He woke to a loud rat-tat-tat-tat somewhere above him it stopped for a moment as he stirred, then began again as before. Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat. He was tired and his head ached, yet the noise wouldn’t let him sleep. It was worse than his alarm. Squinting through bleary eyes, he looked up through tree branches to where a curious red crested black and white bird stared down at him, head cocked, beady eyes shining with curiosity. For a moment he lay there looking up as it looked down. Then his eyes shot open.

His motion startled the woodpecker into flight, sending it bobbing away between the trees in its peculiar flight.

"Where am I?" he said, looking round.

The memories of the night were hazy, which didn't surprise him considering the lump on his head. His headache throbbed enough to make thinking nearly impossible. He remembered enough though, enough to know he had lost his friends and his bearings. At least he still had his map and compass, miraculously they'd remained in his pocket. But without a reference they were close to worthless. Choosing a likely hill nearby he headed toward it, hoping to be able to see some landmark that would orient him.

Stumbling through the undergrowth, he made his way up the hillside. He finally made it to the crown of the hill, only to find the view completely obscured by the trees. Still, he'd made it this far, he figured he might be able to find a tall enough tree to get where he could see above the tree line. And there it was, a forest giant, growing high above the surrounding trees, numerous branches jutting out, some low enough to reach. Finding a likely branch he made his ascent.

"No one ever tells you about how dirty trees get," Levi muttered as he dusted himself off. He was sitting on a sturdy branch about as high up as he dared climb, trying to clean cobwebs out of his hair. Here, high up on the hill, he was just able to see the country round about. He'd balanced his map on the branch, with the compass on his knee, and figured he'd matched the topography with his map well enough.

"Either I've got it or I don't, but either way I go south. whether I find the meetup or just the highway that's the direction for me."

Folding the map with care, as everything done perched in a treetop must be done with care, he started to descend. Part way down he froze. Something, or someone was moving around down there. He had two friends out there and lot's of gremlins; chances were it was a gremlin. Pushing in against the trunk he hoped he looked enough like a tree to blend in.

It wasn't long before he got a clear look at the intruder. It was a girl with matted hair creeping through the trees. She was inching forward, stopping every so often to look around, before continuing on. He let out a sigh of relief, it was Alice. She looked so disheveled it was hard to recognize her.

"Hey, Alice," he called in his loudest whisper. He didn't dare raise his voice any higher. She hadn't heard him, so he began his descent, marking her path mentally, so he could catch her once he was on the ground. Half way down he looked again. She was coming his way and was closer now. He opened his mouth to call again, but shut it again quick as a mouse trap. Off in the other direction a band of gremlins was coming toward them, still oblivious to their presence. Still, they looked like they were hunting and, after last night, Levi could guess who they were hunting.

"Alice," he whispered again, loud as he dared, still she didn't respond. If he didn't catch her soon she'd walk right past and right into the gremlins.

Well, there's no help for it, he thought, bracing himself.

The last twenty or so feet went by quickly as he half jumped, half fell from one branch to another. Almost down, he slipped on a patch of moss, falling the last eight feet to the ground. He lay in the weeds, groaning softly. He didn't know if the gremlins had heard him, but Alice had. He looked up to see her standing over him, a rock held in her raised hand. Her eyes were bloodshot and wild. she looked ready to kill him.

"Woah. Easy Alice, it's me."

"Levi?" He must look worse than she did if she didn't recognize him. "I'm so glad it's you, last night was awful." She slumped against the tree trunk, the rock slipping from her hand.

"You okay? Were you up all night?"

"You think I could sleep with those things out there? You're kidding right? Did you?"

"Well, yeah, sort of," he said, rubbing the bump on his head. "But we've got to get out of here, I was just up the tree and saw like five of the gremlins coming this way."

"Seriously?" She closed her eyes for a long moment. Levi though for a second she'd fallen asleep. She spoke finally, "I don't know how much more of this I can do." Her eyes popped open. "Wait, those are gremlins?"

"You got me, that’s just what I call them. Can we get going now?"

"Yeah, let's get outta here."

They snuck off, in the other direction, keeping the hill between them and their pursuers. They didn’t see anything else but it was a long time before they began to relax. By early afternoon they were tired, thirsty, and sick to death of the trees. Fortunately they managed to hit the road about that point and soon enough a friendly trucker came by. He carried them the few miles to the meetup without asking too many questions.

