The Manhunter
an excerpt

The Manhunter
Chapter Six – The Hunter and The Hunted

Snow quietly drifted to the ground, adding to the already two feet-thick layer that already covered it. It was a rather peaceful evening, if rather cold and dark.

Forest surrounded the road on both sides, the trees casting strange shadows by the light of Rol’s lanterns.

Ajani sat beside the old Orcan, bundled up tightly in his winter clothing. He shivered, placing his hands in his armpits for warmth.

Turning to Rol, Ajani shivered. “Evening, huh?”

“I misjudged what time it was, all right?” Rol said, obviously angry about his miscalculation. “It was an honest mistake.”

The two continued on in silence for a while, nothing to do but watch the horses in front of them pull their sleigh along.

It was Ajani that broke it. “Why are you doing this, anyway? You’re not a Wanderer anymore.”

Rol kept his eyes on the road with a heavy sigh. “For some, being a Wanderer and being a former Wanderer are one and the same. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been associated with it, you’ll never live it down.”

“But why?” Ajani asked, not really wanting to press the old man too hard. “Why would you insist yourself to come and vouch for me when you don’t even know me?”

“Because…” Rol started to say, but then his voice drifted off. “Because I won’t let an innocent man be accused of something I know he didn’t do.”

Things once again became quiet.

They rode along for a good while, leaving Ajani to his thoughts. He looked out into the trees, watching the shadows and snowflakes dance in the dim, flickering light.

Should I tell Rol what I’ve done? Ajani thought, the trees passing by. He was a Wanderer, but at the same time, his reasons weren’t so… self-deprecating.

He looked back at the Orcan, who was concentrating on the snow-covered road.

Rol did not come across as a bad person, but a simple, good-natured one. Both him and his wife had done so much for him without even knowing who he was, or why he was running.

Perhaps he was just the trusting sort, but this went beyond just trust or faith. Ajani could only assume that he knew something, but what? What could Rol know about Ajani’s story that would make him want to do this for him?

It was kind of nice having someone around that didn’t care what he had done. Maybe the old man would be someone he could ask for advice regarding his reason for running. Just talking might be enough to ease his mind about the matter, but at this point, Rol still had to prove his trust.

With a sigh, Ajani turned back to the road, shivering from the cold.

“Let me ask you something, kid.” Rol said, looking over at Ajani with a concerned look.

“Shoot.” Ajani shrugged.

“Why do you not want my help?” Rol asked. “Do you think you don’t deserve it?”

Ajani paused for a moment before replying with a callused answer, “Perhaps I don’t.”

Rol frowned. “That’s a lie.”

“And how do you know that?” Ajani asked, turning in his seat. “You don’t know anything about me. I could have killed that waitress in town for all you know.”

Raising his eyebrow, Rol looked hard at Ajani. “Did you kill her?”

Stuttering, he back peddled. “Well, no… b-but what if I had? Would you still take me into town to give me an alibi?”

“Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous.” Rol said, completely calm with where the conversation was going. How could this guy keep his cool so easily? “I would have beat you senseless and dragged you to the Ranger’s office myself.”

For a moment, Ajani could think of nothing to say to that answer. He didn’t feel much better about the situation, though. If the old man was willing to take him in for a crime, then there was no way that Ajani could ever let himself confide in the Orcan for his own problems.

And he seemed like he could have been the one person he could.

Suddenly, a popping sound in the distance caught their attention. It wasn’t just a simple breaking branch or falling tree; this was something else, something much worse.

“Did you hear that?” Ajani asked, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise. It was nearly impossible to do thanks in part to the trees and snow.

“Aye.” Rol said, pulling back on the reigns to slow the horses down. “Aye, I heard that.”

“It isn’t hunting season…” Ajani said, hoping deep down that it was. “That wasn’t a hunter, was it?”

“With a pistol?” Rol said, trying hard to make a decision of what to do. “All that would do would piss of the wildlife. There’s got to be something wrong out there.

As if on cue, several more shots rang out, all in rapid succession. Rol was right; there was something totally wrong about this one.

Ajani focused on the echo. It sounded nearby, at least within a mile. Should they investigate it or leave it be?

It wasn’t even a decision for Rol, who leapt into action. He snapped the reigns into play, and the sleigh took off in the direction he either hoped it came from, or hadn’t.

He lead the horses off the road and into the forest, passing between the tress and timber with a slow but uncomforting pace.

“Here kid, drive.” Rol said, handing Ajani control of the horses.

Reluctantly, Ajani obeyed, and focused on his steering. He hadn’t really ever driving a sleigh before, and he hoped that he could steer it right.

Free from his task, Rol set out to complete another: load his shotgun. He pulled the weapon from the leather case, at the same time digging a few shells out of his pocket. One by one, the shells were pushed into the stalk.

“What are you doing?” Ajani asked, taking a few quick glances as he drove. “You’re not actually planning on using that, are you?”

“I’m insuring that we don’t end up like that girl.” Rol said, sliding in the last round. He cocked the weapon, and pointed it down at the floor of the sleigh. “Keep your eyes peeled. We don’t want to get caught off guard.”

Ajani nodded, partly glad that the Orcan was able to take charge, and partly scared out of his wits for the same reason. He just had to keep his cool, and hope that Rol was more than just talk.

There wasn’t much to see at first, especially since the forest was beginning to get denser as the further in they got. But that didn’t mean they were completely in the dark about what was happening somewhere ahead of them.

A blood-curdling series of screams reached their ears through the freezing night air. It was terrifyingly close, which could only mean they were getting closer to the source of those gunshots.

“Rol, is this such a good…?” Ajani started to say.

