A Bewitching Time V1: Nightfall Ch 3

A Bewitching Time: Volume 1: Nightfall
Chapter 3: First Blood

When she closed the door I took a breath. I couldn't help but feel a tightness in my back like she had punched me. I tried to keep myself together and not let what she said to get to me too much. I needed sleep after the amazing food I had, sleeping would be an easy task. The bed was nothing special but with the exhausting day, it felt like heaven. Chiyo woke me in the morning as usual. She always acted like she was late for something, but I knew we had a few hours to kill. Getting me ready took about two hours. A walk down to the underground bathhouse, a thorough scrub down, a relaxing bath, trudging up to the powder room, getting dressed in a long sleeve olive colored dress with the black corset pulled uncomfortably tight, putting my hair up and into place with a gold stick that I thought about using as a weapon later, some surprisingly comfortable brown boots with no heels, these were perfect for hunting. The last piece of clothing she gave me was a brown and olive cloak with the Holy Knights crest proudly on the back. The crest showed a ferocious lion crossed in the background by two swords and engulfed in the borders of the crest, the very top outside of the border was a royal crown, the cherry on top for a kingdom's fierce warriors.
     I smoothed over the crest with my hand, this was really happening, wasn't it? Even so, I felt like this crest didn't belong to me. Chiyo sent me on my way with an apple to eat for breakfast. The sun was bright and warm, it gave me goosebumps all over and it was a nice contrast to the harsh cold wind and the thick snow I had to trudge through. I heard galloping in the distance and turned to my left. Warrick was galloping towards me on his brown horse trailing behind him was another horse but a huge black and white one. He circled me slowly with both of the horses.
     "See her Domino, isn't she pretty? Her name is Canaan. Go meet your new owner boy." He said letting go of the reigns. He got close to me, enough to lick my face. You could see his breath through his nostrils because of the cold day. He chomped on my hair and nibbled it. He nayed and rested his forehead between my breasts and nodded. The forceful nod flung me backward in the snow.
     "Hahaha! Do you like her Domino? Don't worry I do too." Said Warrick. I stood and brushed off the snow from my new cloak. I looked into Domino's eyes and touched his cheek. He nuzzled against my cupped hand in response. I don't remember myself being this good with animals especially horses. I settled myself on the stirrup and threw my other leg over so that I could sit on the saddle. As soon as I got on I was immediately scared. I was white knuckled holding the reigns. Domino is too big a horse for me.
     "Relax. He may be a Clydesdale, but he is a gentle giant. Here we'll go slow I'll lead." He said. He motioned for his horse to go. Domino automatically followed Warrick's horse.
     "Just breathe until you feel comfortable with him. He won't buck you off or anything since he likes you," said Warrick. I followed his instructions and that helped but something he said earlier was nagging at me.
     "Warrick what did you say earlier?" I asked him. He said he liked me. Did he mean he loved me?
     "When?"
     "You said you liked me. Um did you mean that romantically?" I asked him. Now I was fairly comfortable with Domino and had caught up with Warrick's pace.
     "I never said that. You must be tired still. C'mon, we have a mile to cover before we reach the outskirts of the forest. That's where Valencia and Milton are waiting for us." He said clearly dodging the question. I scraped the tip of my tongue against my sharp canine tooth. I did this when I was mad. I still kept my pace steady so that I wouldn't fall behind. Since I couldn't confront him about the whole liking situation I asked him another question.
     "What kind of horse is yours? And what's his name?"
     "This is a Bay horse. And her name is Brandy." He said.
     "I'm sorry for calling you a boy Brandy. My mistake." I said to her petting her head.
     It was more than awkwardly silent the rest of the way there to the outskirts. We met Valencia and Milton. They were happy to see me again and congratulated me on my new knighthood. They were surprised to see Domino warmed up to me so quickly. I asked them what kinds of horses they had and they answered. Valencia had a Buckskin horse named El Jefe. El jefe was a beautiful tan color everywhere except the start of his knees which were black. Milton said he had a Lipizzan named Lacey. She was gray like smoke and her mane was curly. I think that gave Lacey character.
     We casually rode into the forest and I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared. The forest had a unique eeriness about it. What was I getting myself into? This was going to be my workplace for how much time? Until I die? Or until I'm killed by these creatures? We rested at a roaring river that split the forest like a scar. We all dismounted our horses, made a fire, and had lunch.  After lunch was over, Warrick rose his voice.
     "Canaan I want to tell you a story." he said.
     "A story? really? What are you, my father?" I teased. I looked around at Valencia and Milton's faces. They were dead serious. Joke's on me now. I lost my smile and straightened my back.
     "A story about what?" I asked, my tone now matching the same seriousness as him.
     " It involves the river behind us. There are higher beings in this world besides ourselves. There are three of them, two are good and the other one is bad. Rooted in this world's history is the grand Father, Midra. He created everything your eyes see. You name it, it was made by him. He had two sons, The first son Gren and the second son Midratha. They were born from the goodness of Midra's heart and came to life from the land. Gren was born from leaves, sticks, and rocks. His younger brother Midratha was born from sunlight and water from the Urah river. That's the one behind us. It cuts through all the lands in the world. As you can see and hear it's strong. The Urah is a holy river. The citizens frequently come here to soak rocks, sticks, wood for building, and plants for eating to cleanse them of their original sin. All the plants and rocks you see are tainted because they come from Gren. The Urah river can heal as well as cleanse. As Gren and Midratha grew to become men, the ventured to go down to the land and meet the humans, Midra's most prized creation.  