A few hours later, Commander Stone was led deep into the forest, watching as the high noon sun began to disappear in the thick tree canopy. However, despite being midday, the light began to fade far more than it should have. The further they delved into the forest, it almost felt like sunlight was not welcome there. The trees progressively became more barren, the beautiful green foliage was nearly gone. Lush bushes became nothing more than prickly shrub. Strangely enough, a fog began to settle in the area. Despite the lack of leaves above, it felt like clouds had blotted out the sun.

  Distracted by the change of environment, Stone was startled by one of his men who called to him. “Over here, sir.”

  The Commander followed his men to an area of trees that looked far worse than the others around. Their bark was black, almost as if someone had painted them. More strangely were the cracks in the trees that glowed a dark purple light. Stone knew better than to touch anything that looked even slightly magical, but he did take a close look at the unsightly scene. All the trees around were tainted like this. Even the ground featured those same glowing cracks as the trees, as men did their best to avoid stepping on them.

  The Commander looked around in dismay. “What foul sorcery is this?”

  “Unsure sir.” Captain Levitt shrugged. “But I’m certain it weren’t that witch we captured.”

  “Lets not rule anything out yet, Captain.”

  “I know sir, but... well come here.” Levitt beckoned the Commander to follow him as he walked to a crowd of soldiers all huddled around in a small clearing.

  Stone crossed his arms, raising his voice to get the attention of his men. “Not sure it’s wise to be standing in the middle of this tainted ground.”

  “Sir, take a look.” One of the men said, as others made an opening for the Commander. There on the ground was unmistakably a piece of armor belonging to the Edgemere guard. “One of ours.” After a quick examination, Stone realized it was a breastplate with a large clean bite mark that nearly cut it in half.

  “Indeed…” Stone nodded, looking at the craftsmanship of the armor. “Never seen a beast do this. Bites too big to be a bear; then again I've known no bear to bite through armor, no matter how fierce. No living creature we know could’ve done this.” The Commander looked to his men. “Where’s the rest of this soldier?”

  Captain Levitt shook his head. “I’m afraid this is it, sir.”

  “Eh?” Stone turned to face him.

  “We’ve found some scraps of plate scattered around, but aside from some blood stains on the ground… this is it.” The Captain frowned. “No entrails… no bones... nothing. We don’t even know if this was Samson’s group or not. But their patrol did pass through this way.”

  The Commander pinched the bridge of his nose. “For all we know this… thing… could’ve eaten an entire patrol.” He let out a heavy frustrated sigh. “There’s nothing to identify them. I can’t tell their families if I don’t know they’re dead.” He looked at the bitten armor again. “I know it looks that way… but…”

  Captain Levitt stepped forward. “What are we going to do, sir?”

  Stone sighed again. “Continue searching the area, we need at least something to identify who was here.” The Commander looked around at the tainted forest, “Don’t stay longer than you need to… or want to.” He turned around, walking back toward the path. “If you find anything, even so much as a tabard, you bring it back. I’m going to have a word with the witch.”

  “Yes sir!” said his men in unison.

  Hours had passed, and the midday sun was finally starting to dim. Commander Stone marched into the town keep and approached the prison of the witch. He and his men found her staring out the window.

  “I half-expected you asleep.” Stone began as the prison door was unlocked. The woman turned around and walked toward Stone once he beckoned her over. He removed her gag, offering another cup of water. “We’re having a bit of a problem.” He started as she quenched her thirst. “A dozen of my men are missing… we’ve found nothing but scraps of armor and a dead cursed forest. None of my men knows what’s going on. But you do… don’t you?”

  The woman downed the last drop of water, before wiping her cheek dry with the back of her hand. “Hard to say, sir.”

  Stone looked toward the window. “You said you were scrying the forest? What does that mean?”

  “I…” The woman paused, unsure of how to explain it simply. “...use magic to see the happenings of the forest. Farther than your eye can see, through stone and trees, night or day.”

  Stone crossed his arms. “You’re looking for something.” She nodded, her eyes looking down. “For what.”

  The woman’s bright green eyes looked up, locking with Stone’s. “A beast.” Her tone shifted as she became serious. “I’ve been tracking it for weeks. It’s destroyed five villages so far… and last I could tell, it was heading in this direction.”

  Stone furrowed his brow, as he grew more displeased with her words. “You’d wager this monster might have had something to do with my men?”

  “Hard to say, sir.” The woman repeated.

  Stone raised his voice, “Is it not the only possible explanation?!”

