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They followed the trail for a good ten minutes when the priest stopped.
‘I sense a presence, about fifteen metres ahead,’ he said in a whisper.
Jelcine turned to him, unsurprised the priest had sensed it before her. Her skill as detecting auras was below par due to her focusing more on the physical rather than magical aspect of being a Hunter.
‘With magical potential? Normal?’
‘Normal,’ said the priest. ‘Moving, in a hurried pace, back and forth.’
Jelcine raised an eyebrow. ‘That it?’
‘Yes, unless there is someone or something near which can hide their magical aura,’ said the priest, it was impossible to miss the accusation in his tone.
‘Hmm, strange. Maybe you should stay here. Let me go first; you make so much noise I’m surprised whoever this is, didn’t hear you from miles away.’
The priest’s beard creased, and he groaned. ‘Yes, you are correct, as much as it pains me to admit it. Part of the learning toward priesthood is not how to move quietly through under-brush, I am afraid.’
‘Oh, really? I would never have guessed.’
‘Yes, yes, there is no need for more sarcasm. Go, but do not be afraid to call if you need my aid, Hunter.’
With a nod, Jelcine melted into the shadows.
It didn’t take her long to sense the presence too, and a little while later she heard a voice. Someone talking to themselves. She couldn’t make out what they said, but she could tell it was full of manic rage and male, definitely male.
Jelcine clenched her jaw; she did not like this.
Sun streamed through the leaves ahead, indicating there was a clearing.
She didn’t slow, though, and the closer she got, the more she could make out of the man’s words.
‘The little bitch. How dare she.’
It set Jelcine’s teeth on edge, and she peeked into the clearing.
It was a tall, well-built human male in his mid-forties. He was bald and wore a chequered shirt with jeans. He would’ve been handsome when he was younger, but had long gone to fat.
He paced in front of an old, badly made hut in the tiny clearing, his movements violent, jolting.
‘I shouldn’t have fucking told her,’ he snarled. ‘That little fucking bitch. Fuck. Fuck.’
The man rounded toward her, forcing Jelcine to pull herself back.
‘The ungrateful little shit. The ungrateful little bitch. I shouldn’t have told her about the vampire. The Hunter. Fuck.’
He raised his head to the sky.
‘Jaroai,’ he roared. ‘How could you do this to me?’
‘Jaroai doesn’t exist,’ said Jelcine as she stepped out.
The man started.
‘This is all on you, you sick fuck.’ she said.
‘Who the fuck are you?’
‘You know exactly what I am.’
He flinched in realisation. ‘You’re that, Hunter. The one who killed that vampire.’
‘I am,’ said Jelcine. ‘And that means you’ve gotta choose your next answer carefully, kidnapper.’
‘Kidnapper? I ain’t no kidnapper.’
‘Where’s the girl’s father? Did you kill him?’
‘I’m her father.’
That took Jelcine off guard.
‘What?’
‘Give me back my girl,’ He snarled. ‘You’re the damn kidnapper. Fucking bitch.’
Jelcine’s eyes widened as the realisation hit her. ‘She wasn’t...she wasn’t asking me to save her daddy. She was asking me to save her from him.’
The man just looked at her, blinking like the simpleton he was.
‘You hit her in the head when she tried to escape,’ said Jelcine.
‘The little bitch. She was scared because of the vampire, so I told her about you. And that you’d killed it. Ungrateful. It’s because of you. I’m her father she belongs to me! And-’
Jelcine dashed the distance between them in an instant, and her fist smashed into his ribs. She felt one snap. And he was sent flailing into the dirt.
The man screamed, but he was back on his feet with surprising speed. He threw a hook at her face. Jelcine leaned back from it and slapped aside his following jab. She weaved his straight punch then caught his wrist. Snapping it with a twist.
He howled, and the howl turned into a gurgle as she covered his throat with an arm and shoved him against the wall, pinning him.
‘She doesn’t belong to anyone,’ she snarled, and in a blaze of white light, she held her axe. ‘The reason no one recognised her was because you keep her here, locked up. Like a fucking slave. Didn’t you? Didn’t you?’
The man writhed, he gasped and gaped like a landed fish.
‘What have you been doing to her, you sick fuck? Why else would you keep her in secret like this?’
Jelcine brought up her axe.
‘Hunter,’ an authoritative voice called, causing her to pause, she turned. The priest approached from the forest, hands raised. ‘Stop.’
‘You said you would help if I called you.’
‘Yes, I am guilty of a lie; I am only human.’
‘Did you hear what this sick fuck said?’
‘I did, but you cannot kill him.’
‘Why not? He deserves it. And don’t go on that it’s not Jaroai’s will or that crap.’
‘I will not. But no, he does not,’ he said. ‘I know this man; his name is Geoge; he seemed like a good man. A pillar of the town.’
‘So fucking what? Who cares?’
‘I do, all of us do,’ said the priest. ‘If you just kill him you are sparing him. It is the easy way out.’
Jelcine laughed. ‘Bullshit. Just when I thought you priests of Jaroai couldn’t be any more full of shit.’
‘No, it is the truth. Give him to the Rule Enforcers, allow him to see the anger it causes the community. Let him suffer the indignity and humiliation of what he’s done. Suffer through the consequences of his actions. If you kill him now, he will be spared that.’
‘What happened to the whole burning in hell thing you idiots pontificate?’
’I...I don’t know what that means. But you don’t believe in that, do you? I won’t judge you for it; I am not Camarian. Most of us in Isstarrsia don’t believe in executing non-believers just for not believing. Deep down, you must wish for him to pay for his crimes and know it. So please. Don’t kill him.′
The man’s face was turning blue now, the fingers of his good hand scratching at her arm.
With a snarl, Jelcine stepped away, and he slumped to the grass, gasping, clutching at his neck.
‘Good, you made the right choice, Hunter,’ said the priest.
Jelcine let out a roar and kicked the man in the chest, sending him spinning off the ground and smashing against the wall. His agonised shriek was almost deafening.
‘That’s enough,’ the priest said.
‘Yes, yes it is,’ said Jelcine. ‘Just enough.’
’Understandable. Now if you can just wait here, I will go back to the town and get the Rule.
Enforcement officers to carry him to the, to the-′
He was interrupted by Jelcine picking up the large man with one hand then slinging him over her shoulder as though he were a child.
‘Come on,’ she said while walking past the gaping priest. ‘We’ve got justice to serve.’
_________________ My short story Of An Asur living in the land of Bretonnia: http://www.ulthuan.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=35367&p=714658#p714658
Last edited by Adrassil on Mon Feb 08, 2021 7:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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