Chapter 5

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Canicus' POV

We marched forward with our heads low as we make our way through the last stretch, and most dangerous, forest. There was a noise that I couldn't quite make out, until I realized birds where flying up into the sky suddenly and I see the magnificent eagle heading towards the sound. I pull my horse to still and listened closely, I started to hear words and with a start recognized it as a cry for help.

"Men! I hear a distressed call!" I shouted and quickly took off into the woods.

The men who were once corpses gain life and stayed close on my heels. The deeper into the woods we went, the clearer the scream becomes. We finally come to a clearing in the forest and saw in the middle a woman on top of a boulder, attempting to fight off bandits that were surrounding her. They were covered in dirt and what appears to be dried blood, wearing animal skin as clothing and were grabbing at the woman.

We were charging at them and just as we got close enough to them, they all fell from the boulder.

It was such a shock that the forest seemed to have frozen in time. Us, the knights, had our weapons ready to strike, the woman was clinging onto the boulder, and on the ground laid the bandits, lifeless. The woman starts to thank us, but not after being frozen from shock as well, I merely nodded my head and sent her with one of the knights as an escort home. The rest of us started to examine the bodies, attempting to find the cause of their sudden death. We found more bodies surrounding the area, ones we did not see when we first charged in, they were hidden in the bushes and seemed to have been in a stance that suggests they were waiting for someone.

"Sir Canicus!" a knight called me over, "I found what seems to be a small dagger of some kind. It was lodged into the back of his neck."

"I found one as well!", another yelled.

"I two!", another.

"I as well!", more.

I take one of the daggers to examine it, when the knight I sent with the woman returned with a pale face.

"The woman is dead!", we froze, "we got to her house, which seemed more like a rundown stable, climbed off the horse then when I turned to look at her, she was already falling to the ground. When she hit the ground, her hand fell open and a dagger fell out!" he explained flustered.

"Did the dagger look like this?" Casimir asked while showing him the small dagger we found. He shook his head and pulled out a larger dagger. Comparing them, it's easy to see that they were not the same, not because of the size, but the design.

"I did see a little dagger like that one in the side of her neck though", the knight tuned in, "I grabbed the woman's dagger and quickly got out of there to avoid being killed as well."

I nod my head and study the small dagger closer. The details are extremely fine, indicating extraordinary craftsmanship. There were silver vines entangled with each other, the center having a golden rose, the handle on which it's engraved purple, an expensive artifact indeed. Turning it over, small, delicate words were engraved one the side:

"Only hunt, when the season is right."

I feel my eyes widen to the size of melons. My heart starts pounding rapidly as I feel an excitement build up in me that I thought I have lost years ago. In the corner of my eye I see Casmir take a step away from me with a startled look on his face.

"What are you inching away from?" I asked him puzzled.

"Have you seen your face!" he exclaimed flabbergasted, "you're smiling ... if that could be called a smile" he added on with a mumble. Ignoring the obvious insult, I quickly gather all the daggers and lay them together. I notice some of the daggers had a purple residue on the tips, no doubt poison, how else would the bandits have dropped dead so simply?

I can't believe it. Right here, in front of my eyes, lay the weapons of a hunter. They have come out of hiding! I can find them, and they can lead me to the rest. I can become a hunter!

With that last thought I quickly steel myself, realizing that I must be a bewildering sight to behold now. I want to charge through the forest to find them, however I am aware of the pending doom that awaits us if I delay our return to the palace any further.

"Let us not dwindle any longer, we still have to report to His Majesty", I order as I place the daggers in my satchel and mount my horse. I did not wait to see if they were following me as I was more concentrated on my surroundings, hoping to catch a glimpse of the hunter. Casimir quickly catches up to me, a worried look befallen his face.

"I fear that what has just happened was a means to ambush us," he started, "they must have known of our path, if the unknown third party did not interfere, I do not think that we would have seen the others lurking in the shadows."

I can feel my excitement drain as I am brought back to reality and realize just how dangerous that situation was, it seems that I have underestimated this foe, though I should have realized it when we were struggling so much to find any trace of them.

The rest of the trip was silent, as everyone observes everything around them, trying to spot the smallest of indications of another ambush. I also keep my eye open, not only searching for danger, but for a glimpse of hope of my long-forgotten dream.

Midnight's POV

Well now that was certainly interesting, it seems that these barbarians have some smarts after all, I'm not too sure if I can say the same about the knights since they went head first into an ambush. The amount of times that I have sighed because of them is enough to have half my soul drained. But no matter, I will reach the palace long before they will, they seem to be taking a detour, no doubt hoping to spot anyone connected to the ambush. I need to retrieve my daggers before leaving though, nightfall should be a good time to do so.

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They have finally stopped and set up camp for the night, the leader of the group carries the satchel with my daggers in it, not letting it leave his sight. This will be quite troublesome...

Canicus's POV

Having set up camp for the night, I lay with my back against a tree with my satchel next to me, contemplating whether I should examine the daggers again or not. I finally reach for the satchel when Casimir walks up to me and sat on the ground, eyeing the satchel as well.

"Mind telling me why you turned into a young boy the second you picked one of the daggers up?" he asks me with a knowing look in his eye. I once told him about my dream a few summers ago, about the hunters and how I longed to join them.

"It seems to have the phrase and symbol of them, I'm not sure how or where, but it seems they might be close by", I explain to him. One of the other men suddenly tripped over a tent pole as he tried to enter it, a loud round of laughs went around, even I let out a silent chuckle, seeing as he went face first into the dirt.

I reached for my satchel again to show Casimir the delicate handwork. Upon opening it, I sort through my other belongings...

"It's gone!" I let out an unexpectedly shocked and distressed voice once I could not find the weapons.

"Are you sure you put it in there?" Casimir asked as he was about to check the other bags. I hear the slightest of movement behind me and jumped up.

"Check all of the bags!" I ordered as I ran off into the forest. There is no way that I was imagining it, it must be the Hunter. I frantically searched, stopping only for a few mere seconds to see if I could hear anything. I ran until I reached the edge of a clearing, staying in the tree line. As I took a step forward, I stiffen as a sharp object found its way to my neck. I could barely see in the dark, the clouds obstructing the moonlight, the tree's branches blocking whatever the clouds are not.

The object, from what I could see, seemed to be a spear. There was a small glimmer from the staff of the spear, something quite similar to the small daggers. Before I could utter a word, or even break out of this hold, a voice whispered to me:

"Sleep"

Then it all went dark.

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A/N

Thanks for reading! Please leave comments and let me know if you're enjoying the story so far!

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