Chapter 40: Chapter 39

With Abby at its side, Etrius had its weapons with it as they walked down a forest path. Abby was a ball of energy. Each time she saw a suitable tree, she climbed it without hesitation. More than once Etrius had to stop and wait for her to be satisfied. Children were like that sometimes, and it was a parent’s job to let them enjoy themselves. Within reason of course. Etrius would never let Abby do anything too dangerous, even if she gave it those pleading puppy eyes. That was also the job of a parent. Knowing when to say no.

For the moment however, Abby was walking obediently at its side, looking at every tree, leaf, and patch of moss they came across. Seeing her happy made Etrius proud, or at least that is what it should feel in its role as her parent. Like in many things, Etrius felt nothing nor did it have a need to feel anything. All that needed to be done was the job assigned to it. Perhaps because of that, Etrius spotted a familiar figure surrounded by bear traps.

 

“Ah, Washington!” Keith called out.

“Ah!” Abby pointed. “Dad, look!”

“Just ignore him.” Etrius said.

“I can use a bit of help!” Keith said.

“Dad, let's help him!” Abby said.

 

Sighing, Etrius looked at Abby who seemed to be enjoying herself. Instead of looking like she needed to save him, she looked as if they were playing a game. Looking at Keith, Etrius saw that he was about to step in a bear trap just for the hell of it. Deciding that that sort of sight wouldn’t be good for Abby’s development, Etrius decided to help.

 

“Alright, let’s go see what he needs.” Etrius said.

“Okay!” She said.

 

With Abby following close behind, Etrius walked over to Keith, who stopped trying to step in one of the many bear traps. Stopping before them, Etrius and Abby were surprised by the many bear traps in a single area. There were at least twelve of them, one of which seems to have already been sprung with what looked to be blood on it. Choosing to ignore that, Abby looked at the remaining traps.

 

“How did you manage this?” Etrius asked.

“It just sort of happened.” Keith shrugged.

“These sorts of things don’t just happen.” Etrius explained. “Did you cast some sort of spell? Did you summon these?”

“I don’t know how it happened.” He said. “One moment I was just standing here and the next there was a bunch of bear traps!”

“And I’m just sposto believe that?” It asked.

 

As they were talking, there was a mechanical click.

 

“Dad, look!” Abby said.

 

Looking where she was pointing, they saw another bear trap that wasn’t there before, although this one wasn’t as rusted.

 

“See.” Keith said. “It just happened.”

“Okay…” Etrius sighed.

 

Not bothering to question it, Etrius picked up a fallen branch and triggered the bear trap, snapping the end off.

 

“AH!’ An unknown voice cried out.

 

The air shimmered and from it, a man appeared with his hand in the bear trap. Just from a single look at him, it was obvious to see that he wasn’t from this world. Aside from the fact that he wore an old Cascadian army uniform, he carried a plasma rifle, which by the way was illegal.

 

“Ah! Fucking whore!” The man cursed.

 

The man, seemingly, didn’t notice them. Instead he worked to free himself from the grips of his own trap. As he did so, Etrius, Abby, and Keith watched him. Eventually, the man freed his mangled hand.

 

“Just my luck…” The man muttered.

 

Raising the branch, Etrius hit him on the head.

 

“Gah!?” The man collapsed, down for the count.

 

Not at all bothering with him, Etrius grabbed the plasma launcher and claimed it as it’s own.

 

“Who is that?” Keith asked.

“Don’t care.” Etrius said inspecting the gun.

“If I were to take a wild guess, I would say that there is a dimensional rift forming here.” Keith said.

“Dad, what is that?” Abby asked, pointing at the plasma launcher.

“Mine now.” Etrius said. “Do you think you can like, fix his hand?”

“Yeah, sure.” He said, doing just that.

 

With a few words that seemed impossible to pronounce with a human mouth, a faint golden light shone on the man’s bleeding hand. Though the already spilled blood remained, the wound disappeared, with flesh and bone being mended. Seeing this, Abby’s eyes opened wide and she began poking him with her own stick.

 

“So, what do we do with him?” Keith asked.

“Can you send him back to his own dimension?” Etrius asked.

“I must wait forty seconds to cast another spell.” Keith said.

“You witch hunters have weird spells.” It said.

“Yeah, we really do.” He agreed. “What is that thing anyways?”

“It reminds me of those magic rifles that the king has in his vault.” It said.

“So is it a magic rifle, or a percussion one?” He asked.

“I’m not sure.” It lied.

“Does it work?” He asked.

You are reading story The Ranger: Curse of the Wise at novel35.com

“I don’t know.” It said.

 

Readying the rifle as one does, Etrius turned on the safety and pulled the trigger. Instead of firing however, nothing happened as the safety was activated. Knowing that this would happen, Etrius converted it into black sand and it fell into the floor, sinking into the dirt and once hidden from view, absorbed into Etrius’ form.

 

“Oh.” Keith said disappointed.

“Must have been a safety feature.” Etrius lied. “To keep it from being stolen I guess.”

