Hunters - Prologue Rewritten

The Hunters of Amzen

    Many legends and rumors can be heard if one finds one of  the story-loving tribes of the mountains that separate East and Mid (sometimes called West) Amrac, with one of the most prominent tales being of a small village that bordered Kliffe, the only village to be established by the tribesmen.
    The people who lived there were a hard people, fighting the tough mountains to survive, yet they were also kind, offering the best hospitality to weary travelers. The village grew prosperous as people began to traverse between East and West, so much so that the people began to grow soft.
    Shortly after, people no longer heard news from it, the trading caravans stopped coming from it. Travelers even stopped coming from the East! Eventually, the silence grew to the point where soldiers were sent to discover the reason for the town's isolation, fearing that something horrid befell both the town and the travelers.
    What they discovered was a scene from a nightmare.
    The buildings were no more than charred ruins, the flames still running abound. Dried and fresh  blood covered the streets, the townsfolk slaughtered by the hundreds, all lying in the street with horrible mutilations, all done with a blade.
    Not a single civilian survived that tragic night, except for a small boy, five years of age, with the shaggy dark hair of an Easterner, knocked unconscious in the town square, leaning with his back against the statue of the founder. The boy was covered in blood, and wielded an equally drenched dagger. It is said that one soldier tried to pry the dagger from the young lad's hand, but instead had it plunged into his arm.
    The soldiers took the boy back with them to their country, and brought him before their ruler. No one truly knows what happened to the boy after that.
It is rumored, however, that the ruler took a liking to the lad, and had him undergo severe militaristic training. You had better hope that this was not true, for then he would be a killing machine, a true monster.
    Be sure to take care when wandering the mountains at night.

