38. Carved

It was late afternoon as the four of us set out from the castle.

It was actually my first time going beyond the castle walls. In all the time Kelly and I were here and wandering the grounds, the gates had remained shut. They opened briefly for our little group, and the four of us were soon heading west, towards the forest.

Feichin walked a few paces ahead, while Siobhan, Ruadhan and I walked alongside each other. The two soldiers kept me in between them, I had no doubt that was intentional on their part.

We walked in silence. I was nervous as hell, but my three companions all seemed calm and collected. I was sure there was no danger right here, the cleared land between the castle and the forest was probably quite safe. I looked back over my shoulder, and spotted Kelly and Maeve standing together atop the castle wall, watching us.

I raised my arm and waved, and Kelly waved back. Then I turned and focused on what lay ahead.

The forest looked closer from ontop of the castle wall, but in fact it took us more than twice as long as I'd guessed it would before we reached the edge of it. Nearer to the trees, the terrain became rough and more uneven, and there was more scrub, weeds and bushes.

Where we'd started out walking across basically short grass, the four of us wound up on a trail. It looked unused and partially overgrown, but it was still visible.

Right at the edge of the woods, we found someone waiting for us. He looked young, like a teen. In human-years I'd have guessed he was fifteen or sixteen. He was dressed similar to Feichin, with a long dark coat. With him was a deer, a doe.

The animal seemed unusually calm, and I figured it must have been enspelled or otherwise made tame. There was a rope tied around its neck, and the other end of it was in the boy's hand.

Feichin stepped closer and exchanged a few quiet words with the teen. I got the feeling he was either the huntsman's apprentice, or perhaps his son. Or possibly both.

The only words I heard were at the end of their brief conversation, when Feichin said, "Run along now lad. Be safe, sunset's coming."

The boy handed the rope to the huntsman, then he hurried past me and the others. He gave me a very brief bow as he passed, then set off away from the woods at a quick pace.

Feichin looked at the three of us and stated in a warning tone, "From here on, we walk single-file. No talking. Follow my steps, don't stray from the path."

Both Siobhan and Ruadhan slipped their bows off their shoulders and both set an arrow on the string. Feichin left his bow across his back. He then led us into the woods. The deer followed silently behind him as he led her by the rope.

Ruadhan started into the woods behind the deer. I was next, and Siobhan took up the rear.

I spotted a weathered piece of parchment nailed to a tree next to the path. The faded text read "Danger! No Entry by order of Lady Maeve Brádaigh - Death Awaits All Who Pass!"

The path we were following became much less distinct as soon as we were in the forest. At the same time it got a whole lot darker. I figured there was only about an hour till sunset, so the sun was fairly low in the sky. That put it behind the canopy of the forest, which meant there was basically a whole forest blocking out the direct sunlight.

I felt even more nervous as I walked, and had to constantly fight the urge to make smalltalk. It was a bad habit I guess, but sometimes I'd get chatty when I was anxious. Not a great combination when you're hunting a big deadly monster using medieval technology. It didn't help that I felt like the stupid city kid out on her first adventure in the woods with the cool kids who already knew about surviving in the wilderness.

We wound up going quite a ways into the forest. I think it was actually sunset when Feichin finally brought us to a halt. We were in a very slight clearing, the kind of place I figured you might set up camp if you weren't in the most dangerous forest in the realm.

Feichin tied the deer's rope to the trunk of a tree, then quietly told the three of us "Stay here, stay quiet. Eyes and ears open."

The two soldiers moved without speaking, they took positions on either side of me, bows ready. Their backs were to me as they faced outwards, monitoring the woods around us.

Meanwhile the huntsman moved silently around the area, gathering up wood. Some ten minutes later he had a very small fire burning in the middle of the little clearing.

Finally he moved to me and held out his hand, "Give me the pack, girl."

I slipped it off my shoulder and handed it to him. He moved to the deer as he opened it up. I kept my mouth shut as I watched him, while Siobhan and Ruadhan kept their eyes on the forest.

Feichin took out the dress and hose I'd been wearing for two days, and loosely tied them around the deer. Next he carefully pulled out the bladder full of blood, and with a length of twine he tied it about the animal's neck so it hung at her throat. And finally he took the flask and poured the remaining blood over the deer's back and let it soak into the clothes. The empty flask went back in the pack, and that was left at the base of the tree next to the deer.

Moving quickly he returned to the three of us. His hand came up as his lips moved, and I saw the flicker of light in his eyes as he worked a spell.

"Magic, to mask your scents." he explained quietly. "If it hasn't already, the beast will pick up our trail and follow it here. When it gets here, the only source of fae scent will be on the doe."

Without waiting for any of us to comment or acknowledge what he'd said, Feichin gestured to a tree to the left of the clearing. "Tegan, Ruadhan, you two are up that tree. Eyes on the doe, stay silent, not a word." Then he pointed to a tree in the opposite direction, "Siobhan, you're up there. Now go, we're out of time."

Siobhan nodded to me and Ruadhan and whispered, "You two up first, I'll cover."

I hadn't climbed trees since I was ten or twelve, and I was very much out of practice. It didn't help that I was so small, I was probably bigger at age twelve than I was now. Ruadhan tucked his bow over his shoulder and gave me a boost so I could get to the lowest branch. I managed to get myself up a little further after that, but the best I could do was about three meters off the ground. I wound up sitting on a thick sturdy branch and leaning my right shoulder against the trunk of the tree.

