Scarlett's Light

Chapter1

Early mornings in Demir are usually quiet. Barely anyone has wakened aside from children getting ready for school. The only sounds you would hear this early are the birds chirping and the few roosters roosting, but this morning was different. The menacing growl of a Terracorsa; the motorcycle owned by Demir’s most feared monster hunter, echoed through the streets. He slows after turning down a newly paved road that lead to a massive castle. It was old in age, almost a thousand years old but very well kept as there was no signs of it falling apart. It was nestled up to a large, calm lake. The highest tower allowed you to see not only all Demir but also past the lake, revealing the red wood forest beyond it.

Inside the castle was dead silence, the young-looking monster hunter’s steps echoed as he walked across the marble floor leaving the garage behind him and entering a large foyer. He ascends a grand spiral staircase, stopping on the second floor. He walks past two doors, one on each side of him that had wreaths made of dark crimson roses. He stops at an intersecting hallway and gives a moment of silence for the two fallen Revenants. He takes a left, tiredly strolling to the end of the hall to a graceful looking door with a keypad where a keyhole should be. As he punches in the pass code, he notices a white envelope stuck in between the door frame and the wall out the corner of his eye. He grabs it and the only thing it reads is Reynold.

Reynold shakes his head as he opens the door to his room. It was a mess with books scattered across the floor, on his bed, his desk and even on the loveseat in from of the fireplace. He opens the envelope walking to his bed and read the contents of the paper inside as sets down his gear. He takes a deep breath as he sits down at his desk.

“Damn beast…” Reynold mumbles, sighing as his eyes scan the ‘cry for help’ sent by a small town nearby. They claim something was howling in the middle of the night, but it did not sound like a normal wolf. He thinks to himself: “the same damn cry the last three towns have said, yet I have found nothing,” rolling his eyes before putting down the letter and rubbing his forehead, irritated. For the last two months, he’s been all over Athieum looking for the monster that only likes to spook and not kill. He rests his head on his desk, closing his eyes wanting more sleep; as he had not been home from the last dead-end mission for more than an hour. He groans as he forces himself up from his seat, grabbing his gear off his bed as he makes his way back down to the garage.

Reynolds exiting of his home into Demir once more was a drastic change from when he returned, the castle and city was now bustling with life. Maids, cooks, groundskeepers, Revenant trainees and their mentors were roaming and rushing around the castle and its grounds. In just a couple of hours Demir went from a silent almost dark little town to a beautiful place filled with humans, Revenants, witches, and a few reformed monsters. The city itself seemed even more chaotic as people entered the walls coming from the capital; Athieum. Though he ignored all of it, wanting to finally try to put an end to the wild werewolf chase he’s been on and getting quite sick of.

As he rides down to the small town, he dives into the little bit of peace he feels from the colors of the autumn trees he passes. He begins to become lost in thought of what could be spooking the people of Skarsguard. Werewolves were the first thing to come to mind as the most obvious culprit, but there were too many things that mimic a howl to lure unsuspecting humans to their fate. Then again, it could very well be a wolf trying to locate his pack, but there was no telling until he talked to the locals. He was not greeted by anyone when he entered the town, he mostly got disgusted stares and women would push their children behind them as he walked by. Reynold was offered a place to stay by a local farmer, outside, at the edge of his property. He spends a good portion of the afternoon walking through town, talking to anyone willing to look in his direction. Mostly all of them saying the same thing: howling in the middle of the night, but no one has gone missing, nor livestock ripped apart.

His next ‘witness’ was an old woman, who gives him a more exaggerated account of just a howl. Why ask for my services if no one has been killed? He thinks to himself as he grows more impatient; getting bored of listening to this woman, he zones in on a strand of hair and blows it out of his face. “Thank you, madam. That’s all I need.” He sighs, before continuing his way to find anyone with some useful information. As he continues down the dirt road, his attention falls on a pale young woman with dark brown hair outside what he assumes to be her home. He watches as the young woman waves goodbye to the little girl running inside of the house. He approaches her just as she is turning to leave, “excuse me, miss? May I have a word with you?” He asks as he runs his fingers through his silver hair. The young woman jumps a little and Reynold must force himself not to chuckle. She hesitates to turn around, but when she does the first thing that his gaze falls on her icy blue eyes. “Have you heard any howling, possibly seen any wolves in the area?” He asks, hoping she would give him a different answer. She gives him a sweet, but nervous smile.

