Opening her eyes to the gentle warmth of the early morning sun, Elequinn rubbed her eyes sleepily as she looked around the area. The cart she had been riding had stopped in the middle of a grass field. The uncut vegetation had grown to be much taller than her even when she was standing up, and their slow swaying in the wind made the area appear quite soothing.
Further ahead, she could see a forest of trees, their canopies easily towering over the grass around her. Aside from the chirping of birds who had woken up early, there was also the soft sound of flowing water in the distance, hinting to the girl that there was a river of some sort close by.
Lying next to her on the cart was Galix, his arms folded as he slept silently. Although he appeared perfectly fine, one look at his leg quickly told Elequinn otherwise. Her friend had taken off the armor on his legs the night before, and had forcefully removed the bullet that had managed to embed itself slightly into his shin. Although he had insisted that he was fine, the way Galix's leg seemed to be swelling up told Elequinn a different story.
"Pretty sure I have some herbs in there somewhere."
Opening her backpack, the girl blinked in surprise as something black and reddish in color flew out of it. It took her a moment to register that the blur was in fact the insect that had been with them all the way since Galix retrieved his armor.
"Oh. Hello, John."
It still felt weird to her to be addressing a bug with an actual human name, but Elequinn was quickly learning to shrug it off. The insect's wings buzzed softly in response, perching itself onto her right shoulder and then turning motionless. Evidently, it was feeling drowsy from having its sleep disturbed.
As she rummaged through her bag, a conspicuous package lying at the bottom caught Elequinn's attention. Pulling it out, the girl frowned as she looked at the innocuous looking item. She had no memory of packing anything resembling it into her bag, so it had definitely been put there by someone else.
Opening it slowly, Elequinn blinked in surprise at the contents. Lying in the middle of the long and slim box was a single, brand new carving knife, held tightly in place by the packaging foam around it. The blade itself was kept inside a scabbard, its color a light brown. A tiny note was attached to the handle, and the girl easily pulled it off to give it a read, cracking a smile as she recognized her father's handwriting.
'You forgot this, Elly. Go get them!'
Raising one of her eyebrows in bewilderment, Elequinn looked down at her utility belt that she had been wearing the entire time. True enough, the slot meant for the carving knife was empty. Perhaps in her haste to pack everything and ensure that she was fully prepared for any scenario, she had forgotten the bare necessities for a hunter.
"Papa, you idiot."
Drawing it out carefully, Elequinn gave the carving knife a closer look. It hardly appeared special at all, with a plain gray handle and a silver blade that shined softly in the daylight. The edge itself was sharp, as it should be given its purpose. But it was what the item itself symbolized that was the most important.
Replacing the blade back into its scabbard, the girl tucked it into its rightful spot on her belt. She may not be a huntress that was officially registered with the Guild, but she was still a huntress at heart.
A soft groan from her friend reminded Elequinn that she still needed to locate the herbs she had stuffed into her bag, and the girl turned her attention back to her bag.
"Morning," the rough tone of Galix's voice as he greeted her told Elequinn that her friend had not slept well. The male brushed aside his fringe as he noticed the condition of his left leg, a look of worry quickly settling in on his face. "Oh boy, this doesn't look good."
"No, it really doesn't. I don't think there's any medical facilities nearby too," Elequinn replied in a concerned tone, her eyes lighting up as she finally found the green medical herbs in her bag, "how long did you say it'd take for us to reach our destination again?"
"About a week if we took the standard route, but I kind of decided against that last night. We'll be cutting through the woods instead. It should save us a significant amount of time," Galix winced as he watched his friend mash the herbs she had taken out into a green colored paste, smearing them carefully onto his swollen leg. "Argh, that thing never fails to look disgusting."
"Wait till you end up having to ingest them to treat internal injuries," Elequinn shook her head while applying the final touches, covering Galix's wound with as much of the paste as possible. "You were lucky those bullets didn't hit your head or something."
"At least my armor held up decently," the man pounded the plating on his chest proudly, "sure makes me glad I asked Mideus to make me the blademaster variant of the armor instead of the gunner one."
Mideus.
A memory of her father telling her a story on her bed flashed before Elequinn's eyes, and the girl looked at her friend in alarm as she finally recalled the origin of the name.
"Now I remember why that name sounded so familiar!" The sudden increase of volume in her voice caused John to snap awake, darting off her shoulders and relocating himself on top of the sleeping Gargwa at the front of the cart. "Papa used to tell me stories about him all the time."
"Uh, is he like a relative of yours or something?"
"No, you dummy. Mideus, the cursed blacksmith. Ring a bell?" Seeing the confused expression on her friend's face, Elequinn continued, "They say that he travels around all of Minegarde, creating powerful equipment for those who desire them. But those who use the weapons and the armor he forges will face an untimely death."
