Days started to pass quickly. And no wonder, since they became more and more busy.

The village was starting preparations for winter, and I did my best to help, trying to get my body back into shape after such long laziness and my mind back into the flow of things in an environment much simpler than a royal castle. Elithia accompanied me a lot, and Kristya tried to as well whenever she wasn't busy with her new job.

At any spare moment, I would read through the letters and notebook that we brought from the king's chambers, searching for anything that we might have overlooked. Now that I knew the rumors about the Last Dragons, I had to carefully hold the reins of my imagination to not let it interpret things that weren't there. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything that could explain more about the torture I endured or why it seemed like it wasn't actually over just yet...

Tavris recovered from his unfortunate encounter in the woods rather quickly. I met him outside less than a week after, walking slowly, but much steadier than before.

"Good noon," I greeted him when he noticed me, smiling a little.

"Hello there," he nodded back.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm not at the peak of my strength just yet, but I'm managing just fine. I see you're helping around a lot?"

"Yeah, I was just at one of the elder's house. Something wrong with a hinge by the door."

"Oh... maybe you could lend me a hand too? I have a similar problem."

"What is it?"

"A window shutter won't open for some reason. It might be a hinge problem too, but I don't feel confident enough yet to climb something and check the upper one..."

I followed him home. He gave me a stool and told me to come in to have some tea when I was done. Removing some rust and bits of leaves did the trick, so I could soon return to the warmth of his house.

To my surprise, I found him sitting in his chair by the hearth, eyes closed, looking like he was sleeping. I quietly brought the stool over and whispered: "Tavris...?" The man stayed motionless for a few more seconds, before taking a very deep, but very quiet breath and slowly letting it out. He opened his eyes to look at me. "Are you tired?" I asked, concerned.

"I'm not, forgive me... I... just had a vision."

I perked up like I used to whenever I heard that as a kid and perched on the stool, leaning forward slightly. "Really? What did you see?"

In response, he looked me in the eyes and stared into them until it almost made me uncomfortable. "You... found something else in the castle aside from the letters, didn't you...?"

I probably wouldn't have picked up on what he was getting at, if the stone hidden under my shirt didn't remind me of its presence with weird warmth just a moment ago. "Yeah..." I admitted hesitantly. "Why does it matter though?"

"I think it might be something dangerous..."

"Dangerous? It didn't do any harm since I found it..."

"That doesn't mean anything really. Could I maybe take a look at it?"

"Um... why not..." I fished the crystal out from underneath my clothing. Tavris first carefully brushed the surface of the green stone with his fingertips, then took it and weighted it in his palm for a moment. "Like I said, it's just a stone..."

"Maybe, maybe not... I think it might have some magical properties."

"You think that too, huh..."

"'Too'?"

I hesitated again. "It... gets warm every now and then. But that's really all it's doing. And the most it has happened until now was here, in your house, so I thought maybe it's resonating with some stuff you use for divination..."

"I see..." the prophet stared at the stone for a few more moments, his eyes shining with the reflection of the hearth's glow. "Say... mind if I keep it for a little bit? Maybe I'll be able to find out what exactly it's resonating with."

It sounded like a good idea, but for some reason, I suddenly heard a tiny voice in the back of my head saying: 'Better not...' So, leaning back and causing the stone to slip out of Tavris' fingers, I repeated: "Better not. If what you said is true and it's something dangerous... then I don't want anyone uninvolved to get into trouble. This is my problem, and I'm responsible for it..."

"I understand..." the prophet looked disappointed, but I ignored it. It was for his own good. Even if he could find some answers for me, it wasn't worth it if he would get hurt in the process. "Thank you for your help."

"No problem," I smiled. "Keep getting better, alright?"

"I will."

~

The feared winter came a few weeks later, suddenly decorating the village and the surrounding forest with an innocent, pure white blanket. The younger inhabitants of the village, including myself, Elithia and Kristya, often used the circumstances for silly games out in the open. But the beauty of the season was soon stifled by its cruelty. Blizzards followed not long after, causing even simply getting firewood to become a difficult task. And going outside for longer was out of the question.

It lasted three days before the snow and wind finally stopped, giving way to a freezing, but sunny morning.

I peeked out of the house, squinting at the blinding whiteness.

The whole village was covered in ankle-deep snow, sparkling more beautifully than the chest with gemstones I once saw at the royal castle.

"Don't be scared," my dad's big hand patted my back so vigorously I almost fell out into the cold dust in front of our door.

"I'm not," I mumbled in a not too convincing way. "I'm just not a huge fan of cold."

"You'll warm up as you walk through the snow," my mum came out of the bedroom with Lisiel on her arm. "Good luck you two," she gently smacked me on the behind so said luck would stick better. She did the same to my dad, but heartier.

"You'll get that back when we return," dad teased before heading out. Lisiel's happy laugh wished us success too as I followed.

The day was very clear, only one stray cloud in the field of view. I was worried that we risked getting blinded a lot during the hunt, but judging by my dad's confident gaze, they had their ways of dealing with it. Other, relieved villagers were coming outside as well, the air was frosty, clear and scentless.

