Reign of the Hunt, Anna T. Marynczak [digital ebook reader .TXT] 📗

The fear was growing inside her, overwhelming feeling that something is wrong. Her husband, burned on his beloved boat; she was supposed to die with him, yet soon after her new people set the boat on fire and the flames slowly started to painfully skim her clothes and skin, she saw a blue light. Echoing voice slowly spoke to her.
‘Will you be willing to help the one who brought the demise upon you if it was to save you?’
The fire burned her skin and all she could do was scream, yet even through her screams she could hear the voice clearly. ‘Will you?!’ – Whatever or whoever it was, it became impatient.
She couldn’t bare the pain anymore. Side of her body was boiling, the blisters burst long ago and her skin has started to peel off. The sight of bare muscles was too much for her.
-I will! - She exclaimed in between her whaling. Her body was burned, but it did not hurt anymore. The blue light got stronger. Ajda felt tears filling up her eyes, she was even more terrified than when she found out that she was to die by the side of her husband. What she saw before her was not what she expected. Little blue lights placed inside an empty skull stared at her. Its eyes looked right through her and were needy.
- What are you? - She stuttered and couldn’t keep her hands from shaking. It might have seemed like it grinned, though it is hard to imagine a skull grinning. It did not answer, just pulled out its boned arm covered in ripped tendons and muscles. There was a medallion, gold with a blue sapphire melded into it. She quickly grabbed the amulet and that is when she started to feel queasy, the world around her was fading. Last thing she heard was ‘Follow the beast, Gytha!’ and then she fell into the darkness.

Her face was covered in sand as she laid on the shore of Shokame Bay. Although it was windy she could hear the murmur of the city, Chrak Tveas Meas, the Golden Gate. Capital of Wibrycg. She tried to get up, yet her arms were too weak. There was something really cold on her chest, she looked only to find the sapphire medallion to be around her neck. The medallion felt heavy, it had a weird inscription on the back, runes different to those commonly used in Wibrycg. Although her vision was blurred she could see that the writing was foreign or even extinct. The wind started to blow stronger and stronger in the direction of the Golden Gate. She took it as a sign to try and get up to head that way. Ajda realised that left side of her body was healed. However, the burns left severe scarring making it look like the side of her body melted like a wax candle. She took the charred cape, wrapped herself up and proceeded in the direction of the Golden Gate.

Thin trees were swinging from side to side, the wind would let out an occasional whistle that sounded as if someone was happily trotting amidst the darkest depth of the forest. Her steps were heavy and so was her breath, the shrubs to her side didn’t seem to follow the direction of the wind. Huge, black head peered out. Piercing blue eyes were gazing up at Ajda and followed her every move as she slowly tried to slip out of its sight line. A black dog stepped out of his hiding place and bared sharp, yellow teeth. The beast started to circle Ajda, constantly licking his muzzle. She had no clue what to do so she decided to stick her hand out and try and befriend the beast. Black mongrel approached her hand; smelled it, grinned, growled, looked Ajda straight in the eye and bit into her hand. She shrieked and tried to pull her arm away. The dog was biting into her hand harder with each second… she pulled on her medallion and swung with the sharp edge straight into the mongrel's eye. The beast let out a cry, tumbled, grinned at Ajda once more, turned around and fled into the direction of the Golden Gate. ‘Follow the dog, Gytha!’ echoed in her head.

Leaning on the nearby walls, shaking in pain with tears pouring down her face she walked the streets of The Golden Gate. The street looked like it had no end, Ajda saw the paw trail in the mud. She had no idea where they lead or what she is going to find when she gets there. Though she was sure of one thing, whoever saved her will be there. She again will have to face that terrifying figure. As she got closer to the back exit of the city she was completely exhausted, and then she heard a familiar neigh. She limped to the back gate and there he was. Kordeus; steed her brother Laidolf bought in Cahill. Ajda stroked his long, tangled mane. His eyes had a blue shine to them. ‘So, he got you too, ey?’ Kordeus leaned on his front legs, lowering his back so that Ajda could mount him. She clenched her hands on the reins and turned Kordeus around into the woods from where she hear a silent panting and smacking of the mud. Large hooves were sinking into the soaked ground, making the horse tread carefully. The dog seemed to walk in a straight line, as if it knew exactly where it was going.

