Chapter Text
With each step, the soft creaking of the dry leaves alerted both the beast and the huntress. With a steady and vaguely wobbly pace, the repulsive creature walked through the forest. It should have been a deer, but it seemed something deeply different. Its horns were twisted; Its eyes were elongated, colored with a pitch black.
Panting, the beast showed its mouth, by doing so, it showed its sharp teeth too. Jaws like that resembled more those of a monster than those of a common deer. To make the sight even more disturbing, there was the slow trickling of the drops of blood that filled the mouth of the beast. What was once a timid yet majestic animal, was now an eldritch predator, corrupted to its core.
Amelia Watson ran a hand through her blonde hair, making sure it didn't disturb her vision. Then, she unsheathed a large knife from her belt. An emergency weapon, since her real hunting companion was already held in her left hand. She crouched, now that she had reached the perfect distance from the monstrous deer. Quickly, but at the same time careful not to make any sudden noise, she charged her crossbow with a tranquilizer dart, one of her many inventions, permitted by her basic knowledge of alchemy.
She placed the knife on the ground near her feet and wielded the crossbow with both hands. With all the time she spent living near that forest, she felt like it was part of her home and of her whole being. She couldn't bear the sight of those twisted and corrupt beasts. She raised the weapon, holding it close to herself, and with her bright blue eyes, she took aim. Then, she pulled the trigger
With a clatter, the string was released and the bolt flew at great speed, planting itself in the beast's neck. Unfortunately, however, as Amelia had been able to learn, things rarely go as one would like. The tranquilizer dart’s slim head pierced the animal's skin but failed to penetrate deeply. It was at that moment that the blond-haired girl was able to notice how the deer’s hair had changed and mutated. It looked as if it had stiffened to the point where it barely made visible cracks that showed bare red flesh. It was practically armor at that point, and just like against an armored warrior, the only choice was to strike in those joints, or perhaps, hitting the head.
I'm afraid I won't be able to catch you alive, Amelia thought as the beast let out creepy screeches. Amelia was about to reload her crossbow with a second tranquilizer dart, but the deer suddenly stopped lamenting and turned to face her. It opened its mouth, panting heavily, looking forward to her prey. From its unnatural jaws were still present the blood and the shreds of flesh of a hare that the huntress had found not much distant from that area of the woods.
The deer lowered its head, charging at high speed towards Amelia. The huntress dropped the crossbow to the ground and sprinted off taking the knife in the meantime. The beast, in its ferocious assault, did not even brake. It crashed into a young tree, knocking it over and breaking it. They're getting stronger, Amelia thought while a frightened expression painted her face considering how her back could have ended the same way as that tree.
The monstrous deer turned again, vaguely stunned by the impact, and resumed charging. This time, Amelia moved towards it with a sure-footed step, sliding sideways to avoid its horns, but at the same time taking advantage of the momentum to slice the beast on its side. The tough, leathery skin was all too difficult to cut deeply. The wounds she caused to the beast were only superficial, although it was not little the blood that gushed from them.
Amelia stood up again and fixed her eyes on the monstrous animal. It seemed to have completely ignored the gash it had on its side. The keen mind of the huntress began to think. I'll never be able to catch it alive if this continues, she thought. At this point I really think I have to kill it. With another attempt at an assault by the monstrous deer, Amelia slipped sideways, narrowly avoiding its pointed horns. With another slash, her dagger rived the other side of the beast, still too tough to reach the vitals.
Amelia and the deer continued the bloody waltz for a few minutes without either of them showing the slightest sign of wanting to give up. After yet another dodge by the blonde-haired girl, she found herself right where she wanted. With one swift movement she picked up her crossbow from the ground and with just as swiftness and effort, she pulled the string and nocked a heavier, larger bolt.
The deer resumed running wildly. Amelia dropped her knife and lunged to the side. With a somersault, she dodged the deer attack again. Immediately after, as the beast stopped its charge, Amelia took aim and pulled the trigger. The heavy dart lodged itself in the beast's head. The sound of the skull cracking and bending under the impact echoed through the forest. Then, the beast fell and silence returned.
