Hyroc

by Freestone, Adam;

  Peeking through the branches, Hyroc saw the younger boy step closer to his brother as he pointed at the tree he was sheltering behind. “Do you think it was that monster?”

  The oldest boy sighed, “I already told you it’s not real, grandpa was just telling you that story to frighten you into behaving. You know how he is.”

  “But when I was in town with mother the other day I overheard Harold say something about people’s animals going missing.”

  “Father told me livestock get lost in these woods all the time or taken by wolves. It’s unfortunate but there’s nothing unusual about it, it just happens. You know this area as well as I do; I wouldn’t worry about anything happening to either of us. But we should be more worried about Jägerin smelling this kill, she hunts down here sometimes. So, you need to help me skin this carcass because I don’t want to get between her and a meal.” The youngest boy stared at Hyroc’s tree a moment longer, before turning toward the carcass.

  Hyroc was somewhat disturbed by mention of a monster and people’s animals were disappearing. His thoughts turned to the shadowed thing he had seen at the hill with the dead rabbit. Could it have been the monster the boy was talking about? He felt a cold shiver run up his back at the thought. His luck couldn’t possibly be that bad. How could he have found the one place on his map where there were actually monsters. He shook his head. No, it was like what the older boy said, it was just a story to make the younger one behave. Adults said things like that to young children all the time. Why would this place be any different? It was just a story. There wasn’t a monster. But then what killed the rabbit? He stiffened a little, but pushed the thought aside. He had more important things to worry about for the time being.

  The oldest boy drew his knife and slit the deer’s throat, releasing a steady stream of blood from its neck. Preoccupied with the carcass, the two boys were no longer looking in Hyroc’s direction. He saw his chance to escape, but realized this was also an opportunity to see how to properly deal with a deer carcass. Though he could probably figure it out on his own, it would make the process much easier if he watched someone do it.

  At least I could get something useful out of losing my deer, again.

  Settling into a more comfortable position, he attentively watched the two boys work. By now, the blood had almost stopped flowing. Starting at the deer’s rear end, the oldest boy cut down along the belly, continuing up through the chest, stopping at the chin. Then he and the youngest boy began removing the innards. Once finished, the two of them made a cut down the inside of each leg. Then they made a circular cut above the hooves. After the legs, starting at the belly, they began cutting the hide free of the carcass, slowly working their way up to the neck. At the base of the skull, they simply pulled the remaining dermis off the head like a fleshy sock. The oldest boy draped the hide over a branch with the fleshy side out, removed a hatchet from his belt, chopped off two long limbs and several branches from a tree. Using the limbs as a base, the two boys set the branches across them, forming what appeared to be a ladder, then they tied it together with twine. The oldest boy rolled the skinless deer onto their sled, and the youngest boy set the hide alongside the carcass. After tying a length of rope to the ladder, the two boys grabbed a hold of it and started dragging the ladder away.

  At least now, Hyroc had some idea of what to do with any deer he killed. He waited until he was sure the two boys were out of earshot, before stretching his legs and resuming his hunt. On his way back up to the mountain he managed to kill a grouse and then a deer rabbit before dark. As he picked his way across the mountain slopes with the animals dangling from his belt, out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a dark shape moving through the trees below him. Turning his head in the direction of the shape, he saw nothing. Cupping a hand over his eyes to block out the setting sun, he studied the spot where he thought the shape had been. He started when he heard the distant shriek of a dying rabbit behind him. Wheeling around, his hand flying to the hilt of his sword, he saw Huntress farther up the mountain holding a lifeless rabbit in her jaws. She stopped to look at him. He relaxed slightly as she slinked off toward her lair. When he turned back to look at the spot below him, he froze as he saw a shadowed shape through a gap between the trunks of the trees. A shiver ran up his back when it felt as if many eyes were suddenly watching him. He blinked and the shape was gone, but the feeling remained. Worried, he rapidly made his way back to his cabin. It seemed his luck might be that bad

  CHAPTER 21

  Skittering Shadow

  When Hyroc opened the cabin’s door, enormous raindrops and an ugly dark gray sunless sky greeted his eyes. It looked like his day was going to be one of cold wet misery. Reluctant to feel the soggy embrace of the deluge, he waited for about an hour for a break in the storm. After the time had passed, the weather seemed no better. Loathing purposely going out in this, he pulled his jerkin tight, donned his cloak, put the hood up, and collected his gear before heading out into the downpour.

