Moving through the crowd and out
of the crater, I smirk as several leatherworkers rush past me, tools in hand. Someone
would have some new supplies to create a variety of things, most likely armor
for the hunters the village has. I don’t really care as I already have my own
set of demon-hide armor, one that I’ve worn well for years now.
Moving through the twists and
turns of the small wooden huts making up our village, I stop and scan the
darkened night sky, part of me hoping to see another Byakhee just lurking
about, ready to swoop down and provide for me another challenge, another chance
to fight. But alas, the skies are clear and safe for the time being. I make my
way back to my hut, pulling back on the sheet that acts as a door, announcing
my presence to the only other inhabitant.
“Evening lover,” says a cool,
light hearted voice as a sleek form glides up from the fur-laden bed. She
strikes a match along the side drawer, lighting a candle to shed light over our
one-room home.
I drink in the sheer perfection
that Christina presents to me, her alabaster skin glowing in the dim light of
the candle, with nothing but a bear pelt held up over her bared chest. Her
slanted eyes and page-boy haircut add an air of mystery to her that I’ve always
found intoxicating, just like her natural scent. Zachary is quick to declare
our love an abomination, but not enough people listen to that zealot to make
him much of a threat.
“Hey baby, just some late night
work, sorry about this.” I say quickly, knowing how much she dislikes my line
of work and what I do.
“I don’t want that… thing in my
house lover, you know that.” Christina coolly states, rising from the bed and
padding across the wooden floor towards me.
“I need it, well, its teeth at
any rate. It won’t take long, just an hour or so with the pliers.” I say,
trying to stop the argument already brewing behind her eyes. She’s extra sensitive
to the stench the demons give off, and claims that the smell can’t be dismissed
for days after I do any of my work.
“I’ve seen one of those before…”
She says, changing the subject suddenly. She moves around to get a better look
at the head hanging beneath my arm.
“Yeah, it’s a Byakhee; one of
the fliers that come from the pit every once in a while.” I say, turning so
that she can look at the head a little closer. “They’re pretty rare, especially
alone. They move in great flocks, reanimating the dead.”
“So you think they’re might be
some zombies around? Close to the village?” She asks, suddenly afraid. Her
parents had been consumed by zombies, as had the band of people she’d traveled
from the ruins of Chicago from when my group had come across her.
God… I think to myself, a slight smile coming to my face, that’s been over nine years now… and only
four where we’ve been a couple.
“Yeah, yeah there might be.” I
reply with a moment’s pause. There were a couple potter’s fields within a few
days travel, where we buried our dead before we started to burn them. I look
over at my work table and wordlessly walk over to it to dump the head onto the
rough wood. I look back at Christina, “Get my tools, would you?”
She nods and moves back to the
bed, dropping into a crouch and dragging out a toolbox from beneath the furs
and frame. She hefts it up with a grunt and walks it over to my table, dropping
it down with a gasp as the head’s mouth opens, hissing.
“Don’t worry, they do that.” I
say with a grimace as she shoots me an ugly look, as if it were my fault. “They
remain… animate for a while after they’re dead. Sometimes they moan, or bite at
the air. I saw one that even had its eyes open, and followed you as you moved
around the room.”
“Creepy…” Christina shudders as
she hands me a pair of rusty pliers. “Just do this fast and don’t get blood
everywhere.”
“I’ll try baby,” I say, moving
close to her to give her a deep kiss, one she matches with equal fervor, “Just
go to bed and get some sleep.”
“Alright,” She says, cupping the
back of my neck as she leans her forehead against mine. “I was kind of hoping
we could have an us night, but I know
how important your work is.”
“Thank you,” I say, giving her
another kiss before slapping her on the ass, earning a squeal and a series of
giggles from the both of us. She sashays back to bed, swinging her hips a bit
more than she needed to before climbing into bed, into the shadows that
unfortunately hid her better attributes.
I shake my head before turning
to the head, pulling up a stool to sit on while grabbing the Byakhee by one
long ear, twisting the head back to get better access to its teeth. It’s jaw
moves slowly up and down before I grip it, pulling the mandible down as far as
I can.
Pluck!
Pluck!
Pluck!
I spend the next ten minutes
plucking the long, narrow teeth from the creatures head, cursing to myself
gently every time I cracked one, or broke one in half. Over the course of an
hour, I rendered the skull down, removing all of the fangs and leaving them in
a small ceramic bowl, some fifty odd teeth.
I smile at them, knowing how
hard it will be to set them into arrows over the next few days. I’ve always had
a hard time setting the teeth into the shafts, as it requires a steady hand and
perfect concentration.
Thankfully Christina was able to
do so for me, as she worked as a fletcher for the village. Almost all of us
used bows or crossbows of some sort, and her job was one that was in high
demand. She worked out of the house, taking orders from other hunters as often
as he can. I imagine we’ll all be needing her services in the coming days,
especially if Christina’s fear is true: if the Byakhee had located one of those
mass graves we’d have a good deal of wandering dead that very well might be
heading our way.
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