Notes on Monster Hunting

by Chad Retterath

Groose also created a new type while experimenting. The shell is fragile enough that it nearly disintegrates when the bomb explodes and creates more of a blast that knocks things or people over instead of a purely fire-based explosion. I don’t understand how he did it, but he’s proud.

  Teke bought a cane for Kully and modified it to help him as his leg heals. I think he did it because he didn’t want to change Kully’s pants anymore. The cane helps, but walking is so difficult and painful that he still tries not to do it.

  The house we’re in would be nice for a family, but fitting twenty four people inside is rough. We have a full room for each Squad to sleep. I try not to spend anytime in the house, especially in the sleeping quarters, during the day. Kully can’t walk down the stairs, so he has a real bed with a feather stuffed mattress. We have a pot for him to use that one of us in Fourth has to carry down and empty a few times a day. We do it without complaint because Kully is slowly getting better. He will walk between rooms on the top floor when he feels like he has the energy.

  I gathered Palon, Oitter, Ralet, and Groose after breakfast and brought them on a walk through town. I wanted to see more of the wall and the guard towers that we’d occupy during the fighting. Even during the day, the streets were quiet. Fish was brought from the south and from Geziksan and immediately salted and dried. There would be enough food to hold off a siege even after Etikstan murdered the farmers.

  I led the four of us towards the western gate, but managed to briefly get lost. Ralet helped and we soon found our way into one of the guards’ courtyards. It was a small area surrounded by a short wooden wall where the soldiers were housed and trained. There were four in the city, one in each corner. They were connected to towers with tight, spiraling staircases that led to the top of the wall. Some soldiers trained, while a handful of officers watched and ate lunch. They waved and watched us walk by. We opened the old wooden door of the tower and climbed the winding stone stairs all the way to the top of the wall. A small shelter covered the stairs and hid a tiny portion of the wall in shade. All the soldiers stood underneath the wooden shelter and greeted us.

  “Where do you expect to see the army first?” I asked a soldier.

  He walked me over to the battlements and pointed to the north eastern horizon. The sun was directly above us and its heat felt vicious so high above the ground without shade.

  “They’ll appear around there,” he said. “They’re coming east, but a road snakes through the hills and connects from our north. That’ll be quickest for them.”

  Palon walked up beside me and leaned over. He quickly pulled back and shook his head.

  “Not my thing, this height. Ground suits me better.”

  I laughed and leaned over myself. It was a long way down. I yelled and waved at the guards below. One looked up and waved, but his comrade shoved him and told him to stop.

  Groose and Ralet stayed in the shade and talked to the soldiers about something that didn’t sound war related.

  “So, are you basically mercenaries then?” asked the soldier.

  Palon scratched his head and wrinkled his nose. “Are we?”

  “What do you think about it being a yes and a no at the same time?” I asked.

  The soldier nodded and said, “I understand.”

  Palon placed his hand on my shoulder, then leaned over the parapet and vomited.

  “Are you okay?”

  A sudden, violent sickness came to my stomach. My stomach felt like it twisted. I fell to my knees and gagged as I fought the overwhelming need to release my stomach. Tears welled up in my eyes and I finally let myself puke. Everyone around me, Fourth squad and the Tullinbran soldiers, were losing themselves to the sickness.

  Through the tears, I saw a figure standing straight near the wooden door to the guard tower. I wiped the water from my eyes. The figure was a thin, white-skinned creature with long arms, long and sharp fingers, and a bald head. It’s eyes were enormous and deep blue. It’s skin looked like white, sun-bleached stone.

  I tried to point to the creature and yell, but I vomited again. Ralet saw the creature approaching him. He used the wall to help him stand and he drew his sword. The creature swatted the weapon out of his hand and stabbed its fingers at his chest. He moved to the side, causing the fingers to graze his arm. His shirt ripped and blood leaked from the cuts.

  Groose, with vomit on his shirt, tackled the creature from behind. Oitter stomped on its head until violet blood pooled out over the stones. Everyone finally stood and collected themselves. Palon and I wiped our mouths off and drank some water.