Midra loved the humans more than his own sons. Midra lived with the humans and learned from them so that he could become more gentle and wise. Gren on the other hand grew jealous and hated the humans. Gren thought to himself, why could a father love something as weak as the humans and not love his own son, particularly his firstborn? Grens' hatred grew with time and he murdered the humans by eating the flesh off their bones. Midratha tried to console his older brother but to no avail. Midratha left the land and ascended to the stars with his father once again. Gren festered in his hatred and ate for the sake of eating and to upset his father. I know all of this is hard to take in but, i'm not done explaining yet. You see, everything that is evil can be traced back to Gren, lying, sexual deviance, stealing, cheating, foul speak, murder, and rape. Midratha went down to the land and sought to settle this problem. Instead of killing his brother, Midratha cast a Holy spell on Gren and separated him into twelve beings forced to roam the land for eternity. Those beings were called Grendels. The Grendels eat human flesh for sustenance. A curse was bestowed upon Gren, if he ate too much he would get ill. the same goes for the Grendels. They don't die but when it happens i have heard that you'd've wished you were dead. Ugh, man I'm too winded somebody pick up." he ended, bowed his head and shooed them along with his hand.
     "Alright, the things that Grendel's can die from are other Grendel attacks and these." Milton held out his spear.  
     "In general if a human is bitten by a Grendel he or she has a fifty-fifty shot at dying or living. And if you are bitten and live then you have a fifty-fifty chance of becoming one of them. When you become one there is a possibility of your blood becoming tainted with poison. The one you saw earlier was a Scorpio, hence the tail. There are four kinds that we know of so far, the Scorpio, Gemini, Aries, and Taurus. Every Grendel has a sign burned into their body signifying which zodiac they are. The zodiac goes hand and hand with their abilities. That's about all we know." Valencia explained as she retrieved something from her pack on her horse.
     "This is your weapon it's a claymore and we'll teach you how to use it later. If you treat it with care and respect and it shouldn't fail you." Valencia said as she gave it to me. I stared at her in awe. It was a long and heavy sword. She helped me put it on and tightened the belt on my waist. It was a weight I would have to get used to.  We all sat together and talked about stories. I listened and laughed along with them as if I were with them when they happened. The day turned to night and the sky lit with stars and moonlight. Like the day it was cold and you could see your breath in the air. However, it was much more cold and the chill was just barely piercing through my clothes.
     Everyone else was used to it and it was something I'd have to bare. The horses were not affected by the cold either. I watched Warrick make a fire and I dragged the hollowed log I was sitting on closer to it and rubbed my hands together and put it relatively close to the heat. The wave of heat sent a chill through my body. Our eyes met for a second and I nervously jerked my gaze away from him.  I felt nauseous and nervous. The pit of my stomach tensed, butterflies. I've had this feeling before, but not nearly as strong as right now. Don't come over here Warrick.  
     "Canaan." Asked Milton putting a hand on my shoulder. I jolted thinking it was Warrick.  "Sorry for startling you. But we only have a few hours until the Grendels start coming out. Valencia and I are going to teach you the basics of fighting them."
     "Oh, alright." I asked. Yes please I could watch paint dry just get me away from Warrick for the moment. The queasiness in my stomach didn't stop. It stayed in its place the entire time. Valencia and Milton gave me a few pointers on how to fight the Grendels. And then they tested me in a way. Generally they all have a weak point, the heart. Piercing the heart will kill them. Getting there is the problem. The Scorpio uses it's tail  for defense and offence. A Gemini uses it's six metallic appendages like harpoons. A Taurus uses it's wings like weapon and typically it's used for defense but when pressured it will flare the wings and poisonous metallic spikes will shoot out like a porcupine. An Aries uses its brute strength to overpower its victims, and not much is known about their abilities.  Grendels all have large bat like wings that they can use for defense or offence if a victim is close enough to them. Another shared trait between all of them is their orange colored irises and their insatiable hunger for flesh.
     After giving me the lecture Valencia and Milton attacked me with their weapons. They were getting my mind and body ready for battle. I knew that they were probably slower than the Grendels really are so I would have to be vigilant. I'm not certain of my chances out here in this wilderness. I'm sure Valencia, Milton, and Warrick have seen their fair share of new recruit deaths. I don't want to be another casualty. Also if one of them got hurt or died because of a mistake I made, I don't think I could live myself then. I sat next to the fire again, had a gulp of water from my canteen and listened to the rushing rapids behind us.
     I was already exhausted and we still had a fight left for the night.  Warrick fed Brandy an Apple from his pack and sat down next to me. Butterflies again, I tried to ignore it and focus on my surroundings.
     "The moon is beautiful tonight." He said, the deepness of his voice sent shivers down my spine. It only made more and more butterflies wriggle inside my stomach. The night sky was cloudless, crisp, and clear. The moon lit everything in its path. Looking at it within the depths of the forest made it seem so far away.  I looked at it thinking maybe this would be the last time I would see it. No, I can't think like that, I can beat them.
     "Canaan?" Warrick asked. I turned my head to face his and responded with a huh?  At that moment, His strong and calloused hand cupped the back of my neck and brought my lips to his. He was kissing me. His eyes were closed like he was waiting to kiss me for a long time. My eyes were open the entire time in shock. All of the butterflies melted away. It was sudden and rushed. I had only been here a few days and I'm just now realizing that I'm falling in love with a man I had just met.
    
