~~~~
Mossy, stone armor is perfect
camouflage for the mossy, stone ruins in this forest. At best I'll blend into
the environment and be practically invisible, at worst I'll appear as a statue.
Stillness is key for this strategy to work, a shiver or an out of place breath
will quickly break the illusion. So, my breaths are as shallow as possible and
body is rigid. It has worked well for me so far, those five bounty hunters have
passed be at least half a dozen times by now.
They're certainly tenacious I'll
give them that, but they've yet to impress me in the intelligence department. I
don't blame them for hunting me. I did curse them after all, but I have nothing
against them in particular. A job is a job, and they were an unfortunate third
party. That doesn't mean I won't defend myself though.
I could see the frustration on the
leader's face, they had traveled in a tight pack for about two hours now. His
patience was at an end, and he made sure to let everyone know.
"That's it," the leader
growled, "fan out and find him!"
"But sir," the youngest
hunter asked, "isn't there safety in numbers?"
"Did I stutter?" The
leader barked into the younger man's face. The others were in no mood to argue
and spread out as commanded. The commander marched off into a distant part of
the forest. The younger man wandered off in the opposite direction and the area
was left quiet.
As most of the hunters all moved out
of earshot, one began to wander closer to me. He clearly hadn't see me yet, his
movements were aimless and unfocused. He appeared lost in thought.
"Why do I put up with that
guy?" He grumbled as he passed me by, "It's not like we're going to
find him at this point. He's probably halfway to the next continent by now.
Then the curse will turn our blood into bees or something." He took a seat
on a mossy rock, mere meters away from me, and pulled out a tobacco pipe.
"Methinks it's time to take the edge off," he commented as he lit the
pipe.
He was too close for comfort, while
he was faced away from me, the light or smoke from the pipe might betray my
position. Worst case scenario his boss realizes he's up here and drags everyone
else up here to berate the guy. Then the chance of them noticing me goes up
tenfold. Why take the chance?
I grabbed the sword hidden in the
moss behind me and began to approach the man slowly. He was too
"invested" in his pipe to notice me at first, maybe that wasn't
tobacco after all. However, a misplaced step caused me to crush a twig, with an
audible snap.
"Huh?" He looked back as I
froze in place, "Has that statue always been there? Damn, that thing is
creepy." The hunter shrugged and turned back to his pipe, much to my relief.
I approached again, with a little more care, until I was right behind him. Then
I grabbed the back of his head, smashed him into the ground and ran him through
with my sword. By the time he realized he was in danger, I had already pinned
him to the ground under my armor.
After he stopped breathing I shoved
his body and belongings under a tree. Then I ground his pipe into the dirt and
covered the area in loose leaves and vines. I quickly returned to my position
and went rigid. I was as quiet as I could be, but it's likely at least one of
the others heard the noise. It wasn't long before the four remaining hunters
returned. A mixture of confusion and frustration colored their faces.
"Did any of you hear a loud
crash?" A burly hunter inquired.
"I didn't hear nothing,"
the leader barked, "you must be crazy." The other two hunters made no
comment. They grumbled about their own failed searches until one made a
realization.
"Has anyone seen
Reynolds?" A lanky hunter asked.
"Don't tell me that idiot got
lost?" The leader growled.
"I think there's a more likely
reason he's not here," the burly hunter commented, to the young hunter's
horror.
"Well if he got killed so easily
then he wasn't any help to begin with," the leader yelled.
"Which direction did he go
then? That might be our best lead" The lanky hunter proposed.
"I think I saw him go towards
the ruins," the young hunter revealed.
"You moron," the leader
slapped the back of the young hunter's head, "Why would anyone go up to
those ruins? They're so old they could crumble at any moment. A hiding spot
ain't good if it falls apart to a stiff breeze." The young hunter shrank
into his leather armor while his leader continued to berate him.
Once the leader had spewed enough
vile he turned to the rest of his men, "Fan out again, this time in groups
of two. If he thinks he can get the drop on us he has another thing coming.
Adrian, you're with me." The burly hunter nodded and marched off into the
woods with his boss, while the other two remained behind.