"So what you're saying…is that my equipment is cursed," Galix stared at his friend with a blank face for a moment, then promptly burst out into a loud laughter. "Elly, you know I don't believe in fairy tales."
"It's not a laughing matter," Elequinn pouted as her friend made it evident that he wasn't taking her seriously, "what happened to your leg might just be the beginning of a chain of events that will lead up to something absolutely devastating and in the end claim your life, possibly in the most horrible way-"
"Whoa there Elly, easy on the overthinking," interrupting the girl who was now beginning to gesticulate wildly, Galix gently patted his weapon casing that was beside him. "I've been using this bow for quite some time, and I seemed to have lived through everything this 'curse' you speak of have thrown at me. If it really wanted to end my life, don't you think it'd have done so by now?"
"Argh, why won't you just listen? Prevention is better than cure, and those equipment are going to get you killed sooner or later."
"And what doesn't kill me only makes me stronger. I've survived this far, and I'll live on through whatever crap may come my way," the man replied with firm conviction, "and besides, we're in the middle of the wilderness right now. What do you expect me to do – dump all my equipment and give whatever beast comes along a free meal?"
Unable to find a suitable refute to what Galix had just said, Elequinn simply folded her arms and grumbled softly to herself. A moment later, the girl grabbed her backpack and got off the cart she had been sitting on, placing one of the rations she had brought begrudgingly beside her friend.
"I'm gonna go for a walk."
John flew off the Gargwa he had been resting on as soon as she said that, settling himself down comfortably on Elequinn's left shoulder. Giving her friend one last look of annoyance, the huntress turned and headed off into the tall grass, quickly vanishing from sight.
Watching his friend leave quietly, Galix slowly picked up the ration that had been given to him as he reflected over what Elequinn had told him. The man's blue eyes, hidden as usual behind his fringe of black hair, gradually settled onto the weapon casing that had been beside him the entire time he had slept.
"…Cursed, huh?"
Chewing on a piece of the rations that she had brought, Elequinn sulked quietly down the path she was walking, kicking aside a few stones in her way as she moved. Though she knew that Galix was right about not being able to simply throw his gear away, the girl didn't see why he couldn't understand that she was just concerned for him.
Pushing aside some of the thick and tall grass in her way, the girl paused in a small clearing to take a quick drink of water from the metal canteen she had attached to her utility belt. The liquid felt incredibly refreshing as it made its way down her throat, washing away the dry feeling brought about by the rations she had swallowed earlier.
Quickly chugging down all the water, Elequinn soon found herself holding on to an empty water canteen. Unfortunately, despite having drank all the water she had in one fell swoop, the girl was still feeling hot.
"I blame Galix," rolling her eyes, Elequinn turned to look at John, who was now hovering beside her. "He's a stubborn idiot, don't you think?"
The insect rubbed his legs against his face, as though he was replying to the question she had just asked it.
"Yep, you made the right choice following me instead of waiting at the cart with that man," the girl nodded her head at John, "we should just leave that idiot all alone by himself and see what his precious bow and armor can do for him when he's completely unable to move."
It was merely a statement she had said in spite, but that feeling quickly changed to worry as Elequinn realized that what she had said might indeed come true. After all, Galix was temporarily rendered a cripple with the wound he had sustained, and even a pack of Jaggis might prove to be a problem for him if they found him in his current state.
"Well, we'd have to go back eventually anyway," sighing at the fact that she couldn't even stay angry for long, the girl glanced at the empty canteen in her hand, "but first, perhaps a little refill is in order."
Making her way towards where the sound of running water was coming from, Elequinn soon found herself standing at a river bank, where a gentle stream was flowing downhill. The water itself appeared crystal clear, shimmering as it reflected the sunlight beaming down from above. Soft splashes could be heard every now and then as the liquid flowed over its pebbly riverbed.
Multiple trees and bushes were aligned alongside the edge of the brook, their canopies and leaves providing ample shelter for the multitude of dragonflies that danced over the flowing water. A small group of Kelbis were present on the opposite end of the river, some of them arching their heads down to take sips of the water, whilst others simply deciding to rest their legs beside it.
The scenic environment caught Elequinn by surprise, and she found herself taking a moment to appreciate nature in its glory. Even John seemed thrilled at the sight before him, flying towards the hoard of dragonflies and causing them to dart away in surprise at his size.
Deciding that the water should be pure enough to be drinkable, the girl took out her gloves and placed them gently on the ground beside her. Feeling the cold air with her bare hands once more felt invigorating, and Elequinn flexed her fingers as she stretched her arms. They felt strangely more natural now that she wasn't wearing the gloves.
