{"id":3321,"date":"2016-03-29T07:35:12","date_gmt":"2016-03-29T11:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tellest.com\/?p=3321"},"modified":"2016-04-12T08:17:07","modified_gmt":"2016-04-12T12:17:07","slug":"hunt-in-the-valley-of-mist-part-three","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/hunt-in-the-valley-of-mist-part-three\/","title":{"rendered":"Hunt in the Valley of Mist, Part Three"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hunt in the Valley of Mist
\n<\/strong>A Story by Aaron Canton
\n-Part Three-<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The trail of blood wasn\u2019t hard to see anymore; thick red stains covered the leaves, flowers, and grass as Kelten followed the monster down into the ravine. The rest of the woods seemed still and silent, with even the fog hanging thick in the air and only moving when the mercenary pushed through it. Kelten, though, barely noticed during the chase.<\/p>\n

He could go home, he thought. The harpy\u2019s wing was ruined enough Daragal probably wouldn\u2019t pay for it anymore, and besides, it wasn\u2019t like he needed the money or cared enough about his team to avenge their deaths. He\u2019d come out here because he\u2019d wanted something to do, but he hadn\u2019t wanted to die doing it, and that was looking like an increasingly likely scenario. So he could go back to his nice house in Viscosa and take comfort in the fact the harpy would surely bleed out within the hour.<\/p>\n

But the notion held no appeal. He\u2019d never cared overmuch about his hunts before, only taking the jobs because there was nothing more interesting to do at home. But when he thought of the harpy, he realized his heart was beating faster and his hands were growing sweaty on his sword, just as they had forty years ago when he first marched into battle. For the first time in what felt like years, he realized, he was going up against an opponent that was challenging him. That he might not be able to defeat.<\/p>\n

And, for the first time in years, he really felt alive<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The harpy was lying at the bottom of the ravine. Her wounded wing was tucked under her body, and her breath was coming in short, harsh gasps. She looked like she was almost dead already, and Kelten lifted his sword in preparation to cut off her head.<\/p>\n

But he stopped.<\/p>\n

It had been about twenty years ago, he thought, when he\u2019d come upon a badly wounded minotaur in the field who had been lying like the harpy was now. His then-commander, a brash idiot named Pergan, had pushed all the other soldiers out of the way and hurried to claim the kill himself. Then Pergan had screamed as he stepped on dwarf-made caltrops the minotaur had dropped that sliced through his steel boots, lacerated his feet, and dropped him to his knees in agony. And then<\/em> the minotaur had rolled over, revealing a massive repeating crossbow in one hand, and wiped out Pergan as well as four other soldiers before Kelten brought him down.<\/p>\n

So rather than charge forward, Kelten knelt and studied the environment as best he could in the misty woods. It only took him a few moments to note the razor-thin threads stretched between the nearest trees. \u201cWhat\u2019s that go to?\u201d he mused aloud. \u201cAnother knife on a vine? Deadfall dropping on my head? Some kind of explosive?\u201d He chuckled and carefully stepped over the threads, raising his buckler in front of him in case she rolled over and started shooting a concealed weapon. \u201cI\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

The harpy pushed herself upright, and Kelten saw she was holding a thin, golden lasso that looked elven-made. She flung it, and the loop on its end flew around Kelten\u2019s head while he tried to dodge without setting off the threads. He swung his sword, but the elfish rope didn\u2019t break. She hauled on the rope and sent him stumbling in her direction. He had just enough time to see her hand glowing silver as he crashed into her\u2014<\/p>\n

And then his mind went blank.<\/p>\n

He realized he was lying on the ground, and he saw the badly wounded harpy lying next to him, but no sooner had he noticed this than the thoughts vanished into what felt like a thick fog. Even though he was dimly aware there were things he should be doing and something had gone wrong, none of it seemed important. So he simply remained still, unable even to think of moving.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou bastard,\u201d hissed the harpy, and the words pounded into Kelten\u2019s mind like divine commands. \u201cJust stay there, and don\u2019t move. My friends\u2019ll find us soon enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelten thought to himself that he really should move, but this was a faint notion that quickly vanished into the fog that was his mind. He was supposed to obey, so he did, and he stayed as still as possible while the harpy cursed on the ground beside him.<\/p>\n

