“What exactly is going on?” Michael asked. The situation seems simple at first sight, raiders attacked a settlement, Knights were sent to stop them, they were wiped out by horrible monstrosities. Then it was the turn of the Blind, here to exterminate the enemies of man. But there was also the Stranger and that creature of the cosmos.

“Even I don’t know myself, but that woman was on a mission” The old hunter answered “But if I have to guess… Another deity is invading our us and this is ground zero. This world is enough of a mess, we don’t need another greedy bastard grabbing another piece of the pie”

They continue to the forest when the two encounters… two pairs of footsteps! Do these belong to the raiders, more monstrosities or something else. The old hunter inspects the track then suddenly signals Michael to stand still.

“Stay here and do not move”

The man said then put on his camouflage cloak, this one coloured like dirt and leaves. With that, he disappears into the bushes. The youth then notices that his companion doesn’t leave behind footprints at all.

Standing around doing nothing in this forest infested with monsters, unnerving is the least of what Michael is feeling right now. The youth puts up his shield, sword readies to fight back.

Five minutes, then ten, fifteen minutes go by. Heart beating fast, soon the youth could no longer keep track of the time. The leaves rustle in the wind, letting a ray of sunlight through, shinning straight at his eyes. Michael recoils back, swinging his sword around. The youth trips and falls to the ground. The sound of crushed leaves under startles him even more.

Michael opens his eyes to find someone is looking at him, but it is all blurry.

“Stop! Don’t come here”

The youth yelled out, pointing his sword at the figure. When his eyes finally refocus, the man in the distance is still there. It’s… a monster! A raider but a part of his skull is shown, on it spiral pattern covered the surface. Both of his arms are wrapped with barb wires to the elbow. What kind of monster is this! Not one from the depth nor the cosmos.

“It’s alright, I won’t hurt you” The creature said in fluent human tongue.

When he was young, Michael was told all sorts of stories about monsters. He isn’t going to be fool by this. The youth stands up to find the creature raising its spear and throws it. Michael tries to raise his shield but he couldn’t make it in time.

The weapon flies past his face and pierces through something behind. A fleshy sound can be heard along with a mournful groan. Michael turns around to find a creature of the cosmos.

It was a direct hit, but this is a normal spear, incapable of harming the monster. Overwhelmed by fear, the youth freezes as death approach. Then from behind, a steel bolt flies past and hit the monster in one of its many holes. The thing screech a forlorn sound then collapses to the ground, dead.

A hand grabs on his shoulder, Michael is pulled back the first creature.

“Be careful!” It said.

From the bushes come three more, another bolt immediately takes care of one of them. The other two step up, the moment their feet touch the ground, this place would be covered by the night once again!

But fortunately, that doesn’t come to pass.

The old hunter appears from seemingly nowhere. With vicious force and lighting speed, he slashes the monsters apart before they could take a single step. Such inhuman agility far surpasses that of a human and maybe even some monsters. Is this the result of the Blind notorious training or something else, honed through years of existence?

The raider also has his mouth agape, stunned by such a display of power. From behind him, Michael can see someone walk pasts, covered in cloth with only a one-eyed google.

“Looks who is still kickin’ around” The figure spoke up, a female voice.

“I should be the one to say that” The old hunter replied.

“Why don’t ya just go and die already, I want to win that bet already” She said.

“I am afraid to disappoint, but I don’t have any intention of doing so”

The two long-time friends bump their fists, signalling a familiar air of respect. That’s when the old hunter notices someone, or something. He raised his sword toward the target. This isn’t a monster but someone with his mind intact but addled, an acolyte of the unknown.

“He is fine” The woman lowers her follow sword “For now”

The acolyte bows to great them “I am Father Walker, it’s a pleasure to meet you two” He looks at the old hunter “I’ve heard about your exploits, the oldest Blind, you are quite a legend, sir”

The old hunter brushes that remark off. Title, fame, they don’t mean anything to him anymore, such frivolous things don’t help against monsters. He inspects the raider who is somehow still hasn’t fallen to any influence yet despite his physical form degrading. Slight mutations like this are common, especially in the Divers.

The youth, however, has a concern about this raider. This man in front him is one of the people who killed his father. They are an evil that must be purged. Blind handles the monsters of the world, it’s a Knight duty to handle the monsters among us.

But this isn’t the time for that, there are other matters to attend to. But after this is all over, Michael vows not to let that evil walks free.

“I presume you are here to deal with this cosmos threat?” Father Walker asked.

“Yes, but we are rather lost right now” The old hunter replied, turning to Siobhan “We did have a guide, the woman you always talk about”

The Smiling Hunter lights up in an instant “You met her! Where are her now!”

“That” Michael heart sank thinking about what happened “She died, killed by one of those thing” He looks at the monster corpses lying around. The youth turns back to see a one-eyed google right in front of him. When did she get this close? How come he didn’t notice anything at all?

“Is that supposed to be a joke?” The Smiling Hunter said, her voice devoid of joy “That’s strange, I don’t find it funny”

The youth, who has only turned fourteen this year, has been through a lot. Facing all those monsters, even the corpse of his dead father reanimated. And yet, nothing could compare to the fear for his life in this moment, faced with the crazed hunter. There is no question about it, this woman in front of him… WILL. CUT. HIM. DOWN. Michael has to choose his next words very carefully.

“She did say this might actually be her end” Father Walker chimed in. Bruno can see that something wrong with the priest. His usual air of gentleness is gone, replaced by… nothing. Father Walker seems almost soulless, his eyes unfocused, the black stone embedded in him glow dully.

“By this thing?” Siobhan turns back, kicking one of the corpses “With that weapon, she is invincible!” No one can respond to that, the only person who can deny the boy’s claim is remaining silent. The Smiling Hunter also knows very well that this weapon that woman wields has limited charges. Her horse is where most of them are stored.

Bruno is surprised by this reaction from his temporary companion. Frustration or anger that her mark has been killed by something else is what he expected. But this is denial, followed by pure unfiltered sadness.

This is the reaction of losing a loved one, not a prey. Bruno wonders if it is just him, projecting his own loss. That or maybe Siobhan isn’t as mad as she seems.

That thought is soon thrown out as the Smiling Hunter draws her crossbow and lets a bolt loose. It flies through the air to be caught by a hand in white glove. Bruno looks at the figure at awe. Cladded in leather duster with a strange looking hat, the woman steps out into the light, her crimson hair fluttering in the wind.

A smile on her face, the Stranger seems almost out of this world. The brim of the hat lifts up to reveal her iris-less eyes, certainly unsettling.

“You are still alive!” Michael exclaimed in joy, so she didn’t die because of him after all.

“Nice to see you still holding on, Sir Knight” She said to him then turn to Siobhan, handing the bolt over “And this, I believe is yours”

In the back, colour has returned to Father Walker who simply breathes a sigh of relief. Bruno looks at the woman, so this is the person he has heard so much about. She turns to him, tipping her hat to say hi.

There is something to her smile, is it unhinged, is it sultry, is it joyful? Bruno can’t tell, but it is definitely mysterious.

The reunion doesn’t last, however, as the Stranger suddenly falls forward. Siobhan and Father Walker are already to catch her, however. Michael also tried but he was easily pushed away. In the sky, the sun is setting bleaching the horizon with an ominous red, signalling a long night ahead.