Reggie was waiting there, but Paul wasn't.

"Hey, where you been?" said Reggie looking them up and down. "And why're you coming from that way? You get lost or something?"

Then he noticed it was just the two of them. "Hold on there, where's your friend with the big mouth?"

They looked at each other, then at Reggie. "We'd hoped he was here," said Levi. "We got split up."

"Split up, seriously?" said Alice. "We got way more than split up. You said this forest was safe. We've been running from these gremlin things since last night. We're lucky we made it out. But Paul's still back there in the middle of it all. He could be dead."

She was shouting by the time she finished.

"Whoa there m'lady, what happened? Gremlins?"

"Yeah, green, short, pointy teeth, really mean," said Levi. "And like we said, Paul's still out there, so what're we going to do about it?"

"Were they wearing anything?"

"What? Not much."

"Yeah, just some brown rags I think. Not much else. I didn't stop to look hard though."

"Huh, so not red caps then. Wrong time of year for kallikantzaros too. But sorry kids, gremlins aren't real. I'd really need to see one to know for sure."

"But, what about Paul?" Alice was shouting now. The strain of last night had stripped any restraint she had left. "He's out there, maybe dead and you're not going out after him?"

"Yeah seriously," said Levi, "I don't know what your deal is but he's in real trouble. Don't you guys deal with this stuff?"

"Easy both of you, I'm not leaving him to die. Though I think you might underestimate that friend of yours. I'm still alive because I don't rush in without reason. That’s hunter rule number one. Now give me a moment. So they couldn't see in the dark, small, angry, did they smell bad?"

"Yeah, yeah they did," said Levi, "I tripped over one and it stunk like a sewer."

"Really," he said, rubbing his chin. "Now that's interesting. Not likely, but I can't imagine what else it might be. Still, I didn't expect them."

"Them what??"

"You're still yelling m'lady, I told you I'm trying to think."

"What are you talking about? Did you figure it out?" she asked, quieter this time, though with obvious effort.

"I think they're hyosube, though I could be wrong. Nasty, angry little things. The thing is, those don't often show themselves this side of the international date line. They're usually Asia's problem. I can't imagine what they'd be doing all the way out here. But there have been too many things that don’t make sense recently.

Either way, it's time to go find him." He looked over the two of them. "You're both bordering walking dead I think. There's plenty of food in the van, blankets too. Just lock the door and you should be fine."

"Wait," said Levi. "We're coming too."

"Yeah, you need us to find him."

Reggie grabbed a small pack from the van before addressing them. The easy smile was gone. "Look. What do you think you kids can offer right now? You got chased around half the night because you can't handle those things. You're tired and hungry and half dead. You don't even know where you came from do you?.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Like you said, this is what I do. I don't need liabilities or untrained babes slowing me down. I'll be back when I find him."

The last words were spoken over his shoulder as he disappeared into the trees.

"What was that?" Levi demanded. "What'd he mean liabilities? There's no way I'm leaving Paul when he needs us. I'm going back out there."

"No, he's right." She sounded defeated.

Surprised, Levi turned to Alice. "What?"

"He's right okay,” she slumped against the side of the van, angry tears in her eyes.

"What happened? A minute ago you were all set to go rescue Paul. Why'd you give up?"

Alice laughed, a hollow, tired laugh. "Look at you. Look at us. How are we going to help anyone when we couldn't even help ourselves? Face it, we're no hunters, just some dumb kids who can't take care of themselves. Again."

Levi wanted to argue. He hated her, just like he hated Reggie for what they'd said. He hated them both for being right.

"Argh!"

He punched a nearby tree. He'd have sworn if he'd known how. His dad'd used his belt on him the one time he'd tried it at home. He'd never tried that again.

"Argh!"

He punched it again, and again, till all his strength was spent. He sat down hard on the dirt, back against the tree. His hand throbbed.

"You want a juice box?"

"Huh?

"You want a juice box? They're pretty good." Alice tossed him one from where she was sitting in the minivan. Her tears had dried, leaving her looking thoughtful.

"Yeah thanks."

She tossed him one.

"Feeling useless gets easier the more it happens."

"I doubt it. I hate feeling like this."

