Chapter 12 : Home for the Holidays

Tan and Renee head to the farm to spend the Winter Break with their families, only to find a Grim problem that has to be dealt with. Aided by an older ( and very cantankerous ) Hunter and Huntress couple, they find there is more than one way to end a career in their chosen field.


Part 1 - Homecoming and Hangovers

Tan looked over the packed bags that were placed by the door of the dorm room. Two large suitcases and one long weapon case held everything that he and his partner would need for a weeklong vacation during the winter break from Beacon Academy.

He smiled at his partner, who was seated on her bed, regaling the other half of the team with plans for reunion with her extended family. He couldn't really blame her exuberance, since she hadn't seen her parents in over four years. His own excitement was tempered with the realization that he now had to deal with what promised to be an overabundance of thanks from them in return for helping them to get out of the slums and into a life they never expected to lead.

" Renee! If we miss our flight, it's gonna be a long walk home!" he chided the girl.

Twelve hours later, Tan stood in the living room of the farmhouse he'd grown up in and watched the tearful reunion of his partner and her family.

She'd spent the trip from the airport to the farm with her face plastered to the window of the car, watching the snow fall on the plowed fields that stretched into the distance. The sheer size of the farm left her speechless.

He, on the other hand, had spent the trip going over plans for the spring planting with his father. Tan really didn't mind, since they wouldn't get another chance once the festivities started. Misses Tyrson refused to allow business to get in the way of her family and friends having a proper celebration, and crossing her was definitely out of the question. Tan would prefer to go up against a Death Stalker, rather than face the wrath of his diminutive mother.

Mister Tyrson walked over to his son, two glasses in his hand. " Here boy!"

If Tan hadn't been busy watching his partner, he might have noticed the suspicious bulge in the old man's vest pocket. As it was, he took a hefty swallow. He spent the next few moments choking as the burning sensation worked its way down his throat. Eyes watering, his whole body seemed to convulse at once in reaction to the drink. When he finally got control of himself, he pointed a finger at his father.

" That was a dirty trick!" he said hoarsely, feeling the warmth of the alcohol spread through his body.

The elder Tyrson shrugged. " Hey! It's winter. Can't have you catching a cold now, can I?"

Tan had to smile, vowing to never again forget his father's hobby of distilling an alcoholic beverage from apples that was 'hard' enough to drive nails with. He waved the glass towards the group at the other end of the room. " Please tell me that you're not serving it to everyone! I'd prefer to not see my friend falling on her ass in front of her parents!"

" Not to worry!" his father replied. " But her father and I might share a glass or two afterwards to celebrate the promotion he's about to get." He rested a calloused hand on his son's shoulder. " You done good, kid! That man is the hardest worker I've ever employed. He's up and going before I finish breakfast, and he won't quit until I make him. As of tonight, he's the new foreman!"


Tan opened bleary eyes and, for a moment, wished he were dead. The queasiness in his stomach was just the beginning of the hangover, the accompanying headache was starting to bloom into epic proportions that made cutting his head off an easier option than actually getting up to fetch painkillers.

The elder Tyrson and Mister Delacourt had insisted that he join them for the after dinner ' promotion party' in his father's den. Too many toasts had followed, each with its own small glass of ' cider'. The boy hoped his father was suffering the same aftereffects this morning, just to prove that there was some kind of justice in the world!

An hour later, with painkillers and coffee administered, he felt almost alive. Watching his mother and partner trading whispers and smirking in his direction as he sat at the breakfast table hadn't improved his mood in the least, but Renee had reminded him of his promise to show her around the farm today. Seeing no honorable way out of it, he swallowed two more painkillers with the last of his coffee.

The wind rushing past the ATV helped clear his head as they rolled down the road between the pastures. Renee had shown a childish delight with the farm animals he'd introduced her to in the several barns inside the sprawling compound, but Tan had decided a trip to see the larger herds in the fenced fields was in order to complete the tour.

As they drove along he kept one eye on the alarms mounted on fence posts, looking for any damaged equipment. The girl standing next to him holding on to the roll bar as she waved to the cows in the field provided a bit of distraction. 'I did that too, the first time I saw them' he thought.

Renee's fist pounded on his shoulder, almost making him lose control of the vehicle. " What are those gray boxes for?"

Tan let the vehicle roll to a stop before replying. " Grim alarms. See how they line up? If anything breaks the beam, an alarm sounds back at the farm. It doesn't happen often, but Dad keeps a couple of Hunters on retainer just in case."

Renee looked troubled at the thought. " Do they ever attack the farm buildings?"

He looked up at her and winked. " Don't worry about it. Dad insists that every adult learn how to shoot and he keeps a decent armory in the main building. And the wall is pretty stout. It'll hold up to just about any Grim around here. He's not going to let anything happen to your folks!"

" My mother with a gun? The mind boggles!" She said, dropping down into her seat.

" You should see the rifle mine uses! It's bigger than she is!"

Half an hour later, they were passing the last field that made up this portion of the farm.

" This place is huge!" Renee commented.

Her partner looked around for a moment. " Yep! And this is just the north side."

His eyes scanned the open field, noting a disturbing lack of beef. ' What was supposed to be out here?' he wondered. Renee's hand appeared next to his head, finger pointing into the open area.

" What's that?" Tan's eyes followed the finger to where a brown lump of fur rose from the short grass. Grabbing binoculars from the dash, he stood on the seat for a closer look.

' Oh, yeah. The bull was out here.' Or rather half the bull, as closer inspection revealed. Moving the glasses, he scanned the length of the fence line, looking for a break. The rear half of the animal hung from a tree branch on the far side of the field. Only one thing gets into a field without setting off the alarm, he decided. Setting the binoculars back on the dash, he reached for his scroll.

" Dad! We've got a Nevermore out in the north fields!"