Over the next several days, the villagers of Ashbourne got to work. While there were only three serious, dedicated trackers, plenty of other serfs had enough experience to help them out. They scoured the forest, looking for signs of animal presence. If they had any doubt, they could always mark the location with a bit of colorful cloth and report it to one of the experts for further investigation.

  The nearby woods were teeming with all sorts of fauna. They surrounded the hamlet on all sides, with a single dirt road leading away towards the next settlement. It was a common sight in these lands. The westernmost villages served as oases of civilization in an endless sea of wilderness. Even the crown’s control was tenuous here.

  While Ashbourne and the surrounding woods still technically lay inside the Duchy of Lindridge, there wasn’t any solid border between Logres and the Gomera Forest. It was a dangerous place, full of angry, man-eating creatures and only experienced adventurers dared to venture deep into that place.

  Over the centuries, civilization slowly creeped up into the woods, but it was a slow process. Ashbourne itself was founded just a century ago. The first settlers were woodcutters, who chopped down the nearby trees for lumber. Over the years, their camp grew into a proper hamlet, until the local duke decided to reward one of his knights by gifting the growing community to one of his vassals. One of Rodger’s ancestors.

  With the passage of time, the progress was only slowing down. The deeper people ventured into Gomera, the deadlier the threats became. The beadts stayed away from large human communities, but small camps of woodcutters and colliers were fair game.

  Even today, there were several teams of men working somewhere in the vicinity, but only a handful of them went further than an hour or so away from Ashbourne. It was simply too dangerous and it wasn’t unheard of people going missing. Eaten by wolves. Or worse.

  While he wasn’t going to disobey a direct order, the king’s decision to remain here and continue exploring the vicinity gave Hakon a major headache. Teams of Royal Guards had to travel together with their monarch at all times, but they had to keep their distance at the same time. Lest they get in the way of the hunting. Keeping everything organized was a major hassle.

  Fortunately Kerryn was ready to help. With decades of adventuring experience under his belt, he knew how to react to even the most dangerous beasties that could be found in the area. He spent his free time educating the knights and always made sure to join his monarch for all of their outings.

  As soon as the king’s decision was made clear, Hakon met together with the adventurer to discuss the logistics of this operation.

  “Lindridge isn’t so bad,” Kerryn explained, “sure, there are plenty of animals here, but this isn’t the North. As long as we don’t venture too far out into Gomera, we shouldn’t encounter many truly dangerous monsters.”

  The captain grunted in acknowledgment. “And how much is too far?”

  The adventurer scratched his chin. “The deadliest creatures tend to stay deep in the woods. The truly large ones need a lot of space to roam and hunt. Lindridge is a little too populated for them.”

  Hakon raised his eyebrow. “Lindridge? Populated? The place is nearly deserted.”

  “Compared to Westbridge, or the South, sure,” Kerryn chuckled, “but if you’ve ever been to the North… that’s a place one could get lost in. Some settlements are located days apart.”

  “When you put it like that… But wouldn’t that mean there’s more targets here?” the captain asked, “peasants make for easier prey than deer, I’d imagine.”

  “In a way,” the adventurer admitted, “but not really. There have been wyverns and the like that show up here occasionally, but they mostly look for cattle. People are too scrawny. And they tend to fight back a little too much,” he joked, “plus with how many villages there are here, the local lords are quick to hire adventurers to deal with such threats.”

  Kerryn leaned over the table, where the man laid out a map of the surrounding area. “As you know, there aren’t really any solid borders between Logres and the Gomera forest. Everything is a little iffy. We tend to think of it as the last village or land that some lord lays claim too, but some people risk their lives and go further into the woods. Sometimes even on those same nobles’ orders.”

  “Yes, there have even been fugitives that tried to escape there from the law,” Hakon mused.

  “I can imagine you’ve never heard back from any,” the adventurer asked.

  The captain simply shrugged and smiled mysteriously.

