When at last the hunting party came to a halt, the foremost rider wearing an eye patch lowered his hood and looked at her with a piercing silver eye. “I’m Fjolnir. Are you the hunter or the hunted?”

“Hunter,” Liese answered; the niggling sensation she was being tracked by some other unknown entity was bad enough. She didn’t want to have a party of what seemed over twenty also pursuing her through a world she didn’t know.

“We will see. There is a colossal boar deep within the forest, but know this: As you hunt, so are you the hunted.” Many of the accompanying hunters laughed with grating barks and inhuman sounds. Fjolnir turned his destrier away from Liese and urged it straight into a gallop. The horse reared with a roar, the wild hunt taking flight through the shadows and raised a bracing wind in its wake. The two ravens alighted with mocking cronks and spiralled up above the canopy as she stood watching their departure.

A toneless, disembodied voice crawled over her. “Run.” Liese’s skin was crawling all over, and in a blind panic, Liese leapt into a sprint without first checking her direction.  Jagged branches tore at her flesh as she forced her way through razor-sharp pines and dense ivy that tried to drag her down. All the while, feral and primitive howls and shrieks followed behind and alongside her. She tried to keep her gaze set ahead. She needed to keep the blue light in her sites.

When she’d told Fjolnir that she was a hunter, she’d been hoping that she could join with them and figure things out as they went. All thoughts of hunting a boar were gone as she continued her mad rush through the Darklands. She had no weapon and no armour; there was no chance of her succeeding or surviving. Her only chance now was to keep ahead of whatever was pursuing her and to reach Elfinburg.

Snarls and growls reached ever closer, insidious chuckles and taunts lashed through the otherwise silent world at Liese. She was clutching her chest and struggling to take a breath. In the moment she faltered, something grabbed the material of her dress and dragged her back into a deep hollow of tangled roots. A calloused hand clamped her mouth before she could let out a scream and a thick arm bound her tight. She was completely pinned and unable to see her captor. She watched as a horde of disfigured undead thundered straight past, unaware that their prey had already been seized.

Liese bit at the hand still clasped across her face and wrestled with all her remaining energy. A chaotic frenzy was coursing through her veins like fire, overwriting her thoughts and instincts with the pure desire to escape both the dead and her captor.

“Quit your squirming or you’ll bring ‘em straight back at us.” A gruff voice muttered close to her ear, a lesser binding magic laced throughout his words. Liese ceased her fighting and tried to catch a glimpse of whoever, or whatever, had spoken as the creature loosened its grip a fraction. It was a man of sorts with goat-like horns and downy feathers covering one side of his face. Amber eyes peered back at her from a neutral expression and he shook his head slowly, pressing a finger against his lips before returning his watch to the darkness. 

“Never seen ‘em riled up so much in a few hundred years. I wonder…” The creature sniffed at the air and grunted. “They do have a lust for living souls. Why d’ya leave the road eh?”

Liese couldn’t answer. She was exhausted and stunned by everything that had happened. Recognition of the stone fleshed demon from before had hit home as the horde had gone past. She’d seen it before in many nightmares, and often in the darkness of her room when she woke from them. Prowling ever closer to where she lay terrified beneath the quilt, stalking her for its time. The dawn would always banish it, but there would be no dawn here, and she knew that it would soon turn back and sniff her out.

“Oi.” The creature jabbed at her arm.

Liese turned in response, still struggling to keep her wits together. Whatever the thing that caught her was, it at least seemed civil for now, though crude with its behaviour. Her gaze fell to a dull, hefty sword propped by the creature’s side and she wanted to ask about it, or even to say anything. No words would come, and she felt the darkness of oblivion seeping through her mind. Sleep beckoned. Her eyelids were heavy and her body was becoming weightless. “Don’t sleep!” The creature hissed, prodding at the centre of her forehead with a taloned finger.  The touch sent a bolt of electricity right through her core and she sat up straight.

“Ow. I don’t…can’t… who was…is…you?” Words tumbled from numb lips. Liese mewled in frustration at her inability to form a sentence and pummelled at her temples and clawed at her hair simultaneously.

“You mean the leader of that there pack? Tha’s Zaza. Right tasty piece of work, even if I say so meself. I’m Jack, nice to meetcha.” The creature patted her on the head with a heavy hand, though it seemed to have the desired effect of stopping her madness.

“Um, sorry about that,” Liese muttered ashamedly, her hands dropping to her sides. “I’m Liese. Thank you, I guess?”

“Pah! Don’t go thanking me jus’ yet. I only grabbed ya ‘cause I figured you might be able to help me out. Tha’, and it’ll really piss Zaza off.” Jack winked, sitting back on his haunches and looking her up and down. As the shadows shifted, she noticed a white pumpkin that had been hollowed out and held a glowing lump of coal.

“I don’t…” Liese sighed. She took several slow, deep breathes to instils some clarity back to her mind before trying again. “What do you need help with?”

“I’m trying to cross over t’other side, it’s much prettier and got plenty of light see? There’s a ferryman of sorts not far from ‘ere, ‘cept I can’t pay ‘im an’ I can’t go through Elfinburg neither as my type ain’t welcome.”

“But what can I do?”

“I dunno. What can you do?”

Liese bit back a retort at the petulant response and thought about her options. For the time she was inside of the hollow, she was safe, though her time was slipping past at an unknown rate. Jack was clearly a demon of sorts, though at odds with the other residents of the Darklands. He’d saved her life, so taking the ferryman herself would only make her another enemy and there was no guarantee the other side that Jack referred to would be any less hostile. She looked at the sword again, longing for the blade to be at her side.

