> A mage's spell

>

> can shatter mountains,

>

> a mystics gift

>

> may change the world,

>

> a dragon's wings

>

> might some day float.

>

> All nice things,

>

> but let me tell you,

>

> the hunter's knife

>

> will cut your throat.

An elbow jabbed into Melena’s belly. “Hey, watch out!” she admonished the taller girl in front of her, earning an apologetic smile. Anger simmered within Melena as her body was jostled back and forth, shoulders bumping against her from every direction. One would expect that in an atrium full of hunter wannabes, everyone would be mindful of their hands and arms. Clearly, not every trainee possessed the same level of awareness and control over their body as Mark. The memory of yesterday's quarrel stirred mixed emotions within her. On one hand, she hadn’t been able to sleep last night in fear of a smiling redhead popping up near her and keeping her awake. On the other hand, their game of catch had truly been fun. It wasn't until she reached her hideout, the basement of an abandoned shack with a few loose boards in its roof, that the rush of adrenaline subsided, and she realized she was smiling from ear to ear.

Now she stood among hundreds of others in the front yard of Ishael’s branch of the Hunter's Guild. Most of the faces she had seen were around her age, most of them a few years older, but every now and then she saw a fully grown adult. Even though Ishael was a human dominated city, this crowd was everything but, with most of the people she saw wearing traits of dragonic or beastkin origin. Hunters from all around the world had sent their trainees here so they could graduate into their pupils and hopefully their colleagues in the future. Despite having yet to take even the first step towards such a future, the crowd already emanated a strong sense of community, like failing the inauguration wasn’t even a possibility to them. Even though Melena knew many of them would. [Becoming a hunter is hard, being one even harder] was Egall’s favorite line to use whenever Melena had tried and failed to dodge an attack with an especially flamboyant stunt.

After half an hour of waiting, with people jostling against her from all sides as if she were some kind of obstacle, the stone door of the building swung open, and a ridiculously attractive woman stepped out, flanked by two men. She had shoulder-long, white hair that she wore in a ponytail, and on the side of her head, two triangular furred ears pointed out. Her nose was a bit sharper than a human’s would be, and her body was way thinner. The extreme paleness of her skin and hair created a sharp contrast to her typically black hunter’s gear. With two blue eyes, she stared at the awestruck crowd in front of her, a thin smile forming on her lips.

Melena’s eyes needed a moment to wander from the woman to the two men beside her. She was too focused on drinking; her looks like she was addicted to every detail on the huntress body. On her right stood a black man whose face she would never forget, mostly because he didn’t possess one. Where the woman had beautiful eyes and lips, the man looked like someone had overpainted his entire face with clay. Yet his head slowly turned from left to right, as if his eyes, which he didn’t possess, were examining the trainees gathered in front of him.

Egall stood to her right, his gaze wandering over the crowd gathered in front of him, until it found Melena’s. For a moment, the two stared into each other's eyes, the older man's eyes slowly widening before his shoulders lumped in resignation and his eyes wandered on.

A commotion ran through the ground, names being whispered into each other's ears.

“Mileguard.”

“The Shade.”

“The last frontier”

All voices were silenced when the beastwoman began to speak. Her voice sounded sickly sweet, like a cube of sugar that got stuck in your throat.

“Welcome, fledgelings, to the annual entry ceremony.” While she spoke, she used her hands to gesture wildly. “Most of you should know me by now. For those five of you who don't, let me say the following: Congratulations on getting your hands on an invitation to this prestigious event. Our guild, more than any other, strives for competition. Successfully finish the Inaurgural Hunt and you will be welcomed in our ranks like any regular trainee would."

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While she spoke, her eyes darted around between five people, with Melena being one of them. Slowly, the woman's tongue crept out of her mouth and slid over her lips. After a moment of silence, she finally tore her arm upward with her hand formed into a fist. “The task laying in front of you will be tough for some, so without further ado, Waidmannsheil.” As she spoke the last word, she hammered her raised fist twice against her chest in a gesture the people in the crowd copied.

"Waidmansdank.” The crowd responded, with hundreds of voices shouting like they belonged to one body. A sense of community washed over Melena as she added hers to the choir. In her euphoria, she slammed her fist a bit too hard against her chest, causing her to cough. “Waidman-acha-dank”

As the cheer echoed through the crowd, the three hunters in front of them stepped to the side, and the massive stone door behind them opened. A thin, blue mist crept out of it, leaching at the feet of the people in the front rows.

