Blood rushed to her head. Her body was being shaken, and she could feel the soft embrace of dirt across her side. Dull pain throbbed across her skull, and nowhere else on her body. A shock was sent through her body- she had been asleep. Where was I? What happened? How did I fall asleep? Flashed through her mind. Through her closed eyelids, she could tell it was dark- no sunlight or artificial light sources penetrated past them. A source of warmth- a hand- was on her side, the side of her stomach.
Suddenly, what her dreams hit her- not hit, but recalled, as if they never left her mind but were subdued due to the sudden feeling of reality on her body. The Hunter appeared, covered in green outlines. His filling between the outlines disappeared, and all that remained were the green outlines of the Hunter and branches of the canopy. The hunter, balancing himself on the crown of the tree, slid a knife under her throat. She could not see his mutterings, her head tilted up slightly too much, but he brought his forehead to hers. After a few moments in the nightmare, he drew away and, without slicing her throat, slid the dagger away. It was after diving off of the branch within the canopy that the green-outlined Hunter disappeared, the shockwaves reverberating through the crown and knocking Eos out. Slowly she fell through the trees, their green outline memorable, and the Hunter completely missing from her sight.
She estimated within her dreams she fell at approximately 9 kilometers per hour- a speed slow enough to be safe but fast enough to slam her head into the ground, which would explain the dull pain she felt. She doubted the veracity of the dream simply being a dream; it lined up too well with potential realities a priori. There were issues with that, however. For instance, no theory she could conjure was able to adequately explain how she had fallen asleep in the first place- in particular because she was under Volken’s ward. He had sworn it would protect against an arrow. As such, the most logical conclusion was an unknown-to-her spell had put her under, but she had neither spotted nor overheard any such incantation. A hostile spell targeted at her, should it cross her line of vision, she was confident would be called out to her- In practice; and most recently in reality; this had always been the case.
In conclusion, Eos had no clue how she had arrived in her current state, and any theorization or speculation failed to completely satisfy observed reality.
“Are you okay?” Volken said, shaking her. His hand never left, nor stopped shaking, but it was only now she was able to fixate on the words. With a struggle, she tried to open her eyes. Will alone was barely enough, and she sluggishly tried to swat away the hand on her side.
“Are you okay?” Volken repeated. She was now able to fixate on the worry in his voice. She saw what he has done once before. The challenge he won. Swatting away his hand as if it was a nuisance wouldn’t achieve anything. Her eyes open, seeing the covered forest and trees despite the deep darkness, she flicked towards Volken. Deep concern was painted across his face- more than anticipated. Despite her laziness, she felt a severe guilt for causing the ill expression plaguing him.
“I’m okay.” She managed. “What happened?” Night had clearly fallen since her excursion, yet her dream was that of immediacy- how long had she been out? How long had Volken been attempting to shake her awake? She knew him well enough that he could take a pulse, he wouldn't conclude her dead even after a week in comatose- yet the forest looked the same as when she had clambered for vision; he hadn’t pulled the plug on the quest for her safety, yet. No longer than an hour. She figured, off of her dozen assumptions.
“Are you hurt?” He asked, picking her body up and pressing on the parts of her which had laid against the ground. She involuntarily let out a small moan when he pressed against her head. “A concussion?” He asked
“No, no.” She said, “Not that. I just fell. What happened?” She insisted on getting the full story. She felt groggy- not incapable.
“You fell from the tree- are you sure you're okay?” He lightly pressed on the spot of her head which hurt, and she managed to suffocate the exclamation before her reply.
“I’m fine, really. What happened?”
“What indeed?” A third voice spoke, emanating from above. Eos felt a jump from Volken- yet he dare not drop her. Both of his hands were occupied by her. Her eyes flicked to where the voice was coming from, and she saw about three branches above the ground the hunter sat, his bow primed with two arrows. She could only assume that they were pointed at each of their heads, but had not yet been fired, lest her green eyes predict their flight path. “Don’t move.” He cautioned.
“What do you-” Volken began
“You’re not bandits, the girl told me such. What is your goal here?”
“To rid-” Volken began. With that, her green vision predicted the flight of only one arrow, the other one still held in the grip. It flew, both in green and brown, through the hair of Volken, slicing the tip of it off down the middle.
“Do. Not. Lie to me.” The Hunter said solemnly, knocking another arrow.
“To learn. Where the bandits-” Volken paused, waiting. “Where the bandits’ hideout it.”
“So that?” He asked. Eos could see the Hunter pulling back the bow a centimeter.
“So that the guard can come and clear them out.”
“You are not here to rid them yourselves.” The hunter stated, gently lessening the tension of the string.
“No. I have no doubt I could, but that is not the mission.”
The Hunter disappeared behind the tree. “Put her down and stand.” A voice came from in front of them instead of above. Eos’s head flicked towards the voice, as the Hunter stepped out from behind a tree, seemingly teleported. She noticed that Volken did not move his head. Gently, Volken put Eos down back onto the dirt, before standing up with a straight back, hand on his blade and feet ready to dash somewhere.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“Stand, I said.” The Hunter said. Eos noticed he had no bow nor weapon out, and she obliged his command. She didn’t palm the pommel of her dagger- she could neither cast nor reach him quickly enough to matter in any fight.
“You have a map.” The Hunter said, “Take it out, I’ll mark where their encampment is, along with the security they have.”
“You’re not-” Volken began.
