"Gail"

"GAIL"

by:

B.D. Suever

email: bsuever1981@yahoo.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100017880108004

The clouds began to part in the night’s sky revealing a blood moon.  Someone has died

on this night.  She thought to herself.  As she walked further into the woods she could not shake

the fact that she was being watched.  Mud trudged up on her leather boots as she knelt down to

inspect the tracks.  Fled in this direction.  She slowly moved further into the woods, her hand

grazing across the trunk of a tree.  “Claw marks, and a new scent?”  She whispered.  As she

peered around the forest floor she found the source of the new scent.  It didn’t frighten her nor

did it worry her, all she knew was she had to adjust her tactics.

                       

The crackle of the fire could be heard throughout the forest.  As she approached she

noticed the young girl sitting next to the fire, bloodied and beaten.  She had a look of terror on

her face as the woman clad in leather approached her.  The woman sat on a trunk near the fire

and stared at the young girl.

“Are you alright young one?”  The woman asked.

The young girl just gave a nod.  A tear began to roll down her cheek.  She reached up to

wipe it away and asked the woman, “Are you with the bad men?”

            The woman in leather simply sat there staring at the young girl.  She said nothing for a

moment.  She looked the young girl up and down, noticing the claw marks on her leg, the bruises

around her neck and what appeared to be a large hand indent around her arm.  “No child, I travel

alone.  I know nothing of bad men.”  She glanced out into the woods and back at the girl, “Why

are you out here?”

            The young girl talked of how she was being tortured by a group of men.  They would

beat her and abuse her daily.  She was able to escape but they had been chasing her for days. 

Finally they had lost her tracks and given up but she became lost in the woods.  She eventually

found a campfire that was abandoned and decided to rest before continuing on.  “Why are you

out here all alone?”  She asked the woman.

            The woman in leather glanced back at the young girl, “My tale is a tragic one

unfortunately.”  The cold stare of her eyes showed no emotion but the young girl could tell there

was anger behind that cold stare.  The woman in leather lowered her head and began to tell her

tale.

            “It began seven yellow moons ago.  My grandfather who had raised me my whole life

was murdered.  I found his body mutilated and butchered in our stead.  He was everything to

me.”  The woman talked of her grandfather yet the young girl could still see the cold stare in her

eyes showing no emotion.  “I left our stead after he was buried, a lost child with no hope.  One

night when I was sleeping near a farm I was swarmed by a number of arachnae.  They had me

cornered spitting their webbing at me.  I felt the poison seep into my skin off the webbing and

was ready to welcome death.  I had nothing to live for and I began to sink into a dark abyss.” 

Her eye twitched a little as she glanced over at the young girl.  She had a look on her face

of amazement and fear.

“What happened next?” She asked intently.

            “The next thing I remember was waking in a camp.  There were hooded men and women

around me.  In the background, there were some training, and others reading.  I had no idea

where I was or how I had survived my attack.”  The woman let out a sigh, “Later the leader of

the group came to me and told of how he had rescued me.  I asked how one man could stand up

to a number that large.  The old man looked at me and simply said “In time young one, you will

do the same.”

            The woman in leather stood for a moment and walked around the fire peering out into the

forest, her back to the young girl.

“Don’t stop there.  What happened next?” She asked with excitement in her voice.

            The woman in leather turned her head slightly and gave an odd glance at the young girl. 

A smirk crossed her face.  “Over time I trained with them and learned all I could about their

ways.”

“Who were they?”  The young girl asked.

            The woman sat back down across from the young girl.  Her eyes fixated on her,

emotionless and unforgiving.  “They were a band of worldly travelers.  I soaked up all the

knowledge they had to offer and when my training was complete I set out on my journey of

revenge.”

“Revenge?” The girl asked with a confused look on her face.