                                                             * * *

    The morning mist was settling down gently in the forest of Amzen, the new day sun illuminating it in an appealing way. The night dew remained on the plants, which added to the mist, made the entire image seem a pretty painted picture.
    Not a sound was made in this idealistic scene, not one except for the panicked sprint of Kinen Stratsen, who was desperately trying to gain ground, holding a tome of parchment to his chest as if it was the only reason he was alive, and throwing furtive glances back over his shoulder.
    Kinen was a renowned thief in the area, hired by the country bordering Amzen, Kliffe, to steal the military strategies of Amzen. The two were known to have had many disputes, dating back to their founding in the waning years of the Evil Age some five hundred years past.
    The animosity began when the two nations began disputing over the new territorial lines that were to be drawn; they each wanted a share in the bounties of the other. The mainly forested nation of Amzen wanted mines in the mountains, while the mountainous Kliffe needed some forested terrain for lumber. Eventually, a compromise was made, with Amzen allotting some forested terrain to Kliffe in exchange for a prosperous iron mine. Thus began an era of peace.
    Eventually, a series of misunderstandings caused the two nations to go at each others throats again, causing a devastating war that, if left unchecked, would have doubtlessly driven the two to extinction. At this point, the benevolent giant nation to the north, Ephasy, mediated between the two, and peace returned.
    This was short lived, as Kliffe then launched a surprise militaristic campaign against their wooded foes that resulted in the burning of the latter's capital to the ground. To the present day, Amzen was without a capital. From then on, it was an on and off battle between the two nations, with neither country coming out on top.
    By this time, Kinen was panting heavily; he had run throughout most of the night. 'It will soon end,' he thought, as he desperately raced to his hidden campsite, where awaited his loyal mount, 'I will never take a side in this bloody war ever again; I barely made it out of Flan alive.' Flan was the closest city to a capital that Amzen possessed, and as such, was where most items of interest were located.
    It was not long before Kinen saw the camp. With a sense of relief, he picked up his pace in anticipation. However, something felt wrong. The thought came to Kinen suddenly as he saw the smoke, 'I didn't have a fire!'
    This realization startled him, but quickly regaining his wits, Kinen slowed to a walk to regain his breath and composure. He approached the site silently, and sure enough, there was a slim man in a coat sitting by the fire. A quick survey noted that all of Kinen's possessions, including the horse, remained untouched.
    Adopting an arrogant stride, Kinen boldly strode into the campsite and cleared his throat. This made the man jump, and turn to face Kinen. But it wasn't a man; it was a woman, and a pretty one at that.
    "A-ah, sorry," she stammered, "I-is this your campsite? I-I didn't touch anything, i-it's just that this looked like a good place to rest and-" Kinen let her ramble on for awhile before finally deciding to interrupt her.
     "It's alright, lass," he said, in a calming tone, "just so long as you didn't disturb anything." This seemed to calm the woman, who put on a relieved smile. With that, Kinen turned his back and went to his horse. "You can use this campsite as much as you want; I'm leaving right now, and I'm not likely to come back."
    "Oh," the woman said, her tone becoming deadly serious, "does that have anything to do with the book you're holding?" This caught Kinen off guard; he thought he had hidden the book from sight.
     Realizing that he may seem suspicious if he became defensive, Kinen adopted a placating tone in an attempt to avoid any 'misunderstandings' that may occur, and turned to face the woman.
     His heart nearly stopped.
    The woman had come out of her large coat, and underneath, she was wearing the coat of the Hunters, a militaristic power that practically ruled Amzen. Kinen knew that he had been caught. 'With a Hunter on your trail, you might as well slit your own throat, it would save the Hunter time,' or so the old proverb went.
     "I don't know what you're implying," Kinen decided to try feigning innocence, "this book is nothing more than a collection of stories I've gathered from the local taverns in Amzen. You see, my daughter happens to enjoy folktales, and-"
    "Enough of your lies, thief," said the Hunter, pointing an accusation at Kinen, "We've been trailing you for the past week. Don't think we haven't noticed your observing the Tower and the guards."
    Kinen gulped, "We?"
    "Yes, we." The Hunter twitched her head slightly to the left. That was the only warning Kinen had before a dagger held by a strong arm was placed against his throat. "You should've done your research. Hunters always travel in Packs of five." She whistled, and out of the woods came two more Hunters, a red haired boy, and a black haired girl, neither appearing to be more than fourteen. But youth obviously doesn't define skill, judging from how they held their bows.
    Trying to buy time to think, Kinen picked up on a note the Hunter had left out, "You said five, but why are there only four of you."
    The woman, who looked as if she was going to say something, stopped. She crossed her arms and her face grew exasperated, "It's Vaxen again. He's always late." She looked over to the youths and called, "Fen, Jun, have either of you seen Vaxen along the way?"  When they both answered in the negative, she sighed, covering her face briefly with her hand in exasperation, "Honestly, I'm going to have to set one of you as his guardian, aren't I? He's alw-"
    Whatever he was always doing, Kinen would never know. Moving with speed borne of fear, he rammed his elbow into the side of the Hunter who was holding him. This move caught the man off guard; he dropped the dagger, and that was all the opportunity Kinen needed.
    Shoving the still dazed man out of his way, Kinen leaped onto his mare, and set her off on a breakneck pace. This is dangerous, and its risks might be great, Kinen thought, but with this, I have a greater chance at living than staying with those Hunters.
    The forest flew by as his mare skillfully evaded the numerous hazards of the underbrush. Kinen couldn't help himself, he grinned, his face flushed with victory. He would be the only person ever to escape from the clutches of the Hunters unscathed! His time was here, time for he world to know of Kinen Stratsen.
    While Kinen was reveling in his so called victory, he failed to notice a young man with the shaggy dark hair of an Easterner stepped out from the trees in front of him. Slowly, the man drew a long arming sword from his belt, and held it parallel to the ground, pointing at the chest of the charging horse.
    Even thought Kinen missed him, his horse evidently didn't. A sprinter, she wasn't trained to charge down humans, armed or otherwise. It was at this point that Kinen noticed the man on the path. He opened his mouth, ready to shout at the man to make him move, when his mare decided not to risk injury and stop.
    The move was so sudden, Kinen was unprepared, and was launched off of his horse's back. As he flew, Kinen noticed that the man was also wearing the Hunter's cloak. 'So,' he thought as he fell, 'this must be Vaxen.' Then, his head hit the ground, and all was absorbed by darkness.



"We are assassins,
We are protectors,
We are death,
We are life,
We are Hunters"
~The Hunter Saying.