     He opened his eyes and for a moment he seemed to be on cloud nine. Then his entire demeanor changed. He firmly repositioned his hands on my shoulders and pushed me away, ending the kiss abruptly. He looked back at me like he was disgusted with himself and sorry for me. He barely said anything except for mumbling under his breath should not have done that. He covered his lips with his palm and trudged off. What was that? Does he like me or doesn't he?
     A familiar feeling washed over me, I was being toyed with. I let out a sigh and gritted my teeth. I looked toward the forest across the Urah river and saw Milton and Valencia. Their backs were turned to me and I could tell something was off. I yelled out to them but they didn't respond. Something came over me like a trance. I had the urge to follow them even though I knew that what I was looking at couldn't be them. I crossed the river, the iciness chilling me to my bones and the water saturated my clothes to the thighs. I followed the fake Milton and Valencia to an opening in the thick forest. The moonlight was bright and clear.
     Fake Valencia and Milton stopped walking and turned to face me. When they did their eyes were bright orange and both of them laughed maniacally at me. This snapped me out of my trance like state. And I was overcome with fear and confusion. I knew I was in big trouble. The fake Valencia and Milton however diffused into to the night, like they were made of smoke or mist. In their place, a child barely above age four, with his back to me, crept over something in front of him although I couldn't make out what it was.
     Hesitantly I approached the child, he was whimpering.
     "Miss? I'm so hungry, could you spare me something to eat?" he begged. My God, what is this youngster doing out here? Where are his parents? How long has he been without food?
     "I have some food just across the river, I can get you some, just come away from that thing it could be dangerous." I said to him.
     "Oh this, I'm sorry Miss, Mama always tells me I ain't got good manners. And I never could finish a meal. It's just you smell so fresh and I have been chewwin' on this one since this mornin'." He ended.  He turned to face me with blood visible on his clothes and dripping down his mouth. In his hand was a severed arm that he took a generous bite of. He swallowed his bite and showed his large wings, which were several times larger than his own tiny body, they covered him completely and metallic spike formed from out of them.

