Kasia, Andrew, and Janine could feel excitement radiating from the training arena as they approached. Initiates were chattering loudly and everyone moved around freely.

  “Andrew!” An initiate named Dawid called and waved him over. Kasia and Janine were definitely his favorites, but they weren’t his only friends. “Have you heard the rumor?”

  Andrew separated from the girls, his arm extending and only letting go of Janine’s hand at the very last moment. “What’s up?”

  Kasia and Janine searched the crowd, spotting Dorota- the only other female initiate. They went over to her and the group she was chatting with.

  “Hey, Dorota, what’s got everyone so worked up?” Kasia asked as they drew within earshot.

  “Rumor is that today will be a hunt!” Dorota replied. “Your Wujek didn’t tell you?”

  Kasia shook her head, no.

  “For the thing that killed the stag?!” Janine burst excitedly. “Are any of the initiates going along to do their rites?”

  To everyone’s surprise the Lord Commander strode across the arena towards them. He was clad in basic battle armor, but still looked large and menacing. “QUIET!” He bellowed.

  Everyone fell silent.

  Kasia’s jaw dropped when she saw her father. How had he not mentioned this to her? She felt a little hurt, but she fell silent with the rest.

  All of the initiates lined up in formation, standing at attention for the Lord Commander.

  “Lieutenant Commander Ren and I have had a wonderful laugh at how hard he’s been working you these past couple of weeks. We hope that you have learned your lesson. This is a brotherhood! We must trust one another to have our backs. And we must have theirs. We are weak compared to the monsters! But together we are far stronger.” He orated with a large smile on his face. Ren wasn’t the only one who enjoyed working the initiates to the bone. But he also liked being the favorite among the brothers.

  “Today you’ll be rewarded for your efforts!” He raised his sword into the air and a cheer arose with it.

  “WHOO!” Andrew loved the camaraderie of the knights. He got caught up in it quickly.

  When Jon’s sword came down, so did the noise. “Initiates! It is with great regret that I must inform you that two monsters are loose within the castle grounds. You must bring me their heads and save Gdansk! Organize yourselves. Work alone or in groups. The winners will get first pick at whatever meat the hunters bring home today!”

  “The hunt is on! Quickly, before there are any more casualties!”

  Kasia’s face lit up into a grin that stretched from ear to ear. “A game! I love games!”

  She grabbed Janine’s hand and they ran to grab Andrew.

  “The troublesome trio?” Kasia smiled, asking if they would work with her.

  “Always! Right Andrew?” Janine asked her boyfriend..

  A cough echoed behind them. “Did you forget our deal already, Red?” Harold scoffed as his eyes darted at the rope around Kasia’s neck.

  Kasia’s shoulders slumped and she groaned, “Right, right– but Janine and Andrew can come as well, right?” Why the fuck was she asking him permission? “I mean– Janine and Andrew are coming as well. Also, why are you calling me Red?" She added with confusion.

  “Yes, Red. Little Red neck.” Harold scorned her as he plucked the rope around her neck. Kasia slapped his hand away, scowling.

  He looked over at Andrew and Janine. “Whatever. Andrew will be useful. They can come. Unless you think that your Ojciec is wrong. Can you hunt a monster all by yourself?”

  Kasia chuckled and shook her head, “If one of the initiates or a villager is the monster, sure- no problem. But I’m not so arrogant as to think I could take on one of the knights by myself. But I suppose you are?”

  Harold shook his head, “Never underestimate your opponent, Katarzyna. Let’s get our gear.” He turned and walked to where the blunted metal training swords and balled arrows were stored. A half dozen other initiates were already there grabbing what they wanted.

  “Grab me some, too, would you? I’m going to go get other supplies!” Kasia chirped, running off to the armory. She grabbed a dozen flasks and filled them with plain water and salt to be ‘holy water’. If they got in the ‘monster’s’ eyes– it wouldn’t harm them, but it’d sting like hell.

  “Let’s see….what else can I use?” Kasia looked around, surveying the materials as she tried to think of more clever and non-lethal ways to ‘slay’ a fake monster.

  She decided to grab two grappling hooks so she could quickly grapple into a tree or onto a roof and shoot the monster from there.

  Adorjan dashed into the room, appearing to have had the same idea as Katarzyna.

