They called us monsters part 6

Defending Tereen

 

Yaju reached Tereen in the middle of the night, his mind occupied with what had happened a few hours ago. The guards positioned by the north entrance drew their swords immediately, taken aback by his sudden appearance. As soon as they saw the hunter’s face though, they lowered them.

‘’What’s the hurry hunter?’’, the older guard spoke up, his wrinkly face barely showing under the light of the torches propped against the walls.

‘’This town is in danger. I must speak with the commander.’’, Yaju replied, holding on the rains of his very tired horse. The guards glanced at one another and nodded, opening the gate to let the black-haired male enter. He charged in immediately, surprising a few drunk, off duty guards and merchants who stumbled to get home. Yaju headed for the cells, refraining from visiting the commander’s house in the middle of the night. He dismounted before the horse even stopped, letting it waddle to the side as he hurriedly approached the guards outside the cells. They immediately recognized him and the hunter proceeded to explain what he had heard in the forest. One of them barged in the cells to warn the rest, while the other run away to wake the captain up.

Yaju waited there, while the soldiers who weren’t in guard duty, as well as some regular hunters of Tereen, gathered up outside the cells. The black haired hunter explained the situation to the commander, noting that they had no idea when the attack would take place. Still it was helpful,           being aware of the demons’ intentions. After orders had been placed for additional guard duty, patrols in the forest nearby and orders for equipment to the smith and healer, the crowd dispersed. The hunter could finally relax his body and mind, now that everything was under control. Should the demons come while he is in, he planned to kill every single one of them.

His pair of grey eyes lifted to the sky above, its dark color turning blue from the first light of dawn. He drew a breath, looking forward to a warm bath and a few hours of sleep, before approaching Ester, to give her the order for medicines prepared exclusively as a backup. As soon as he laid in bed, cleaned up and changed, his eyes shut and he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Just before midday pause, he was approaching the healer’s stand in the marketplace and was taken aback when, instead of lady Ester, he met one of the young doctors of Tereen. He gave the hunter a smile and dragged his slender hand through his dirty-blonde hair. Yaju held back a frown, taking the paper out of his jacket pocket and handing it over to the younger male.

‘’This is an order from the town’s guard. Make sure you deliver it as soon as possible.’’, he told him and the male’s eyes widened upon giving its contents a closer inspection.

‘’This is a bit overwhelming…’’, he muttered and fixed the round glasses on his face, his brown eyes rising to meet Yaju’s grey one’s.

‘’Where is lady Ester?’’

In the hunter’s words, the younger male frowned, a devastated expression altering his features.

‘’Doctor Rego has passed away. So she is busy at the moment. All the students the doctor had are doing our best to help, including his two sons who will taking his place as head doctors of his clinic.’’

Yaju nodded at his words, trying to hide the shock that overwhelmed him. He knew little of the doctor, but he always patched him up when he got hurt. Thankfully, Ester and Rego had two children, both of them actively working with medicine and healing, able to carry on his legacy. What struck him as odd was that, even though the doctor seemed as old as his wife, he shouldn’t be old enough to suddenly die, especially since he always looked healthy and strong.

‘’As soon as possible, please.’’, Yaju pressed on, remembering the matter at hand and the younger male frowned before nodding.

Hunter Yaju spent the rest of his day honing his weapons, buying even more equipment and trying to rest and focus his mind for the upcoming possibility of a massive demon attack. He had been sitting outside the inn, observing the few people walking by, night owls and drunks, while his thoughts travelled to possible tactics the demons might use.

Suddenly, yells were heard from his right and he turned his head towards the end of the empty streets, observing a team of guards, armed to the bone, heading towards the west entrance of the city. Well aware of what it might mean, he stood up and held his blade in his right hand, running towards the source of ruckus. A couple guards tried their best to calm the citizens and visitors down, striving to convince them into remaining in house and away from the fight.

Yaju sped up as soon as his eyes met the battle front. Cloaked figures jumped from the top of the walls, sharp and long blades visible from underneath their coats. He could count five of them already on the ground, battling with the guards who stood little to no chance, since they were nearly outnumbered.

‘’Fire!’’, he heard from his side and was glad to see a team of guards, armed with heavy crossbows, shoot out a rain of arrows towards the enemies who jumped from the walls. Yaju charged towards the demons who had managed to avoid the arrows, hadn’t been hit in the head. He had to take advantage of his superior speed, as he dashed to the side to avoid the first one. The hunter’s blade scraped the ground and when he lifted it up, more that the hood of the enemy fell down. A clean cut had sliced the front of his head off, his brain spilling on the paved paths of Tereen.

Gaining confidence from the ease of the first kill, the black-haired hunter went in for the next enemy, catching the guards with his peripherals, as they strived to fight as well. Yaju’s next hit did not land, but grazed on the demon’s back. The hunter turned his body and moved to the next target, hoping that the wounds he inflicted helped the guards finish them off.