Eventually, he heard wings, and he turned in time to see six armored harpies flying down around him. Four immediately rushed to their companion, including one who looked younger than the others. \u201cSis!\u201d cried the little harpy. \u201cAre you okay? Did you win? Did you stop those mean humans who are hunting us?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Course I won, Rose,\u201d said the wounded harpy, cracking a smile.\u00a0 The little harpy beamed. \u201cYay!\u201d she shouted. \u201cYou\u2019re\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Then the older harpies moved Rose aside and began murmuring something and running their hands over their injured companion\u2019s wounds. \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d said one at last. \u201cWe\u2019ll heal you as best we can, Lavender, but the damage to your wing is extensive.\u201d She paused. \u201cYou may not be able to fly again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour sacrifice will be remembered,\u201d said another harpy, this one with medals pinned to her breastplate. \u201cYou defeated those who were hunting us. And because you left one alive, as planned…\u201d Her eyes flashed. \u201cWe\u2019ll get the rest. Have you asked him already?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, but I\u2019m about to.\u201d Lavender hauled herself upright, supported by the officer and her little sister, and stomped over to Kelten. \u201cSo,\u201d she said, a cruel smile on her face. \u201cIf you\u2019re wondering how we knew you were coming, that idiot porter you hired got drunk at that trading post you stopped in on the edge of the valley and told the other customers about your brilliant plan to catch a harpy and sell her wings to some rich guy. One of \u2018em, not being a total monster, got a message to us, and…Well, that\u2019s when they sent me to hunt you down.\u201d She grinned. \u201cYeah, you got a lucky shot on me when I was trying to lure you in here, and yeah, this was a lot harder than I thought it would, but I knew<\/em> I\u2019d beat you bastards in the end. Now\u2026Who hired you to kill one of us?\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelten wondered if he should really tell her, but he couldn\u2019t muster up the mental energy to hold out. \u201cA merchant named Daragal,\u201d he murmured. \u201cHas big holdings in Viscosa. Wanted harpy wings for his mantle.\u201d<\/p>\n

The harpies growled, but Lavender held up her hand. \u201cYou seem pretty experienced,\u201d she continued. \u201cHave you hunted harpies before?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOther magical creatures?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lavender\u2019s eyes flashed. \u201cTell me the names of everyone you ever sold one of us to and anyone else you ever worked with on those hunts that I didn\u2019t kill today.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Kelten did, listing former partners who were no longer working with him, as well as nobles, merchants, and groups who had wanted some magical creature or other killed. As he spoke, he noticed something was digging into his side and realized it was his holdout knife, but he didn\u2019t draw it. There didn\u2019t seem to be any reason to bother.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right,\u201d said the officer when Kelten was done. \u201cYou can deal with him, Lavender.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lavender approached Kelten and took the knife the harpy officer offered her. Before she stabbed him, though, Kelten felt a question forming in his head. The mist dragged at it, but this was a question he\u2019d been asking himself for years, and it held on despite the harpy\u2019s magic. \u201cWhy are you doing this?\u201d he asked in a tone of open curiosity. \u201cWere you bored too?\u201d<\/p>\n

The harpy gave him a long look, and it seemed to Kelten like there was rage burning in her eyes. But instead of answering, she slowly raised the knife to cut his throat.<\/p>\n

Well, dying\u2019s also something to do<\/em>, thought Kelten as the blade pierced his skin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hunt in the Valley of Mist A Story by Aaron Canton -Part Three-   The trail of blood wasn\u2019t hard to see anymore; thick red stains covered the leaves, flowers, and grass as Kelten followed the monster down into the ravine. The rest of the woods seemed still and silent, with even the fog hanging […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[145,146],"tags":[273,282,1235,1234],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Short-Story-Panel.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1UVey-Rz","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3321"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3321"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3322,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3321\/revisions\/3322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}