"You're… dressed in shorts," Liam says as he comes down the stairs. "You're never dressed in shorts in the morning. You always get dressed for the day before coming down."
"I know," I say. "We've just been relaxing here at home, recovering from the Swarm, since the other Hunters are handling it."
"So you decided to wear something to lounge in?"
"No," I answer. "After breakfast, you and I are heading to the lake to catch some fish, and maybe swim for a bit."
"Oh," he grins. "I'll be back! Gonna put some shorts on, too!"
Liam runs back up the stairs, and I chuckle, then return to frying the bacon Nick delivered earlier, cooking up some eggs in another skillet while making pancakes on a rectangular pancake skillet. I've wanted to do a nice breakfast like this for awhile, but usually let others get the good meat first.
Nick decided on his own it's been a bit too long since we had something different for breakfast, so he stopped by with some meat and eggs for us to eat.
I'm finishing up preparing our breakfast when Liam returns downstairs, wearing shorts, boots, and a sleeveless to match me. He also has his fishing stuff, which he places by mine beside the door. We eat breakfast, then gather our stuff, stick them in our baskets, pull on the baskets, then head out, walking down to the river, then down to the fishing rocks.
We remove our boots and shirts, then get to fishing, casting our lines out far. There aren't any monsters in the lake that should bother us. I'm confident of this because I came out here with Jada after Liam went to bed last night and we took care of them.
After we catch our first fish, I fill my basket with water from the lake for us to store the fish in, to keep them alive for now. We'll be here for awhile.
At lunchtime, Liam and I eat sandwiches I prepared before he came downstairs earlier, then return to fishing. Once we have a fair few fish in the basket, we put our rods down for now, then head further up the lake, to the jumping cliffs. Liam's never seen them before, since I know he's never gone past the fishing rocks. The jumping cliffs range from five feet above the water to twenty feet above the water, wrapping around a section of the lake which dips into the forest a little.
Overall, the small cove is thirty-two feet wide, twenty-one feet long, and ten feet at its deepest. There's a small shore at one end, where the water is shallower, but up against the set of cliffs lining it, the water's deep. There aren't any rocks making it dangerous to jump, either.
"Whoa," Liam says when we arrive. "I never knew this place existed. It's perfect for swimming, isn't it?"
"It's perfect for more than that," I tell him. "Cam and I did cliff-jumping here a few times before we met you. We thought it was a bit dangerous for you at the time, so we never mentioned it or showed it to you, and we knew you never went past the fishing rocks."
"Cliff jumping?" He asks.
"Yes," I answer. "It's where you jump off the cliff and into the water. It can be dangerous if you don't do it right, so listen to my tips, okay?"
He nods, then listens as I walk him through how to properly jump into the water safely. Because he's a Hunter with a few Levels to him, it's not as dangerous as it would have been before he was branded. Our bodies do become more resilient to damage the higher our Level is, which helps with some things like this.
Once I'm sure Liam is ready, I jump off the cliff, sinking beneath the water for a few seconds before swimming back up, then I call up to him to jump. He looks at me from the edge of the cliff, and I can tell he's hesitant. Even just ten feet up is scaring him, and it makes me wonder if he has a fear of heights.
Actually, with how much he's trembling and the fearful look in his eyes, I'm sure he's scared of something relating to this. It probably is the height, even if it isn't all that much.
"Come on!" I call to him. "Remember what I told you and just jump, okay? It's not that far down, and I'm right here."
Liam nods and swallows hard, then jumps off the cliff, eyes closed and breath held tight. He surfaces spluttering, and once he catches his breath, he gives me a look that's mixed between amazement and relief.
"I survived!" He pumps both fists into the air, then starts to sink because he can't tread with just his feet.
"Yes, you did," I laugh as he returns to treading water, and he gives me a grin. "Was that fun?"
"Yeah," he nods.
"You were hesitating up at the top," I say. "Mind answering why?"
"When I was looking down," he tells me. "The height made me all dizzy. I guess it's good I never went up in the tree fort."
"Are you glad you jumped?" I ask.
