A Village at the Foot of the Mountain (2)
The village without even a name had lived out its centuries in quiet obscurity, tucked away at the foot of the mountain.
James and Miralen, the orc couple, had settled there some twenty years ago. Back then they were both adventurers, not yet married. They had come to this place, put down roots, wed, and raised children — and in all the twenty years that followed, the two of them had never once had a complaint about the village.
A river ran close by, and the mountains rising behind the village like a folding screen offered up an abundance of game through nature's own generosity. Thanks to that, no one in the village of some hundred and thirty souls had ever gone hungry, and day after peaceful day had passed without so much as a whisper of grievance.
"But you see," James said, "that was about half a year ago now."
Miralen had gone into the bedroom to put the children to sleep, and James, Kayak, Yona, and Alec sat clustered around the table, each holding a cup of fruit wine.
"A bear showed up here. A bear."
"A bear? Well, bears are certainly common enough around these parts... hmm, but I take it this was no ordinary bear."
Kayak trailed off and stroked his jaw. It wouldn't do to assume James was speaking out of ignorance.
Even if he was no Kayak, James and his wife had been Bronze Rank adventurers in their day. He wouldn't be losing sleep over some ordinary bear.
"Pitch black, that bear was. Pitch black. And it was easily twice my size."
James was already an orc of towering bulk, nearly a match for even the massive Kayak. A bear twice his size was far beyond anything that ought to be prowling these mountains.
"A black bear, you say. And very large..." Kayak sipped his fruit wine and sank into thought.
But it was the words pitch black that made Yona jolt. Something about it snagged in her mind. Though the timing, admittedly, was badly off.
"The bear appeared right here in the village. Naturally, the whole place went into an uproar. The militia came running out — every soul in the village who could fight turned out to face it."
"And?"
The militia of a hunter's village could stand toe to toe with a company of trained soldiers. The sharpness of their aim and the precision of their shooting were nothing short of remarkable.
"More than half of them died."
"What?"
Kayak's eyes went wide, and Alec and Yona's followed suit.
More than half of the militia, wiped out — by a single bear. No matter how large it was, a bear was still a bear. This was a village that hunted bears, tigers, wolves, every manner of savage beast for a living. For its militia to be cut down by more than half was staggering.
"Hard to believe, I know, but it's the truth. And the bear vanished that very day... and ever since then... ah, would you mind if I lit one of these?"
James drew a cigarette from his breast pocket. It was clearly no store-bought thing, but a rough handmade roll, packed and twisted by hand. When Yona nodded, he silently licked the paper's edge, sealed it, and set the cigarette between his lips.
He struck the flint that hung from the corner of the table and touched the flame to the tip. Thin grey smoke curled upward, drifting lazily between the candles suspended from the ceiling before scattering into nothing.
James watched the smoke rise for a long while before he finally spoke.
"...The black beasts started appearing. Black beasts. There were the boars — the ones with brown coats and black stripes turned jet black from snout to tail, not a trace of brown left. The deer, too — the ones with brown hide and white spots now wear skin as black as pitch. And those ones aren't easy to kill."
The coal of his cigarette flared bright orange as he drew in a long breath.
"And even when we kill them, the meat's no good. It stinks of rot through and through. The hides, when you strip them off, just melt away into nothing."
"...They melt away?"
Yona, who had been listening with her mouth shut, blurted out the question without meaning to. She hadn't expected to react that way herself, and James looked at her with faint surprise.
"...Sorry."
"No, no, don't apologize. It's startling enough to hear. A hide vanishing — that's a strange thing for anyone."
"It's not just that, it's... um, Kayak. You remember."
"Ah. The goat-headed one, you mean."
"Yes."
Kayak met Yona's eyes and nodded.
The massive goat-skull monster that the first punitive expedition had encountered on the second floor of the Catacombs. There was no question that they had killed it. Yet when the second expedition entered, the corpse was simply gone. Far too little time had passed for it to have rotted away.
"Something's bothering you, Kayak?"
"Bothering me, well... never mind that. Have you put in a request with the Adventurer's Guild?"
"Of course I have. I was an adventurer myself once, you know."
"And?"
James tapped the ash of his cigarette into the tray. Half-burnt though it was, the ember still glowed a stubborn orange, a small defiant life coughing out its smoke as it burned itself away.
"They never found a cause. My own thinking is that the bear is at the root of it all. I can't shake the feeling that bear is the culprit. All this trouble started after it showed up. And now we've done nothing but throw money at the guild for nothing."
Yona hadn't known an orc could wear such an expression. It had surprised her already that demi-humans like orcs and goblins lived intermingled with humans, but now she found herself surprised again — that this orc, this James, could look so utterly desolate.
"That's why you were glad to see us."
"Honestly? Yes."
"Then there's only one thing left to say. Out with it, James."
A faint twist pulled at the corner of Kayak's mouth. A smile, no doubt.
