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Chapter One: The Boy who Speaks With Faelin

                        Chapter One, The Boy Who Speaks With Faelin.

        The Hunters crept through the forest quietly, keeping a wary eye on their surroundings; any rock or tree could harbor a swift and painful death. The sun shone through the leaf canopy above them, dappling their cloaks with indistinguishable shapes in shadows, mottled colors weaved in to keep them well hidden. They left the river behind them, the noise from the water fading quickly as they moved with silent efficiency, traveling with purpose and caution. The Unclaimed Lands remained undeveloped for a reason: creatures of terrible strength and cruelty spawned from the darkness of the Shroud in large numbers here, and only the humans with a swift mind and body could manage to survive. Few animals could be found in the forests and valleys here, the Hunters searched instead for the very monsters that craved their flesh and blood.

        The leader of the group crept in front. A boy stayed half a pace behind, a small ethereal creature perched lightly on his shoulder. It let out a series of chirps and squeaks, and the leader looked back quickly.

        “What does the Faelin say, Sheth?” he whispered.

        “Our prey is asleep,” the boy answered. “So we need to be as quiet as possible if we want to keep it that way.”

        The leader turned back to the men behind him and made a few motions, and the Hunters crouched down as they walked, keeping their feet away from dead branches or piles of leaves. With a lifetime of experience behind them a fox would scarcely notice their passing, although the prey they sought was far more dangerous and alert than any animal.

        The expedition was a small one, only ten men, so they weren’t looking for anything particularly dangerous, and a sleeping monster was an excellent find. They continued walking, and soon they came upon the trail of the monster, large gashes torn out from trees and ground. A splatter of blood against a tree made them pause for a moment while the leader inspected it.

        “Animal blood, very recent.” He mused. “I would guess something large, perhaps a boar, got caught. If it’s sleeping on a full stomach, odds are good for a quick kill.” He tapped Sheth on the shoulder, nodding at the Faelin flying in front of them, and the boy reached out to pull it back. “Thanks,” he whispered, “We’ll get it from here.”

        The leader held up his hand, signaling quickly, and one of the men crept up to him. He whispered instructions, and the Hunter moved ahead, disappearing into the brush to scout. Minutes passed, the group waiting patiently, each Hunter keeping their thoughts to themselves. Then the scout returned, appearing as suddenly as he had vanished, reporting to the leader.

        “It’s a Minotaur,” he said quietly. “Asleep, and by the looks of it the beast had a deer for lunch.”

        “Is a kill shot possible?”

        “No. It’s curled over so as to cover up its head, this one has tangled with humans before. I saw a sword next to it, some poor soul ended up as a meal.”

        “Distance?”

        “About twenty paces ahead there’s a swath cut through the forest leading right to it. Another few dozen and there’s a clearing- the beast is sleeping at the far side of it.”

        The leader patted his scout on the back. “Good job,” he whispered. “Pass the word that we’re hunting a Minotaur, battle plan is standard large humanoid after a rough wake-up.”

        “Very well.” The scout began to walk to the back of the group, then turned around. “Mensen, I had a feeling look at it, this one might be more than just a ’standard’ Minotaur. We should be cautious.”

        The leader nodded, then held up his hand. He made a few motions and the group moved forward again, starting and stopping together as if they were of one mind, the many years of hunting together showing in their teamwork. Soon the Minotaur was in view, curled up next to a large oak tree, blood and bones covering it as if to provide a grisly blanket. It covered its head as it slept, arms brought up protectively, a large claymore stabbed into the ground next to it.

        As the Hunters crept up warily it seemed that the tree itself was apprehensive about the monster using it as shade, its branches seemed to be craning away from it, the leaves straining to distance themselves. The leader of the group held up his hand, and they stopped. He looked to his right, the boy Sheth looking intently at the monster as he listened to the chirps of the Faelin.

        "What does the Faelin say now?" whispered Mensen. “Do we have a chance at a kill shot?”

        "No," Sheth answered. "This isn’t an ordinary Shroudling, I think, the Faelin can’t pick up on its instinct."

        “What does that mean?”

        “Well, what I’m getting from it is that the Minotaur is intelligent, if that’s possible, so it can’t predict what it’ll do.” he attempted to pat the Faelin on the head, his hand passing through its ethereal body. “And the Faelin is not very happy about that.”