Yaju was captivated by the rage of battle and his senses heightened, helping him fight against the demon intruders and protect the guards and fellow hunters who had realized what had happened and cared enough to help. When it seemed like no more demons were coming from the walls, the battle felt much easier. Yaju was surprised with how weak these demons were and his mind crafted scenarios, before he even sheathed his sword. When his head turned around to face the bloodbath around him, his heart fluttered and his body tingled. At the sight of blood, he felt somewhat hungry. He gritted his teeth, trying to restrain his demon side, inherited by his father.

‘’You really are something else.’’, he heard a voice and only then he noticed the people around him. The female voice belonged to the only hunter who had made it alive from the battle. The strange redhead woman stood motionless, her green eyes staring at the male widened, her hard breathing creating clouds around her head. Her brown leather armor had been colored red by blood, just like Yaju’s and an iron spear was between her gloved hands. The male was more shocked with the fact that he hadn’t even noticed her mid fight, than by her assisting in the fight. With his right hand he wiped some blood he felt running down his face, accidentally smearing it into his thick beard. He had to get rid of the foreign blood, as his desire to eat up the dead built up.

A few hours went by and the hunter was more than glad to be wearing a fresh, white linen shirt and clean pants, his bloodied equipment already cleaned up by the innkeeper’s wife. The entire town was grateful for the fighters and devastated for the loss of some of them. Yaju, having experienced these emotions far too many times, was unable to mourn. His only concern was the safety of innocent people. The one’s bearing arms were responsible for throwing themselves in the flames of battle. The hunter wore a heavy cloak above his linen shirt and with his beard still slightly moist from the warm bath, he walked out of the inn, into the cold air and headed for the cells. Commander of the town’s guard, Gerard Coles, was going to hold a meeting and every hunter willing to help with Tereen’s defense, was welcomed there.

As soon as Yaju stepped in the room, his grey eyes met the pair of green that belonged to the female hunter. He felt his breath catch in his throat, recalling the fight and wondering in what condition others might have seen him, in order for her to make a comment. She averted her gaze immediately, her face altering only for a split second in his presence.

‘’Welcome, welcome!’’, the commander rose his voice and Yaju took in the room. Behind the desk, to the right, sat the commanding officer of the guards in Terren, Gerard, a middle aged man with a head of well-trimmed blonde hair and equally well trimmed beard. He wore his metal and leather armor proudly on him, a golden dove on his chest plate, the symbol of Failands. The remaining off-duty guards were scattered around the room, most of them acquaintances of the male hunter. Apart from him and the redhead woman, there were no other hunters in the room.

‘’I assume that all the people of interest are present.’’, Gerard spoke and his expression turned serious in the blink of an eye.

‘’First of all I must thank you for making it in time and informing us about the demon attack, Yaju’’, the commander faced the male hunter and he gave him a firm nod. ‘’Last night proved to us how dangerous these monsters really are. There was only a handful of them and more than a dozen soldiers lost their lives. Still, we managed to defeat them.’’, he kept on. ‘’I have sent word to the capital, asking for aide, but I doubt they will take this seriously, or provide help in time.’’

With a sigh, the commander faced the desk wood beneath his hands before lifting his eyes to face his soldiers.

‘’This means that we have to do our best to defend our city and lay our lives on the line, like our comrades did last night. I do not know and do not care of the reason demons desire to attack this place, but all I know is that my duty commands me to keep fighting, even if loss is eminent.’’ The commander’s words sounded more like his final ones, as if he had given up on Tereen. Maybe the capital did not care for a small town in the middle of the valley, but the people living in it did.

‘’These demons were weak too. I doubt they hit us with their best.’’, the redhead woman suddenly noted and crossed her arms in front of her chest, raising a cocky brow. ‘’If you want me to stay and help commander, you better pay up. I could bring some friends to aid in your town’s defense as well, but they will desire a hefty compensation.’’ Yaju narrowed his eyes at her, suddenly remembering the very reason hunters existed, money and glory. Gerard pursed his thin lips, trying to remain emotionless.

‘’The guard can provide plenty, as long as you can guarantee Tereen’s safety.’’, the blonde male spoke and the soldiers shifted in their positions.

‘’With all due respect commander.’’, one of them spoke up and took a step forward. ‘’I have no money to spare.’’, he added and looked around him before continuing. ‘’And I am thinking of quitting the guard. My wife is too young to become a widow. I will be going to Rekis.’’ Gerard frowned at his soldier’s words as whispers echoed around the room. It was more than possible that a number of soldiers had that same thought.

‘’Go ahead then.’’, Yaju spoke up, unable to hold himself back. ‘’Leave, all of you. Leave this place to the demons, give them what they want.’’ His words seemed to stir everyone, as they stared at him with concerned expressions. ‘’You’ll only help them take further control of Failands. The ones responsible for the attack are not recently turned ones, and not easy to defeat, but that only means that their attack is irrelevant to their hunger.’’

‘’They want land, power and you are ignoring the possibility that others of their kind have already gotten it in this world. If we can defend one thing we should do it right.’’, he kept on and some of them looked down in guilt. ‘’I’ll be taking care of Tereen for you.’’, were his final words before turning around. He might had heard his name been called by the commander, but he chose to ignore it.