Chapter 14 - New Promises

"Rosaline?"

I asked out loud in both confusion and surprise.

'Why is she here? And what's with that sword?' My eyes shifted from her body to the weapon in her hand— a short sword that had a silver blade, the handle of which was wrapped with blue cloth.

'Wait, a hunter?' The thought popped into my head as soon as I spotted that weapon in her hand— along with the way she was acting— calling out the monster so bravely.

My mind was still trying to process it all when I heard another roar echoing in the room— followed by the werewolf leaping towards Rosaline in an attempt to slash her.

But before he could reach her, she spun around and swung the sword at his face— causing him to stumble back in pain.

"You're quick... But not quick enough..." She said to the werewolf who'd landed on its back after falling over one of the couches.

With the creature down— she turned to look at me.

I was still hiding behind the couch— peeping out at the fight that was happening since I was unsure what to do.

"Are you ok? What are you doing here?" She asked— her attention now focused on me as she moved closer.

At first, I was unsure how to answer.

The fact that a hunter— a thing I was thought all my life to hate and be worried about— was not only right in front of me but also saved me from trouble left me stunned.

The werewolf that attacked me earlier had been downed by Rosaline— not even I could deny that fact.

But how could I accept it— help from a hunter?

'What should I say? Should I thank her?' My thoughts didn't get time to wonder for long because I noticed the werewolf standing up again— this time a lot more pissed off than it was before.

So pissed off in fact that it didn't even wait a second before leaping at Rosaline in an attempt to slash her from behind— and she couldn't see it fast enough to react since her attention was focused on me.

"Watch out!" I said as I jumped forward and pushed her out of the way— both of us stumbling as we fell onto the ground.

I landed on top of her as the werewolf leaped right passed us and into the wall of the room— breaking it apart since it was so old while the werewolf was large.

The creature seemed panicked and unsure of what to do— its aggression and pain not helping it focus.

Instincts took over as it broke down the wall completely and dashed out of the building and onto the streets of the town.

I watched as it ran away before peering back down at the girl who was still under me— her shorter body being completely pinned by my own.

Her face was so close to mine that I could hear each breath she took— I could smell the perfume on her body.

I was distracted by the look in her eye— a look that also stared up at me distracted. Neither of us moved or spoke for a few seconds— only stared— then I reacted first.

"Sorry!" I said as I quickly pushed myself off her and got onto my feet— stepping away from her.

She stood up from the ground slowly as well— dusting off her clothing as she thanked me. "It's fine. Thank you for helping me I would've been screwed if you didn't."

Once she finished dusting herself off, I could see her searching around the room with her eyes— only for them to stop on her blade that fell out of her hand when I pushed her.

She moved to pick it up— causing me to move back slightly on natural instinct— something I could tell she noticed because when she picked it up she spoke in a tone to try and calm me.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I'm a hunter." She said, putting the blade away in a sheath that decorated her back.

She tried to move closer, holding out her hands with her palms open to show she wasn't a threat to me.

Not that I was actually scared of her— just worried about the implications she being here meant.

"But you probably don't know what that is, don't worry, it means I hunt dangerous monsters like that thing. I won't hurt you." She said once more in a reassuring tone.

'Yea, dangerous monsters like me.' I thought to myself— but I could never voice that out loud for her to hear unless I wanted to be attacked.

I simply nodded my head as I tried to find the words to speak— my throat dried from all the excitement that happened in the few short minutes so far.

"What are you doing here?" I said— the answer was obvious but it was all I could come up with that wouldn't seem suspicious on the spot.

"I was here to kill that werewolf you just saw. I was also looking for it earlier today but didn't find it."

'So that's why she was here earlier— I knew it seemed odd.' I thought to myself as the pieces started to fall into place slowly— yet I lacked a lot of said pieces, to begin with.

"Why? Why did you want to kill it?" I asked— curious as to why she particularly wanted to kill this werewolf; though I was sure the reasoning boiled down to her being a hunter.

"Oh, that's a long story. But basically, my family is tasked with protecting this town from the monsters and keeping it clean. That werewolf is just one of many that roam the town." She said— but quickly changing the topic to something else.

"Why are you here at this hour of the night?" She didn't seem suspicious— but her tone was definitely unsure and curious.

For this one I didn't actually have to lie— after all, I wasn't even aware there was going to be a werewolf here— I just came here because I wanted to check the place out, so I told her the truth.

"I was out with my sisters but decided to leave early. While on my way back I came across this building again and decided to explore it."

"At this hour of the night?" She asked— still unsure about my odd behavior.

"I thought it would be interesting— and I can see that it is."

That quickly brought her focus back to the main topic at hand— and the actual thing of importance— her being a hunter and that fact being known to me.

She obviously couldn't let me go around mentioning it to anyone— but she also couldn't do anything to me since I wasn't a monster.

Well— not that she knows anyways.

So that left one option— getting me to keep it a secret.

"I can't tell anyone about this or about my family and me." She said in a stern voice that I could tell was hiding the worry under it.

'So her family is also hunters— this could be bad.' I thought to myself but to her, it looked like I was contemplating what she said.

Without any reason to disagree— after all, it benefited me more to play along and get out of this situation— I agreed.

"Ok, I won't tell anyone about this. Not like they would believe me anyway." I said in an attempt to sound as convincing as I possibly could.

"Good, I just don't want anyone finding out about this because it would cause trouble for my family and myself. I trust that you won't."

She said as she walked towards the broken wall and stepped outside— only now looking for the werewolf.

'Tell me about it.' I thought to myself as I nodded and spoke once more— wanting to get out of this situation as fast as I could.

"It looks like you're busy, I'm going to head home. Good luck, and be careful."

She turned back towards me as I was walking towards the exit— taking the door I came in from and not the large hole in the wall.

She seemed unsure about letting me just leave, but she also had no reason to stop me— so she didn't.

"OK, be careful it might still be around." She warned— to which I nodded once more and left on my way back home.

Once I was out of sight from her, I practically started to run my way back.

My current goal was to get home as fast as I could to tell my family about this issue.

Not only about the hunters— but also about the wild werewolf on the loose.

If the Council didn't mention both of those things, what else could they have not mentioned?

And while I did find the girl interesting, and I didn't want to break the promise I made about telling anyone about her being a hunter so soon— my family was my everything.

I cared more about them than I cared about anyone else.