CHAPTER FIVE

PRELUDE TO CHAOS

The faint sound of a river flowing, night birds calling in short yet rhythmic chirps and the distant rustle of shrubs being disturbed by skittish animals could be heard. Even in the cover of darkness, the forest was filled with the subtle sounds of life.

"Ughh, why do we have to be the ones to wade through muck and grime in the middle of the bloody night?!?" a man with a scratchy voice said.

"From the sound of it, whatever this thing is, it hunts during the day. Easier to find tracks without being disturbed if it’s asleep." a man with a calm face and scraggy beard said.

"Yeah, easy for you to say, you already specialise in night hunting. I am still just a rookie when it comes to this kind of work."

"You wanted your chance at some action, well here’s your chance. Best get it out of the way now so you don’t suffer for it later. Besides, you were given a nightwalker’s potion so you should see mostly fine, don’t need no heroics, just need to find some tracks that are not native. Now stay quiet and follow my lead. We don’t want to alert whatever this thing is.

The two men continued their mission through the dense forest as silent as they could. A twig snapped under the rookie’s foot, breaking the relative peace of night. The tree canopy exploded in noise, as a flock of birds distanced themselves from the sudden sound.

"AAAGGGHH!!!" he yelped out in panic.

"Would you be quiet already?! It was just some birds, stop jumping at your own shadow, just be alert."

He nodded and gathered his wits.

They walked for roughly 15 minutes more until another sound disturbed them. This time, the younger one was even more panicked.

He channelled his aether and opened his eyes wide. Quickly knocked his bow and let loose, thanks to the potion he consumed before, his aim was true even in the thick darkness. He hit his mark and a short but shrill sound erupted from the thicket.

"What the hell are you doing?!?" asked his partner, on the verge of shouting.

The fellow was tense, on edge, he was breathing heavily, as if every draw of air could be his last.

"I-I…. I don’t think we should be here. I’ve heard bad things about the nights on this island." he said with his voice shaking and eyes darting left and right, scanning for anything that might come to take his life.

The experienced hunter took a long look at him and got closer, with the forest floor not making a sound under his measured steps.

"Listen, I know this is new to you, but you have to keep it together, this world is not so gentle as to spare you just because you were afraid. Have some backbone. This area is relatively safe at night so we should be fine."

"O-ookay. I am sorry… I am sorry" he somewhat calmed down after the firm talking to

"Make sure that it doesn’t happen again." after the scolding finished he looked to the bushes and scratched his head in frustration.

"Well, since you shot that thing anyways, might as well take a look and gather its essence."

"O-ookay." he meekly replied as he walked towards the bushes containing his kill. It was a smaller, furry creature roughly the size of a man’s thigh. He held out his hand grasping a marble-sized sphere. Swirling particles of aether surrounded the palm of his hand, flowing towards its centre once he touched it against the animal.

"A nevral?" he chuckled. "I am simultaneously impressed and disappointed. Impressed that you managed to hit that thing in the middle of the night. Disappointed that you would disobey my orders for a measly overgrown rodent!"

"W-well, if you don’t want any, then I’ll just have this myself when we get back." he goaded trying to regain whatever confidence he could muster, as he pulled the arrow out of the carcass, its exit making a wet schlop sound.

The other man hesitated before giving a reply.

"Ah, what the hell. We’ve been out here for hours and haven’t found anything. Let’s head back."

"Finally you are speaking making sense!" he said as he swung his bounty on his shoulder.

"Well lookie here. Tired of soiling your pants lad?" the man said with his eyebrows raised and a somewhat condescending smile.

"I don’t want to fail our colony, I have to be better." the young man said in embarrassment whilst preparing for the trip home.

But before he could take the first step, a large hand struck his back, making him stumble forward, almost dropping his quarry.

"That's a good lad! You will make a fine hunter before long." he said in a cheery tone, more than pleased at the fellow’s determination and loyalty.

They began their journey to the town, chatting on the way back.

"Noticed you still have that shoddy siphon, you really should get a better one."

"I know, but they are so damn expensive, maybe in a year or two."

"Yeah, a year or two and you are going to miss out on a heap load of money."

"Ah, fine, if you say so, but you better recommend a good place to buy one."

