Notes on Monster Hunting Page 23

  “How has your training group been?”

  “Good. They learned quickly. It’s still hard to say how they’d do against the real thing.”

  “At least they know more than they did before.”

  We walked beside crops in the tall grass. Clumps of dirt made it like miniature rolling hills beneath our feet.

  “Did the big group handle the training well?” I asked.

  Skrale nodded. “But the whole situation makes me uncomfortable. I’m glad we can help, but I regret taking the contract.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t think we should’ve become involved. But it’s fine. We’ll make a good amount of money and continue our journey.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “I haven’t decided. Like I said before, maybe north. Maybe back west.”

  I laughed. “I meant right now.”

  “Just over to the farmer’s place.”

  We arrived at the door to the farmhouse once again. Lantern light came from the windows just like the last time we were here. Skrale knocked and waited for someone to open the door. It was the stout man. He held a pipe between his lips with smoke slowly rising from the end.

  “Hello again,” he said, his voice muffled from talking through his lips. “How can I help?”

  Skrale pulled salted fish out of his bag and held it in front of him. “I was wondering if I could trade you this for some bread.”

  The farmer grabbed the bundles of fish and closely looked at them. “Why don’t you want these?”

  “I have more, but I’m out of bread.”

  He nodded and took the fish inside. “I have a couple loaves I can give you. Where’s the fish from?”

  We were still standing in the doorway and could only partly hear his voice from inside the house.

  “Geziksan. We got it as we were leaving the city.”

  He returned with three loaves of bread and handed them to Skrale. “Geziksan fish is good, right?”

  “It’s very good,” I said. “Some of the best I’ve had.”

  “My family will appreciate it. Thanks.”

  “Thank you. Have a good evening,” said Skrale.

  The farmer waved and closed the door. Skrale looked at the bread in his arm and smelled it.

  “That smells good. Want a sniff?”

  I shook my head. “I’ll be alright. I can smell it from here.”

  We took our time on the walk back. Most of it silent. He said goodnight and smiled when we reached Fourth squad’s camp. I didn’t want the walk to be over, but I was tired and didn’t want to ask him to continue.

  Day 168

  We’ve nearly finished with the first round of training for the second group. Krelik stopped by the camp last night and told us all the soldiers in the west were coming to Lamberg. Another city has been taken by Etikstan, so only one city remains between the army and capital.

  “When do you expect the Etikstan armies to arrive?” asked Skrale.

  “Still not for for some time. We won’t know for certain until they take Yandhill. The journey between cities with their army should take about fifteen days. For now, we don’t even know when they’ll leave to invade Yandhill, so it could be anywhere from twenty days to sixty.”

  “Even if our contract isn’t finished, we’ll be leaving when they invade the next city.”

  “I understand. We won’t try to stop you.”

  After Krelik left, Skrale called everyone else over to inform them. We would try to train the new arrivals as fast as possible, but we had to be ready to leave quickly. He warned that we may have to leave things behind. Nobody asked questions or argued.

  The stout farmer stopped his work in the fields today to watch some of the training. My group was the closest to his field, so I waved him over when I noticed him.

  “What are they doing?”

  “Pretending to fight a monster. It’s just to see how they would work as a group.”

  “They look stupid.”

  Ralet laughed.

  “I agree,” I said. “It’s just a little exercise for their last day.”

  “Will they be ready for the war?”

  “We hope so, sir,” said Ralet.

  “What was your name again?” he asked me.

  “Beatrice. And you are?”

  “Henrik. My wife wanted me to invite you and your bearded friend to dinner.”

  “Skrale? The captain?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, that one.”

  “We’d be honored. Thank you.”

  Henrik sniffed in loudly and nodded again as he walked back to the field.

  “Interesting,” said Ralet.

  “At least I don’t have to eat anything cooked by Palon for a night.”

  “Sorry for being so willing to spend my time cooking for you, you ungrateful bunch of jerks,” yelled Palon.

  The training group stopped and looked at Palon, whose face was red. Kully, Oitter, and Groose were beside him laughing. Ralet looked at me, then back at Palon and just started to walk a few steps away without saying anything.

  “Keep going,” I shouted to the group.

  I left Ralet in charge of the training and went to find Skrale closer to the wall. Pikemen in mismatched armor stood in groups talking.

  “Taking a break?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” said Skrale. “They needed it. The armor and the heat don’t mix well.”

  “That farmer invited the two of us to dinner with his family tonight. Also, his name is Henrik and he called you ‘my bearded friend.’”

  “I’ve been called worse. Did you accept the invitation?”

  “I did.”

  “Great.” Skrale looked over his resting trainees. “How is your group?”

  “As ready as they’ll get.”

  He nodded. “I think that’s the best we can hope for.”

  Skrale met me back at the Fourth squad camp when we all finished training for the day. He changed from his leather armor to plain clothes that were still dirty and torn. It was probably the best he had.

  “Ready?”

  We started walking when I noticed he held two bottles and some more wrapped fish. He was quiet while he walked and his eyes scanned the ground. Henrik answered the door as soon as we knocked and invited us inside.