        “I guess we’ll try the standard battle plan to begin with, then see how things develop. Who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky with a few shots.” Mensen beckoned for his archers. “I want you to spread out as much as you feel is safe, on my signal you’ll fire from different directions. One on each side, one in the middle.”

        Two of the three bowmen brought their bows out, readying their barbed arrows, glistening with fresh poison. Poison strong enough to fell a wild boar instantly, but against this creature it would barely have any effect; the magic coursing through the veins of the monsters in the Unclaimed Lands rendered them nearly immune to most poisons. Still, a small effect was better than none, so anything that might increase the odds of them all getting home safely was used.

        One of the archers gave a quick murmur of assent. "Very well then," muttered Mensen. "Let’s get this thing without any casualties. Ralde, you’re with me, use your defensive spell now. We’ll swing around from the left once we hit it." He looked at the archers. "Dael, Hend, you know what to do. Ase, once we start moving, try anything you can to distract it. The rest of you, attack from the right. Remember, Minotaurs have a very tough hide, go for piercing rather than slashing attacks."

        Ralde knelt down and concentrated for a few seconds, conjuring a magic symbol in front of himself. With a motion, he brought the rune to his chest, causing his body to glow gray for a moment as the defensive spell took effect. “Armor up.” he whispered. He tapped his broadsword to invoke the magic runes inscribed in the blade.

        With silent movements the archers spread out, readying their enchanted bows, Ase notching an arrow to his. It glowed bright purple as it met the string, he used enchantments to confuse and blind monsters instead of simply boosting his strength as the other archers did, although the more complex enchantments used up a larger amount of magical energy.

        “Ase, I’m putting Sheth in your charge.” Mensen whispered. “Protect him with your life.”

        The Minotaur gave a loud snort, and scratched its left ear. "Now!" hissed Mensen, signaling the archers with a small burst of flame from his sword.

        An arrow whistled out from the far side of the clearing, striking the Minotaur in the palm of its left hand, nearly severing the thumb. The beast bellowed, and reached over with its right hand, grasping for the arrow, keeping its head covered. A second arrow shot out, hitting the soft spot under its arm. The men ran out, to the left and the right, shouting battle-cries. Ase pulled the arrow as far back as he could. The arrow flashed and shot out with a hiss of magical energy, hitting the Minotaur on the top of its head. It glanced off the tough hide, but the enchanted arrows’ magic effect found it’s mark; a purple glow covered the monster’s eyes. Before the arrow had even struck, Ase had another arrow ready, taking advantage of the enchantment on the bow while it still had magic to spare. A second shot hit the arm covering the face, sticking in for a moment before the beast shook it off.

        Mensen shouted and leaped forward, magic runes glowing down his blade, igniting the metal as the Minotaur grabbed its claymore and swung out randomly from side to side, trying to hit the men closing in around it. Rolling under the flailing blade, Mensen stabbed out, flames bursting out as his blade pierced the monster’s side, burning the tough hide. It roared and spun to the left, causing his sword to be wrenched from his hands, stuck in the beast’s torso. With agility that belied its size, the Minotaur jumped to its feet and grabbed the sword out of its body  roaring then throwing the burning blade to the ground and shattering it with a ferocious stomp.

        "Mensen, get back!" Ralde roared, pulling his leader away. Focusing magical energy into his defensive spell, he let loose a flurry of stabs towards its eyes. Through luck or skill, one of the thrusts landed in the beast’s eyes, and it roared in pain and swiping out with the claymore it hit Ralde in the chest. The gray glow of his protective magic intensified as it stopped the keen edge of the blade, and he was thrown across the clearing where he struck a tree with a sickening crunch.

        The Minotaur snapped its teeth and shook its body. Bleeding profusely from many wounds, its flesh charred and poisoned, it let out a feeble bellow as it fell to its knees.

        "Back, back!" shouted Sheth, crouched near Ase.  The small creature floating next to him made some angry hissing sounds. "Back!” he shouted again. “It’s going to do something big!"

        The men ran back to Sheth, all but one who ran over to Ralde, picking him up carefully and bringing him behind the tree he had struck. The Minotaur knelt, its hands on the ground. A lucky shot from Ase landed an arrow in its other eye.

        "Perfect chance" muttered one of the men. "It’s completely blind!"

        "Stay, Erronas," said Mensen. "If Sheth says to get back, we need to get back, and this isn’t an ordinary monster. Boy, what does the Faelin say is coming?"

