The Hunter

Chapter Six

“The troll made THAT sound?” I say surprised.

“Looks like it.” My dad replies stoically.

“Geez. It sounds close by! We haven’t come up with a plan yet!” I say slightly panicked.

“Alright listen. You go up to those rocks. I’m going to draw it out here. When it walks by slam down on its head with that thing.” He points to my mace.

“What if it’s not a troll?”

“What else do you think it could be?” He asks.

“A Wendigo?” My father stares blankly at me.

“Son, it’s never a wendigo. And even if it’s not a troll. That thing landing on it’s head is sure to do some damage. Now go.” I take off for the rocks. Once I’m in position I give my father the signal. He takes out a bill roar, it’s a slat of wood tied to a string and it makes a roaring sound when you whirl it through the air. It’s light and easy to carry around. He whirls it around and an intermittent roar sounds throughout the woods. It has gotten the beast’s attention. We can hear it start to make its way towards us. The ground under me starts shaking. I see it barreling it’s way towards my father.

“Hold.” My father says as the troll runs towards him.

“Hold.” I can see the top of the creatures head.

“Hold.” He’s almost here.

“NOW!” My father shouts. I swing the mace back and slam it down with all the strength I have. It makes connection with the creature’s head. I definitely hurt it, but only enough to slow it down. It continues running towards my father, the handle of my mace slips out of my fingers.

Oh great my mace is embedded in the back of his head.

“Dad look out!” I shout. I look around for something I can use that’s big enough to hit it, but there’s nothing. Without thinking I jump of the rocks and grab onto the back of the troll’s neck, tackling him to the ground right at my father’s feet. My father rips the mace out of the creature’s head and then slams in back down, crushing its skull. Creating a very unsettling crackling sound upon contact. Out of breath I stand up.

“You think there’s only one?” I ask panting.

“I hope so, I don’t know how many rocks you can jump off of.” My father says.

“Let’s go see where it came from, maybe we’ll find another one.” My father says handing me back the mace. It’s covered in troll blood and smells awful. We make our way up the path the troll came from and come to the entrance of a cave.

“I was right.” I say giving my dad a proud smirk.

The smell coming from the cave is almost unbearable. It smells like a sewer that’s been stuffed with rotten garbage. We walk to the mouth of the cave and the smell is making me nauseous.

“You ok?” My father asks. I gag.

“Are you?” I reply back.

My fathers face has lost all of its color.

“Look, take shallow breaths, cover your nose and we’ll get in and out quickly.” My father says.

“Can’t the clean up crew take care of this?” I ask.

“Not if there’s another one in the cave. We just need to clear it then we can get out.” He says. I cover my nose and grab my flashlight. My father and I enter the cave. No matter how much you cover your nose, you can taste the smell. I shine my flashlight along the walls of the cave and listen for any signs of life. A few steps in we come across the creature’s kill floor. The area where an animal kills and eats its prey. It’s not a pretty sight.

“Dad.” I say drawing his attention. He looks over the blood, bones, and decaying flesh.

“I’m going to go a little deeper to see if there is anything.” He says. Suddenly we hear the sound of metal clanking. We point our flashlights towards the sound. We walk over and shine the light right in the eyes of something in a cage. It takes me a minute to realize it’s a girl.

“Hello?” I say. The girl jumps and is visibly shaking.

“It’s ok, we aren’t here to hurt you. We’re going to get you out of here.” I say.

“It will come back. It’s going to come back.” She shakes. Look

“We killed it. It’s not coming back.” I reach the cage and unhook the door, but she’s not coming out.

“It will come back.” She just keeps saying it over and over.

“What’s your name?” I ask her. She pauses for a minute.

“Mary.” She says quietly.

“Alright Mary. I came here to bring you home. Now, let’s go.” I offer her my hand. She looks up at me through her matted hair. She reaches out and takes my hand. I pull her out of the cage and wrap her arm around my shoulder. I lead her out of the cave and into the light.

“Mary, how many were there?” My father asks.

“Just the one.” I walk her over to the dead troll. At first she starts to panic.

“Shhh look, just look. It’s dead.” She glances over and starts to calm down.

“It’s dead?” She asks.

“Yes, you don’t need to be scared.” We walk pass the troll and make our way back down to the car. We make it back to the town and we call the sheriff on our way in. We take the girl to hospital, the sheriff meets us there. My father and I wait in the waiting room for the sheriff to come back from interviewing the girl.

“Sheriff Andrews.” I say standing when I see her come out of the room.

“Well boys. Looks like you are heroes. That girl was part of the campers. She watched the other two get eaten.”

“Damn. That’s awful.” I say.

“It is, but Mary is alive thanks to you two.” She says.

“Glad we could help. We’ll have a cleaning crew come take care of the area.” My father says. We make our way back to the car, I smell awful and my father doesn’t smell any better.

“Hershel, we need a clean up at the mountains in Lancaster.” My father says talking on the phone. We drive back to the motel and I take a shower. I contemplate burning my clothes, but wrap them in a trash bag instead.

“That was a good hunt today.” My father says.

“Yeah, but it probably ruined my clothes.” I say.

“Probably. Do you want to head back tonight or in the morning?” My father asks. He never asks me what I want to do. Normally he just makes the decisions.

“Let’s head back tonight. We can level up sooner.” I say.

“And wash our clothes. Let’s pack up and head back then.” A seven hour drive back shouldn’t be too hard. Right? We pack up and load the car. Heading back to Jackson. Seven hours later we pull up to my apartment in the late hours of the evening. I grab my bag and head inside. I’m exhausted. I drop my bags by the door and shed my clothes. I collapse into bed and quickly fall asleep.

The next morning I meet my father at the guild. I wonder what creature we’ll get next.

“Hey Patty. You are looking ravishing today.” I say walking up to the desk.

“Oh hush you. How was the hunt?” She asks. I hand her the paperwork, which is a bit shaky because I wrote it in the car. She glances over it.

“Good job boys.” Patty says.

“Thanks. We should be leveling up today.” I say.

“Early congratulations. You both deserve it.” My father walks up.

“Ready to go?” He asks.

“You bet. See you later Patty.” I say as we walk towards the hall.