The Hunter's Daughter [Paused]

Chapter Two

The Von Houten cottage sat at the outer edge of Waldstadt, just outside tree line of the Oakenward Wood. This made it easier for Dezzery and her father to take care of the results of their hunts before taking them in to sell to the butcher and leather workers. It also provided the easy option for sun or shade for the plants her mother and sister grew for their tonics and poultices. The welcoming sight of her home cleared away the small seed of fear she had experienced in the woods with the strange colored fire. Dezzery saw her younger sister, Abilene, already tending to the herbs for the day. Smoke floated out of the stone chimney over the lichen covered roof of the cottage. It was still early enough in the morning for the sun to cast a warm and pleasant light on the cottage's vine covered walls and its garden of herbs.

The rabbits now hung from her belt, thumping against her thigh with each step. On the way back, she saw two of the traps her father set up had tripped and took care of it. Dezzery hauled the doe and two rabbits to the hunting shed. She dropped the doe outside near the hanging rack before hanging the rabbits up inside. Abilene stood nearby when Dezzery reemerged to hang the deer to be taken care of later. A basket of herbs hung from the nook of her arm.

"How was your hunt today?" Abilene asked. The sun behind her cast a burning halo around her strawberry blonde hair. "It looks like you were pretty successful."
Dezzery began redoing the rope on the deer to hang it from the post near the racks. "It took me three shots before I could get this one downed. I guess my arm still needs a little more time to heal, despite most of the soreness being gone now."

Abilene set down her basket. She grabbed the loose end of the rope and tossed it through the hook on the post as her sister finished up her knots. Together, they hoisted the doe up the post with its hind legs first. Dezzery stood back with her hands on her hips, catching her breath as she looked at the product of her hunt. As much as she enjoyed tracking, cleaning the animal was...less enjoyable. Especially when her arms were tired. She was also badly craving more sleep.

"Say," she turned her attention to her sister, "Did you add anything to the offering bundle you gave me?"

Abilene rose an eyebrow, "No. Why?"

"Something...odd happened when I lit my bundle today."

Abilene picked up the basket she had discarded on the ground earlier. Dezzery noticed some golden yellow flowers and sprigs of rosemary inside. The yellow flowers looked similar to daisies, but the colors of the petals were not quite right. Abilene picked up her pair of scissors from inside the basket. She waved for Dezzery to follow with them.

"What do you mean?" she asked, strolling back to the garden. Dezzery walked with her, brushing fallen fur from her shoulders.

"It actually caught fire instead of smoked," she explained. "Thankfully, it was after I put it down. It smoked for a little while but then it started popping like our festival fires do when we place cedar or pine on them."

Abilene remained quiet as she snipped a few leaves from a mint plant. Her eyebrows furrowed as she moved to the next one. "I don't remember having anything like cedar or pine nearby when I made it. There shouldn't have been any cross contamination. Maybe there were remnants in your pouch?"

"But would it cause the flame to change color?"

"Change color?" Abilene's scissors paused their snipping. They had halted by more of those golden yellow flowers with the little petals.

"The flame turned black with a dark blue center. It seemed to...give off a darker light? Or it was more like sucking in the light around it," Dezzery struggled to explain what she meant. "It was a fire but it didn't give off light. It felt like the opposite of giving off light while actually being a light at the same time. I'm not sure if it was a trick of the eye when I looked directly at it, but I could have sworn the edge of where I was in the woods with the doe seemed to slowly grow darker, while the flame burned in the center of it."