Sol gazed wondrously to the outskirts where they had drifted over to stop to rest. The copse of cedar trees cast a dark reflection on the water of the east side. A swift breeze tangled through his hair, bringing with it the scent of berries.

Sun peeked over the horizon, its brilliant rays starting to glare across the sapphire sky. Yellow blotches formed on the forest floor and refracted across the rippling lake in the center of the glade.

"Alright, come on. We should stop to rest." Qahir suggested as he slung himself from the chestnut stallion and wound the reins around a large oak tree. He then stalked toward the shoreline of the lake and perched near it.

Sol continued to glaze over the lake. "Perfect." He smiled nervously and turned back to his older brother. He slid from the saddle of his horse and attached the reins to the same bark, equipping the bow where he then sat besides Qahir.

"Now this is what I'm talking about! It's beautiful, isn't it?" A smile spread across Qahir's face. Droplets of water flowed down his cheeks, dribbling into the vastness of the lake as he spoke. He then ran a hand through his cropped hair the colour of spilled ink. As an adept huntsman, Qahir had told Sol that he preferred to keep it that way to prevent it from obscuring the view during hunts.

"Yeah," Sol paused as his eyes glazed the lake to admire their surroundings. Of all the places he thought that Qahir could take them to, Solan was not expecting this one, "I didn't know such a place existed around the outskirts."

Sol watched as his brother grabbed a small rock by the shores, gliding a thumb over it. "Father found it." Qahir mumbled with a brief smile before meeting eyes with Sol. "You know, Father would've been proud of you, Solan." he reassured.

"I hope so..." Sol mumbled, "It would have been nice to have him here with us today though."

Sol had not known his father very well. All that he had left Sol with were legends and stories of another world, lullabies, and a faint memory of a thick bladed sword, with etchings of symbols along the blades base, and the end of the handle tapering into an emerald green pommel that his father regularly kept by his side; he was never without it.

"Yeah.. but we shouldn't dwell," Qahir chirped and stood from the mud-like area beside the lake. "Today is a big day, it's your first hunt!"

It had taken Sol a lot of training on the bullseye to get here. He wasn't even sure that he was ready to be here. The thought of killing anything; especially another animal no matter how famished they may be made him nervous.

"Ying should be here any minute now," Qahir said as he glanced across the woods. Ying was a close friend of the family, and Qahir had been brought up alongside her; they'd never gone on a hunt without each other, they'd even trained together since they were children.. Though Sol was convinced Qahir may have feelings for her as one would for their spouse, but any time it was brought up, the conversation would die out just as it came.

Sol sighed as they waited. Plenty of time went by and Ying still had not met their meeting spot. He wondered if something on the trek here had held her up, since she had insisted on going a different way.

He turned to his brother who had finished setting up animal traps they had brought with them across the forest, and decided to quietly conceal himself within the foliage. They had trekked a long road by stallion to get here. Qahir said he thought that this area would be the perfect place to steal Sol's first hunt. And it was, it seemed like a perfect spot.

Minutes turned into hours. Sol leaned back on his pack and sighed quietly, wondering how long it would take to be awarded for his first potential kill of the season. "Do you really think we should be alone out here?" Sol asked. There was nothing in sight, which often led him to believe that they were being watched.

He had heard many tales about the woods as a child. How there were creatures burrowed under the grounds, awaiting the presence of the innocent.

"I try not to think about it," Qahir replied truthfully, and observed the tree line on the opposite side of the lake."So you shouldn't worry. There's nothing."

Sol wasn't convinced.

He simply turned his attention back to the sky. Clouds drifted across it like the seeds of dandelions floating in a gentle breeze. He was also able to hear the soft song of vermilion flycatchers adding to nature's serenade. The world could be a beautiful place.

A sudden rustle broke the calm of the forest. Sol's eyes shot open, and his head perked up to look around for where the sound might've sourced from. A small green lizard nearby, flecked with dark blue spots, had its eyes fixed on a cricket. No sooner had the reptilian lunged at the insect than the insect was down its throat.

A wave of relief washed over Sol when he had realised it was just a common lizard. Attempting to compose himself to hide the fact that it had startled him, Qahir simply erupted into a laugh. They both brushed it off fairly quickly since the woods fell silent once again.

A few moments passed by, and then Sol was quietly nudged by his brother who lay beside him pointing a finger to the left of the lake they were residing. A small group of elk had emerged from the foliage, and stopped for a drink of water. Sol equipped his wooden bow slowly, and peeled an arrow from his quiver, fixating on the beautiful sight before him, but more specifically a large buck.