  “I brought some wine and apple juice and some more fish,” said Skrale.

  “Thanks.” Henrik took the bottles and fish and set them on a table.

  The house was smaller inside than it looked from the outside. The wooden floor had the same appearance as the walls. To the right of the door was a few steps down to a large bed and a dresser with a curtain that could be pulled across. A small ladder to the side led to another mattress in the rafters above the other bed. Another bed was built into the wall on the left side of the house.

  An old wooden table big enough for the whole family and more sat right in the center, pushed against the back wall.

  “Have a seat,” said Henrik. “This is my wife, Juiell and my kids Kaleb and Henrit.”

  “I’m Skrale and this is Beatrice. We’re monster hunters.”

  We ate meat and vegetable pies and drank the wine and apple juice. Henrik told us about King Hogreth’s messengers that told him some time ago about the incoming war. Instead of recruiting him and the other farmers, they were ordered to keep on farming and try to ensure the highest yield possible because of a siege. King Hogreth met them all later and expressed his appreciation for their work. The children had previously gone to school inside Lamberg while workers helped in the fields, but there was nobody to hire since everyone joined the army. The king asked everyone to work because learning could wait until after the war.

  “There’s twelve of us, farming families, around the city. Some growing crops, some with livestock. With food coming from the fishers south and the people in Geziksan, we should have enough for any siege.”

  “When did you last hear about the war?” I asked.

  “It’s been awhile,” s
aid Juiell.

  “They only have one city left before they attack Lamberg.”

  Henrik grunted. “That’s not good.”

  “It really isn’t,” said Skrale.

  “We’ll be okay,” assured Henrik.

  Juiell placed her hand on her husband’s arm and smiled.

  We stayed for a bit after eating and talked, but we left before it was late. The training is exhausting and the wine made me sleepy.

  Day 175

  Finding time to write is difficult. Finding energy to write is even harder. About two hundred troops just arrived this morning. They could be the ones we passed a long time ago, but I can’t be sure. Most of the army will have had some type of training from us when we finish with our current group. The two hundred that just arrived will start after lunch, which is being served right now.

  Yandhill has fallen to Etikstan, so Krelik estimates about twenty days. It’s a long road with many villages between Yandhill and Lamberg. Skrale wants to leave, but training the new arrivals is fine because we’ve already packed to leave in the morning.

  Yandhill fell in less than half a day. Krelik and Hogreth made it sound like the cities were sieged and battles were waged, but Yandhill fell so quickly.

  Yutt finished serving lunch and walked over to us.

  “Is it okay if I sit with you?”

  “Yeah, sit down.”

  His chapped lips stretched into a big smile. “Thanks. Everyone is really worried and it’s making me uncomfortable, but you all seem calm.”

  Groose poured more wine into his mug and handed it to Yutt. “This’ll help.”

  “Thanks.” Yutt took a small drink and visibly winced from the flavor. “How are you all?”

  “We’re good. Like you said, we’re calm,” said Kully.

  “Skrale has plans. We’ll follow him and it’ll all work out,” I said.

  Yutt took another drink, then sniffled. “You really think so?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “You think Skrale is that great? I didn’t want to sound mean. I just didn’t know you really want to follow him like that.”

  “Like what?” asked Palon.

  Yutt scratched his cheek and wrinkled his nose while thinking. “Happily, I guess.”

  “I’m very happy following Skrale,” I said.

  Palon and Ralet nodded.

  “I understand. I don’t want you to think I don’t like Skrale. Everyone worrying just makes me unsure about lots of things,” said Yutt.

  “What is everyone else worried about?” I asked.

  “And who is everyone?” asked Palon.

  Yutt handed the mug back to Groose. “Jenn and Prenn and others in the company. They seem worried about the war and I don’t know why. You’re all calm like I thought we’d all be. Some of our hunters seem more nervous than the soldiers training to fight. Personally, I don’t feel great, but I’m not worried either.”

  “They’ll be fine. Everyone will relax in the morning when we’re back on the road.”

  The scouts had made oatmeal with fresh fruit from the area for our company. Fourth just had some oatmeal for breakfast, but we won’t complain when somebody else is making the food for us. The wine really doesn’t go well with the food, but it’s a long day and we don’t want to have too much to carry when we leave. The army from the west finished their lunch, so we need to return to training.

  The sun was gone long before we finished training for the day. We skipped the stories and the speeches and even the bombs. Others could teach them how to use the munitions without killing themselves. Ralet and Kully cooked all the food we didn’t want to bring with us while Groose and I packed the food that wouldn’t rot. We’ve finished packing and we’ll eat a massive dinner when they finish cooking. Palon is over with Third helping ensure all our gear is packed into the cart. I can see Skrale walking over with an armful of wine bottles.

  I haven’t lived as long a life as many of the people in the company. I’m aware of that. But in my life I’ve seen some fucking terrible things and nobody could argue that. I killed somebody years ago, and at the time it was the worst thing I could ever imagine seeing. Dark, viscous blood poured from his throat and stained everything. I felt like my hands would never be clean again. Then Cremn died, with his head sliced off so effortlessly by the construct.

