The Huntsman

"Strong," his father said proudly to the masses, "That is what describes us."

Their captain paced tall and sure between his men, slowly making his way to his young son seated alone at the highest table. The warm glow of the torches casting shadows on his face. If it were possible he looked even more fierce than before.

The lodge of Huntsmen remained respectfully silent behind their suppers. In the world outside they could have been bankers and lawyers, dressed in well groomed suits and impeccably clean. However inside these particular four walls they honored their ancestors, dressing in the same clothing worn since the beginning.

"Silent," the captain continued, "As the gentle breeze brushing by your ear."

Many nodded and grunted in agreement to the captain's statement while others quietly raised their glasses in salute. After his audience had settled down, he began again.

"Yet above all else we are deadly, deadly to those who oppose us, and deadly to the evil inhuman b******s poisoning our world." The lodge cheered as he finished.

"Many of us possess these qualities by themselves," the captain said as silence resumed, "As I know no other who smells quite so strongly as our Aron."

Aron stood then proudly with his arms held high over his head. In jest, two of the young initiates were dragged up to him by the elder members and placed near his armpits. Both of their faces were scrunched up in disgust. As soon as they had the chance to scramble back to the safety of their corners, the captain smiled warmly and began again.

"And is there one among us that is more silent than Felipe?"

The shy hunter, an abnormality of his kind, crouched as low as he could in the crowd while barely peaking over the top of his table. His comrades howled and slapped him on the back as he narrowly escaped the arms that tried to lift him into the sight of the entire lodge.

"And of course," the captain began again much to Felipe's relief, "None of us can ever hope to be as deadly as Gina's cooking!"

The lodge roared with vicious laughter as Gina stood to shake her spoon menacingly at the captain and bat at snickering men that joined her at the table. Though she tried to fight it, she could not help the smirk growing on her face.

"However," their captain resumed his serious tone, "It is a rare hunter indeed that possesses all of these traits."

The captain stood behind his only son and put his hands on the boy's shoulders. Griffin tensed at his father's gesture, unused to his affection. Yet he did not make an effort to shake off the hands.

"Nothing could ever make me prouder," the captain continued, "As both captain and father than for my son Griffin to exhibit all of these traits and more during his latest hunt."

On cue a group of heavily armed men wheeled out a cage. Some looked worried as it rattled through the center of the room, while others leaned in closer with curiosity. Whatever lay under the blanket bearing the lodges insignia remained still as death once the guards brought it to a stop before the captain.

The entire lodge gasped as the blanket was pulled off to reveal the unconscious body of a young woman. Her deep red locks providing the only modesty for her naked flesh as she lay face down, a long bloody stake driven into her back.

Her skin was too pink for the undead, they thought, too full of life to justify this child's murder. Angrily they looked to their captain and his son for an explanation. In answer to their glares the captain motioned for the guards to open the cage and set her corpse on the high table.

"I am well aware," the captain began, "That this girl appears as innocent as any ignorant, and in that awareness I too questioned my son's wisdom. But I implore you all, as my son did me, to take a closer look."

Obediently a few of the hunters stepped up to the table and inspected the girl's remains, taking notice of the long silver scars on her back drawn by her master's whip. Then they saw the pale spots along her arms and thighs, the bite marks of their enemy. Turning the stiff head slightly to the left, their captain pointed out the final clue. Over her cold vein was the twisted pagan mark of the Devil's King.

"Jonas!" they all spoke in unison, "This child belongs to him!"

"The lad has killed a b***h of Jonas'!" one hunter cried out.

The lodge roared with wild approval. Banging their tankards and plates hard on their tables, they screamed Griffin's praises. Hailing him as the highest honored hunter of all time, a proud tribute to all Huntsmen only surpassed by the great Adrian Channing himself.

"No!" a lone voice cried out from the back of the room, "What have you done?"

Fiona's graying brown hair flew behind her as she ran without a second thought to the captain, her simple wool dress setting her very much apart from the rest of the hunters in the lodge.

"Hush, my wife," the captain said as she fell into his arms, "You have no standing here!"

"No standing?" she questioned through angry tears, "No standing as our son's mother to worry about him staining his hands with blood? Nor yet any standing to be concerned for both husband and child as Jonas will surely seek his revenge?"

