Shades of Grey

L’ÎLE DU DIABLE— FEBRUARY 1843

I woke up on a sandy, sunlit shoreline with the high tide beating against my flaccid body. The twisted wreckage of half of the Beauté de la Mer lay strewn twenty or thirty yards to my right and various bit of flotsam were lazily drifting out to sea. The immense shoreline enveloped a dense forest of palm trees and bizarre looking bushes, all of which wrapped around an immense mountain.

“Wow, what a storm!” Forma mused from my feet. I looked down and saw that she had taken the form of an Aquoca — an animal that resembled a large seal with webbed claws — and she was working on retrieving anything that could possibly useful from drifting to a sea-bound purgatory. She had gathered a very large reserve nearby that she ferried occasionally to the intact half of the ship for storage, saving the items for any future purpose they had the potential to serve.

“Where are we?” I asked, rubbing my throbbing head.

“I don’t know. I’ve circled the island three times and I can’t find any signs of civilized human life,” she said after shifting back to herself. “I don’t even see any recognizable landmarks.”

“Are there signs of Creature life, then?” I asked.

Forma nodded.

“None that would lend assistance to a stranded Hunter though.”

I sighed.

“Great; so we’ve been marooned on a strange island with potentially hostile Creatures...in the middle of nowhere…”

I rested my arms on my knees and watched the surf beat against the shore, trying to decide which course of action to take.

“Is the ship in good condition?” I asked, looking to the twisted wreckage of the once hideous vessel.

“It’s alright for a shelter,” answered Forma as she studied it. “It’s a bit damp but it’ll do for sleeping and protection.”

I nodded decisively to myself and then forced my sore body to stand. Forma stood and helped me limp over to the ship where I collapsed on a large bundle of cushions and clothing. I pulled my analgesic out of the compartment on my arm and drank a small amount, breathing steadily as I felt its effects instantly on my bruises.

“Well,” I said after a moment. “I suppose we should find some food.”

“I already did,” Forma responded. I turned to her in surprise and she pointed to a large water-filled barrell populated with numerous kinds of edible fish and aquatic creatures. She smiled with pride.

“How long was I unconscious?” I whispered in shock.

“Long enough for me to have some fun,” she laughed. “Are you hungry?”

I nodded.

“Famished. Shall I start a fire?”

“Oh please. I shouldn’t do all the work.”

I chuckled as I began to gather spare bits of dry wood from the ship and construct a cooking fire while Forma skilfully extracted two crabs from the barrel.

“Forma?” I said, watching her.

“Yes?” she replied, a crab snapping away in each hand.

“I’m glad you’re here.”

Forma gave me a loyal smile.

“Where else would I be?”

I smiled and continued to build the fire with a newfound sense of peace. Somehow, I knew that everything would be fine. Forma and I could conquer anything together.

My Commencement night fears would be unrealised.

It was late that night when I heard a scream break the calming sound of the surf.

“Forma—” I began after both of us sat up sharply.

“Understood,” she finished, smoothly changing into a small eaglet and flying ahead through the darkness to the source of the scream.

I stood up quickly, stretched my sluggish muscles and waited for Forma’s report with a sense of déjà vu. Would all of my battles consist of Forma flying ahead and relaying what sort of Creature awaited me? The best Hunters were the ones who could think on their feet as they encountered Creatures along their travels — was I bound to have Forma do all of the assessing work for me?

Just as I felt my feelings of worthlessness return, Forma flew back to the ship.

“There are five large Nemorosa males harassing a small female Terre Sprite about two hundred yards away in that direction,” she said, pointing straight ahead.

I smiled in malevolent anticipation, my confidence level rising.

“More teeth for my necklace,” I mused to myself as I pulled out the Pallitus once more and concentrated on an organic, earth-minded Terre Sprite: small in stature with simple clothing, a few tribal tattoos and two very large brown wings.

Forma looked impressed after I had finished.

“You look good as a Fairy,” she mused, also transforming into a Terre Sprite.

“Thank you,” I replied with a grin. “Let’s go.”

Forma and I both flew toward the jungle in the direction of the screams, Forma laughing the entire way at my failed attempts to fly naturally.

Despite my aerial mishaps, we soon found the clearing where the torturous Nemorosa boys had decided to harass the Sprite. We hid in the shadows of several nearby trees, assessing the situation. Nemorosas, however, were extremely difficult to plan for. They had the defensive ability to bend reality around the victim and project illusions that could be continuous, sporadic or change at any moment, making it difficult to defend one’s self against them. They also happened to be a highly patriarchal society, almost bordering on the mysoginistic: they would not take kindly to having a female Hunter on their island. I had to approach the situation carefully…

“That’s what happens when you decide to come to our side of the island!” they taunted, spitting at the Sprite as they increased the black smoke around her.

Angrily, I took a breath and prepared to intervene. This had gone far enough.