“Um no, I’m sorry. I’m here to see family and have just gotten into town.” The woman says, Clearly struggling to hide the nervous tone in her voice. She eyes his weapons, and he crosses his arms becoming a bit suspicious. She takes a step back and avoids making eye contact with him, which was the only normal thing about her demeaner. “I’m sorry to be a bother, have a nice evening.” He says and not a moment later, the young women turns and hastily walks away in the opposite direction, while throwing her long hair into a ponytail. He couldn’t help the feeling there was something off about her. She eyed his weapons as if she were going to die of fright, where most humans are used to seeing a Revenant geared with such things. The stares of disgust he usually gets comes from the people that view Revenants just as monstrous as the creatures they are paid to kill. “Well, so much for having a little hope.” He thinks as he looks around for another witness.

The young woman could still feel him staring at her as she walked away, making her quicken her pace. She started to feel her anxiety rise, she turns down a small alleyway and leans against the moss-covered brick wall. She takes a deep breath to calm her nerves, she peaks around the corner. No sign of him, thank the goddess. She thinks to herself with a sigh of relief. She hears a chuckle inside her head that wasn’t her own. “What’s so funny?” She asks the voice.

“Act more human, they don’t fear Revenants, especially here.” The voice responds, it was melodic and soothing to listen to. “You know, sometimes I wish wolf spirits didn’t speak.” She steps out of the alley way and turns down the next road that comes up on her right. “If we didn’t, you would be dead.” The voice says in a snarky tone. The young woman says nothing in return at first, “shut up Faya.” She says, knowing her wolf spirit was right. She keeps walking and finds an Inn with a very lively tavern next to it. Waning to avoid another run in with the Revenant, she opts to get a room and planned to not leave it until morning.

Reynold on other hand, stopped his search for answers in the strange run around his been stuck in and started asking around about the woman. She said she was visiting family so surely; she has been seen numerous times, and someone had to know her name. As he asked around, he had some people say she sounded familiar, though others told him that they had never seen anyone like her before. Not getting any more 3useful information he stops asking and starts searching for her as shouldn’t be hard to find given her complexion alone was considered exotic in this part of Sokireon. He searched for hours and as dusk fell, his stomach rumbled telling him he forgot to eat lunch. He went back to his camp and leaves his gear by his tent as he wouldn’t need them to eat. He makes his way to a tavern he saw when he first got to town, it was nestled in between an Inn and a café that was already closed for the day. As he entered the bustling place, he hoped to spot the blue-eyed beauty from earlier, perhaps her travels has made her hungry.

He walked up to the bar top and asks for a pint of ale. “Have you seen a pale, brunette with bright blue eyes about yay high around town?” He asks the bar wench, as she turns around, he puts his hand level to just below his shoulder to show how small this woman was. “No sorry Hun, she must be new in town.” She said, handing him the pint of ale, before taking someone else’s order. he sighs before downing the pint, just as he pushes the empty mug away from him, he feels a familiar presence enter the bar. He made sure not to react, hoping his assumption told him he was right. Reynold gets up from his seat and slightly looks around hoping to see the girl, but to his dismay, she was nowhere in sight. There was something about her that he could not seem to put his finger on. “Excuse me, sir,” he says to a man as he headed toward the bathroom. He relieves himself and waits about ten minutes before going back inside.

Up in her room, the young woman started to feel hungry as well. She grabs a little binder off the nightstand, sits down on the bed and flips to the room service menu. The first thing she looked for was the time they stop serving dinner, which was seven thirty. She looks over at the digital clock on the same nightstand, Eight forty-five. She thinks to herself. “So much for not leaving the room.” Faya says and the young woman gets up from her bed to put back on her boots. “Where are we going?” Faya asks with not only confusion, but concern. “I have to eat and there’s a bar next door.” The young responds, reaching for the doorknob. Her hand quickly stops as if an invisible for grabbed her wrist. “That Revenant is still around, and we both know he didn’t believe your terrible acting.” The young woman yanks her hand away from the force that held it and opened the door. “Don’t take control of my body like that.” She responds, before walking out of the room. All she hears in her mind is an annoyed huff from her wolf spirit. As she enters the tavern, the earthy scent of humans and alcohol filled the air around her, but there was something else, the oddly intoxicating scent of burning cedar was mixed in. She looks around with only her eyes and spots Reynold at the bar, his silver hair made him stick out like a sore thumb. She waited a few minutes and watched as Reynold rose from his seat, heading toward the back of the tavern. She proceeds to the bar with caution, using her short and small stature to her advantage, staying behind anyone taller than her.

