Ruby & the Huntsman of Midnight

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The girl wasn’t a monster. Tyler wasn’t sure what she was, but she wasn’t a howler. He’d seen the whole life span of a howler, from the ways they could be born to the ways they could die. And this was no howler or wolfkin that he’d ever seen.

From what he could tell, she was just an exhausted young woman barely out of her girlhood. If he’d seen her out on the street, he would have dismissed her as weak and ordinary, maybe even timid.

She didn’t resist when his men threw a net over her and cinched their ropes around her neck and body.

“Don’t hurt her.” His voice came out with as much command as the Dark King’s. “She’s fragile.”

He stopped himself from saying that she was precious. He almost laughed at himself over the impulse. Nothing in Midnight could become precious to a person, not if he wanted to live.

That kind of weakness became a death sentence or a life of slavery as soon as someone found out about it, especially if that someone was from the court. Tyler already had his father, and far too many knew about that weakness.

Of course, he only meant that she was precious in the same way as a prized animal was precious. Better not to ever say the word in the first place, though, just in case someone misinterpreted his meaning.

His men could tell that he thought of her as special anyway. They must have known themselves that this girl was different. They’d pulled up plenty of predators from the dungeon, and none were anything like her.

More than a few crossed themselves in the manner of the old religion when they saw her. It took some courage to do it in the open, considering that the Dark King and most of Midnight was far from any religion. But they were men who handled the worst of the Dark King’s creatures. Most people would forgive them for small trespasses like this, simply because they knew that no one would have taken this job unless they had no other choice.

They carefully and awkwardly picked up the girl and walked her up the stairs. They held their spears at the ready while carrying her by her shoulder and feet. She was wrapped in the net and ropes, and she seemed to be almost relieved to be off her feet.

He didn’t like the way she slumped. She didn’t even struggle. Her eyes were still open, but it looked like she was fighting to keep them that way.

Tyler could feel the threat of disappointment hanging over him. He had been so careful to manage his expectations that it was almost a surprise to feel it. It had been a long time since he’d had this level of interest.

He wanted to see what she was. What she could do. To see if she was an ordinary human or perhaps something more special.

There must have been plenty of other types of night creatures in the world that people didn’t know about other than wolfkin, wraith horses, wild fairies, trolls and such. Perhaps she was something like that. Could a mere girl kill a wolfkin-like creature made from dark magic?

Possible. But it would take someone skilled, and even then, it would take luck in a tight dungeon cell. He could only find out if he kept her alive.

His men placed her in a cage and secured it with a heavy lock. The cage was his own creation—a cage with an intricate latch that an animal couldn’t open. It was also built into a wagon, so that his men wouldn’t have to lift the animals. There was a ramp that they could use to guide the animals and shut them in without injury.

Tyler had been proud of the design when he came up with it as a child, showing it to his father. His father had burst with pride as he looked at it, never knowing that it would one day be used to hold monsters.

Each of the men climbed onto their wagons and drove their horses. Ordinary horses would die of fright if they were tied too long near a wolfkin. They often recognized wolfkin by smell, even if he was in human form. Howlers seemed to fall into that category even though they were neither wolfkin nor human.

Wraith horses, on the other hand, could take on a wolfkin in a fight and often win. Tyler didn’t know if they were natural enemies, or if the unnatural situation of being enslaved had them all at each other’s throats. He supposed he’d never know.

He wished he could take the wraith horses on hunts with him. It wasn’t the flaming mane and tail that was the problem. The forest hardly ever caught on fire, and when it did, it never grew large. The forest took care of itself.

The problem was the wolfkin. Regardless of which direction the wind was blowing, wolfkin seemed to sense wraith horses. He might as well wear bells all over himself and yell into the woods that he was hunting.

To keep the wraith horses from kicking the metal cages into bits, they only used horses that were exhausted. It was such a waste of the magnificent creatures to have them pull a wagon, but they were the only ones who could do it. The only other option was to use the king’s slaves, and Tyler wouldn’t do that unless ordered to.

Two of the wraith horses were little more than sagging hide over bones. The hide was torn and flapping in places, showing the bone and sinew beneath it. Their manes and tails burned bright, though.

The horse pulling the girl’s cage was muscular and burned the brightest. The flames were crimson and yellow, dancing along the horse’s neck and swinging along the tail as the wraith horse moved. It felt fitting that the girl had the strongest and brightest horse.

Tyler watched as the girl’s wagon split off from the rest. He followed, walking at a comfortable pace—not so fast as to betray his eagerness; not so slow as to bring suspicion. He wanted to make sure that she was settled with proper food and water. He wanted her to be able to get a decent night’s sleep and recover.

Because tomorrow, he would start her training.