The Yeti

"Hey, Daemon. Is it just me or are you studying even harder than before in the last few months?"

"You think so?"

"You didn't even escape the history lesson. Did something happen?"

And what am I supposed to tell you? That I literally begged Drufo to teach me about hunting, and he demanded that I devote all the rest of my time to studying in return?

"It must be some kind of torture for you."

"I grew up in the woods, I love being outdoors. But I admit that studying can be fun sometimes."

I was acting tragically to appear believable, but actually going to school was certainly not a burden for me.

Luckily, from the old me I had also inherited a love of studying and learning.

"Did you know that? If you mix grated perinthia root with gold powder, you boil them and add Malvasia to the very last, the result is a potion that protects from fire spells."

I looked just like a cocky little know-it-all who loved to show off. But what can I say? It was my nature.

"Sorry now, but I have to go. The shop is always full of customers at this hour."

Septimus, whom I loved to see so envious of my relationship with Mary, waited for her to leave the classroom before approaching my desk.

"I will never understand why she finds you so attractive."

"Are you jealous?"

"Are you kidding me? She's just a four-eyed in love with numbers. She's definitely not my kind of girl."

He was obviously lying, and it made me laugh.

"Anyway, do you know what do they say about Mary? They say her father beats her, and he spends all the money in their shop with wine and cards."

It was said that Doug Wallace was once a good guy, but since his wife died he had drowned more and more in alcohol, and now scarcely a day went by without him starting fights in Giselle's father's inn or beating Mary.

Unfortunately, like all frontier places, Dundee too was that kind of place where everyone minded their own business, and since Mary was too stubborn or too scared to ask for help, the situation remained unchanged.

There was nothing I could do right now. But even that was something I could try to fix if I got strong or important enough.

"I go now. I'm late for my lesson."

If I wanted to bring my vision to life, I had to improve where I've always lacked, or where now I know I've gone wrong.

First I had to fortify myself, and learn a potentially useful profession, capable of opening the right doors for me if necessary.

Since an orphan would have had no real chance of a career in the legions, and the militia was just a bunch of illiterate rednecks, becoming a hunter was the only good option I had.

At least I was certainly not starting from scratch.

After all archery was not much different from firing a cannon or a musket; with little inventiveness and some notion of physics, the arrow aimed straight at its target, without missing it and without making any noise.

In a few weeks I had learned to make, string and wield a bow, make and set traps, follow tracks, and move through the forest as silent as a wolf. I could distinguish coveted from poor quality prey or locate the right target within an entire pack at a glance.

Not to say that archery, skinning and carrying prey, moving in the woods and climbing trees were all perfect ways to build muscles and improve my already considerable agility.

The excuse for the hours away from home was that I was studying and doing homework with my friends, but I was pretty sure that Scalia and Zorech suspected something.

That was the day of my final exam. If I was able to catch four hares or two foxes by sunset, I could henceforth go hunting alone and manage the income from my work myself.

I completed my task by mid-afternoon, but unable to contain my bad habit of always wanting to show off I had chosen to stick around and find more prey.

All of a sudden, one of the audible alarms I had placed around to help me locate prey started jingling, followed soon after by a great racket and unrepeatable phrases.

I went to check out of curiosity, finding myself faced with something between the funny and the grotesque: a lizard in a dark suit was completely wrapped up in the wire of the trap, and the more he tried get free, the more he remained entangled.

"Luda, you imbecile!" his kobold friend scolded him as he cut the wire. "Do you think it's appropriate to make so much noise?"

"It's not my fault, Rust. I'd like to know who enjoys putting strings and bells in the middle of the forest."

"They're hunters' traps, idiot. There must be one nearby."

They both looked around, unaware that I was right above their heads.

"But didn't the chief say humans don't come up here?" Luda said again

"It must be that goat." then Rust handed the dagger to his buddy. "Find him and shut him up. I'm going to the hideout."

"The boss wants to get his hands on the hunting business. Sure we can afford to do that?"

"Obviously the old dragon won't cooperate. We would have done it anyway. Besides, this business is a thousand times more profitable. Or would you rather have to explain to the boss that the hideout could be compromised?"

Whereupon they took different ways, with the lizard walking off in one direction and the kobold continuing in the other, carrying a heavy bag with him.

As for me, instinct told me to turn my back and go my own way.

But I'm forced to admit that my judgment was starting to suffer from my experiences up to that point as Daemon Haselworth, and fatally driven by the curiosity that only an unconscious and overconfident child could possibly have I set out on Rust's heels.

I followed his trail into a cave in the heart of the forest, with the entrance well hidden by some branches.

I only had to take a few steps inside to find out that it was the secret warehouse of the pig, a kind of treasure room overflowing with exotic goods of all kinds, from spices to fabrics, to weapons and all known coins and currencies.

The interior was larger than I had expected, and because of the echo when I heard Rust's voice it seemed so close to my hears that I nearly had a heart attack.

