It was cold outside tonight, Kaen resting peacefully near his mother’s furnace. Close enough to benefit from its warmth but out of range of any stray sparks. As he rested, he could hear his mother hammering away at the anvil, the smell of baking bread as his father worked his craft. He held his eyes on the light of the furnace, allowing its glow and the waves of its heat mesmerize him. Even as he heard the claws of the cold night trying to claw their way in, heard their howls rumbling the walls, he kept his eyes fixed on the reassuring warmth of the furnace. The way the coals shone and the flames would slip between them before dipping once more beneath their smothering heat. He wanted this moment to last forever. To stay here and forget about the chill of the night.
Kaen’s eyes shot open when he heard a young boy’s scream, his body carrying him out the door before he had even processed if it was real or a dream. His instincts knew better. Bronz had trained his body well for this work. The chill of the winter air hit him like a bucket of ice water, robbing him of all the warmth that sleeping by the furnace had given him. As he felt the grass crunching beneath his feet with every step, he could hear their steps as well. It wasn’t long before he saw them. There were two of them, bipedal and tall. Their arms were long beyond reason and lithe, their hands curved with their razor sharp claws. Their legs bent backwards at a sharp angle and their heads were downright feral. These were a pair of wolfish monsters known as Vargr. As they jammed their arms into the thorny thicket, they thrashed them about, as though trying to drive out their prey. It was likely that the boy had found shelter within the thicket and got injured in the process, giving the beasts the blood trail they needed to track him. The boy was safe, but trapped. It would only be a matter of time until the beasts chose hunger over safety.
It wouldn’t take Kaen even a second of thought. There was not a moment of hesitation, doubt, or planning involved. Kaen pulled the heavy metal blade off his back, more like a metal door with a handle than an actual sword, and hurled it at one of the beasts like a Javelin. It’s shape helped it glide and its weight pulled it down with force, pinning the first of the creatures to the ground by its leg. As the second turned to confront him, his eyes began to shine with a blazing orange light and he began to run faster than his body would let him, his bones cracking and his muscles tearing as he ran. While they mended just as quickly, he could feel every step with searing agony, but such a matter wasn’t of concern to him. All thought in this moment was gone. There was only this moment. This fight. To save this one life. He drew one of his short swords and ran to the side of his heavy blade, grabbing its handle as he leapt towards his pinned prey. As his short sword cut clean through the first monster’s throat, his weight pulled his blade behind him, forming a shield against the incoming attack of the second beast. Using his heavy blade like a mobile wall, he dove around his second target. Drawing his second short sword, he used both his blades to hamstring the beast before he cleaved its head from its body. As he watched the body turn to ash and making sure the first had disintegrated as well, Kaen allowed his body to relax, his eyes turning back to the soft hazel they once were.
Lifting his heavy blade to his back once more, he could feel its all too familiar weight. As he sheathed his short swords next to the long swords that were their sister blades, he said softly, “They are gone now. You can come out.” When he saw the young boy, hair as black as night and eyes an ocean blue, he knelt down and said softly, “What are you doing this far out of town?”
The boy said softly, “My cat. She hasn’t come back for a couple days. Grey said he saw her come this way and-”
Kaen laughed softly, “The little Calico? She isn’t in my house right now, but she has been coming back every day. If you want, I’ll bring her to the town library for you in the morning.” The boy seemed excited and obviously wanted to ask to see the cat sooner than that but upon remembering how he almost died, he nodded slowly. Kaen offered a hand, “I’ll walk you back to your house, okay? Just to be sure. I’m sure your parents are worried about you.” He could see the sudden anxiety on the boy’s face, but it didn’t change Kaen’s plan and as the boy seemed to be thinking about running, Kaen picked the boy up and lifted him to his shoulder, “Nothing for it. Can’t have you out here in the dead of night in nothing but your pajamas. Besides, someone needs to see to the cuts from the thorns.” The boy cried out, clearly not wanting to get in trouble, but it was a fruitless endeavor. Kaen said softly, “I know you don’t want to get grounded, but its for your own good. Your parents are trying to protect you and you almost got yourself killed. The fact that you survived two Vargr should be something you are bragging about. Especially because you were so brave and knew exactly where to go.”
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
When he brought the boy back to his house, Kaen knocked powerfully, his face stoic. When the boy’s father arrived, there were no words exchanged. Kaen handed the boy to the man who nodded in thanks, and Kaen nodded in kind. And as simply as that, Kaen walked away. He knew better than to stay in town. The first rule remained true. Those who hunt these monsters are the same sort that bring them with them, wherever they go. And how fitting the boy almost died coming into Kaen’s domain. As he returned to his family home, the halls dark save for the faint light of the smoldering furnace. He tossed more fuel into it and stoked the billows to get it up to temperature, not only to drive out the arctic chill but in case any lasting harm was done to his blades from contact with those monsters.
As he did so, his mind went back to the cat. He had seen it hunting field mice in the area, but hadn’t been thinking too hard about it since. He wouldn’t let his little white lie turn into despair for the boy. He had to think of a way to lure the cat in. As he picked up the loaf that had been baking atop his furnace, he took a large bite of it when he saw a small ball of fur walk from behind his furnace, the heat apparently too much for the beast. He laughed at the little Calico and said softly, “You must have run in here when I left the door open.” He tore off a small piece of the bread and offered it to the creature. It sniffed it curiously and took it into its mouth before it shook the morsel from its mouth moments later, its entire body recoiling as it tried to escape the food, as though the bread was made of pure evil. Laughing at the sight, glad to have the distraction, he sighed, “I think I have some leftovers from last night. Would you like that?”
The cat looked at him with wide eyed confusion and settled into a sitting position as it wrapped its tail around itself. It gave a curious meow before it locked its eyes with him. He returned its stare, a smile on his face as he stared deeply into its golden eyes. The confusion on the critter’s face brought Kaen a small and genuine smile. He said softly to the cat, “You know, you are a brave little guy, just like your kid. Brave or just very confident. Just walked into my home and now your trying to steal my heart.” He reached down to pick up the cat and it quickly uncurled and took a few steps back just out of his reach. “Oh? Brave enough to break into my home, but not enough for cuddles. Okay. If that’s the case, I’ll just go get you a proper dinner.” He stood up and for a moment he could tell the cat was worried he was going to try to pick it up, but Bronz taught him better than that. He walked into the kitchen without giving the cat a second look.
Opening the icebox, he could feel the cat rub against his canvas pants and laughed quietly to himself. “See, that’s what I thought. Brave but selfish. Don’t let me pet you but when food becomes an option…” He took the remains of his dinner from the night before and put it on the ground. “Some Warg stew. You can have whatever’s left. I don’t have much of an appetite lately.” He placed the bowl on the ground and while he could see the gleam of hunger in the cat’s eye, it moved to a safe distance and sat, curling its tail once more. He sighed and rolled his eyes, “Alright, fine. I’ll let you eat alone.”
Kaen left to go back to his bed in the center of his Mom’s old smithy, far enough away from the furnace to not be at risk of being on fire, but close enough for it to warm him during these cold months. A distance he knew all too well by now. As he drifted to sleep, he hoped he could get decent sleep for the night. Some time later, the little calico would make itself known, pawing at the edge of his blanket. He woke up enough to look into its assertive eyes and nodded before lifting the covers for the poor thing. Kaen would finally get a decent night’s rest for the first time since Bronz’ death.
