7: The Autumnal Hunt

It was now mid-day, and the knight had finished patrolling the banks of the river, stretching out a mile in each direction of the ford. The search turned up blank. All he could see is scorched grass around the ford on the following bank, stiffly swaying in the wind. As he watched it for a while, he found himself mesmerized by the way the blackened blades of grass would flake off in the stronger gusts of wind, almost like the molting shell of a vulnerable creature.

After a quarter-hour, the knight stood up. He couldn't allow the relief to get to him. He saw no signs of the cerberus crossing the river, nor any signs that it was still awake, meaning it had not improved its resistances to either water or light at this point in time. Therefore he had time to rest.

The autumn air was beginning to gain its crisp edge, and the leaves were in full bloom, a spectrum of flames, dancing in the breeze like a festival of candle-lit lanterns. Under any other circumstances, the knight would have stopped and taken a rest that day. One of the many things he had learned over the course of his decade-long journey was that there was almost always time to smell the roses. However, he had to give up on stopping right now. There was no time to relax any more.

The knight ran back to the ford, and waded through the knee-deep water. He had to act now.

While a creature from hell resides on the surface of the world, it would sleep. Its nocturnal practice would continue until it had gained its sunlight resistance after living on the surface for a period of time. However, this period of time varied between individuals. For some it would be days, for others, months.

As the knight ran through the forest, he began to extend his senses, concentrate less on his vision, and more on his other senses. He was worried the hound could be stalking him. The second the knight had entered the forest, he had trespassed on the cerberus' grounds.

When opening up his senses, he noticed it was stalking him. After stopping entirely and closing his eyes for a bit, he stopped for a minute, then corrected himself. Not it, but something else. He proceeded forward slowly, still making his way towards the cave where he knew the pack of dire wolves used to live.

After a couple minutes of walking, the knight stopped for several minutes. The seconds flew away like a surprised heron, and after a long standstill, the knight sighed. He called out into the forest, hoping the stalker would listen. "Come out. I know you're there."

Cleo stepped out from behind a tightly grouped grove of trees, almost like a guilty child after stealing a treat from the pantry. Her head was down and she knew he was about to send her back to the village. The knight was not at all surprised by this development.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" the knight questioned Cleo. "You know the village needs you right now more than ever, right?"

Cleo replied in kind. "Are you sure you want to die a meaningless death? We both know you're just throwing your life away doing this. Confident or not, you can't kill that beast on your own. Allow me to help you! I want to make sure you come back alive from this. There's so much you haven't answered. I'm at the point where I won't rest easy until I know who you are." Cleo knew she was acting like a little brat, but she couldn't hold back anymore.

"Oh you are such an idiot. If you're set on following me, I know I can't send you back. You'll just run back to me. I have two conditions for you. You must follow these no matter what, okay?"

"Well, it depends on their contents."

The knight continued, ignoring her remark. "One, if I die, you run. There is no stopping it on your own. If I am in critical condition, run. Do not try to retrieve me if you are not a hundred percent sure you can do it. This is the most important condition. The second one is much easier. Don't ask me any more questions. I promise I'll answer all of your questions after I kill the beast."

"Done, as long as you keep your promise of course." Cleo was elated, and it was evident in her stature. Her steps began to have some hop in them as the pair continued deeper into the forest.

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After walking for an hour, the knight put out his arm, stopping cleo from moving forward. However, she didn't notice and walked into his arm. He pushed back on her forcefully, stopping her with some authority. "Okay, now that you aren't deaf to the world, listen to me. You will stay here, and I will go forward. The den is about fifty meters away at eleven-o'clock. I will drag out the beast and you will give me support when I need it. There is a small clearing at nine-o'clock, so when you hear me fighting it, head in that direction and wait in the bushes. Make sure it doesn't notice you. You will need to be able to escape to evacuate the village. If the knights are coming, they won't bother with the village, they could battle the beast in the burning village for all they care." The knight put his arm down and moved forwards, but was stopped by Cleo.

"Wait, before you go, I just want to let you know one thing. Never touch me like that ever again, accident or not, if you touched any other girl like that they would scream a lot of unsavory words and run away. On that note, I wish you luck. Don't die on me yet, asshole."

The knight turned away, blushing under his mask. Having little to no contact with society since he was nine years old kept him very immature in some aspects, and this was one of them. He shook his head aggressively and stepped forwards into the den. The smell of charred mold was almost overpowering, as if he was walking into a literal dumpster fire.

As he looked at the sleeping mound, its maroon skin shifting and stretching slightly as it breathed, the knight remembered that it was his fault the hound had gotten this strong. He knew it was his duty to destroy the problem he had caused. There was no compromising his mistake; It was now or never.