Writing

The Hunter's Lament

"You know, my new best friend, beasts or demons are my passion. Removing them from this world is a pleasure. If it won't be scared of my sword, then my joyous guitar will put it in eternal silence," he laughed and assured Albert.

"Many have come, but nobody has returned. We call the beast 'The Hell's Cry,'" said Albert ominously.

“Hahah, that is an amazing name. Imagine my next song: “Stellan makes hell cry”, is so poetic do not you think so Albert” laughed cheerfully while massaging his squared jaw.

“We call like that because sometimes ungodly voices pierce the forest and whoever is already venturing there, goes mad. The old ones say that when it is close to you, it makes you have illusions and after its own devilish amusement, scares the soul in eternity. Some consider it worse than death” attempted for the last time to make Stellan consider the matter seriously.

“Well Albert, prepare your 100 coins and tomorrow instead of endless cries, my new song of victory will pierce your ears and soul” walked towards the door, while giving a last smiling look to Albert and everyone else in the tavern.

He went out of the tavern and headed towards his horse that was resting in the stable. The stable was in miserable conditions since there were no morse horses in the village and the travellers were always avoiding to pass through it. The wood was rotten in many parts and in the box where the horse was resting, the bedding hay was not in the best of conditions. However, the horse did not seem to mind about the poor conditions and was chewing the hay in total indifference.

"Come on, old boy, a new adventure is ahead of us and more songs are on our horizon," he said, removing the leather rope and jumping onto the horse saddle. There were scattered people around the path that led to the forest but there was no sign of life in their faces. The torment they had to endure for so long had absorbed their spirit away and all that was left was like an empty shell that was existing without a true purpose. Albert had also come out from the tavern and was staring at Stellan as if wanting to see him for the last time alive.

"Can you tell me why you all still live here even though it seems that only misery and torment are part of your life? Why not flee to other villages?" inquired Stellan curiously.

“We tried to move to the other villages but they are all afraid of us and do not accept our presence. They believe that we are all cursed and doomed to go to hell and nobody wants to share the same fate like ours. In our desperate attempts to find a place, we even ventured in other isolated areas of the forest but it was all futile. The other villagers found out and forced us to abandon the new settlement. Without options, we returned here and since the last six years, we are living our lives in contact terror” explained exhausted Albert

“And what about the men of church, haven’t they tried to purify the forest from this evil spirit?” continued to ask Stellan

"The priest of the village abandoned us many years ago. He is sheltered in other villages of the region, with the excuse that he is praying to God and amassing huge divine blessings. In reality, he has abandoned us and would prefer for our doom to happen than spend a moment here," sighed Albert in resignation.

Stellan’s attention was soon redirected towards a well, and a small kid was standing in front of it, with his back to the road and everyone.

“That is odd. You say that there is no life here, but yet here there is a child. For saying that it is a cursed place and devoid of life, you still have children here,” pointed Stellan towards the child.

Tears flooded Albert's eyes, and he began to sob frantically. Although Stellan was getting used to the ghostly atmosphere around, that reaction caught him by surprise. Albert kneeled and began to weep even more while punching the ground as much as he could. The horse also appeared to get scared by this sudden change and began to move uneasily, forcing Stellan to pull the ropes and calm it down.

He got off the horse and began to walk with it towards the child. Nobody seemed to get close to the child and was looking into the distance as if afraid that something could be happening at any moment. Stellan finally stood above the child and observed him for some moments in silence, but the child did not seem to react to his presence.

“Hey, little one, how is it going? Wanna take a ride with my horse?” tried to engage with the kid, but he continued to stare at the well.

“Perhaps you want some water. I can help you with that if you want,” continued to talk and put his hand over the kid’s shoulder. But still, there was no reaction from the kid, and his hand felt as if it was resting on a frozen body.

Stellan tried to look towards the water reflection and catch a glimpse of the child's face, but he could not distinguish it. As Stellan neared the faceless child by the well, a cold shiver ran down his spine, prickling the hairs on the back of his neck. His footsteps slowed involuntarily, his instincts warning him of impending danger. The image appears blurred, and the coldness from the child made him lose his composure and forcefully turned the child towards him.

A scream of surprise and horror came out instinctively from his mouth from the terror his eyes were seeing for the first time in life. The kid's face, or if it could be even considered as such, was completely wiped out as if someone or something had erased it with a rubber. The eyes and nose were removed, and instead, were morphed into a blank of nothingness, and the only way of breathing was through the mouth. The child did not react or talk and remained “staring” in blankness towards Stellan, who was still in shock from what he had just seen. The sight of the child's featureless face filled him with a creeping sense of dread, like icy fingers tightening around his heart. A knot of unease twisted in his stomach, urging him to tread carefully in this realm of unknown horrors.

“It happened eight days ago. The child had awakened in the night and had gone out unheard by anyone out. Nobody knows how it happened, but the next morning they had found him, laying down on the ground “looking” to the sky next to the well," a voice spoke behind him.