“Oy!” I called as I flew into the clearing a moment later, feigning surprise at the scene before me. I then glared at the maliciously handsome Nemorosas.

“What’s going on here?!” I cried.

“Do not speak that way to a Nemorosa!” cried the nearest boy as he turned his irritated attention to me.

The smoke around the weakened Fairy cleared. Forma then rushed over to her and led her away quickly and quietly explaining the situation.

The males were clearly not happy with my presence and all five of them turned to me, hands raised to strike.

“You will pay, Fairy!” they sneered.

“Not as badly as you,” I shot back, ripping away my Pallitus and unsheathing my Flamesword.

After a moment or two of shock on their part, which allowed me to deal the first attacks, they recovered and made their attacks. I was moderately surprised to see that they were quite formidable opponents, dealing blows and blocking attacks like skilled disciples of Odin.

“Who are you?!” one of them cried as he locked blades with me and turned the tip of his spear to my neck. I easily wrenched it away with my Flamesword and cut it in half. I looked at him darkly.

“I’m ready,” I replied snarkily with wicked confidence. “Are you?”

The Nemorosa curled his lips angrily and brought his foot into my chest. The blow sent me reeling backwards into the waiting arms of the other four.

“How dare you!” he snapped as they pulled my arms behind my back and forced me to my knees, pulling back the collar of my coat to expose the Hunter’s mark above my heart.

“Ah, a Hunter!” shouted the boy who had kicked me. He brought his fist across my face, drawing blood, which I took great pride in expectorating onto his bare feet.

I laughed to myself as I watched the rage rise in him.

“Yes,” I said in response to his statement. “A female Hunter.”

He gave a livid yell and I saw orbs of electric energy begin to form at his hands. A fraction of a second later, he brought his palms together and a strong bolt of lightning shot out of his fists and met with my Hunter’s mark.

I was suddenly in a room that was engulfed in flames. I tried to stand but found myself chained to the floor, unable to escape. The smoke began to billow into a looming black monster above me and I started to choke as it entered my lungs. I eagerly looked for an escape of some sort when a voice then broke through the crackling flames.

“Come on, stop dawdling. You’ve done this a hundred times.”

I smiled at Forma’s blunt telepathic boredom. She was right: I had gone through this exact scenario hundreds of times during my years at school. I knew exactly what to do.

I closed my eyes and slowly began to block the heat of the fire. Once I had done so, I focused on getting the choking smoke out of the room. After I was able to take a complete breath, I then concentrated on putting out the fire…on slowly picking apart the vision that the Nemorosa had projected into my mind…

“NO!”

I opened my eyes and saw that the boy who attacked me was now writhing on the ground, thick black smoke surrounding his head. The others dropped me in shock.

“What did you do?!” they shouted in anger.

“I defeated him, I’d say,” I replied frankly.

They looked at me, at a loss for words. I noticed the power welling by their own hands as they prepared themselves to try and bend my reality once more. I drew my Flamesword and held it steady towards them in offensive bravado.

“I wouldn’t try that if I were you,” I cautioned. “Just look at your friend.”

Their eyes fell to their writhing comrade who was just barely able to pull himself out of the vision he had intended to project to me. The five of them eyed me warily.

“No one has ever done that before…” one of them whispered.

“I won’t be the last either,” I said confidently. “Now, run back to your tribe and unless you care to be ridiculed for losing to a female, I suggest you not divulge a word of this to anyone.”

They looked at each other in horror and ran into the dark of the forest. I exhaled curtly, still reeling from the mental exertion it took to force the vision on to the Nemorosa.

“You’ll survive,” Forma stated plainly in response to my visible exhaustion as she flew out of the bushes next to me.

“That was amazing!” I turned and saw the Sprite fly toward me, her huge eyes ogling me in wonderment. “Who did you say you were?”

“My name is Grey Echo and I’m a Creature Hunter.” I had a feeling that this would become my permanent salutation in the years to come.

“A Creature Hunter! A real Creature Hunter?” she cried, a light in her eyes. “Have you come to rid us of the Nemorosa?!”

I nodded as I cast a glance at Forma who was smiling brightly at the Sprite’s anticipation.

She squealed in happiness and flew in an arc around me.

“Thank the Lord! I’m Claire and I live with the Terre Sprite clan on this island. It was supposed to be ours, but the Nemorosas came one day by shipwreck and they took control of it like the damned Goths. Now, the Terre Sprites hide in the trees, far below the mountain where the Nemorosas dwell but still high above all of the frightening monsters they brought with them. How do you kill a Nemorosa? That is a question we have asked ourselves many a time but never been able to answer...”

I looked over to Forma, who shrugged through an expectant grin and we followed Claire as she led us through the thick jungle to the Terre Sprite camp, relaying the entire Terre Sprite history along the way.