"Trust me, I’ve felt it a few times. When I was little my dad left, didn't even tell anyone, just off and disappeared. My mom worked three different jobs just so me and my sister could have a place to sleep. We wanted to help, but there wasn’t anything we could do. I watched her get older and sicker till, when I was sixteen she caught a bad pneumonia bug and died. They said they didn’t know why it killed her. They said she was still young. Of course I think she just fought too long and couldn’t handle any more.”

"Wow, I, I don't know what to say." Levi stumbled over the words. He couldn't imagine that sort of life. What'd you guys do after that?"

Alice smiled, a tired sort of smile, the kind you put on when anything else hurts worse. "We were okay. Mandy was nineteen then, and I was working, so we got by." She laughed again, that same hollow laugh. "Things were finally getting better when all this happened. I even thought learning all this, being a hunter, it might, you know, let me be less helpless for once. But like I said, it gets easier after a while."

"I know we're both pathetic, I get it. Sorry for getting mad earlier too. But, I can't believe we'll be like this forever. I'm not saying I want to be a hunter, but my dad, he's just a regular guy. He never went to college or anything, but he's helped lots of people. I figure at least I can be like that. I just wish, I just wish I could be like that right now.”

They sat there for a while, sipping on kiddie juice boxes and eating string cheese and goldfish crackers, neither one speaking.

"You know, that's really cool that you got to know your dad." Alice said.

"Yeah, he's pretty great."

"I didn't know mine real well, but before he took off he gave me a book."

"Yeah, what sort of book."

"The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. It's really not the sort of book you should give a five year old, I remember mom flipped out when he gave it to me. It's full of kids getting their heads cut off, and crazy stuff like that. But it was the last thing I remember getting from him. I kept it for years. I remember pretending he hadn’t run off, but was trapped like in one of those fairy tales, and somehow I'd be able to rescue him if I just knew the spell.

I was a pretty messed up kid."

"Sounds like you had a pretty messed up life."

"Yeah, something like that."

"So is that why you're into fairy tales?"

"Folklore, and yeah, that's right, kinda lame right?"

"No, I don't think so. I mean yeah in high school my buddies and I might have thought so, but we were pretty stupid then. Besides, it turns out witches and ogres aren't such a stupid field after all."

That got a laugh out of her. A real, honest, much needed laugh. It was like that first spring breeze after a long winter, it felt good. Levi couldn't help but laugh too. As the laughter died out Levi had another thought.

"So that's why."

"Why what?"

"It's why you were so hungry to learn about all of this. Do you think he really was taken by something?"

"I dunno," she said, drawing her knees up to her chest. "I guess it's stupid, and maybe it's cause of all the fairytales, but I'd like to think that maybe he didn't run out on us, you know. Maybe, even if it was bad, it really was witches or monsters and maybe he really was the man I remember as a kid. I know that's awful, but it's better than thinking he ran out cause of us, because of me. Does that make me a horrible person?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah what?"

"You really are a horrible person."

That started them laughing again. It was a miserable thing to talk about, especially after such a miserable night, but somehow it helped.

###

It was late evening, and Levi had drifted off when Reggie came back.

"Hey, Levi wake up."

"Huh, what's up?"

"They're back."

Reggie was walking from the north. He looked tired, disheveled, but still the same Reggie. Behind him, dragging his feet, shoulders bent like he'd taken Atlas' burden, came Paul.

They ran to meet the two, grabbing Paul, hugging him, just happy he was alive.

"Hey man I can't believe you're okay, what happened out there? Is that blood? Are you hurt?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," was all he said, pulling away from them.

There was a shadow on their friend, even in the twilight Levi could see it. They looked to Reggie who shook his head.

"The kid's seen monsters, let him be."

It was a long, silent drive back to the city. They were crossing the bridge when Levi, who'd been staring out into the darkness of the water, came to a realization.

"Hey, at least it wasn't a total waste. I think I'm over my fear of the dark."

Paul groaned, a convulsion running through him, like he'd been shaken by giant hands.

"Paul, you alright?" asked Alice.

He didn't answer. Instead he clutched the blanket around himself, hunching over.

"Like I said, leave the boy be. He's got some inner demons who aren't of a mind to be ignored at the moment."

"Is he going to be alright?" Said Alice, "He seems so... alone."

"Don't worry, he's not alone, no matter what it seems. He's got Shalim with him."

"Shalim? Who's that?"

"Shalim's his adjutor."

"So, he's helping him out?" said Alice, staring at Paul with worry in her eyes.