As Reynold enters back into the dining area, he spots the familiar glow of pale skin just as the young woman takes the seat right next to the one, he was sitting in previously. He smiled as satisfaction filled him, “sly girl.” He thinks as a smirk forms; he knew she used her frame to her advantage when she walked in. He approached her from behind, clearing his throat as he leaned against the bar top to her left. She didn’t jump this time, which surprised him. She paid him no mind and continued to read the menu in her hands. He couldn’t help but admire the undying beauty she has, she looked to be to his collarbone. Her heart-shaped face was framed perfectly by her thick, chocolate brown hair. Her pale skin glowed in the little bit of moonlight that flooded in from the window to their right. Her lips were full and rose pink, blue eyes were captivating; looking into them is like looking into a completely clear glacier. Reynold had to remind himself he was here to find the source of a problem, not someone to take to bed. “Good evening miss,” Reynold says, the young woman eyes him; never moving her head away the few seconds she looked at him, before giving her attention back to the menu. The bar wench taps her pen on the bar top and the young woman points at the meal she wished to order, then hands the menu off. “My apologies for pestering you earlier. Are you enjoying your stay in Skarsguard?” He asks.

“It’s perfectly fine, you weren’t a pest earlier,” The young woman lies, he was more than a pest earlier and chooses to keep pestering her. “Skarsguard is beautiful during the fall, so why not come to town and enjoy it?” She adds, hoping that would satisfy his curiosity. She looks at him but avoided eye contact again. She could not help but notice he was certainly attractive. From the exotic silver hair to pale but tan skin. He was quite muscular, his jaw perfectly chiseled. She took a quick glance at his eyes; she notices a scar across his right eye it was clear to her it was from the claw of a werewolf, another of similar size down his neck. Though, these scars amazing her, and she questioned how he wasn’t blind in that eye, they weren’t what caught her attention. It was the color of his eyes that caught her attention, they were boysenberry purple.

The young woman began to feel an anxiousness that wasn’t her own. “What is wrong with you?” She asks Faya, imagining her wolf spirit pacing in her mind.

“We need to leave!” Faya yells, the young woman looks around for an exit Reynold couldn’t chase her through. “Just f*****g leave!” She could feel Faya trying to take control. She looks out the window to her right and finds it’s gotten darker, giving her the perfect excuse. “I should get going, my aunt and uncle are expecting me soon, I hope you slay the beast you are looking for.” She says quickly, before getting past Reynold and weaving through the sea of people between her and the front door. He could only watch as she walked away with a sense of grace. He realized she was not just any common soul; behind her frightened and timid exterior was a woman born and raised in regality and status. She held her head high with confidence; yet made herself so small that no one would notice her if they did not look closer. “Please don’t tell me you scared off the woman that order this plate.” Says the bar wench annoyed as she puts down a hot meal in front of Reynold. “I’ll pay for it.” He sighs as he turns and picks up a fork.

He stayed awhile longer in hopes just maybe the woman would come back. Her cherry and vanilla perfume still lingered like she was still right next him; even after two hours. He found it strange that it had not dissipated a little ten minutes after she left. He watched the door as the tavern slowly emptied as the night went on. As he sat there, he become lost in his thoughts. “I shouldn’t jump to conclusions; I’m exhausted after all. I shouldn’t traumatize an innocent woman over a coincidence.” He reminds himself, shaking his head slowly as he moves his gaze to the mirror that lined the wall behind the bar. He was startled then confused by his reflection, his eyes were no longer the boysenberry purple that they had been since his father’s murder, they were the blackened white with which he was born. Reynold steadily, but quickly gets up from his seat leaving the tavern behind the only other soul that remained. He made his way around back and heads down a small path, cutting through a small forest back to his camp. The smell of cherry and vanilla got stronger with each step he took. He could feel something’s eyes on his back and never leaving him, but he did not dare look back. He acted like he was oblivious to ensure whatever it was would not get startled.

Once he passed the tree line, leaving the forest behind him. He crouches down in front of an unlit campfire, he touches one log, and it immediately ignites, and it becomes a blazing fire. Just as he sits down in front of the fire, the loud snap of a stick comes from the tree line. Without thinking he sends a strong blast of wind into the trees, causing branches to snap and fall to the ground. He gets up grabbing his iron sword by mistake and he moved quickly to the tree line. Not waiting a moment before pushing past the bushes, but instead of coming face to face with a monstrous beast, a little white wolf stood before him. It was a very unusual thing to come across, as the wolves near Skarsguard were all brown or jet black. He noticed the wolf’s eyes were the same ice blue as the young woman. Reynold sniffed the air and sighed with relief, only smells the confusing scent of vanilla and cherry, he narrows his eyes as he stares at the little wolf, it tilts its head confused. He slowly lowered his sword since the wolf was not being aggressive, he began to toy with the thought of taming it, but quickly decided against it seeing it more as a burden. He looks back at a small bag filled with food, then back at the wolf. He backs away toward the bag of food, never taking his eyes off the wolf. He grabs a piece of meat and tosses it in front of the little wolf, “shoo, get out of here.” He says quietly, watching and waiting for the wolf to take the meat and leave.

