The Demon Deer

Chapter 12

FOUR SUMMERS LATER

     
          "Guard Captain," a voice called from behind.

          Tinley sat atop of a rock overlooking the valley. It was where he spent most of his time these last four years, ever since reaching the flatland where his herd had settled down.

           Tinley had lay in a state of unconsciousness, until Dietrich had found him, incoherent and half frozen, wrapping his small frame in a cloak and carrying him back to camp where he stayed in such a state for months. Dietrich knew the basics from his long talks with the fawn but wouldn't divulge anything, even at threat of excommunication from the lead buck himself.

          There was no way to tell if Tinley would ever recover but still, Dietrich forced food and water down his throat, and carried him when they travelled. Even after he would eat and walk on his own, he still didn't talk, wouldn't acknowledge anyone's presence. He would only go outside at night and stare up at the moon.

         
T

inley shifted atop his rock. It was where he came to be alone and very few deer dared to disturb him, preferring to give him a wide berth at all times. He had become prone to bouts of uncontrollable anger that had left more than one buck bleeding in the mud. It was the reason he had never been considered for the Vanguard.

Dietrich stood a few feet away, unfazed by the little deers glare, as loyal as ever. Under Elonon's guidance, he had become a strapping young buck. Unlike Tinley who had developed a temper, Dietrich had lost his, anger and violence converted into patience and control. He was tall and handsome with a powerful build, and a wide spread that was in the process of developing a seventh point. A small bell jingled from one of them.The bell was a symbol. A symbol of pride for some, fear for others.

Upon reaching Clear Lake Valley, several herds had converged and with Tinley's father winning the majority with his strong words, he now commanded a herd of over five hundred deer. With the increase of deer, the Vanguard grew in order to keep them safe and Dietrich was accepted. When he found out that Tinley had not, he refused their offer, the first ever to do so.

Then the humans came, with their silver weapons and their spear throwers and the herd prepared to run. Tinley did not. He fell upon them with a blood thirst born of fury and fueled by pain. The Demon Deer and Dietrich faithfully by his side. They killed back to back and when the men broke and ran, they chased them down together. After it was over, Tinley had found a box of twenty six bells. Burning a hole through his spike, he hung one from it, jingling gently with his every move. Dietrich asked him why and he responded.

"I am not prey to be hunted. I will not skulk in the shadow in hopes that I will not be seen. They will see me. They will know me. When they hear this bell they will know that I am near. They will know that the Demon deer comes for them."

So the Demon Deer were formed. The third member had been a doe who was being abused alongside her fawn by her mate for his sadistic pleasure.  When she asked for help, Tinley dropped a bone blade at her feet, the same blade his father had given him so long ago.

"First you must help yourself."

The next day there was a funeral and she attended it with a bell in her ear and the blade in her belt. She was now Dietrich's mate and her fawn had a buck that he could look up to, just as Elonon did for him.

There were twenty six bells and twenty five demon deer, the errant bell on Tinley's person at all times. He sometimes took it out to hold, rubbing it gently, listening to the tinkle as if it were whispering to him. If he wasn't killing or training, then he was here, on this rock, with this bell, staring off into a setting sun..... Waiting.