Maybe wearing them puts some kind of strain on me…
Granted, the girl felt the weight of the armor she was wearing as well. The plating on her chest felt heavy after she had worn it for so long, despite her remembering it being relatively light when she had initially put it on. She couldn't take her armor off though – not until she was certain there was no chance of being caught by surprise by a monster in the wilds.
Getting onto her knees and unscrewing the cap on her metal canteen, Elequinn started to fill it with the water flowing in the river. Having done that, she lowered her palms and scooped up some more of the liquid, splashing it onto her face and sighing in pleasure from how revitalizing it felt.
A sudden yelp from the other side of the river caught the girl's attention, and her head quickly turned towards the source of the sound. The Kelbis that had been relaxing along the river bank opposite her were now clearly on edge, and one of them was limping towards the others, its body bleeding profusely from a wound.
An attack?
Elequinn stuffed the canteen she had refilled into her belt immediately, grabbing on to her gloves beside her and putting them on. Another sound came from the bushes beside the Kelbis – this time a low growl that caused the herbivores to freeze entirely in their tracks.
Then, before any one of them could react, a purple blur leapt out of the shrubbery, instantly killing one of the Kelbis with a snap of its jaws whilst sending a few others flying using its thick tail. Looking at the other Kelbis nearby with merciless red eyes, the creature lunged itself at them as they attempted to flee, plunging the sole talon on its arms into their bodies and ripping through the herbivores' flesh with ease.
The blood from the Kelbis splattered onto the beast's lavender hide as it claimed its prize, slowly flowing down onto its dull white underbelly. Satisfied with its catch, the beast turned its frilled head towards the sky and let loose a high pitched howl.
A myriad of shrill cries sounded from behind it, clearly responding to the sound it had made. A moment later, several smaller creatures who resembled the monster emerged from behind it, running towards their leader and snapping at each other as if determining who should have the first bite.
Elequinn observed the entire scene in silence, keeping her body as still as possible to avoid catching the attention of the monsters. Just as she had witnessed nature's beauty, so too had she seen how vicious nature could be.
It wasn't as though the girl didn't know what she was facing though – Elequinn easily recognized the beasts thanks to a combination of personal experience as well as knowledge from the books she used to read before bedtime.
Jaggis…and their leader. Not the biggest monsters around, but makes up for their lack of size in teamwork and numbers.
The smaller variants of the Bird Wyverns used to emerge from the forests back when Woodsten was still surrounded by trees, sending children playing near the woods scuttling back to their parents. Some of them were captured by hunters, and brought to arenas for training purposes.
Elequinn had often been a spectator at the arena matches, cheering people on as they took down the purple Bird Wyverns. It was always entertaining, seeing how the hunters and huntresses used their wits and the items provided to them to defeat the beasts.
But that was in a controlled environment, where the monsters would be sedated if anything went wrong. It was the same deal back when she had enrolled in the hunters' training school – they would pit the cadets against creatures whilst the instructor kept watch, pulling the trainees out if anything went awry.
But here, Elequinn knew that there was no fail-safe to protect her. It wasn't on the level that the black beast in the tundra had inspired, but the girl still felt a rush of fear as she eyeballed the Bird Wyverns warily. This time however, she was properly equipped and prepared to deal with the situation.
Despite that, a soft voice in the back of her head reminded Elequinn that she couldn't afford to get into a fight with the beasts at the moment – Galix was still back at the cart alone and defenseless. Backpedalling at a slow pace, the girl attempted to move out of the Bird Wyverns' sight, slowly slinking away into the grass behind her.
A sudden pressure on her right arm caused Elequinn to let out a cry of surprise. She turned her head sharply to her right, letting loose a sigh of relief as she realized that it was just John having landed on her body.
And then the girl felt a chill make its way up her spine, spreading throughout her body and causing her to tremble slightly. It was a feeling Elequinn was only all too familiar with. Returning her gaze back to the Jaggis, Elequinn saw the Bird Wyverns staring inquisitively at her. However, it wasn't the smaller beasts that she was worried about.
The Great Jaggi standing in the middle of the pack was slowly moving forward, as though it was trying to ascertain exactly what it was seeing. The monster stopped one step short of stepping into the river, alternating its gaze between Elequinn and the flowing water at its feet.
Shit. That river's not deep enough.
The girl wasn't about to let the beast figure that out in its own sweet time, and quickly shook off the cold feet she was getting. Then, with a combination of exhilaration and fear empowering her body, Elequinn bolted in the direction of the cart.
Behind her, she heard the first of many splashes as the Great Jaggi stepped into the water, a terrifying howl escaping its maws as it realized that the brook was no obstacle to its next meal.
The hunt was on.