As if on queue, Qahir whispered into his ear, "Keep your head down, eyes fixed on the game, and your bow steady," he paused, "just like we practised, remember?"

As the deer pivoted on its cloven hoof, a gold leaf twirled to the ground from the whistling breeze, and crunched under the buck's weight; echoing throughout the clearing. The brothers quietly watched, waiting as the puffed chest of the large deer quickly provided a fatal opening.

Sol wrapped his fingers around the wooden bow, and slowly, steadily drew it back. His eyes didn't flicker even for a moment, although they ached with the strain he tracked his quarry. When he shifted his aim toward the chest of the animal, the buck's left antler screened its surroundings as though to survey the oncoming danger creeping close to its herd that drank water from nearby lake shore.

Eyes fixed. Bow steady. Just like they'd practised.

In a flash, Sol released the arrow.

The sounds of the wildlife were broken with a single thunk. The buck then began to bolt along the edge of the thicket, causing its herd to scatter into the distance through the trees. It recoiled, and stumbled to the ground in a heap, barking a loud wail that broke the silence of the forest.

Adrenaline surged through Sol's veins as he fumbled from his crouching stance, and attempted to sling his bow across the shoulder. Everything felt like a blur when he picked up his feet and rushed over to the shore where the large buck lay. The animal's neck thrashed back and forth for several seconds.

"Finish it." His brother was beside him. Qahir slid the dagger from his leather sheath and grasped Sol's wrist, placing the blade into his trembling hands.

Sol swallowed, and placed a hand on the thrashing buck's dense, but soft fur. There was no time to think about it; he swiftly slit the deer's throat.

For a few moments he crouched in awe as the crimson blood trickled to the turf beneath it, smearing Sol's hand from the giant animal that lay mere feet away from him. He looked to his brother. Sol's whole body quivered profoundly as he sat on the cold ground, steadying the trembles that ran through him.

"Nice shot!" Qahir exclaimed, and slapped Sol on the back with excitement. "You did good." He wrenched the arrow that bore deep into the body of the lifeless bulk.

"Really?"

"Yeah! That was a way better shot than my first few times," he said. "I remember taking a shot and missing over and over. Pap and I must have been out in the woods for four days, trying to down this one elk that had eluded the town's best hunters for weeks, and I di-"

"Yeah, I know," Sol interrupted. "You kept changing spots all day, and finally cornered it; then everyone was talking about it for at least a week."

"Okay then. So give yourself a little credit." Qahir laughed. "You just caught your first hunt on the first try! I was expecting for us to wait out here for at least a week."

Sol simply rolled his eyes, and mumbled a chuff "Yeah, you're right." under his breath.

They spent the rest of the early afternoon quartering the buck, and distributing the meat between the packs they'd brought. Sol couldn't help but feel bad. This was his first time taking a life away. He was not sure what he was supposed to feel, but a strange feeling of pride and guilt flashed through his mind as he recalled the trickle of blood that came from the animal's wound. Slitting the buck's throat as it peered upon its final match.

Sol hoped it could be a more joyous moment than this; but all he received was blood that stained his hands red.

No, literally.

"I need to go wash this off..." Sol mumbled and headed for the shore, washing the grit and blood away. But one thing he knew for certain was that it could never wash away the price he paid.

* * *

Soon, Ying had caught up with them. Sol wasn't sure what had held her up, but he felt it had something to do with the large rack of hunt meat she too clung from the saddle of her jet black horse.

"You finally made it, about time!" Qahir teased.

She greeted them with a pearly-white toothy smile, before her eyes diverted to Sol, "How did our novice do today?"

Silence caught between the group for a few seconds, before Sol realised he had to be the one to speak, "Oh, I got one first try, thought you guys said this was hard?" he half joked.

Qahir scoffed, "So are we ready to head back, then?"

"Yeah, we should head back to the village," Ying suggested as she peered up at the sky, "It is getting pretty dark now."

It was hard for Sol to imagine Ying as a huntsman next to Qahir. Like the flickering flame of a candle, her sleek black hair swayed, bobbing around her oval face. She gazed at him. Shielding her small, downcast eyes from the chilly wind.

Sol peered up to the inky skies lit by a half faced moon; the milky speckles of tiny lights twirled, and danced across the night in elegant patterns, eliciting a sense of awe. As his mother regularly said, the skies were the last bastion of unchartered territory and unclaimed freedom.

