One Word Prompts

Ornament - The Hunter

She stepped into the hut, the humid, smoke-filled air sticking to her skin, suffocating her with her first inhale.

He sat within, a woman on either flabby arm, his fat oozing from his low seated chair. He was leaned back, a cigar in one hand, a drink in the other. His laugh, an offensive sound to its core, filled the room, though the joke was certainly his own.

But whether she liked it or not, he was the best. The walls around them were proof enough of that. No matter which way she looked, she could see trophies from his kills. There a pair of harpy wings adorned the wall. There, horns from countless forest kings. There, a set of mounted heads, a direwolf, a hellhound, and a werewolf. Preserved parts filled the shelves, from giants toes to eyes of salamanders to unicorn horns. A complete pigmy imp skeleton sat under glass on the top shelf. There were parts of monsters she had never seen of, the trophies of beasts she couldn't begin to imagine.

How this gross man, sitting in his fat and sweat with his shirt unbuttoned and his gut hanging out, could be the best hunter this side of the Arbynian Plains, she did not know, but the evidence adorning his walls could not be ignored.

Moreover, she needed him.

"Excuse me," she said.

He whispered something in the ear of one of the women at his side, not appearing to have noticed her entrance.

She coughed, taking another step in. "Excuse me, are you the hunter Corvin?"

The man looked up at her, an eyebrow going up at the question. "Who wants to know?"

"I'm--"

"Wait, stop." He put a hand up, shaking his head. "I don't actually care. Look, sweetie, I'm closed for the season. Not taking any more hunting requests until next spring. I don't do cold, I don't do snow, so I don't hunt until the sun comes back."

She opened her mouth to explain, despite his refusal. As awful as he looked, as awful as he sounded, if he really was the best, there was no way he would turn her down.

"Besides," he said, waving her out, "You don't look like you could afford me anyway."

Her stomach dropped, and her heart constricted. "Ex-excuse me?"

"Where are you from?" he asked. "From your dress, I'd guess..." he frowned, making a show of thinking. "Ass end of nowhere? Too poor to even have rocks to rub together? The kind of place that starves when the temperature drops below freezing? Am I right?"

"What do you know about me?" she demanded. "I came here for help. Do you know how far I've come to find someone, anyone who could save my village?"

He snorted. "Your village is being ravaged by monsters? Get in line, girly. Half the world is under attack, and the other half is already dead."

"But you could do something," she said. "You could..."

"I could what?" he asked. "Run around the countryside killing monsters pro bono? Why the hell would I do that? Do I look dumb enough to be a hero? Do you see a misfit band of adventurers at my side? What kinda life is that?"

"But you do hunt monsters," she said. "You're supposed to be the best there is."

He laughed, shaking his head and taking a deep drink from the glass in his hand. "No, I'm the best that's left. I kill for money, kid. And if you had money, and it was a little warmer, I'd kill for you. But charity doesn't pay, and this lifestyle of mine, it ain't free."

"And if people die because you won't help? You can sleep at night knowing that?"

"People are dying left and right. What part of this being the Age of Monsters did you miss? The only places without monsters are the places so desolate even the monsters don't want it. You think I'm going to run around and fight every monster in this world? What would I get from that? Certainly not money? Fame? Aren't I already famous? You certainly seem to think so, at least.

"How do I sleep at night? How do you sleep at night, knowing that you could be out there training to be a monster hunter, yet you hide in your tiny, nothing village praying some strong person will come and save you? If you just trained, you could be out there saving people too. I bet you've never thought of that. I bet you sleep just fine. Why should I be any different?"

"But--"

He waved her off. "Get out. Come back with a hundred gold in three months. We can talk then if your town is still standing."

She wanted to argue further. Wanted to grab the man and shake him. Wanted to drag him to her village and show him the people hurting and dying at the mercy of the Lich King.

But she knew it would do no good. Some people were just beyond saving in the end.