  “What I mean to say sir, is…” She spoke softly, trying to calm Stone as best she could. “...yes, it could be that beast, but it could be another one entirely.”

  “There’s more?!” Stone exclaimed, catching himself before he drew too much attention. The woman simply nodded. “We must prepare then.” He turned to the two men behind him. “Hopper, Garson.”

  The two men stood at attention. “Sir!”

  “Rally the men. We’re locking down the perimeter. No one comes or goes. Understood? Recall all patrols. Every available archer on the ramparts.”

  The woman reached out to them as they began to leave. “W-Wait!” Everyone turned to her, nearly reaching for their swords. “You can’t fight it.” She lowered her voice as she stared at the Commander. “I know that look in your eye. You’ve seen what it can do. I know that feeling where you want to do whatever you can to stop it but you can’t act so rashly.”

  The Commander scoffed. “We’ve enough men and weapons to defend this town twice over against a small army. I think we’ll be fine.”

  The woman held herself back wanting to raise her voice again. “You don’t understand, you must let me help you!”

  Stone shook his head and gestured for the prison guard to begin binding her again. “If the beast appears I will come to you. For now we will make preparations in case it does. Until then you are still considered a prisoner. Worry not, I’ll see to it your assistance does not go unaccounted for during your trial.”

  She bowed her head, the look of defeat fell across her whole body. “I… I understand.”

  Stone paused, looking at her genuine behavior. “...what’s your name?”

  The woman kept her head down. “Riona, sir.”

  “Well, Miss Riona. Hopefully next time we speak it’s the day we can see to your release. Sleep well.” Stone said as he turned to leave. The prison guards gagged her mouth again before they locked her door. Once again she was alone. She sat at the edge of her cot and looked toward the floor. Another hour passed with nothing to entertain Riona except for the chatty, belligerent degenerates that were her prison mates. She did her best to ignore them, allowing them to carry on in their fairly dull-witted conversation which was amusing enough. The prisoners soon fell asleep indicated by their loud rumbling snores. Daylight was beginning to fade and Riona could only sit and wait as certain death was to befall the townsfolk.

  As she contemplated what events might unfold, she felt the presence of another nearby. She raised her head and looked toward the window. Her owl companion Lilia arrived in near silence as she perched on the window and squeezed through the window bars. Riona approached the bird leaning her head forward. Lilia tilted her head, noticing the gag and began to pull and tear at the cloth with her beak. Within moments Riona was free to speak, first walking toward her door to check for any guards.

  She walked back to her friend, “Thank you Lilia.”

  The owl offered a series of coos and grunts as a reply.

  “I can’t leave, Lilia. I’m a prisoner. You know the law.”

  Lilia covered her head with her wing.

  Riona sighed. “It's bad enough they think I’m a witch, I don’t need to give them further reason to want my head by running away. I know you don’t like it, but it's the law of the land.”

  Lilia slapped Riona with her wing before grumbling.

  “Hey! I didn’t forget about you. Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out. I think he is on his way here… there’s not much I can do but wait.”

  Lilia stared, unamused before slapping Riona again.

  “I offered my assistance and they turned it down.” Riona sighed again. “Look, I’m not going to argue with you. Scout what you can… if you see anything come back to me.” Lilia turned around and prepared to fly out the window. “And Lilia…” The owl paused, stretching her wings. “Don’t worry.”

  In the center of Pinehold, the people were in a panic as the entire force of the guard were patrolling the area and herding people into their homes.

  “Everyone, hurry up!” Captain Levitt shouted as civilians scurried about. “Curfew is being enforced by Commander Stone.” He turned to a whining man. “I don’t want any protest sir. Until the threat is over we can’t risk anyone being out on the street.” A merchant was seen dragging his mobile kiosk. “Hey you! Leave your cart. No one’s stealing your cabbages, I assure you. Crazy old man.”

  Commander Stone approached from behind. “Report.”

  Levitt turned around, saluting Stone before carrying on. “Well, half the town’s panicked, and the other half thinks the threat of a beast is nothing but hogwash. Priestesses in the temple are praying themselves into exhaustion, and every paranoid beggar is calling it the end of days they always knew.”

  Stone smirked. “Going as expected then.”

  “Quite.” Levitt nodded. “I don’t know sir. I feel like if that beast was heading this way, we would’ve seen it by now.”

  The Commander looked toward the city gates. “We’re preparing for the unknown. You saw what happened to those men, Captain.”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “I know sir but… a curfew?”

  Stone looked to Levitt, reinforcing his authority with a simple stare. “If I feel the threat has subsided, we’ll lift the curfew. I don’t like this anymore than you do. But I must ensure the safety of our people.”