  “What the hell was that?” asked a soldier.

  I shook my head. “I have no idea.”

  “How did it get on top of the wall?”

  “We don’t know,” said Palon.

  I walked over to Ralet and looked at his arm. It was only a small cut. It wouldn’t even need to be bandaged.

  “Is everyone okay?”

  Groose and Ralet nodded. Oitter looked and the blood splattered on his foot and sighed, then looked at me and nodded.

  “We need to go tell Krelik and Skrale about this right away. There might be more of those things.”

  Ralet sighed. “Why can’t we just get a break?”

  Palon grabbed the creature’s shoulders and Ralet grabbed its legs. They slowly carried it onto the staircase and started moving down the winding steps back to the guards’ courtyard. Groose quietly followed Ralet a few steps back, with Oitter a few more steps behind him. Palon walked backwards and took every step cautiously. He bumped into the wall every few steps, then turned and walked straight back until he bumped into the wall again. I tried to direct him, but I mostly hurried down to stay out of his way. When we finally reached the ground, I held open the door and let them carry the creature into the sunlight. The few soldiers below were startled when they saw the bloodied corpse.

  “Someone run to the castle. Grab Krelik and Skrale,” I ordered.

  Palon dropped the shoulders and let the body crash onto the ground. The soldiers remained still, staring at the corpse.

  I cleared my throat and grabbed their attention. “Go get them immediately. As fast as you can. Tell them Beatrice has something important to show them.”

  One of the soldiers nodded, sheathed his training sword, and ran towards the small stable. Ralet looked around and finally dropped the feet.

  “That thing is heavier than it looks.”

  Palon nodded. “It’s still heavy without the head.”

  The other two soldiers and the officers came and studied the corpse.

  “Where was it?”

  “On top of the wall,” said Palon. “Somehow made everyone sick.”

  “Sick? In what way?”

  “Lots of vomiting. It was terrible, really.”

  Ralet ripped frayed strips of cloth from his sleeve and had Palon tightly tie them around the scratches on his upper arm. The five of us rested against the wall and passed the waterskin between us until Skrale and Krelik ran through the gate. Skrale immediately dropped to his knees and started looking over every part of the creature.

  “What happened to its head?”

  “Stomped on it to kill it. The blood is purple,” I said.

  “Purple? Amazing.”

  Oitter took his boot off and handed it to Skrale. The captain wiped his finger on the drying blood and sniffed it. He handed the boot back and touched the bloodied neck.

  “Did it hurt anyone?” asked Krelik.

  Ralet stuck his arm out. “It only had a chance to scratch me before we took it down.”

  “But it made everyone around vomit uncontrollably,” I added.

  Skrale looked up at me. “Really?”

  I nodded. “The soldiers up top are cleaning the mess. It was a close call up there.”

  “How did it even get inside?” Krelik looked between us like we would have an answer for him.

  “We don’t know, sir. It would be good to spread the news of the symptoms in case more appear.
”

  Skrale lifted the right arm of the creature. “These are some sharp fingers. Feel this, Krelik.”

  Krelik bent down and touched the tip of his finger to one of the creature’s. A drop of blood fell. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

  “What’s the latest report?” I crouched to look at Skrale.

  “Etikstan could arrive anytime,” said Krelik. “They stopped their march about half a day from here. Our scouts were spotted and they didn’t even try to hunt them.”

  “It’s almost time. They might attack during the night,” said Skrale. He stood and touched the corpse with his foot. “We’re about to start giving orders to get in position.”

  Krelik nodded. “Most of the supplies are already where they need to be. You should return to your home and get some sleep. Or just rest if you cannot sleep more. Skrale will be back there to give orders by sunset.”

  “What do you want done with this?” I said as I pointed at the creature.

  Krelik looked at one of his soldiers. “Burn it.”

  The soldier nodded and started placing wood in the fire pit. I grabbed the feet and waited for Palon to grab the shoulders, then we carried the body to the pit and set it on top.

