Stories of Acoptia

Ch. 10.5 Jacques #2 - The Hunt

The full moon in the night sky illuminated the way as the stars glittered, littering the sky. Jacques rode in front. His horse Moonlight was as dark as the night sky. One of his most trustworthy companions, they together had ridden to many hunts. Tonight was no different.

Behind Jacques rode 10 more Brothers, following his lead. To his right walked Olgrolf, the only one without a horse. Mostly because of his giant stature, but he made up for it with his giant steps. Easily keeping up with the pace even matching the horses at their fastest.

His long red beard was braided, a tradition of one of the giant tribes. Olgrolf himself didn't fit in with the rest of the brotherhood. He was the only half-giant to ever be in the Monster Hunter Brotherhood. The Islands of Giants aren't part of the agreement to send the doomed criminals here. But Olgrolf wasn't a criminal, to begin with.

The half-giant was found far from home, on the shore of a river a few years back by a group of brothers while on a hunt. He was dying of thirst and hunger. It was Jacques himself who saved him. Since the giant man didn't have anywhere to go, Jacques offered him to join. Olgrolf, exiled from his home island and left for the dead, found a home in an unlikely place - The Tower Of Hope. Jacques always related to the giant, they both didn't fit in here. Yet they tried to make the best of it. Maybe that's why they became so close.

The Brothers all sung as they rode, Olgrolf joining them with his booming voice. "The Song of Ash and Blood" a popular war song of soldiers. The Uncrowned King always thought of the words of the song. About how young men rode to their death after singing it.

"And I will stand in ash and blood. And I will stand." - Jacques recited the song in his mind.

As he rode his eyes staring into the distance, trying to focus on the task at hand. The hunt - a party of brothers always took off on hunts. As that was their main purpose. Today was the time for Jacques to lead such a party, as he had done many times now.

The monsters the Brotherhood was assigned to slay, were the mysterious creations of the Mist. The Mist was a strange fog, as the name suggested, which surrounded Acoptia. It was responsible for the inability to expand Acoptia and the maps. Anyone who wandered into the unusual fog experienced strange things.

Even those who came back looked changed, confused. They said despite travelling straight they would end up where they started. Exiting the mist at the point they entered. And those were the lucky ones, many never came back. Thousands of groups of travellers, search parties, ships have disappeared without a trace.

The lucky survivors spoke of strange beings in the distance that would attack them. The same beings would emerge from the mist. They were those called monsters, and the mission of the brotherhood was to stop them. These violent beings came in all shapes, sizes, and types, always twisted and wrong. They brought down terror and destruction on anything in their way.

"Sir is that-." - A young Brother rode up to Jacques and spoke pointing to something upfront on the ground.

Alan, a 17-year-old, a rookie who was sent here just a few months ago. Jacques often felt sorry for him, knowing his fate is similar to his. And so he decided to watch over his progress carefully.

"Drop the sir, Alan. Do I look like a pampered lord to you or some Nobel?" - Jacques smiled responding.

"Nice catch though." - He added noticing what Alan had been pointing at.

It was the remains of a Terrorbear. It was laying in a pool of blood. Terrorbears were common around these regions, much bigger than normal bears, easily taller than an average human. They were known as apex predators. At least normally.