3 And now...

A clattering of hooves could be heard heading his way. Tristan doubted it was a peddler. A month ago, a warm reception would have followed the sound. But things were different now. Instantly, he sprinted down to the front of the edifice, corrected his hunting stance, eyes set forward, arrow nocked in place, awaiting the newcomer.

A moment later, Tristan saw a hooded rider atop a massive creature strolling toward the building. Initially he fathomed it to be a horse, but up close it was taller by at least a head with two horns that also suggested otherwise. The rider pulled its reins as Tristan came to sight, halting the beast. Tristan swallowed and tried to hide, but the hooded head made him tremble inside.

With a light tap on its neck by its rider, the creature moved forward and stopped right in front of the boy. The rider now was looking down on him. The hood hung so low that it swathed most part of the face, and in the dim light of dawn, Tristan could see nothing but darkness lurking from inside. The rider swiftly got down of the creature and pushed the hood all the way back.

Tristan hadn't reckoned a woman, especially not one who looked as old as his grandmother. Her awfully shriveled face was buried in scars, their origin difficult to gauge. Her silvery hair was tied into a crisp bun. Her eyes had a similar grayish taint. They were sharply focused on Tristan. The cold stare probed through his soul, unnerving every tittle in his body. They rested on the half drawn bow as she perused its purpose. Tristan swallowed again, trying to relax his briskly drying throat. Reflexively, his arms also eased up on the arrow. His eyes didn't want to meet hers. Instead, they settled for a pale, cross-shaped scar on the left cheek that origined right beneath her half cut ear.

The woman ignored his meandering gaze. "I'm looking for a young girl...with green hair. Have you seen her?" She spoke with a grating tone, enough to add to the anxiety the boy was having. "Was she here?"

Tristan nodded without thinking. Using words wasn't easy at the moment. "But, she's not here now." The woman responded, talking more to herself than to him. "Where's she? Do you know anything?" For a moment her gaze was almost painful. He looked down, thinking what to say. Words still failed to come to his mouth. The woman sensed his hesitation. "Just tell me the way she has headed." Her wriggling face twitched at her hoaxing attempt at chivalry. Tristan wanted to chuckle at her stilted facade, which he suppressed like his life depended on it.

"She went that way." Tristan pointed somewhere far behind the woman. "In those woods."

The woman turned in response. She narrowed her eyes. Her lips were thinly pressed in thought. They muttered something again, inaudible still.

Venturing into the thickest woods in the area was the job of an expert, only accessed by the hunters in Roqsar and its neighboring villages. Class hunters like his father were the few who knew how to travel safely. Tristan had retained most of the knowledge from him, and now he was the only one remaining to know the wilderness.

I know where she is…

Tristan spoke out, "I know where she is." The woman snapped out of her thoughts at its unexpected intensity. She stared at his face, but didn't reply.

The boy spoke again, "I know where she is and I can take you there." His credence astonished him.

The woman took a moment and looked at the woods again. " I... don't have any time to waste." The harshness had returned. Tristan shifted his gaze to the beast now.

"No... we can leave right now if you want. I'm done here and you won't find anyone that knows the path better than me."

The woman nodded.

***

The triad plodded through a dead farm, each step rising dust and ash from the ground. Few yards to his right laid the broken house of the Mermon's, the second biggest in his village, almost thrice as big as Tristan's own with two stories. The first one to be attacked. The roof was gone and the front wall had caved in, and only the burnt remains were left of its massive barn. He could still see few of the seared pots and pans clattered about the bared kitchen. The fire had evoked there and then went ahead to burn the whole farm. None could tell for sure if the family died in fire or by that beast. Tristan eyed bitterly at the ashes around his feet, if the fire hadn't happened, they still would have enough to eat now, and then felt guilty for caring more about the farm than the owners.

Behind, the creature let out a snort, and he looked back. Its mouth was near the ground blowing ash and dust with its breath. Must be looking for something to eat, but there was nothing to be had, not even weeds grew anymore. He remembered that night when Bella gave birth to a dead baby. After all the defunct animals being born it wasn't really much a surprise. But it really pushed her over the edge and she decided to end her suffering the same night. Not the first suicide they had seen and not the last either. At least one person died every day and they had almost stopped caring about it, just enough to perform the last rites. He wondered who would do his rites when he was taken and then almost laughed. No one. He had no sickness, so he would die last, alone and probably by starvation. He still couldn't bring himself to care, maybe only once the time came.

He looked at the woman's drooping right cheek, one scar twining over another. They looked like those symbols in Nowsem's books that when together told stories. He wondered if similar stories could be found in them too, and if a situation like theirs was a customary in the outside world. Their world. After countless deviant stories he had heard, he wouldn't be surprised if they indeed did; but a little relieved that they weren't the only ones cursed.

The dead branches looked like it was reaching out to him, soliciting desperately to hold them and pull them back to safety. He ignored the signs. He saw her sigh as her eyes peered the dead woods ahead. A grim expression surfaced on her face as she regarded the dense fauna from one end to the other.

Tristan looked down the steep descend and then looked at her ride. It didn't look like it could go there.

"He will stay here." The woman answered before he could finish his thought. He waited as she unstrapped the sword from the animal and tied it around her waist, then she went across itto unload the big leather bags and threw them over her shoulder. Once done, she rubbed its neck in an eccentric display of motherly love and then turned to him.

"We shall go."

Tristan nodded but looked at the animal that stood unbound. Its dark eyes were on his and he could feel it assessing him.

"He is smart, he can stay." She stepped in front and started climbing down. "This way, right?" She called up to him from below.

"YES." He replied from behind and rushed after her.