Notes on Monster Hunting

by Chad Retterath

  Here’s the thing about our company: Skrale provides a basic “starting kit,” as he calls it, for new recruits. It mostly consists of dull axes and even more dull swords. He’ll also purchase a pair of boots. No armor, no great weapons. The idea is that we make enough money to get what best fits our role in the company. It’s a poor idea, but we haven’t had a new recruit since Lopuk. After my second contract, I bought myself a beautiful sword. It has since been beaten to a dirty, chipped tool instead of what it was meant to be.

  As soon as Palon finishes gathering his armor, the three of us are going to stop by the smith in town. It sounds like he’s talented. He handles the equipment of the entire city guard. Guards are also something I haven’t seen in some time. Tullinbran, the kingdom we’ve been marching through for a long time, only has a handful of major cities. This heap is enormous and filled with real soldiers. Apparently they’ve heard of us and are happy to help accommodate us. The guards have been very polite.

  I can hear Palon clunking down the stairs. Time to go.

  So, the blacksmith is a woman with a small smithy. The air was boiling, so she came outside to talk to us. Her skin was reddened from the constant, overwhelming heat.

  “How do you do it?” I asked.

  She wasn’t sure and seemed more focused on our equipment. We all showed her the items we wanted repaired or touched up and she looked thrilled. My sword would only be ten coins. That’s great because I had just gotten paid nineteen for the wood wraiths. She told me to stop by tomorrow evening to grab it. I’m excited about it. Her name is Francine, and I think something is going on between her and Palon. They’ve been talking about his armor for some time now. Kully also wandered away, so he might just never find his way back to the inn. Kully’s gone. Too bad.

  We’ve made it into the market center. Kully was just around the corner, so the two of us left Palon alone to finish that conversation. Everyone here seems miserable. Probably because of this humidity. There’s a constant humming of conversation throughout the entire market. People buying, selling, yelling. All the things merchants and the like do on any regular day. I’m not sure how it all works. Our food for the duration of our stay has been paid for by the company, so the beautiful foods aren’t necessary. Kully did just point out some sweets. When was the last time we had sweets?

  Rexel impressed us all at dinner by very carefully, and painfully, bending his leg. He also hopped around on his good leg a bit. And Cremn was happy sitting on the benches with us. Heff’s eye is still covered in bandages, but he was also quite joyful. Skrale gave us an encouraging speech about our future and even more encouraging news about sending Jenn and Yutt to secure the next contracts for us. I’m enjoying Ornoberg.

  Kully is in the room with myself and Ralet. I gave my small spot on the bed to Kully. I’m not too tired at the moment anyway. Kully’s room is across the hall, so we are fortunate enough to not have to hear anything going on within. Palon brought Francine back. We hadn’t seen him since we left, and when he finally arrived back he just asked Kully to give him some space.

  Day 110

  Francine did an amazing job. My sword looks better than when I first bought it. She showed us everything else she had, and I was unexpectedly drawn to her stock. There was a set of daggers that she had made herself. Each was perfectly shaped and dangerously sharp. I picked them up and set them back down again and again. They were incredible, but I’ve never had training in daggers or knives. Skrale is the only person to regularly carry one. I decided to save my money for something else. Kully suggested I fund his new bag, but I declined.

  Palon is indisposed again. I’ve been asked to fill his spot in a game of grunle. Which is stressful because an audience has formed around us. Nobody around here had heard of the game and they’re eager for something exciting. Second squad challenged us. Palon will be upset if I ruin Fourth’s winning streak. I don’t even want to play.

  Cremn was eliminated first. This is a bad sign. Cremn is our best player. I think. I don’t actually know. It might be Ralet. He hasn’t had any to drink because he’s being very serious about the game. It’s my turn. They’re angry that I’m still writing. It’s okay, guys.

  I’m last? Just me against Henli and Lekk.

  Lekk keeps glaring at me. I kicked Henli out. Eliminated him right out of the game. Lekk is thinking. Or he’s stalling. He has a handsome face. In a different way. Really big jaw.

