Shades of Grey

THE HUNTER’S UNDERGROUND— JANUARY 1844

I gaped at him. What had Loria’s dying words been? “Grey, you are the only one left!” How could Liam desecrate her memory by being alive?! And how could he look so mature? The Liam I remembered was a whiny, pasty boy who depended on his Maisling to make all the decisions. A man stood before me: tall and muscular from months of difficult Hunting. His face retained remnants of the annoying youth I had known but it now held a sort of wisdom that one gains after spending a year out in the world that I found fascinating. I began to wonder if my face held any scraps of my new knowledge. Did I even have new knowledge to display?

“Come with me,” he said, extending his hand.

“No!” I shouted, smacking his hand away. “Tell me who you are first!”

In my shocked rage, I withdrew my Flamesword and held the tip of it just above his visible Hunter’s mark. He raised his hands and his brow, looking down at the sword tip with a mildly impressed smile.

“Oh come on, Grey, you know who I am!”

“Just tell me!” I pushed. “You could be some trick or apparition!”

He sighed.

“My name is Liam Clayton. We met in year one when I put worms in your evening stew during dinner on Federation Day and you retaliated by filling all of my shoes and socks with dirt. We’ve hated each other ever since. The last time I saw you, we were running through the halls of the school as the Avian Centaurs attacked.”

I lowered my blade, studying the genuine expression on his face. His eyes held all the right tones of narcissism and snide rebellion: this was definitely the Liam I remembered.

“How are you alive?” I asked softly, resheathing my blade.

Liam’s eyes grew strangely cloudy.

“I will explain everything in time. Right now you have to come with me to somewhere safe, alright?”

I slowly nodded and followed as he led me behind a large boulder that revealed a long, narrow staircase that snaked down into an even larger cavern beyond the small one we had entered. Inside the cave was an enormous encampment filled with all sorts of Hunter lore: weapons, pictures and monstrously tall rows of textbooks.

“Liam what is this place?” I asked quickly, choosing the first of many questions that registered in my mind. Liam walked patiently next to me as we stepped onto the rocky cave floor.

“This is a safe place for Hunters to study, train and wait for word that we are needed.”

I turned to him, not wanting to ask the obvious question.

“Why do Hunters need a safe place to do all those things?”

He spoke slowly and waited as I visually examined the space.

“A few years back, there was a brutal slaying of three young girls in the nearby city of Tournesol. In their fury, the people began concentrated investigations into the ostensibly mysterious and random murders. It was soon discovered that an insane former Hunter was responsible.”

“WHAT?!” I cried in shock. “Who was it?!”

“It does not matter. What began as mild outrage soon turned into a solid, very real and dangerous hatred. Paranoid propaganda soon spread and Creature Hunters were quickly turned into public enemies: hunted viciously, strung up in lynch mobs and dehumanized publicly. The advisor to the King, the wizard Verrilius, convinced the King to enact a new decree that would forbid Creature Hunting and make it legal for citizens to arrest and hold a Hunter prisoner until an official of the King could apprehend said Hunter and take them to Verrilius’s dungeons. God only knows what occurs in the prisons of that madman…”

Liam and I stopped walking when we came to the top of the third landing, leading to a wooden platform with hundreds of separate sleeping quarters alongside the wall of the cave. I turned to him as he continued.

“Those Hunters who became aware of the law before it was officially enacted around the time of Commencement gathered together and rebuilt this cave to hide us from Verrilius’s many spies: Hamadryads, Alseides, Forest Gnomes, Water Nymphs, Engloutirs and many Creatures we have not even encountered yet. Verrilius works tirelessly with the remaining nations to outlaw Hunting in every European country,” he said, punctuating his exasperated statement with a worn out collapse onto a nearby lounge chair. “Making it legal for citizens to catch us in the act and detain us until an official of Verrilius can see to us.”

“He can’t do that!” I cried naïvely as I dropped into a chair across from him.

“I’m afraid he can. Verrilius is quite powerful.”

“Well, what do you intend to do about it? Do you plan to just sit here and wait for Verrilius’s spies to expose you? You say you are fighting but what is being done defensively?! Have you amassed an army? Do you plan to storm Verrilius’ castle and fight or do you intend to live out the rest of your days like this?!”

Liam leaned forward, seething at my loud spate. His low voice was livid and I knew I had crossed a possibly Vesuvian line.

“We have lost countless Hunters in the fight against this idiocy. At this rate, Creatures will be welcomed into society while Hunters are branded as murderers and cast aside and you dare to criticize what we’ve been doing for months after you only just arrive? What would you have us do?”

Liam’s face was very close to mine, close enough to feel his hot, fuming breath. He exhaled loudly to calm himself and sat back down against the couch, satisfied by my lack of response.

“Hunting really is illegal?” I marvelled in disbelief.

“Entirely. The propaganda has poisoned the minds of the people. They gather young men to go on ‘Hunter Raids’ where groups of men roam the borders of the country, apprehending any suspicious characters, as you discovered earlier.”

“Do they target Maislings as well?” I asked, looking around at the numerous Hunters and Fairies around the great cavern.

“No Fairy is ever alone outside of this place, so it is difficult to target the Maislings specifically. They do treat them just as poorly as they treat us though, if not worse.”

I rubbed my temple as I thought about Forma. Liam put his hand encouragingly on my shoulder.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get her back,” he assured me.

“Where is she?” I asked timidly.

“She was taken by a Yubramian Phantom and is most likely in the dungeons of Verrilius’s castle, which you unfortunately can’t get to without going through the town and you can’t do that as a Hunter and live to tell about it.”

His mention of ‘living to tell about it’ brought Loria’s words back to the forefront of my mind.

“How are you all alive? Why did Loria tell me everyone had died?”

Liam took another contemplative breath.

“After we left the safe rooms of the Academy, we brought every surviving Hunter —Tyro or Veteran — down here for safety. We perpetuated the rumour that all Hunters were dead in order to better maintain secrecy. I trust you crossed paths with Loria and Scepta?”

I sighed and leaned against the chair gravely. This answered his question.

“She lied to me?” I said softly.

“She did what she was told to do: maintain the confidentiality of this place.”

I exhaled again, trying to absorb all of this information.

“How does Verrilius have such power over the laws and decrees of the country? Can the King not refuse to listen to him?”

“We believe Verrilius has somehow bewitched the King to bend to his will, which puts the citizens of Tournesol at a great risk. At the hands of a mad wizard, it is unknown what turmoil he is capable of unleashing.”

I nodded, seeing the reason for their deception.

“This is unbelievable…”

Liam nodded understandingly.

“It was a difficult pill for us to swallow as well. Why don’t you go lie down and we’ll discuss it further in the morning?”

Liam stood and gestured to a long line of large tents.

“Thank you.”

“Of course,” he nodded, watching me walk to the nearest tent.

I was wanted for murder, simply for doing exactly what I had been trained to do and what thousands of Hunters have been doing for centuries — protecting the people. For that, I was now a fugitive.