  We helped start the fire then went back to the house. Our route took us through the market, which was completely empty. People weren’t selling. Food was already being rationed and nobody was interested in buying anything else at the moment. All four squads, including Kully, were sitting in the living room when we returned.

  “Heard the news?” asked Lekk.

  I nodded. “Doesn’t look like you’re all sleeping.”

  “It’s hard to be tired at the moment,” said Henli.

  I sat beside Kully and looked at his leg. He was wearing actual trousers, so I couldn’t see if his bandages were clean.

  “Relax,” he said as he handed me a bread roll.

  “I actually really needed this.” I quickly ate the entire thing. “Groose, Ralet, Palon, make sure you eat something after that.” I looked around until I saw them. They were already stuffing their faces.

  “After what?” asked Teke.

  “Something appeared on the wall and made us vomit. It tried to stab Ralet with sharp fingers until I tackled it,” said Groose. “Then Ralet stomped on its head and purple blood went everywhere.”

  Teke held his gaze on Groose for a bit before slowly turning his head to me. “This actually happened?”

  I nodded. “Just before we came back here. We were on top of the wall by the western gate. It just appeared.”

  “Bizarre.” Teke handed me a mug of wine. “It’s going to be a long night.”

  I drank the whole cup in one mouthful. “Thanks. I’m going to try sleeping.”

  “Me too,” said Palon.

  We went up the stairs and walked down the hall to our room. Sleeping bags covered most of the floor, apart from the back corner where our supplies were stacked. Palon fell asleep as soon as he put his head down, as usual. I wrote and thought about how the day drifted away as I filled these pages instead of sleeping. Now that I’ve reached the end of this short day, I can sleep for a brief time before I become a soldier.

  Day 183, also the evening of 182.

  Too many nights in the last ten days where I was awake while the sun slept.

  Ralet woke me and Palon as the sun colored the sky in its descent. I got dressed and put on my armor and helped Palon into his. I pulled my sword out of its wrapping and tightened the scabbard around my waist. I held the golden pommel and took a few deep breaths. Palon handed me my bow and quiver. It felt comfortable to be fully dressed for a hunt. Ralet and Groose were already prepared, so we grabbed the bags we needed and went down the stairs. Second squad was ready before us. Carner and Groose both opened their bags and exchanged a few bombs. There were boxes of their munitions throughout the walls and the elite soldiers we trained had their own supply as well. Hogreth is relying on those. Lekk walked up and patted my head. My hair was already messy from sleeping.

  “You think we’ll be together?” asked Lekk.

  I patted him on the shoulder. “Hopefully. I guess we’ll have to wait and find out.”

  Lekk nodded and looked around the room. Oitter walked down the stairs and immediately started talking to Palon about something they both thought was funny. Lekk wrinkled his nose and leaned over to me.

  “How has Oitter been?”

  “He really impressed me in the woods. He can really fight,” I said quietly.

  “I remember he requested to be a scout when joining. Cremn wanted to recruit him as a hunter, but Oitter refused. He definitely fought before we even trained him. No idea where. Maybe it says something in Skrale’s book about him?”

  “Not that I’ve seen. I don’t think there’s much of anything about him in there.”

  Our squads talked and tried to relax as more people drifted into the living room as they finished preparing. Palon still went without a helmet as usual, which always made his head look small compared to the rest of his body. Krelik had found new shields for Palon and Rexel for their work in the forest, so Palon held a shield that had no dents or scratches. It looked as nice as his armor. Oitter had his dirk on his left hip and a standard short sword on his right with his other dagger on his thigh. He wore a leather tunic and boots, but he went without a full set of armor. Groose and Ralet were given leather armor from Krelik. They kept their old boots and happily wore the rest of the new set. They looked weird to me, as I had never seen either wear anything for battle. Krelik argued about us wearing brown and black leather or the heavies’ shining metal without the Tullinbran colors. Skrale reminded him that we aren’t truly soldiers, and none of us are from Tullinbran.

