Ah, yes. Hinnuck was quite the Beasthunter back in the day. What’s he doing now?”
“He’s a potion-maker,” I said. “But that’s not important. Is that really the only reason you left?”
“I left so I wouldn’t break your heart,” he said.
“Well, that was stupid of you,” I said.
“What makes you think so?”
“I would be just as sad if you had died before I got the chance to meet you,” I said. “At first, I never wanted to meet you. But when Jenkins died, you were all I had left. And you weren’t even there for me.”
“I’m sorry, Renn,” said my father. “I never knew.”
“I would’ve appreciated a visit once or twice,” I said.
“I’m sorry for not being there for you. I know, I know, I should have been there. From what you told me, I could have helped you out. Quite a bit, probably.”
“It’s okay,” I said as I put my head in his lap. I closed my eyes.
“I forgive you.”

End