The Elder Huntress

Listen, if you’re a hunter or a huntress, I need you to run. Run as far away as you can. If you’re one of us, you’re not considered to be a human anymore. They’ll come for you. They’ll crush you. If you think you’re one of us, I need you to stop everything you’re doing and I need to cross the Hunters Bridge. That’s the only place where you’ll be safe. It will be too late for you once you realize who you really are. Ignoring the signs is pointless. They’ll turn you to dust. Do you want that?

I never chose to be like this. I didn’t choose to be a huntress. The lives of many innocents depend on your choices. It’s a nightmare to be a huntress. Being a hunter or a huntress has two rules. “Kill and get killed”. If you kill to be noticed and to be appreciated or called a hero, it won’t happen. No one cares if you kill or not. Furthermore, it doesn’t matter to them if you die. They don’t give a damn. That’s the part that I fear the most.

See, don't think of us as having different features from you; we're not like elves with keen ears. No. We are similar to you. Two legs, two hands, two ears, two eyes, and some people have dirty mouths and unpleasant things to say to other people. That's how almost everyone is.

It all began when I left for football one day.

I noticed a weird boy among my teammates and the opposite group when I first arrived on the pitch. He was seated in the ranch of the audience. Suddenly, I felt something was wrong. He was not normal. The way he walked, and moved was not normal at all. He didn't say anything at all. While me and my team were warming up, I noticed the boy was the leader of the team who was playing against us.

Our coach blew the whistle and the match started.

I was standing close to our goal when I noticed the boy guiding the ball. He wasn’t aiming for the goal. He was moving in my direction. His feet were blazing red as I observed him intently, and when I looked up, I noticed flames in his eyes. Fear jolted through me. I was panting heavily as I watched him approach, step by step, quicker and faster. In my mind, everything moved slowly. He shot the ball at me, and it turned into a fireball. I dodged to my left, allowing the ball to get by me. I was so terrified that I turned to face the boy, who was glaring at me angrily and had fire in his eyes. He made a fist with his left hand and opened it to reveal a fireball in his palm. I cried, "Help, someone, please help," as I fled in terror.

I saw that no one else appeared as terrified as I did, and tears began to well up in my eyes. Rather, they were perplexed and gave me the impression that I was going insane. I left the field in my training outfit. I didn’t have anywhere else to go so I ran as far as I could. 

When I reached a gas station, I felt my heart sank. I probably looked pale. There, right in front of me was standing the boy with the hands of a tiger roaring with fire. How? How did he come so fast? Who is he? What does he want? I had a ton of questions racing through my mind. Then, he started to walk towards me. He was walking slowly. I felt weak—so weak I couldn’t walk anymore I collapsed onto my back while sobbing. He was draining my life out of my body with his eyes. I started to crawl away from him, sobbing and screaming “HELP! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!” 

Something passed straight through my face, and I heard a *weep* pass by my ear. I turned to see the boy with the arrow embedded in his right side of the chest. He smashed the rest of the arrow that was not entering his body with his right hand. Then another arrow on his left, and another *weep*. His gaze stayed fixed on mine.

I was too shocked to cry at the moment. I stopped dead in my tracks and just stared at him as his left knee went to the floor and then his right. His wound vanished, leaving the blood on his shirt, as he removed the arrow from his chest. Another arrow struck him squarely in the forehead, throwing him flat on his back, just as he was about to lunge at me. The direction of the arrows baffled me somewhat. The boy then just stood up, holding the arrow in his hand, showing no signs of the cut on his forehead. The boy began to transform into a fire-breathing lion.

Then, behind me, I heard several people charging arrows at the lion.

"Girl, stay put—help is on the way." Said one of the ladies grabbing my arm while others charged at the lion. One of them threw some kind of potion-looking bottle at the lion and the lion roared in agony until he disintegrated to dust. Suddenly, my face felt really hot and I felt dizzy. The woman placed my head on her lap while I was gasping for air. Everything went black. The last thing I remember was one of them saying: “Quick, take her to the bridge. She’s still alive.”

I dreamed of a bizarre, toxic garden full of beautiful flowers.

 I was in a white dress, my hair in a ponytail and I was trying to pick some flowers. They looked so beautiful I couldn’t resist. Through the large windows, the sun shone. A woman grabbed my wrist to prevent me from reaching out to touch one of the lilies. I looked up and saw she was looking exactly like me. Brown eyes, black hair, and a mole under her left eye that made her beautiful with a white dress. She met my eyes with her own. My mouth fell open.

