The Hunter's Apprentice

by Stentson, Mark

  He walked on mesmerized. The sun appeared from behind the clouds and it illuminated the whole area. The scenery was so enchanting that Aerys walked more quickly. He stepped inside the forest mesmerized. The birds sang joyfully and little shiny creatures flew all round him. He knew what they were; forest spirits. They were pretty inoffensive and they their whole round bodies glowed day and night. He had encountered them many times in Dimes. He felt completely peaceful and safe. He had the certainty that nothing could harm him now. The voice continued to whisper in his ears saying incomprehensible words in a dreamy melody. It seemed to be a language of old times and he wondered whether it was the forest itself which was talking to him.

  He walked on and found more and more amazing things. The trees moved on their own crating the path as he walked in. The thought that he was being led down to something dangerous crossed his mind but the voice quickly eased away his fear. He knew that he could not trust it but he sensed that it was the truth. More and more creatures appeared as he ventured deeper. He saw pixies who wore bright dresses and who flew around leaving a trail of light behind them as they did so. They giggled uncontrollably as they flew around him. They talked in a language that he could not understand. They were mischievous creatures and soon they were ruffling his hair and teasing him. They did not seem at all dangerous and Aerys laughed with them as they tried to do acrobatics in the air.

  Finally the trees opened into a clearing and he stepped inside it. He was not alone in the clearing. There was a huge bear with its cubs. It roared loudly at him but the voice reassured him. He knew that it would not hurt him. He watched the bear unsure of what he was meant to do. It was then that he saw the arrows. There were two in its back and it was bleeding. So this was the reason why he had been brought here? The voice encouraged him forward as did the other creatures which flew joyfully towards the bear which softened. Aerys looked at it with concern though. He did not fancy that much walking towards a bear unarmed despite what the voice said. He hesitated.

  It was then that he heard the barks of a dog behind him. He turned and saw Mirsca hurrying towards him all fangs out. The melody stopped and the creatures disappeared instantly. Aerys could not hear the voice anymore. He knelt down to pat Mirsca but she ignored him and ran past him. He heard her growled as she faced the bear which moved forward to protect its cubs. It roared threateningly and stood on its hind legs.

  The bear was truly terrifying and Aerys stood where he was unable to move. Mirsca growled at it but Aerys knew that the bear would crush her easily. However much to his surprise, the bear seemed wary of her and kept its distance. Its cubs were hiding behind her frightened. If the bear had been alone, it might have walked away but the presence of its cubs gave it no choice but to stand its ground in front of the intruders. There was some blood coming out from its hind legs and Aerys noticed that there was a broken arrow in her back. She was probably suffering a lot.

  The realization of this helped him edge out of his torpor and he managed to move again. He did not want it to suffer. He knew that it only wanted to protect its cubs and saw them as threats. Aerys grabbed Mirsca and tried to calm her down but in vain. He could still not command her yet. The bear roared more and more loudly. Aerys knew that he had little time and that they had to move back but Mirsca was getting more and more aggressive.

  She broke free from him then and launched herself upon the bear. Aerys thought that it would be the end of her and he fell on his knees. But miraculously she did not die. She avoided the bear’s attack and jumped towards its neck. The bite made the bear let out a deafening roar of pain and furry. It latched its claws at Mirsca who dodged again surprisingly and backed away with bloody fangs. She licked them appreciatively and one look at her made Aerys realize that she wanted more now.

  The hunter had warned him about that. His dogs loved blood and its taste unleashed their furry. It was too late now. She growled and prepared to attack again. The bear was in a sad state. She could barely stand up for Mirsca’s bite was deep and blood was coming out alarmingly. Out of this battle between dog and bear, the dog was surprisingly coming out victorious. Aerys then noticed the cubs behind the bear. They were panicking and shrieking loudly at their mother. He had to do something for he was sure that Mirsca would attack them afterwards. He ran towards her to try to stop her but she growled back at him. He backed a bit surprised. The blood was affecting her more than he had thought. But still he had to do something and so he grabbed her with his arms and pulled her back despite her growls. He let out a cry of pain. She had bitten him but not at full force for if she had he would have lost both arms to her powerful jaws. But nevertheless he was bleeding and hurt.

  Aerys did not give up though despite the pain and kept moving her away from the bear. She resisted and scratched his hands with her long claws. The pain was becoming more and more unbearable but he knew that he had to resist at all cost. He had nearly succeeded in pulling her out of the clearing when she snapped and tore away from him. To his horror, she rushed towards the struggling bear and prepared to launch a fatal attack. Aerys cried after her she ignore his desperate calls and she jumped for the kill.

  A loud whistle then reverberated all around the forest and Mirsca stopped in her tracks with her tail down. The hunter emerged from the thick bushes with Max and Moon following him closely behind. He did not even cast a look towards me but walked towards the bear serenely. Mirsca barked timidly at her master and he took out his stick. Aerys knew what was coming and he shouted after him.