We headed to the border of our village to meet up with Adriael, Elithia's uncle. He stood at the edge of the forest, leaning on a big wooden shield with steel reinforcements that he stuck into the snow in front of him and drinking in the morning silence.

"Ready?" he asked as we approached. There was a small axe hanging at his belt.

"I sure hope so," I managed a small smile. It felt a little weird to be heading out into the forest for something that sounded so much like the opposite of fun, my usual activity.

"Let's try to make you a hunter then," Adriael announced, pulling the shield out of the frozen soil and turning north-west.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"How about a small revision," my dad suggested as we floundered through the fresh snow. I had to put a lot of effort into it, but they were ploughing through like schooners through a calm sea. "Where would you look for a wild boar, son?"

"In places where mostly deciduous trees grow," I said, remembering what he taught me during long evenings that the blizzards forced us to spend by the hearth. "Of course it's not like they can't be found around conifers, but we should rather look for beeches and oaks... Oh and near open spaces too, like clearings or the edge of the forest."

"He's good," Adriael smiled.

"That he is," my dad gave me a proud look.

"I got used to learning..." I scratched my cheek, embarrassed. "That doesn't guarantee I'll do good in the actual hunt, you know..."

"No one's born a good hunter, son. We had to take down many animals before we became somewhat decent. You'll get there."

"Probably..."

"Let's try another one," Adriael said, his eyes never ceasing to scan the white carpet for any tracks. "I laid out some bait yesterday. What do you think it was and where did I put it?"

"Um... boars eat pretty much anything, don't they? But I'd guess it was some fruit, maybe nuts and acorns... and you placed it on the ground obviously, right?"

"Not quite," Elithia's uncle smiled at me. "You got the ingredients right mostly, but if I simply placed them on the ground, the boar would just eat and go away. Not very optimal for hunters when they don't know when exactly it might come."

"I guess...?"

"What I did was bury a few portions of bait in a few spots some distance from each other. Boars are used to digging out their food, and their good sense of smell helps finding it even when it's buried. Having a few baits here and there and forcing the animal to spend time digging for it makes it stay around one area for longer, increasing our chances. And sometimes drawing in more than one..."

"What do we do if there are more?" I asked, not very thrilled by the idea.

"Wait for an opportunity to get one that strays away from the group... or we give up on it if we get really unfortunate. But never engage more than one boar at a time, do you understand?"

I nodded. "Did you... ever actually try that?"

"I once fought three at once, but only because I had no other choice."

My mouth fell open. "You fought three boars at once on your own?"

Adriael nodded without as much as batting an eye. "I threw myself at a boar that seemed to be alone. I didn't notice there were two more in the bushes at the edge of the clearing..."

I winced. "What did you do then...?"

"I mostly dodged as they charged at me one after the other, trying to injure them whenever I could to make them give up... And when I found myself conveniently close to a climbable tree, I fled. Not a pretty story."

"There were quite a few of those at the start of our career," my dad chuckled.

They then started to fling funny memories back and forth, making me completely forget the task at hand. The shy chirping among naked branches kept us company, the birds seeming unsure if it's really safe to peek out into the open again.

Entranced by their stories, I didn't even notice when we started to close in on the spot where the bait was buried. Adriael slowed down, checked the wind and began picking paths that would allow us to make as little sound as possible, which seemed almost undoable among that scrunching, white carpet. Too focused on keeping my steps quiet, I almost didn't pick up the sounds that started to come from ahead of us - soft rustling and occasional grunting telling us that we at least succeeded at luring something in today.

The prey soon came into view too. A mid-sized wild boar, its pelage a strong contrast to the bright surroundings. It was rooting around the trunk of an oak, lazily throwing snow and dirt left and right. It was alone.

I looked around and quickly spotted a spear with a thick shaft leaned against a nearby tree. We went through our strategy a few times before setting off, so I started to sneak towards it without a word, ready to do my part. Grabbing it quietly, I started to carefully search around in the snow until I found a bigger rock, its surface dented in the middle. It would allow me to lean the spear against it so it would form an acute angle with the ground, the blade of it roughly at the level of a boar's torso. Trees grew a little denser in the area they picked to lay out the bait, the intertwining branches casting enough shadow to prevent us from being blinded, and the numerous tree trunks providing lots of cover. They really knew what they were doing...

As soon as I got into position, Adriael started to approach the boar, not bothering to hide anymore. The animal immediately stopped eating, though didn't seem too bothered by the nuisance yet, just innocently glancing over as if saying 'You want some?'. But then Elithia's uncle proceeded to bang his axe against the shield, trying to annoy the boar with the noise. At first, it didn't seem fazed much, but when Adriael took a step forward and swung the axe at it, a loud grunt announced that we had its full attention at last. Adriael started to back away towards me, still studiously making noise. Finally, the boar threw its head up shortly and charged, the snow spraying fiercely from underneath its hooves.

Despite the deadly weapon standing between me and the wild animal, I felt my heart jump up to my throat. Trying my best to stay calm, I corrected the position of the spear's blade slightly and held the shaft pressed steadily to the rock, just like I was told to. Adriael backed up further until his thigh almost met the blade, before jumping to the side, leaving it fully exposed for the boar to run into.

