The Iron Badger

Chapter 2

The Snowstorm (Part 2)

"Si traveled ahead of me. We still were not speaking to each other. The snow came down hard and fast. I called out to Si, but he could not hear me. I snapped Equinox's bridle to catch up with him yelling after him too slow down, so we would not get separated, but still, he could not hear me due to winds coming in all different directions. The oddest thing happened... Just before Si disappeared, he looked at me, then a wall of snow came down dividing us. But when it ended... My friend was gone. Not even a set of tracks in the snow, I could not scout for him, due to that damn blizzard!"

Rye—

1

The sky grew dark, and the air grew cold as I kept a watchful eye upon a black figure that I had not seen before. I used my father's training as I knelt on one knee with my right leg up feeling for my dagger that I had strapped towards my ankle. I kept my eyes on the figure so I would not lose sight of it. As my right hand searched for the weapon. I concentrated on my breathing the way father had taught me which slowed and steadied the beatings of my heart.

Stories slowly came to my attention as I remember children in Masa spun yarns of an old witch that lived in an old, twisted tree named Ce-Na. Which means twisted tree grows in the moonlight in Masa. The figure stopped in front of me. Then I wondered, is the witch making its way home? My right hand found the rosewood handle to the dagger it was sheathed to my calf not my ankle as I originally thought it was. The strangest thing happened. The figure tilted it head to the right then to the left, as if studying me, making me wonder if it knew me Somehow.

Father told me stories of ghouls feasting upon human corpses in cemeteries. Some believe ghouls were once human but cursed by a god or goddess forced to eat rotten flesh for all eternity. Father on the other hand believed that ghouls were simply touched by lunacy.

It made no sense for a ghoul to travel all this way by itself. In some rare occasions ghouls have been known to journey to small villages, such as Masa, but this was different. For one, the gate of the bipedal was too clean and perfect. Not clumsy and awkward like ghouls usually are. This unknown figure was wearing a cloak, with a hood muting all facial features, making it impossible for me to get a clear look at it.

Out of nowhere the wind suddenly began to pick up, causing my hair to sway with the breeze. Then it waved to me as the other handheld the hood in place when it did so.

What a queer thing. I thought standing upward with dagger in hand but concealed behind the thickness of my forearm. "State your business!" I shouted over the hollowing winds with flurries dancing around me like flies in a summer day.

The figure did not speak but kept waving as if beckoning me to come closer. I took a step forward scared to go any further, still feeling the dagger in my right hand. "Are you a demon?" I asked.

The figure shook its head from side to side but continued beckoning me with it hand.

"Come closer my child." The figure said in harsh whispers. "Come closer so I can see you better, my child."

I was now two feet away from it. My hand kept a tight grip on the dagger. So tight in fact that my hand began to turn numb. I pointed my blade at the unknown person. "Reveal yourself at once!" I shouted.

Two pale hands made themselves known by pushing the hood back. "You do not recognize your own aunt?"

"Aunt Aslis?"

"Yes, it is your Aunt Aslis. It has been a while since I have seen you. I am sorry to say your Uncle Harold passed away a few years ago. Now... Let me take a good look at you. My! Look how you have grown. The last time I saw you, you were much shorter than... Would you be a dear and put the dagger away. Let me guess, your father has been training you, and trained you well from the looks of it. But please, put that dagger away, before someone gets hurt."