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.

Kai made his decision. "I am going to need strong arms, and weapons. We need to assemble a group and hunt the horror down."

No one moved, except the girl. "You have my sword."

Kai glanced at the elder, and he nodded.

Great. He had to bring the child along, and prevent her from getting killed.

A young man escaped the embrace of his wife and child. "I got a fork. Rusted, but stabs like 'em hunting arrows"

One other peasant came forward with a rake. Kai had to settle for two farmers and one girl playing warrior.

A deal was made. Promises sworn on iron. But at night, the elder spoke to Kai in private.

"Hunter. I want Gwen, my daughter, to take the credit of slaying the beast. No bandit this side of the Grey Peaks will threaten our village then. You will spread the word."

He had no choice. He took the deal, hoping the information was good.

At dawn, Kai met the girl at the forest's edge. If she had to take the credit, she would need to at least look somewhat competent. Thankfully, the audience was just two peasants.

She arrived with a quick pace, her movements constrained by bulky plates scavenged from some old soldier's cuirass. Dull blade, a little rusted, no shield. The kind of equipment used by those that wished to never grab the hilt of their iron, but knew they had to.

Or in this case, the kind of equipment an overly confident child that had never killed anything more ferocious than a bunny would have brought to a deadly hunt.

"Hunter," she greeted. "Do not worry. I know my way around a blade."

She certainly didn't. Kai crossed his arms. The fire of arrogance burned in her eyes. What was he getting into? Could she at least run away or would she freeze like a lamb facing a hungry wolf?

His cloak billowed as he drew his bow, arrow already nocked and pointed between her eyes.

She froze, mouth gaping, eyes bulging. He let the string go, bending the bow at the last moment.

The arrow cut through the air, severing a lock of golden hair and impaling the moldy wood of the shack behind her.

Her gasp came well after the arrow stopped shaking, pinned in the old wood. His cloak was already down, the killer and his weapons hidden, his war stance gone.

Waiting for her to stop trembling, he grabbed the arrow, carefully storing it in the quiver on his belt.

"Children shouldn't go on a monster hunting trip. But you might come along if you stay behind me, keep your mouth shut, do everything I say. If I tell you to flee you flee."

"I understand," she managed to say, her voice breaking.

Gods damn it. Let's hope the others aren't this bad. Who am I kidding, it will take days to get these people to not be a hindrance on the hunt.

"Training begins immediately," he replied. "Go fetch the others."

Training was a disaster.

None of these peasants have ever been in a fight. Except maybe Gwen if we count playing soldier with a rotten stick.

He decided to focus on dodging, and running away, keeping a defensive stance to not let the enemy get close.

One by one, he would attack them with a stick, and they would dodge. Or try to.

Another round. And again, until dusk.

"Lighter on those feet. If the monster lunges at you, what are you going to do? Parry the strike with a rake?" he shouted.

"They are exhausted," Gwen said, breathless.

"I can see that," he snapped. "Go home," he shouted, dismissing them with his hand.

Kai sat down on an old tree stump. He took a stone out of a pocket deep in his cloak, and sharpened his dagger absent-mindedly.

Those peasants weren't going to help with the fight. He would have to set them up as bait and hope they wouldn't get eaten. Hopefully they would distract the beast enough to create an opening.

"Hunter," Gwen said. She was still there, like a splinter in his thumb.

He sighed. "Name's Kai."

"A-After we kill it..." she stuttered.

We. Huh.

"After we kill it, I want you to tell them I died. I am leaving the village."

He stopped sharpening the iron, looking up at her. She held his gaze.

Crows cawed in the distance.

Unbelievable, really.

"Met plenty of kids that went adventuring with a dull iron," he said, "looking for fame and glory. Buried some too. Others had worse fates."

Her gaze wandered off to the barren dirt, the fire in her eyes fading. "I don't care about glory," she replied, her voice lower. "I am looking for someone."

Kid's in love. Doubt it's worth dying for, but not my problem. Doable, if the others flee.

"Fine," he replied. "But you have to tell me where the caravan went."

"Sure, after we kill it."

Maybe she was not so helpless.

The next day, one of the peasants gave up the fight. His wife wouldn't let him or something. Not a huge loss.

Kai needed some progress today. He was considering going alone, if the peasants weren't going to make themselves at least somewhat useful as bait.

He stepped in front of the man, hitting him with the stick. Almost managed the dodge, this time.

It was the splinter in his thumb's turn now, and Kai hit her just one moment earlier than the usual rhythm, his arm just a little faster than it had been.

He hit only air. When he noticed, she was already back on her feet.

Interesting. Could survive a fight with the arachnid, with some luck.

At noon, they prepared to scout the forest, when the sun was highest. The kids were exhausted anyway.

Near the edge of the woods, Kai looked back. Gwen was on edge, but the farmer was trembling.

He wouldn't survive a rabid dog, let alone a monster.

"Lad," Kai called. "Go home."

He turned and ran, rake in hand.

Sigh. Just him and her now. At least, making it look like she died would be easier.

Kai stepped into the thick of the woods. A large spider like creature, they said. Arachnid tracks of matching size were everywhere.