  “Grappling hooks! That’s good. What’s that other stuff you’ve got there?” he asked, eyeing her pile.

  “Rope and water.” Kasia replied nonchalantly. It was true.

  “Think they’ll get mad if we use a bear trap?” Adorjan asked jokingly.

  “I wish. Trapping is definitely my preferred strategy. Maybe a shovel?”

  “Wouldn’t bother.” Adorjan grunted, “It’d take you six hours, at least, to dig a hole big enough. Not worth your time.”

  Before everyone could finish getting ready a high pierced scream split through the air. It came from the front of the castle. Then shortly after another scream shot through the air, this one coming from the opposite side of the castle.

  At the front of the castle, The Lord Commander muttered, “About damn time.”

  Frantically, Kasia grabbed a large tarp, stuffed it in her bag and ran. She caught sight of Andrew, Janine, and Harold running toward the sound of the second scream and raced to catch up to them.

  When they neared the back of the castle, there was a large group gathered and a few women still screaming, or crying in large, dramatic sobs.

  Several other initiates had beat them there.

  Harold pushed through to the front to interrogate one of the women, while Kasia used her small stature to slip between everyone to examine the 'corpse'. It was Tomira- the only woman on her father's council. Well, and the only woman to have passed her rites to join the brotherhood. Before her father had been made Lord Commander, women had not been allowed in the order at all.

  Kasia grinned when she saw how still Tomira was trying to be and resisted the urge to tickle her.

  Tomira looked mostly unhurt. There were a few painted scratch marks on her arms. But she was pale as death due to some carefully applied makeup. When Kasia touched her, Tomira quietly whispered, “You notice that my skin is as cold as a corpse,” before falling silent again.

  "What happened, mamu?ka!?!" Harold asked his mother, who Kasia and her friends only knew as Pani Wo?niak, who was one of the crying women. They spotted some cut onions nearby, which explained how all the nearby women had made themselves cry so quickly.

  "Tomira! She's gone.” Pani Wo?niak wept, “I heard her scream and came to check on her and she collapsed, dead!"

  "Wait- she was standing one moment and collapsed the next?" Harold clarified.

  Kasia examined the scratches on Tomira's arms.

  The scratches were not deep–she knew because the lines were painted thin. Add that to the fact that the only wounds appeared to be on her arms, which would definitely not be enough to kill someone.

  "Look out!" Andrew hollered as he grabbed the back of Kasia's tunic and yanked her backwards.

  Tomira's clawed hand flew in front of her face and struck the face of the initiate that was kneeling next to Kasia. With a screech Tomira pounced on Dawid, clawing and scratching him.

  Harold's mom burst into hysterics again. But her face was bright and smiling.

  "You're dead." Tomira called to Dawid who then lay there like a corpse. Dawid began swearing profusely, even as he "played" dead. He made for a very profane corpse.

  The ‘monster’, Tomira, turned her attention to Adorjan and charged.

  Kasia grabbed the rope out of her pack and handed one end to Janine.

  "Duck!" Kasia shouted from behind Adorjan as she and Janine ran forward with the rope to clothesline Tomira.

  Adorjan ducked as the rope passed over where his head was. Tomira saw the attack coming and ducked as well.

  "Die!" She hissed as she turned to face Kasia and Janine. Her face was twisted in hatred. "I will snuff out the flame of your life!"

  Harold spoke rapidly as he took up a defensive position, “ This isn't the monster that we are supposed to hunt– it's one of its victims— which means the actual monster is one that can raise the dead!”

  Kasia grabbed a flask from her belt and splashed it in Tomira's face, aiming for her eyes, "Holy water!" She shouted, hoping Tomira wouldn't get too mad at her over the salt water.

  Adorjan ran up behind Tomira and attempted to grapple her from behind so she couldn't bite or scratch anyone.

  Tomira screamed in pain, covering her eyes as the holy water splashed over her face. “Filthy human!”

  Kasia's mind was working, even as she fought. I will snuff out the flame of your life. It was something that thought human lives were as brief as candle flames. So, long lived–if not immortal. Life was hot, it was cold, so an undead most likely… and it could infect others with a scratch? She needed to examine Tomira's neck for bite marks to rule out a vampire. Otherwise ghoul was a top contender.

