CHAPTER 8: MONSTER

Two days passed in an instant. The meeting hall of the barracks was silent, while the oil lamp above the table illuminated a map showing the city to the north and the frozen land. To the south, the Wolf Mountain.

And in the valley between the mountains, the only route to a city was a month away on horseback.

The shadow of fifteen people flickered in the room, one taller than all and one smaller than everyone. Side by side, looking at the map.

Rurik then leaned over the table, and with a dagger, traced routes on the worn map until he marked a spot by stabbing the dagger through it.

A place in the valley between the mountain, near the route, and a waterfall.

"The bandits were seen here three days ago. Benni, who was following their trail, found their new hideout. And it’s time to act." Rurik began to speak.

"Gorrick, Doran, and the bandits attacked the last two caravans and stole practically everything. The merchants are afraid to travel the road and remain in the city. If it goes on like this, food will no longer reach our mouths."

"Not enough for everyone in the city." Rurik said angrily.

"So, after discussing it with Benni, I’ve decided it will be like this." Rurik raised his eyes toward Kyrian.

"I, Kyrian, and you thirteen, the best soldiers under our command, will hunt them down during the night. A frontal attack is not smart against those who have nothing to lose."

"And this way, it will be the best way to spare the lives of our comrades. Last time, due to my mistake, fifteen soldiers ended up dying because I underestimated the enemy’s strength..." Rurik sighed in regret and clenched his fists.

"You, Kyrian, will guide us through the forest at dawn. We will kill as many of them as possible while they sleep."

Kyrian listened attentively, keeping his expression impassive.

"My eyes?" he asked, looking at Rurik.

"Yes, you can see perfectly in the dark. Your eyes will be one of the most important things in this mission."

"You will lead us through the dense forest without any light, without giving the enemies a chance to be alerted, and you will find their sentinels. But... for this to work, you will need to do something."

Rurik pulled the dagger from the map and pointed it toward Kyrian.

"You will have to eliminate them before they can scream. And then, find the best path for us to invade the camp. We will eliminate as many as possible before they realize. Then, the two of us will fight the brothers Gorrick and Doran after removing half of their subordinates." Rurik spoke calmly.

Kyrian looked at the dagger in Rurik’s hand. He took it without hesitation. What seemed small in Rurik’s hand looked large in Kyrian’s.

But the weight was the same.

Kyrian would have to take a life. He didn’t know exactly what to feel about it. But it was what he had to do.

He understood that everything would depend on him. This way, losses could be few, or even none.

And if it failed, they would be in the heart of the enemy’s base.

"I will kill them." Kyrian replied quickly, deciding in his mind.

...

The moon was covered by clouds that night when they left the city, making the forest even darker.

Kyrian led at the front, with Rurik and Benni right behind him.

"From here on, the forest gets extremely dense. It’s very easy to get lost during the day, at night it’s even worse. I followed them when it was getting dark. I marked some trees with a small cut up to where I followed them." Benni, one of the veteran soldiers, said.

Kyrian understood, looking carefully ahead. He managed to see one of the marks Benni mentioned.

"All right, you stay here. I’ll go ahead alone, eliminate all the sentinels, and come back." Kyrian said before moving forward.

"Kyrian. Be careful. If you can’t do it, come back, but if you decide to act—never hesitate. Never." Rurik said, placing his hand on Kyrian’s head, who simply nodded calmly.

He went deep into the forest, a spear on his back. At his waist, the dagger Rurik had given him. He moved without hurry.

While his thoughts ran free.

***********************************

The wind whistled between the trees as Harlun rubbed his cold hands. The night in the forest was always the same.

Loneliness, cold, boredom, and the damn irritating sound of insects and the stream’s water.

’Two more hours, and then I switch shifts. I just want to sleep,’ the man thought before spitting on the ground.

But then he felt it.

Something was wrong.

The air seemed to grow heavier all of a sudden. The crickets stopped singing.

Harlun slowly turned his head, fingers reaching for the sword on the ground.

"Who—

He had no chance to finish, not even to react. All he felt was.

