They called us monsters part 2

This is the second part of my new story: They called us monsters. I will upload parts of it as I write it.

Warning for gore, violence, profanity and adult situations. For 18+ audience.

CTK

Chapter 2: Bounty

Yaju kept honing his long blade, trying to focus on the repetitive sound the metal made on the whetstone. His eyes were focused solely on his tools and his mind had long emptied, until a very annoying sound broke his concentration.

‘’Good morning sir Yaju!’’, the piercing voice of a young boy echoed in his ears and made him raise his grey eyes to meet Koro, the son of the tavern owner who had been giving him food and accommodation for a good amount of money. Yaju had seen the black haired kid grow from a toddler to a boy, living through his constant pestering. He grunted in response as the boy’s round face came too close to him.

‘’Morning Yaju!’’, the boy’s father spoke up, walking behind his son in order to get inside the kitchen and begin preparing food for his customers in the inn. The swordsman stood up and sheathed his trusty blade, caressing the decoration, in the shape of a wolf’s head, lightly. Every time his fingers felt its details, he was reminded of his family. He run his calloused hands though his black hair that had reached near his shoulders, while making a mental note to cut them shorter.

‘’I will be in the cells today.’’, Yaju commented and approached the bar, in order to fill his flask with water. ‘’But I will be here for the night.’’ The innkeeper nodded and smiled under his thick brown beard. His shaven head and size made him look formidable, but he was a very gentle man at heart. Yaju wore his coat over his shoulders, not really caring to protect himself from the cold, but being used to partially covering his leather armor and equipment.

‘’Ah miss Ketsu!’’, Richard exclaimed, his brown eyes clearly focused behind the swordsman. Yaju turned around to face the person the innkeeper looked at, to see a woman walking downstairs from her rented room. Her black eyes focused on him for a split second and Yaju thought their color altered. A cloak covered her clothing partially, but the man could tell that she wasn’t dressed like any usual woman, but wore pants and leather enhancements, as if she was a fighter.  

‘’How was your night?’’, the tavern owner added with a smile the lady reciprocated. Yaju couldn’t get over her odd beauty and had to force himself to look away. The woman had a gentle face with sharp features and looked like she was living the third decade of her life.

‘’Splendid sir Joah, thank you for providing me with a windowed room.’’, she replied and walked in front of the swordsman, heading out of the tavern. ‘’Have a good day.’’, she added, before finally exiting the place. Yaju couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something odd about her, but he had to focus on his task of the day.

He walked out of the tavern and into the busy streets of Tereen, heading for the northern edge and to the cells, which were used as prison and a base for the town’s guard. With this year’s increase of hunters coming and going, the number of prisoners had greatly decreased, mostly because hunters took bounties and killed anyone with money on their head, from small time thieves to demons.

Yaju got a few stares from the people he walked by, even if he had been living in this place for quite some time now. His mere size made him stand out. He was more than two feet tall and his years in battles and blacksmith work as a teen, had put a lot of muscle on him. As soon as he approached the iron entrance to the cells, one of the largest buildings this fairly guarded by walls town had, a guard standing outside tipped his iron helmet to him.

‘’Welcome hunter Yaju. We have some new bounties from last night.’’, he spoke and stepped aside to let the taller male enter. When he stepped in the dimly lit main room of the cells, his ears were overwhelmed by grunts and noises of prisoners, as well as conversations guards had between them. The large room was covered by iron doors all the way to the back and stairs to the left led up and down to more cells and the rooms some guards with no families in town lived in. The black-haired hunter turned to the right, where one of the guards behind and desk kept organizing a pile of papers. As soon as their eyes met, grey mirroring brown, the clean shaven guard smiled wide.

‘’Yaju! Haven’t seen you in a week!’’, he spoke up and immediately grabbed a few papers, rolling them up and tying them with a string, choice bounties for the hunter. The guards appreciated the hunters who lived in town and helped them keep the area safe, and Yaju had been one of them for three years.

‘’Jake…’’, the hunter mumbled and approached him, taking the roll of papers from his hands, already feeling itchy to fight again. ‘’How’s the family?’’, he casually asked and placed the roll in a pocket of his leather vest, hiding it with the cloak. The guard nodded with a smile, a few wrinkles around his eyes showed the honesty of his expression.

‘’Good, good! You should come for dinner some time. Let’s have some beers, I’ll tell Ross as well!’’, he excitedly spoke and Yaju broke a smile and nodded as well. Ross was another hunter who had lived in Tereen all his life and took care of the people in his own way, by getting rid of demons and outlaws and helping the guard.