  When he reached his nearest trap, it was empty. On his way to the next trap at the ravine, he was pleased to see the rain starting to let up. Then it slowed to a sprinkle and the sun managed to poke through a tiny opening in the clouds. The reprieve caused some of the birds hiding in their shelters amongst the trees to start twittering to one another.

  Sometime before noon, he had checked all his other traps; he just needed to do the one near Huntress’s lair. The sky began to darken once more when he reached the incline running up to her lair and the raindrops grew more frequent. Soon it seemed he would be returned to the discomfort of getting soaked. His trap was also empty. He sighed irritably; if he wanted to get something to eat today, it looked like he had to either fish or hunt in the rain. The fishing would be better in the rain and he might be able to find a tree to sit beneath while he did so, so he would fish.

  As he turned to leave, he noticed rabbit bones littering the ground. It seemed strange as he had yet to catch anything in the vicinity. Then he spotted the paw prints of a large cat. That was why his trap had always come up empty here, he had actually been catching things, but Huntress had been stealing from it. He shrugged dejectedly; feeling stupid for thinking this wouldn’t happen so close to her lair. It would be hard for her not to notice helpless prey over here. Admitting defeat, he began disassembling his trap to find a better spot for it.

  He had just started when he heard the soft cooing of a wood grouse. Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw the fowl sheltering beneath a spruce tree. Quietly, he put the trap down and nocked an arrow. He took a step forward to get a better shot but the grouse fluttered out of view behind the concealment of a tree farther up the incline. He studied the top of the incline a long moment, then cautiously made his way up it. The bird was still way away from Huntress’ cave. He spooked the grouse yet again and it disappeared over the top of the incline. Fighting his growing trepidation, he warily peeked over the rim. He saw the grouse amongst a patch of bushes growing along the stony prominence of the cliff face. Those bushes were dangerously close to the stone ramp leading up to the cave. The bird was so close! Getting it would save him a lot of work and he needed every bit of meat he could find. It seemed risky to pass up this opportunity. Because if he didn’t catch anything today, he might be going hungry tonight.

  If he was quick about it, he might be able to get the grouse before Huntress even knew he was there. He swept his eyes through the area. She wasn’t anywhere he could see. He nodded determinedly to himself. It would only be for a second. He lined up his shot, letting his arrow fly. The arrow struck the fowl dead center. Taking a deep breath to stoke his courage, he hurried over to recover the bird. As he reached down to pick it up, he became aware that the forest had gone eerily quiet, like there was a much worse storm coming. He gave the sky a quick glance; but it seemed the same as it was a moment ago.

  He froze, immediately forgetting about the grouse, as he heard the terrifying sound of a mountain cat’s growl emanate from the
cave. The growling intensified, growing in both volume and threat. That was all the encouraging to leave he needed. As he hurriedly turned to leave, he heard something rustling through the bushes near the cave. Stealing a terrified glance in the direction of the rustling, he glimpsed a black shape dashing into the cave. The shape moved in an unnerving fashion, making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. It seemed as if it were walking on more than four legs. Suddenly, Huntress roared, making his back itch with sweat. A cacophony of ferocious noises erupted from inside the cave. Hyroc tried not to imagine what was going on inside its confines. Then everything went deathly quiet, except for an unnerving scraping noise from inside the cave.

