Under the Hunter's Moon

Rafael goes into the woods to slay a necromancer, but what he doesn't realize is that strange creature's come out to hunt when the moon shines the color of blood.

Rafael smiled to himself as he marched his way through the dark maze of trees. Soon he would earn himself glory, and be praised as a hero by his tribe. For a long time, his competence as a prince was doubted, and those doubts grew when his father fell ill. The people thought he was too young, too brash, too stupid perhaps, and they wondered if their tribe would survive the passing of their chieftan.

They were cowardly fools, Rafael thought. He only needed a chance to prove himself, and that opportunity had finally presented itself.

Someone had been defiling the burial mounds as of late, and talk of a necromancer spread through the village. Necromancer's were a bad omen. When one arrived, death and disease would often follow. Such a calamity could spell doom for a tribe. It had some people so scared that there were even talks of giving up their home and moving to new lands. It was something that Rafael could not accept.

He hated the idea of running away from some ragged corpse fondler. He would kill the thing, and when he returned with it's head, there would be no more reason for his people to doubt him.

He entered into the clearing where the burial mound was. His gaze then fell upon the pile of bones scattered about, and amongst them, some strange woman rifling through them. Rafael drew his sword.

"You there, woman! What are you doing in that pile of bones?"

The woman raised her head, turning it towards the general direction of Rafael. She was odd looking, Rafael thought. Like no one he had ever seen before. She wore nothing but a large cloak, which appeared to made of raven feathers and... hair? It was the same color and consistency of her own hair, which was midnight black and like silk. Her pale legs and arms were bare, and underneath her cloak he could not tell, although, he imagined. Her eyes did not seem to find him; They were covered competely by a thick, milky white film.

"I'm looking for the bones of your father." She replied.

"My father? My father isn't dead yet! What are you talking about?"

"Oh. Your grandfather then."

"Quit playing games! Are you the necromancer?"

"Why? Have you come to hunt me under this hunter's moon?"

Rafael looked up at the sky, noticing the red glow of the full moon.

"If you're the necromancer, then yes. Although... You're not exactly what I expected." Indeed, he hadn't expected the necromancer to be a beautiful woman. This definitely made things more difficult. "Not that it matters, anyway."

"It's dangerous for humans to be here under this moon, you know." She picked up a skull and tilted it side to side, examining it. "Strange beasts wander the forests seeking human flesh, invigorated by the blood-stained moon."

"Do you think I care? I fear no man or beast. I've come to slay you! For defiling our graves and spreading fear among my tribe. What do you have to say for yourself, witch?"

"Defiling is an ignorant way of putting it. The dead are already defiled. And your people's fear sounds like your problem, not mine."

"You-What?! Tell me what you mean!"

 The woman sighed audibly, "Listen, I don't have time for this. If you're here to kill me then try it already."

"I... Well..."

Before he could finish, there was a loud crack in the distance behind him, probably a tree snapping. The necromancer woman stood up suddenly, tilting her ear in the direction of the sound.

"No... He's coming."

"What? Who's coming?" Rafael glanced behind him, unsure if this was some kind of trick or not.

"One of those strange beasts I told you about. They must have followed you here."

"Followed me? Why?"

"Because you stink like a human."

"Stink like a human?" Rafael blinked at her. She sighed again.

"Yes."

More twigs snapped, the sounds getting closer than before. Rafael turned to face the noise, backing up towards the necromancer. As the noises appeared to come right to the treeline, they suddenly stopped, and Rafael squinted to see into the darkness. Something moved within the forest, but he couldn't tell what. The woman's eyes widened, her voice taking on a more urgent tone.

"You must go now. It will kill you if you don't. I'll hold it off while I can. Escape!" She extended her arms outward, and her eyes and hands seemed to glow with a pale blue light. Rafael swung his sword left to right as bones began to rattle around him, they too becoming enveloped by the same pale blue glow as they were lifted off the ground by some unseen magic.

"Human... Flesh..." A deep, inhuman voice resonated form the forest, and Rafael's attention was immediately returned there. He gripped his sword tightly. Human flesh? What kind of beast was this? He knew of no beast who could speak in human tongues. Was this some invading tribesman? Cannibals? How could they have arrived in his lands without being noticed?

"It's too late. Gods help you if you don't run right right now." The woman said. Now skeletons had risen up around Rafael. It was too much to process. What the hell was going on? Was he dreaming? The bushes shook in front of him. He looked, and a large dark blur charged at him with inhuman speed. All he could see were it's red eyes and a mangled maw of jutting teeth. He didn't have time to lift his sword before it was upon him. Something struck him, and he flew through the air. He came to a sudden, painful stop against something solid, and immediately his vision went dark.

---

"Rafael!"

What? I'm alive?

"I think he's waking up. Rafael! Rafael!"

He felt someone shake his shoulder. Pain radiated throughout his body.

Ow. Stop.