  Adorjan managed to jump onto her back and latch himself onto Tomira. Twisting and squirming, she tried to free herself from Adorjan’s grasp. When she did, she looked around at all the initiates surrounding her. Deciding that there were too many, she looked for an opening and ran.

  “Kurwa!” Kasia swore.

  Andrew, who already had one of the crossbows loaded and ready, shot Tomira squarely in the back with a dummy arrow. It wouldn't pierce skin or armor, but it might leave a bruise. It knocked the knight off balance, which allowed Harold to leap after her and tackle her to the ground. In a swift motion he pressed his blade to the back of her neck and pantomimed cutting her head off with his sword.

  “Shit. That was unexpected.” Harold brushed dust off of his clothes. He knelt by Tomira and began to study the body. Tomira whispered details to him as he looked. Kasia knelt beside Harold to listen and offer her own insights, as did Janine and Andrew, who stood close by.

  “An undead, clearly, but what kind? I’m leaning towards ghoul… does she have any bite marks, or are the scratches the only injury?” Kasia asked.

  “The only thing I can find are the scratches on her arms.” Harold replied.

  “Same here.” Andrew added. “If Tomira wasn’t so scary then I’d suggest stripping her–”

  Tomira’s eyes shot open and she gave Andrew a death glare.

  “--As a joke, of course!” Andrew held up his hands in surrender.

  Other initiates drew near and began to study the corpse as well.

  “She didn’t have time to talk to Dawid…. But would he rise as something like you because you scratched him?” Kasia asked Tomira directly.

  “Sadly, no.” Tomira whispered.

  “Interesting…well then, that rules out ghoul.” she racked her brain, trying to remember the other types of undead.

  Harold growled in annoyance.

  “Well, fighting something that we don’t know what it is seems foolish. We can go to the library and see if we can figure it out?” Andrew suggested. Kasia and the others agreed. Normally Kasia would have gone to Ren’s personal library– her favorite, but because everyone else was with her, they went to the communal library that all the hunters had access to.

  Opening the heavy doors to the knight’s library, they were assaulted by the smell of old parchment and ink. Kasia liked it. Harold complained at how ‘musty’ everything was.

  They were greeted by Pawel. Pawel was one of the rarest things in the knight’s castle– a knight hunter who had survived long enough to retire. He was as valuable a treasure as many of the books here. He’d been stationed in the library, too old to go out and fight monsters, and lived out his days comfortably caring for their books and helping knights with their own research and recording their hunts for future generations. Kasia liked that, even past his physical prime, knights did not discard their own and saw the value in knowledge and experience.

  Kasia quickly scanned the aisles and shelves, pulled out several of the most promising books, and handed one to each person.

  “Okay, what do we know?” Andrew asked.

  “It’s extremely lethal with little or no contact.” Harold replied.

  “The original can create spawn with just a scratch…but the spawn cannot. And it’s most likely an undead.”

  “She called us humans,” Janine mused, twisting a lock of her golden hair around her finger, “Do you think the person that gets infected or whatever has a hive mind, becomes something new, or is like…possessed by something? Whatever Tomira was, she knew she wasn’t human anymore.” Janine remarked.

  “Oh! Good point! It’s capable of speech! That also rules out ghouls.” Kasia exclaimed excitedly, flipping past the section on ghouls, zombies, and mindless undead.

  “No, it’s definitely not a ghoul.” Harold agreed.

  “I know that Tomira is really rough around the edges but I’ve never seen her look at you with such hatred, Kasia. Could that be a clue?” Andrew looked thoughtful.

  “Maybe,” Kasia agreed, “She didn’t seem interested in eating…just killing humans. Are there monsters that just kill but don’t eat?”

  “Everything eats.” Andrew replied casually.

  Harold had begun to quickly search through the books. It was unlikely, but another initiate could still succeed while they were doing research. As if his actions had summoned them, a few other initiates came into the room.

  “Quick! We need to figure out what ghouls are weak to.” Louis encouraged those following him. Kasia stiffened at the sight of him. She avoided him as much as possible, hating herself for ever thinking he was handsome.

  “Oh, Janine,” Louis started when he saw Kasia’s friend sitting at the table with them. He grinned stupidly. “I’m sorry about your mother.”

