The Man Beneath the Monster

Hunting is something I'm used to.

It would be emberassing if a Knight Commander didn't know how to hunt.

So I knew very well just how great their senses are. Some races are able to spot prey many minutes before it has even noticed them.

Thats why I decided to go for a bigger monster, one that couldn't really see what's beneath him.

I crawled my way towards the clearing that I had seen earlier and crouched behind a tree.

There he was, a single giant, around five times my size. But like any other monster, they had a weakness.

They were easy to trick and could be outsmarted by even children.

Add the fact that they were really slow because of their size and you've an easy time hunting them down.

I take a rock and throw it at a tree. And the moment he turns towards that tree, I take out Vaelor and start running.

Simultaniously, I start imbueing Vaelor with Soulessence until my flickering white flame has completly covered the blade.

I stab into his leg, then use that momentum to also cut through his tendon, making him lose his Balance. He falls face front, but catches himself with his right leg, and immediately starts swinging his arm around to somehow catch me.

At the same time, green blood splashed on my face, blinding me for a few moments.

I immediatly start focusing on my ears, trying to predict his next attack.

His loud growling, his arm swinging through the air, his fist breaking everything in his way.

I could hear it all.

Then suddenly his fist got louder. If I panic now and act to early, his fist will break my legs.

But if I am calm and act to late, his fist will crush me into a tree, sending me into an early grave.

I had to focus.

Finally, just as his fist is about to crush me I jump up, landing on his overly large arm.

I don't waste a single second and start running towards his head. 

I throw Vaelor into the air and send Vaelira right after before jumping myself. Perfect in time before his second attack could land, and grab Vaelor.

The blood is really starting to get on my nerves, my eye sight completly blocked by it. But it won't hinder me now. I land on his head, stab through his throat with one and stab his eye with the other sword.

Finally, the giant collapsed and fell down, taking a good part of the forrest down with him.

I exhaled, completly exhausted and collapsed on top of the giant and lied there for a while.

After some time passed and my breathing went back to normal, I decide to finally wipe of the blood and the other fluids that landed on my face.

I yawn and put my twinblades back into their sheath.

I didn't know though, that me being so focused on that giant, would leave a certain person go unnoticed.

Suddenly I heard a delighted chuckle coming from a tree to my right. I turned around, grabbing Vaelor and getting ready to fight.

But thankfully, it was just a human. But, there is no one in Bordertown that looks quite like him. He was dark-skinned, something I've only ever seen on that monster. Is that a Tanuki?

I only ever heard of them from others, but they were nomads so maybe this one just saw that monster and tried to shapeshift into him to trick me.

While I was trying to figure out who that is, he jumped of the tree and landed on top of the Giant.

Licking his rather dry lips, he laughed heartly while smiling brightly. It suited him, he almost looked like a child that got a loli handed to him.

"You caught a real delicacy for me, I knew it was a good idea to have you hunt for me! Thanks to you giving your all to hunt that giant, I can finally eat after a long time."

He kept smiling, but I my thoughts were already occupied with something completly else.

He said that I hunted for him, so he is indeed that monster. But where are his wings or the scales? To change this much from his other appearance, is he able to shapeshift?

But the only race capable of such a feat are the Tanuki... In that case, what even was he?

"Are you really the same monster I met this morning?"

His infecting smirk didn't fade, instead he looked a bit... vulnerable.

"What do you think? Of course I'm that monster, I just changed my appearance a bit. But just so you know, this monster has a name just like you. It's Kaelan"

"Kaelan..."

I never expected that monster to have a name, even less such a human like one. But he is not a human. There are no humans capable of shapeshifting.

"Kaelan, what exactly are you? Only Tanuki are known to shapeshift, and you don't have a racoon tail or anything indicating that you are one. You are extremly strong, but you are not a monster either. Monsters can't communicate with humans. What are you?"

His smirk faded, and tapped his chin.

"I'm Kaelan, there is nothing else you have to know. You are right, I'm not a monster nor am I a Tanuki. But what I am, that is something you can try to figure out on your own."

He jumped of the giant and stretched out his right arm. Out of nowhere, obsidian-black scales covered his arm. He looked up to me, and started shouting loud enough for me to hear him.

"Get down, I will bring this to my cave! You might fall of and hurt yourself if you keep staying there!"

He didn't have to tell me twice. I took out Vaelor and jumped towards a tree. I stabbed into the tree and used the friction to slow my fall down.

I safely landed on the ground and was shocked to see that Kaelan was effortlessly lifting the giant around. But instead of feeling astonished, I got furious. I ran up to him, demanding answers.

"You send me to hunt for you because these monsters would 'sense and run away' from you before you can get them right? Then how the fuck were you able to sit on a tree and watch me fight, and the giant didn't do shit!"

He for once was silent, and stayed like that for a few seconds.

"Well, you are right, in this human form the monsters don't sense me, and if I approached them like this and transformed back than I could've easily dealt with them."

"But then why did you send me? You could've done it and would be faster"

"Because I'm not able to control my strength very well. Every time I try to hunt something, they burn, get vaporized or atleast a big part of it gets destroyed."

I was now confused. Did he lie to me then? I know its not a big deal, but why?

"So I guess you lied, but for what reason? It isn't like I could've said no right?"

He started to look a bit embaressed and scratched his chin.

"Because I had to look intimidating, right? I needed someone to hunt for me and you humans have a tendency to never do something for free. If you had known I have a weakness and that I need you, would you have done it?"

His question made me think a little. Would I have helped him? I obviously wouldn't have helped him, he looked like a monster straight from a horror story.

Actually, why do I keep fearing him? He never really did anything besides living in his cave.

"Yeah, you are right. I probably wouldn't have helped you."

I think for a while and decide to push my wariness aside for a moment. 

Even when looked at it rationally, I'm way weaker than him anyway, he doesn't need information or anything. If he wanted to kill me, he can do so anytime. So instead of overthinking, how about I try seeing Kaelan?

I sigh and grin at him, probably the first genuine smile I had on my face for the past few days.

"I'm Serena by the way. Since I'm going to live next to you for a while, I might as well make it easier for you to adress me."

Kaelan grinned back and started laughing heartly. It was like a soft rumble, his laughter deep and rough but it had a softer tone than before.

"You are a strange one Serena. You couldn't have chosen a more random time to introduce yourself."

His eyes were sparkling and he had a smile on his face, as if he had been given a gift more valuable than gold.

"Well, better now than never I guess. Let's go now, this giant won't cook himself and I'm hungry."

We marshed back to his cave and roasted a piece of that giant. We ate and at one point I started ranting about a certain guard and my useless King. He kept laughing heartly and I was as relaxed as I haven't been in a long time. 

And like that time passed by and in the blink of an eye it was already morning.

Sunrays washed over my face as I woke up, rubbing my eyes. Memories of the last day flooded me, and I had to chuckle.

Yesterday was fun. Should I wake Kaelan up?

Completly lost in thoughts and my tired eyes half-lidded I got up and stretched.

The next thing I felt were multiple iron blades pressing against my throat.

Completly caught of guard, I opened my eyes and was greeted by a troup of knights, surrounding me and the cave.

"Serena Vaelmont, by order of the Crown, you are under arrest for conspiracy against his Highness and for aiding an unauthorized Drakari."