Bone and Blood Volume I

5 - The Nest, 1926

Torani waltzed into the nest pleased with himself. Recently, he had obtained permission to hunt for the family. Technically, that was a task below his rank, but it made him feel useful. In the nest, all he could do was loiter by the cage like a knight, waiting for some ambiguous threat that never appeared. His time was better spent hunting.

And tonight he had hunted well. There was a live one on either side of him, electrically sedated. Additionally, a fresh corpse lay over his shoulders. Three bodies. He had outdone himself. This was a victory that justified his value to the family.

His joy waned as he realized the sconce was unlit. He squinted in the darkness, hoping to find one of the knights. Someone was climbing into the pit.

"Serana, hold on! I need a hand!"

"Torani? You made it? Didn't the sun come up a few minutes ago?"

"Yes... But I was almost in the tunnel by then." Torani's exposed skin was angry red, telling a different story. At least he had gotten in before it started to blister. The burning itch would heal by the time he woke up the next evening.

Serana hauled herself back over the edge and huffed at him. "You know, the hunters return on time for dinner or stay out."

"They also go in pairs but come back with only one body. If they're lucky."

"The way you talk, maybe you'd be better off stuck as a hunter. Teach those idiots how it's done."

He smiled, but the idea stung. It was something he had considered. How much more comfortable he might have been with that limited existence.

"Then again, I don't remember you bringing back much of anything as a hunter."

"I had... other priorities."

"That's one way to put it." Serana paused to examine Torani's catch. "Nice haul anyway. And we need it. I haven't seen Seno in a while. I think she's not coming back."

Seno? The name meant nothing to him. "That's too bad."

She poked at the corpse. "Also too bad that this one's only good for the workers."

"Sometimes, they deserve nicer cuts. Don't you think?"

Through a yawn, "No opinion."

"You just want more for yourself." Serana rolled her eyes. Taking a live one by the waist, she walked to the cage. Confused, Torani followed. "Aren't you going to get Demeko?"

"Nah."

"But the keys..."

Serana pulled them out of her pocket, jingling them in his face before undoing the locks.

"Demeko gave you the keys?"

"He didn't want to wait for you."

"That sounds... so in character for him."

"Hey, he gave you the benefit of the doubt that you would come back with something. I was ready to give up on you!"

"That is... true..."

As Torani puzzled over Demeko's actions, Serana shoved the first victim into the cage. Then the second. Released from the electrical hold, the first one came to. While Serana redid the locks, the mumbling of "where am I?" and "what happened?" began. Quiet precursors to the screaming that would fill the day.

Serana pulled the corpse off Torani's shoulders, marched to the pit, and dropped it over the edge. It landed with a sickening thump on the worker's spiral. "Bon appétit," she whispered to no one.