"Definitely," he nods, grinning. "That was fun!"
"Want to do it again?" I ask, and he looks hesitant for a moment, then nods. "Come on, let's head back up."
Liam and I spend the next hour jump off the cliffs and horsing around, then we walk back to the fishing rocks and fish for a little while as the warm spring air dries us off, though we sit with our feet hanging over the rocks and into the water.
Cam shows up after a little while, stripping down to his shorts and joining us for fishing, sitting on Liam's other side. We don't talk much, just enjoy the warm spring afternoon, the cool spring breeze, and the silence of the lake.
As evening draws near, we pack up our stuff, pull our boots and shirts back on, gather our gear, then return to town. There's not a chance we'd manage to eat all of the fish we caught before they spoil, so we walk through town, giving some to various townsfolk on the way to the Elder Hunter's shop.
Some of the townsfolk give us herbs, or berries, or fruits, or bread, or vegetables, or something in exchange for the fish, though we're mostly just giving fish away to get rid of what we caught.
Eventually, we make it to the Elder Hunter's shop, and we have plenty of fish to spare. Garret and his merchant have already left, but the other Hunters are staying upstairs, in the guest rooms, while the merchants they're escorting have set up camp outside.
As the Hunters are talking around the fire beside the Elder Hunter's shop, opposite of the gate, we walk over to the temporary camp.
"Hey, guys," Jada greets us with a smile.
"Hello, Jada," I say. "How was the hunting today?"
"It was quite nice," she tells me. "We covered a few of the further areas today, and ended up facing a giant scorpion at the pits. On our way out, we passed by those mud fields you told us about, and there was a massive snail! Have you ever seen a Tier Five snail before?"
"Yes," Cam and I answer in unison, and all of the Hunters give us a bewildered look.
"His name was Geoffrey," Liam tells them. "I never saw him, but Cam and Liam were intentionally letting him get up to Tier Five for the experience."
"Ah, yes," Jacob says. "Strategy Hunters in a small town. It's only natural you'd intentionally allow some monsters to grow stronger. They help regulate the population in their area while you're dealing with others, then you can come and fight them and gain a little more experience for your next Level, to help you become a little bit better at protecting the area and harvesting resources. But…"
"Why a snail?" Half of the Hunters and most of the merchants ask.
"I wanted to see what a Tier Five snail was like," I answer. "So we picked that instead of the mudhounds."
"What was it like?" Colin asks.
We join them at the fire, passing the fish off to some of the merchants, then tell them about Geoffrey and what he was like, both as the lord of the mud fields and as an opponent. For the next couple of hours, we trade stories of our hunts and adventures, eating dinner with them after the merchants serve it up.
"Well, it's late," I say. "Liam's passing out here, and you guys are likely a little tired, too, so we'll be heading home. You have a good evening."
"You as well," Jada says.
The rest of them bid their farewells to us, then I pass my basket and Liam's to Cam, before picking up Liam, who is practically asleep. Liam wraps his arms around my neck and legs around my waist, rests his head on my shoulder, and promptly falls asleep.
Cam and I walk in silence, enjoying the cool, silent spring night. We reach my house, and Cam sets down the baskets as I take Liam up to his room, lying him on his bed. I remove Liam's boots and belt and set them on the ground by his door, then tuck him in and give him a light kiss on the forehead.
"Sleep well, Liam," I whisper, then slip out of his room and silently close his door before I return downstairs.
"Mind if I stay the night?" Cam asks, boots already off. "Ma's a little sensitive to sound with the pregnancy, and I'm sure she'll be cranky if she wakes because I came home late."
"Of course you can stay," I tell him. "Liam won't say it to my face, but he thinks breakfasts you cook are more delicious than the ones I cook."
Cam chuckles as he removes his boots and sets them by the door, and I tug mine off and put them by his. We move to the table and open up a bottle of wine, pouring it into a pair of glasses.
"How is your ma doing?" I ask. "She's healthy with the pregnancy, right?"
