A Year of Stories (Collection Two)

The Huntress of the Wilds

Once upon a time, in a land of valleys deep and mountains high, there was a Huntress brave and bold.

She had lived her life in the wilds of this place, learning to trap and stalk and kill that which she needed to survive.

It was said of her in the villages that dotted the realm, that her eye was so sharp that she could strike a falcon mid-flight, and that her blade was so keen that it could pierce even the hide of the great Wrym Hildebrant – the one who was known to them as the Destroyer.

She was also said to be a woman of great cunning – having all manner of plant and animal knowledge, knowing medicines which could heal and those which could kill in equal measure.

It was for these reasons that they called her Allyna, which was the name they gave to their Long Bows, renowned throughout the world for their deadly precision.

One evening in mid-Summer Allyna was called to the court of the King, a man known more for his wealth than for his wisdom.

This King had raised three fair-haired sons to adulthood. The night before, his oldest – who the villagers had taken to calling Emory the Boastful – for his weakness of heart was matched only by the sharpness of his tongue, was stolen away.

The King who feared for his heir and favorite child, and having heard of Allyna's abilities both as a tracker and a warrior, sought her help in finding him.

"If you return my son to me, I will pay your weight in gold." he said.

"What use have I of gold? Can I eat it? Can I cloth myself in it? Will it make my blade sharper? My bow arm stronger?" she replied.

"No, but it will purchase a fine headstone if you choose to defy me. Bring my son here by the rising of the next moon, or there will be no place in this kingdom safe for Allyna of the Wilds."

Allyna did not fear the King's bluster, for she knew him to be slow of leg and of wit, but she did welcome a challenge, and there was no challenge as great as the hunting of men.

"I will do this for you and you will pay me my gold, along with one other thing."

"Anything that is in my power to give."

"If I return your boy to you before the rising of the next moon, you will promise that you and your children will never trouble me again."

"You have my word."

And since the King's word was as good as his gold, Allyna set out at once in search of the boy.

Emory's trail was not difficult to find – the King and his entire court covered themselves in a oil made of labdanum, rose, and cinnamon. There was nothing in the lands outside of the Palace that smelled as they did.

The kidnapper had also stolen a horse, the largest in the stable, and its heavy foot-prints marred the rich soil that surrounded the King's land.