Reaper

On the wendigo’s trail

David took a deep breath and breathed in a lungful of air which carried with it the stench of rot and decay. The brown leaves littering the forest floor crunched under his boots as he headed deeper into the woods. Vanessa kept her eyes wide open and followed his lead.

“I can’t hear the howls anymore.”  David stopped under the shade of an overgrown laurel oak tree which had become the nesting place for myriads of birds and beetles. He could hear the chirping of the kestrels and wrens and the occasional tapping of the woodpecker, but the howls had suddenly ceased.

“Maybe it ran deeper into the woods. There is a clearing not far from here.” Vanessa pointed westward.

A narrow forest path cut through the foliage and led into the heart of the woods. As they ventured deeper, there was a gradual transition from green to mellow mottled yellow and slowly into several shades of leafy brown. The lively maple trees were gradually replaced by their hoary old cousins who had shed their dying leaves and donned the appearance of skeletal ushers, guarding the entrance to the clearing.

Touched by the withering hands of autumn, the trees had been drained of life. But they weren’t the only ones who had been marked for death. Just as David entered the clearing, a grizzly sight met his eyes. The grassy ground was stained with dried blood. He followed the trail of blood only to make a horrifying discovery. His stomach turned as his eyes fell upon three human corpses which had been picked clean of all flesh. Even the bones had been gnawed on. There was hardly anything left to help him identify the bodies.

“These are old kills. Must have been the wendigo’s victims,” Vanessa concluded after taking a look herself. “We should not stray from our purpose,” she reminded him, with a firm touch on his shoulder.

“I have never seen anything like this,” David replied, turning to face her. His eyes were filled with a sense of unspeakable horror.

“This isn’t going to be the worst thing you ever see. At least they were killed outright.”

“You speak as if their lives don’t matter at all!”

“David, you cannot let your emotions distract you from your goal. If you want to make sure that the wendigo doesn’t kill again, you need to track it down. We are burning daylight here.”

David reached into the eye socket of the one of the skulls and began digging inside with his three fingers.

“What are you doing?” Vanessa asked.

He didn’t make any reply but gripped the skull firmly in his other hand and yanked out a piece of metal from inside. Getting back up, he dusted his jeans and held out the object to her. “These people were shot dead.”

“That’s impossible. These are all wendigo kills. It’s clear as daylight.”

“I am not denying that, but there is more to it than meets the eye.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that these people were shot first and then the wendigo feasted on their bodies. They were killed by a human, who then devoured their flesh and turned into a full blown wendigo. In other words, the wendigo we are dealing with wasn’t cursed by a forest spirit but chose to become a wendigo by willingly killing these people and performing an act of cannibalism.”

Vanessa was impressed by his keen deductive skills. “You are really good at analyzing stuff.”

“This is what I used to do for a living. Once a cop, always a cop,” he replied.

“Perhaps this is why Mr. Ryder chose you.”

“I still haven’t proven myself.”

“Now is your chance. We have a wendigo to kill.”

David nodded and added, “Follow me.”

He had already picked up the wendigo’s trail. With the help of his Reaper Vision, it was easy for him to scan the ground and discover the wendigo’s footprints on the grass. Though there were several footprints in the area, one set was clearly distinguishable from the others. It had been recently imprinted on the grass, barely a few minutes ago.

The pair kept following the trail, looking for any other signs of the monster. Strangely enough, the woods had suddenly receded into a somber solitude. Neither insects nor birds made any sound. The filtered sunlight lit up patches of undergrowth, guiding the trackers towards their prey. They were deep inside the woods when Vanessa pulled David by his arm.

“Check this out.”

On the left lay another corpse, stripped of all flesh and skin. This one however had fresh bloodstains all around it and gave out a foul rotting smell.

“This one’s a fresh kill. Must be a few hours old, poor guy must have got lost in the woods.” Vanessa picked up the backpack lying beside the corpse and unzipped it. She went through the contents of the bag and fished out an Identity card.  “He was a college student, Ethan Wilkinson.”

“We should inform his family. They would want to give him a proper burial.”

“This isn’t the time to play cop. What would tell his family when they ask you how he died?”

“I will tell them the truth.”

“No one will believe you, David. They will probably think you killed him. Don’t forget that you are no longer a cop. Hell, you aren’t even alive for the world. We should do what we came here for. There is nothing we can do for the dead.”

A sense of terrible wretchedness seized David as he moved his eyes away from the corpse of the young boy. He was close to Vanessa’s age, but she didn’t feel a thing. David was still trying to get rid of his troubling thoughts when he heard a bestial howl. There was a rustle of leaves in the trees above. The two hunters looked up and caught a glimpse of a toothy grin.

“The wendigo is up in the trees. We can’t fight it in this cramped space. It can jump down on us at any moment!” The words were barely out of David’s mouth when the monster came crashing down on top of Vanessa. She jammed the silver dagger into its upper jaw before it could bite into her flesh. The wendigo screamed in pain and was briefly disoriented by the attack. This gave her ample time to kick free from its grasp and scurry to a safe distance.

The wendigo had grown larger since their last encounter, and black antlers had emerged from its head which resembled an animal skull rather than a human face. Inside its deep sockets were set its filthy yellow eyes, filled with rabid hunger.

David fired at the monster, aiming for its hearts but it blocked the bullets with its elongated arms.  With a terrifying scream the wendigo bared its teeth and prepared to lunge at its prey.

“Our weapons won’t work against a fully transformed wendigo. I have to level the playing field!” Vanessa’s blue eyes sparked with flashes of lightning. She pointed her open right palm at the monster and began chanting an archaic incantation. “Veste Melhor Tavaikin Saraitus Mezhor!”

Soon the weather changed and the sun was blotted out from the sky by the converging storm clouds. The clear blue skies now rumbled with thunder. A blue circle, enshrined with runes trapped the wendigo in its center. It tried to leap at her but found it impossible to break free from the runic circle which slowed its movement speed tremendously.

“I call the Ashen Sisters to bless me with their powers. Heed my call and send forth your dark pets!” Vanessa exclaimed with full throated fury.

Her spell summoned a murder of ravens from the dark clouds brewing above. There were over a thousand birds in the massive swarm which swirled over the wendigo’s head.

“Ir Zanath!” she shouted.

At her command the ravens plummeted downwards, their wings emitting sparks of magical lightning. Diving at the monster, the birds plunged their black beaks into the wendigo’s chest. They surrounded the monster from all sides and began tearing out chunks of its flesh. With every passing moment, the ravens attacked even more viciously. The wendigo screeched in agony as the birds scratched open its chest with their talons and pecked out the monster’s hearts. Some went for its eyes, while the others attacked its limbs. The cannibal flailed its arms wildly, trying to get them off him but the birds were undeterred by its desperate attempts. They were relentless in their attacks and quickly reduced the wendigo into a heap of bones and claws, which collapsed into a lifeless skeletal pile.

Vanessa breathed a sigh of relief. But the magic spell had drained so much power from her that she started feeling dizzy. Her face turned pale and lifeless and her head started spinning. She had pushed her body to its very limit while using her most powerful spell. David rushed in and caught her in his arms as she fainted from exertion.