"Be quiet, woman!" the captain growled, "You ruin our son's moment of triumph!"

"No," she replied in his same tone, "It is you who have ruined his life!"

With a hateful glare the captain struck her face forcefully, causing her to stumble and fall onto the girl's body. For several moments the captain waited with his hands held up, preparing another strike should Fiona wish to take the matter further.

"You horrible b*****d!" she exclaimed through her sobs, "You vicious, evil b*****d!"

Fueled by anger, Fiona flew up from the table and grabbed hold of the stake piercing the child's heart. With little effort she pulled the stake free and pressed it firmly to her husband's neck, her eyes daring the captain to push her even more towards the edge.

The members of the lodge collectively gasped as they looked at the body of the girl on the table. Laughing, the captain's eyes lit up with malicious amusement as he took hold of Fiona's hand, squeezing tightly so that the stake fell out of her grasp and onto the floor with a dull clunk. In his confidence the men found their own.

"You think I fear you, woman, or this damned creature?" he asked, "After all I have faced, you think I am threatened by either such worthless threat to my life?

Bending over he picked up the stake from the floor as the lodge snickered along with their captain. Fiona's cheeks flushed hotly, and she bowed her head in embarrassment. Soon her husband raised her chin that she could look into his eyes.

"Were you not my wife," he whispered to her while holding the stake at her throat, "And mother to my son, I would not think twice about leaving your fate to my men for your disrespect."

Griffin sat silent at the table, wishing himself in any other place than there. He had long ago learned that it was impossible to please both of his parents. While his father swelled with pride at his son's hunting skills, his mother tried her hardest to nurture the virtues of a kind and gentle young man. They were weak traits that weren't thought highly of in any Huntsman's lodge.

Resting his elbows on the table and his head in his hands, Griffin sighed as he waiting for their steam to run out. It was only out of the corner of his eye that he noticed the corpse's head turning slowly to face him, a warm smirk on her face as she rolled her eyes, motioning to his parents ever so slightly.

Before he had a chance to react the girl had suddenly flipped herself over and sat on the edge of the table, one leg swung elegantly over the other while she rested her hands on her knees.

The Huntsmen froze as they looked at the naked young woman in awe. Blinking and rubbing their eyes, many of them whispered to each other to make sure they weren't the only ones seeing the sheer impossibility of the girl sitting proudly, not once making an effort to cover herself.

The worried looks of his men made the captain and his wife turn around to see what they were all staring at. Looking first to their son, it took a moment for them to see the girl's smiling face and friendly wave.

"I am much obliged to you," she said to Fiona. "Though an effective means of neutralizing a foe, a stake in the heart is most uncomfortable, even more so when you can't die."

To further illustrate this, the girl stood from the table and stretched her back gratefully. Closing her eyes while giving a hearty sigh of bliss, she walked to Griffin's parents, both of whom were frozen in shock.

"For future reference," she continued, "You may call me Asha. I do prefer that to the other titles that are no doubt swimming in your heads about now."

"Evil cursed b***h!" a hunter screamed as he ran at her from his table.

Despite her nakedness, Asha stood firm against his charge. Crouching slightly, she dodged his attack easily. Grabbing his arm as he ran past, she circled him back around in front of her and twisted his arm painfully behind his back.

"Now, now," she chided, "What did I just say? My name is Asha. Not cursed nor b***h."

Chuckling under her breath, she twirled the young hunter out of his coat, taking a moment to appreciate the softly worn leather. Tossing it to the ground she kept a firm hold on the hunter and pulled the linen shirt over his head. Clothing herself with it, Asha took an experimental sniff at the fabric.

With an exaggerated grimace, she turned back to the hunter who was only just coming to terms with what had happened. Before he could avenge the theft, she had bent over to grab his ankles. Turning him upside down she tore his pants off and hopped inside them like a rabbit, tightening the belt that was several sizes larger than herself.

Fully clothed, Asha looked around the lodge at the hunters who were fast recovering from their shock. Slowly, almost as if she were unsure about her plan, Asha walked to the center of the room as the men circled around her, making it hard for Griffin to see her.

Contemplating something unknown to Griffin and the rest of the Huntsmen, Asha stood still in the middle of the circle with her eyes closed. Breathing deeply and calmly, she carefully opened her eyes to look at the men around her, each of them thirsting for her inhuman blood.