  I tried asking Cremn for help and everyone yelled at me. I have four fours. What am I doing?

  Day 111

  Grunle is a dangerous game. There’s too much drinking and even more self loathing after the game is finished. I ended up sleeping on the floor in Cremn’s room beside Groose. Not sure where Cremn is at. The rematch meant we paid in much more than the last game. And I won it all for us. I still don’t think I properly know the rules. Ralet brought me a jug of water and some bread. He’s sweet.

  “We’re heading out tomorrow,” said Skrale. His voice was a bit raspy like he was struggling to speak. “The scouts will be on their way back, so they can meet us on the road. Sergeants and corporals, gather here to talk. Everyone else, dismissed.”

  My first officer meeting. I feel nervous.

  Skrale ordered beer for everyone and gathered us around a table. Not the Damp Cloth. What is this tavern called? Probably a better name.

  “How is everyone doing?”

  “Fourth squad is doing really great,” I said. My heart raced as everyone looked at me. Was it not appropriate to speak?

  Skrale showed his beautiful teeth in a smile. “That’s great. How are you feeling, Cremn?”

  Cremn nodded. “Much better.”

  “Heff?”

  We all looked at the sergeant. The skin around his right eye was purple. Almost black. Swelling was down, but his eye was still closed. He grinned at us. “Ready for anything.”

  Less exciting than I expected. Skrale asked for opinions on squad performances, specifically with the wood wraiths. Cremn was very happy. Mostly because Fourth basically ran the whole hunt.

  Skrale doesn’t appear to be ill, just hung over. City life is bad for us all. I just saw Kully drinking whiskey and it isn’t even the afternoon yet.

  There’s a constant buzz in the city. A noise that never dies, even in the middle of the night. People who live in places like this must not notice. Maybe they never noticed. The ringing in my ears from the explosives finally faded and it was replaced by the city’s noise. Talking, building, walking, doors closing, wooden wheels scraping on the stone roads. I’ve slept through the nights, but I haven’t felt rested since before the hunt. Even a real bed hasn’t truly been enough.

  Day 112

  We’re off. I woke up an hour before sunrise and shook Ralet until he woke too. We packed our stuff away before anyone else and went into town. The merchants were still setting their stalls up for the day, but they were still happy to sell to us. We bought plenty of good food for marching. Even some that we’ll share with the squad. Breads, some butter, cheese, and two big bags of smoked jerky. Skrale always buys the food for our shared meals right before we start marching, so I went out earlier to buy things to keep for myself that he might’ve bought for everyone. I have a decent stash of food now.

  Palon has kept to himself all morning. He’s either tired or sad that he’s leaving Francine. His armor is away and I haven’t seen what was done to it. Hopefully it looks really fancy now. It’ll make Palon stand out when we’re all wearing tattered clothes and armor.

  Everything is colorful outside the city. We’re only just outside the walls, but the whole sky is blue without a single cloud around and small hills covered in tall yellow grasses cover the ground on both sides of the road. It’s a nice road too. It seems like everything is kept together better as we head east. A stone road outside of a city is really uncommon back home. There’s still a strong humidity in the air, although it’s not as uncomfortable with the wind blowing around. City walls and buildings always stop t
he breezes.

  Day 114

  The scouts came back. The Clay Mason contract is ours. Yutt said the town is on the shore. I’m excited to see the ocean for the first time.

  Ralet and I have been snacking on jerky. It might be the best I’ve ever had. Something about it tastes different than anything else I’ve tasted. It’s sweeter and kind of flowery. The bread isn’t great. It’s dry and crumbles easily.

  I still haven’t seen any clouds. The constant sun has burnt my hands and the top of my head. Yutt said there were more clouds down by the coast. It was cloudy and raining while him and Jenn were there. A small drizzle of rain would make this march easier.

  Year 537

  Teke and I accepted our first payment for a hunt. The alpha in a pack of wolves had grown twice the size of a normal wolf. It killed two people and some wolves in its own pack.