“Shh!” Rol said, focusing out into the darkness like an eagle looking for prey.

But as quickly as the screaming reached their ears, it stopped.

Ajani shivered, taking a nervous breath. Something was horribly wrong here, and Ajani wasn’t sure he wasn’t to find out what.

“Stop!” Rol whispered loudly, suddenly whipping his weapon upward. “Right here!”

Obeying, Ajani pulled hard on the reigns. The horses stopped, but not without complaint. Seemed like Ajani wasn’t the only one afraid of whatever was out in these woods.

“There!” Rol said, pointing off through the trees.

At first, Ajani didn’t see anything, but it didn’t take long for him to spot it: the flickering orange glow of a fire.

“Come on, kid.” Rol said, leaping from the sleigh and into the snow that came up to his knees.

He hesitated, a shiver climbing up his back. “I think I’ll stay with the horses…”

Rol looked back, his teeth glistening in the light of the lantern. He wasn’t happy. “Are you sure you want to do that? I’m the one with the gun here.”

“Point.” Ajani said, quickly tying the reigns to the sleigh. He reached out to grab a lantern.

“Leave it!” Rol said. “Come on!”

Ajani obeyed, leaping down into the snow.

The two made their way from the sleigh into the forest, following the glow until they reached a clearing. They couldn’t see exactly what was making the glow due to the thick snowfall, but they could see that whatever it was, it was in the center of that clearing.

“Keep close.” Rol whispered, slowly stepping out into the field.

Again, Ajani did what the Orcan said, sticking right behind him. He could hear the fire crackling loudly, glass popping and shattering. The fire was in a building!

“Rol!” Ajani said, still whispering. “It’s a house! We’ve got to help them!”

“Quiet!” Rol said. “It’s not just house.”

Huh? Ajani thought, slightly confused.

It wasn’t long before he saw what he meant. It was more of a shed with windows, the inside completely engulfed in flames. Ajani started to rush forward beside Rol, but suddenly stopped when he saw something else.

A lone figure, dressed in black, stood over what looked like a campfire in the snow. It just stood there, watching the fire burn, completely oblivious to their presence.

“Hey!” Ajani said, calling out to the man. “Are you okay?”

Rol suddenly turned and gave him a glare that could have melted the falling snow into rain. “Are you crazy?”

The figure’s head suddenly lifted, turning to face the newcomers in a fluid, ghostly motion. He did so without a word, which made Ajani’s hair stand on end.

“Hold it right there!” Rol said, focusing the shotgun in on the figure. “If you move a muscle, I’ll drop you where you stand!”

The figure stared at the pair for a moment, focusing primarily on Ajani. “You! You come to defend your insect of a brother?”

Ajani froze in place. What did that mean?

“You’re too late.” The figure hissed, taking a step forward in defiance of Rol’s order. “You and your kind are nothing more than animals! And you all deserve to die like one!”

The ground in front of the figure exploded in a wall of snow, scaring Ajani half to death.

Rol cocked the shotgun. “I said, freeze, idiot!”

The figure came to a stop, seemingly unfazed by the warning shot. It stood there without a word.

Ajani began to feel like the figure was staring at him, drilling into him with his eyes. It was probably the most unnerving feeling that he had ever felt in his life, and Ajani didn’t know if he could hold it together.

“Get down, on the ground, and put your arms over your head!” Rol barked, motioning with his gun. When the figure did not move, he yelled even louder. “Now!”

In the blink of an eye, the figure turned and darted away towards the building, sprinting through the snow like it was concrete. His motion was completely silent, like a ghost.

Rol, however, was not so quiet. He fired off another round, trying to shoot the figure as it ran. He barely missed, and cursed his luck as he cocked his weapon.

Running after him, Rol fired again, blowing a tree branch in two as the figure darted into the woods.

The figure was gone.

Ajani ran up beside Rol, looking all around him as if the figure could appear from nowhere. “What in the world was that?”

“I was just about to ask you.” Rol said, breathing heavily, watching the woods with military vigilance. “But whatever it was, he didn’t seem to like you very much.”

“No, not really.” Ajani said, looking over at the blazing guardhouse. The campfire came immediately to his attention as odd, and he began to walk towards it.

Encouraging him, Rol nodded towards it. “Go check out whatever it was he was looking at over there.”

“Me?” Ajani said weakly.

“Do you see anyone else here?” Rol asked. “I’ll cover you.”

Ajani didn’t answer, and instead took a few steps towards the smaller fire. He didn’t have to get to close to know what it was.

“Oh, no.” Ajani said, covering his nose and mouth. He turned back, the smell alone making him want to puke. “Not again…”

It was a body, burning in the snow.

Rol cursed, shoving the weapon into Ajani’s hands. He ran over to the body, dumping loads of snow onto the fire and stamping it out with his gloves. The fire sizzled out, and Rol turned the body over to reveal a young man, his face bleeding.

Checking his pulse, Rol closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “He’s dead.”

Shaking as he held the shotgun, Ajani couldn’t focus on any one direction. The combination of the cold and the fear made it difficult to think, to center his attention on any given spot in the woods around them.

“Calm down, Ajani!” Rol said, standing up and walking over to the human. “It’s all right now, he’s gone.”

Ajani shook his head. “No. No it’s not.”

Rol placed his hand on the kid’s shoulder, grabbing the weapon and gently freeing it. “Yeah, it is. It’s okay.”

Turning to the Orcan, Ajani looked at him wide-eyed. “No, you don’t understand.”

“Understand what?” Rol said, leaning to one side.

Ajani gulped, a tear rolling down his cheek. “He’s after me.”