With a sudden jolt, the crowd around Melena sprung into motion, spilling like water towards the colossal gate. Normally, the girl would have hesitated. After twelve years of living on the streets Melena wasn’t a person to rush head first into unknown territory. However, the stream of people pushing her from behind left her little choice but to strive ahead. Step by step the heavy door and the absolute darkness inside it crept closer. Blue fog licked at her as she finally passed the stoney gates. Behind them the crowd dispersed slightly, enough for Melena to at least stretch her shoulders out a little and breathe. With a quick grab at her belt she assured herself that her Kardaut was still where it belonged.

“Hey, Spring.”

Melena kept walking, to pondering about what laid ahead of her. Neither the beautiful woman nor the recommendation letter had really explained what she had to do, with the latter only having the words “Keep me” written on it.

“Hello Spring. Are you ignoring me?”

Considering the name, she might’ve to chase something or someone. But why was the hunt conducted inside some dark hall instead of the city streets. Surely the labyrinth of buildings and pavement was way better suited for a chase then what looked to be a part of the abyss itself. And what was up with this fog.

“S-P-R-I-N-G” Only as the boy nudged his shoulder against hers, Melena finally realised he was addressing her. She turned her head to look into a familiar, bright grin.

“Mark!” She yelped. “What are you doing here?”

Confusion flashed behind the boys green eyes for a moment. His head tilted slightly as he answered. “Attending the Inaugural Hunt of course.” Her fingers shot into her coat frantically searching for the piece of paper. “But I got your recommendation. I mean my recommendation” The boy couldn’t help but giggle at the girls befuddlement. He winked. “Yeah. Well played yesterday. Really got me there.” Melena was about to make the meaning of her earlier question clear, but the boy beat her to the punch as he pulled out a blue evalope. It was sprinkled with red stains everywhere. Melena stared at the sheet of paper. Panic shot throught Melena, her fingers still palpating the insides of her clothes. Where was that damn piece of paper?. “When did you…”

“Relax. It’s not yours. Told you I won’t chase you if you made it out of the bar.“

Finally, the girls palms brushed against parchment, and she took a deep breath. She had hidden her recommendation in her butt-pocked which she hoped was the last place some thief would grab a young girl.

“Then where…,” she started a question, but Mark didn’t even let her before he explained. ”I got this one from some spoiled brat who bought it off some trainee. Total pushover, but his bodyguards were a bit tough.” While he spoke his grin got bigger and bigger, his eyes never stiving away from her face. Apparently, he really enjoyed bragging about it.

“Why didn’t you come after me. I mean, I cheated.”

“Pff, who cares. Everything is fair when it comes to fighting. Besides, I rather have you inaugurate together with me than some soft skinned pretty boy. Talents like us must stick together after all.” His shoulders nugdeg teasingly against hers. The air around them slowly grew thicker as they walked deeper and deeper into the darkness of the building. They must’ve been walking in a straight line for well over a minute at this point. How big was this building. But Melena neither noticed that nor the rising of the fog that slowly crept up her feet. She was too engaged in the conversation with the trainee.

“You are weird.” She said, nudging against his shoulders. Mark scoffed.

“Better than being boring.”

“That is true.”

While the two went back and forth, the crowd all around them thinned out further and further. At first, one could barely move without bumping into a shoulder, but after a while, there were barely any people left. The fog had reached their hips and was now concealing every part of her body that was under her knees completely. Like little colored clouds, they were dancing all around her with every step, giving off a thin blue glow that illuminated them enough to see each other's faces but was to weak to reach the ceiling or anything else, thought she slowly began to doubt whether there was still anything left in this unnatural darkness they were wandering into. The mist was cool to the touch. After they had finally run out of things to talk about, she decided to lead the conversion to a more productive topic.

“Do you have an idea what we are supposed to do? I mean, they didn’t really tell us anything, and this,” she pointed at the mist under them, “is slowly creeping me out.”

Mark just shrugged. “It’s the Inaugural Hunt so it shouldn’t be too dangerous. Most of us should survive.”

Melena’s head shot around. “Most?” Mark giggled and pressed his elbow against her side.

“Relax, Spring. You almost kept up with me. Stick with the Kodex and you’ll got his.” She had no idea what he Kodex he was talking about was supposed to be but one part of his statement needed correction. She pulled her recommendation out of her pocket and waved it in front of his face. “I didn’t keep up with you; I beat you. You said it yourself. Everything is fair when it comes to fighting.”

Mark opened his mouth for a rebuttal, but before he could say anything, the fog rushed up Melana’s body and enveloped her. The last thing she could hear before his face dissolved into the blue clouds around her was, “See you on the other side.”