Twenty

Jay and his men retreated to the entrance stopping by a small lake. His amputated arm bled continuously leaving a long trail of his blood by his side. He was losing a lot of blood. Although, That was the least of his concerns. He was grieving the loss of a great friend.

Anger bubbled through him, a hard kick to a log to dissolve even if it was just a bit of his anger. However, it did nothing. His men waited patiently for his next command or You could say what was left of his men. The mission was a bust. They had lost thanks to the white wolf that appeared out of nowhere. He should have just listened to his friends.

He knelt on the ground, agony tore at his heart painfully.

"We need to get back and get your wound treated," one of them had said.

For a second he thought about what was waiting for him back there. Nothing. Then the quick flash of his daughter came to him.

He was ashamed to go back and face her all bruised and defeated. He was a fool to have let his ego get the best of him. Now his dear friends and most of his men's lives were lost due to it.

"Go back through the entrance, I will catch up. I need some time to myself" he muttered his voice inaudible but they heard him. Retreating away from him slowly. They left. When his men were gone he sobbed to himself hitting his good hand on the ground as he let out a loud cry into the forest. Not caring if he drew the savage beast towards him.

Once his voice gave out tired and hoarse he fell face flat to the ground weak and tired. Unable to move his limbs. He lay in his pool of blood. Succumbing to the unconscious feeling surrounding him.

He thought he heard something seeing a dark figure above. He thought he had reached his end and now he saw his friend.

Buried in the darkness of his head. The sharp pain constantly brings him back to his consciousness. He shot up into a sitting position feeling a stabbing pain in his arm. He was alive.

Turning around he was still in the woods. His amputated arm was bandaged neatly. The cackles of fire beside him drew his attention. Sitting on a fallen log was someone dressed in a dark cloak.

His sense warning him of danger he stood up only to prompt a sharp pain in his arm. He groaned,

"Who are you?" he questioned.

They rolled a stick of meat above the fire cooking each side completely ignoring the question directed at them.

He saw his gun kept idle on another side next to him rushing towards it.

"I wouldn't touch that if I was you. Well, it wouldn't matter since I removed all the bullets." They shrugged nonchalantly. The meat was done and it was set to be eaten.

The masked person now looked up at him pointing to the seat.

"Aren't you hungry? Take a seat." They offered in a polite tone. He wanted to argue but he was definitely at odds here. For now, he would comply and he sat down.

"Good choice. We don't want to shed any more blood today, don't we? They joked to themselves. Jay kept calm, accessing who could be the person before him. With the voice alone it was impossible to tell who was behind the mask.

"I'm not hungry." He declined the food. It must have been poisoned. He wasn't going to take his chances.

There was a paused silence, until, "fine by me. I didn't want to share either." They dug into the pre-cooked meat hungrily.

Jay waited patiently for them to finish before he would ask any further questions.

Once they were done with their meal.

"That was good you will regret not having that" the carefree attitude displayed by the person seemed to put Jay on edge.

"So what's your story? Why do you hate the beast so much?" they asked, sitting upright as they waited for him to speak.

He was puzzled by the sudden question. However, he still went along.

"Because they are savage beasts who terrorize us thinking they are superior," he said realising the pent-up anger that buried deep inside me.

Something lit up in the person's eye at the sight of his fury. He continued.

"These beasts have terrorised us for decades to come. My father was killed trying to bring salvation to our lands. My wife was mauled to death while carrying my unborn child. We had to cut her open to save the child." His expression grew sour with the thought. He remembered holding his precious little daughter in his arms covered in blood crying to heaven.

"They once again took a dear friend of mine. I blame them for his death" his eyes lowered to the ground, then in a smaller voice. "I also blame myself for urging him into this mad hunt, he didn't deserve to die." He bit his lower lip. His hands rigidly clasped together.

There was a brief silence between them only the sounds of the fire cackling into the night and the night birds hooting away in the forest.

"What would you do if you were given the chance to avenge them, " the masked person said, breaking the silence.

He looked up at them. The pure look of hate burned deep in his eyes.

"I take that as a yes" their voice lightened,

"It's actually a no," he said in an uptight tone.

"W-What do you mean?" They looked stunned by his refusal.

"It means I am ending this mad hunt. I'm sure that's what he would have wanted." He stood up to take his gun and leave.

"So you are just going to give up"

"As you said a while ago I think we have shed enough blood for today. I need to take care of my daughter and watch her as I grow old." He said not only to them but to himself. I'm sure his dear friend would have agreed to this. He swung the back over his good arm.

"Thank you for saving me," he nodded,

"If you go out through the entrance kiss seeing your little girl goodbye" they warned. He stooped, turning back to face them.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"The guards surrounded the whole entrance. Anyone who passes there will die." They said,

"And how do you know this?" He said sceptically. His eyes widened in realisation. "My men…"

"All dead, every last one of them. You are the only one who survived." The news was too heavy to digest. Why? It brought back the grief he once felt deeply.

He sat back down burying his head in his hands. Various thoughts travelled through his head. Regrets slapped him across the face repeatedly.

"And you still want to leave everything behind. It's too late to do that" they said,

He swiftly brought his small gun pointing it directly at their face.

"Why should I believe you must be one of them? Trying to lead me to my death" his voice croaked.

"If I wanted you dead I would have done that the moment I found you." They stared ominously at the gun. Unbothered by the clicking sound that followed it.

"We have the same goal," they said,

"Just who are you?" He asked,

"It doesn't matter who I am, only that we have a common enemy." Their words were compelling. Enough for him to bring his guard down.

"I can help you escape and bring vengeance for everyone they have removed from your life. Do it not because of my words but for your daughter. She would have to look over their shoulder anymore. " they urge on. He dropped his gun that had been pointed at them.

"You made the right choice once again."

Meanwhile, Nicholas and the guards gathered the rest of the hunters they had caught retreating to the entrance. Their dead bodies piled upon themselves.

He gazed up, just above the rocks the gemstone that protected them from the humans' eyes cracked just at the centre. It glowed and blinked little by little.

"This is starting to give me a headache," he said in an impassive tone.