  Levitt nodded. “Understood sir. I’ll return to my post.” As the Captain left, Stone took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his neck. Beast or not, people weren’t going to take the curfew lightly, nor his guards for extending their shifts. He took one look back toward the keep, the thought of Riona’s words crossing his mind as he set further into worry.

  An hour past midnight, guards were posted all over the border wall that protected the city from raiders, opposing forces and dangerous wildlife. The soldiers were made aware of an encroaching monster, but due to the exaggerated tales, they weren’t sure the wall would even help. But as time went by and the air became colder, the soldiers began to denounce the rumor of the beast. Disciplined and unwavering focus on defending the town turned into growing boredom and frustration.

  “Oi Danny!” whispered a soldier, nudging his comrade. “Stay awake.”

  Danny had been leaning back in his seat, and arms crossed over his chest. “Oh… come on Jakey…” He shuffled to get comfortable in his seat again. “There ain’t nothing out there. Commander’s got his mind in a tussy over nothin’. I’ve already worked two shifts. Should be at home by a warm fire, not chillin in me own sweat on a brisk autumns night. You see somethin’ ya let me know.”

  “Alright…” Jakey said. “Got a bad feelin’ though. Something foul is in the air… touchin’ me bones something twisted.”

  Back in the keep, Riona had been resting soundly asleep but something stirred her awake. Her eyes shot open as she jumped from her bed. “Oh no…” She rushed to the window, her eyes widening. With a long drawn inhale through her nose she turned and ran to the door. “The monster approaches!” She shouted. A look around proved no guards were on duty to watch them. “No no no…” Riona pounded her fist against the door. “Someone! Hear me!”

  “I hear ya lass.” said one of the prisoners. “Guards be gone. Think they know ‘bout that beast.”

  “No they don’t!” She began pounding the door between each pause of her words. “This is not! The same! Monster!”

  “Hush it witch!” whined another prisoner. “I’d like to be afforded a night’s rest before the gallows. Noisy wench.”

  Riona shook her head as she backed away from the door. “I need… I need to get out…” It was then she heard a faint roar. “It’s… calling.”

  “Eh?” questioned a prisoner. “I ain’t hear nothin’.”

  “Shut up!” shouted another.

  Riona heard the roar again. She was suddenly overcome with pain as the roar afflicted her body causing her to fall to the floor and grip her head.

  Back on the wall, the two guards Dan and Jacob had just about enough waiting around. Jacob received news from another soldier and proceeded to walk over to his friend. “Oi, Danny… Commander’s given orders to retreat. Says the beast ain’t comin’.”

  Dan didn’t even open his eyes. “Could’ve told him that hours ago.”

  “Aye, it’s almost morn.” Jacob said, patting his friend as he turned and walked toward the stairs. “At least Commander’s giving us some rest before the next shift. Been up for nearly a day and a half, ain’t ya Danny? Danny?” Jacob turned around. The chair Dan was comfortably sitting in was empty. “Oi… where’d you g---”

  In the middle of town, Commander Stone heard screams coming from the town walls. The sudden noise sparked new energy into him as he instinctively reached for his sword. There were some rumbling and more screams giving him a greater direction to face. He watched Captain Levitt rush toward him.

  “Captain, report!” Stone demanded. Levitt’s words were unintelligible as he shakingly pointed a finger toward the direction of the screams. Suddenly the stone city walls exploded, sending debris and rubble raining down on the area. Through the collapse emerged a monster the size of a house. It looked to be made of gnarled and rotting wood, and marched along with three spider-like appendages. From its torso were two gangly arms with extra long fingers. In each grip were two soldiers screaming for help. It had no discernible eyes, but in the center of its torso was a long vertical maw lined with razor sharp teeth. Stone noticed its bark was tainted with the same glowing purple cracks he had seen in the forest earlier. Before he could notice anything else, it made a terrible screeching roar that brought most people to their knees.

  Once the Commander gathered himself, he stood up. “Maker’s breath…” He uttered before looking for any of his men. “Fall back, keep it away from the civilian districts!” However fearful they were, the Stone’s men had their sense of duty and did their best to attack the creature as best they could. Archers emptied their quivers, and swordsmen tried to hack away at its legs. Though bothered by the attack, the creature seemed uninjured and continued its rampage by breaking through buildings with no effort, throwing soldiers great distances or eating them with its nightmarish maw. The soldiers were constantly being pushed further and further back toward the residential area, and they were running out of ideas.