The white wolf slowly moved approached the piece of meat; it’s eyes never leaving Reynold to make sure he stays where he stood. It picks up the piece of meat, taking a few steps back. It lays down and begins to eat slowly, looking back up at Reynold every so often. He watched out of pure confusion and curiosity, “this is not an ordinary wolf,” he thinks to himself and slowly sits down, still watching it. Maybe it would be worth taming, he tries to convince himself, never has he seen a normal wolf act so docile and eat so slow and neatly. He watches the little wolf take the last bite of its free meal and get up. As a precaution, he puts his hand on the hilt of his sword, but wolf turns around and begins to walk away. It stops and looks back him one last time, it seemed like it was struggling to leave almost as if it wasn’t there looking for free food, but a companion. Still, it left back into the forest, he waited a few more moments after the wolf disappeared. He followed the scent of cherry and vanilla and finds the little white wolf had stopped in front of a pile of clothing. He puts out his hand, facing his palm toward the wolf. “Mro feur truo yem wo sh,” He whispers, slowly closing his hand. The wolf began to whimper in pain Reynold could hear its bones snap and reshape themselves. He watched as the white fur receded, revealing pale skin that glowed beneath the moonlight, the canine whimpers slowly turned into pained human groans. Just as he finished closing his hand into a fist, the little white wolf that once stood before him was replaced by a woman with dark chocolate brown hair and ice blue eyes, who stared at him with an exhausted and pained expression.

The young woman hurriedly grabbed her clothes and ran, though did not get far before tripping on a tree root. She tries to get back on her feet, but Reynold blows her back into a large tree with same blast of wind and corners her. He quickly approaches her; he places he tip of his sword beneath her chin and raises it to force her to look at him. He just stares at her, waiting for her to retaliate, but she didn’t; all she did was stare off into the darkness behind him. He becomes lost in the beautiful blue orbs that are her eyes and soon notices she had raised her shirt to cover her chest, being the gentlemen he still was, he kept his gaze on her eyes. He sees a tear roll down her cheek and begins to feel sorry for her; she hadn’t harmed anyone nor any livestock. If she really was the werewolf causing this scare; she was doing a damn good job at making sure no one was effected by it, where all others like her did he exact opposite. “Why are you not fighting back? Why accept an unexpected and unfortunate fate if you’ve done nothing wrong?” He wonders.

The crossroads he came to was quite difficult, on one hand it was his duty to kill beats like her to protect the country. It was how he made money, maintained his skill and equipment, and the only way of life he truly knew. On the other hand, he couldn’t force himself to kill an innocent person; supernatural being or not. Instead, he sheathed his sword and offered his hand, still averting his eyes from her bare figure. “I’m not going to kill you, but you do owe me, and the favor is small. Meet me at my camp tomorrow. We are going to have a chat and no weapons unless you get violent, deal?” He says, the young woman narrows her eyes ad refuses the offer of help. She stands up quickly and puts her clothes back on then moves away from the tree. “I don’t understand, why are you not going to kill me?” She asks and begins to circle Reynold, yet he could not find such an adorable creature intimidating. She hadn’t a terrifying bone in her body, he wanted to laugh at her attempt, but he held it in, not wanting to be rude. She stops in front of him and crosses her arms, “I’m a monster, isn’t it your job to kill things like me?” She asks as she looks over his shoulder, clearly mapping her escape route, “and what reason do you have for me to believe you won’t kill me when I come meet you.?” She keeps adding to her list of questions, sounding more irritated now, this was not the nervous and timid girl he had met before; her wolf spirit was the one interrogating him.

Reynold chuckles a bit, “with all due respect little one, you’re not a monster. A werewolf? Absolutely, but a monster? Not even close; monsters hurt people, take their livestock, ruin their lives, and slaughter entire towns in some cases.” He explains, to which the young woman raises an eyebrow along with her confused expression. “All you’ve done in these last four towns is make a little noise at night that happens to scare the locals. You’re not a monster and I don’t kill innocent things; supernatural being or not.” He adds, the young woman goes to say something, but Reynold interrupts her before she could make a sound, “you have yet to show any actual aggression towards me and that’s because it’s not in your nature; even down to your wolf spirit.” She looks at him with shock, she was in disbelief that he had that knowledge of her kind. “Even with you circling me before, I didn’t feel like you were trying to intimidate me; if you were, you did a piss poor job of it. That’s why I have no worry of you harming me.” The young woman begins to look flustered, “I’ve described you to a tee, haven’t I?” He ask, smirking as she begins to pout, giving herself away, “I have,” he says, winking at her before turning his back to her to head toward his camp. “Remember, tomorrow at my camp.” He says as he walks away, but suddenly he stops and looks back at her, “also, don’t try to skip town because I will find you.” He says and walks away from the seemingly shocked little werewolf without another word, leaving her standing alone in the middle of the dark forest.