        The Faelin squealed. “Magic?” Sheth translated, slightly confused. “It’s going to-”

        The Minotaur roared and slammed its fist into the ground, the force of the blow shaking the ground enough to knock some of the men off their feet.

        "That’s it?" said Erronas. "That was nothing. Finish it!" running forward with his sword held high, he charged the beast.

        “No, wait!” cried Sheth.

        The Minotaur let loose with a massive shriek, a horrifying sound that froze the men down to their heart. The men fell down instantly, clutching their ears in pain. The Minotaur lurched forward, stabbing Erronas through his chest with a chipped horn, rearing upwards to hold the dying hunter above its head. His blood ran down on it, and its long tongue reached out to lap it up.

        "Now!" cried Sheth. "Now’s the time to end it!"

        The men ran forward. “You’ll die for that!" Mensen shouted.

        Charging out, he picked up Erronas’ blade with a roll past the beast. He flattened himself against the ground as the Minotaur slashed out with a low cut in an attempt to take out the legs of the hunters, the monster filled with bloodlust from the small taste it had of Erronas. It threw the dead Hunter from its head, knocking down a few men who cried out in anger at the misuse of their comrade’s body.

        It flailed around blindly in an attempt to catch an unlucky hunter, the long claymore swung around as if it were a butter knife. From behind Mensen caught the claymore on the back swing, bringing his sword down on it to knock it into the ground. Leaping forward he swung around with all his might, the blade bursting into flames, with a shout he severed the Minotaur’s head.

        The men slowly gathered around the fallen beast. Ralde limped over, supported by the hunter who had gone to help him. “Damn thing, we would have gotten it without a death,” he said “if everyone had listened to the coordinator.” He nodded to Sheth. “Good work, boy.”

        “Silence! Do not speak badly of the dead.” Masen bent down and picked up the fallen hunter. “Erronas was brave, and eager for the kill. Let that not be held against him.”

        Everyone bent their heads in reverence to the dead. “I meant no insult to him,” Ralde murmured. “His bravery was indeed second to no man. But!” He looked up. “Mourning is not our way. When we return we shall rejoice for the life he lived, and for his honor in death!”

        Several of The Hunters gave a cheer “For Erronas’ honor!”

        Ase let an arrow fly, infusing it with a small amount of magic by scratching a rune on the bow. It whistled as it ascended, exploding into a light green glow, with a small flash of red. “Job complete, one dead.” Ase said. “They’ll be bringing the raft around soon. Let’s get this thing over to the river.”

        The Hunters set to work, preparing a bier for Erronas and getting the corpse of the Minotaur ready for transport, each one knowing what would be needed of them without orders. The swordsmen began cutting down sizable branches and stripping them, as the archers worked on laying the body of the beast flat, preparing it for transport. Sheth opened up his bag, pulling several lengths of rope out and giving some to the men preparing the bier, and another few to Ase who had just finished lining the monster up.

        Hend began looking over the injured Ralde, being the most proficient at healing magic. “Aside from what looks like a fracture in your left leg, you’ve got five broken ribs, an arm broken in two spots... and a dislocated shoulder.” He gave Ralde a glare. “That armor provides great defense when it is activated, but you shouldn’t be letting yourself get hit by a Minotaur, even with it.”

        Ralde winced. “Had I not, we would have lost our leader. Whole group probably would have followed.” He lay back as Hend began casting healing spells, drawing runes in the air to summon magic. Blue light shone down, and he conjured a few magic circles around the broken and battered Hunter to contain the magic, encasing him in a protective shell.

        Ralde stood up slowly. “Well, that will cover me until I can get some proper healing. I’d better avoid any heavy lifting, though.” He eyed the Minotaur, the Hunters nearly done preparing it for transport.

        Sheth examined the head of the Minotaur as the Hunters finished tying ropes to it. Something about the eyes interested him, they weren’t clouding over like usually happened with a Shroudling; instead they seemed alive and full of malice. He peered into them, expecting to see them move, or to hear the Minotaur growl at him.

        Nothing happened however, so Sheth walked over to the men preparing the bier for Erronas. Using the rope, they had lashed together several large branches, fashioning a bed of sorts. Two of them reverently picked up their fallen comrade, placing him on the newly fashioned transport, laying his weapon beside him. He looked back at the corpse of the monster, noting a lack of Faelin; the small creatures usually crowded around any time a Shroudling died.