"That's right, no one's better suited to help Paul with what he's going through then Shalim."

"I didn't know they had spirits. I thought they were just tools." Said Levi, inspecting the tattoo on his forearm.

"They're a bit of both, and more than either. But I think you already figured that out on some level. I know Alice did."

"Yeah, sort of, I mean I had a feeling anyway."

"What really? How'd you figure that out?" asked Levi.

"Well, I don't know, it's not like they act up every time there's danger, and each time it fits you know. Like when we were near the gremlins."

"Hyosube." Reggie corrected.

"Yeah, you know what, I really don't care,” snapped Alice, “I mean, sorry, it's been a rough couple days."

"No offense taken."

"Anyway, so I got to thinking,” said Alice. “There are times like with the hyosube where if the adjutors had acted like they'd done before, like with Levi, we'd have been crippled right when we needed to run. So, it can't just react to danger, it has to know what's happening. Besides, they make challenges for us right? And they always seem to fit what we need. I figure that takes some thought, some guiding intelligence.”

Her voice lowered then to a near whisper.

“Besides all that, I've felt her before too."

"You felt her?” asked Levi. “How'd you know it's a her?"

"I don't know, I just do okay. I don't know how else to say it, but there've been times when I missed my mom that I've just been really sad, so sad I couldn’t drag myself out of bed. But ever since we started this I've felt like someone's there with me, sort of telling me everything's okay. So yeah, I've felt her."

"Wow, how come I haven't noticed anything, is mine a dud?"

His arm burned white hot. "Ouch, okay, I'm sorry, I take it back. I take it back." The burning subsided but Levi could have sworn those ruby eyes were glaring at him. "Geez. Okay, I get it, I just wasn't paying attention."

Reggie laughed. "Baldr's the quiet type anyway, I wouldn't feel too bad about it. And, since I'm sure you're going to ask, Alice, your little lady is Mokosh. It's no accident they each picked you the way they did."

"Aura," Alice said softly, running her fingers along her forearm. "It's nice to know her name." She looked up. "What do you mean they picked us?"

"Ah, the others really didn't tell you much at all did they? No of course not, they like you to figure things out the hard way. Not always a bad way to go early on. The spirit of the adjutor isn't something that just sits there, waiting to be used. They're powerful beings who've been around since the beginning. They say the creator himself put them here to guide men, and women of course. When the adjutor senses someone that... interests them, they just show up on one of those dusty old books we've got sitting around. I’m not sure how that bit works, Connolly is the vault keeper, so he’s the one who tells us when they’ve chosen someone.

Of course not all hunters have them, most are like Hal and his friends. They get recruited by necessity or chance, but whenever an adjutor shows up, we try to recruit the person they request."

"So," said Levi, "do you have one?"

"Sure do, Bre and I have been together for quite some time now. She's helped me through quite a few tough spots."

"So Bre's a she then?"

"Yeah, well Brekstra's her full name, but why?"

"Well, uh, I dunno, I just thought, you know, with Alice's being a girl, and Paul and mine being guys..." He trailed off, feeling dumber than usual.

"An honest mistake Levi, but try not to assume anything. The world's changing and things we take for granted could kill us. Look at our little trip. Anna monitors monster activity and she’s never wrong. She has an ability to sense magical disturbances which has been very helpful. If creatures are slipping through without her knowledge, then who knows what else is changing. You’ll need to be on your guard if you want to stay alive."

"I'm still not sure about being a hunter you know,” said Levi. “Especially after last night."

"I wasn't talking about you being a hunter."

Levi tried to press him on what exactly he was talking about.

"Look," Reggie said. "I can't say any more than I know, and that's you've got to be careful in life. You never know when things'll fall apart, and that's for all of life, monsters or no. Besides, a monster almost killed you on your road trip. Being ignorant is no way to protect yourself."

Levi still felt like Reggie wasn’t telling them something, but gave it up. He was too tired to care.

Finally they came to his now familiar door.

"Well, that's enough fun for now. You think you can make it to the door without getting into any more trouble?" Reggie asked.

"Yeah, Reggie, I think I can handle that. Thanks again for getting Paul out there. He is going to be alright isn't he?"

"Of course, I'll be taking him home with me. He's in no condition to be out on his own right now, but like I said, don't worry. He'll be fine in a day or two. Now get some sleep you hear?"