Chapter 36: Chapter 35

Seeing trails of smoke in the distance, Etrius knew that it was drawing near to the town. Though it knew this, it was not in a good mood. The reason for that is the rider on the horse next to it. Glancing at him, Etrius saw a man in white tights with buckled shoes. Under his black cape was his dark blue pea-coat with a golden chain entering it. On top his jet black hair was a top hat with a large blue feather sticking out. It was, of course, Keith the witch hunter. He was as smug as the rest of his ilk, for the sole reason of catching Etrius.

The two were far from enemies, though that being said, Etrius really didn't want him to follow him home. Admittedly, it was a bit late for that.

 

“Nice place…” Keith nodded, the town finally coming into view. “So, this is where you’ve been living?”

“Yes I have.” Etrius sighed.

“Winters are nice?” He asked.

“Hardly.” It said. “When it starts to snow, no one is coming in or out.”

“Good. It’ll give me time to investigate the horrid actions of they who shall not be named.” He said.

“Why are you being so dramatic about it?”

“That's kind of our thing.”

“Try not to cause too much trouble.”

“That depends on the witch.”

“Is there really a witch around here? You guys get a lot of false alarms.”

“This time I’m sure. After all, I have this.” He said, pulling out a golden pocket watch.

“And that is?” It asked.

“To make a long story short, it gives me a countdown to random things.” He said.

“It tells you some unspecified thing is about to happen?” It asked.

“Well it tells me what is going to happen.” He said. “For example, last year it told me that the good king Dustyn was going to have terrible diarrhea. I don’t know how it chooses what to tell me.”

“Sounds like quite the thing.” It said.

“Yes, well right now its telling me that a foul act of witchcraft is going to take place here.” He said.

“Can I see that?” It asked.

“Sure.” He said, handing it over.

 

Looking at it, Etrius saw that it said, “Some sort of magic will happen near the ranger who shot you in the spine with an arrow.” Yes it was written small, and yes, it was hard to read.

 

“Why doesn’t it say my name?” It asked.

“I’m not too sure.” He admitted, taking it back. “It did say King Dustyn Maisel, so maybe it has something to do with rank.”

“That’s weird.” It said.

“Yeah, kind of.” He agreed. “So, another thing. Mind if I see that daughter of yours?”

“She’s not a witch, and I will kill you.” It said.

“No, not about that.” He said. “I just want to see what someone looks like with four arms.”

“She’s not some sort of attraction to gawk at.” It said.

“Yeah, but if she has four arms, that means that she has four pecks and four boo-” He didn’t get to finish that sentence as a kukri suddenly found itself thrust into the side of his skull and into his brain.

 

Falling from his saddle, Keith was dragged along by his foot, leaving a trail of blood as they went. Etrius didn’t bother to look at him, and their horses continued as if nothing happened.

 

“I… apologize…” Keith said, already starting to recover.

“She’s not even three.” Etrius said.

“I’m curious about her biology!” He said, still being dragged along. “How do the four arms work?”

“Forgive me, but I forgot to ask her when we first met.” It said.

“Fine I get it. I won’t ask about your daughter.” He said. “Hey Lance, stop.”

 

His horse, Lance, did not stop.

 

“Lance? Lance!” Keith shouted.

 

Nearing an hour later, the two successfully entered town.

“Ahhh…” I sighed, in my darkened room.

 

Walking with my hand dragging across the wall, I listened to the noises from outside. Ever since the incident, I was kept out of sight by the "recommendation" of several servants and guards of the manor. My windows were covered in heavy curtains that I wasn’t allowed to remove. Apparently this was all to keep me safe, though given how none of the usual maids walked by my room, I couldn’t help but fall into familiar habits. Even Samantha, who is my personal maid, rarely visited me. As much as I want to believe that this was due to her condition of vampirism, I couldn’t help but fear that my appearance scared her off. Aside from the usual maids, I haven't even been able to see mom.

Reaching the door, I placed one of my secondary hands on it. I could very easily break it open and escape, but I didn’t think that it would be a good idea. I wasn’t sure when, but I knew that dad would be returning. When he did, I’ll stay with him. He’ll accept me even if everyone else didn’t. But what about mom? Surely she would have visited me. Did something happen to her? Is she okay?

Unable to help myself from feeling worse, my antennae suddenly twitched. That was the sound of the front door opening. I don’t think that it was usually opened up at this time. Did something happen? Listening carefully, I tried to figure out what was going on.

