The Legend of the Hunter

The Shrine stood in front of them in all its crowning glory, and it was like nothing they had expected or imagined. Instead of a dark structure enfolded in more murk and blackness, there was light everywhere. The Shrine was a living, radiant edifice, and it was constructed out of the very limbs of vast trees. It towered nearly forty storeys high, making Belac, Lathlin and Talat dizzy simply by looking at how high it soared into the sky. The tree branches and sturdy limbs had been ingeniously fashioned to create an organic structure that had numerous apartments within it. The bottom of the Shrine sprawled out from one end of the forest floor to the other, and had massive chambers here. Further up, the structure narrowed and started to tier, effectively creating a pyramidal construction that thinned to one final level sitting proudly at the top like an unattainable jewel. On all the tiers below, random lit chambers spilled white or yellow radiance out of windows to cascade down the sides of the structure.

The Shrine was fully enwrapped by ivy and leaves and flowers and plants of all kinds, giving it the distinct appearance of a decorated temple. Only, this temple was adorned by nature herself.

And there was a constant but pleasant sound: as if a million voices were continuously chanting. Instead of being intrusive though, it served as a serene melody that subliminally soothed the listener.

As Belac, Lathlin and Talat finally lowered their astonished gazes, they stared straight into the face of an unfamiliar Hollow Person. Like Abyss and Void, this one had skin as pale as alabaster, dark, round eyes that stared out from an impassive face, and a completely bald head. One feature made the Hollow Person stand out from the other two: the person was much taller than they, being nearly a full head higher.

“I see you have returned, with live specimens, no less,” the newcomer stated in a voice as cold as the grave. Belac felt his skin crawl and he instinctively moved back a step, protectively pulling the Elfling with him.

“These are guests, Mistress Pain,” Abyss said in a respectful and carefully servile tone. “The Elfling has healing powers,” he added quickly, as if his life depended on it.

Belac thought it most likely did, if the expression on Pain’s face was anything to go by. He was definitely surprised to hear that Pain was a woman, and he saw from Talat’s slight reaction that the Thug had also noticed this bit of information. Lathlin, as usual, appeared unperturbed.

Void hurriedly asked, “Any change in the condition of Her Emptiness?”

Pain let out a sudden hiss of anger or frustration, then said, “She is not any better, but at least she isn’t any worse either. However, we have lost forty more since you left the Shrine two days ago.”

“And it very likely will only get worse,” Lathlin unexpectedly said. Belac nearly jumped at the Elfling’s sudden announcement, and Talat did, emitting a tiny squeak to his chagrin.

Abyss turned from Pain to Void, “See? I told you he would be helpful!”

“What do you know about what is happening here, Elfling? Is this of your making? For if it is, I will gut you and leave you lying in your entrails whilst ants feed on your still living body!” Pain practically shouted in Lathlin’s face.

The Elfling stood his ground and kept those blindly staring eyes of his upon the furious woman. He then calmly faced Abyss and said in a gentle voice, “You guaranteed our safety, and hardly have we arrived at your Shrine than our lives are threatened. I think my companions and I will now take our leave of you.”

“About bloody time, too!” Talat said heatedly.

Abyss hurriedly pushed himself between Pain and Lathlin, and addressed the still fuming woman.

“Please, Mistress Pain, a moment. Let me speak to you alone to explain why we have brought them as guests. I beg of you,” he practically grovelled. Pain reluctantly agreed, giving Belac, Lathlin and Talat a venomous look before she moved with Abyss and Void to the side to have a whispered conversation.

As the three of them spoke in hushed tones, Belac noticed a number of other Hollow People watching him and his companions. The Hollow People were arrayed around the grove and had effectively surrounded them. Belac was not concerned though, as he had already planned how to escape these devils’ nest, if need be.

A secret he kept tighter than a miser pinched his purse strings was the fact that he had the uncanny ability to memorise any trail, route, path or road. Once he travelled anywhere, he could always unerringly find his way back. His eidetic memory ensured that he would never be lost. This was part of what made him such a successful Hunter. Consequently, he knew exactly how to find his way back out of the Forsaken Forest, and it would take him much quicker to get out of the forest than it took them to get here.

“They are plotting to harm us as soon as I have healed their leader,” Lathlin announced in his typical matter-of-fact style. Talat cursed lengthily and passionately, while Belac simply nodded his head in confirmation of his own suspicions.

“They are not exactly aiming to murder us, or at least not me, but their pulsing colours tell me they most certainly intend us grievous bodily harm,” he added.

“‘Grievous bodily harm’,” Talat echoed in shock. “And what? You are simply going to allow them to do that?” he whispered fiercely.

“Be quiet!” Belac commanded him. “It will not come to that, I promise you, but you need to trust us and be with us if you hope to leave this place alive, and with all your parts still attached to you,” the Hunter cautioned him.

“Yes, yes! I swear I’m with you. Just as long as you don’t leave me with these monsters,” Talat promised, his eyes wide in his head.

“Beware, they are returning. Follow my lead and be ready to act when the time is right,” Lathlin told them quietly when he spotted the three Hollow People coming towards them.

Pain came to a stop in front of the Elfling and said, “My apologies. My Harvesters have explained the terms they agreed upon with you, and they’ve informed me why you have come to the Shrine. Please, allow my men to escort you to our guest quarters to rest and freshen up while I arrange for a meeting with Her Emptiness,” the woman said smoothly, as if she had not mere moments before acted like a stark raving lunatic.

“And what about our guaranteed safety? That still stands?” Lathlin asked. He knew, of course, what the answer would be, but he was attempting to encourage the Hollow People to believe that they had succeeded in their deception. He saw a rapid flash of bright red all around Pain before it was suddenly consumed by the usual white. It was a clear indication to Lathlin that the woman was about to lie to him.