            “I set out to find the creature that butchered my grandfather.  I’ve been tracking this

creature for many moons and tonight I have found my prey.”  The woman in leather leapt

backwards quickly as a circle of barbed chains jumped from the ground surrounding the young

girl.  The young girl let out a scream of fright.  The woman in leather stood still staring at the

young girl, her silver eyes fixated on her.  She pulled a small hand crossbow and shot twice

piercing the young girl in the chest.

           The woman in leather walked around the trap she had set, the young girl staring at her. 

“Why?” the young girl asked as blood gurgled from her throat.

            The woman knelt next to the young girl and said, “You made a mistake.  Leaving the

dead body of the girl in the forest lead me straight to you.  A hunter knows her prey no matter

what face it disguises itself with.”  She stood and raised her crossbow, “You are a poor excuse

for a changeling.  Preying on innocent girls and stealing their bodies so you can go after the

next.”  She pulled the trigger and the bolt pierced through the young girls head. 

The woman stepped on a switch near the trap and the barbed chains dropped.  She

reached down and pulled the bolts from the corpse.  As she pulled the bolt from the head the

young girl morphed into a creature with scales all over its body.  It almost had the look of a

lizard but large claws and horns on its head.

           

“A Nektari changeling?  I haven’t seen one of these in a few months.  I wonder what

brought you up this far north?” She said to herself.

            As she began to put out the fire she heard a twig snap behind her.  Suddenly a volley of

arrows were shot in her direction, she instinctually leapt out of the way landing on the branch of

the tree above her.

“WENCH!”  A bearded gruff man was yelling up at the woman.  “You stole our bounty! 

We’ve been chasing this here beast for a fortnight!  What gives ye the right to take our kill!?” 

Five more men appeared out of the forest pointing their weapons at the woman.

            She dropped down from the tree, her crossbow and dagger pulled ready to attack, “No

more blood needs to drop this night.”  Her stance had switched to a defensive one.  She looked

poised to counter anything that came her way.  “I’m not here for a bounty.  I made the kill you

can have the body and say you did it.”  Her eyes did not leave the leader.

“What if we decide to take the body and kill ye fer the trouble?”  The man said lifting an

axe over his head.

            The woman realized this was a signal and quickly spun around, grabbing the attacker

who was hiding behind the tree and thrust her dagger in his thigh, “As I said, no more blood

needs to be shed tonight.  Your man here is wounded; take him, and the body, and go.”  Her

silver eyes glared at the gruff man.  She could tell he was not a man of words but a man of

material things.  She tossed the wounded man towards the other men. 

Two of them grabbed him to make sure he was alright.  The others still had their weapons

fixed on the woman in leather. 

She placed her dagger in its sheath, reached in her pocket and pulled out a silver coin.

“Here!  This should compensate you for your trouble.” She tossed the coin at the gruff

man and turned to walk away.

The gruff man looked down at the coin, “A Draklorn silver coin?  Where the hell did ye

find this?”

           

The woman in leather glanced back over her shoulder and said, “When you’ve ventured

where I have, you find the most amazing trinkets and treasures.”  She gave a sly wink and grin as

she turned to walk away.

“Wait!  Who the hell are you!” the gruff man yelled.

The woman in leather stopped again, she turned to face the gruff man, suddenly a crow

flew quickly past the gruff man and landed on the woman’s shoulder.  “The names Gail.”  She

leapt up into the trees and disappeared from sight.

            The gruff man stood there astonished. 

One of his men came up next to him, “Did I hear her right?  Did she say Gail?” 

The gruff man looked at his comrade, “Aye, ye heard right.  That there was that damn

beast hunter that people are a’feared of.”  He looked at his wounded man, “We was lucky we

didn’t piss her off even more.”  He helped lift the wounded man and they walked the opposite

direction.

            Up in the trees Gail sat and watched as the men walked off.  She attached a note to the

crow and whispered in its ear, “Fly my friend.”  The crow flew off in an eastern direction.  Gail

dropped from the tree and walked deeper into the forest.  “Who’s next on my list?”  she thought

as a grin crossed her face.