‘’Will do. Good day to ya!’’, Yaju exclaimed and left the building, his mind already looking forward to the bounties he had been given. He took a detour through the market, wanting to equip himself with some medicinal powders, dry food, alcohol, arrows and whetstone and oil for his weapons. The market took up the streets in front of more than fifteen buildings and from sunrise to sundown it was always busy. It made him forget that Tereen was actually in the middle of a valley, nothing but small villages surrounding it for a few miles. The closest big town was a week’s worth of travel by foot away and it was the port of Rekis. The hunter sighed and recalled the salty breeze of the merchant town, considering a trip there soon, to get his mind out of the gutter.

‘’Ah going out for a hunt soon?’’, he heard female a voice behind the bench he had just approached, looking to buy some medicinal powders. He was immediately faced with the hazy blue eyes of lady Ester, the doctor’s wife and the one grinding out most of the medicine used in town. She was a middle aged woman, as strong as any other merchant around, working long hours to take care of her herb garden and craft medicine.

‘’Yes, I have a few bounties to collect.’’, Yaju spoke and smiled lightly, the skin breaking around his mouth, showing signs of age. The woman nodded to herself and handed him a pouch of the usual collection of powders in a small pouch. The black haired male payed her up and turned around to leave, when something caught his eye. His attention shifted to a female figure, just next to him, who had approached the bench. She looked younger than him, her fiery red hair, caught in a tight, intricate braid, as if she wanted to keep them away. An indifferent expression was pasted on her face, as her green eyes travelled over the vials and pouches of dry herbs Ester had displayed.

‘’New in town?’’, Lady Ester asked and the woman turned her eyes to her and lifted a brow. Yaju couldn’t help but focus on her leather battle clothing beneath her cloak, as well as a folded iron spear mounted against her back, one pointy edge sticking out.

‘’Yes. I hear this is a great place for hunters to pick up jobs.’’, her voice was feminine but deep, and sounded borderline indifferent.

‘’Don’t tell me you are hunter yourself miss? I have just the bundle for you.’’, Ester commented, her merchant side overshadowing her motherly nature. Yaju couldn’t help but stare at the female hunter, wondering what had led her to that position, since he himself had gone through a lot to end up doing that kind of job.

His eyes reached her face again and he felt his stomach sink, as she was staring right at him, her brows clearly lifted in confusion. He cleared his throat and turned around to leave.

When night came, the male hunter had been laying on the tough bedding, staring at the names and details of his targets again and again, coming to terms with the fact that he would get to kill once more. He sighed and folded the papers up, placing them into his bag beside the bed of the single room. His eyes focused ahead, outside the open window on the starless sky. Winter was soon to arrive and the first rains had already fallen two days ago. The change of seasons always brought Yaju peace, since it reminded him that the world still worked as it should.

As soon as dawn arrived, turning the sky into a murky, light blue color, the black haired hunter climbed on his horse, heading for the location his first target liked to appear. This particular demon was probably a recently turned one, since his attacks to eat were unorganized and messy. He had eaten five children from the village of Kurt and had been seen by the adults three times. He dared not attack them though, in fear of being unable to capture and kill them, thus resorting in eating children. The mere thought of his actions made the hunter sick to his stomach and served as a reminder of his use in the world.

It took him only a few hours to reach the village and he slowed the horse down only upon seeing the fields and cattle around the scarce farmhouses. The village was large in size, but very few people lived in it, most of them farmers for generations. Yaju dismounted his horse and proceeded to walk beside it with his hand still gripping on the rope of the reigns. The sun beamed down on the blessed village, which always managed to produce a large number of barley and root vegetables for Tereen and the villages nearby.

‘’Good day sir!’’, a male from the other side of the path splitting the barley fields approached Yaju. The energy of his steps showed his young age, before his face even became visible to the hunter.

‘’Good day.’’, the older male replied and stopped to face the brunette, clean shaven man, who fumbled with his hat in his hands. Yaju had probably interrupted his work, since he was wearing only a shirt on top, soaked in sweat and covered in weeds and dirt. The farmer traced the hunter’s form with his black eyes and then faced his scary face with a hesitant smile.

‘’Are you hear to claim bounty?’’

‘’Indeed. I will be needing your cooperation to catch this demon, seeing how he is interested in very particular victims.’’

The farmer nodded, his face turning pale. Yaju couldn’t help but wonder whether he had lost a child to the monster or not. With the plan already forming in his head, he followed the villager further into the fields and to his own house.