    I drew my sword with my grip slipping from sweat and the blade shaking from my own fear. I can't go up against this, this child just killed a full grown person, and I'm next. My breathing was shallow and short. The spikes grew and grew until they finally sprung out of the Grendel's wings and stayed suspended. In that moment a blur came into my vision blocking my sight. A sword was thrust into the ground in front of me  and it shined with a bright white glow similar to the moon. The sword itself changed its shape into a large shield many times larger than myself and the man in front of me cradling me in his arms. The aroma was familiar, it was Warrick come to save the day again.

    My Claymore fell to my side when he grabbed me, making a clanking noise. Many other clanking noises hit the shield and some flung this way and that making a whistling sound as they hit it. The ones that were able to escape the shield hit nearby trees and ate into the tree but soon disintegrated into white balls of light and returned to Warrick's shield. The rain of poisoned needles stopped and I grabbed my sword again but held it firmly in my hands. Warrick looked at me and said, " No, it's too dangerous for you."

"My entire life I have been sitting on the sidelines and letting other people make decisions for me.  Letting other people fight my battles and it's about damn time I fight my own. This is no different. I'm not gonna be taken advantage of any longer! You can't hit me any longer!!" my sword glowed a hot blue and without thinking I drove it into the inside of Warrick's shield.  The words and this  intense feeling of anger and determination was familiar to me but it also seemed distant like I was seeing a memory being played through a murky tank of water. Warrick hissed in protest to my blade, I grazed his cheek and it was instantly red. That would leave a scar later. The shield gave a high pitched screech like a Banshee and crumpled itself into it's original shape.  

"Those needles are gonna regenerate any time now." Warrick said. We both ditched to the nearest two trees for cover. Milton whistled out to us from a few trees away, with Valencia on the opposite side of the covering waiting to pounce. We waited until the Grendel regenerated another set of needles, much slower than the first round. Milton went first driving his spear into the boy's shoulder, temporarily stopping the needle making process on his right wing. Valencia next swung her axe to slice at the left wing. The impact made a nice sized gash.

The boy began to whimpered and his wings unraveled to reveal himself. I took that as my chance to strike. I drove my still blue hot blade into the boy's torso. He screamed and cried out to me, "What did we ever do to you? Ya dunno what it's like." Tears were visible in his eyes. The Grendel reached out with his hands, a Taurus symbol visible on his back of his hand, and drove the sword deeper into himself. A tear streamed down his face and he uttered his last words, If only you knew. The boy disintegrated into ash just like the one from a few days ago. A part of me was saddened by the boy's' words, but they're just monsters right?

"That was some powerful shit Canaan" said Warrick from a short distance taking his sword from the ground and placing it in his sheath. What is he jealous because he didn't get a hit in?
"Thanks" I retorted.

"With that much power you need to learn how to control it." said Valencia.

"Is no one upset about this? I just killed a child and you're blabbering to me about how i should control my powers. Look in a mirror. How many more kids are we gonna kill tomorrow?" I responded. Fed up with the situation I stormed off ahead of the group and ready to go back to the castle. No one spoke the rest of the way to the castle. We were all exhausted by the time we got inside the castle. I was about to open my door when Milton tried to stop and talk to me. He gently touched my shoulder.

"Listen, Canaan. We know how you feel, but we didn't choose for it to be this way."

"I appreciate the sentiment Milton but my head is killing me and I just want to go to bed. I'm sorry. Good night." I said without looking at him I closed the door in his face. I plopped down on my bed not even worrying about undressing and fell fast asleep. I hope my dream is a long one because I'm dreading hunting tomorrow.