His curse attracted nearby people's attention, but Adrian waved his hand. “I’m fine.”
He turned his attention to the cloaked figure. Adrian hesitated before speaking, “Can I help you?”
He couldn’t see the figure's face, the person was clearly trying to hide it until they moved, revealing green eyes that stared at him.
‘A woman?’ Adrian thought, because the lines of her eyes and brows seemed too soft, even for an elven male. Then again, he only had the elven Sylwen as a reference.
It was then the cloaked figure took a single step forward. Adrian nearly took a step back but stopped himself in time. “Umm... hello?”
The figure moved her head, seemingly trying to sense something from him.
“Are you…” A soft and almost ethereal voice sounded from her. “…human?”
Adrian was surprised, but less so than people might expect when asked if they were human. He already knew that elves seemed to smell something different on him that other humans couldn't.
Adrian thought about how to answer and said, “I am. What made you think otherwise?”
“Strange…”
Adrian’s lips pursed, hoping to get a more specific answer rather than vague ones. “What’s strange?”
Instead of answering, the cloaked figure stepped closer. Adrian suddenly remembered that he had just peed nearby and felt a bit embarrassed by it.
“You… smell of life…”
‘Good, she doesn’t smell the piss.’ Adrian joked in his mind before speaking. “Sir Sylwen told me that before, but what does it mean exactly?” Adrian pressed on, not caring if there was a proper etiquette for this. One of his major purposes in joining this group was being able to talk to the elves in the first place.
“…You do not know yourself?” the elven woman asked. “I would assume you know yourself more than anyone.”
His mouth twitched before he shook his head. “I know little of the world, much less of magic and other wondrous things. Could you enlighten me, elf friend?” This time, he spoke more friendlier.
“Hmm…” The elven woman thought about it for a moment before she spoke. “I’ll speak to my captain first.”
Adrian was delighted. “I thank you. I hope to learn what it is that you elf friends see in me that I can’t.”
“Hmm…” The elf then turned around and walked back to her group.
Adrian released a breath, calling this a win. Now he just needed to survive this ordeal, and maybe he'd get some answers from the elves. After that, home.
Well, he had to make it back alive first.
--
“Tell me we aren’t going inside, right?” Adrian couldn’t help but say.
He heard someone snicker, and from the corner of his eye, he saw someone nodding along. The group was now standing in front of a cave opening in a small hill. The darkness inside suggested that the cave was pretty deep.
It was well into the afternoon now, after searching for tracks, even with the elven group's help, they had come across this cave.
Adrian hoped their group wouldn’t enter. It looked like death’s gaping mouth, if he was being honest, especially if the monster they were hunting was inside.
“We don’t know if the monster is inside, or how many there are, for that matter.” someone said to Sir Duante.
Sir Duante nodded and looked toward Sir Sylwen. Sir Sylwen was narrowing his eyes. “It’s here.” he suddenly said.
Adrian was sure he wasn’t the only one wondering how the elf knew that. They hadn’t seen even a trace of the creature, and the elf himself hadn’t seen it before, unlike Adrian and Lord Tuckstone.
Sir Duante took the elf’s word seriously, however, and they entered into a discussion on how to deal with it. Though, it was mostly Sir Duante speaking while Sir Sylwen just nodded along.
It was then that a man in armor approached him, it was Lord Tuckstone.
“Finally, we'll reunite with the monster that haunted us before. What do you think, Lord Harrow? Eager to meet it again?”
Adrian's gaze, however, never left the cave entrance, alert in case they were blindsided.
“Considering our reunion with it would be bloody? No, not at all.”
Lord Tuckstone chuckled. “I keep forgetting, for all your skills and qualities, you are still young, Lord Harrow…”
“I don’t think being old or young matters in the face of a monster.” Adrian answered dryly. That just made Lord Tuckstone laugh, easing some of the tension in the group.
“Oh, to be young.” Lord Tuckstone said, and then shook his head. “Lord Harrow, we hadn’t properly been able to talk after the competition. After this, I hope we can.”
Adrian briefly turned his gaze away from the cave and raised a brow at Lord Tuckstone, wondering what his intentions were. “Of course.”
The conversation ended just in time for Sir Duante to decide their next course of action. They wouldn’t enter the cave, instead, they’ll try to draw the monster out, or at least, whatever was inside.
