Return of the Huntsman

The day doesn’t pass until the sound ensues. The warning trumpet signaling the coming of the man, the huntsman and the holder of human souls.

I look at my children and tell them to go stay with a close friend of the group. My husband, Storm, and myself stay with our child in hand. Whistle coos, her worries unheard of to her. The trumpet is just that, a sound that is meaningless to her ears.

I watch fear take over Storm’s features. He is a survivor of the death this man has caused and I know he never thought he would have to face the man who destroyed thousands of lives even his own.

None of the children of the tribe born during these months have ever fallen victim to this man.

Me and Storm stay awake the whole night, but when the night turns into day we both become suspicious. We exit the safety of our igloo and begin the long trek to a new home.

The tribe is already packed and my children are running towards us. The long journey to the safety of another place begins despite the unwillingness to move. We have no choice and so we start running away from our problems. The huntsman hasn’t shown up which causes undue worry as we wait for his presence.

”It’s too strange,”I say with fear as I look at Storm. He nods and says, “I know.”

I grab his gloved hand while Whistle is nestled under my winter jacket. The boys’ hold my hand and their father’s hand. Snow is holding Blaze’s hand.

I sigh as I look at the tribe following behind us. The men are alert and their weapons are ready in anticipation of an attack.

A few hours into the journey, a few shouts are heard in the tribe. I turn around and see panic in the women’s eyes as they grab their children and start running.

“Aspen! Take Blaze, Snow and Whistle,”I shout at him and he shakes his head, “lead the tribe to safety! We will find you again!”

Aspen’s tears fall but he nods and runs. The tribe follows him as they have heard my voice. Whistle in his arms, his brother and sister are holding his gloved hands as he runs ahead of the tribe with women and children following in his path.

My tears fall as I watch my young boy leading the tribe and how I might never see them ever again. I turn around and come face-to-face with the man. The man that haunts my dreams. The man I never understood. The man who almost took my life. The man who took my parents from me. The man who took my adoptive father from me.

My husband is nowhere to be seen in the snowy blizzard that has overtaken the mountainous region.

”We finally meet,”the man says with an evil smile covering his face. “I never wanted us to meet,”I say honestly but my voice wavers as I look into his devilish eyes. “Whistle,”he says and laughs evilly. I freeze at the name of my daughter. “I never thought I would see so many of my daughter in the world,”he says with tears filling his eyes. “That doesn’t give you any excuses,”I say seriously and he laughs loudly. “It doesn’t?”he asks rhetorically, “why?” “Killing innocent children won’t bring her back,”I say as my voice becomes steadier.

He looks me in the eye and says, “I never said it would.” “So?”I ask knowing their is a reason.

He shakes his head, “I would find Storm if I were you. He ran so fast when he saw me. He didn’t even fight.” I sigh knowing why, “You killed his sister infront of him. He is traumatized.” He smiles at my passion for his actions. He walks away and says, “I hope you find your family before I find them.”

I start trembling as I think of my children all alone without the safety of their parents. All of this because I wanted to face him.

I start running in the direction they went and realize I’m just where I started. Alone and lost without anyone by my side. I’m in the basket hidden in the snow and I’m waiting to be found by someone.

Tears and sobs are taking over my body as I think of Aspen, Blaze, Snow and Whistle dead. I need to save them before he finds them. I need to find them. I need to find him.

He needs to be dead in the snow. I want to leave the bloody footprints. I don’t want to see the bloody footprints left because of him taking the lives of all I’ve ever worked for.

Safety and security.

I run and run in vain. The world looks the same no matter where I turn. There is no tribe, no family and no protection.

The world has no animals but it has people who want to kill everything they see. I sigh at the thought of Aspen leading the tribe. The tears fall and freeze on my cheeks.

Finally, I tire out and sit in the snow. I think back to that day. The day I saw the bloody footprints. I should’ve followed him and killed him. Everyone would’ve been free. All the deaths would’ve been fewer but, instead, I went in the opposite direction and found my future husband. Found a new life and made a tribe that protected everyone.

Protection is all anyone ever wants from a family and I never had that until I found Storm and his small crew of kids that ran for safety in the most treacherous of times. A time when he killed everyone. Now, we live in a time when he has become careless and clumsy in his efforts to kill those who he thinks shouldn’t live because his daughter couldn’t. Till this day I can’t help but feel that the books were wrong about what happened to his daughter and that he has a story to tell me before I kill him.

I get up from the snowy floor and begin trudging through the snow. I walk and walk in the clear blue skies.

I’m all alone and I don’t know who is dead. I don’t know if I will be alive to find out.