He took advantage of the trip to study the forest, and teach her to move quietly within it. It wasn't hopeless.

Woods are dangerous. Even at noon, the visibility was poor. Treacherous terrain, vines, overgrown roots and brambles were common.

They scouted a small lake and found some walkable paths between the brambles around it.

He had everything they needed to finally begin the hunt the next morning, before dawn.

That night, Kai quietly left the shack they lent him for the night. He walked silent under the faint moonlight.

Rhythmic noise. Iron on wood. No one chops wood under the moon. Someone's training.

He walked closer, and saw the young cub sharpening her teeth on a dead tree, all on her own.

Only that blade is duller than a farmer's hoe. And her stance is all wrong. Besides, if she ever gets to swordplay with the monster, she's dead with nothing to bury.

"Relax your shoulders," he said.

She flinched, the sword flying in the dirt.

"Pick it up," he added.

"I'm not scared," she said.

"You should be."

She trembled again, but held her ground. He grabbed her arms, positioning them in a proper combat stance. Warrior paint was on her cheeks. Ancient custom.

"Lower those knees, stagger those feet," he said. "And don't leave yourself open when you strike."

He stole the sword from her grip.

"Hey!" she shouted.

Blade wasn't too far gone. No one had honed this in decades. Rust can be scraped off. Could be a decent iron.

He gave it back. "Don't practice tonight. Sleep, if you can. Tomorrow, we hunt the beast."

Dawn was on the horizon.

She actually came. Morning light filtered through the dense canopy just enough to make the search possible.

A few hours later, they reached the small lake hidden deep in the forest, trees growing out of the shallow water.

He signaled her to stop moving. There was a figure on a rock, doing a magic ritual.

The water moved, and a large being was emerging from the water. A black spider. The target.

It was being summoned by someone. With black magic.

He nocked an arrow. Aimed for the figure's chest. There was still time to stop the summon.

It was a hit. The spider was sinking back into the water, but the figure must have been armored, because it immediately tried to flee.

No chance of that happening. Brambles meant she could only walk on the few narrow paths. He took a breath and planted some arrows head down on the ground, then nocked one.

The arrow flew between the trees, meeting the figure as it emerged among them. It was parried with a magic blast, the summoner's balance wavering. But the other three arrows weren't parried.

The black shape fell on the forest floor, arrowheads pinned in the light armor. Kai didn't have to sprint. He was on the figure in seconds, knees on their elbows, blade on their neck.

Heavy breath. A woman. The black stain of corruption in the white of her twitchy eyes.

She laughed, her voice consumed by madness. Then, the sound of water moving from the lake.

The summon wasn't severed. The kid. Kai turned, and the monster was climbing out of the deep water in front of her. She was frozen like an idiot.

"Dodge!" he shouted. Bleeding with three arrows in her, the witch wasn't going far. Kai sprinted towards the lake, bow in hand.

The one move he drilled in her worked. She dodged, but fell into the mud.

He sent a few arrows flying towards its eyes, gaining precious moments as it reeled from the hits. None of the arrowheads dug in the rotten flesh.

"Run, kid!" he shouted.

The girl drew her sword. Stupid idiot. She should have run.

He was almost on her, bow dropped for the machete. But the spider opened its jaws. It would eat half the girl in one bite.

It was too late for Kai to stop it. The sound of flesh splitting, and then heavy breathing. Her breathing.

He was wheezing himself, finding her trembling like a leaf in a storm, the undead monster unmoving.

Huh. Sword's tip emerged behind the monster's black eyes. She was holding it with trembling hands, grip weak. The hilt dug into her stomach, her elbows planted in the mud.

She didn't thrust. The spider impaled itself trying to eat her, fangs inches from her face.

Reckless and dumb. Lucky. Brave.

"Get up, kid," he said between breaths. "We aren't done."

She was in shock.

"The fight with the monster is over. You won."

Nothing.

He grabbed her and pulled, sliding her legs out from below the corpse. She flinched when she stood. Nasty bruise on the stomach most likely, from the hilt of the sword pushing back.

That damned dull iron. Should have honed it.

"Gwen," he said. "You are fine. It's over."

You did a good job.

Her breathing slowed. "The witch escaped," she whispered, finally.

"No, she didn't. Not with those wounds," he replied. "If you want to leave, now is the time. I'll tell them I couldn't save you, that the spider ate you."

She didn't answer.

"Are you leaving or what?" he asked again, his patience thin.

Her eyes were bulging, her gaze shifting rapidly around. It settled on her sword, and she pulled it out of the flesh with a shaking hand.

Kai followed her towards the blood trail.

"The witch is exhausted and wounded. Stay behind me. Try to stay calm," he told her.

They just had to follow the blood, she wasn't far. They took her back to the village, hands tied behind her back.

Good. A witch and the girl disappearing would have been hard to explain to the elder.

Back at the village, the elder was called as the hunters returned with unexpected prey. Everyone gathered in front of the elder's home.

Kai threw down the spider's head and pushed the woman into the cold mud. She was still bleeding from the one arrow that missed the leather padding. A normal person would already be dead. "This witch was summoning your arachnid. Black magic. Means she commanded it to take your sacrifices."