  Kully walked over to me with his cane and smiled.

  “You doing okay?”

  “Great,” he said with a swift nod of his head.

  Skrale arrived after we had all finished preparing. He smiled as he stood in the doorway and looked at us. He was wearing dark leather and had his sword on one hip and an axe on the other. A small glass bottle filled with a dark liquid was stuck into his belt. His hair stood on end and his beard looked untamed. Skrale looked more like a barbarian than a commander.

  “We’re taking the courtyard and wall on the north eastern side, so not too far from here. Munitions and rations are already in place. There’s a room that’s been emptied out in the guards’ quarters that is accessible from on top of the wall. It’ll serve as a medic's base for our section. We’ll take the staircase in that building to get to the wall instead of the tower stairs. Kully and Teke will stay there to assist anyone. Henli will stay with Second out on the wall to patch anyone up in the middle of any fighting. We will need to be prepared to carry or drag people to the room. It’s not too far, but it may become chaotic up there. Now, here’s the big thing.”

  Skrale took a deep breath and ran his hand through his frizzy hair. “Krelik insists a squad helps protect the northern gatehouse. Heff…”

  “We’ll do it,” said Heff. “We’ll hold it.”

  Skrale nodded. “Thank you. Let’s head out.”

  The street was empty, but the noise of soldiers marching and preparing for battle sounded throughout the city. Torches and lanterns hung to try illuminating what was sure to be a dark night. Violet and orange painted the sky as the sun continued to set. It was a beautiful sunset and I wondered if it would be my last. I didn’t voice that worry to anybody because I knew everyone in the company would be upset with me for thinking that way. I gripped the pommel of my sword until my knuckles turned white and my palm started to ache. We were only walking, yet my heart pounded and my head felt numb. My senses were dead and I was terrified.

  Completely fucking terrified.

  Third led the squads as we traveled to the guardhouse. The noise in the area began to vanish until it felt as if our company was alone in the world. Nobody spoke until we reached our destination. Heff led his squad ahead of us, then stopped. Skral
e shook his hand, hugged him, and said something in his ear before leading First into the building. Teke shook his hand then followed the squad in.

  Lekk shoved Heff, then hugged him and said, “We’ll get drunk after this.”

  Heff wiped his nose and tried to hide his sadness. “Be careful.”

  “I’ll pretend it’s like the old days. Before any of this nonsense.”

  Heff smiled and shook his head. “We’re better than the old days. Keep everyone safe.”

  Lekk embraced Heff again, then went inside. Everyone else in the squads exchanged words and embraces.

  I stopped in front of Heff.

  “Gatehouse, huh?” I said.

  He nodded. “My jobs are just always more important than yours.”

  “I can’t argue. That’s why nobody likes Third squad.”

  Heff smiled and hugged me. “Be safe. We have many more adventures.”

  “You too, brother.” I nodded to everyone in Third squad who stood behind their sergeant.

  Lopuk hugged me, and Palon and Rexel punched each other. Behind me, Groose said, “Wennel, use every last bomb. Every single one. Blow those bastards to bits.”

  Wennel promised he would, then we walked inside the guards’ quarters. The guardhouse was cleared of all furniture. There were three staircases that stopped at each floor until it reached the top of the wall. Teke remained at the bottom to help Kully, so I let Fourth go ahead and assisted the two of them. Mostly by carrying Teke’s supplies.

  The top floor was going to serve as the primary medical center for our company and the soldiers nearby. It was accessible through the staircase from the floor below and two doors, one on the north side and one on the south side of the wall. It was almost as if it was built as part of the wall. It was a beautiful building that the guards had kept in great condition.

  Four cots and a collection of cloth mats were pushed against the walls. About ten other cots were placed haphazardly around the room like they had been organized earlier. A box of bandages and thread was sitting at the top of the stairs. The army had other medics throughout the city in centers like ours.

  No one will be joining Teke and Kully because Henli is nearby. The three of them believe they can handle the medical center. Skrale and some others are capable of tending wounds too, so I think they made the right choice.