Amelia first retrieved her knife from the ground and checked the superficial wounds she herself had suffered in that fight. After a few seconds she began to walk towards the deer’s body. She crouched beside it, stroking the bloodstained hide. It’s no longer breathing, she stated in her mind, feeling a sense of relief and guilt at the same time. She loved that forest and those animals so much. Corrupt monsters or not, she felt dirty inside every time she took a life.
Hidden in the bushes not so distant from that area, was her large backpack, full of sundries. From inside it, she pulled a thick rope and tied it to the twisted antlers of the deer. Amelia sheathed her weapons, loaded the backpack onto her shoulders, and firmly grabbed the other end of the rope. She slowly began to walk, dragging the carcass behind her, leaving a trail of dark red blood.
…
After about twenty minutes, Amelia Watson was out of the forest, greeted by the placid sound of the waves. The day was drawing to a close, and the sun was slowly beginning to disappear in the horizon, coloring the sky with reddish hues. Amelia took a deep breath of fresh air in an attempt to shake off all the tension that pressured her heart.
Her blue eyes went, like every day, to check the rocks that protruded from the sea. They searched and searched, not completely knowing what they were looking for. Or maybe they knew perfectly well, but they insisted since it took little to see that what they were searching for was not there. The siren, or so Amelia called her. A white-haired girl, whom Amelia saw years before resting on one of those rocks, singing with the sweetest voice she had ever heard. A memory that had never abandoned her and that, perhaps, was one of the reasons why Amelia was able to carry on, day after day.
"You're not there today too, uh?" she said in a thin voice. Amelia sat down on a stone, stretching her limbs as she admired the sea. "Who knows if you're okay? Who knows..." she turned to the monstrous deer and felt a sharp shiver run down her spine. She moved her blue eyes to observe the forest behind her. She remembered when that place was verdant and full of life. She remembered very well when she walked the paths in search of herbs and mushrooms, admiring the animals, and their behavior from afar. Now, what she was observing was a dark, decaying forest. The leaves turned dark green, almost rotten. Some beasts had changed, corrupted and twisted, and ended up destroying the balance that prevailed in the woods. Amelia sighed deeply. Siren, sea, home, forest. None of those things held the first place in her mind. Her main thought was always and only that. The Rift.
The blond-haired girl moved her eyes up to the warm sunset sky. Even those once vivid colors were now duller. Above, at an incomprehensible distance, there was the rift. A crack in the sky, like broken glass. It was difficult to understand what could be glimpsed beyond. It was distorted, purplish, dark, red, white and then purplish again. A shifting void that throbbed with a gruesome energy.
Almost four years ago, Amelia saw the rift for the first time. It was an afternoon like that one, which she was spending looking at the sea in search of the mysterious siren. Suddenly, she was hit by an icy air and she saw the sky break, creaking with a high pitched and deafening noise. Since that day, everything had gotten more twisted and unnatural. It was as if life itself was being slowly sucked away from nature, forcing it to show the most monstrous side of itself.
However, those, after all, were only theories. For this reason, Amelia continued to study alchemy and magic. If only I can understand what happened, she repeated in her mind. If only I can find a solution. With those thoughts weighing down her heart, the blond-haired girl got up, grabbed the end of the rope and started walking again following the path that skirted the forest and the overhang under which there was the white beach.
She walked for about a quarter of an hour, trying as hard as she could to drag the carcass with her. It was a curious and noteworthy detail, that despite the strength and ferocity of the deer, its body seemed very light. Whatever the corruption from the rift had caused, surely that beast had become something abominable. With the knife resting in its leather sheath, the crossbow hanging from her belt and the ticking of the sundries inside her big backpack, Amelia reached the wooden hut she called her home.
…
The door creaked open. Immediately, Amelia was hit by the pungent smell that lingered in her house. Books scattered everywhere, crumpled papers, and various garbage. She left the carcass outside and took care to open the windows so that the air could circulate. With her continued focus on the rift and its mysteries, it was not uncommon for her to lose sight of the little things. After all, she had been living alone in that house for years and years now. Her parents disappeared when she was a child. Amelia was orphaned without understanding why. Maybe, she was attached to that messy hut for that very reason. It was one of the few ties she had with her parents.
