Aaron Chapter 11
After a few moments, he returned to Kian who was rubbing the back of his head but otherwise looked just fine. “Who was that fellow?” Aaron asked, glimpsing back the way he had come.
“I don’t know,” Kian admitted. “But I’ve never encountered someone so strong.”
“Or so fast.”
“You don’t think he could be a… Dark One?” Kian asked, finally moving his hand off the back of his head.
“No, I don’t think so,” Aaron said quickly, though he wasn’t sure. If Ward really was a Dark One, wouldn’t he have destroyed them? Why would he offer an explanation for the English’s reaction to the Dark Ones? No, he didn’t seem to be evil—just leery of trusting anyone. And definitely not human, though what he might be, Aaron had no idea.
“Come on,” Kian insisted, tugging on Aaron’s sleeve. “Let’s go visit our parents and then head back to our loving wives.”
Aaron held back a chuckle at his sarcasm, and with one last look at where the dark-haired man had disappeared, he followed Kian back the way they had come.
His mother had been in a better mood than Aaron had seen her in several weeks. She’d just received a letter from Genty, letting her know that she was doing well. Having married an American man a few months ago, she was expecting her first child, and Aaron couldn’t be happier for his older sister who had always taken such good care of him.
While his mother was doing better, Granddad’s health was rapidly deteriorating. Lack of nutrition and rest had paid its toll, and Aaron realized it wouldn’t be too much longer before he’d have to find a way to take care of his mother and grandfather as well as himself and Aislyn, which wouldn’t be easy with no potatoes. He considered approaching his older brother, Channing, to see if he could also help, but Channing’s wife had just given birth to their third child, and Aaron couldn’t imagine trying to provide for three wee ones with all that was going on around them, let alone being partially responsible for two elders.
Aaron and Kian took off for home by way of the road that meandered past a few small ponds and a stream, thinking they might try their hand at catching some fish. Though most lords forbid anyone from fishing on their property, there had been no such decree here just yet, and occasionally a family might make it another day on the grace the water provided. They had no poles and knew their chances were slim, but they may as well take that path back as opposed to the other route; it was only slightly longer and much more scenic.
“What do you make of that man in the alley?” Kian was asking as they wound their way over the rocky terrain. “Now that you’ve had a chance to think about it.”
“I don’t know what to think,” Aaron admitted. “It does slightly remind me of something you said, though, years ago.”
“What’s that?” Kian asked, glancing back over his shoulder as he led the way down the narrow path.
“Something about a… hunter,” Aaron recalled. “I wasn’t quite sure what you were talking about back then, but it stuck with me.”
Kian looked confused. “I don’t recall that conversation.”
“It was when we were kids, a long time ago. You said your grandmother mentioned that the agreement between the Dark Ones and the Order had something to do with hunters.”
Stopping to turn and face him momentarily, Kian shrugged. “Hunters?” he repeated, “Huh.” He turned and continued on his way, Aaron following. “Well, I believe I said it, but I don’t know what it means.”
“Me neither,” Aaron reluctantly admitted. “I wish we could have caught up to that Ward fellow, though. I think he may have been able to tell us more.”
Kian nodded in agreement. “Maybe we could go back to the tavern in a day or two and see if he’s around. The others seemed to know him; they knew his name, anyway.”
Aaron was just about to agree when they came over a ridge and froze. There at the base of the line below where they were standing, in a clearing near the lake, stood two sinister figures hovering over three little girls who were backed against a tree, their wee bodies shaking in fright.
The two larger figures were dressed like villagers, and in fact, Aaron thought he recognized one of them from church, but their appearances were altered, and once they realized they were being watched, their heads slowly turned to face the interlopers.
Their eyes were sunken black holes, their mouths deformed and elongated. Sharp white fangs glistened in the daylight, and their mouths were coated in a thick red substance. They were taller than any men Aaron had ever seen before, but their bodies were stretched out so that their necks reached out in front of their chests, their heads bobbing above them. Even as he stared, Aaron realized one of them was shifting his shape again, becoming even taller and more drawn-out.
Aaron looked at Kian whose eyes were like saucers. Though he could tell his friend was just as terrified as he was, there was no question both of them knew what they must do. Having taken the attention off of the children, Aaron shouted to the girls, “Run!” and then without thinking of the consequences, sprinted right at the closest of the two Dark Ones. Kian followed suit, and Aaron could hear his footsteps pounding the rocks behind him.
The monsters looked confused at first; even though the children would be easier prey, the men seemed to be taunting them. They turned to face the approaching pair as the girls scurried behind the trees and off into the ridge-line, and just as Aaron and Kian neared the undead, the two friends turned and began to sprint away toward a copse of trees, running as fast as humanly possible.