  “The fuck you talking about frenchman?” Janine growled at Louis.

  “You’re mother, I lament to say… is dead.” Louise still wore his stupid grin.

  Janine looked scared for a moment. Then angry. Then rolled her eyes, “Oh. She was one of the victims. Got it. Well, avenge her and all that shit.” she grunted irritably.

  Even though Louis had never done anything to offend Janine personally, she still hated him for Kasia’s sake.

  Kasia skimmed through the table of contents of the book she’d chosen for herself– an encyclopedia of all things undead. The contents would help her narrow down what kinds of creatures they were looking for.

  Sentient? Check. Rotting? No. Hostile to living? Check. Attacks near cemetery? Unknown, but don’t think so… Reproduces? Through infected wounds. Diet? Unknown, but I think it eats humans. Afraid of light? I don’t think so… I’m going to go with no. Reacts to religious iconography? Kurwa! I forgot to grab a cross! Oh well, let’s see, where does that lead? (What entries are available?)

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “What about this?” Janine asked Kasia as she pushed a book in front of her. The word ‘wight’ was listed in large letters at the top of the page.

  Kasia leaned over to examine the entry. It read:

  Wights are undead humanoids that, much like wraiths, can drain the life from living creatures with but a touch. They arise as a result of necromantic rituals, especially violent deaths, or the sheer malevolent will of the deceased.

  Kasia looked to see if the entry said anything about wights being able to infect their victims and turn them into wights as well. Unfortunately this particular book was thin and sparse on details.

  “Maybe? I definitely wouldn’t rule it out. Let me see if I can find more information about them.” and she searched her encyclopedia for more detailed information about wights.

  A single wight can wreak a lot of havoc if it is compelled to rise from its tomb. Because creatures slain by wights become wights as well, all it takes is a single wight and a handful of unlucky graveyard visitors to create a veritable horde of these undead. Thus, canny priests and adventurers know that the best solution to a wight problem is swift and total eradication. Care must be taken, though, to destroy wight spawn before attempting to destroy the parent wight, for spawn without a master gain the ability to create spawn of their own.

  “Wight!” Harold clamored, pointing emphatically at a spot in his own book. “That’s what I couldn’t think of earlier! What if it’s a wight?”

  Kasia nodded, “Yes, I think you’re right. And good work Janine– you were right! It says here that you have to kill all the spawn before killing the master, or the spawn will become masters and create their own spawn. Do you think we need to go back and ‘burn’ Tomira’s corpse, or was Harold beheading her enough?”

  “It should do the trick.” Harold replied with a grin. “Very little survives a beheading. I hope that they burned your mother’s corpse though, Janine.”

  Janine shrugged, “You gonna warn them or let them find out the hard way?”

  “Pfft! The hard way. I want to win.” Harold smirked.

  “What else do you know about wights Harold? Where should we look for the master?”

  “Pretty much everything you already said,” he responded, “They hate the living and drain the life out of creatures. That’s why Tomira only had scratch marks! She was drained of her life.”

  “Hmm… so then, should we look for the master where there are a lot of living to kill, or would it avoid the living because it hates them?” Kasia asked.

  “No idea… none of the witnesses saw… hey- how long does it take for the draining? The witnesses said one minute she was fine, the next she was dead. Can wights pass for human?” Janine bounced in her chair with excitement.

  Next to the information about the wight was a drawing of one. It didn’t look like a zombie. It didn’t have decomposing parts and wasn’t missing any chunks of flesh. But it clearly looked undead. Thin, almost like a skeleton with gray paling skin.

  “So it’s not like it can go unnoticed,” Andrew remarked, “It ambushes people alone I bet… so maybe we should be looking on the fringes… Tomira was attacked at the back of the castle– there’s a lot less people there. Maybe that’s where we should start.”

  “Good idea, Andrew.” Kasia nodded, looking at Janine and Harold to see if they were in agreement.

  “Agreed.” Harold replied. “We start at the back and look for evidence.”

  They rose, returning the books to Pawel. He winked at them and wished them luck with their ‘hunt’.

  The group returned to the back of the castle, back to where Tomira was forced to sit and pretend to be a corpse.

  ‘She must be bored out of her mind,’ thought Kasia.

