Something Hidden

Eric watched silently as the prey passed by underneath him. The slight cracking of the twigs sounded out in the forest, as it covered up the sound of Eric breathing. He carefully looked down from his perch, making sure not to slip off the thick branch of the tree. The rain had just passed by the night before, making everything damp.

Getting into a better position, Eric unslung the bow from across his back and knocked an arrow. His breathing became even more controlled as he stared at the unknowing deer. With a deep inhale, he exhaled sharply, letting the arrow fly.

It pierced the deer through the head in a graceful arc, sending it crashing down into the nearby shrubbery. After looping it around, Eric unslung the belt around his waist and used it to shimmy down the tree trunk. He had a slightly goofy look on his face, as he thought about how long the meat would last. Frankly, this was one of the best catches he had in the past couple of months. Usually, all he was able to capture was the occasional rabbit.

Rushing over to the bushes, he grunted as pulled the deer away from the bushes and was able to size it up properly. It was a smaller deer, so he would be able to sling it over his shoulders until he got back home.

The walk back to the town was a little arduous, but nothing serious, only about a mile or so. After all, there was only so far he could hunt away from the town before he encountered a monster. Within a mile of the town, it was fine. Two to three miles the prey became bigger, and there were more predators. Once it hit four miles, things would start to become dicey.

In this mountainous region where he lived, goblins loved the caves and forests. They wouldn't ever come around close to the town, but once someone started to go five miles or beyond, they were bound to run into one. A single goblin by itself was not very dangerous, but the problem was they loved to travel in groups. Fending off one or two was easy, trying to fend off ten, is a whole other ordeal.

The town he lived in was on the border of the kingdom, just enough to be classified under the Kingdom of Gorgon, but just far enough away that the military wouldn't help if they needed help. Besides a little convoy of merchants coming over every spring, the town was on its own.

They were just lucky that they lived in a region that was a little too mountainous, and not conducive for most types of monsters.

Eric could already see the smoke coming from the chimneys as started to descend on one of the trails toward the town.

Even with the low chance of monsters attacking, no one ever wanted to take the risk that they would be subjected to attacks from monsters, thus they built a stone wall around the perimeter.

For Eric, however, it became more of a hassle than a saving grace.

He soon came into the small clearing, that separated the wall and the forest. His grin from the hunt was soon wiped away from the sight of the firmly closed gate.

He spotted the sentry atop the wall, spear in hand, with basic leather armor. His balding head could be seen from the coast of Gorgon. Eric recognized him instantly.

"Julius, why have the gates closed early?" Eric shouted just loud enough for the man to hear him.

Julius looked down, his face showing a trace of surprise as if he had no clue anyone was still out.

" We closed it a couple of minutes ago, you know it'll cost you if yeah want to reopen the gates."

Eric felt his eye twitch slightly at what Julius said, as the price for coming after the closing of the gate charged five bronze coins, far more than he made within a day's work.

"You're full of shit old man! The gate only closes by sundown, I could have come here an hour later, and would still have time to spare!"

Julius's cheeks reddened, but he only chuckled slightly.

" Sorry kid, rules are rules, if you don't want to pay you don't have to come in."

Julius then greedily eyed the prey on his back, as he gestured that the opening or closing of the gate was not up to him.

" No way am I giving you this deer, it's worth a couple of silver! I would have to be a fool to give you it!"

Eric wanted to say something more, but he took a deep breath and stopped himself. He could go to the other gate and try to reason with them, but he would probably be chased away. That gate was for Rune Masters only, they couldn't be held up by the usual order of entering a gate.

His only other alternative was to stay the night outside, which was not even an option. At night the monsters that tended to stay away, happened to gain far more confidence and come far closer to the city.

Eric could only silently curse Julius, as he dug around in his satchel, and drew out the five bronze coins.

The moment Julius saw the coins, a smile drew across his lips. His figure soon disappeared from view and a minute later, the gate opened.

Eric snorted at the scene and passed through, the weight of the deer, steadily killing his back. He passed by Julius and slammed the coins into his hand, as for reporting him, it was a waste of time. The guards would do this at times to earn a little cash on the side, and would only do it to those that had no other choice but to enter the gate.

Looking behind him, he couldn't help but look back. He discovered they did not close the gate behind him, keeping it open until it was actually time to close it. Eric could feel the anger well up within him, but he kept it in.

Even with it becoming later in the day, the town was still busy. There were about over one hundred that lived there, so there was always some form of activity.

He passed by the local pub, that already had the boisterous laughter of men and women drinking. In a town as big as this, besides their own professions, drinking was one of the main past times for many. Well, it was anyway, for those that could afford it.

In his mind, he was already thinking about how to skin the deer which he did not have much talent for. It was better to leave it to the butcher. When the word butcher came across his mind, he couldn't help but feel his chest tighten.

Memories that were still all too fresh came rushing to his head, but he forced them away. Tonight he did not want to remember the accident, but he had to go to the butcher.

Most of the time he would go hunting with one of his siblings, and he would make them go to the butchers. The butchers as he called them also worked as the tanners. They operated as one of the more profitable businesses in the town, as they even worked with monster meat and hide on occasion.

That was only in their other store, the other section of the town where the Runemasters lived. The town had been divided by the Runemasters and regular citizens lived in the town. That way they wouldn't be disturbed by the commoner, and the commoners would be less likely to die by being accidentally skewered or set on fire.

Eric soon arrived in front of the well-built butchers, spotting Emma sitting at the window for anyone that wanted to drop off prey.

Emma had a sturdy build from the life of a butcher, with short brown hair and eyes. She was already in her later twenties, married to the local blacksmith.

The moment he came strolling into view with the deer, Emma had a surprised look as she spotted him.

" Eric, How are you?"

She asked carefully, as Eric smiled bitterly. It was still difficult to look her in the eyes.

" I'll leave the deer to you, we can discuss the price after you're done," Eric told her, walking away as soon as set the deer down on the counter.

He started to hurry away from the shop as fast as he could, hearing the voice of Emma call behind him.

" It was an accident, Eric, We don't blame you for his death!"

Eric didn't look back, as he hurried home.

Emma could only shake her head as she watched the tanned teenager run away. His tall and lean figure could be seen from far away, with his short light brown hair dancing in the sun.

She shook her head, as she became lost in thought, dragging the deer from across the counter into the back of the room.

Eric soon arrived home, it was a big enough lodge for ten people. his family was well off, compared to others, but by no means rich. With six of them in total, it was still hard to make a staggering amount of money from hunting.

No one was home, but he still went in through the back door. Most were getting ready for the awakening ceremony happening in the next two days. The deciding factor between living a mundane life, and living one of a runemaster.

He flopped onto his bed, in the bedroom that he shared with his brother. Even with no one looking he still turned his head, left and right to make sure the coast was clear.

He moved his bed slightly and pulled back the loose floorboard underneath his bed. It was a small hole where he had placed an item wrapped in white cloth.

The item was rugged in shape, like that of a gemstone. He unwrapped the cloth, showing a piece of gemstone that look like obsidian. It was about half the size of his fist, and could easily be held in the palm of his hand. If one looked closely they would see the faint flickering of light, shining within the depth of the stone.