Chapter 31 - The Cabin

Hakuya and Reid’s journey through to the cottage was uneventful. The initial wide path through the forest was well used and simple to follow. It was a logging path, with deep ruts in the packed dirt for carts to carry lumber from deep within the forest. The cabin was surprisingly far north, four hours from the northeast gate of the city.

As they continued deeper into the woods the path became bumpier and more overgrown. The trees had thicker trunks and were taller the further they went into the forest. By the time they were nearing the cabin they were already not too far from the base of the Yonge mountains.

As they walked, Hakuya noticed that there was a slight limp in the Hunter’s gait. Reid would also occasionally gently rub his ribs as if they were sore. The Hunter clearly had suffered injuries during the previous night’s encounter, but he never complained or asked Hakuya for any assistance. On the contrary, he seemed to be in quite a good mood.

“This is quite peaceful!” Reid remarked with a smile as they crested the top of another hill, “I could get used to walking through woods like these.”

“Are the trees much different from where you’re from?” Hakuya asked.

“Oh, I don’t know anything about trees.” Reid said, “I was talking about the lack of monsters.”

Hakuya’s eyebrows knit in confusion, “Is that another one of your jokes?”

“Not at all.” Reid said, “Across the sea, monsters flourish in the wilds. The fact that you don’t have any monsters here is actually one of the strangest things about this continent.”

The edge of Hakuya’s lip twitched as he digested the comment.

“It’s the other way around. The fact that you have monsters is abnormal.” Hakuya sniffed, “Monsters shouldn’t exist in this world. I feel like you’re just leading me on.”

“Is that so?” Reid laughed, “I see now why they warned me not to talk to people here about monsters. To think even a Disciple of a Goddess finds the existence of monsters strange!”

“I didn’t say their existence is strange. I said they are unnatural. As a Disciple of Nature it’s a given that such things are destroyed to maintain balance.”

“Or perhaps having the monsters around is what’s balanced.” Reid suggested.

“Nonsense!” Hakuya scoffed.

Reid shrugged while grinning, saying in a playful tone, “Perhaps you’re right. Maybe one day you can visit my homeland and bring “balance” to it too.”

Hakuya shook his head, sighing as he tried to decide whether the Hunter was actually serious or not. Even if he was, Hakuya found it hard to imagine a land where the Exalted who lived there did not seek out monsters to destroy them, for the benefit of all.

Reid didn’t comment further, instead taking the lead on the path while humming a cheerful tune to himself. Hakuya felt aggravated at the Hunter’s nonchalant dismissal of the topic, feeling as if he was being mocked. A spark went off in his brain as he considered something about his new friend. At some level Reid probably enjoyed getting on other people’s nerves, finding the exact words needed to rile them up.

Hakuya sighed inwardly as he tried to take his mind off of the topic. He brought his thoughts back to the task at hand. Investigating the parasite, which had infected two members of the same family. In addition to finding the missing father and son, he hoped that this trip to their cabin would give them further insight into the problem.

Dr. Ilec knew the Kent Family well, having taken care of them since before their children were born. He had told Hakuya their story in snippets throughout the days that he had been helping out at the clinic.

Anabelle Kent was a cleaner who tended to the houses of middle class families in the east end of the city. Her husband was Peter Kent, a woodcutter who worked deep in the mountains. Both of them worked six days a week and had very little time to spend with their children. Peter was often away for several days at a time, sometimes even weeks, but occasionally the kids would go up to their cottage to spend a day or two with him. Anabelle, who worked ten hour days, was rarely able to go up with them.

Despite their hard work, they could barely afford the small townhouse they were living in. Now that the children were older, Lucelle would occasionally help her mother with cleaning, while Luke assisted his father. This of course interfered with the children’s studies, but oftentimes the assistance was necessary to keep food on the table.

Lucelle was a quiet, meek girl who even at the age of sixteen still hid behind her mother when meeting strangers and rarely voiced her own opinion. Her older brother Luke had a good heart and always tried hard in his studies. He often spoke about his goals for the future.

Hakuya ruminated over the Kent family’s situation. It wasn’t much different than how peopled lived in the bigger cities in Huan. Lower class families worked hard for little pay. Their status in life was fixed because they were too busy surviving to find opportunities to grow and break out. It was a tough life, without having to worry about monsters and evil parasites on top of it.

Hakuya adjusted the wide, conical straw hat on his head as a small cottage at the foot of a stream came into view.

“That’s it.” He said.

“So it is.” Reid replied simply.

The sun was directly overhead, beaming down brightly on the two Exalted as they observed their surroundings carefully. Song birds chirped from the canopy, a light breeze rustled through the trees, whose branches were budding with new spring growth.