Liese gasped, fingers reaching into the sash and clasping the warm golden coin with relief. “This for the sword?” She held the coin in her fist with enough of the gold glinting in the feeble light from the coal.

“Jus’ so ya know, this thing don’ even have an edge.” Jack’s eyes had gone wide with hunger and were trained on her hand.

“That’s okay. I just have a feeling…something I can’t explain anyway. Deal?” She was surprised that the creature had had the decency to warn her of the swords inferiority as she lowered her hand in preparation for the exchange.

“Yours.” The creature grunted and he knocked the sword over so it landed by Liese’s side with a dull thwump. She dropped her golden coin into Jack’s hand, certain she had made the right choice. “Gotta ask, What’s with the cat toy?” Jack continued, tilting his head to one side and sniffing the air again. “Didn’t know humans went for catnip.”

“It’s my cat’s. I’m not sure what she gave it to me yet. If you don’t mind my asking, why the coal in the pumpkin?”

Jack snorted as he secured the coin in the depths of his coat pockets. “you get yourself to the other side too, then maybe I’ll tell ya. Better go now. I can tell ya now, tha’ Zaza’s picked up your sent.” And with that, the semi-humanoid creature pounced from the roots with his pumpkin securely in the crook of his arm. Liese shivered and wished he’d not told her that the demon Zaza was already coming back so soon. She lifted the blade in her right hand, uncertain of what she’d actually do if she had to use it.

She crept from the roots and looked all around for the beacon. She had no idea how far she had been forced off track and her heart dropped even further when all she could see was a rising wall of black on the horizon. Uncontrollable shivers shot up and down her spine, the recognisable sensation of demons creeping closer washed over her and made her mind waver again.

There were more of them. Too many to try and fight with a dull sword she didn’t know how to swing yet. She could hear the guttural snarls and growls and the breaking of twigs underfoot. They were quieter than before. More ordered. The idea that the demons were capable of such meticulous stalking horrified her and tore at the calm she had not long regained

“Wait, that’s not…” Liese swung her head around in the opposite direction and saw the flash of ivory as a showed beast snuffled in the earth. A wild idea filled her mind, and she started to edge towards the boar. There was no breeze to betray her and the demons and the dead were still a reasonable distance behind. 

Twenty feet. Ten feet. She could almost hear and feel Zaza’s rasping breath on her neck, but she kept her slow and silent pace. Five feet. The boar finally sensed her closing in. Angry vermillion eyes glared at her as it turned, brandishing its tusks at her and roared. The trees trembled and crows and ravens alike took to the firmament in an angry cawing and screeching. Liese added her own voice to the cacophony, bellowing at the boar and charging forwards.

She could do it. She had to. The boar lashed its tusks again and reared up. Liese dove into a sideways roll at the last second as the beast came crashing down. She continued with her momentum, spinning on her toe and leapt onto its back using its shoulder as a perch before straddle the boar’s back before the beast could start another attack on her. The sword she had been using to counterbalance came down hard. The flat edge whacked the beast’s rump and both screamed at the night as the boar started on furious charge straight towards the horde of demons.

The boar kicked and cavorted, tusks ripping demonic flesh apart while trying to dislodge the unwelcome rider. Liese held tufts of the coarse fur for dear life and clenched her legs tight to the beast’s back. The foul creatures scattered in all directions with howls and curses and Liese finally let out her breath as the boar settled into a levelled run. Zaza had been there. She had only just managed to spot him watching the scene from the safety of a tree, its cruel, grey features set into a furious expression.

As the boar carried her further away from the nightmare and the cool breeze whipped through her hair, she finally felt less afraid. As they entered a clearing, two ravens appeared in front of them and Liese was certain they were the same two from earlier. They worked together to distract the boar and confuse its vision until the brute finally came to a halt. Then the ravens landed on its tusks, cronking together again. She sensed they were being smug about their actions and calling to the hunting party as their voices echoed all around.

Sure enough, the mournful cries of the hounds answered back and were followed moments later by the thundering approach of destriers. Fjolnir was smiling as the riders came to a halt, once again circling around Liese. Many had lowered their hoods now and she could make out men and women of all ages amongst the hunting party.

“You have a very unconventional method of hunting. I see you somehow found one of Regin’s swords too.” The semi-blind man nodded at the dull blade Liese was clinging to. Her hand was in such a state of cramp from clinging to both the sword and the boar, she didn’t think she could let go of it anytime soon even if Fjolnir demanded it. He rode alongside the boar and patted its flank, speaking softly to it in another language. “Come. Time to let Trwyth return now.” Fjolnir offered a hand to Liese as she slid from the boar’s back and lifted her on to the horseback with him as though she were a feather. 

Her earlier exhaustion and aches returned while she contemplated this new predicament. She wondered what to do next and searched for the beacon, almost letting out a sob when there was still no sign of it. The hunt moved off again as the boar Trwyth lumbered away. She wasn’t sure if she was a captive to Fjolnir and his party or what, she only knew she was beyond fighting or running anymore as she rocked from side to side to the motion of the destrier.

They passed behind a waterfall and entered a tunnel of total darkness and purifying mists. Liese’s senses spiralled out of control again and Fjolnir held one shoulder to keep her steady throughout. She could see light ahead and the group splashed across a burbling stream, exiting the cavern to a town of stunning architecture and colour.

She felt the destrier come to a stop. Heard the merriment all around her. It was all so far away and she felt herself falling from the horse, unable to do anything about her. High above her in the highest tower of a beautiful castle was the blue light she had been following for the longest time. She sighed with relief as she fell into the embrace of sleep, not even aware of Tegan rushing forwards to catch her.

Original article: The Edge of Darkness III – The Wild Hunt.