Ch 8—Bait

The fire crackled low—nearly invisible, smokeless by design. Cooked meat sizzled faintly over polished stones.

"The hounds track scent, but smoke's worse," said the girl with the cigarette tucked behind her ear.

She had a pipe wrench across her lap and spoke like someone who'd hit more things than she'd run from. "Enzo's group made that mistake. Only three of them came back."

The swordsman fixed him a long, steady stare. Matthew didn't dare look at their spoils again as he tried to dilute tension.

A girl in the blue hoodie threw suspicious glances at him and where he had come from, occasionally gripping her pike harder.

They were very guarded

They must have found something valuable recently. Matthew surmised, "The southern ridge seems terrible."

"Those invisible monsters are all over the place." Archer girl said despondently, "You know about the Red seeker?"

Matthew nodded, he assumed it was the great red bird that terrorised that region.

It was the deadliest predator he had encountered in the Dark forest.

A creature wìth deadly precision and potency.

He only ever caught glimpses of it, a flash of red and something went missing. Even creatures that seemed too big disappeared without a trace.

Matthew had been shadowing a human group when suddenly a powerful gust of wind swept over them.

The Seeker struck, taking a person away without warning. Since then Matthew avoided the plains and ridges.

The only time he'd seen it clearly, the Seeker had been punishing a Yellow Dragon.

It had stolen the dragon's kill, circled back, and ripped out the dragon's eye—just for snapping at it.

Four wings, molten yellow eyes, a tail like falling silk. It stared the dragon down… then turned to look at Matthew.

It was a bone-chilling feeling, he hid for the whole day after that. Only daring to come out at night.

He unconsciously brought his hand to his left eye shuddering.

Archer girl sighed, "Yeah, it's that bad. One day we'll kill that bastard."

The swordsman sent her a weary look, then turned to Matthew and asked. "For someone so obviously scared of the Seeker, being out here alone seems crazy— no?"

Scared? Did I look scared? Matthew smiled weakly, "Are you actually planning to hunt the seeker?"

"I mean it's probably the biggest sign that we can make it." The gìrl replied, "It also loves hunting people."

"Which is why we should be avoiding it," The swordsman muttered.

"We have to get stronger, if we're going to compete with Parker or Thomas." she retorted. "Getting armaments from the altar isn't enough"

Blue hoodie girl mumbled, "We shouldn't be competing with anyone. There are smaller groups with level threes too, no point in pushing ourselves."

"That'll all change once they're level five. You think the way they behave now is forceful, imagine when they have skills." One of the other boys added.

Archer girl looked up at the misted ceiling of the expansive cavern.

"We need to be bolder, braver."

Matthew agreed with the sentiment, it felt like the final step they needed to become true hunters.

Matthew let their bickering swirl around him, collecting names. "Well I have to be on my way."

"Just wait a little, we're going back to the temple soon anyway." Cigarette girl said. Her comrades silenced her with a hard glare.

The swordsman rose, extended a hand. "Be careful."

Matthew smiled thinly, shook it, then vanished into the dark.

He didn't go far.

——

There was something coming.

He caught the scent—rot and wet flesh—and pulled back, watching the ragtag team from afar.

It would take a couple minutes before it got there, he put Old cat back on and led it to the camp.

A mountain of white slick, pulsing mass of flesh. The terror of the lower strata that he had been observing. He had been baiting it into following him up here.

He grimaced imagining the mass of rotten flesh climbing the cliff wall.

It didn't find Matthew, but sensed the six people around their campfire. The dense mist hid it as it struck.

It lashed forward and seized Archer girl by the torso. Her scream rang out as the others jumped into action to battle the horror from the depths. After freeing the girl they all ran.

Matthew watched the creature to leave—then returned to the camp. The creature didn't bother chasing, it was a horrible sort of monstrosity.

He dug through their packs quickly, raising his head periodically at sudden sounds. He copied maps and read through their notes.

He heard them returning and quickly rummaged through the last bags. One bag held a coin. Gold, etched with impossibly fine symbols. It shimmered with soft inner light.

A wish coin, Matthew guessed

He slipped it into his pocket and kicked their packs into disarray. He scattered items, flipped bags, tore a few straps. He took his time as he knew they would be afraid to just come back.

By the time they returned—bloody, breathless—he was back on the ridge.

The swordsman cursed searching for the golden coin frantically. When it was obvious it was gone, he punched the ground in frustration—hard enough to split his knuckles.

Matthew watched, taking in all their reactions and reading their lips.

He had placed the bags well to place suspicion on the monster. Blue hoodie however turned her eyes over the jungle, her eyes passed over him—she couldn't find him.

She clicked her tongue and didn't say anything.

They gathered their ruined gear and limped away. Matthew knew that he would have to return to the White temple soon.

He flipped the golden coin in his hand, "The fountain must be the altar. After all my searching, my first wish coin is stolen."

Matthew rolled his eyes. "How mundane."

——

He hadn't slept well that night, a strange nightmare haunted him.

Matthew didn't think the group's deaths would affect him, but they seemed to have left their mark.

He left for the temple in the morning. The return was strangely peaceful, Matthew guessed increased human traffic was the cause.

When he reached the tunnel leading to the White temple, he felt strangely nostalgic. It all started here after all.

As he entered the White temple again he was once again left in awe by the sight.

The great arches, the expansive space—so far the human in the distance seemed like ants.

It was a different place now, people had set up tents of treated hides. The people all sharpened poles and made shields.

In five days, they had all adapted to an almost scary degree. They had a sort of cold hardness to their eyes and frowns seemed a lot more common than smiles.

The population was also far smaller.

He made sure to walk around, maybe he could hear something interesting. He sat about a fairly large group, the best he could put together was that the altar, the fountain, was active twice a day.

Good thing I wasn't planning to use the wish coin.

"Matheus hasn't said anything since."

"Enzo did say the Altar showed people things sometimes."

"Yeah, but something's wrong with him."

Matthew continued his rounds, now hearing what the smaller groups had to say

There were three big groups that had streamlined a method for hunting. Parker, Thomas and Cian were names he heard thrown around.

They dominated specific hunting grounds, there was a unspoken rule on territory

As Matthew strolled, someone suddenly tapped him on the back. Matthew expected it was the group from yesterday.

I need to find them now.

It was Stella. The blonde from before? Do I owe you anything?

Matthew held back a frown. He raised an eyebrow at the girl, she had changed, she wore baggy cargo pants and a black compression shirt.

Her green eyes narrowed dangerously, "You don't remember me?"