  Stone grabbed one of his men who was retreating in fear. “Fire.” The Commander said. “It’s made of wood, is it not?”

  The soldier gave it a moment’s thought. “But sir, the fire might spread!”

  Stone glanced back at the monster. “We can fight fires. If we don’t stop it now, there will only be ruin to burn.” The Commander tapped the soldier on the back, nudging him to go before shouting to his men. He urged them to use whatever means necessary to burn the creature, at the same time evacuate citizens further away from the mayhem. Archers began to fire torched arrows, and foot soldiers threw spirits to further ignite the monster. While the beast reacted, it never stopped its destruction. The fires only seemed to enrage the monster as it demolished more buildings and spread fire to everything it touched. Just when things seemed to be at their worst, there was a faint explosion in the distance. Moments later, a soldier rushed to the Commander.

  “Sir!” the soldier shouted, as he pointed in the other direction. “There’s been an explosion toward the keep!”

  “What now!?” Stone yelled over the noise of the chaos.

  There was an echoing roar coming from the keep’s end of the city. Everyone could hear it, and strangely enough the tree monster paused to look in the direction of the roar. The Commander watched as something barreled through the town. Debris from destroyed homes flew into the air as a new evil stampeded through every building on its way toward the tree monster.

  Finally it emerged. There stood a monstrous bear shaped abomination. It had the hulking structure of a bear but nearly the size of the tree monster it stood before. A mix of white fur and feathers spread across its body, but what was stranger was its face. Its large bestial skull was without a hint of flesh upon it. Six large horns sprouted from the base of its head, curving back toward the body, matching the two horns that sprouted from its shoulders. Instead of two eye sockets there was an additional one in the middle, all of them filled with a glowing pale green pupiless eye. The new monster stood on its hind legs revealing its stomach was nothing more than an empty ribcage containing a furnace of green fire.

  With a mighty roar the bear-like monster shook the very earth around them, causing the tree monster to step back. All of the soldiers were confused as to what to do and instead watched as the two monsters began to fight amongst themselves. There was no stopping the destruction they unleashed. Their sheer size was enough to flatten homes and their strength made even Pinehold’s strongest walls crumble. However, it appeared the bear monster was beginning to win, ripping an arm from the fiendish tree. Just before defeat seemed imminent, the tree monster grabbed its enemy and threw the bear back towards the keep’s direction where it emerged. Immediately it retreated through the same hole it created and suddenly all was quiet. Neither the tree or bear monstrosity had returned.

  It took another hour for the city to finally calm down but there was little time to wait. People were dead or injured. Buildings were still on fire. Stone commanded his men to begin saving what part of Pinehold they could before they lost more of it. Soldiers and volunteering civilians spent hours all through the morning saving what remained of Pinehold, many didn’t take account of the time until the sun was over the horizon. Thankfully any fires were left to a smoking remnant and everyone could rest at ease.

  A soldier approached Commander Stone who had been helping injured civilians along.

  “Fires are out sir. Anything left’s but smolderin’.” said the soldier.

  “Good work.” Stone said, giving a weak nod as he stretched his back. He walked by the soldier, giving him a pat on the shoulder before walking off.

  “Where are you going?” the soldier asked.

  “To see that witch…” Stone replied, waving a hand in the air.

  “Sir… the keeps a crumblin’ ruin. Reports say the prison’s all but collapsed.”

  The Commander ignored his subordinate and continued walking throughout Pinehold. He found a convenient path to the keep through the destruction left behind by that bear creature. There was a clear path straight to the ruined keep that carved its way through countless homes and shops. Stone walked through observing the utter misery and despair left behind. Corpses were still being fished out from rubble. Families sobbed as their homes were demolished. Folk were injured in all sorts of ways. He continued on, walking through half destroyed homes and being careful to step over debris and the occasional body at his feet. As he reached the keep, sure enough it was as he was warned. His command post, home to the soldiers barracks, armory, and prison was in ruins.

  It wasn’t enough for the Commander however. The monsters he faced were unlike anything he’s ever seen and the only person that knew anything about them was the witch he regretted imprisoning. He spent over an hour digging through rubble near the prison side and after moving some beams and rocks aside he found the body of Riona, her clothes reduced to burnt scraps and her body covered in black soot from the smoking fires. He jumped down into the pit of debris and checked to see if she was still alive. As he put an ear to her nose to hear a faint breathing. He carefully handled her naked body and cradled her in her arms as he emerged from the ruined keep and headed toward the civilian district for help.