James ground the cigarette out in the ashtray. There was still some left of it, but he snuffed it in a single motion, as if he had no sentiment to spare for such things.
"...Help us, Kayak. Help our village."
"That's a weighty ask. But the leader of our party is that young lady sitting right there. Well then — what do you say, Yona? I need your decision."
Kayak's eyes swiveled around to land on her.
Uh — me? Me?
Caught off guard, Yona turned to look at Alec. It was startling enough to learn that she was the party's leader; she hadn't expected him to defer to her like this. Deep down, she'd always assumed it was Kayak who led them.
"Yona, do whatever you want to do."
"Uh, well, then..."
There were things she wanted to look into, anyway. The vanishing corpses. And those black things — the color alone gnawed at her more than a little.
"...Then let's do it. I don't know whether we can manage anything or not, but."
"Thank you."
"Oh, you don't have to thank me..."
James bowed his head so deeply that it left her feeling awkward, and Yona scratched at her cheek. She hadn't expected a man old enough to be her uncle to bow like that. It was a lot of weight to put on her shoulders.
*
The next morning, Alec went out alone to have a look around. Yona had tried to follow, but given that she could barely walk, she didn't much relish the idea of hobbling about the village, so he'd left her behind and come out by himself.
The militia's losses were evidently as bad as James had said — young men were conspicuously absent from the village. The children still ran and laughed and played wherever their feet took them, but grown men in their prime were nearly nowhere to be seen. The faces on the streets belonged almost entirely to old folk and women.
"Excuse me, might I ask you something?"
When in doubt, the general store was the place to go. A tavern would have been ideal, but he'd heard none of them were open at this hour. Of everywhere in the village, this was where the most people came and went.
"Now who're you?"
An old man, his back bent halfway to a bow, was seated in a chair. When he saw Alec step into the shop and made to rise, Alec waved him down quickly.
"I'm a guest of James's, staying down the way. I was hoping to ask a few questions."
Alec had walked in with the morning sun at his back, and the glare of it seemed to sting the old man's eyes; he shielded his face with one hand, screwed his features up tight, and finally managed to squint up at him.
"James? Ah, that orc fellow... aye, all right. What d'you want to know?"
"The, um — the bear. About the bear."
"The bear..."
At the mere mention of it, anger flooded the old man's face. Perhaps his own son had been one of the militia who'd died to that bear. It would explain the venom in it.
"That damned bear..."
"Yes, exactly, the bear."
"I told them and told them not to touch it, and those fool fools went and did it anyway, and now—"
"Sorry, what was that?"
Now that was something new. Alec's hand shot out, closed around the nearest object within reach, and thrust it toward the old man.
"I'll buy this. How much?"
"Ten copper."
Steeper than he'd expected. Only then did Alec look down at what he'd actually grabbed.
It was a hunting knife, about a hand-span long. Ah. Well, this'll do.
I'll give it to Yona when I get back. She can use it to protect herself at least. She can fight with her off hand, after all.
He paid the ten copper and took the seat across from the old man.
"Could you tell me more? About what you were just saying."
As with any village deep in the mountains, there were things handed down from the ancestors — a sacred tree, a sacred cave, the like. This village was no exception. Somewhere deep in the forest, the old man said, stood an ancient tree known as the Sacred Tree.
It had been half a year ago — before the black bear ever appeared. A night of torrential rain, with thunder and lightning splitting the sky.
Bolts flashed across the heavens in every direction, and the thunderclaps rolled so hard they shook the world. And in that storm, the Sacred Tree the village revered was struck by lightning — struck, and split into many branches.
Even then, the Sacred Tree was not to be touched. It was simply to be left alone until new flesh grew over the wound. But the people of the village had decided that the lightning strike was an ill omen — that the tree must be felled and a new Sacred Tree planted in its place.
The old man had pleaded with them. The tree must not be cut down. Never, ever. But the people were already possessed of something, and in the end they raised their axes against the Sacred Tree — and then, having raised their axes, they never even managed a single stroke before the torrential rain began to fall again.
"So you never planted a new one at all?"
"We did not. The Sacred Tree is not a thing to be meddled with. We didn't even touch it properly, no — we raised axes against it. It's the Sacred Tree's wrath, that's what it is. That bear is the Sacred Tree's messenger. Sin and retribution, boy. Sin and retribution. This village is going to wither and die."
"Oh, come on, surely not..."
"Bah! You're about to spout the same fool nonsense as the rest of them, aren't you!"
Alec made a hasty exit from the general store before sparks could truly fly.
He needed to confirm with James whether the old man's story was true, and if it was — well, he felt as though he'd already found his starting point for where to begin looking.
But when he made his way back, the sight that greeted him was James's third son, playing contentedly while buried snug and deep between Yona's breasts.
For some reason, it made him feel absolutely terrible.