“No, no. Of course not, else you’d already have encountered their full force. They claim to own and control these woods. Luckily for you,” The Hunter said, as Volken pulled the map out of a pocket within his leather vest. Eos had seen him put it in there, but Volken continued to do these actions without moving his head- it was fixed on the Hunter. Volken handed the map, closed, to the Hunter. He simply looked at it, marked it with something for a few moments, and handed it back. “You’re far too north to encounter anything but stray bandits. You strayed from your initial entry point. When the sun rises, the new X is your current location. An O is the location of the safehouse you desire. The t will be where they commonly place their guard.”
“We can’t-” Volken once again attempted.
“I have no expectation you can trust me. Verify it yourself. I won't bother you anymore, so go validate my information yourself. I only want the same as you- this cancerous scourge gone from my woods.”
“But how did-”
“These are my woods.” The Hunter said, as if that would answer any question Volken raised. “You’ll be safe until the rising of the first sun. The first lights should allow either of you to see the map. Be cautious in verification. Of course, you *should* just trust me, just turn around and go back with this map. But be cautious with your verification.”
“You don’t want this.” Volken said, “There’d be-”
“Yeah, yeah. Short of felling, no bounty on my head will matter to me.”
“Why tell me your weakness?”
“Because you won’t tell anybody else. Nor will you tell anyone about me. I can tell, you’re going to verify what I said. I can only tell you to not be stupid in doing so. But I know humans, folly is in your blood. So be stupid, but don’t be so stupid.”
As the Hunter turned away, Eos felt compelled to ask. “Who are you? Why are you-” she stammered to a stop. The Hunter slowed his pace slightly, and Eos felt as if he was smiling at that question, as if it was the wrong question to ask. “We thought you were a bandit?”
“Green-eyed child.” The Hunter began, not turning. “You don’t fear the dark. The bandits have their uses but like any remedy, an overconsumption is poisonous. However, a delay in it being exercised is necessary. Also care for their beastkin.”
“But who-” Eos began, before her mouth was smothered by Volken’s rough hand. The Hunter walked behind a tree, foliage covering him up as he once again seemingly vanished.
“A beastkin.” Volken said, “Good to know.” Volken took his hand away from Eos’s mouth, “That was an anomaly. Tied to the forest it seems. We’ll need an abundance of caution, but he promised safety for until the rise of the first sun. We can take a look at the map. You can do the honors.”
Eos slightly tilted her head. She loudly began to cast, and half a minute later three balls of light danced around between them, lighting the deep forest. The map lit up, showing the bandit hideout in the southwest of the blob that is the forest. There was a gap in the guard on the eastern side. Unfortunately for them, the new mark of their location was more north than they thought- the bandit’s base was closer to where they started than to their current location. Volken let out a soft sigh.
“What’s an anomaly?” Eos asked.
“A unique being.” Volken said, pulling out his compass. “Something that shouldn’t exist from what we know.”
Eos nodded. “Are they common?”
“Decently so. Most hunting commissions the Guild gives out are for anomalies. Do you remember the wall in the Guild hall? Covered in scratches.” Eos nodded in response, and Volken continued, “Each scratch is an anomaly quest that’s been completed by members. Each guild hall has their own tally.”
Eos quickly tried to do some math in her head. The entire wall was covered in scratches. It’d been a thousand years since the hall was constructed; assuming no renovations were done on it, an estimated area of about three square meters was densely covered in scratches and marks. If she assumed each mark was a square centimeter in area, and they didn’t overlap, that’d be 30,000 anomalies, averaging thirty a year: little over one dead anomaly every two weeks.
“There are twelve ‘Great Anomalies’, supposedly known before the founding of the guild.”
“Which are?”
“The first is the Rift. A great sprawling zone of death, a deep crevice within the
ground, larger than a Sea. Above it, locked by its unnatural powers, the Moon. Nobody who goes in is ever seen again, and anomalies come crawling out.”
“The Moon? And I thought all anomalies were alive?”
“No, just unnatural. It’s believed the Moon is part of the Rift, locked in place, and stopping the Rift from expanding- sacrificing itself to save the world. That’s why the moon doesn't move, unlike the stars or sun or the ring. Or so the stories go.”
“There’s no way that’s true, right?” Eos was in complete disbelief. She knew the Moon didn’t move from its astral space in the sky- it was a good reference point. If the moon was moving, it was you, not the moon.
“Plenty of people doubt its existence. People say they’ve seen it, but people say they’ve seen all sorts of crazy things. Personally I don’t believe it.”
“Are any of them real?”
“All of them have their doubts, until a dragon brings in the dead corpse of the 8th Great Anomaly. An indestructible animal, capable of shapeshifting into any form. No weapon could pierce its hide or scales, no poison could kill it. Completely immune to any sort of damage. Even Hercules had an easier opponent in the Nemean lion.”
Eos was taken aback for a moment by the allusion to Greek literature, before remembering Volken was awoken. “How did he kill it?”
“Exhaustion. Supposedly fought it for a month straight, stopping it from eating any food and eating it before the Anomaly could.”
“What are the others?” Eos asked, excitedly.
“I’ll tell you one more.” Volken said, “The 4th, the Font of Life. Supposedly finding it will grant immortality, but it moves and hides constantly. Nobody knows where it is, and those who supposedly found it can’t recall what it even looked like. People speculate about a fountain.” Volken laughed a bit, “But I think the idea of the fountain of youth has been put into them by other Awoken. A spring is more likely, in my opinion.”
“Why a spring?”
“It makes the most sense, with it being a font. A fountain would be too on the nose. Now, put out the lights. We move at dawn.” Volken drew out a line with his feet- the direction they would move in, and Eos put out the lights as he put away his compass.