  Harold began to look around. “We need to find where Tomira was attacked.”

  “Maybe in her house?” Andrew suggested and looked at the girls. Considering that Tomira was on the council he thought that Kasia might know where it was. “Is it nearby?”

  Kasia tilted her head from side to side, “Technically, yes. She lives in one of the rooms in the castle, though I don’t know which one exactly. Maybe she was ambushed while leaving the castle through the back?” Kasia suggested, pointing to the main back door. There was a second one from the kitchens, but Kasia didn’t think Tomira would have used that one.

  “Alright! Let’s go.” Andrew grabbed Janine’s hand as they walked.

  Prying eyes followed them.

  They reached the back door and Kasia looked around, scanning the area for hiding places, “Do you think it ambushed her inside or outside?”

  “I’d say that it was here.” Harold said, pointing at dark wet stains on the ground. There were other signs of a fight as well. Deep footprints, a knee print here, a hand print there. The ground was soft and a little muddy, making the impressions on the ground easy to distinguish.

  Kasia and the others went over to examine where Harold was pointing. She had to concede that Harold had found the evidence far faster than she would have. “Nice find.” she complimented him, trying to be amiable.

  Harold ignored her.

  Whatever. Dick.

  As Kasia’s eyes scanned the ground she noticed muddy footprints leading into the castle. As the realization hit her, Kasia swore, “Kurwa! It’s inside the castle… we’re probably going to have to fight a lot of knights now… maybe we should set up traps to draw out any spawn so we don’t get overwhelmed?”

  “But the longer we take, the more time it has to make more spawn.” Janine pointed out.

  “Kurwa, that is a good point.” Andrew said. He scrubbed his face with a hand.

  “Don’t they haunt places with personal meaning?” Harold asked. “Who is the undead?”

  Sounds of fighting rang down through the hallway, which promptly ended any further discussion on the matter. “Guess we don’t have time for traps. Let’s go!” Kasia loaded her crossbow after she opened the door to run inside, and they all headed towards the sounds of fighting.

  With the sounds of grunting and clanging metal as their guide, they made their way through the halls in the direction of the libraries. A few corridors away they found a group of initiates fighting. Dorota was swearing as she used her blunt practice sword to keep two other initiates away. Each step she took was backwards towards the wall. She was losing ground.

  Adorjan and another of Harold’s friends were fighting a barehanded Wojciek. They were managing to keep away from him as each attacked separately, but they were unable to make any of their attacks connect.

  “Grr!!!” Roared the newly turned initiates, Szymon and Antoni.

  Kasia decided to focus on Wojciek, knowing that Andrew and Janine would then focus on the others. She pulled the tarp out of her pack and threw it over Wojciek’s head, then jumped on his back, locking her arms and legs around him to hold the tarp in place– binding his arms and blinding him.

  Janine shot one of the turned initiates in the back, Andrew the other.

  Harold watched for a moment, his face sour, “Really, Katarzyna? No communication? No plan?”

  Wojciek roared from underneath the tarp and spun around trying to fling Kasia off of him. It was like wrestling with a hog back on Andrew’s farm. Kasia was holding on for dear life and Adorjan and his partner were unable to strike out of fear of hitting Kasia.

  Two more knights appeared from inside a doorway. From the dramatic way they were growling, it was clear they had been turned into wights as well. They both rushed at Kasia. Meanwhile, Adorjan managed to kill Szymon, while Harold attempted to head off Antoni and Nikodem before they could reach Kasia.

  Swearing angrily, Szymon threw his practice sword at the ground and stalked off. Now that he no longer had a stake in the game, he didn’t care how the fight ended.

  “Katarzyna! Finish him off already! A blanket isn’t going to kill him!” Harold snapped at her.

  Kasia rolled her eyes. Obviously she knew a blanket wasn’t going to finish him– she was stopping him from scratching Adorjan- so he could go on the offensive. She made eye contact with Adorjan, mouthed ‘NOW!’ and let go of Wojciek, dropping to the ground and rolling out of the way as Adorjan brought his blade down hard on the blinded Wojciek.

  “Ow! Kurwa ma?! (fucking hell)” Wojciek exclaimed as the dull metal blade connected with his skull.

