Bloodstained Masks

Chapter 6

Sitting at the dinner table with his family, Kay couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. He felt like everyone was looking at him.

The hunting group still hadn't returned from town. If they waited any longer, the townfolk would become suspicious. Well, even if they had returned soon the town would still become suspicious. There had been rumors of poachers near the vesinity of the town. And the poacher weren't hunting deer, bears or moose but the dangerous of them.

Werewolves.

Many people in the cities wanted the pelt of them. And where there is demand, there are people crazy enough to fill it.

The poachers were equipped with all sorts of things: silver arrows, bolt, bullets and sword. They also drenched themselves in quicksilver to repel head on werewolf attacks. And of course, they had wolfsbane.

Wolfsbane was the ultimate weapon. It can instantly killed a werewolf.  Enough of the innocent looking violet plant could kill an Alpha.

And so the king banned the growing and sale of the long plant. And yet, the poacher could still find it.

Many merchants had warned, a storm was coming.  They claimed there'd be a frenzy for the pelts.

Many of the people of the cities who demanded the people adored the werewolves.

A wild belief was that by having  the pelt of a werewolf, the person would gain the favor of the Moon Goddess. Kay could not understand the logic of that. If you retrieved the pelt of a werewolf by killing it, one of the Moon Goddess' children, the Moon Goddess herself will watch over you. Kay wasn't very sure how that logic worked.

During the passage of the merchants, after mentioning he was a hunter, he would offered several large contracts to hunt werewolves. Kay would simply look at them, dumbfounded. He wasn't willing to risk his life to maybe, maybe survive and killing one of those demons for a couple hundred coins. At those times, Kay would wonder how far people would go for a passing fancy as his father often said. Next thing you know, people will have a craze for elf ears for long life or vampire fangs for luck.

And though much help would would come if the King would simply ban the owning of the pelts. Heck, if he simply banned the hunting of werewolves it would be over but no, as he said, he would appear as if he was holding favoritism. As if the king hadn't already shown it.

But for now, it didn't appear as if the hunting party was big news, and, sure enough, something else came along to replace that gossip.

"Kay...Kay...Kay!"

His father voice interupting his thought, Kay shook his head, trying to clear his head. "Yes?" Kay said only to find his family looking at him, curious.  His brother replied,"It's your turn to say grace."

"Oh," clearing his throat and clasping his hands together, he began,"Dear Allica, O' Goddess of the  Yellow Moon, we thank for the fruitful year and hope for another prideful year."

Finishing his prayer, the family dug in. Kay's mother had prepared a delicious meal of baked potatoes, beef and chicken stew and bread.

Kay was half way through his final potato when his father started to talk,"So Kay, how was the hunt?"

Jumping in his seat, Kay began to cough erratically on a piece of a loaf of bread. "Woah Kay," his brother James said, his eyes widened as he began to pour a glass of water. "Chew you food!" Handing the glass of water to Kay, James smirked, " Someone would think you committed murder!"

Taking a large gulp of water from the glass, Kay said, his coughs lessening " Ha ha, yeah." Turning to his father, Kay asked, "You were saying?"

"Oh! Right." His father said, happy to return to the conversation. "So, did you catch anything?" Shaking his head, Kay responded," No, I was close to catching a fox but I lost it," taking a sip of water, he added "Not much prey runs through the Forrest these days."

Nodding his head in understanding, his father took a bite of his dinner  "You know, I've had a brilliant idea for the business Kay," he began again "I've found a brilliant idea to incorporate your hunting skills."

Kay froze. Slowly turning his head from his dinner, Kay quietly said, "Really?"

His father smiling, he responsed "Oh yeah, I've found the recipe for a type of meat filled bread. I could swear, hundreds would come all the way from the cities to get taste of the Amegonan bakery meat breads!"

Kay's father sounded elastic, talking about the business. Through a choked voice, Kay said," Yeah, that'd be great."

"Dad, that'd be amazing," his brother said with false admiration. "And of course, I could bake the bread!"

Kay clenched his fists. He couldn't understand it how his brother could just blatantly lie to his father's face. Then again, so way he.

Kay could bet his entire family's wealth with confidence that one night, his brother would disappear into the night. That was how James was. He couldn't face confrontation.

Scoffing, Kay returned his focus back to his meal

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The frosty air bit at Kay's skin as he continued down the road as the pale sun, went down. After dinner, he'd excused himself himself to take a small walk. Where he was going?

Hell if he knew.

He needed time to think. Sure, he didn't know what he wanted to do but he didn't want to live his entire behind a counter. Blowing a breath out of his lungs, Kay kept walking. Behind him, he could the sound shoe tapping on the path. Kay took no mind to it as he continued down the stone pavement.

Once again, Kay heard the soft tapping of shoes walking behind him as he took a sharp turn. And once again, the tapping followed.

Someone has been following me, Kay thought. His pace sped as he attempted to lose the person. But of course, as his pace quickened, so did the person. The tapping of the shoes on the stone path quickened even more as the asilant attempted to catch him.

Suddenly, Kay felt calm, eased as he inhaled the beautiful scent of summer roses, blowing in the breeze on a warm day. He couldn't understand it, and yet he didn't want to. Finally the stalker caught up to him. But instead of stabbing him or whatever he'd imagined would happen, the person simply walked next to him. Kay felt oddly comfort in this. Turning his head to sneak a look at the person, Kay was shocked to see a girl around his age.

The girl's hair didn't cascade down her shoulders as many of the other women of the town but instead had been cut into a short sophisticated look. Her amber skin tone contrasted Kay's own. She wore a hooded jacket. Turning her head to look at Kay, he could see her eyes were an emerald green.

Realizing he was staring, Kay turned to look forward, his cheeks blushing. Neither of the two talked as they walked towards the temple. The silence was not what it was at the tavern but instead a calm quiet content silence. Kay cracked a little smile as they walked. For now, at least, he'd forgotten his worries. And odd as it was, Kay could say he felt complete with this complete stranger walking next to him, at arms length. The cold air blew its cool chills across the empty streets.

Sure, come morning, problems would still be there and Kay would have to deal with problem no one could comprehend. And he'd have to face the aftermath of his brother's action and it'd be hell.

But for those moments as he walked with this unknown stranger, he didn't care.

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