In front of her was a big cave, a little stream splashed off the rocks. Blue afterglow was coming from the inside of the opening. Ajda stood there listening to the rhythmic sound of water drops falling from the trees around her.

‘So, you have made it...’    

- I had no choice, my family thinks I’m dead. I have nowhere to go. - She replied looking for the source of the voice. She stood there, waiting for the reply. The light inside of the started to get brighter until a figure appeared. Equally as terrifying as before. There it was, leaning on a long cane ending in a huge sapphire and clothed in old ripped up rags. Its eyes as needy as they were have been when she first saw it.

- They think you’re dead because you are dead, Gytha. - It talked without moving its jaw.

- But… I thought… you said you’d save me! - She dropped to her knees and hid her face in her hands.

- I did… there are far worse places to go than here. You will help, and I’ll consider giving you your life back. You will see the world in new colours. - He gawked upon her embittered face and pulled his hand up to her cheek. -  However, I cannot give you your appearance back. Those scars must stay with you. - She tried to put all the information together in her head, but nothing seemed to make sense to her. Her face was scarred, her vision in one eye was still blurred, and she was dead yet alive. Therefore, the thing that stood before her must have been…

- Death!? - Ajda looked at the figure and she could swear that his eyes got brighter for a second. It did not respond, just turned around and slowly disappeared in the darkness of the cave. She wanted to follow but hesitated. The moon casted a faint glow on the nearby puddle, enough light to see the reflection. She kneeled by the puddle and braced herself before looking in.  What she saw was beyond her expectations. Left side of her face was completely covered in scarred skin, her eye was bloodshot, the iris was dark yellow and pupil did not respond to the light. The only good thing about all of this was that her facial muscles were intact, she could still move them freely. Her cape fell into the puddle distorting her reflection. Single tear poured down her cheek as she stood up and headed into the cave.

From the outside the cave seemed quiet, but as she got further into the darkness she started to hear weird howls and cries. The cave was humid, and the ground was slippery. As she was about to reach what seemed to be the end of the opening she lost her ground and fell through what seemed to be a hole made by Mother Nature. The fall wasn’t as long as she expected. Surprisingly she landed on an old but neatly laid stone flooring. It wasn’t dark anymore. There were fire stands on both sides of the corridor, what was odd about them was the colour of the fire. It was blue. ‘Of course it would be blue.’ - She thought, remembering the blue light accompanying Death every time it manifested itself. She started to think why Death is referring to her as Gytha, her name was Ajda. She had so many questions. She now stood in front of big doors that were made of really old wood and stone. At both sides of the door there were stone statues of dogs. They looked like the one she was attacked by earlier. On them, plaques with same runes as on the medallion that she was given. There were no door handles on the door, but one of the dog statues had a small slot on its chest, big enough for the medallion. While taking it off her neck she got closer to see the inscriptions on the metal plate. Inspecting the medallion she laid her hand on the head of the statute, it must have been there for ages because the stone crumbled a little under the weight of her hand. The medallion fitted perfectly into the slot, and when she pushed it till the very end the dust started to fall of the doors and with a loud creek they opened. Ajda pulled out the medallion and stepped inside. As she got closer to the centre of the room the doors behind her slammed creating a cloud of dust, the ceiling crackled and little stones fell to the ground. Ajda pulled her arm over her head to protect her face from the falling ceiling chippings. When the dust settled back on the ground she could see the room clearly again. In the far end there was a wall, all covered in chains and oddly looking forging instruments. They were all well maintained compared to the whole room. The big throne had at least an inch of dust on it. It was a wooden and stone throne with huge backrest covered in carvings and metal bits. Those runes again. Books. Large bookcases covered the back wall, Ajda decided to come closer and see if any of them were written in common runes. There was one. It was an ‘Astronomical Almanac’, when she pulled out the book the wall right next to the throne started to rumble. ‘Crafty’ - she thought. Heading into the opening in the wall she grabbed one of the blue torches, and pulled it in front of her to light up the opening. Inside was a capstan mechanism lift.

The mechanism was old, definitely not safe to meddle with, but Ajda had no other choice. A gentle push on the capstan gave out incredibly loud creek. Clouds of dust began to form, lower she got, harder it was for her to turn the handle. She heard a loud snap and the lift went flying down the floors, her whole life flashed before her eyes, again. The fall was quick, the lift however, didn’t take it too well. It shattered like a delicate vase, the time took its toll. She laid there surrounded by