“You look like me,” I muttered.

She nodded with a smile and kept staring at me. “I am you.” She said with her soft voice. Then, she looked at the Lili and said: “Don’t touch them, they’re poisonous, they’ll kill you. Get out of here right now, you’re in danger.”

I couldn't take my eyes off of her because of how softly she spoke. How is it possible for a stranger to look just like you? 

“Who – Who are you?” I asked and she released her hand gently from my wrist.

“That doesn’t matter, Rose. All you need to know is that you’re in danger. Visit the– “

The ground began to tremble before she could finish, and all the flowers went grey as if they were dying. As the earth began to tremble, I glimpsed my doppelganger attempting to maintain her balance on the shifting surface. She looked at me with fear in her eyes like she was trying to tell me something important. Then the scene vanished away.

I awoke in a log cabin made of wood. I felt strong again. The cottage was dimly lit by candles and torches. There were no windows. The same woman I had seen earlier in the day was seated at a table talking with a male and another woman to my left.

I took the cold fabric off my forehead and got up from the bed. "Rest, you're too weak," the woman seated in the middle murmured as she approached me.

When she said that, I felt my body erupt in rage. "It's okay, don't worry." Having said that, I stood up. I was fine, I could walk normally, but the way the woman regarded me made me feel insecure. Now that my brain was functioning normally, I needed answers. The woman reached for my arm, thinking I would trip and fall, but I pushed her away.

“Ok, what’s going on? Who are you? Where am I? Who was that freak who was trying to kill me?” I felt the words slipping out of my mouth. I had more questions to ask but I held them in for later. The lady stared at me for a second then looked at the other two who were sitting at the table. Some sort of understanding passed between them that made me madder.

“Sit.” Said the lady and I joined her with the other two at the table.

“My name’s Elinor, I’m a huntress, the leader of the huntresses of course. You’re also a huntress. The boy at the gas station who wanted to suck the life out of your body was a fire-blekour.” 

What the fuck. I thought. Everything seemed to be happening so fast. I got attacked by some kind of fire-breathing lion and there she was, calling me a huntress. What was that supposed to mean? Do I have to go fishing now? Or go deer-hunting in the forest?

“A what?” I said looking really puzzled.

“A fire-blekour, one of our deadliest monsters.” She spoke.

“When the boy, the blekour thing attacked me, no one else was panicking except me. Why?” I said trying to dig in deeper into the questions I want answers to.

“Yes, as a huntress, you see things that others don’t. You’re different from the rest of the humans. Your eyes see everything while their eyes are covered by a powerful mist. That allows them to see something else. When you dodged the fireball, they probably saw you were scared of the incoming ball and you fell. Nothing to worry about.”  

Still, nothing made sense to me.

“You were watching me?”

“Indeed. We wanted to save you from the trouble but when you ran away, you made it a little difficult for us to track you. Thank God one of the hunters heard you calling for help, or else we could lose you for good.” She seemed to be very gentle with the way she was answering me with every little detail.

It made me think of the doppelganger I saw in my weird dream. I made an effort to ignore the fact that somehow, she knew my name and instead focused on summarizing all Elinor had said. 

“Don’t worry, Rose. You’ll be safe here.” She said holding my arm. Ok, this was getting super creepy. How come everyone knows my name before getting to know me and I never learned my math teacher's name in one year? Even though his name is Mr. Daniel, I still call him Mr. Diet. Big difference, right? I have no idea why I can’t just learn it.

"How do you know my name?" I asked, and I think I blushed a little since she smiled warmly and met my eyes directly.

“We know the names of those who we seek to save and accept as a company. Rose, you are more than that. I'm aware of it. I am aware of the depth of your emotions. Come, let me show you around, and perhaps try to figure out what type of a huntress you are.” 

When we got up, she scanned me from top to bottom and then said: “Oh, dear, you need to change.”

I really felt embarrassed knowing that I was still wearing my training outfit. "Let me help you with that," suggested the woman seated at the table. She then proceeded to give me clothing from the cabins on her left.

I looked quite good in my huntress clothing after changing. I was dressed in an all-in-one sticky costume that covered my legs to my shoulders. I enjoyed the black cloak.

I realized it was nighttime when we left the cabin. There was no sign of the sun. People, tents, dorms and grease flames lighting up the field were all around me.