The cottage was of simple construction, made of stacked logs and mudding. It was comprised of a central main building and two smaller attached sections that looked like they were added later, most likely bedrooms or storage. The roof was two storeys high and sharply steepled with flat rectangular shingles. There were several windows set into the walls, all of which were closed and shuttered. The center section was clearly older than the others, which had been added recently. The building was overall in good repair. It had clearly been built with the intention of being more than a simple place for the woodcutter to stay while he worked in the mountains, and over the years had been renovated as opportunity allowed.

There was a covered fenced off area with a several empty horse stalls, a wide tree stump for chopping firewood, and a small path that wound down to the stream thirty meters away. Stacks of lumber were piled up along the fence and a single horse-pulled cart. There was no sign of horses or any people from the path.

“Up to this point, it’s been peaceful.” Hakuya said. “There aren’t any signs of disturbance in the forest.”

Reid sniffed the air sharply several times. It was a habit of his that Hakuya had noticed once they entered the forest. At first Hakuya thought he might have a cold, but the sniffing was sporadic, and primarily at times when the Hunter was taking special note of his surroundings.

“There’s been something strange in the air for a while now.” Reid countered, “I can’t lock onto it. The storm’s washed everything out.”

“Let’s see if anyone’s home.” Hakuya led the way down the muddy path.

From an onlooker’s perspective they seemed to be leisurely walking down the path, but inwardly both men were on high alert. They had come to the conclusion that it was very possible that at least Anabelle’s husband was infected by the parasite, and likely the missing son as well. This deep into the forest, there might also be other organisms infected with Devileyes. They still had no idea what the mechanism behind the parasite’s propagation was, or how fast it spread.

They approached the cabin without speaking to each other.

Even before they reached the fence at the front of the cabin though, both men sensed that something was off.

Reid caught the scent of death and corpses in the air. Too subtle for a normal person or even Hakuya to notice, but to Reid it was pungent and obviously originated from the cabin. In addition, the smell of blood and frankincense hung faintly in the air. He glanced over to Hakuya, who looked equally alert.

As a Cleric of Yuima, Hakuya was sensitive to corruptive forces. It was a trait that he had gained as an Apprentice, which was further bolstered from his advancement to Disciple. He slowed his pace as he felt a clear demonic aura emanating from the cabin.

This was not a result of the Devileyes, because the parasite itself did not corrupt the spiritual body of its host, it only consumed it for sustenance. Its influence thus did not trigger Hakuya’s sensitivity to corruption. However, Hakuya recognized the energy. It was the same as the energies invoked by Anabelle in her unconscious mutterings praising the Demonic God of Life, Deka. However, the aura coming from the cabin was many times stronger.

Through different means, both men had come to the conclusion that the situation inside the cabin was extremely dangerous!

While still maintaining a casual stride, Reid drew the revolver from his belt, holding it at his side pointing downward. There was no aggression or caution in the action. The weapon came out leisurely and naturally as if he had pulled out keys or a coin purse instead. Hakuya rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, trying to mimic Reid’s nonchalant vibe. At this moment he was glad that he had recruited the more battle hardened Hunter for assistance.

They carefully watched the slits of the darkened shutters for any signs of movement within as they approached. Hakuya motioned to the back door, but Reid shook his head, pointing towards the front. Hakuya nodded in agreement. He had no idea why they were going through the front but he deferred the decision to the more experienced Hunter. They approached the door without sensing any other irregularities. This close to the cabin, even Hakuya was able to smell the stench of blood coming from within.

Reid reached out for the handle and pushed it gently.

The door swung open quietly, revealing a dimly lit interior. The light from within flickered softly with an orange glow. Without a doubt, the scent of death and corruption originated from within. Reid lead the way, his revolver still held seemingly casually at his side. They stepped into the cabin, their eyes taking a moment adjusting to the dark interior.

Immediately, their eyes focused on a strange looking altar that had been erected in the middle of the room. It was pitch black and appeared to be made of numerous vines intertwined together to form a two meter wide circular ‘table’ with a single leg. It seemed to have grown out of the ground, through a splintered hole in the floor planks.

On top of the altar were a dozen lit candles spaced evenly around the edge. In the center was a large bowl carved from the bone of a giant creature. Its smooth, pock marked surface was covered in old rust coloured stains, and it was filled almost completely with blood. In front of the bowl were seven long sticks of incense that emitted a steady stream of smoke. They had not been lit for long - more than two thirds of the sticks remained.

The regular furniture in the cabin was crammed and piled against the walls, pushed hastily to the side by whoever had set up this ritual. Their upturned and irregular forms cast strange shadows and silhouettes around the room.

drip.

A ripple spread across the black surface of the blood in the bowl as a drop of blood fell into the altar from above. Their eyes looked up in unison at the steepled ceiling that was shrouded in darkness.

Above them over a dozen human bodies hung motionlessly in a forest of disembodied eyes.