Proudly thumping his chest, he spoke.

"Don’t you worry, I’ll look after you kid."

They continued their banter for some time until

"And then I-... Hey, are you listening?" asked the archer after he'd been monologuing for some time.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

No answer came.

He staggered on his feet and began scanning the area for any signs of his partner.

"Gav! Where are you?!?"

His shoulder suddenly became lighter and his prize hung in front of his face.

"Should guard this better, it’s mine now Zeek."

"You bastard! I thought you had gone missing!"

"A hunter has always got to be on the ready, better luck next time." he said with an irritating grin.

"If you say so, now giv-" his tirade was interrupted by a swift hand on his mouth.

"Shh, do you hear that?" he whispered as he halted the other with his hand.

The newbie perked his ear out and listened closely.

"I hear nothing. What are you on about?" he whispered back, a bit irate.

"That's exactly it, you pillock! Everything is quiet."

An unsettling silence befell the area. Not a single thing was making its presence known. Even the sonorous song of the birds stayed deathly still.

The stillness was shattered by a majestic roar in the distance followed by the sound of two trees snapping separated by about 15 seconds.

"A scuffle? It came from over there!" he pointed in the direction of the noise "Come on! I think our night might not be so uneventful after all!" he said as he dropped the carcass on his shoulder to the ground.

"Got it!" he wasn't about to disobey his senior a second time.

They raced through the thicket with great urgency, following the racket and came upon a small clearing.

"Stay sharp. It doesn't seem like anyone or anything is present. But it sure as hell looks like something's been here." he said, as he surveyed the scene.

Ground broken up, branches destroyed and signs of general mayhem littered the environment.

"There doesn't appear to be any discernable tracks in this mess. Search this place from top to bottom."

They scoured the area for anything they could use to locate what caused the disturbance.

"Hey, what's that over there?" Zeek pointed.

Looking in the same direction, Gavin spotted something faintly glistening. They both approached with careful steps. It was a pool of lightly glowing, midnight blue, liquid substance.

The senior hunter kneeled down and touched it, spreading it between his fingers. It was vicious and somewhat sticky, similar to blood.

"What is that thing?" asked the other one.

"It looks like petrichor to me. From the smell of copper in the air, I’d say it is freshly spilt."

"But where did it come from, there’s nothing out here to power."

"Hmm, something to power…" his eyes widened in terror.

"We need to move! NOW!!!" he shouted as he grabbed Zeek’s shoulders, making them lock eyes.

"Wha-" before he could finish his sentence a high-pitched wind up and crack could be heard from the tree tops, followed by a blue bolt of energy flying towards Gavin’s head, blowing half of it clean off. Bits of meat flew in the air producing a squelching noise. His lifeless body hit the ground where the petrichor was spilt, covering his corpse in a sinister glow.

"Gav!!!’’ he shrieked as he fell back.

He saw another bolt coming but tilted his head just in time. He got up and ran away into the thickest part of the woods nearby.

Shortly after, two silhouettes descended from one of the nearby trees. Both had faint blue light radiating from their eyes, one holding some type of crossbow next to a one-armed figure holding a similar weapon.

— — —

"What the hell was that?!?" He shouted while running for his life.

As he cut through the vegetation with panicked haste, he received several cuts and bruises from the odd twigs and branches. As he continued to sprint, he hit the river and stopped immediately at the edge assessing the dept. Judging that it wasn’t too deep, he jumped in, wading through waist-deep water and fighting the moderate current.

After an arduous battle, he made it to the other side and crawled up the riverbank. He stood up and walked a few steps before he slipped on some mud and fell on a piece of jagged rock, lacerating his arm.

"FUCK!" he screamed in anguish.

Looking at his arm, he saw the bleeding was somewhat heavy but not unmanageable. As he had covered a fair bit of distance at this point, he decided to turn back and wash his wound before applying a tourniquet, but he immediately froze in place at the sight of what exactly he tripped on.

It was a footprint. Not just any footprint. It was enormous, about the size of the man’s torso. It had a three-pronged shape with some water left in the middle of it and a couple others, forming a row of muddy tracks.

"Wait. Water? But it hasn’t rained in weeks." he mumbled in a state of light delirium.