  Riona opened her eyes slowly, the light hitting her eyes was near blinding. She didn’t know where she was, nor remembered the night before. All she recalled as pain coursing through her body as the monsters approached the city.

  “Finally awake…” said a familiar voice. With the turn of her head she saw Commander Stone. “...beginning to worry your rescue was for naught.”

  Riona squinted trying to get a better view of where she was. “This is…. Where…”

  “My home.” Stone answered. Riona looked around and saw she was on a cushioned bench near a fireplace. It certainly was a home, if not bare of any sort of decor. “Tried taking you to our infirmary, but most of the injured didn’t want to be near a witch.” He gestured to a man who was sitting at the foot of the bench. “Doctor’s said you’ll be all right. A surprise given what you’ve been through. Some stroke of luck you’ve had. The keep should’ve crushed you.”

  “The keep…” Riona rasped. Her eyes widened as she sat up in a hurry. “...the beast!” She gripped her side as a sudden pain came through. She was definitely bruised but she managed to stay upright.

  Stone shook his head with a smirk. “I said you would be all right. You still need to rest. Here…” He turned and offered her a cup of water. As Riona drank slowly, Stone let out a sigh. “I uh… I owe you an apology, Miss Riona.” She met eyes with the Commander. “I should’ve listened to you. You gave us fair warning… even hinted there might be two monsters and you were right.” An unexpected look of defeat fell upon Stone. “We’ve fought some terrible things in the past, but what we saw was nothing natural, that’s for certain. We needed your help and I turned it down. And all you’ve done is been cooperative. Witch or not, I’m excusing whatever charges are against you in exchange that you help us.”

  Riona lowered the cup from her lips. “The monsters you saw… what were they like?” The Commander went on to describe both the tree and bear monsters in the best detail he could gather. Some of the details were off, due to the night’s darkness and the frantic chaos that made it difficult to focus. Still, Riona nodded as he went on. “I see.” Riona said before putting down her cup. “I’m sorry, Commander. But I can’t help you.”

  Stone furrowed his brows. “But you--”

  “Sorry…” Riona interrupted. “...what I meant to say was, you can’t help me.” There was only a look of confusion on the Commander’s face as he looked at Riona. She figured she might need to explain herself. “Both of the creatures you saw were not the monsters I was tracking. That tree monster… it was a weak one in comparison to the others I’ve come across.”

  “Weak?!” Stone exclaimed.

  Riona nodded. “They’re called spriggans. Or at least they used to be. An unfortunate result of corrupted magics afflicting the forest spirits creating those foul man eaters you saw.”

  “A-And the flaming bear?” Stone nervously asked.

  Riona paused, her eyes drifting off into thought as she recalled such a monster. She came out of her short daze and looked at Stone. “They call it the Feyn. And not to add to your worries, but it is attracted to other creatures like the one that first attacked your men.”

  “A monster that eats monsters?” Stone asked.

  Riona shrugged. “Eat… kill… the realm of dark magic is not easily understood. Luckily, the Feyn has no quarrel with the likes of us humans. That doesn’t mean it will spare your city damage. If you see the Feyn again… stay out of its way. In a strange way I’d count it as your ally in times like that.”

  Stone stroked his chin. “I’m… having trouble grasping all this Riona.”

  “Understandably.” She nodded before looking to the window to see a pile of familiar items. “Are those my things?”

  Stone nodded and watched as Riona sat up from her bed and approached the window to inspect her belongings. “We were going to have them inspected but… well that never fell through. I figured you might want them back.”

  Riona looked back at the Commander with a smile. “Thank you.” Without warning, Riona began to undress from the simple clothes she was given. Stone and the doctor turned their eyes away respecting her privacy.

  “What are we supposed to do, Riona?” Stone asked. “Pinehold can not survive another attack like this again.”

  Cloth shuffled behind the two men as Riona continued to dress. “As I said, I can’t help you. This is something I must do alone.”

  “Alone?” The Commander nearly chuckled. “You'll forgive my doubts but those things nearly destroyed the city and my defenses were nothing but fodder. And I've seen no witch perform magic that powerful. Not to mention you've denied being such. So what are you… if not a witch?”

  “Simply put?” Riona said. The Commander and doctor turned as Riona seemed to finish. There she stood, in a forest green high-collared trench coat with silver armored epaulettes. Brown leather boots climbed up to her thighs. Her coat sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, and her hands were covered in fingerless green leather gloves. In her hand she grasped a wooden staff with a crescent bladed head and a green jewel centered in the middle. “I’m a monster hunter.”