  Once Wojciek was down, Kasia took her loaded crossbow and aimed it at one of the ‘wights’ that had appeared from the doorway, shooting him in the chest.

  Andrew and Janine had finished off the ‘initiate’ wights, who happily turned to follow Szymon to the Cantina now that they were free from the game as well.

  Kasia scanned the room. Her arrow had not ‘killed’ the wight, only injured it, but now there were only two of them and five initiates still standing. The odds were back in their favor.

  Kasia glanced at Harold and pointed at the remaining wights, “Three and two?” meaning, divide into groups– one attacking each wight. Harold gave a stiff nod.

  As the five initiates charged, the two wights turned around and ran. Straight towards the door to Ren’s private library. The door slammed shut behind them.

  “Skurwysyn! (Motherfucker) Ren must be the master. I’m not surprised, but ja jebi? (fuck me) .” Kasia swore. “If we weren’t in the castle, I’d suggest barricading the door and burning them inside it.”

  She felt a hand on her shoulder, and glanced to see Adorjan nod and mutter, “Thanks for the save back there.” She gave him a warm smile in return.

  “We have no idea how many spawn he has in there.” Janine whispered uncertainly.

  “Only about two can fit through the doorway at one time, and the hallway isn’t much larger…” Andrew’s brow furrowed in thought.

  “Are there any other ways in, Katarzyna?” Harold sneered her name. “Since you are the only initiate who has ever been inside to see Lieutenant General Wujek.”

  Kasia didn't like the condescending way Harold was speaking to her. "Just the windows…with a hundred feet of bare castle wall beneath them." She grunted.

  She thought for a moment, "What if one of us put on full plate armor– the wights can't bite or scratch through that. They could go in and lure the rest out. Or we could all wear armor and go in. Do wights fear fire or holy symbols? We could carry torches or adorn shields with them."

  "What happens if we just sit and wait until they get bored and come out?" Janine grinned.

  “If there is no other way in or out, then we stay here. Or would you like to rush in yet again? Hunting is more than being the fastest.” Harold jeered at Kasia.

  Kasia’s shoulders shook with fury, “Whatever you command, oh superior one! And I made the right call. I knew Wojciech was stronger and faster than me- but he was distracted. I used that to my advantage to surprise him and cut off his senses, allowing the other hunters to strike the killing blow. I knew Janine and Andrew would take out the other two and guard my flank. The only thing I didn't anticipate was the ambush- but still, my plan worked."

  She reloaded her crossbow and stood with her back against a wall to protect her flank.

  “How should I have known that you’d do that? And you ended up being an obstacle. We couldn't strike at him with you flailing around on his back.” Harold countered.

  “Lay off! It’s a game.” Andrew stepped up next to Kasia.

  “It’s a simulation of the real thing, not a game. Never a game!” Harold snarled back.

  Kaisa threw Andrew a grateful glance, then turned back to Harold. "All right, maybe I was hasty." Kasia conceded, "You claim I made a mistake, you promised to teach me. How should I have coordinated without sacrificing Adorjan's life in the process?"

  “He’s a hunter. Trusting that he can survive long enough for us to formulate a plan would be a start. We are supposed to work together. But you just rushed in.”

  Kasia considered his words carefully. "Okay. I'll do better." She could admit when she was wrong. This was about learning, not being right.

  “You want to emulate your father so badly that you’re going to get yourself, or someone else killed.” Harold continued.

  “That’s enough.” Andrew stepped closer to Harold with his fists clenched.

  “She agreed to train together.” Harold replied as he looked at Kasia for confirmation on their deal.

  "True, but your last statement was more an insult than training. I already acknowledged that you were right, you don't have to beat a dead horse. I am more than willing to learn if you're actually willing to teach."

  “Whatever. It’s true. So there really are no secret passages in or out?”

  "If there are, then they are a secret from me, too. But while there are secret passages in the castle, as far as I know, none of them extend to the towers."

  “Okay, so they have locked themselves in with no exit. We can take our time as long as we hold this position.” Harold began to take charge.

  “Can they be lured out?” Andrew asked the group.

  “I imagine they would come out if they thought it was safe because we were sleeping or something.”

  “How intelligent is a wight? Don’t monsters just attack anything they see? Especially undead? Are they even smart sentient enough to know they should hide from greater numbers?” Andrew questioned.