"She is," Cam tells me. "She's taking care not to do too much strenuous stuff, in the hopes it helps her deliver a healthy baby this time."
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He gives me a curious look.
"Boy or girl?"
I'm one of three people in the town known for being able to tell a baby's sex before they're born, even before the ma starts to show. I've been expecting Cam to ask me for awhile what I think his new sibling will be. He was probably waiting until his ma asked him to ask me, because he knew he'd have a hard time holding back saying what it was.
"Both," I answer.
"Both?" He asks, bewildered. "How can the baby be both?"
"Whoever said it was a single baby?" I ask. "I think she's having twins, one boy, one girl."
"Twins," Cam's face falls. "Do you think it will be possible for me to stay here once they're born? I'll visit them, of course, but I'm not sure I can handle two screaming babies at night."
"You'll be fine," I pour myself a little more wine. "Let's just hope you don't move in for other reasons."
"Hopefully," he says. "We can handle this threat before it comes. Are you going to talk to the Gate again?"
"Yes," I drain the glass, then stand. "I'm going to go do that now, actually. Do you want to come with me?"
"No," he answers. "I'd rather not talk to the Gate while I'm tired or at night, and right now would qualify for both of those."
"Okay," I say. "I'll be back."
I leave as Cam takes another sip of his wine, the expression on his face telling me he's thinking about his coming siblings. It makes me wonder how he would have reacted if his ma was having triplets rather than twins.
Well, he'll be happy with them soon enough, and even more so if they make it through infanthood. I know he's just a little depressed at thinking of the sleepless nights he'll have once they're born. He won't actually move in to my house just because of them, he'll stay to support his ma and pa, especially if one or both of his coming siblings don't make it.
The only reason he'll move in to my house while his siblings are little would be if I died, which would only happen if I used the spell Kain taught me.
When I reach the Gate, it gives me an interested look.
"It is not common for you to come at night, Rex," he says. "Do you wish to speak some more?"
Even though the Hunters and merchants are on the other side of the Elder Hunter's shop, they can't hear him. He's lowered his voice to not disturb others, and the shop blocks some of the sound as well. That means that unless someone starts to come around to listen, they won't overhear our conversation.
"Yes," I answer.
"What do you wish to discuss?" He asks.
"What is it like outside?" I ask.
"There is a Swarm," he tells me. "Today was the last day of it. The spawn rates are returning to normal, and by sunrise, they will be back to their norm."
So in three days, four at most, the Hunters here will be leaving.
"That is good," I say. "You told me before that there is a potential for a Star-Level monster to form somewhere."
"That was true."
Was? The Gate's words should always be taken literally. If it was true, then there are two possibilities. One of them is that the monster died the other is that we're too late and it's already turned into a Star-Level monster.
"Can you tell me where?"
"Where it would have formed," the Gate answers. "Is where it would have formed."
"Gate," I swallow as I ask. "Did it turn into a Star-Level monster? Did it evolve?"
The Gate frowns in thought.
"I can no longer sense it," he tells me. "So the Tier Seven I could sense is gone."
That's a relief, then. It's the first option, that the monster died. It means we don't have to worry too much now.
"Okay," I say. "Good night, Gate."
"Rex," he says as I turn to leave. "Though the Swarm is over, there are more monsters in the area than it can hold. The aggressiveness will remain until they return to their normal levels."
"Thank you," I say. "The Hunters staying with us will take care of that over the next day or two."
"They should leave," he tells me. "A storm is coming."
"A storm?" I ask.
"Yes," he rumbles. "It will reach this town in three days. They should be long-gone by then. It is not a storm they will manage to survive."
"I'll let them know in the morning," I tell him. "How long will it take for the storm to reach them if they delay leaving another day?"
"Two days before the storm," he rumbles. "They will be caught by it. They must leave in haste."
"I'll let them know when I tell them in the morning," I say. "Good night, Gate."
As I leave, the Gate tells me one more thing.
"The town should prepare for the storm as well, for few will survive outside of the shelters."
I continue walking as I think over his parting words.