The young hunter looked on the verge
of an emotional breakdown, but then lanky hunter motioned him away. The pair
made their way towards the ruins and stopped on the side opposite of where I
hid their dead comrade.
"Let's just leave," the
lanky hunter told his younger.
"But the boss will-" the
young hunter started.
"Forget him," the lanky
hunter snapped, "if he wants to march off to his death that's his own damn
business. We don't have to make that same mistake just because the boss ordered
us to. The way I see it if we keep running in circles around this forest either
the curse will kill us, or "you know who" will."
"Alright," the young
hunter nodded.
"Come on, let's cut through the
ruins. The boss won't bother to look for us that way," the lanky hunter
stated before he led the younger man away. The pair passed right in front of
me, but thankfully they didn't even perceive my presence. The lanky hunter stopped
past the rock their deceased ally once sat upon and began to sniff.
"What's the matter?" The
young hunter inquired.
"Do you smell-? Never
mind," the lanky man shook his head, "I think I have an idea of what
happened to Reynolds." The young hunter opened his mouth to speak, but his
elder stopped him, "I'll tell you later we need to keep moving." The
young hunter's eyes widened, he nodded again and the two quickly left the area.
I couldn't see the lanky man very well from this angle. However, from his body
language, I can assume he gave some sort of gesture to his younger to convince
him to move. Regardless, that hopefully scratches two off the list. My only
concern is that the lanky man might double back to catch me off guard. He's clearly
the brains of the operation.
Time passed again, and with another
hour or so gone by the dark forest became nearly pitch black. The trees were so
closely bunched together that you couldn't even navigate by starlight. It was
almost time for the curse to kick in. Only a little longer and I will be home
free. I could no longer see out into the distance to observe the hunter's
meeting place, but I could hear their return.
"Where in the blue blazes are
those two!" The leader's hoarse voice echoed through the trees.
"Maybe they set up camp for
nightfall?" The burly man, Adrian, proposed.
"They know better than to set
up camp before a job is done!" The lead hunter continued his day- long
tantrum.
"Boss maybe we should set up
camp then," Adrian asserted, "who knows what comes out in these woods
at night."
"Oh scared of a few wolves big
man," the leader mocked his subordinate. "Listen you nimrod, we don't
set up camp until I have that man's head on a pike."
"It's not about wolves
boss," the burly man stood his ground, "it's the curse, who knows
what sort of misfortune it could-"
"That's why we have to kill
that coward first," the leader screamed at the top of his lungs. "So,
get your act together and find him!"
"I don't have to put up with
this," Adrian announced before his heavy footsteps began to echo through
the area.
"Where do you think you're
going!" The leader stamped his feet.
"Anywhere but here,"
Adrian's voice trailed off into the distance.
"Fine! If you're going to be a
chicken shit coward like Reynolds then I don't need your help!" The lead
hunter bounced around like an ape as he ran his voice to its limits. For a
brief moment, he was quiet before his voice boomed through the trees again.
"Come out you damn coward and
fight me like a man!" He challenged me. I doubt he could take me on alone,
but I don't like to take chances. Besides that Adrian guy might still be
nearby, plus I'm still suspicious of the lanky man. I'm not going to risk it. Besides,
he's got only minutes left before the curse kicks in. "I'll find you, you
coward!" The leader ran through the woods, while his scratchy voice
rattled the trees. Eventually, his screams became distant and the forest was
quiet again.
"Finally," I breathed a
sigh of relief. The curse should start to work soon, nothing short of a miracle
will see him out of these woods now. His former subordinates have a better
chance though. At least one or two of them have a decent chance to survive the
night, but not much longer than that. My job is done then.
For the first time in hours, I moved
from my hiding place. I retrieved the dead man's belongings and began my trek
out of the woods. As I exited the forest I could hear a faint sound over the
trees, it was too distant to make out clearly, but I can take a guess. The lead
hunter's screams.
~~~~
This story ended up a bit longer than I initially expected, but I think it turned out great. I've actually held onto this idea for about a month now, but October was my horror month so I delayed it until now. I guess it could have been a horror story if written from the hunter's point of view, but I really wanted to write it this way. As for the mysterious curse the story centers around, I'll leave that up to your imagination.Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
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