  “The spawn aren’t,” Harold answered, “But the master would be. And he can command his spawn if they are close to him. He was probably the one that ordered the retreat.”

  “What if we staged a ‘fight’, where three of us left to go to the armory or something– leaving only ‘two’ hunters here. They might feel confident ambushing two, while the rest of us are lying in wait?” Kasia suggested.

  “We could try that.” Adorjan replied to Kasia. “Who stays?”

  “You and Harold both excel at melee combat, so you would make a good team; and it would be weird if Andrew, Janine, and I weren’t together. Andrew is great with melee, but very versatile, Janine works well with him as support, and I prefer ranged combat so I work well with the two of them.

  “I don’t think it matters which group stays, but since my group has more range, I would say we should be the ones hiding.” Kasia explained.

  “Deal.” Harold agreed.

  “I can help too, you know!” Dorota interjected. Andrew and Janine had saved her from the two turned initiates.

  “How?” Harold countered. “I mean no offense but you’re not exactly proficient with a weapon.”

  Dorota blushed.

  Kasia grimaced. Harold wasn’t wrong. She had originally joined the knights as a mouth to feed– they would take in any young children who expressed a desire to train, especially orphans. Dorota’s parents had died in a village some days away. The hunter that had killed the beast that plagued them had brought her back here to be raised. She was engaged to a knight named Rhys who was several years older than her. He was currently in Russia trying to secure a permanent position, and once he was settled, he would send for Dorota and they would be married. Kasia knew that Dorota never planned to take out her rites. Everyone did. Still…

  “I know… I just want to help.” Dorota murmured, wounded.

  “Dearly departed saints! You are such an ass, Harold.” Kasia finally snapped. “Dorota has fantastic aim with a crossbow. Come with us– I worry if there’s more than two hunters here, the ‘wights’ won’t come out.” Kasia passed Dorota the weapons and bolts. She hadn’t realized that Dorota had survived the ambush- she’d thought she’d been killed with the others and had just hung around to watch. Technically, another useful skill– going unnoticed. Very useful in a large battle.

  Then Kasia raised her voice, “You are such a misogynistic pig, Harold! Anything with tits and you just assume they can’t fight! I can’t stand being around you for another second! Let’s go– we can come try again later after the wights kill Harold and Adorjan. Good riddance!” and she turned to ‘leave’, scouting the area for hiding spots.

  She pointed Andrew to the alcove to the left of the hallway, and Janine to the right. If the wights came out of the door, they’d have to walk past those alcoves, but wouldn’t be able to see Andrew and Janine.

  Kasia then had a brilliant idea. She fished the grappling hook out of her pack and tossed it into the rafters. She and Dorota could rain death from above! When she followed the hook’s flight, her heart fell into her stomach.

  Fifteen feet above, Uncle Ren was grinning down at her, having been watching them from above this entire time. He whistled loudly and the door flew open.

  Kasia’s eyes flew wide, “He’s in the rafters! Archers- focus on the Lieutenant General– melee, keep back the spawn!” Did that count as coordinating? She hoped so.

  Kasia didn’t have either weapon drawn because she’d been focused on the grappling hook. She dropped it and picked up her crossbow, taking aim at Ren.

  “Die mortals! This is MY library!” Ren cursed them as he rappelled with his own rope from the rafters to attack Adorjan and Harold together with four other wights that poured out of the library. Kasia’s bolt flew just past him as he dropped.

  Kaisa swore, unsheathing her own sword as Dorota and Janine let their bolts fly.

  Andrew flanked Ren, who had been hit by both Janine’s and Dorota’s bolts.

  Kasia moved in to flank Ren as well while Dorota and Janine reloaded.

  “Kill the spawn first!” Harold yelled.

  Ren staggered, close to death.

  Harold and Adorjan engaged the first two spawn to come out of the door. They likely would need help to deliver any finishing blows against them.

  The library door formed a choke point, and unless Harold and Adorjan flattened themselves against the wall, there would be no way through.

  They could try and fire arrows past them, but they risked hitting their companions.

  Kasia didn't know what to do. Glancing at Janine and Dorota, they clearly didn't either.

  Andrew had drawn his sword and was using his height to strike blows above Adorjan and Harold's shoulders.