The shelters? Those are underground, and rarely ever used. Never, actually. Now that I think about it, were they checked after the earthquake? No one really thinks about them, but every town has them. Shelters hidden underground, to hide in if a powerful monster attacks the town.
They're even more resilient than the walls and Gate, but even they have their limit. It's said they can withstand the attacks of a Two-Star monster for two weeks. Their primary purpose is to weather out a monster attack where the walls and Gate fall until Soul Strikers arrive, if any manage to arrive in time.
Before shutting himself or herself into one, the local Elder Hunter would send all of their messenger birds out in the hopes that one would reach the Guild and inform them of the attack. Normally, they would do this as soon as the threat is discovered to be coming towards them.
If the storm is as bad as the Gate says it will be, it would qualify for going into the shelters as well. Unlike in a city or a larger town, though, we don't keep stores of food and supplies in the shelter. There's some sacks of grain, but no one ever maintains it, because we've never needed them.
The earthquake probably didn't damage them, but that should be checked anyway. If a storm is coming bad enough to warrant us moving the townsfolk into the shelter, we'll need to spend the next couple of days moving supplies into them, too.
When was the last time we had a storm that bad, though? If my memory serves me correctly, the last time the shelters were actually used here was more than two hundred years ago. No one in living memory even remembers the storm, but I do remember hearing about it when I was little. Only a few buildings remained standing, those built by expert buildings and made of stone. Winds that funneled and swirled touched down in the center of town and just swept up everything else. Even a few stone buildings were destroyed.
The area where I live now had once been forest, but that funnel of twisting wind cleared it of trees. The debris was cleared and used up, and the forest never took it back, as quite a bit of land had been cleared. It's moved its border closer to where it once was, but never did return all the way. A few more centuries, and it might, but not yet.
Just as I reach my house, a horrible thought crosses my mind.
I rush inside and up to my room, ignoring Cam's surprised question about what's wrong. I look through my books, then pull down one of the tomes on it, flipping through the pages. I stop on several of them, feeling my chest tighten as I read what's in on them.
Oh, no.
I slam the tome shut and tuck it under my arm before I take off, running through town until I reach the Elder Hunter's shop. When I enter, it's dark and quiet. Of course it is, the Elder Hunter herself has gone to bed.
I rush to the door to the back, only for it to open, the Elder Hunter standing there with a globe of light hovering above one hand, her brow creased in worry. She's wearing a pale nightdress and a pair of slippers, rather than her usual garb. Probably because I woke her up.
"I felt a jolt as you came here," she tells me. "Immense fear and worry. What is wrong, Cam?"
"We need to wake up the Hunters," I tell her. "They need to take the merchants and get out of here. Now."
"Why?" She asks. "What is wrong?"
"According to the Gate," I say. "A Star-Level monster will be here in three days. We're too late to investigate, it's already turned to Star-Level."
"Are you certain?" She asks. "He's told me its presence has disappeared."
"Yes," I open up the tome, flipping to one of the pages in it before showing it to her, pointing at a line. "Look here. Kriamior, a Double-Star monster, was never noticed until she attacked because the local Gate couldn't sense her. And this one," I flip to another page and point. "Nictves, a Single-Star monster was known to exist, yet the Gate never made mention of him, and when asked, it said it sensed no Star-Level monsters. Over and over. Of the three hundred monsters in this tome, there are eight which were never sensed by the Gates. Eight which evaded notice by them. However, in the log for one of them…"
I turn the tome back to me and flip through the pages until I find the one I'm looking for, then show it to the Elder Hunter.
"Griats," I say. "A Single-Star monster from six hundred years ago. The Gate warned of his arrival, yet not as a Star-Level monster. He was referred to as a storm. The Gate said he can no longer sense the Tier Seven monster, and that a storm is coming in three days. I think he's referring to a Single-Star monster capable of masking its presence from the Gates."
The Elder Hunter takes the tome, her globe of light shifting away from her hand to allow her to hold the hefty tome. She has me show her each of the eight monsters.