  He nocked an arrow and took aim at the entrance of the cave while backing away toward the incline. Whatever could kill an animal as powerful as a mountain lion, he had no intentions to meet it. He had taken one step when he heard the shuffling of an unbelievable amount of feet from within the cave. A small light brown streak shot out of the cave. He instantly lost track of the streak as an enormous black spider the size of a large dog, shuffled out of the cave. The spider’s body was black with flecks of iridescent reds and purples, covered in many thick bristly hairs, and eight branching legs, each ending in a single curved claw. Multiple soulless orb-like eyes adorned the top of its head. Below these was a mouth with two large hooked fangs, dripping a dark yellow-brown substance.

  Hyroc yelled out in a mixture of surprise and absolute horror. The spider abandoned its pursuit of the streak, turning toward him. A shiver ran up his spine and his blood ran cold as he met its gaze. Without even thinking, he took aim and loosed his arrow.

  His arrow found its mark right in one of the creatures’ eyes. The eye ruptured releasing a torrent of black oily blood. The spider let out an earsplitting hissing screech, which seemed to suck all warmth out of the world, then it charged. Before it could get close, Hyroc nailed it with a second arrow. It let out another horrendous screech before slumping to the ground dead.

  He spotted another spider shape above him, running along the vertical cliff face to his left. This one seemed larger than the one he had just killed. He hastily nocked another arrow and let it fly. Hands unsteadied by fear, he missed. His arrow struck the cliff face, splintering to pieces. Just as he had another arrow in hand, the spider wheeled around, and leapt off the cliff face at him. The spider crashed into him, slamming him onto his back. He felt an unbearable burning pain in his right shoulder as if a hot knife had been driven into his flesh as one of the spider’s fangs stabbed its way into the muscle.

  The spider pulled its head back, causing the single fang in his shoulder to rip loose. His vision flashed red and he screamed out in pain. As the spider slammed its fangs down again, fighting through the pain, Hyroc wedged both his feet underneath its body. He barely managed to hold back the strike; the deadly dripping fangs hovered mere inches from his body. Using two of its back legs as leverage, the spider pushed toward him harder. It took nearly all his strength to continue holding the fangs back. The spider started tearing at his face with its clawed feet. He turned his head out of the way to keep his eyes from being ripped out. He pulled his knife out and drove it into one of the spider’s eyes. The spider opened its mouth, revealing numerous pointed black teeth, and screeched out in pain. The sound was almost deafening this close to its mouth. The creature fell to the ground, scratching at the knife with one of its legs. Hyroc scrambled out from underneath the spider, jumping to his feet.

  No sooner had he drawn his sword than the spider recovered from the pain and lunged at him. He gave the creature a hard downward stroke with his sword. The sword strike slammed the spider into the ground, cutting an enormous gash across its head. It howled out in pain. He frantically gave the spider another strike. The creature’s legs twitched a few times before they stopped moving altogether.

  He gave the spider’s body a jab with his boot, but it gave no response; it was dead. He took several deep breaths before slipping his hand under his jerkin to examine the wound on his shoulder. It was a big circular puncture, and a steady stream of blood was running down his arm. He cut a chunk of cloth from his undershirt, and bound the wound with it.

  As he did this, he suddenly felt fatigued and dizzy. The sudden onset caused him to fall forward and he barely caught himself with his outstretched arms. He shook his head to clear it away, but that had no effect. Then he noticed a dark yellow-brown substance mixed with his blood on the tips of his fingers. An overwhelming bolt of fear shot through him when he realized the substance was probably some sort of venom and he had been poisoned.

  He needed to find help! The only people he had any hope of reaching was the family of hunters. They would think he was a monster, but if he didn’t do something he would die anyway. When he stood, everything began to spin and he lost his balance, falling onto his back. He tried to get to his feet. His limbs felt unbearably heavy and he lacked the strength to move them. His vision began to blur, the edges of his vision darkening. Terror crept into his mind as he realized with despair he was going to die. After everything he had gone through, this was how he was going to die. I’m sorry June I couldn’t keep my promise. As he slipped into darkness, he thought he saw a large white shape walking on all fours, trudging toward him.