“We have a wide variety of hunters and huntresses. Tonight, you'll find yours. Maybe this very moment.” She smiled and motioned to a boy on her right, who let out a loud horn. Everyone gathered in the vicinity. They gossiped about me as soon as they saw me. "Wow, is this really her?" one person said, and "It's the new girl who fainted," the other person replied.

I felt really nervous. I felt Elinor pressing my hand telling me it was all right, which made me more nervous.

“Warriors, tonight we are gathered for Rose, our new friend. Accept her with pleasure and lead her the way you were the first time you came. Let's find out Rose's mark and light the candles in her honor.”

With that, everyone applauded in pleaser, some whistled and others cheered. Elinor nodded for me to follow her as she left my hand and moved to the campfire on her right. She caught my arm as I nearly fell to my back and the large campfire erupted in flames as I drew nearer.

Pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket, Elinor began to read something I couldn't make out. Greek, perhaps? I was clueless. The fire roared blue when she threw the paper into it after reading it through. I was taken aback.

We moved to the left, to the location of the archery. A row of five targets was positioned in front of one another. I faced them while standing 15 feet away from them. A boy with a bow then appeared and said to Elinor, "The fire offered us this bow for Rose." 

My initial was carved right in the center of a lovely wooden bow. Though it felt very powerful, the string appeared relatively thin.

“And now, for the moment of truth.” With that, Elinor took the bow from the boys’ hands and handed it to me with a warm smile.

I took the bow, which felt incredibly heavy in my hands, confused. She nodded for me to aim for the target and handed me an arrow. Upon firing, the arrow entered the center red circle precisely and traveled through all five, striking them all on the ground. Everyone gasped in shock all at once.

 “This can’t be.” Muttered Elinor.

“Why? What’s wrong?” I asked. I could feel my heart starting to race. My hands felt shaky. I wanted to cry, but I stopped myself when I saw everyone else's horrified expression.

“Rose, you’re the elder huntress.” Said Elinor, pointing at the R in the middle of my wooden bow. The R wasn’t alone, now on top was a snake with its mouth opened wide. That’s a good answer to start with. I thought. I had no idea what being a huntress meant much less an elder-huntress.

“What does that mean?” I said, not taking my eyes off the snake. 

"One of the world's most formidable huntresses is the elder. They always have a doppelganger. With a single arrow, they can wipe out the entire globe. Our last known elder lived three millennia ago." Elinor said, her anxious expression never leaving mine.

I was really confused. I felt my stomach in a hundred twists.

“Everyone, you’re dismissed.” Said Elinor to the others, and all the other campers left except two.

Elinor then turned to me, looking as worried as I was.

“So, what happens next? Am I gonna die?” I asked. All this made me think of my doppelganger even though I had no idea what kind of circumstance I was in. She did warn me that I was in danger based on her terrified expression, but not in the way I had anticipated. 

“No, you won’t die. Once you unlock your true potential, once you learn your powers, no one can stop you. I’m worried for you Rose. Truly worried.” Said Elinor. I felt scared.

The two other campers were seven feet behind us as we gently began to move side by side in the direction of the campfire. Everything was calm until we were in front of the large campfire. The fire was not blazing, it was dead.

“Is it true about my doppelganger?” I asked still thinking about my dream.

“I’m afraid yes. We need to hear what the prophecy has to tell, but we have to wait for tomorrow”. Said Elinor.

Before I could ask what, the prophecy was, the fire burst back to life, flames roaring red. This time, the sound was more intense. Elinor and I were both frightened by the fire. She seemed just as perplexed as I did as I turned to face her. I turned my attention to the fire and noticed a very recognizable figure inside. 

I saw my doppelganger; she was wearing the same dress, but the color was blended with the flames. She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and appeared anxious. As she began to talk, it appeared as though she was speaking in multiple guises. It was creepier because she spoke in multiple voices at once.

“Rose,” she spoke and I felt fear washing over my body.

“You. It’s you. The one I saw in my dream.” I said a little loud. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. How was it possible?

“Rose, listen to me. You’re in danger- ”

“Congrats, you found out,” I said realizing her big eyes were locked with mine.

More flames roared.

“It’s not a joke. Meet me at Columbus Lore, we need to talk. I’ll explain everything you need to know.” And with that, she disappeared and the fire died.

What was happening? I looked over at Elinor and she looked speechless.

“We’re leaving in the morning after we hear the prophecy.” She said.

I never felt this scared. I was only sixteen and realized I had a very long journey. I was going to meet my doppelganger whom I met twice before. How bad could it be?