As it did, letting out an anguished squeal, I pushed the base of the spear down with my foot so the impetus would stab it into the ground and provide an anchoring point. I could feel the tip lifting with the momentum and the incredible weight of the animal and did my best to hold it down...

... until I suddenly couldn't.

A familiar pain shot through my back beneath the shoulder blades, causing the muscles in my arms to go lax for just a moment. And it was the most unfortunate moment possible. The spear, the boar still impaled on it, jolted upwards and to the side, exactly to where Adriael jumped to just a second ago. I heard his pained scream and the sounds of the boar thrashing around in the last, dying spasms. The shadow of my dad rushed forward from behind me, sword in hand.

A few seconds later silence covered the forest once again.

I got up, wincing, fearfully glanced to my left and let out a deep sigh of relief upon seeing both my dad and Adriael still alive. The boar lay between them in blood-soaked snow. My dad kneeled down, but instead of inspecting our prey, he took out some bandages from his pouch. Only then I noticed that Elithia's uncle had a big hole in his trousers, the calf underneath cut and bleeding...

"I'm so sorry..." I started to stammer out, my heart hammering so hard it made my voice tremble. "I... I don't know what happened..."

"You alright?" asked my dad, pouring some water from a waterskin onto Adriael's wound, making him hiss quietly.

"Yeah, I just... there was a sudden pain in my back..."

"Like muscle pain?"

"I think so..."

"Maybe it was too sudden. You're not used to this after all. It never happened to any of us though..."

It did to me though... and the last time was when I put too much enthusiasm into dancing with Kristya. Was there something wrong with my body that made it react to too much strain...? If so, did that mean I'll be useless to my family in the future...? "I'm really sorry..."

"It's fine..." Adriael patted my shoulder. "I'm still in one piece, and the wound isn't deep."

"Still..."

"Shush. You should be proud... I mean look at this beauty."

I smiled a little, looking at the boar. There was surely a lot of good meat underneath that pelage, meat that would help us all get through the winter. And I played a big part in getting it for us all...

I supported Adriael on the way back while my dad dragged our pray behind us. They used the time to shower me with advice, a bit of critique and tons of praise for my cool head and quick learning. Thanks to that, I felt way more pride than guilt by the time we reached our village.

We were greeted by happy smiles and a cascade of gratitude from everyone who happened to be outside when we arrived. I witnessed my dad and Adriael coming back from a hunt many times, and seeing them get so much warmth and respect always put a grin on my face. But being the one who received that respect now, the patting on the back, the thankful words that reassured me of my family's wellbeing during this winter... it was a reward like no other...

My dad soon headed for the butcher's house, while I helped Adriael get home. We were greeted by Elithia's panicked gasp.

"I'm alright sweetie, don't worry," Adriael soothed, sitting down by the hearth. "I could use a proper binding though. Ilyas is not exactly an expert."

My friend rushed to the other room to get some clean cloth and herbs. Zaafiel always made sure everyone in the village kept some basic ones at home just in case. "So, how'd it go?" she asked, carefully taking the bloodied bandage off of her uncle's leg.

"Well..." Adriael started, glancing at me. He seemed unsure how to describe it without making me look bad in the light of my small failure. I was grateful for him protecting my pride, but it just made the guilt return, sealing my lips with discomfort.

"Hey, don't talk both at once, it's difficult to understand..." Elithia threw at us sarcastically.

A small chuckle escaped me, loosening some of the tension. "I'll tell you every single detail if you wish, but I need some rest first... Are you busy tomorrow? We could go for a walk or something, maybe with Kristya?"

"Oh, um..." Elithia stopped cleansing her uncle's wound for a moment. "Maybe not tomorrow. I... I asked Kristya to show me how working in the workshop looks like, and maybe teach me some things... And today I'd like to take proper care of uncle Adriael. Maybe the day after tomorrow?"

"Sure. Just give me a heads-up."

"I will."

I left their house quietly and suddenly felt exhaustion hit me just like the sudden gust of icy wind did. Rubbing my arms, I headed home, ready for a warm meal and a blanket. We didn't exactly strain ourselves much physically during that hunt, it was mostly strategy and tricking the boar, and yet it drained me like a three hour long snowball fight with the lumberjack's sons. It took nerves of steel to face a wild animal like this, and I belatedly realized that I only stayed composed because I wasn't alone. The image of the charging boar that suddenly returned to my mind was truly terrifying... Face it without a weapon or a good trap, and you're a dead man in seconds...

I sighed. And if that wasn't enough, I now had another thing to worry about.

Taking out the crystal that still hung concealed underneath my shirt, I gave it a murderous look, like that was going to make it tell me its secrets. Just now, in Elithia's house, it shortly became warm again. It was the first time this happened outside of Tavris' home. It didn't exactly help to understand what it was supposed to mean.

I shook my head and put it away. For now, I deserved to focus on my mum's smile, Lisiel's laugh and the warmth of our hearth.