Eight Intertwined

70 - Stone

For a long moment, H'aanit couldn't bring herself to do anything other than just stare. She knew what she was seeing, but her mind was racing to the point that she didn't want to register it. Z'aanta remained unmoving, and his entire body was covered in a gentle glaze of dark gray stone. H'aanit didn't realize that she was saying his name until she was dashing over to him, her body moving without any permission from her mind. She had managed to remain rather calm during the battle with the Lord of the Forest, but any lingering traces of adrenaline crashed into one another relentlessly as soon as she recognized what was unfolding before her. 

Z'aanta had been turned to stone. 

Z'aanta was standing tall and proud, and his hand was locked firmly on his bow. It looked as if the last thing he had done was release an arrow, his expression stoic as could be. It was the most serious H'aanit had ever seen him, and she felt cold fear rush through her body like a tidal wave attempting to drag her down to the seafloor. 

"Master..." H'aanit whispered again after she was able to bring herself back to earth. She reached out carefully to brush her fingers across his arm just to prove to herself that she was seeing the truth. Z'aanta's body was cold and smooth the same way that stone normally was, and if there was even the slightest trace of doubt in her mind, it was gone as she pulled her fingers away. "But frozen... Petrified in stone! What unholy thing happened here?!"

Before the other travelers had the chance to respond to H'aanit's answerless inquiry, Hägen let out another growl, this time turning to face away from Z'aanta. H'aanit frowned before her eyes went wide with recognition. Hägen was watching a nearby tree trunk, and at the center of the wood, H'aanit could see something she recognized all too well. It was enough to make her stomach flip once again. "Another of Master's arrows," she whispered as her hand instinctively drifted to where she had put away Z'aanta's last arrow in her bag. She shook off her fear as quickly as she could before starting to approach the tree trunk. Once she was beside the tree, she turned to face Z'aanta once again and noticed his drawn bow. "Did this fate befall him even as he drew his bow?"

H'aanit yanked the arrow out of the tree, and Tressa let out a gasp as she pointed to it with one hand. "What's that on the arrow?" she asked, her head tilting to the side slightly. 

At those words, H'aanit's gaze dropped to the shaft of the arrow, a her frown deepening and spreading across her features. "There is a note tied to the shaft," she murmured. She immediately unraveled the small piece of string that was keeping the rolled-up piece of paper connected to the arrow. Upon closer examination, she realized that the string had come from Z'aanta's shirt, likely the closest thing he had access to in order to tie down the note to the arrow. 

H'aanit tucked the arrow away in her bag as she unraveled the note in full. The writing across the surface of the parchment was most certainly Z'aanta's familiar script, hasty but still elegant. She swallowed dryly before preparing herself for the long read ahead: 

"To whomever readest this... 

Like as not, thou foundest this next to a stone figure. That is me, the hunter Z'aanta, in the flesh--ah, so to speake. I was commissioned by the Knights Ardante to hunten the beast they callen Redeye, a beast that hath left me in this unfortunate state. Among Redeye's formidable powers is the ability to petrify. Already, my feet hath turned to solid rock. I have but a short time to penne this message before the curse overtaketh me completely. In a village called Stillsnow, there is a seer by the name of Susanna. Surely she shall knoweth what to don about this petrification. It is a faint hope but the only one that remaineth to me. This beast cannot be allowed to runnen amok. It is far too dangerous, too savage. Praye helpeth me. Not for my sake, but for the innocents who will die if this creature is not putten down."