  He did not listen and the stick fell and so did Mirsca. She barked in pain as she received the blow. It was cruel. She was not to be blamed. How could he beat her down like that? Was she not his dog? I rushed to her side and protected her from further blows. The hunter looked at me angrily.

  -Move lad. She deserved this for losing control.

  -She’s just a dog for god sake, he retorted with tears in my eyes.

  -I have trained them to obey since birth. Failure is not admissible. So move out or I’ll have to beat you too.

  Aerys did not move and looked at him with defiant eyes. If he wanted to beat him, he could but he would not let him hurt the poor dog again. Drake watched him for a split second indecisively and then walked away towards the bear. Aerys breathed again and caressed Mirsca tenderly. She barked back tentatively and began licking his injuries with a sad look in her eyes. Aerys knew that she was sorry for what she had done and he held no grudge against her. He looked towards the bear. Drake approached it without any fear. He talked to her while he moved closer and the bear relaxed. Aerys could not understand what he was saying for he was talking too softly but he marveled at how he managed to calm the bear.

  Drake walked up to it and examined its injuries. The bear did not move or make any movement while he touched its fur. He examined the injuries in its leg and back and then knelt down and opened his bag. He took some things out of it and began to take care of the beast. It sat down quietly while the hunter began to clean its injuries and bandaged them with long plasters. The only time, the bear growled was when the hunter pulled out the broken arrow from her back. But he said some reassuring words again quickly and it felt silent again. Aerys watched in pain as the hunter finished his business. The bear growled its gratitude and went away followed by its cubs.

  The hunter than came to Aerys side and examined his injuries while casting a cold look at Mirsca who retreated behind him. He cleaned the injuries which were minor ones and bandaged him thoroughly. Once he was satisfied he walked out of the clearing with the other two dogs without a word. Aerys remained for a while in the clearing with Mirsca. Finally he stood up painfully and followed him with Mirsca on his heels. He had the feeling that her loyalty had changed now. This made him feel a lot better.

  Later that day he told Erasmus about what had happened in the forest and the latter just nodded comprehensively.

  -What was that voice I heard? He asked puzzled.

  Erasmus snapped his fingers and the door of
Aerys room closed.

  -This is something which is really peculiar, he said seating himself besides Aerys. If you remember clearly, I have told you all about this forest and about how ancient it is. It is probably as old as the world is and no one has ever fully explored it. There are many who tried the deeper lands of the forest remained unexplored. It is too dangerous and it has been some time now since someone last decided to explore it.

  -And what happened to the last one?, asked Aerys.

  -Dead, said Erasmus grimly. Most of them usually die there and they never come back to tell what they have seen but trust me lad, it is better this way for there are things that should not be disturbed.

  -But what was that voice?, said Aerys. I have never experienced something like that.

  -I’m coming to this lad, said Erasmus gravely. There is a reason why the hunter warned you not to approach the forest. It’s because of that voice.

  -But it was not dangerous. It only wanted me to help the bear.

  Erasmus nodded.

  -That’s right. The voice you heard was benevolent. But if you noticed, I spoke of voices. There is not just one.

  -You mean that there are other voices like the one I heard?

  -Yes. How many? I cannot tell. But it is a proven facts that there are at least three voices. I have spent a lot of time studying the subject and gathering information on it thanks to the hunter. I have written everything I know about it in a book.

  -Is it that book named Voices of the nether? Said Aerys remembering the name of one book he had seen in the study room.

  -Yes. It’s that one. You have an excellent memory lad. I have written everything I know in there and you should take a look at it when you have some time. You may not be able to understand everything as it is a complex book but you may grasp the general idea.

  -I’d prefer if you tell me about it rather than read it, said Aerys.

  Erasmus laughed but quickly regained his seriousness.

  -Well, I guess I can tell you a bit about it, he said playing with his beard. Where to start…where to start…from the beginning naturally…except that no one knows about the beginning of this story…

  -Just tell me about those voices, will you?, said Aerys with a sigh.

  -Yes…that would be a good starting point, said Erasmus. Well…you heard the voice right?(Aerys nodded). Everyone who ventures near enough to the forest hears a voice. I did too but fortunately I am a magical creature so I could resist the temptation. Humans fall for it and it demands a great amount of determination to be able to just hold its effects off momentarily.

  -That’s why the hunter did not waste time there, said Aerys.

  -That’s’ right. Although I doubt he would have had any trouble in such a small lapse of time. He is a very powerful man. There are very few like him. But he is cautious and rightly so for he knows the power of that forest. You cannot be overconfident. Never.

  -I can’t say for sure to whom these voices are but these entities are powerful…well the word powerful itself is not strong enough. These entities are probably as old as the forest itself. I have been able to discover three of them after decades of studying and researching and I am sure there are others.

  He lifted his finger and moved it in the air. Three blurry forms appeared with different colors.

  -The voice you heard was the benevolent one, he said and the blue blurry form shone. Putting it simple, this voice is the good one. It will not harm you in any way but will help you or ask for your help as it did with the bear.

  He snapped his finger and the second form reddened.

  -The second voice is the malicious one. This voice Is the one you should worry about. It is evil and its sole aim is to destroy anyone who ventures near enough.

