Tread Lightly – Among Monsters And Men

Soldier - Increases all physical traits majorly and minor talent with weapons. Commonly appears in strength or endurance-based Prey like Greatapes or Grimbears.

Trapper- Major increase in reliability and familiarity with traps. Able to sense the weak points in targets and terrain. Commonly appears in Prey that uses traps or trap-like things like Weaving Spiders or Landmine Beavers.

-Excerpt from the Prime Sigils Manual.

 

Edmund forced me to run for another 2 hours even after that scuffle with the Loperds, but eventually, he signaled for me to stop running. Supremely exhausted and running entirely on willpower, I collapse and lay on the dirt taking in rapid but deep breaths. I’ve run plenty throughout my life, but I’m pretty sure I just ran over thirty miles in a little over four hours. The run wasn’t too bad until the scuffle with the Loperds. It took a lot out of me despite the whole fight lasting less than a full minute, and I’ve been on watch for the last one to appear, hoping for it not to ambush me while severely tired.

We started running right near sundown, and now the sky is dark with the only light being the shining moon covered by murky smoke. I guess a forest fire started in the town Edmund was in earlier, hopefully, it doesn't spread to us. But now, here I lay panting and sweating profusely on the ground. Edmund sits next to my drained self and hands me a waterskin with his left hand and some jerky with his right. I am barely able to raise myself to take the two pieces of nourishment, and I notice Edmund looks like he’s about to go on another rant while I’m tired.

“We should have made enough distance by now. Wyatt, you can sleep for a few hours once you finish eating, but before you do, check over your Sigil notes. They will only be more important from here on out as a breach is occurring. Monsters, demons, and outlaws will be roaming the surroundings for the next weeks to months before things calm down and the more Sigils you can recognize, the more likely you survive. I can’t and won’t protect you from everything.”

Unable to verbally respond due to both my exhaustion and the dry jerky I am busy pulling apart, I shake my head in understanding. I’m here with Edmund to survive, yes, but also to learn and grow.

Edmund sees my acknowledgment and pulls out the vials of blood he used during the fight with the Loperds. While I finish eating, he cuts his hands and refills the vials. It looks like he is running out of blood to fight with. He said the more he has the stronger he is right? He must have used a lot to come back from Elderfield drenched in blood.

Once I finish eating, I lay down on the grass under the moonlit night trying to ignore Edmund’s exsanguination so that I can take a quick rest before looking over my Sigils. My eyes close so quickly that I feel a jolt in my body before I fade into a dream.

The first thing I feel upon waking up is a hand clenched on my shoulder and being lifted to my feet instantly. I look at Edmund, still groggy, as he puts his finger on his lips. Quickly, I lower my breathing and try to be quiet. At first, I don’t see or hear anything, but then I do. A long howl followed by rapid and consistent gunfire that is incredibly close. Are they Hunters? Or just farmers that happened to be in the area?

I murmur to Edmund about what we should do.

“Should we help? The shots seem really...”

He cuts me off with a harsh whisper.

“No. No way in hell. Most breaches are led or at least caused by a team of Outlaws looking for loot or a very powerful one seeking an item or revenge by breaking the frontline and leading a bunch of monsters or demons with them. Sometimes, a powerful demon is even leading the whole charge. We go an’ help and we are more likely to get ambushed than to save someone. I suspect this break, in particular, is caused by Outlaws as well.”

His conjecture confuses me. How can he be sure that this break is caused by Outlaws? I bring it up quietly.

“Why is that?”

Edmund responds to me at a volume that even I can barely hear while prowling forwards as I try to keep up in silence.

“You. Or to be more precise, yur' father, he kept this place in line, even long after his disappearance. No one was willing to risk his vengeful return, not even beasts. Very few Hunters have the power to keep an entire area fortified with just their name, less than four in fact, but Killian The Undying is one of those few. I assume once yur' Ma died that gears would start turning that he wasn’t ‘round no more, but it happened way too fast. Many Outlaws want revenge. Some demons might even want the same, though, few of those ever escaped from Killian.”

I take this information in quietly and try to move behind Edmund following his lead. I’m still sore and tired from the run, but I don’t have time to rest. At least now I know why I was attacked shortly after Ma died. I mean, I barely had time to even bury her before a monster was upon me.

We continue forward quickly, but quietly, into the forest ahead of us from where the gunshots resounded, doing our best to not run into whoever made those shots. Creeping through the woods keeping close to the floor, I hear more and more gunshots, this time followed by screams. I look at Edmund, hoping he will do something, but he just looks at me and shakes his head with a whisper.

“Yur' not ready yet kid.”