"Stop it, girl! His ribs are broken!" A third voice spoke.

"Rafael, are you ok? Wake up! Please!" Rafael finally recognized this as Jean's voice. He opened his eyes, and he could see her silhouette, albeit it was blurry. He sat up slowly, rubbing his head. It hurt to move. It hurt to breathe, even, and his head felt like it had been struck with a mallet. "Rafael, talk to me!" She put her hands on his cheeks and tried to look at him in the eyes. He brushed her off angrily.

"I'm fine! Stop it, you're hurting me woman! Agh!" He put his arm over his chest. The exertion of yelling caused an incredible amount of pain.

"I'm sorry!" Jean pulled away, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm just worried, okay? We weren't sure if you were going to wake up."

"What the hell happened?"

"In the morning, you were gone. We didn't know where you went. We thought you ran off."

Ran off? Rafael scoffed. It showed how much faith she had in him.

A burly man stepped forward, with a large brown beard and arms the size of tree trunks. Rafael recognized him as Alfonse, the lead hunstmen.

"Aye, twas I who found ye. Ye were busted up like a bag of broken twigs. What the hell happened to ye is last night?!"

A chill ran down Rafael's spine. Could it be? Were the events that happened the night before actually real? It wasn't just a dream. Worry shot through him like a bolt of lightning. He pictured that necromancer woman, and the skeletons rising from the ground. What became of her? Did she save him? And what the hell was that thing that attacked him?

"Well? Ye gonna tell us er not?"

"I must've been... Attacked by a bear." They wouldn't believe the truth if he told them.

"A bear? Well they are huntin' now. Tryin' ta get fed before the winter. But what stopped 'im from eatin' ya?"

"No idea." Rafael's voice trailed off, and he stared into space.

"Well, strange. Glad yer alright though. Ya shouldn't be wandering out alone at night, bein' the prince and all!"

Normally Rafael would retort angrily, saying that he could do as he pleased, but his mind was too full of questions. He didn't even respond, instead gazing downward.

"I'm glad you're ok, too." Jean spoke and stroked his face softly.

"Well, thanks for helping me, I guess. Sorry for making you worry." Rafael shrugged, then winced in pain.

"Apoligizin'? That's not like ye. You sure your heads alright?"

"I'm fine. I'm just... Tired. Leave us alone, Alfonse. I need to rest some more."

"Aye, alright. Take care. And don't be too rough on him, Jean! He'll never heal if you keep fussing with him!"

"I won't!" Jean assured him, giggling slightly.

Rafael laid back down, staring at the ceiling. Jean laid next to him, softly stroking his hair and face. At least she was being more gentle now. His mind kept going over the same questions, trying to unravel the events of the past night. He wondered what it meant for his village. What would it mean for Jean, and even himself? Were things going to change now? It wasn't like he had enough to deal with as it was.
 
He couldn't fuss over it any longer. His head and body ached, and he drifted off towards an uneasy sleep. He wouldn't be able to do anything until his body was healed, anyway. At least he didn't have to worry about it right now.

He put his arm around Jean, pulling her close. Having her nearby made things for clear. Whatever was happening, he would deal with it somehow.

---

Author's Note

This is kind of like the first chapter to a story that I'm planning on writing. If people like it, I will continue writing it, but if not, I will continue writing it. I continually make changes after it's posted, refining dialogue and things more to my liking. If you don't like it at first, read it again 5 minutes later and see if anything's changed. :)

Ok. I'm done editing now.

Reviews

[Cherrie]

Strong intro, with lots of interesting threads to explore, I look forward to the next section.

[barleygirl]

This is a great story & it would work well to continue it on to further installments or even a book. I don't think that very often when I read a story, but this one hits the reader with a well-formulated storyline that could beckon a reader onward. The very best part of this is the dialogue betw witch & narrator -- nicely lively, gotta love the sassy witch, not takin' any s**t from anyone. Gawd I love that witch! Now that I think of it, SHE is the reason this story could stand to go on & on . . . we want to see more of her, we want to see her diss humans, we want to see her outsmart with her sassy wit. You've already developed a great character profile for the witch & it would be a shame not to exploit that! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Sir Aphid]

Thank you. The necromancer is a character that I've used often in different stories and roleplays that I've done. I quite like her as well.

I appreciate this comment a lot. I was a little disappointed to have been gone for 6 weeks and come back with no more reads, but since you left this nice review, it's inspired me to keep going with the story. Gotta learn to be independent and write for my own sake, regardless if people read it or not. :)

Thanks again. Have a nice day.

[barleygirl]

First, most people do not read the longer stories at the cafe. Second, the cafe has been kicking people off left & right as the site owner tries to deal with spammers, so this place has been deserted the last few weeks, people getting tired of trying to get onto the website. So it's not all you! But I'm glad your attitude is squared away, becuz I also write without concern for whether anyone reads me or likes my writing. In general, most people don't get me, but when some do, that's a great boon, too!