Jaysen Bjorn

Bjorn held his breath, listening beyond the sounds of buzzing insects that swarmed the forest. The midday sun glistened above, beams of light filtering down between the leaves and branches. The tracks he’d seen yesterday certainly did not belong to anything like a wolf or a bear, but perhaps something in between. And the villagers had reported three missing people. This was something larger. More sinister.

Just another creature to kill. Hopefully something he hadn’t killed before. There were still several monsters that needed to be marked off his list.

He’d rubbed dirt into his skin to mask his scent, but the air was more humid than usual in this part of the world. It would only last so long before the beast might be able to sense him. He liked being careful, but he also wanted to be quick. Being too quick though would be rash, and he wanted to survive. Everyone died eventually, and he knew his day would come, but there were still plenty of things he wanted to accomplish before then.

Killing this monster was one of them.

His body was equipped with enough weapons to arm a small army. A longsword was strapped to his back, and he had a large collection of knives, of which he was particularly proud. There were nineteen of them strapped all across his body. Some for throwing, others for jabbing or cutting. Even the back of his gloves had a couple jagged points for a quick, painful punch if all else failed. And in his hand, he held a small crossbow, loaded with an iron bolt.

He was prepared. Hunting monsters was his livelihood. A lucrative job if someone was efficient, and Bjorn was one of the best, even if he was only twenty years old. He’d been doing this his whole life.

There were always monsters to kill.

Crunching of the underbrush drew his attention. He honed in on the sound as it sounded again, further this time. Then again, further still. His prey had not caught on to his presence. He smirked and stalked after it. He watched his steps carefully. Without knowing what he was after, he had no idea what it was capable of. From the descriptions he’d received, which weren’t the most enlightening, they’d described claw marks, and some had heard growling. This at least suggested that what he was after was not one of the sentient races.

He paused as the sound of its movements stopped, replaced by a different sound, like that of rushing air, but there was no disturbance among the trees. No refreshing breeze to stymie the perspiration that started to dampen his brow. Just the sound.

Something strange was happening. It could be the sign of magic happening, which would only make the game more complex.

His eyes narrowed as he readied the crossbow and crept forward, sneaking around several shrubs. The tracks in the ground were more evident than ever. Crushed stems and broken branches marked an easy path forward, though he had to place his feet carefully so as not to alert his prey.

A fresh footprint pressed into the moistened soil merited closer examination, but Bjorn did not feel as though he had enough time. It looked like it belonged to a wolf, though it was significantly wider, almost more like a bear. Whatever he was about to confront, it was no beast he’d encountered before. He’d come to learn that this mattered very little. Many monsters operated the same. Most of them were too confident for their own good. By the time Bjorn got called in to hunt them, they usually already had their taste of humans, and thus they did not fear humans as they should.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

They would learn. Bjorn would teach them.

The footprint meant he was on the right trail. It appeared consistent with the ones he’d seen yesterday.

The air around him seemed to shimmer as he rounded a tree, as if there was an intense heat burning through it. He took his next step slowly, holding a hand out to touch the air, but nothing felt awry. In the otherwise still forest, the sound of leaves and branches scraping was easy to pinpoint. Leveling his crossbow, he rounded another tree, following the sound.

There.

A slight glimpse of a dark gray tail vanished through the underbrush. So it was possibly more wolf than bear. Not a good sign. Wolf variations always had differing levels of cleverness, but that just meant this hunt could be more fun than his usual experience. It also meant he’d most definitely need more than the crossbow. His first shot would need to be targeted towards maiming to some degree.

The beast made no other sound after disappearing, though the sound of wind persisted despite the stillness. Flecks of dust floated through the beams of sunlight stretching down between the leaves, and the shimmering effect on the air made it hard for Bjorn to focus. He was not impaired. His mind felt sharp as ever, but something was warping the scene around him.

The monster was magical. It had quite possibly detected his presence and was now actively trying to disguise itself both visually and audibly.

Clever indeed. But it would not work.

He rushed to the last place he’d seen the beast. The image of the forest around him wavered more, like a mirage or rippling water. This would not stop Bjorn. No such trick had stopped him before. Nothing mattered more than killing his quarry. He was the master hunter, and no mere creature would outmaneuver him.

The signs of its passing were unmistakable. For a clever beast, it made no attempt to hide its path. Perhaps it wasn’t hiding at all. The idea sparked a new level of wariness within him. What if this wasn’t the only one? Could it be leading him into a trap? If he was up against an entire pack, that would change the game completely. One monster he could handle, but two or three?

He grit his teeth and bent his knees slightly, exhaling a seething hot breath.

There was no turning back from here. Not for Bjorn. If it was a trap, then so be it. If he died, it mattered little. Everyone died eventually, and he’d done his fair share of monster-slaying already. But if he did die, then the village he’d come to help would soon follow in the destruction. The world itself was slowly sinking into a dark abyss. What little he did would not stop the inevitable.

He’d already made his decision long before this moment. He would pursue this monster to the end.

Directly ahead of him, he caught a glimpse of the tail once again, catching the ray of a beam of light before it disappeared once again. The time for caution was over. If it was meant to be a trap, then he would take them by surprise and take as many of them down with him as he could.

He rushed forward. The rippling air wavered more, as though he were disturbing the watery surface. It splashed across his exposed face and hands like tendrils of hair. He held his breath as he continued forward. All at once, the mirage and feeling evaporated, and a stilled forest lay before him.

But something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

The trees were evergreens, and the ground was covered in thick moss. The air itself was cooler, and the humidity had reduced significantly. There was no sight of the monster.

This was not the same forest.