Once I was secure there, Ruadhan followed me up. He went about a meter higher and settled on the other side of the tree. He was straddling a branch with his back to the trunk, his left side facing towards the clearing. He slipped his bow off his back and into his left hand and prepared an arrow again, to watch over the clearing.

Siobhan went next, quickly and efficiently hauling herself about four meters up into her tree. Like Ruadhan, she straddled a branch and readied her bow.

The huntsman was already in his perch. He was in the tree directly above the doe. He still didn't bother getting his bow out. I had a feeling he knew arrows wouldn't be much use against the beast.

With all four of us in position, there was nothing to do now but wait. The sun was already set now, and what remained of its light quickly faded from the sky. There were some stars, briefly, before clouds rolled in and left us in almost total darkness. The only light was from the small campfire Feichin had set, and that was gradually diminishing as I knew it would burn itself out before long.

I had no way to track time, but it felt like it took about an hour for the little fire to die out. Only some faintly-glowing embers remained. The woods were quiet, and I kind of felt it was unnaturally quiet. I had no idea what woods were supposed to sound like, but I was certain there should be more noise. I couldn't ask of course, Feichin had made it clear we needed to remain silent.

So I sat there leaning against the trunk of the tree while my butt fell asleep, thinking up a hundred different questions I should have asked when I had the chance. My brain was in nervous chatter mode but I had to keep my mouth shut, and it was kind of a frustrating mix.

Again I had no way to tell how long we waited, but I'd guess it was another hour after the fire had gone out. The clouds started to break up somewhat and there was some starlight coming through, as well as the occasional bit of moonlight when it found a gap in the clouds.

My butt was asleep, my left foot was itchy, and I was thirsty. I was definitely starting to question why I'd insisted on being here at all. I was right in the intersection between bored, uncomfortable, and incredibly nervous. And that's when it happened.

There was no warning, there were no sounds to tell us it was coming. Just, one moment the night was absolutely silent and still, and the next all hell broke loose.

It crossed the little clearing in a heartbeat, a big blurry shadow. Huge claws shone in the moonlight then the deer was on its side, its belly ripped open while the beast's enormous jaws clamped down and tore out the hapless animal's throat.

I couldn't help myself, I jumped slightly and let out a yelp of fear. It wasn't even all that loud, more like an "Eep!" but it was enough.

The beast raised its head to the air. There was just enough starlight for me to see its nose and ears twitching, as it sought the source of that noise.

I held my breath, but I was trembling slightly. The thing was the size of a horse, but built like a bear, with broad muscular shoulders and a huge wolf-like head. Its fur was shaggy and black, its ears were the colour of blood. The doe's blood was dripping from the beast's massive fangs.

With a lurch I realized it had to have torn the bladder when it ripped out the dear's throat. It had to have my blood in its mouth, yet the curse wasn't broken. If I wasn't so scared I'd have made a mental note to have some words with Liam later, assuming I survived this. Fear had pretty much left my mind empty. I forgot about magic, forgot everything I'd read about vargurs, I just sat there trembling and staring.

The beast was still sniffing the air, and now it was slowly turning, moving in a circle as it searched. Then it stopped, and my heart stopped too. It was facing the tree Ruadhan and I were in. Its ears were pointing our way, and its nose was still twitching, sniffing the air.

When it lunged, it moved so fast I barely saw it coming. Its leap covered the four or five meters, as well as lifting it a good three meters into the air. It crashed into the branches right in front of me, and I fell backwards out of the tree.

I hit the ground hard, and the air was knocked from my lungs. I lay there stunned and gasping for breath, barely able to move. There was a heavy thud as the beast dropped from the tree to land a meter to my right. It's right arm raised, claws shining in the moonlight, and I knew it was going to tear me in half.

I barely heard the slap of a bowstring, but I saw the arrow bury itself in the beast's side. It was a perfect shot, right into the ribs under the right arm. The beast barely flinched, though it did turn its attention away from me as it looked back towards Siobhan who'd loosed the arrow.

There was another light thud next to me, as Ruadhan dropped from the tree. He landed on his feet and had his sword in hand. He swung at the beast but his blade seemed to have little effect. The beast's fur was too coarse, its hide too thick. It roared, a deafening blood-curdling sound, and batted him aside with a swipe of its huge claws. It stepped forward, ignoring me as it meant to chase Ruadhan down and finish the job.

When it stepped, that brought it right ontop of me and one of its clawed feet came down on my right leg. Its claws sliced through my thigh and I let out a piercing scream. The pain was indescribable.

I was vaguely aware of Siobhan and Feichin as both dropped from their perches, both had bows ready, arrows drawn.

The beast was distracted by my scream and looked down at me, its head above mine. The deer's blood was smeared and dripping from its massive jaw, its eyes were white like the moon. I was in agony, it still had its claws in my right leg. My vision blurred from tears of pain and fear, but the beast didn't finish me.

Instead, it stumbled back. I screamed again in renewed torment as its claws pulled free from my leg. It faltered, and its form shimmered.

For a moment, I saw a man standing there. He was naked, there was blood on his face and hands. An arrow protruded from the right side of his chest. Then he collapsed, and everything went black.

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