Sol had seen the sky his entire life, but out in the wilderness, surrounded by pine and wood alone; it felt different. He stared up at the sky for a moment more, while the shining silver armor of the rising moon began to gleam down at him. "Yeah, we should go find somewhere to rest out here," he nodded.

They began to take their trail back towards the village of Atal. Sol was happy to be heading back to his home village, but the outskirts forestry was something he thought that he would always miss, unless he was in the heart of it and hunting once more with his brother, Qahir; nature made the worst of the hunt worthwhile.

Within the distance, he could hear the ever so active frogs' serenade, and every so often, a cold but soft breeze would rustle the golden leaves on the trees. The more he thought about his time away from the village, the more excited he was to come home and embrace his mother again and tell her all about his endeavours.

Interrupting his thoughts, Qahir began to sing a familiar song. The slender throat of the song being sung was the perfect notion to fill the silence of the night. It was a lullaby; the same lullaby he grew up hearing. It was soothing to hear, but the words seemed to have a more ominous meaning to it, as though to heed a warning against the beasts hidden in the land. But there were no beasts around, it was just a lullaby.

The song abruptly broke off as a large rumbling sound echoed off in the close distance of the trees.

"What was that?" Sol asked, turning to look at his brother as he tightened his grip around the reins of the horse, his knuckles turned white.

Qahir shrugged, and glanced back at Sol as he trailed behind the path, "I'm sure it's nothing. Maybe a tree falling, or something?" he suggested. Even with all of Qahir's years in the forest, it turns out that Sol recognized he wasn't that much of an expert on the wilderness after all. Sol wasn't convinced.

"I wouldn't let anything happen to you both out here, don't worry," Qahir mumbled as his horse trotted along the dirt pathway once more. As they moved further down the path, the sun had completely set and it was beginning to get too dark to carefully follow the track without lit torches.

"There's a tavern nearby, we can take shelter there," Ying stated, "I had been there earlier today, it's just on the outskirts of the village." Sol felt relieved that they were close by to Meleka, their home. They could stop to rest at the tavern and be back in Meleka before sunrise.

"That's a good idea." Sol nodded in response. They directed their horses to the left, and soon enough reached a small tavern. It was too dark to admire the exterior of the building, but its give away was a large battered wooden sign that hung from the roofing. He could faintly see the stacked stones that built this tavern up.

Sol climbed off from his horse, and they each tied their reins to the post outside of the quiet tavern. It felt discarded. Qahir walked up to the dimly lit window, glancing inside before turning to knock on the wooden door. He half expected the door to be swung open, and for them to receive complaints about how late it was, but there was nothing.

He watched as Qahir impatiently knocked again, calling for anyone inside. By this time, Sol searched around for a second plan, perhaps a new place to camp on the grounds nearby, or...

A flicker of deep red caught his eye from nearby, with smoke lifting up into the cloudy skies, "What's that?" he asked, staring for a few moments more towards the searing light. Then he realised.

"That's our village..." Ying gazed in the same direction, "Qahir.  We should go!"

"Holy shit!" Qahir gasped, and swung himself back onto the stallion, "Solan, follow close by. We need to get to high ground, on the hill-face, fast."

It was a rush. Sol began to tense as they galloped back west in an urgency, towards the village, their home. He hoped it wasn't true, that it couldn't be possible, but the thoughts back to the trembling grounds made just under an hour ago now made sense. It was imperative that they get home. Within a few minutes, they had chased their way near the ridge below the village at the west end along the tree line.

For a few moments, Sol stared into the eyes of his brother with fear for the worst before they slung back from their horses. He slowly walked towards the edge, and stared below the ridge.

No.

Nothing could have ever prepared him for what lay below. The origin of the smoky red light was a small village. It was the only village on the west-end of Atal, the only one nearby. It was his home.

The only place that Sol had ever known was now being splintered, and charred, leaning over on its exposed skeleton while flames were stripping away any wood that it could reach. Blood curdling screams crippled through the air as the trio stood in disbelief, staring out into the debris of their home.

What was once their home.

From behind the hellish vale of smoke, the figure of a massive animal revealed itself. It released a loud screech, the sound which rumbling across the land and sending sharp shivers down Sol's spine. The ground beneath them trembled, and Sol momentarily lost his balance. He dreaded himself by bracing his hands against the ground. Eyes not wavering from the scene in front of him.

"Sol! Sol, run!" But he couldn't. The beast, with its sharp ember eyes, was coming right towards him.

And one thing that he knew instantly; there was no escape from the hellish nightmare that had unravelled.

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