Frustrated, I stand from my crouch, but Edmund pulls me back down, speaking to me again in a sharp tone that shifts to a more reasonable one.

“Stop. You will only get yourself killed. I’ll tell you what, I can smell blood up ahead, very close. We can sneak up close and check the situation. Okay?”

Nodding my head, I cool down. He’s right. I don’t know what's happening in front of us, only that there are screams and gunshots. I could run right into a whole group of monsters or Outlaws. As we approach the “smell” that Edmund mentioned, I see a break in the forest that we have been traveling in for a little bit, and it appears to be a road. On that road that is perpendicular to us is a carriage that has been overturned and is on fire. Upon getting closer, Edmund motions me to quickly hide behind a large oak tree as he does the same with another. I sneak a peek from behind the tree and I see upon closer inspection that the carriage is surrounded by unmoving human bodies, many of which are either still on fire or being eaten by what appears to be over a dozen large wolves.

At first, I don’t see any moving people, but after a few seconds of observation, I see a man with a cowboy hat followed by around four other rough-looking individuals. He walks up to the wolves and they immediately turn to him and growl in unison, but before they can do anything, he snaps his fingers and their necks twist until they snap. Instantly, this man just killed over a dozen massive wolves.

In a mix of confusion and shock, I look over at Edmund behind the other tree and I notice that his face is pulled into a grim smile. He shakes his head slowly and puts his finger over his lips once again. Understanding he wants to just watch and not take action, I stay still and just watch from behind the wide oak tree.

The men are close enough that I can hear them speak to each other even over the crackle of the burning carriage. I listen closely so that I don’t miss anything as the one with the cowboy hat walks over to an unmoving, presumably dead body, and kicks it. Cowboy hat says something in a dry voice to the others.

“I guess they weren’t too tough to all die after a simple ambush.”

Another man next to him with a large machete in his hand responds.

“You know how the new Hunters are. All bark and no bite. Leaves plenty of loot for us though.”

Cowboy hat agrees with a humph.

“Aye. Gather what you can boys! Boss wants us to kill and loot anyone coming through this area, so be quick. If you find a fancy revolver, let me know.”

Hearing that final statement from the man sends a chill down my spine. Are they after me? And the Lily? Possibly. Edmund did say that all hell basically broke loose once people found out my father wasn’t still around to follow through with his threats. I look over at Edmund and I see that he is slowly making his way forward toward the edge of the forest. Jarred by his sudden movement, I begin to follow, but I am already over a dozen feet behind him.

I hear the men on the road continue talking amongst each other and see that one stands and looks towards us in the forest. Edmund sees this as well, and it looks to me as though he was prepared, for the second the man opens his mouth to alert the others, a blood-red knife appears in his throat and he falls forward grasping at his throat. I pause for a moment. Am I ready to kill someone? Do I even need to?

Edmund dashes forwards toward the rest of the men with a blood vial in both hands. He throws both in front of him and they explode in the air to create a wide sanguine web that entangles two more.

I sprint after him, unable to answer my own question, but determined to help, even if it means not listening to Edmund telling me to stay put. I head towards the two Edmund covered in his bloody web, as he turns to handle the last underling and the man with the cowboy hat. I reach the duo in the blood web just as once untangles himself. It looks like he is wrapped in a bloody placenta as he tries to stand up. I go to stab him with my Talon in the arm at first, but I see him draw a six-shooter and begin to raise it to me. This hardens my resolve as I redirect my Talon toward his neck and close my eyes.

I feel a bit of resistance, then nothing. I open my eyes, half ashamed and half in shock at what I had done. I missed his neck, and more horribly, I stabbed him right in his mouth and out the back of his head. Looking at my hands and then back to the man who is choking on his own blood attached to my rapier, I shudder. Just a few days ago, the worst thing I had ever killed was a squirrel. My vision narrows, as I hear fighting to my side and someone struggling near my left. I feel as though I have lost something forever.

But my situation doesn’t allow me to panic as I hear the man to my left escape from the web and stand. He looks at me and I see the shock on his face as I realize what I must look like. I have a sword stab through a man’s open mouth as I just stare at it. The man breaks through his shock quickly though, as he draws a scimitar and swings it toward me.

Due to my minor breakdown, I react slower than I definitely should, only dodging out of the way when the scimitar is close to my body. I pull my rapier out of the dying man’s mouth and bring it in between me and the attacker clumsily. This knocks me backward and onto the ground as my rapier falls out of my hand.