  "Dorota, guard Ren." Kaisa ordered, "Harold- how can we help?"

  “Didn’t you grab a bunch of holy water?! It won’t hurt us!”

  Kasia grabbed her pack, handed Janine half her flasks of ‘holy water’ keeping the rest for herself. They both ran up behind the boys and began splashing salt water into the faces of the ‘wight spawn’.

  “Gah! My eyes! I’m out! Fuck!” One of them cried. Another lay on the ground, dead. Just two left and Ren.

  “More!” Cried Harold. The next two spawn were intent on beating up Harold and Adorjan.

  Janine and Kasia obeyed and uncorked more flasks, flinging salt water once more.

  “MY LIBRARY!” Ren cried out with genuine distress in his voice as he tried to push past Dorota and Andrew. “You’ll all die!”

  Andrew kicked Ren hard, trying and failing to send him to the ground as Dorota reloaded her crossbow.

  Quickly only Wight Ren was left. “Are there any others?” Andrew asked with his sword and Ren’s throat.

  “Curse you, human!” And Ren lunged in an attempt to scratch Andrew or Dorota.

  Dorota leapt back, well out of range, raising her crossbow. Andrew slapped Ren’s claws away with his sword. If it had been a real one, it would have cut off his hands.

  Kasia and Janine drew their swords and put the tips in Ren’s back, waiting for the monster to answer.

  “They’re gone.” Harold said, tired, as he came back from searching inside the library.

  Kasia and Janine both brought their swords softly down on either side of Ren’s neck, ‘decapitating’ him.

  “At least tell me that I lasted longer than Lieutenant General Nathan.” he grumbled, rubbing his hand where Andrew had hit him.

  “No idea! We can go turn you in to the Lord Commander and find out.” Kasia laughed brightly. Holy shit, they had done it!

  “Next time I’m picking something smarter. Fucking undead and their lack of self preservation.” Ren took Kasia into the library and handed her a rough bust of Ren’s head. “Your ‘trophy’ to get the bounty.”

  Kasia chortled, examining it. “When did you get this? Also, I think wight was more than enough of a challenge! I thought it was a ghoul at first!”

  “That’s Nathan’s territory. He likes to run in swinging.”

  Kasia began to laugh, “Well, hiding in the rafters… I nearly pissed myself when I looked up and saw you there.”

  She took the bust and went back out to join the others. “Well, let's go claim our prize! And Harold… you’re a good leader. When you aren’t insulting everyone on your team, that is.” She offered Harold the bust.

  "You only see it as insulting because you're trying to be something that you shouldn't be." Harold countered. He took the bust. "I'm only trying to open your eyes, Red."

  They could hear cries of jubilation from other sections of the castle. Nathan must have been defeated as well.

  "Quick, let's get to the Lord Commander first." Andrew cried in excitement.

  Kasia huffed at Harold’s rudeness, but said nothing, and they jogged back to the training yard where the Lord Commander had first issued the challenge.

  "That took a lot less time than I expected." Jon muttered as two groups came racing towards him. "Maybe Nathan and Ren should go through a few hell days."

  A couple days after the game, Kasia found a poem slipped under her door.

  Katarzyna Najberg

  Told to watch the whole herd

  Chose to take a nap instead.

  While our beauty was sleeping

  A monster came creeping

  And now the great hart is dead.

  To make matters worse

  The monster, perverse

  Stained pretty Kasia red.

  To punish her folly

  A rope red as holly

  Was tied where the stain was left.

  Kasia the red,

  Almost left for dead

  Have you finally learned what’s at stake?

  That snowy white skin

  And the Lord Commander for kin

  Does NOT a hunter knight make.

  So do us a favor,

  Sooner than later

  And leave hunting to the men.

  A long line of suitors

  Far better suits her

  Than a funeral pyre, amen!

  When she finished reading it, her body shook with fury. She crumpled the poem in her first and marched straight to the Cantina to confront Harold. She was certain he was the one who had written it.

  She saw the same poem posted to the door of the Cantina. She ripped it off the door, biting down a scream of outrage, and stomped to where Harold had just sat down to eat his breakfast. Louis and Adorjan were with him.

  "YOU!" She screeched with the fury of a banshee.