Small ripples began forming in the puddles and a flock of birds flew off in the distance making a racket, but his gaze remained focused. The ripples slowly became bigger and bigger. His eyes widened in dread at the realisation.

"I need to hide!" he limped away trying to find a spot to seek refuge in.

He came upon a small indentation with some bushes near it and hid.

Shrubs in the distance rattled as the sound of what was at first faint steps, turned into thunderous strides. Closer and closer, louder and louder, they began to slow down and came to a halt near the indentation. A guttural rumble shook the man’s very core followed by a low growl as if someone was dragging a metal pipe down a wooden ladder.

The man was shaking in fear, every instinct in his body screamed at him to run away, but he couldn’t. Not only was he in no shape to run, but his legs completely froze and turned into a quivering mess. With every rumble, he could feel his chest resonate in sync. Every breath the creature took sounded like a gust of wind roaring through a narrow passage, one followed by another.

"Please, go away, go away." he mumbled in terror. But his pleas went unanswered as it soon dawned on him that the creature wasn’t simply breathing. It was taking in whiffs of air.

"Nohoho." his eyes welled up with tears looking at his wounded arm as it bled. He smeared some of the mud from his clothes on it to staunch the bleeding, it risked infection, but he didn't care. It worked! 'Finally!' He thought, seeing some glimmer of success in the hopeless situation. He stayed still with his head down and listened for the beast's next action.

Then… silence. No sound, no vibrations, no nothing. Just the eerie whistle of the night wind remained.

He lifted his head and began crawling until something on the ground caught his attention. At a glance, it looked like water.

A drip, two drips, three. It was mixed with a faintly glowing blue hue similar to petrichor, but much dimmer. He immediately tilted his body up to assess the situation, only to find a set of somewhat dull but pointed teeth attached to a massive maw descending on his legs.

"ARGHAAGH!!!" screaming as he felt his shins shatter, he was lifted off the ground and tossed into the air, then fell back down, before feeling his chest compress one final time to the gutwrenching sounds of bones breaking in a wet "glophrghkk" sound before eternal darkness embraced him.

— — —

Flickering flames of a fireplace bathed stone walls in an orange hue and the scent of old books mixed with parchment and fresh ink wafted in the air.

"What's your name, guard?" a man with a handlebar moustache and a moderately protruding stomach asked, sitting in his current office with an irritated look on his face.

"Colvar, your lordship."

"Colvar. Right, am I to understand that you have news about our little predicament?" he asked impatiently.

The man stood at attention, straight as an arrow, and gave his report.

"Correct, your lordship. From the description we were given in the notice, I believe we have a prime suspect. A younger male, by his own account he is 13 years of age, a height of around five feet and two inches and with an above-average physique for his age range. I couldn't make out his face as he was covered up but I can recognise him by voice anywhere."

"What paints him as the prime suspect?"

The man momentarily recoiled, hints of anger apparent in his expression.

"He was caught pickpocketing and a subsequent chase ensued. He managed to evade capture and escaped as we were about to enter the industrial estate."

Alderic's face contorted in anger at the recount.

"And how exactly did some measly 13-year-old brat escape the town guard? Are the lot of you that incompetent?!?"

Colvar broke out in sweat at the chastisement but was expecting it to happen.

"No, your Lordship. He set up a trap in the area by tampering with the copper pipes."

"Is that why your mug looks like it was chewed on by a dog?"

He held his head down in shame as he responded.

"It is so… your lordship."

"Well, that explains why you'd remember his voice. Very well, report to the guard captain that you are instructed to guide a search party and look for this little rat. However, I want you to keep a low profile. Not a word of this is to reach the Viceroy! Is that clear?"

"Crystal clear, your lordship!" the man bowed and was about to hurriedly exit the room before being stopped by Alderic shutting the door from his seat with a pulse of aether.

"One last thing. If you can catch the thief and bring him to me before tomorrow's sunset, we could even see about giving you a healing potion for services rendered, strong enough for it to mostly heal that nasty little injury you got. You may also mete out whatever punishment you wish for the boy once we are done with him. How's that for an incentive?"

Colvar turned around and gave a deep, respectful bow. His face hidden from sight.

"It will be so, my lord."