The air was still, cold wind nipped Ryder through his bear skin winter coat, he trudged through the freshly fallen snow that fell the night before, on the ground there were small tracks. Ryder was decently slender by nature, even moreso with the long winter, he was about 5'9 and had hair similar to autumn leaves.
"It better be a plump rabbit" He thought to himself as he scrached the small beard growing on his face, eyeing the tree line, the tracks kept winding through the trees. "Probably looking for food, same as me... Too bad I'm hungrier" Ryder says to himself.
He moved slower as he came across a small stream, slicing its way through the winter kissed forest "Spring is just around the corner, Ryder... Just around the corner" He thought to himself as he finally saw it.
The rabbit had been eating better than him it seemed, he drew the bow from his back and grasped one of the few arrows in the quiver on his hip and aimed at the chunky, white, red eyed bunny eating some of the grass that it had buried out from under the fresh powder.
He drew the arrow back till it touched his cheek, he breathed in deep *Bump, bump, Bump bump*
*BWaaaaaahp....* He flinched and the arrow whistled off in the direction of the rabbit, three inches off, it ricocheted off a rock in the stream, snapping in half. He barely got out the "Fuck!" As the rabbit took off into the undergrowth.
Little under an hour later an empty handed Ryder followed his tracks back to his home in a rage, a wooden cabin on the edge of a town, he walked on further, into the town to find the origin of the horn that fucked up his hunt.
Forlorn, a remote town that is just barely on the map, around two days ride from the nearest city, less than forty people actually lived in the town, there was a blacksmith, small town hall which also acted as a church and a tavern, apart from that, just a handful of houses next to one another which lined a snow covered "Main street" and infront of the tavern were several fine horses.
He clenched his frozen fist and made a B line for the tavern door, he glanced at the horses as he neared the door. "These horses look better than most of the townspeople, probably eat better too. Bastards."
He practically kicked the door open and was greeted to some welcoming heat, eyes turned to him but not all. They were mostly focused on the several men covered head to toe in armour, six of them feasting and drinking to their hearts content. Ryder analysed each one of them, eating like pigs, until his eyes fell apon the seventh man, specifically, his silver horn dangling on his belt. He was speaking to the town blacksmith.
Ryder strode over to the man in armour, just as he was going to touch him a heavy hand grabbed his shoulder
"Oi! What do you think you're doing!" One of the others had seen him and grabbed him
Ryder tried to shake him off but his grip was troll like "I'm gonna talk to the man who owes me a rabbit" Ryder spat at the man who towered over him, unafraid.
"How dare you!" the guard shouted and raised his other arm to strike him.
"Whoa there brother, Falk!" The man turned, Ryder could see his reflection in the shiny armour, this stayed his hand mid air and the grip on him loosened. He turned to the man giving the orders. "What appears to be the problem?" The man was also a couple of inches taller than Ryder and sported a well kept white beard connecting to his balding head. Ryder turned to look at the man who had him, Falk, before turning back to the man before him.
"You scared off my prey when you blew that horn, probably scared off everything from here to the city, you owe me a rabbit." Ryder spoke confidently, not one to mix words, his mother had taught him that.
Ryder was met with something he was not expecting, the man had started to laugh, right at him, if it weren't for the six men behind him he'd have swung at his head. "I like this lad! Bar Keep, feed and water the man." He swung his hand towards the bar, behind it, was her.
She had moved to Forlorn over six months ago, Lila, her hair was as dark as a winters night and eyes the colour of purest amber, her body was that of a goddess, he saw her naked form by a nearby lake some months ago, unintentionally of course, he was sure he hadn't seen her but he took in every detail he could, on her back was a huge back spanning tattoo that spiraled down her arms and legs, she was his dream woman, but something about her sapped him of every bit of confidence and left him a mumbling mess. She gave the man in armour a look before begrudgingly grabbing a bowl, some bread and proceeded to fill the bowl with stew from a pot.
Ryders gaze lingered on Lila for what seemed like forever until a slap on his back brought him back to the present.
"I am brother Maxos, I humbly apologise for denying you a meal, I was merely warning your town of our arrival, what's your name, son?"
Ryder glanced at him, before looking down at the stew and bread placed infront of him, he hadn't had a proper meal in days. "Ryder." He spoke before starting to eat.
"A hunter? You'd need to be in these parts, hmm? We are hunters too, although, I doubt you could hunt our game though. Me and my men are of the order of Saint Alban." This peaked Ryders interest, slightly, the warm food in his belly being a nice incentive to listen.
"Say, if you're a hunter, you must be a fine tracker, right?" Maxos said, Ryder simply gave a small nod in his direction.
Maxos leaned in, closer to Ryder. "What do you know of Demons, Ryder?" Ryder shrugged, only from the stories his mother told him when he was a boy, but he knew they walked the land, somewhere. "Our mystics have confirmed that there is a demon within this village, a powerful one, and with tonights blood moon, it'll revert to its demonic form instead of its human form which the coward is probably hiding in right now... Unable to change back until dawn" Maxos' spoke as scanned the patrons of the tavern.
"What's in it for me?" Ryder spoke, finishing his stew, ready to leave the conversation. "What do you want?" Maxos said as Ryder scoffed and turned to the door.
"How about, my body weight in gold coins, a hundred arrows, a horse and a blowjob?" Ryder said taking a single step, stopping when he heard the word
"Done" from Maxos.
"You're joking, right?" Ryder turned on his heel, staring right at Maxos. "No, if you're a good tracker you can have all of that which you asked, the last request will be done by a lady of the night however." He said with a slight chuckle "The mystics showed me where we should start tracking, meet us at the end of the road this evening if you're interested."
Ryder was dumbstruck as he left the tavern, his belly partly full, and the possibility of coin in his pocket, he felt like he was dreaming. He went home to his cabin, it was warm, the logs in the fire still smouldering from the previous night, there was a large bed, his mothers, in the main room and up a ladder to the loft was his old bed.
Ryder had lived his whole life in this cabin, his mother was a huntress who built the cabin herself after falling pregnant with Ryder, she taught him everything about survival, from hunting to shelter building. A fever took her from him during his seventeenth winter, he did everything he could but she was too far gone.
He sat on his mothers old bed and let out a sigh, wondering if this is where his life improves. He quickly decided if he was to help track demon, he'd need more arrows and a sword, he glanced up at the fireplace, his mothers old sword.
The hours passed swiftly and just as the sun set, he had made a few more arrows with the little materials he could find at home and dusted off and sharpened his mothers blade. He made his way to where Maxos had told him to meet.
Before long, he was following several men into the woods, at night, to hunt a demon. They walked a good while before Maxos stopped "Right men, the mystic said we'll find the trail here, spread out and get moving." It was indeed a blood moon this night as the snow below was shadowed in an eerily red veil of moon light, perfect for tracking. Ryder searched for a short time until Ryder finally found it, holes in the snow, melted down to the grass beneath. "Over here, I've got something!" They rushed over to Ryder "They're going that way... Whatever made these is big by the looks of it..." He pointed south west, the indents in the snow were about 3 times as big as his boots.
"Eyes up brothers! It could be watching us!..." They pressed on with Ryder now taking the lead, it was only a matter of time until Ryder finally noticed something "Wait... It's doubling back... Fuck, they go in a circle!..." There's a loud clang at the back of the group, everyone turns their head, only to find the shield and spear of one of the men, laying in the snow.
"Brother Tiberias!? Where did he go!?" One of the other men shouted.
Ryder spun around frantically, drawing his bow and nocking an arrow.
"Spread out! Find him!" Maxos yelled
