The Lost Hunt

Fresh Meat

I enter the guilde with my shoulders back and my head high. These guys smell fear from a girl like me and being a woman in this industry is hard enough. As I walk up to the counter to register for another quest I notice a young boy attempting to speak to Bre the book keeper of the guilde. When I get closer I can tell that he's not getting full words out just stuttering in fear while trying to cover up a goofy smile which makes him look slightly constipated. I grab his shoulders and move him out of my way to speak to Bre. He is after all a scrawny human boy. "What's his deal?" I ask while placing the scalp of my recent target on her desk. "Oh, the boy just turned 13 and wants to join us so I was just filling out his paperwork and making his initiation coin." I turn around and look him up and down deciding how fast he would die on one of my quests. "Do you have any lower ranked quests for him?" I ask as I turn back around to her. "We do however the payoff is a measly 3 gold." I reach around the desk and grab a candy from her jar and pop it into my mouth and wink "I'll take it, as well as him. He will need a mentor if he's going to make it in this guilde and I am sure his magic is just as underdeveloped as his physic." She giggles and hands me his coin and identification cards back. I turn around and tuck them into his bag. "Save a bowl of stew for me tonight love." I blow a kiss and she turns 100 shades of red noticeably flustered fumbling around with her pen. As I start out the door I grab the boys collar and drag him along with me. Once we get down the road he snaps out of his trance and asks "why did you do that? You made me look weak in front of her and the other men there! How am I going to make my way in a wizard's guild if I have a FEMALE mentor?" I laugh so hard tears begin to form at the corner of my eyes "First off honey this feeeemale is top wizard in your precious little guild. Secondly every man in that building is terrified of me because of the things I have done to be top wizard. Finally, next time I see those eyes on my lady it'll be the last time you see anything. Got it pipsqueak?" I hear him mutter something under his breath in defeat as we continue down the path towards our mission. I can feel my mark begin to itch the closer we get to the target. I motion for the boy to stay quiet as I bring the horse walking beside me to a halt. Suddenly a chill runs down my back straight to the mark that wraps my thigh. "It's here. It shouldn't be here. We're here for a few brownies that were causing problems for the local baker." I whisper to the boy. "What are you talking about woman there's nothing here" he says as he motions towards the deserted path leading to the town. Just as he says that a rush of air feels the branches of the trees that dot the edges of red dirt. The horse rears back, spooked, and the boy falls off landing directly on his butt. "Boncroft" I hiss. An owl flies down from the tree ahead and lands in the center of the dirt path revealing the fey. Before us stood a beautiful man standing around 6'4 with ice white hair dressed in grey linens. He clears his throat and speaks "Eris you can continue to play this game of prey but you will return to me eventually." I remove my dagger and make a long quick cut over the palm of my hand and slam it into the dusty road chanting in my native tongue. "I command thee qo disperse from this place sen return qo tel hell from which ruo came."  When I come up from my knee I see the boy with his mouth wide open fumbling over his words and making frantic hand motions. "Y-you just...H-he was just...how......where" I cut him off by saying "My name is Eris by the way kid. Fey huntress of the Unseelie Court. Now please do not die while I go retrieve the horse. Bre would kill me if I let a kid die under my watch" I leave him to wrap his small human brain around the current information presented to him. Once at the edge of the woods I let out a high pitched whistle and click my tongue. Signalling for my steed to return. I slowly massage my thigh as I wait allowing the tension of my mark to be released. Soon the horse returns with a few minor scratches around his hoofs from the thick patches of thorns that lace the floor of the forest. When I return I find the boy right where I left him but with his mouth closed and an angry look on his face. "You mean to tell me that you drug me along as your mentee only to tell me after my life is in danger that you are a fey huntress from one of the most powerful courts in the Sylvan and you're wanted?!?" he takes a deep breath and continues with his rant. "I could have died just then! And you are just going to act like nothing happened?" I toss him back onto the horse and start walking along the path again. "Look kid, I know this may scare you but he is nothing compared to some of the things we will be fighting in the future. Keep in mind that you are just a child." I hear him huff and groan. "I am not a boy and I have a name." He says "Oh yeah kiddo? What is it?" I say with a smile. "Its alfred" he said bluntly. I burst out laughing. "That is the most human name I have ever heard kid. I'm just going to call you Al." We continue down the path and I get lost in my thoughts. How could he have found me already and why do they care so much about me. When I left my duties were pasted on just as they would be if I had died on the hunt. So why do they have a sudden interest in me now? It had been 20 years.  When we reach the edge of the city I pull my coin out of the hidden pocket in the hem of my dress and dance it through and around my fingers as we walk towards the bakery. Usually I do not get anxious about little things like sprites and brownies but seeing Boncroft again has me a little spooked. If someone like him has been sent to find me they will probably resort to sending my predecessor after me.