"Didn't you eat this time too? It will be better for you that next time I return you finish everything, or you will deal with the boss."

I imprudently followed the sound of the voice into a secondary chamber, catching sight of Rust turned away and talking to someone at his feet whom I could not distinguish.

I was so busy observing what was in front of me that I forgot to look over my shoulder; and at the same time that I was able to perceive a presence behind me something hit me and knocked me out.

I don't know how long I was passed out.

I only know that when I came to my senses I was tied up on the floor of the same room I had peeked into.

On the other side there was a girl perhaps my own age, or even younger, chained to the wall, with snow-white hair, a small round nose, bear-like ears and a thick fur on legs and arms.

In her eyes, large and blue, I could see only fear.

"You are a yeti. What is your name? What happened?"

She didn't answer, just staring at me and trembling.

"We have to get out of here."

I tried to free myself, but those accursed men had worked very hard to tie those knots, and to make matters worse a sudden echo of footsteps forced me to step back into the role of the helpless victim.

"I knew it." Borg said. "I knew you were going to be a real nuisance, kid."

"What have you done to Drufo?"

"Unlike you, he knows how to make himself invisible. But it can't stay that way forever. My men are scouring the forest, and others are guarding his house. Sooner or later he'll show up."

Borg then grabbed me by the chin staring me straight in the face; hard to say between his pig stench or the perfumes he used to cover it up which one I found more sickening.

"Now that I look at you, you're pretty fit. No one would think you grew up among a bunch of filthy monsters."

"They're certainly infinitely better than you, you filthy pig!"

I immediately regretted that statement. Two fingers were enough for that pig to close my throat, squeezing just enough to make my every breath an agonizing gasp.

"Can you feel it? What you're experiencing right now? It's called fear. All I need is a flick of my thumb to snap your fragile little neck."

I had spent my entire previous life trying to mask my weaknesses, and even though I knew deep down that he didn't mean to kill me I can't deny that I was really scared on that occasion.

"Consider it a lesson. A very important one. Before you speak, always think about who you're talking to."

"What do we do now, boss?" Rust asked. "Shall we use the brat to force the dragon to cooperate?"

"There are better ways to make an unexpected product pay off. Especially if it's top quality."

"I am not a product. Nor is she."

"If a customer requests something, that thing automatically becomes a product to be sold and bought. Whether it's food, weapons, or a tiny yeti from the Khoral Mountains, which incidentally can be worth a fortune to collectors of exotic monsters. Whether it's even a human kid. You have no idea how many Volkova's heirless noble families are willing to pay outrageous prices for a healthy, good-looking child under ten years old."

At that point the pig stuffed the exhausted cigar into its mouth, chewing it noisily.

"You should thank me. Surely the place you end up in will be infinitely better than this dunghill." then he turned to his men. "Luda, you stay here and guard the warehouse, and you, Rust, join the other hunters. I want that goat's head on a platter by morning."

He thought he had tamed me, but he was dead wrong. As soon as they were gone I got back to work, and although it took me several hours of trying and risking spraining my wrists I finally managed to loosen the knots and free myself.

I'd be lying if I say I didn't consider for a moment the idea of letting Borg free to do what he wanted with me; for sure as a son of a noble family I would have had a much better chance of completing my mission. The problem is that there were too many variables to take into account, from the prestige and possibilities of my potential adoptive family to the time it would take to reach it, and given the situation there was no point in relying on my proverbial luck.

"Done."

I tried to look for the keys to the yeti's collar, but not finding them, I had no choice but to get a chisel and play being a burglar.

The poor thing looked at me as if she thought it impossible that a human could do anything good for her, and she was probably right.

In my old life I had hardly ever done anything that didn't involve personal gain, and I had no intention of failing in this rule of any good ruler.

But the most essential thing for anyone who aspires to climb the ladder of power has always been loyalty, and the loyalty of a yeti, however young, could become an excellent investment for the future.

"Sapi."

"What?"

"My name. Sapi."

At least she was starting to trust me, making sense of all the risks I was taking to try and help her.

In the end it only took a few blows to break that old lock.

"Now let's get out of here!"

The problem was that Luda still kept watch at the cave, but that lizard was stupid enough to make a round every thirty-minute, so it was very easy to sneak past him without him noticing.

Once outside, and still holding Sapi's hand, we ran as fast as possible towards Drufo's cabin, however finding it as expected guarded by Borg's thugs.

"Damn it, so we can't even use the tunnels to get to the ghetto."

I had to find another way.

Even before ruling over half of Europe, I had done everything possible not to rely on others, thinking that I could solve even the most impossible situations by trusting only in myself and my abilities.

But when you find yourself in situations like that, with the body of a child, you come to reconsider the importance of having someone trustable at your side, while realizing how stupid it is to persist in wanting to go it alone out of too much confidence or pride.

"There is only one person who can help us."