  A local hunter named Cremn helped us track down the alpha wolf over a few days. With his help, we managed to leave the rest of the wolves unharmed while we took down the monster.

  Cremn approached us before we left town and asked to travel with us. We split the payment with him and welcomed his company. He’s happy to leave Telincroft far behind as we travel in the mountains.

  Day 115

  A bearded man in ornate armor on a warhorse led a platoon of soldiers down the road today. The captain, I presume, smiled and nodded at us. We had moved off the road and watched as they passed. All the soldiers were well equipped and looked far more professional than we do. None of the soldiers looked at us. They were probably just putting on a show and aren’t usually so disciplined.

  They’re obviously headed to Ornoberg, but why? There are already soldiers there.

  People rarely stop our group on the road. They just look at us, maybe even judge us, and continue on their way. A group of highwaymen once stopped us. Years ago. None of us wear gear while we travel. Sometimes people carry some weapons, but it’s too heavy. Too hot. The cart can carry most of that. We probably looked like a collection of traveling merchants.

  Skrale didn’t want to get involved and just said handle it. They pulled knives on us, but we weren’t going to kill them. I hope we would never do that. Rexel, Rux, and Palon disarmed the guys and tossed them all off the bridge.

  We’ve had merchants and farmers walk with us. A sense of safety, perhaps. Children have run along. Some dogs. Our company is friendly, but loud. Horses and carts, footsteps, talking, yelling. Times on the road get boring. We can sit and think in silence at night. Not that we do. People traveling in the same direction often tag along, and we always welcome them. Sometimes even share a bit of food.

  It hasn’t happened in awhile. Other than the platoon of soldiers, I haven’t seen much of anyone.

  Day 117

  I’ve heard countless tales of the ocean. Gods and unfathomable creatures living in its depths. Powerful storms across a limitless expanse of water and waves.

  Now that I’m standing on the shore, I can confidently say that it looks like water.

  Yes, it stretches to the horizon. That doesn’t cause me to believe it goes on forever. I believe there are some amazing creatures within the ocean, but that doesn’t amaze me. There are some incredible and horrifying beasts on land. I’ve fought plenty of them.

  Even the shore is just dull and rocky. The wind holds a chill. And it smells like fish. Bad fish. The waist high snow every winter growing up was better than this. The stench has given me a painful headache.

  Fourth squad is still here with me, just resentfully staring into the greenish blue ocean. The other squads left after complaining about the fishiness. They all returned to Gettleville where we already set up a small camp. I would think one of us would’ve come from a fishing village somewhere, but if somebody did, they never spoke of it and probably forgot what it smelled like. Groose, of course, has just been scavenging the shore for something.

  “What are you looking for?” I asked.

  “Rocks.”

  Kully asked, “For what?”

  “I’m making some new tellick bombs for the hunt. We might need to blow something up.”

  He was right. We might have to. He also likes to just blow things up.

  Gettleville looks like it could be a happy town. It probably was before the clay mason started causing problems. The townsfolk are happy to blame the creature for all their problems. In their defense, it sounds like the mason has caused some serious issues. A young boy was killed just outside town about thirty days ago by one of the mason’s creations. Others have been injured. They’ve kept civilian guards out at all times, but nobody is trained to fight or hunt anything.

  Skrale gathered us after he talked to the town’s elders. “There is a contract in a village two days east that two squads will take. Splitting up will make this quicker so we can be on our way. Both sound like relatively easy jobs. East, in Ioila, a deep pit formed in town. It took quite a few people and houses with it. They suspect creatures caused it, but it might just be a sinkhole. That’s for Second and Third to find out. First and Fourth will stay here and handle the clay mason. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  First and Fourth gathered after the other two headed out. It felt weird having this few people in a camp. We always stuck together so well.

  “Cremn, Teke, and myself have been talking to each other and to people around town. The sightings of the mason’s creations have been toward the mountain just north of here.”

  He didn’t need to say where it was. It’s a mountain. We can see it.