  -Surely no one is stupid enough to follow an evil voice, said Aerys.

  -No…that’s not how it works. Do you think it will threaten you to enter? No…far from it. The evil voice is cunning and it will trick you. It may take the voice of the good one to attract you or it can force you to enter just by the power of its voice. Very few can actually resist its force. However it very really chooses this option.

  -And the third one?

  -Ah the third one…said Erasmus with a smile. I’m the one who discovered it. You see for a long time we thought that there were only two different entities. The good and the evil. But I found that there was a third one.

  -And is it good or evil?

  -I cannot say for sure, said Erasmus thinking. This voice is quite different from the rest. It likes to trick travelers. Not to harm them though although I have yet to prove it. But I am sure that this particular voice has a joker personality. He loves to trick people but he doesn’t harm them. Few have actually heard this voice though and I have collected information on their experiences. They all agree on the fact that this voice is just playful.

  -If I had not experienced that, I would have said all this is a load of crap, said Aerys.

  -It is not though, said Erasmus. So please don’t wander ay closer to the forest as from now.

  CHAPTER 5

  The following days passed without any more incidents. Aerys studied most of the time in the study room under the supervision of Erasmus who kept a close watch on him. The only subject where he had some difficulty was languages. There were so many of them; human and non human, that he had a lot of difficulty to memorize them. Some were relatively easy like the human languages which were not really different than the Amestrian language. Others proved to be tougher like the language of trolls to quote only one. He wondered about the utility of all this. For one he did not know that trolls could speak and secondly he doubted that he would have a casual conversation with one of them one day.

  However, with the help of Erasmus he was learning more and more every day and it felt really good to know things. He listened every night to the conversations between Erasmus and the hunter as they talked about things that happened or was happening in the country. The hunter received messages nearly every day. Messenger eagles came in at any time through the kitchen’s window and after delivering their messages, they returned flew away with sometimes an answer from the hunter.

  He eventually began to learn about healing and Erasmus began to take him out every afternoon to teach him about medicinal herbs. He disliked this study for he had to taste every herb that Erasmus pointed to and most of them were not really tasty. However studying outside meant that he could ask Erasmus questions on the hunter.

  -Why does he drink so much?, Aerys asked Erasmus one day as they walked in the clearing. He was teaching him about comestible roots and herbs. They sure were not savory but Erasmus pointed out that in time of needs, one had to do whatever he could to survive. So Aerys had to taste every roots and herbs he pointed to. It left a sour taste in his mouth.

  -Its complicated, he replied as he pointed to a new herb.

  -We have time, said Aerys grimly as he plucked the herb and began to eat it. This one tasted rather good though.

  -Its Ithilis, a healing herb. It takes off any fatigue you have.

  Aerys did not feel any effect and he looked at Erasmus with a puzzled look.

  -You are not tired idiot, he sighed. But trust me when you are, you will be glad to find it. Now, he added in a lower voice, concerning your master. It is not up to me to tell you his story. One day he might tell you himself or not. It’s his decision.

  Aerys looked at him angrily.

  -Every time I ask you about something, you say you will tell me later. But why not now? It’s frustrating you know.

  Erasmus sighed.

  -Why do people drink?, he asked as he showed him a little golden flower.

  Aerys knelt down and smelled it. A fair perfume exuded from it.

  -Mmm…because they like it?, he replied as he put the flower inside his mouth. Something as beautiful and good smelling was deemed to be delicious.

  He was wrong. It had a foul taste and he spat it out. The gnome smiled.

  -Don’t trus
t what your eyes see lad. Don’t you know the saying; whatever shines is not gold? So don’t judge something based on its look. Generally good looking things taste the worst or are deadly.

  He pointed to another flower which was dull. Aerys looked at it with apprehension.

  - So why do people drink?, he asked as he plucked it.

  -You don’t know? Try and think about it. You give up too quickly.

  He racked his brains in search of an idea. He had never drank alcohol before so how was he supposed to know. The only thing he knew was that it procured a warm feeling when you drank it or at least that was what old Elric had told him.

  He shook his head.

  -I have never drunk anything in my life, he pointed out.

  -Really?, said Erasmus with incredulity. Well at least you have some senses. I’ll give you an advice. Don’t ever taste that. If you do, it is more probable that you will never stop.

  But Aerys was not interested in his advices right now. He wanted to know the reason behind the drinking behavior of the hunter.

  -So can you tell me the reason?, he asked impatiently.

  -I guess I can, replied Erasmus slowly. The reason why people drink so much is because it usually helps them to forget.

  -To forget what?

  -Well something which they want to forget you fool.

  That was very irritating. Erasmus had this manner of talking that was never direct. He delighted to use words to make his interlocutor look like a fool.

  -I know that they drink to forget something which they want to forget. What’s the thing they want to forget?

  -Anything that hurt them lad, he replied in a low voice. When something bad has happened and you have no choice but to live with it, generally you tend to search for something to ease the pain and help you forget about it,. That’s where alcohol comes in.