Chapter 138: Rumors of the Wild Hunt
By the charcoal brazier, the fishermen held bowls, sipping hot soup in small mouthfuls. The young girl scooped a spoonful of steaming fish soup with her ladle, blew on it gently, then brought it to her little sister’s lips. Gulp gulp—the younger sister swallowed the soup and took a bite of fish.
“Big sister, you eat too.”
“Mmm.”
The girl took a small bite of fish. The familiar texture and taste—it was cured sturgeon meat. In these icy seas, sturgeon was the most common catch. In this moment of hunger and cold, a bowl of hot fish soup could move one to tears.
It felt like a dream. They had ridden in that bone-drawn sleigh across endless ice plains to arrive at this mysterious place. The girl looked up at the cavern ceiling towering above them. Kerosene lamps hung from the walls, casting faint yellow light like stars in the night sky.
Demi-humans with massive rat-like heads covered in fur scurried along the sloping rock walls. Catfolk with feminine faces, furry ears, and swaying tails moved about—it all seemed unreal. In the northern regions where demi-humans were rarely seen, these fishermen had never encountered such creatures nor such an enormous cavern.
The girl worried—where would fate take her and her sister? How would these demi-humans arrange their lives? Except for the youngest children, everyone fretted about their future.
After they finished their soup, the dragonkin with scaled cheeks and golden vertical pupils appeared before them again. “Come with me. I’ve prepared rooms and warm clothing for you.”
“Honored One…” The girl raised her hand hesitantly.
“Do you have additional requests?” the dragonkin asked.
Those sharp vertical pupils made the girl hesitant to meet its gaze, but glancing at her clinging sister, she mustered her courage. “Honored One… what will become of us?” She voiced the question weighing on everyone’s mind.
The dragonkin didn’t answer immediately, scanning the fishermen’s faces impassively. After a brief silence, it spoke. “You should all have died in that other land.” Its voice was low. “You were saved not because of your worth, but because you were fortunate enough to encounter that lord.”
“Since fortune brought you here, you needn’t fear dying without reason. Killing you would be simple, but serves no purpose. If you wish to know your future, here are the arrangements: go rest in your assigned rooms. After you’ve slept and recovered, I’ll assess each of your skills individually.”
“As you can see, we’re building a cliffside port here. Many tasks need doing—after resting, you’ll be assigned accordingly. Beyond basic provisions, from now on you’ll earn your food and necessities through labor. Understood?”
Hearing this, the girl exhaled in relief. So this was a port under construction—that explained all the stacked stone and timber. “Thank you for explaining, Honored One.” She bowed deeply as one would to a feudal lord.
“Any other questions?” the dragonkin asked.
A boy raised his hand. “That lord who brought us here… who is he?”
“That’s not for you to know,” the dragonkin said sternly. “Just remember—you were saved solely by the good fortune of meeting him. Carry gratitude in your hearts—that’s enough. Seek no further knowledge, and never speak of him again.”
“Yes,” the boy nodded.
The girl and her sister followed the group as the dragonkin led them deeper into the cavern. Men and women were separated, with woolen fabric spread on the floor serving as bedding. Exhaustion weighed heavily on their limbs as sleepiness washed over them like tides.
Holding her sister close beneath woolen blankets, the girl drifted into darkness. The skeletal figure’s back appeared in her mind’s eye—during their days crossing the ice plains, that silhouette had always sat at the sleigh’s front, holding the bone-deer’s reins. Day and night, that solitary figure remained steadfast.
Thinking of that back, the girl felt reassured. “Father, I’ll take good care of Vaisha.”
Far away in Leith, a terrifying rumor spread among the coastal Icelandic troops—the Wild Hunt had come hunting on sleds. One Icelandic knight claimed to have encountered those dreadful undead; all his companions perished, their souls taken by the Hunt. Only his bravery and cunning allowed escape.
Afterwards, soldiers revisited the village. The massive holes in the corpses and icy pillars standing in snow confirmed the knight’s tale. The missing villagers were deemed prey of the Wild Hunt—taken by undead, vanished forever.
The surviving knight warned: “If you hear hoofbeats, don’t hesitate—cast off your armor and run with all your might. Then you’ll only die slightly slower than others. Only if you’re as valiant as I—and your horse as brave as my Zot—might you escape the Hunt’s pursuit.”
Hailed as a warrior worth a thousand men, the knight was promoted to centurion. The Icelanders avoided that land afterwards, especially at dusk. Yet their pillaging continued—plundering small nations’ wealth, enslaving their people for labor and cannon fodder.
Wade knew nothing of the escaped knight’s fate. After delivering the fishermen to port, he returned to the wasteland. The darkness had lifted, revealing a crescent blood moon glowing brighter red than before—or was that his imagination? Each cycle seemed to deepen its hue. Already blood-red, if it darkened further… might it one day turn blackish-red? What would happen then?
Wade didn’t know. But when moonlight appeared, the wasteland’s oppressive sounds ceased. Wind-blown sand rose, restoring the landscape to when he first awoke here. Having nearly completed a full blood moon cycle, he knew the calmest period came before the moon waxed full.
He decided to excavate the nameless ruins. What lay buried beneath those building-like stones? Perhaps clues about the wasteland’s secrets. Returning with his forces, they established a second outpost near the ruins. Using wooden shovels and hoes crafted over the past month, they began digging.
After the fishing village incident, Wade’s forces had grown for the first time—now numbering sixty. Yet if possible, he’d rather those events had never occurred.