Silence fell on the hill. An old woman cried on her husband's shoulder.

"Your daughter killed the monster," he added, remembering the deal. Didn't even have to lie.

The elder spoke. "Abella... is that you?" he asked, bending down to look at the hooded face.

A shattered voice spoke, like rot and broken glass. "Yes, dearie old husband of mine. They made you the village elder! Yahahahah. How ironic"

Under the cloak, Kai's hands were already on the hilts of his weapons.

"Mother?"

Gwen's voice. Gods damn it.

Tears streamed down her cheek, washing away her warrior's paint. Her lips were shaking.

"What does this mean, Guntirr?" someone shouted at the elder. "Is this your doing?"

"We want answers!" another.

The elder raised his hands.

"Good folks of Woodshill. This here witch is my wife Abella that you know left us many seasons ago."

His voice was breaking up, the glint of tears in his eyes. The look of someone who's guilty.

"She went to learn magic. The kind of magic that let us good folk prosper. To protect us."

A murmur rose from the folk.

"But the cost of the magic grew. I had to... had to drive her out. She kept protecting us all these years."

"You took our newborns! Our children!"

"Justice!"

"Death to the witch!"

In the meantime, Abella laughed. A horrible, ill sound.

"Good folk of Woodshill!" The elder shouted again. "I am guilty, for I let this madness continue far too long! The black has consumed her! And I will step down as elder and go into exile!"

The village quieted, save for the ragged rasps of Abella's breaths between her laughs.

"But before I go, I hereby sentence my— the witch to death. By hanging!"

"Death to the witch!"

"Justice!"

"No!" shouted Gwen. She didn't make a move.

Men moved and shouted as the gallows were prepared for the execution. Abella didn't stop her laughing, breathless.

The night before the execution, Kai stood guard over the witch. Tied up and with the arrows still in her, she wasn't an immediate danger. Maybe.

What a waste of time. Should be on the road already.

It went surprisingly quiet. When the moon was high, light steps lingered outside the crooked door. The young cub. She left without entering.

The next day, the sun didn't show. Cold drizzle persisted, wetting everything under the clouded sky.

The execution was quick, as they always were in the Ironlands. The elder's last act before his well-deserved exile.

Kai brought the witch to the gallows, then the villagers put a noose around her pale, sickened neck.

The witch just laughed. She was too far gone then, almost erased by the corruption.

They began pulling the rope.

"I was going to find her," Gwen said between sobs. Only Kai heard. "I was going to find her," she repeated.

Of course. That's why she wanted to leave. She was about to lose her all over again. Under the cloak, his knuckles went white on the hilts of the sword and dagger.

Rain falls. Bone snaps. Gwen does not look away.

Kai stood aside, skin chilled under the soaked cloak.

Fire wouldn't take at first. It did eventually. His shoulders relaxed, knowing the corpse wouldn't attract trouble at night.

Kai was itching to leave at first light. He got the information he needed from the elder, avoiding the girl. Not that she was around to avoid.

Caravan, a dozen armed, no banners. More unarmed, heading north. Had to be them. That many people meant they would need to stop at a large settlement for supplies. Not many of those up north.

"Are you sure we can't convince you to stay?" the elder asked.

Kai was putting on his cloak, fitting his gear for the road.

"Very sure" he replied. "Long road to Wyvern's End."

I'll find those ghosts. They will pay for what they did to my village.

The elder sighed. "At least, we will have my dear daughter to protect us."

The clinking of iron stopped. Gods damn it. Not my problem.

An old woman's voice broke the silence. "A token of thanks from the village," she said, handing Kai a bundle. Salted meat and stale bread.

The village was soon behind his back. Cold haze still drenched the woods, but he had warmed his cloak and boots near the fire. The mud had no chance to slow him.

Deep in the forest, a sound. Behind. Someone was tailing him. He didn't show signs that he noticed, instead he grabbed the hilt of his dagger and turned a corner in the darkness, hiding behind an ancient tree.

As the pursuer made the turn, Kai grabbed their arm and his blade was on their throat in a flash.

Gwen.

"I'm s-sorry," she whimpered.

He let go.

Sorry about your mother. "What do you want."

She tried to regain her composure. Huntress outfit. That fire in her eyes.

"Someone taught her black magic," she said, her voice breaking. "I swore on iron. I'll find them and kill them."

Tough kid.

"I want you to teach me. You are fast and strong. You know things."

Gods damn it.

"Go home," he commanded.

"I don't have one anymore!" she shouted, crying. "There is nothing left for me there."

True.

Kai sighed.

Just have to scare her off.

He dropped low, hand on the hilt—

To his surprise, he had a dagger pointed to his throat.

"I can learn," she said. Her hand was shaking, but her feet were staggered, ready to dodge. Just like he taught her.

She sharpened the blade?

"I saw you sharpen yours," she added, tracking his gaze.

Quick study too. Could use a pair of eyes to watch my back.

Can't believe I'm thinking this.

"It was me that saw the caravan," she added. "I remember all of their faces."

He had already made up his mind.

"You do what you are told. No nagging. And clean yourself up. We hunt and forage for food. We sleep where we can."