There was a skull-shaking impact. The back of my head kisses the ground furiously and I see stars amidst the flames in front of me. I force my eyes to stay open and try to move the glitter from my vision. While doing so, I see a shadow block out the light of the burning carriage in front of me. As the shadow approaches, I try to focus my vision on it as I hear grinding teeth and an enraged rough voice.

“Damn, psycho kid. Killed my best friend. I ain’t gonna kill you tho’, just gonna rough you up a bit to take back home.”

Still trying to clear my starry vision and shaking my head, I feel a sharp kick to my ribs with an audible crack that makes me roll further on the dirt road. The acute pain of the man’s boot into my ribcage rapidly calms my spinning head and clears my eyes. Covered in dirt, blood, and ashes, I see a dark-haired man standing over me with a near-cut-in-half scimitar, only still in one full blade due to a small piece of the blade still being intact. He points the blade at my left leg and stabs it down. Fully conscious this time, I spin my leg to the side to get away from the blade as it leaves a small line of blood on my calf.

“Stop moving, or I’ll make it much worse. You already ruined my sword as well with your crazy needle.”

I reach down to grab the Lily but hesitate. I only have three rounds left. Wasting them on this piece of trash is not worth it unless he almost kills me. Looking to my right while scooting backward, I see the Talon. Its trait was sharpness and flexibility. I guess that makes it sharp enough to cut through normal swords. I just need to get to the Talon or somehow break off the last of his sword. Maybe both at once.

During my contemplation and movement, the man only grows more frustrated. He attempts to jump on me and grapple me, but I roll to the side and kick dirt into his face making him cough it out. As soon as the dirt clears, I point the barrel of the Lily at his face. This gives him pause, enough pause that I can quickly stand and start moving to the Talon. Once the man with the scimitar realizes that I’m not going to shoot he yells and charges me, but now I'm far enough that I have time to dive for the Talon and swing it behind me toward the approaching attacker.

Obvious to me, the man isn’t expecting this as he is skewered on the Talon while attempting to grab me and drop his scimitar. Unobvious to me is how the man doesn’t immediately die after being skewered. While impaled and laying on top of me, the man tries to scream, but all that comes out of his mouth is blood. After realizing he is dying he decides to take me with him, as he wraps his calloused hands around my neck and tries to choke me.

Unsettled and unsure of what to do, I keep my right hand on my rapier as I shake it and try to pull it out of the man. With my left hand, I try to pull off his hands to no avail. He is very strong, strong enough to send me flying from a single swipe of his scimitar or a kick. With our close proximity, I am unable to retrieve the Talon from his chest. Giving up on getting my sword and panicking, I try to pry his fingers away from my collapsing windpipe. My vision quickly darkens, probably because of my rapid and energy-consuming actions just recently leaving my body already drained. I finally succeed in pulling off one of his fingers as I look him in the eye.

The man’s eyes are bloodshot and filled with swirling red. His open mouth has blood dripping out even while strangling me. By this point, I've lost all peripheral vision, and I feel my thoughts slowing and my attempts at saving myself growing weaker. Feeling this slow, weakening calm, I remember the Lily. With my last reserve of energy before oblivion, I reach for the Lily and put my hand on it. I won’t have time to pull it out before everything goes dark. The world slows to welcome this approaching nothingness. I feel as though I am stepping into the River Styx in the Underworld and that nothing can save me with the light within my eyes narrowing to a needlepoint.

Then, less than a moment before utter darkness, I hear a click and within the pinprick of light that my vision has become, I see a shaky and bloody barrel being pressed against the man’s head that is thrown back causing it to explode and the vices on my throat loosen. Instantly I take a breath. The most beautiful breath of my whole life. It felt like nirvana. Like Death herself was about to welcome me. Then out of nowhere, again I live.

Coughing and taking in as much air as I can, I roll onto my side to see my savior. Unsurprisingly, it's the old man, Edmund. But he looks almost as bad as I feel. Covered in blood, I guess that’s his usual as a Bloodtaker, Edmund has a smoking six-shooter in his left hand pointed at where the man's head that was choking me just was and a badly broken right arm and hand. Bones jutting out from his forearm and fingers looking like they were put in an automatic mixing pot. Still unable to speak, I continue to cough and try to stand. I only get halfway up before the world goes sideways and Edmund catches me.

Helping me walk, I hear Edmund talk in the nicest and calmest way ever.

“You did good, Wyatt. Much more than I could have asked for. C’mon. I know yur’ wobbly, but we gotta get moving. Their leader called for help before I could put him down.”

Unstable and still trying to fix my breathing with the pain in my throat, I just continue stumbling alongside him as we walk into the forest on the other side of the road with the crackling of the burning carriage behind.