  “They told us the mountain has lots of ravines, canyons, and caves, so we’re splitting up even further. I’ll take First squad around to the north western side and Fourth will approach from the southern end. We’ve been asked to kill the creations as well because it’s unknown if they’ll die when the mason does. Are there any questions?”

  Groose rose his hand. Skrale gestured to him.

  “Does Trennor have any boom booms?”

  “Trennor does not,” said Trennor.

  Groose scrambled away and quickly returned with a leather bag and handed it to Trennor, who looked inside and smiled.

  “Tellick?”

  Groose nodded. “They’ll hurt. Watch the shrapnel.”

  “You just make these?”

  Groose nodded again. “I have a bag myself. Carner and Wennel took a handful too.”

  “How much is a handful of bombs?” I asked. I could only fit one in my hand, so the expression was awful.

  “Four,” said Groose.

  “Maybe five,” said Trennor.

  Skrale cleared his throat and regained our attention. “We’ll head out first light. If you find nothing and our squads don’t run into each other, come back here. We can figure it out from there. Dismissed.”

  Day 118

  Everyone poured sour ale down their throats. The fire began to die down, but nobody could stand, let alone add wood without lighting themselves on fire. I held the same mug I started the night with. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how terrible it would be after letting it sit. Most of the conversations didn’t reach my ears because I was focused on writing. There was no doubt that everyone, even Cremn, would be in rough shape in the morning. The last of the logs crumbled and left a few burning embers.

  Kully fell asleep draped over a log while arguing with Groose, who fell asleep in the dirt. Everyone else used sleeping bags. Cremn insisted that carrying tents would be too much. We were only half a day from the village, but we had no idea how far the Clay Mason would be up the mountain.

  If we have to camp tomorrow night, it will be on rocks.

  I excused myself and walked away from the fire’s light to relieve myself. It was quiet away from the talking and laughing of the squad.

  Day 119

  Cremn managed to wake up before me and made some oats for the two of us.

  “Everyone else can scavenge or starve,” he said, half joking. “You ever regret joining us?”

  I shoo
k my head. “Never. It gets tough, but you’re my family now.”

  “I feel the same.” He smiled. “I’m glad I was the one to meet you first.”

  “Me too. Some of the others might’ve scared me off.”

  Cremn sighed. “Like them?”

  “Exactly.”

  Cremn threw his empty bowl at Palon.

  “Everyone wake up.” Cremn’s voice was loud, harsh. “I’m sure you all still have ale in your stomachs, but we need to start today’s walk early.”

  I was excited. Teke had come across a Clay Mason before. It lived at the edge of a village and frequently gave an old lady some of the fish it collected. They weren’t usually aggressive.

  Everyone ate some dried purple berries, but Groose ate dry oats. He panicked when Cremn said we were about to leave and shoved the rest of the food into his mouth. It made his cheeks puff out.

  Water has eroded the face of the mountain. Small valleys and ravines run all over. It’s making it difficult to navigate. Cremn called a halt to look around. Skrale’s call on approaching from opposite sides was a good idea.They had a longer hike, so his squad would have just reached the base. It started steep, but it’s been a gradual climb for a while now.

  Ralet found a broken piece of clay. It looks like a mask, but there are shaped clay eyes instead of holes. Cremn thinks it’s from the Mason, so we’ve been ordered to hunt for more.

  I found a clay arm broken at the elbow. What is this creature? Cremn just shouted for us.

  When I arrived, Palon held off two clay humanoids that held clubs while Cremn fought one holding a sword. Palon and Cremn stood with their backs together and I arrived behind the two creatures with clubs. Palon was stuck behind his shield and wasn’t moving an inch. I slashed at one with my sword, but it only chipped some clay off. When it turned to me, Palon knocked the other over with his shield and chopped at the back of the knees with the base of the shield. Its legs broke in half and it fell to the ground. I stomped on its head until it stopped moving. Palon did the same as Cremn dulled his sword on the remaining clay figure until its head broke off.