Preparations were quickly made, but they didn’t have much time. Unfortunately, the sun was setting by the time they were done. With the horses hidden away with a single guard and tied securely, they made spikes around the trees to use as shields. Some even managed to carve the trunks to allow for easy climbing when the time came.
Adrian and Dexton were hidden behind a large stone. The group spread out so they could attack from multiple points to distract the monster if it targeted someone else, but they stayed close enough to provide aid when necessary. Their archers were safe, stationed high up in the trees to give them a better view and a cleaner shot.
Adrian envied them right now, but his focus turned back to the logs and branches gathered together in front of the cave. They were going to smoke the bastard out. Or, if they were unlucky, a horde of monsters could come pouring out.
“I hope everyone is clear on what to do.” Sir Duante spoke, standing straight before they lit the logs.
He looked up at the setting sky. “The darkness won’t be our friend. We’ll have one chance to draw it out. If it doesn’t work, we’ll try again tomorrow.”
“If what comes out is more than expected, remember, gather together immediately. Our elven friends, Sir Sylwen assured me, have a way to protect us.”
That was new information. Adrian exchanged a look with Dexton, the same wonder in their eyes, but it seemed they wouldn’t have a chance to ask as Sir Duante raised his hand.
“Everyone, stay alive and pay attention. We begin… now!” Sir Duante declared.
The fire was quickly lit. Though the knight’s declaration was grand, it took a few minutes before the fire grew large, and two people started blowing the smoke inside the cave.
Tension rose, and Adrian now thought all of this was a bad idea. He was starting to regret being part of this. They say one can’t cry over spilt wine, but at least that person only spilt wine and hadn't accepted an offer to hunt a creature that might turn out to be a whole horde.
For a while, nothing happened. Time was forgotten as everyone just waited, tense, for anything at all. It got to the point where Adrian wondered if anything would even come out. With the sun almost completely set, they might just have to call it a day.
And then, they heard the sound of rattling and thudding coming from deep inside the cave. What emerged was not the monster they were hunting, but a completely different creature, and it wasn’t alone.
Three monsters, each looking more mutated and different than the last, burst into the light. Growling as they avoided the fire and smoke, they circumvented the flames and rushed toward the knights out in the open.
Before the beasts could close the distance, arrows whistled through the air. The archers hit all three monsters, one crashed down immediately, another slowed, but the third didn't stop. It rushed toward a knight, but before the man could defend himself, Sir Duante’s figure flashed to his side.
Charging forward, Sir Duante pierced the creature's side with a spear. He grunted, lifting the struggling monster into the air, and threw it directly into the fire.
A horrific screech sounded as the monster burned.
Adrian saw yet another monster emerge from the cave and knew then that things wouldn’t be so simple.
--
An injured monster rushed in their direction. Dexton and Adrian exchanged a quick look before stepping out from behind their cover. Dexton thrust with his spear, but the monster twisted its body to dodge. Adrian, however, was already there with a strike of his own.
His spear bit deep into its shoulder. The monster, a bizarre, smaller mix of a wolf and a bear, growled and tried to resist, but the movement only caused the spear to plunge deeper until the beast suddenly went limp.
Adrian pulled his spear out with a wet squelch and looked ahead. The fire used to smoke out the cave had died down, plunging the surroundings into darkness until Dexton quickly lit a torch.
The sun had set and night had come, they were forced to halt their operation and continue the next day.
The group gathered in front of Sir Duante.
“We’ll make camp over there. It should allow us to protect ourselves using the trees and stones.” Sir Duante said, pointing toward a ridge. “Thank you for your hard work today, lords and sirs.”
Sir Duante finished, gesturing for everyone to move out.
“That wasn’t so bad, right, milord?” Dexton asked as they grabbed their horses.
“…Yes.” Adrian agreed, somewhat disbelievingly.
So far, they had only needed to make a single move during the entire ordeal. Over a dozen monsters had come out of the cave, but thankfully not all at once. Aside from one resilient beast that had taken several arrows and required three weapons to finally kill, the rest hadn’t been too difficult.
He hoped tonight would be peaceful. Well, as peaceful as it could be while sleeping next to a monster den.