A Decent Iron

The trail went cold. It came up to the edge of the forest, then was covered by two days of critters and beasts moving around, and the expert hands of someone that didn't wish to be followed.

Options were scarce. Light was waning, the sun would set soon. Which meant trouble. Monsters.

He cursed.

As he turned back looking for shelter for the night, he spotted something he wasn't looking for.

Tracks entering the forest in a different spot. Hidden clumsily. Fresh.

This was the work of a wandering trader, or perhaps lowly bandits just banished from somewhere. They wouldn't survive a fortnight.

Or perhaps the work of a peasant.

The track led to a secluded village on a hill, hidden by the ancient trees. Kai's arrival was met with the cold indifference of those who learned to fear things that appeared at a glance far more vicious than an old man in a large cloak.

He sought shelter for the night, and perhaps information. The village elder was informed quickly, and met him.

"Greetings, traveler," he said. He studied Kai, searching for words. Hidden villages like these don't get frequent visitors.

"I need shelter for the night. And information. Then I will be out of your way."

"Afraid we don't have an inn here, good sir," he replied.

The forest around the village must be dangerous. Beasts stalked the woods at nights, and the village had no guards, no walls. Strange.

Kai opened his heavy cloak, revealing the dagger, machete, arrows and shortbow stashed within, as well as the old battered leather armor.

"I am a hunter. I can make this worth your while." Hopefully the village had just lost their protection, and was in need of a new one. It was the only explanation, or they'd have been eaten all by then.

The elder hesitated, exchanging glances with the village people. A young woman interrupted.

"Father, this could be our chance to end the sacrifices. The village is dying," she said.

Spoken with the hope of the young and the innocent, whose blade is untainted by blood.

She got a stare from her father, then he reconsidered.

He nodded deeply to Kai, then spoke. "There is a beast. A night horror. It protects our village from the plague and the monsters, but it demands a costly sacrifice. Its demands keep growing."

Light left the muddy road as the elder gathered his thoughts. Villagers watched from afar.

"We offer our newborns to the beast in exchange for its protection," he continued. "Only the beast claims more and more. Almost every birth goes to it now."

He sighed. "We need the beast killed."

But how will they protect themselves if I slay it? Not my problem.

"Depends," replied Kai, "Do you have information on a small caravan that passed by the forest west of here two days ago?"

The elder and the girl exchanged a knowing look. They had it.

"I'm going to need everything you know about that beast."

"It stinks like rotten meat," someone said.

"A spider big as an ox," another.

Undead, giant arachnid. This was going to need a band of warriors.

A woman spoke. "Comes before the dawn, snatching our children. I saw it when it took mine!" She began weeping, loud.

Wind swept the dirt, cold digging deep into the bones.