Pain. Cold.

His hand slowly rose to his neck, his fingers touching something warm trickling down it. When he pulled them back, they were a vivid red.

Before him, hovering like a ghost, was a child.

His eyes were dark gray, with no shine, empty. His expression was impassive. His hand held a bloodstained dagger, his blood dripping on the enemy’s weapon.

And the enemy was, in fact.

’A... child...?’

Terror consumed Harlun entirely. He tried to scream, but the only thing that came out was a bubbling of blood.

He fell to his knees, hands twitching toward that small but terrifying silhouette. Were those the eyes of a human?

The last thing he saw was the child tilting his head, as if studying his every expression, his suffering.

And then, darkness.

Kyrian looked at the corpse, the scream that tried to come out never did.

He felt the man’s fear flowing like the blood now dripping from his fingers.

The despair of life ending, the warmth fading.

"Am I a monster now?"

The sentry’s body fell at his feet, eyes still open and wide in horror. Kyrian looked at the dagger, then at the man’s face.

"You saw me as a monster, didn’t you? Before you died."

But he remembered.

They were bandits.

"Bandits feel no remorse in stealing or killing. How many people had he killed? How many had he starved by stealing? I don’t know why Rurik thought I would feel any remorse."

He looked one last time at the man’s face in a pool of blood.

"One." Kyrian whispered, wiping the blade on the grass and disappearing into the darkness of the forest.

After fifteen minutes, Kyrian saw the second sentinel, leaning against a tree, grumbling about how he received less while working more.

Kyrian watched him for a whole minute.

’Does he have a son?’ he thought, noticing a rag doll tied to the man’s belt, with a needle still hanging from it, as if it had been sewn over a long time.

Not thinking about it.

This time, Kyrian was faster.

The blade sank below the bandit’s ear, cutting through everything that mattered until the man lost consciousness without realizing.

The doll, attached to the man, fell into the mud.

Kyrian crouched and picked up the rag doll. For a moment, his fingers pressed the rough fabric.

He thought and decided to return it to the man who died without being able to see anything.

"Two."

************************************************

Kyrian’s clothes were stained with blood, the dark clouds covering the moon had disappeared. At that moment, Kyrian was cleaning the blood from the dagger in a still pool beside the stream.

He saw his face reflected in the water. It looked small, weak, and fragile. His eyes, still without a sign of irises, seemed to draw his attention.

"I don’t think I’m a monster. Why does everyone, when they die, have that look of despair? Didn’t they also do evil? I can’t understand."

Then he remembered his mother.

Her face, when she went, was so simple. She died in pain but happy, looking into his eyes. He knew he was not a monster. His mother would not have given birth to a monster.

"This is necessary, and it will make me stronger. I have no reason to overthink it. Right?"

Kyrian looked at himself in the reflection, above his head, the reflection of the moon.

"It really is... beautiful, like her."

He turned, heading down the forest beside the stream.

...

He returned an hour and a half after going deep into the forest alone. Rurik and the others waited, their faces worried.

Rurik wondered if he really should have sent a child to do this.

But suddenly, a sound came, and Kyrian appeared.

"It’s done." He said calmly.

"The sentinels have been eliminated. Before one of them died, I heard that the shift change would be in thirty minutes. Follow me! I know a way to the camp." Kyrian finished before turning his back and walking, Rurik and the others quickly following.

"How many?" Rurik asked.

"Six."

"Any problems? Can you keep going?"

"No. I’m fine, I just did what I was supposed to do." Kyrian replied with an expressionless face.

’But as I thought, humans are, really, fragile. They can die suddenly from diseases. Or by absolutely anyone, suddenly. This is... why we are weak, isn’t it? I understand, mam.’

’She wanted me to survive, to be strong and survive. But if I remain forever just a human, will I be truly strong?’

’My goal was still far too low, wasn’t it? I need to find out how I can become stronger. The particles are the way. My eyes are the way... I need to push harder.’ Kyrian ended his thoughts only when smoke could be seen in the sky.

He sighed and turned to everyone.

"The bandits are ahead."