        Dael stood up, holding one of the ropes tied around the Minotaur’s torso. “Are we ready to bring this thing now? The rafters don’t like when we take too long after a kill, and the arrow went up a while ago.”

        Mensen stood up. “Yes, it’s about time.” He called over the Hunters. “A good Hunt today, this kill will provide for us for quite a while, I think. We lost a good man, but his soul shall watch over us and guide us.

        “Dael! Hend! You two will bring along Erronas. Sheth, you carry the beasts head. Ralde-”         “Confound it, I’m injured! Give me a bit of a breather!”

        Mensen smiled. “Ralde, you will guide us. Pick us a path through the trees that will allow the passage of this brute.”

        Ralde gave a weak smile. “Oh, was that it? Sorry, of course. I’m sure you won’t have much trouble, though, this forest isn’t that thick. Oh!” He stopped suddenly. “The sword! There’s a chance it belonged to a Hunter from Dolcet. I’ll carry it back with me.” He walked over to the claymore stuck in the ground.

        “Careful!” said Hend. “The spell is holding your wounds together, you’re not healed! Don’t do something to make it worse for the Healers back home!” Ralde looked back and gave a wry smile.

        “I’ll drag it beside me, then. I have one uninjured arm, after all.” He picked up the claymore and dragged it over to the front of the group.

        “Come along, then!” He began walking, picking a path through the trees wide enough for the Minotaur’s corpse, following the trail the monster had made earlier. The men carrying the fallen Hunter followed, the ones dragging the corpse came huffing behind.

        Sheth followed behind the group, lagging a little bit. Something seemed a little off, usually with the death of a Shroudling the Faelin would gather in large numbers, both visible and hidden, and examine the spot where it died. But this time there was nothing, even the Faelin that had been his guide had disappeared. He walked along slowly, looking into the glassy eyes of the Minotaur. His vision seemed to dim as he stared, the reflection of the sky in the beast’s eyes faded and was replaced by a swirling blackness. He stopped moving, as a shadowy figure took form. He felt rather then heard a loud cry from it as it began to move about, searching, and a chill went down his spine.

        Sheth... he heard his name, a cold voice without substance, a soundless calling, a grim invitation to unknown horrors. He leaned closer, gazing at the shadow, darker than the blackness behind it, an endless pit of nothingness in a vaguely humanoid form. Sheth... The figure raised its hands, beckoning for him, reaching to grab hold of him. He leaned closer against his will, unable to fight the order burning into his mind.

        Suddenly a dazzling silver figure appeared in the darkness, banishing the shadow, so bright that Sheth had to close his eyes. He blinked, and realized he was sitting on the ground, gazing at the sky. The silver figure was gone, and so was the shadow, the milky eyes of the dead Minotaur reflecting the sky and tree canopy above him. Was what he had just seen real? Or had he just had a vision?

        “Sheth!”

        He looked over, and saw Mensen running towards him. “What are you doing boy? We made it to the raft before we noticed you weren’t there!”

        Sheth looked down. “I’m sorry. I was just... well, there was a shadow, and a silver thing...”

        Mensen knelt down, looking uneasy. “This is the Unclaimed Land, there are Shroudlings all over. If you saw something, we should head out... If there’s something around here that’s giving you visions, it’s not safe anymore. And you need to be more careful, we take you on missions despite your age because you can communicate with the Faelin, you’re not ready to deal with these monsters on your own.”

        Sheth nodded. “I think it was just my imagination going a bit wild, I’ll be more careful from now on.”

        “Good, that’s what I like to hear. Now let’s get going, the men are waiting at the raft and it’s getting late. We don’t want to be caught outside the walls when the sun is setting.”

        They hurried along the path, following the trail beaten down by the corpse of the Minotaur. Sheth looked around as he walked, seeing Faelin flying and crawling through the trees, keeping a farther distance than usual.

        They came to the shore of the river, and Ralde called out to them “Sheth! If you to do your business, wait until you’re inside the walls of the town!” getting a laugh from the rest of the Hunters. Sheth’s face turned red, and he muttered something under his breath as he climbed onto the raft.

        “Enough of that, let’s push off,” Said Mensen, climbing on after him. “We need to get back before sundown.”

        The rafts-men put their hands on raised wooden pedestals on the raft, blue runes appearing under their hands. Focusing, they began manipulating the water under the raft, two of them on the front, one at the rear. The raft pushed out from the shore and began to move, traveling against the current at a fast speed. Sheth sat down and closed his eyes, thinking about what he had seen.