  CHAPTER 22

  Ursa

  When Hyroc opened his eyes, he saw light filtering through the needle covered branches of a spruce tree he was laying beneath. A bitter acrid taste hung in the back of his throat and he felt weak. It seemed strange he had decided to sleep outside when he had a cabin. He sat bolt upright when the terrifying memory of the spider attack poured into his mind. A sharp pain shot through his shoulder and he felt the painful cracking and popping of a scab. Sweeping his eyes around, he saw to his right lay the bottom of the incline that led to what used to be Huntress’ cave. He even saw his partially disassembled trap on it. This wasn’t where he had lost consciousness. The only logical explanation was someone had moved him. He was of course grateful no matter how out of place it seemed. He just didn’t think anyone who saw him would think of treating him in such a considerate manner.

  Lowering his gaze, he was confused to see a blanket of soft green moss laid across him. Why would somebody use a mat of moss to cover me with instead of a regular blanket or a coat? Pulling his other arm out from under the blanket, he reached up to feel the spot on his shoulder where the pain had emanated. A thin layer of what felt like yarrow coated the rough surface of an enormous scab. Turning his gaze skyward, he saw only a few elongated dirty white clouds dotting the sky. It seemed unusual such a heavy rainstorm would have dissipated within the day.

  A cawing noise drew his attention to a tree at the bottom of the incline. Perched on a branch he saw a raven with silvery markings on either side of its neck, watching him. It had to be the same bird he had seen when he first arrived at the cabin. Having seen its markings three times, the chances they were caused by the sun seemed extremely unlikely. Was it scavenging the guts from the animals he killed? That seemed a reasonable explanation but something about the silvery markings on the bird’s neck gave him the feeling this might not be an ordinary bird.

  He heard the sound of something moving through the foliage to his right. Snapping his head toward the sound, he was horrified to see the white bear that had killed the three witch hunters emerging from the undergrowth, with a plant in its mouth.

  Hyroc flew out from under the moss blanket to his feet. Just as he reached for his sword, everything around him began to spin, causing him to lose his balance. He caught himself with an outstretched arm in time to prevent his face from plowing into the ground. A sudden fatigue engulfed his body followed by an overwhelming nauseous causing him to start dry retching. The two symptoms were so debilitating it prevented him from making any kind of meaningful movements toward obeying the overpowering urge to run.

  The bear dropped the plant on the ground next to him. He saw the mangled remains of the three men’s bodies flash through hi
s mind’s eye. No matter how hard he willed his body to move, he remained doubled over on the ground. He was going to die!

  “You should not have tried standing yet,” the bear said in what sounded like a woman’s voice. “You’re still suffering the aftereffects of the spider venom.”

  Between a heave Hyroc stared at the bear flabbergasted; it was speaking! He then noticed a silver necklace chain around the bear’s neck with a translucent twisted ruby spike attached to it. Wrapped around each ankle, the bear had a band of silver decorated with wavy etchings. On its shoulders and hips, it had dark blue swirly markings.

  The bear sat on the ground beside him, using its large paw to slide the plant it had dropped closer to him. “When the sickness passes, eat this; it will help.”

  Hyroc continued to stare at the bear; not only was it talking, it was offering him medicine. He heaved two more times before the nausea subsided. Falling into a sitting position, he wiped his mouth on his sleeve, continuing to stare at the bear in astonishment. This has to be a dream. He pushed one of his claws into the side of his snout.

  “No, you’re not dreaming,” the bear said, sounding slightly amused.

  “You – you can talk?” Hyroc stammered.

  The bear regarded him curiously. “Yes.”

  “You’re a witch.”

  The bear narrowed her eyes. “I’m affronted you would even consider calling me that,” she said coolly. “The Ministry ignorantly uses such terms to describe every kind of magic as evil regardless of its purpose. Very few kinds of magic can be considered as evil; it is the caster who determines what purpose their magic will be used for. They understood this at their beginning, but they are now far too busy convicting the bakers of apple dumplings of witchcraft to see the true dangers of this world. You for one would be in a far worse condition if I had not healed you; can you call that evil hmm?”