There were the familiar voices of the servants, but I couldn’t exactly tell what they were saying. Then suddenly, I heard it. “Ranger Washington.” It was dad! No longer caring about what happened, I quickly used my claws to pierce the door. Tearing away the wooden splinters, I squeezed out of the hole. My dress, well more accurately pajamas, tore but that didn’t matter. Running down the hall, I headed for the stairs, passing by several servants as I did so. More than a few of them screamed at my appearance, which was a bit disheartening.

Coming across the stairs, I saw one of those guards at the top of it. Seeing me, he tried to block my way, but in my true form I was much more nimble than he expected. Leaping onto the railing, I climbed down sideways to reach the ground floor. Running through another hall, I came into the entryway. There I saw dad standing with another man and the head maid Zen. Other than that, it was a clear shot at him.

 

“Dad!” I called out, leaping at him.

 

As always, and like I expected, dad caught me in a hug. Holding him tightly, I heard that familiar humming rhythm inside it, different from a normal heartbeat. Though I always felt that this was odd, I didn’t care much. Dad was here and that was all that mattered.

 

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“Hey sweetheart.” Dad said, patting my head.

“So, this is you kid, huh?” An unknown voice said.

“Yeah, she’s adorable, isn’t she?” Dad said.

“She certainly is energetic.” Said the other voice.

“Did you miss me?” Dad asked.

“They locked me in my room!” I complained, burying my head into his chest.

 

Admittedly I knew exactly why they locked me up but that didn’t change the fact that I didn’t even get to see mom.

 

“Well that’s not nice.” The unknown voice said.

“That certainly is problematic.” Dad said, with none of the usual warmth in his voice.

“I know right!” I said.

“Well, to be fair, you do look alarming for an unsuspecting bystander.” The unknown voice said.

“Huh?” I asked, only now taking note of the other voice.

 

Looking up, I saw his face. I wouldn’t say that he looked kind or harsh, but If I was forced to go one way or another, I would say that he was more of the former than the latter. It probably had something to do with his outfit and funny hat.

Not only that, but I realized that he didn't react at all to seeing me. For a moment, I thought that he might be like dad, but he had a heart beat, so that was unlikely. Realizing that I was staring, I couldn’t help but wonder who he was.

 

“Hi there.” He smiled at me.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“This is Keith, a witch hunter.” Dad explained.

“I’m a friend of your dad.” He said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You’re friends?” I asked dad for confirmation.

“Regrettably, yes.” Dad said.

“Best friends!” He said, grabbing dad’s shoulder.

 

I looked at him with suspicion, seeing what looked like a bit of blood on the brim of his hat. Though as I learned from dad, just act like nothing’s wrong and nothing will come of it. Just like how I wasn’t going to say anything about dad still carrying his weapons with him. Normally when he visited, he disarmed, but it looks like I got here before he did. As for his friend, he didn’t seem to be carrying anything. But the two of them seemed close, causing me to lower my guard. Anyone who was friends with dad must be a good person.

 

“You’re not scared?” I asked.

“Of who? You?” He asked. “Of course not. You look a bit different, but you’re just a kid.”

 

That’s right! Or at least mostly right. I was a fair bit older when I died in my previous life, but right now, I’m just a kid!

 

“Yep!” I said.

“She’s very energetic.” He said.

“Yes she is.” Dad said, putting me down.

“And she can jump very far.” He said.

“I can jump really high!” I said, jumping for them.

 

Though I was standing, I was able to jump really high. It was up to the point in which even my feet reached their head height. If I had a running start, or some practice I could jump even higher.

 

“Wow, you really can.” Keith said.

“That’s really impressive.” Dad said.

“I bet you can run really fast as well.” Keith said.

“I can!” I agreed.

“And climb as well.” He said.

“I can climb lots!” I said, holding up all four of my arms.

“You would make a good ranger.” He said.

“!” My eyes sparkled.

“Don’t.” Dad said quietly.

“I wanna be a ranger!” I said.

“I don’t think that's a good idea.” Dad said.

“Why not?” Keith asked. “Because she’s a girl?”

“No, she’s not even three.” Dad said.

“Do you think she belongs in the kitchen?” He asked.

“That’s not at all what I said.” Dad shook his head.

“ArE yOu BeInG sExIsT?!” He asked.

“Let’s go find your mom.” Dad said to me.

“Okay!” I agreed.

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