"I wouldn't have thought anything of it," I tell her. "Except that I've been studying this tome hard ever since you gave it to me. I've been through it at least three times."
"It also notes on each one," she says. "That they were recorded long after, and those Gates had each been destroyed, so the records cannot be relied on. It is possible that they were, in fact, sensed by the Gates, but the right questions were not asked, and the warnings were misinterpreted."
"Elder Hunter, please," I tell her. "I've had a bad feeling ever since the warning, ever since the gaia wolf. I really don't think the Tier Seven is dead. I think it evolved into a Single-Star the Gate can't sense, and that it's going to be here in three days.
"Even if I'm wrong," I tell her. "The Gate said that we need to move everyone into the shelters for the storm that will arrive in three days, and that the merchants need to be gone by then, that if they wait even another day, they'll not survive it. But I'm pretty sure it's a case of a Single-Star monster. Just because the last recorded case was more than two centuries ago, and the Gate itself had been destroyed so it couldn't confirm things, that doesn't mean I'm wrong. You know the Hunter's gut."
"Always trust the gut of a Hunter," she says. "The truer the Hunter, the truer the gut."
She nods.
"I am sorry for doubting you, Rex," she tells me. "You are right. You are a true Hunter, you serve the people, not yourself. If you are as worried as you are and it comes from your gut, then there is likely merit to this. So answer me this, Rex: is this merely fear speaking? Or is this your gut telling you?"
"Both," I answer. "I'm terrified, ma'am, but at the same time, my gut tells me it's true. There's a Single-Star monster out there, and it's going to be here in three days, that it's the storm the Gate has mentioned."
"You speak the truth," she says. "I can see it in your eyes. Let us wake the Hunters and send them off. When dawn comes, we will tell the townsfolk to prepare supplies to last us several weeks and move them into the shelters. All we will say is that a dangerous storm is coming, and we will need to stay in the shelters until it passes. We will tell them the Gate has warned it may last three or four weeks."
"Long enough for Soul Strikers to get here," I say, and she nods. "And the explanation for the merchants will be that they left to return to their trip before they could get caught in the storm."
"Yes," she says. "You wake the Hunters, I will prepare the messages for the Guild. Tell them the truth."
I enter the back and walk up the stairs immediately to my left, walking up to the first door in front of me. I pound on it with a fist, and Jada answers, giving me a sleepy, and confused, look.
"What's wrong?" She asks.
"Everyone needs to wake up," I tell her. "Wake the merchants, and get out of here."
"Why?" She asks.
"We have reason to believe a Single-Star monster will arrive in three days," I tell her, and her eyes widen. "So the merchants need to be gone before then. We have too many townsfolk to move in such short notice, so we're going to move them down into the shelters. It's possible it's just a really nasty storm that will last for awhile, but with the previous warning the Gate gave, we want to make sure everyone is safe."
"Did you investigate?" She asks.
"No," I answer. "But we have other ways of knowing this stuff. It's best if the merchants left now, not waited until morning, not another day, but now. The Gate said they and you won't survive."
None of the Hunters in the three groups are Level 30, and none have manifested their sacred weapons. It really is best if they're all gone before the attack comes.
"Okay," she says. "I'll wake them up, you get next-door."
I go next-door and knock, waking the rest of the Hunters and telling them about the upcoming attack or storm. They're not too pleased with being woken up, but quickly accept what I say and start preparing to leave.
Now that they're up, I head back downstairs and to the back yard, where the Elder Hunter is busy writing down notes, tying them to the birds, then sending the birds off. She's moving much faster than I've ever seen her move before.
"I'll write," she tells me, her voice strong and swift, and traces of her old age gone from it. "You tie them off and send them."
"Okay," I say. "We'll all be in the shelters too, right?"
"Unless it comes early, then yes," she says. "There's nothing we can do, and you are not using that spell your brother taught you unless absolutely necessary. If I were forty years younger, the monster wouldn't be a threat."
I pray to the powers that be that the Soul Strikers arrive before the monster breaks into a shelter. I don't want to lose anyone to this thing.
Please, please let us make it through safely.