Moving as if forced by someone outside of her, Asha kneeled down. Griffin could then only see small glimpses of her through the openings between his father's men. Bowing deeply and pressing her head to the floor, she had made her opening move.

The circle parted, and the captain stepped down from the stage to meet her. Asha did not falter, and kept herself still as he approached her. Either of them could have destroyed the other, but both Asha and his father stayed mostly still yet somehow on edge, waiting for one to betray the other.

"What do you mean by this?" the captain finally broke the tension.

In answer Asha sat up from her bow. While still kneeling before his father, she gracefully put both arms above her head. Looking into the captain's eyes she brought her hands together in the Huntsmen's universal sign of peace and understanding.

"I mean no malice if that is what you are implying." Asha spoke plainly. "I am here now because there is a matter that concerns us all, both Taltos and Hunter alike."

Keeping to her position, Asha never let her eyes wander from the captain as he paced nervously in front of her, muttering to himself the many thoughts in his head. When Griffin caught sight of his father's face for a brief second, he noticed his eyes narrowed in confusion.

"How have you come to know our ways?" he finally asked of the girl, motioning for his men to lower their weapons.

"That is of no importance to the matter at hand." Asha answered quickly.

"I believe it is," his father contested, "And you will tell me this instant."

"Very well," Asha growled in reply, shifting her weight for a moment before settling back into place, "Let's just say a little all knowing birdie told me, one that is outside your clans."

The captain said nothing to this, but continued pacing. Making Asha's frown carve itself deeper into her face each time he passed. The men looked back and forth between the two, waiting for either to make the next move.

"Time isn't exactly on our side here." Asha impatiently told his father. "Each second wasted is another to be used against us in the end."

"Do you think," the captain began as he turned furiously to her, "That I care about your filthy kind's woes? Go ahead and kill yourselves off, it will only make our lives that much easier!"

Angrily Asha shot up from her peaceful position, and the men raised their weapons in defense. Wisely she stopped herself and took several deep breaths before making her reply.

"I understand how little you think of me and those who are like me." She began slowly. "You see us as a threat to the ignorants of the world, and that is wise in many cases."

"Blood soaked scum!" a voice screamed from the crowd.

"But I too was once an ignorant," Asha continued without responding to the voice, "What you might call human even. And there was a very wise thought I heard many men discuss in those days, which is echoed in the modern words 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'."

"Our kinds both have a common enemy," Asha stated, "And as such we should not be occupying ourselves with the destruction of each other while he is free to go about his own evils."

"Who do you mean then?" the captain demanded.

"You know who," Asha replied, "The very same demon who robbed you of your greatest warrior, Channing." The huntsmen cried out at this, and demanded her blood for a trophy.

"Therefore," Asha continued, shouting over the noise, "I ask you all. Which of us is your greater enemy, and which of us should be your ally?"

"And we should believe you," the captain asked, "Where you bear his marks proclaiming you as his property?"

"I do not deny my prior association with him," Asha admitted, "But does that not make me even more of an authority on his evil? Can't you all see only by the tint of my skin that I am not bound to the same curse as his fledglings?"

The crowd mumbled and moaned, not a single voice speaking out their agreement with her. Asha sighed in resignation as the eyes of the Captain showed and unmoved and unconvinced man. It was apparent that her only solid victory on this day was staying alive.

"You, boy," she looked to Griffin, "Among the things you took there was a black coat. Bring it to me."

Her request was accepted, and soon her coat was returned to her with its contents intact. Reaching inside as the men prepared for her to draw out a weapon, she pulled out the folder and handed it to the captain.

"There is little I can say to convince you that I haven't already said." Asha looked around a final time. "Yet what I have left to say I will say then. I hope for the sake of the world you all realize who your truest enemy is."

Before another word could be spoken, Asha had parted the crowd and had left out the door. The men looked to their captain for instruction, yet received none. As if tortured by his thoughts, Griffin's father gave a frustrated grunt and shoved the folder into his son's hands.

Watching him walk away from both his unclaimed prize and his baffled men, the boy couldn't help but wonder what had flown out of this new Pandora's Box and what it would mean for the Huntsmen's future. Finding no answer, he sighed and returned to his supper.