The huntress, after tidying up the chaos in her house and putting down the objects that weighed on her, went out again and dragged the carcass of the deer to the back of the shed. There, a room not accessible from anywhere else, had been converted into a study. Jars were filled with strange bloody filth, books and tools were scattered everywhere, and the twisted body of a boar had been analyzed on a work bench. It looked like a horror laboratory, but Amelia knew in her heart that, as gruesome as it seemed, that research was aimed at saving the forest and its animals.
However, this was something that the villagers of the town where she grew up as an orphan, the coastal town of Havenport, couldn't understand. Havenport was an important trading hub for the kingdom of Revoc and neighboring kingdoms, often filled with visitors from distant lands. Aspiring traders, magic scholars or simple immigrants. Despite the variety and open-mindedness of the people of Havenport, Amelia was often regarded as the odd girl living in the woods. Some kind of witch, a deviant person who cared only about the forest, and that even ended up doing cruel experiments on its animals. Unfortunately, however, Amelia was not the problem and, perhaps, neither were the inhabitants of the port town. With the advent of the Rift, and consequently, the corruption it caused, people became suspicious. A veil of cynicism and fear had settled over the entire kingdom.
Since the Rift, Amelia rarely went to Havenport to stock up on supplies, and each time she heard the sharp gazes of the people as well as the thud of windows being slammed and doors being locked. Paradoxically, the crack in the sky had corrupted their souls too, in one way or another. From kind, open-minded and welcoming people, they turned into men and women jealous of their every possessions, wary and judgmental.
Amelia placed the carcass of the monstrous deer on the work bench, pushing aside what was already there. The heavy thud was accompanied by a creak of bones. She touched the body of the beast on its chest first gently, and then more strongly, and felt the ribs bend under her hand with the slightest pressure. Light, she thought again. Too light and frail. Amelia took out a notebook where she jotted down each discovery and scribbled some notes. "It is possible that the mutation of the animals caused by the Rift makes them incredibly fragile after death. I need to look for further evidence to support this theory." she mumbled the words she was writing.
Amelia was now used to the smell of blood and rot. Each day, her experiments led her to discover something new about the mutation of animals. Every night, Amelia spent hours upon hours studying alchemy and magic books to try to find something that would explain all those transformations. Her life had become that. A continued attempt to reach a solution, accompanied by the vague and confused memory of her parents and of the soft voice of the white-haired siren.
I wonder... I wonder if I'll ever find a solution, Amelia thought while looking at the deer’s body. Maybe... Maybe I'm only seeing things from one angle. Maybe I should try to figure out if things are different in other places of the kingdom... Maybe I should try to join a research group. Surely, the king will have made such a thing, right? Amelia sighed, stepping out of the wooden hut and wiping the blood from her hands with a rag. She brought her gaze first to the crack in the sky, pulsing with an incomprehensible energy. Amelia deeply hated the fact that she couldn't understand it.
Then, she moved her blue eyes towards the sea in front of her. The gentle waves went to caress the white beach. Not far away, she could see the town of Havenport. It had been quite some time since she had seen a ship docking there, which is why she was taken aback when she saw that there seemed to be movement in the port. "If you were expecting a warm welcome, I'm afraid you will be disappointed" she said to herself, commenting on the scene.
Amelia began to feel the tiredness stroking her. Drowsiness began to creep into her as she found herself yawning multiple times while admiring the horizon. Suddenly, however, something hit her. There was something odd on the pale sand. The blonde-haired girl shook off her sleep and sprinted to the beach. It wasn't a something, it was a someone. A fish? a person? No. Neither of those. Or maybe both? Amelia reached the figure of a girl on the ground, and it took her a few seconds to realize that she was simply passed out. She had white hair with some blue at the tips. She wore what now looked like rags, probably destroyed before reaching the shore. From under the rags, a blue tail poked out. Whether it was one of shark or a whale, Amelia couldn't tell, but one thing was certain in her mind. "It's her. It's the siren."