“How could there be any doubt? My Harvesters vouched for your safety, thus your persons will remain inviolate,” she said. “Abyss and Void tell me they haven’t told you why your skills are needed, yet it seems to me that you have already surmised the reason,” Pain added, lifting an eyebrow in query.

“I have seen the way the colours, the energy, flow around all of you, and there is something seriously amiss with nearly every single Hollow Person I can see. However, I do not wish to say much more until I have met your Queen, as Abyss and Void mentioned she is in dire need of my healing skills,” Lathlin answered boldly. He knew he had guaranteed their safety for now, but he wanted to get this visit over and done with as speedily as possible.

“That’s only fair,” Pain acceded, making Belac even more suspicious of their motives, “so let my men take you now to your rooms to rest. I will inform Her Emptiness of your arrival, and I will call upon you as soon as she can grant you an audience,” Pain said and gestured to two of the Hollow People who had been lurking nearby to carry out her command. They hurried to obey her.

Belac, Lathlin and an extremely unwilling Talat followed the two Hollow People to a structure on the right side of the Shrine: the guest quarters. Who or what type of guests the place had housed before was too frightening to contemplate. At least, it was terrifying for Talat. He expected their rooms to be awash in blood and gore, but they were all once again surprised.

The structure was a large one-bedroom cabin that was so sterile it might as well have been a laboratory. It had spartan furniture and no decorative items. Everything in the lodge was functional: from the wooden cots to the wicker sofa and chairs to the bathtub made of the hollowed out trunk of a giant oak. There were vegetables, bread, a selection of cheese rounds, some fruit and fresh water stored in large clay jars in the kitchen larder.

Two different Hollow People entered as soon as the escorts had left to fill the bathtub with hot water, and explained that they would return to empty and refill the tub for each of their three guests. Belac allowed Lathlin to bathe first while he prepared a simple meal of bread, cheese and fruit for them. Talat found some surprisingly good ale in a cold store and poured himself and Belac generous amounts of it. Although none of them was fully at ease, some of their tension drained away while they were on their own. Without a word, Belac handed over Talat’s weapons which he had confiscated when he had tied up the Thug in their campsite.

“Why? Does this have any significance? As in you’re hoping these maniacs kill me because I’m armed?” Talat asked in obvious consternation.

“No. It’s for your protection, and if we have to escape, there won’t be time then for me to return those to you,” Belac answered curtly.

“Hunter,” Talat said, shaking his head in disbelief, “you constantly surprise me.”

After all of them had had a turn to bathe, freshen up and a bite to eat, they felt fortified enough to discuss their next move.

“Did you notice how Pain calls her men ‘Harvesters’? What an ironic term to use for killers,” Belac, his muscular frame sprawling across the two-seater couch, commented.

“Yes,” Lathlin agreed, “these people do not seem to realise how they have perverted and twisted nature. They think they are performing experiments to improve the quality of their lives and they reason it to be the natural way, but everything they do is a travesty against nature,” the Elfling added. He sounded devastated and extremely young, and Belac’s heart went out to him.

“Have you been able to discover what is ailing their leader? You mentioned earlier that there is something wrong with them,” Belac asked the Elfling as a means of changing the topic.

“Aside from the fact that they are all psychotic and completely insane?” Talat interjected.

“Talat has a point,” Lathlin conceded, “and yes, to answer your question, Belac. I know why she is ill, and why there are other Hollow People who are also affected.”

“So … what is it? Have they been poisoned?” Talat asked in open curiosity and grim delight.

“In a sense, I guess you could say so, yes,” Lathlin said enigmatically, and added, “but it is not any kind of physical poison that has been administered to them. No, this is something else entirely and I can only truly evaluate the precise nature of the infection once I study the energy colours of Her Emptiness,” the Elfling concluded.

“Well, I doubt we’ll get an audience tonight,” Belac hazarded, “seeing that we’ve been left to ourselves for nearly two hours now.”

As if on cue, there was a polite knock on the door.

“You had to go and jinx it, didn’t you, Hunter?” Talat complained.

Nevertheless, he went over to the door and opened it to find someone other than a Hollow Person standing there. It was a handsome man who seemed to be weighed down by burdens so heavy, he had aged far beyond his years. He smiled bravely at Talat and gave a quick head bow.

“Good evening, sir,” he said. “Mistress Pain has sent me to escort you to Her Emptiness, who has granted you an audience. Please, if you will, we must hurry. We cannot keep Her Emptiness waiting for too long,” he added, his entire body showing the strain he was under to not simply collapse in fear.

He was obviously one of the Hollow People’s numerous captives. However, what flabbergasted Talat was the fact that the man seemed not to have been savaged in any way. He had all his limbs intact, and appeared to be physically unscathed. Everyone on Wrochcia knew that if the Hollow People didn’t kill you outright, they cut you up for their experiments. Or they cut off pieces of your body while experimenting on you. For this man to be unharmed – at least, physically – he had to be of some importance to the Hollow People.

While Talat was gazing at the man in perplexity and trying to make some sense of him, Lathlin came to the open door. He went as rigid as the staff he was holding when his blind eyes fell upon the caller.

“You!” he blurted in astonishment and out of character. Then Belac reached the door, and now it was the stranger’s turn to go as stiff as a planed plank upon seeing the Hunter.

“You!” he echoed Lathlin. And collapsed to the ground like a felled tree.

“What the – ?” Belac asked in complete confusion as he looked from the still staring Lathlin to the unconscious fellow.

“Yep. You’ve definitely gone and jinxed it,” Talat sighed in defeat.