  How do you recover from something like that?

  My squad and the rest of the company helped me through it all. Cremn and Skrale saved me from so much. But we couldn’t save Cremn and couldn’t save Henrik or Juiell, so who can we save?

  I don’t always want to write about what happened, but I will share the events for those who may look in the future. Whether we succeed or fail, our company tried to help everyone we met.

  Skrale wanted me to help him carry wine to Henrik and his family. It was too much for us to carry and we wouldn’t have time to finish it with everything happening faster than we expected. It was late into the night and they should’ve been sleeping, but a lantern was on and the door was open. Skrale stuck his head in and quickly stepped back. He set the wine on the ground and rushed inside. I followed after setting mine down in the grass.

  The lantern was on the ground beside the parents’ bed, like it had been lit and never picked up. Henrik was beside the lamp and Juiell was in the bed. I didn’t see the kids until after. They were all dead. Their stomachs were flat and the skin was pulled taut against their ribs.

  “Get back to camp. Grab our swords and bring Fourth here. Have the scouts go alert the guards. Quickly.”

  I ran as fast as I could and immediately shouted for the scouts as I neared camp. Jenn and Yutt reached me first.

  “Go tell the guards to get to Henrik’s farmhouse. I don’t know what’s happening, but they’re all dead.”

  They nodded and ran to their horses.

  I hurried over to Third’s camp. “Palon come with me and grab weapons for the squad.” I grabbed my sword and Skrale’s from the pile.

  “What’s happening?” asked Heff.

  “Just give everyone a sword. We don’t know what’s happening yet. Get dressed.”

  Palon handed the weapons out and everyone in Fourth ran with me back to the farmhouse.

  “Palon, Oitter, and Groose stay outside the door. Watch for anything. Guards should be here soon.”

  They nodded and took a lit lantern from Skrale. I handed him his sword, which he immediately strapped around his waist. Kully, Ralet, and I followed him inside.

  “What happened?”

  Skrale was sweating. “Their organs are gone. I want the guards to get here before we do more, but we’ll need Teke to look at the insides. I studied a creature that could do something like this, but those were small and they live in swamps.” He looked over at Henrik’s body on the edge of the bed. “Ralet, could you go get Teke? You don’t need to rush.”

  Ralet nodded and hurried off. Kully kneeled beside Henrik’s body.

  “It really looks like his insides just vanished.”

  “Look what’s underneath the ribs on his left,” said Skrale.

  Kully leaned to the side and moved the skin. “Is that a hole?”

  “It is.”

  “But there’s no blood or anything coming out.”

  “This is too much,” I said. I stood outside with Palon, Oitter, and Groose. They looked at me like they wanted answers, but they knew I didn’t have any.

  Eventually the guards arrived with Jenn leading them. When she saw it was the right place, she jumped off her horse, came up to me and asked if I have anything to tell the company. The guards walked past us into the house and started talking to Skrale.

  “Teke should be on his way here with Ralet. Tell the sergeants a family was killed. Most likely from a creature of some type.”

  She nodded, mounted her horse, and hurried off. I waited outside with Palon, Oitter, and Groose and watched as Teke arrived and immediately went inside. I sat and wrote until Krelik arrived with a few men
from the king’s guard.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Skrale can tell you more inside,” I said as I stood up. “We have our medic looking over the family to see what happened.”

  Krelik looked at me, Oitter, Groose, and Palon then walked inside without another word. I followed him in and stopped right inside the doorway. Teke had cut open Henrik’s body. Kully kneeling across from him and Skrale was sitting at the dining table.

  “Something came in here and killed the whole family. Teke, tell Krelik anything you know about their deaths.” Skrale’s face was pale and the bags under his eyes were dark.

  Teke stood, stepped away from the body, leaned against the wall, and cleared his throat. “Their organs are gone. You can see the skin is just lying across the area the abdomen should be. All the bones are still present, but they’re a bit weathered. Not brittle, but not normal. There is a sizeable hole in each of the bodies where the creature stabbed them, if it is the creature Skrale suspects.”

  Krelik kept his eyes on the body. “What creature did this, captain?” His face was stuck in an expression filled with disgust, like he might vomit any moment.

  “It looks like a remigin.” Skrale adjusted his posture in the chair and sighed. “But it doesn’t match with everything I learned about them. Beatrice, there should be an entry in the middle of the book about remigins.”

  Remigins:

  Dark green skinned creatures that live in swamps and heavily forested areas. They are vicious predators that primarily eat through the use of stiff, hollow reeds that grow in the swamps. Remigins stab their prey with the reed, inject a natural acid-like saliva into the body, then consume the liquified innards.

  Remigins grow to be about the size of a human child with a thin body that allows it to hide and ambush prey.

  “What’s the problem? Why are you uncertain?” Krelik had finally looked away from the corpse and had his hand against the side of his face to block his vision.

  “First, the reeds they use only last for one, maybe two, uses before they break apart. This is a whole family. Second, this is way too much for a single remigin to eat and they don’t live in packs. They’re very territorial and even cannibalistic. Third, this isn’t a swamp, as you may be aware.”