A short story by Steven Scott

The girl’s crumpled body lay in his arms. Every breath she took threw a flicker of agony across her face. He had dragged her from the scene and into a small outcropping in the rocks. The arrow had struck the base of her spine and blood surged from the wound like a broken dam. The trail it left led straight to their hiding spot, but he hoped the woods were dark enough to make following it difficult. 

“Autumn, what do I do?” She hadn’t spoken since she screamed his name and pushed him out of the way of whistling demise. It seemed this hadn’t changed. 

She took in a sudden breath. More blood trickled from her mouth as she tried to speak. “A-aug…ust. Kill him. D-don’t let him … extinguish your light.” As soon as she had said her peace, her own light flickered away and he was left with the lifeless body of the girl he had never been separated from. They had shared a womb and everything that followed for fifteen years. He was paralyzed just as she had been moments ago.

Live! A voice commanded inside his head. Was it his sister? He didn’t know, but he knew he must act upon it. 

A snap rang through the forest like the crack of a whip. There was no time, he had to leave. Dawn would not fall victim to Dusk this time.

He gave his sister one last goodbye and then tore from the cover of the rocks. The blood red moon was full tonight, hidden in the sun’s umbral shadow. Though the forest was dense, it still cast an eerie light onto the scene. Through the many shadows, he was able to retreat unseen, though the hunter did not require sight to track his prey.

August ran in circles around the ancient trees in an attempt to foil his tracks. The night air was still. In the silence every drop of dew could be heard falling from leaf to leaf until it penetrated the earth and began the cycle anew. He knew the hunter could hear him, but he hoped he had bought himself time. 

He began to run again, following the outstretched arms of the trees that all pointed him in the same direction. They knew his plight. They knew what this night meant; someone was going to die. This time, August was determined to make that person the Dusk Hunter.

Before long he had lost his way. The forest seemed never-ending, for he and Autumn had never traveled this deep. These were wild lands, unexplored and uninhabited, or so he thought. There was a soft thud, as if something had just leapt from a low hanging branch. His eyes darted frantically, straining to see in the dim crimson light. He dared not speak, as the Hunter could be nearby. He waited for whatever it was to reveal itself. It did. 

He saw the red eyes first. Threatening in the dark. Then the long snout. His heart raced as he thought of what it might be. Would he truly die like this? Being pursued by a relentless hunter and eaten alive by a wolf. As it left the shadows however, he realized it wasn’t a wolf at all. The orange creature bounded towards him with its tail twirling in excitement.

A fox, he thought. He let out a sigh of relief. Though too soon. Footsteps could be heard nearby causing the fox to throw its head up attentively. It began to dart away, but stopped a few paces ahead as if to say, “coming?”

Without hesitation August followed the animal through the forest. The journey was difficult. Human influence hadn’t reached these wild lands. There was no footpath to follow and no familiar landmarks to orient himself. The fox led him though thorn thickets and over logs covered in moss. Where was it ta-

The forest blurred as he was hurled toward the ground, which he hit hard, but it wasn’t flat. The slope led into a valley of fallen leaves, which he rolled into violently. Leaves that normally would have been orange and yellow were rubies in the moonlight. They flew through the air in a bloody explosion as he finally came to a halt beneath them. 

He laid there a while, until the world stopped spinning. Slowly, he sat up  and held his head. It pounded like a beating drum. Looking around he saw the fox approaching him with his head bent down gazing sorrowfully. “I’m sorry,” it seemed to say as it moved its glance to August’s leg. 

Blood gushed from a deep cut on his thigh. He needed to stop the bleeding. Pulling the tunic over his head, he tied it around his leg tight enough to stem the flow, at least for the moment. The fox ran circles around him as he tried to get back on his feet, and he did, with some effort. He looked down at his arms and chest, taking in the bruises and cuts from the fall. He was in no condition to continue running; he needed rest and somewhere to hide from the hunter.

“How much farther,” he whispered to the creature. 

Excitedly, it stuck out its nose in the direction leading away from the slope. It appeared this valley was its home.

The stillness of the forest he had grown up in didn’t extend to this place. It seemed full of life, even in the red light of the blood moon. Bird nests littered the tree branches and beautiful flowers grew in droves around the trunks. He was able to smile for the first time that night. 

As they made their way across the valley he noticed something that was out of place. It was most definitely man made.

He stopped following the fox and headed in its direction. The orange creature made a noise of protest but August didn’t care. He needed to know what it was. He could make out details as he got closer. There was a hastily constructed fence that stood barely high enough to reach his knees, and it formed a circle, leaving an opening on one side to allow entry. Inside were an array of rocks and boulders that were evenly spaced apart. Each had a name carved into them, and he froze when he recognized two of them.

Autumn Dawn                         August Dawn

This was the Dusk Hunters graveyard. The place where he displayed his annual trophies. There were at least seventeen stones in the circle. Each with the name of someone who had fallen victim to the Dusk Hunter on the night of the full moon. He fell before his sister’s stone and let flow the unshed tears from all the night’s traumas. This year would be different. August would take up the torch of these fallen souls and wield it against their murderer. No more lives would be lost in the name of the greater good. With every soul sacrificed to the moon mankind would fall further into darkness. The light in his soul and the light of all the fallen would end it once and for all. 

Until now the fox had only observed him from a distance, but suddenly it darted in front of him and pointed its nose back toward the slope. August could hear the leaves before he could see them. Someone else was sliding into the valley. He got to his feet and made an impulsive decision to take the stone bearing his name. It was heavy but not unbearable. Together they ran to the opposite side of the valley where was led to a spot with a collection of vines and bushes decorating a stone wall. The fox leapt up to the wall and passed through it. 

“Where did you go?” He whispered, a note of hysteria accompanying his words. Approaching the wall, he pushed aside a few of the vines and realized it wasn’t a wall at all. It was a cave entrance covered by years of overgrowth. A chill ran down his spine as he closed the vines behind him. It was as if his life was spared by a matter of seconds.  He sat a few yards from the entrance and rested his head against the cave wall. Though the chill returned when he heard the voice.

“August Dawn!” The Dusk Hunter was close to the cave. “I know you can hear me. You should be honored that the moon goddess has chosen you as her sacrifice. Your death will be a noble one for the greater good of all mankind. Face it with honor and don’t sully this beautiful moment by fleeing. You cannot escape.”

August was at the mouth of the cave now. Listening to the hunter’s voice. He was close but not close enough to sense August’s presence. 

“You will not escape!” The Hunter said, closer this time. “Nor can you hide.” A hand ripped through the curtain of vines and clamped around his neck. The hand slowly progressed through the opening to reveal the Dusk Hunter himself.

No one had ever lived to tell of what the hunter looked like. But now, as August looked into the man’s black soulless eyes, he knew why. He was no man, but a monster sent by death. He could feel his soul being sucked out though his own eyes and pouring into the thing before him. Is that how he stayed alive? Feeding off the lives of others. Extinguishing lights and leaving only darkness. How had he come to this?

There was a loud yelp and blur of orange and white. The hunter dropped August and stepped back. The fox dangled from his hand, and black blood flowed from the wound. Wasting no time, August picked up the rock he had carried and smashed the monster over the head with it. It fell to the floor in a cry of agony. Though it was cut short as Dawn brought down the rock one final time.

The monster disintegrated to dust and released all the souls it had devoured. August felt the life return to him and he could see the golden glow around his pupil in the reflective eyes of the fox. 

It was over. The moon faded to grey and disappeared over the horizon, giving way to a radiant sunrise unlike any before it. It was the dawn of a new day and August would ensure it stayed that way.