“I suppose so.” Keith nodded.

“Ahhh…” The man said.

“Dad, he’s waking up.” Abby said, still poking him.

 

As he lifted up his head, Etrius once more struck the man, knocking him out again. With his face firmly in the dirt, Etrius turned to Keith.

 

“Can you send him back?” Etrius asked.

“I mean, he’ll probably go back.” He said.
“I hope he goes back.” It said.

“Alright, stand back kid.” He said.

“Okay.” Abby said, returning to Etrius’ side.

 

Holding out his hand, Keith once more said strange words and this time nothing happened.

 

“Did it work?” Abby asked, peeking out from behind Etrius.

 

And just then, the man disappeared with a pop as air suddenly rushed to fill in the space he occupied.

 

“Looks like it.” Etrius said. “Did it?”

“Hey, one way or another he isn’t our problem anymore.” Keith shrugged. “Now, can you help with this?”

 

Pointing at the bear traps, which still surrounded him. Obliging, Etrius started to activate them with what remained of the bludgeoning branch. Abby helped by throwing rocks at them, but wasn’t much successful as the only rocks she found were too small to trigger them. Eventually, Keith was freed with no injury. With that done, Etrius began collecting the bear traps as the man who was placing them was doing so illegally in the king's forest and they were very valuable. Keith also knew this and collected some for himself. Seeing the adults collect them, Abby picked up three of them and placed them in a bag that Keith held open.

 

“So, where to next?” Keith asked.

“More like, what are you doing here?” Etrius asked.

“You know, the whole ‘weird magic happening around you’ thing.” He said.

“Was that not it?” It asked.

“Um…” He checked his pocket watch. “Nope.”

“Oh fun.” It sighed. “Come on Abby, let’s keep going.”

“Okay.” She said. “Where are we going?”

“The stream should be fine.” It said. “Once we get there, we can have lunch if you’re hungry.”

“Okay!” She said.

 

Running ahead, she suddenly stopped and looked at a fun looking bug, thinking nothing of the dimensional rift. Etrius was glad for it, but it was also worried for her. If she treated each possible dangerous situation like that, she was bound to run into trouble.

 

“She’s a good kid.” Keith said.

“You don’t need to tell me twice.” Etrius agreed.

“That aside, what do you suspect should be done about the dimensional rift?” He asked.

“If there's one, there's bound to be another.” It said.

“Is that old wisdom?” He asked.

“No, something similar happened when I found Abby.” It said.

“You were surrounded by bear traps?”

“No it was just some dimensional rifts over a few days.”

“That sounds annoying.”

“Luckily nothing came through them and they disappeared after a while.”
“That's good. You think that guy came from the same place she did?”

“Who knows.” 

“Dad! Dad, look!” Abby called out, pointing past some bushes.

 

Moving to her side, Etrius and Keith saw something unexpected. Laying on the floor was a strange sight. In a small clearing was a series of overlapping rings of teeth, some of which were human. Counting them, there were five of them and with closer inspection, it was discovered that not all of the rings were made of teeth, but few were made of other bone fragments that couldn’t be identified.

Not only that, but the bones weren’t on the forest floor, they were on some creature's skin, which looked fresh. Blood still seemed to flow from it, though it followed the rings of bones. According to Etrius’ experience, this was an unnatural occurrence.

 

“Well that's something.” Etrius said.

“It’s not magical.” Keith said.

“Dad, its moving.” Abby pointed out.

 

Gently pulling Abby behind itself, Etrius put its hand on its kukri as Keith pulled out his own knife. The rings and skin bubbled, turning black like tar. Steam rose and with it, a horrible musk like that of many wet animals. Unsure if the fumes were toxic, Etrius stepped back. As it did so, a boney clawed hand reached up from the tar. Using the circle of bone and teeth to support itself, it firmly grabbed on. Soon after, another hand did the same.

With a great effort the “creature”, which it could only be described as, pulled itself into this world. First it was a single antler, and then another, and two more. Attached to them was a stag skull, bleached white with deep scratches and gouges in it. When compared to deer, it was the same shape, only three times as big. Making no sound, the creature rose. First dog, then human, and then bear sized. It’s barrel-like chest was covered in a thick hide and it’s muscles were well defined. If it were to fight a bear, Etrius was convinced that it could easily win. It’s legs were as thick as logs and bent like frogs, giving it a crude, hunched over appearance. Seeing this, Etrius felt rather under equipped.

 

“Do you uh…” Keith said. “Do you think it’s friendly?”

 

At that, the creature struck out, hitting Keith with its massive hands sending him flying into a nearby tree. Shattering both it and his spine.

You can find story with these keywords: The Ranger: Curse of the Wise, Read The Ranger: Curse of the Wise, The Ranger: Curse of the Wise novel, The Ranger: Curse of the Wise book, The Ranger: Curse of the Wise story, The Ranger: Curse of the Wise full, The Ranger: Curse of the Wise Latest Chapter