  “Well, Langogne is the same,” Kerryn said, pointing to the map, “their Northern border is nearby, connecting with the Southern lands of Lindridge Duchy. The Gomera Forest extends much further, so this area is only a small corner of the entire woodland. And since it’s a corner, any monsters that decide to move here are at risk of facing both ours and Langognean defenders.”

  Hakon raised his head from studying the map. “Have you met any of those bastards?”

  “It happens,” the adventurer nodded, “but politics don’t matter out in the forest. We have our quests and they have theirs. There’s no reason to get in each other’s way. And if we’re after the same target, we might as well work together.”

  The captain frowned. “You’ve worked with those schemers?”

  Kerryn shrugged. “Not often, but it happens. Besides, you’re never really certain where other adventurers came from. Maybe they were Langognean, or maybe they were Miroti and simply hired by a Langognean lord for a single task. Things like that don’t matter out there.”

  “And I imagine you’ve never reported that back to the lord that assigned the quest did you?” Hakon accused.

  “Would it change anything?” the adventurer smirked, “the monster was slain and the villagers are safe. Who cares who I met in the forest. And if it happened that both us and the other party were after the same monster, it’s not like we have to split the reward. We get the just and fair Logres thalars, while they have to settle for whatever vile and treacherous coins they get in Langogne.”

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  The captain rolled his eyes. “And what’s the chance that any of those bastards are here right now?”

  “Low,” Kerryn replied, “like I said, Ashbourne is a little North. Maybe if we went deep enough into the woods, we might encounter some of their people, but we humans stick together. We won’t attack each other on sight. Besides, they wouldn’t risk getting so close to the border if they could help it.”

  “Could it be one of them that enchanted that damned deer?” Hakon suggested.

  “I’ve already spoken about it to Elvira,” the adventurer explained, “I don’t think so and she doesn’t either. This magic is far too strange for it to be cast by someone from their guild. But it’s too early to tell for now.”

  The captain grunted. “Still, we need to be ready to defend from them. Tell me, how many Royal Guards could an experienced party like that take out?”

  The men continued their discussion deep into the night. Based on Kerryn’s expertise, they started to develop some new tactics and formations more suitable to the forests around Ashbourne. Still, the adventurer kept repeating that encountering such enemies wasn’t likely. At least they’d be ready if he was wrong.

  While everyone else was working closely together, Varre, Rodger, Etty, and the three witches focused on the hunting. Every morning, the lord went through the reports sent in by the various trackers. His companions discussed it together and decided on the best target for a given day.

  The king was vital for each one of the trips. Despite what the others said, many still considered the primary goal of this journey to be an opportunity for the monarch to relax and hopefully recover some of his memories through his experiences. He had to ride his horse through the woods, breathe in the fresh air and try to recall his childhood in the process.

  Varre was more than happy to do so. He found the experience to be rather enjoyable. At least the part where he could freely explore the surrounding area. He finally understood why so many people found horse riding to be a fun hobby. He had to admit it was rather exciting.

  It also gave him an opportunity to practice more of his horsemanship. Most of the other knights had spent their entire lives training and he still had much to catch up on. Unlike Kerryn’s lessons, this wasn’t something that magical elixirs could speed up. Here, he had to build up his own muscle memory.

  The hunting was interesting too, though, mercifully, he didn’t have to face off a massive stag by himself each time. On a few occasions, Rodger offered to do it himself. Varre couldn’t be sure if he was showing off, or simply had enough waiting for his opportunity, but he was happy to let the lord go through with it. At least Etty’s father made sure to teach his guest something in the process.

  Elvira and the twins meanwhile carefully inspected each animal that was caught. They couldn’t be sure which ones were affected from a distance, so they had to do it after the end of each hunt. To make it even worse, it was much harder to prove that something didn’t exist, than that it did. They started with the eyes each time, but if they sensed nothing, it could mean that the enchantment was better hidden. Or that it was removed more carefully. Or that a spell was cast on another body part. Everything had to be tested.

  The girls spent at least thirty minutes inspecting each one of the two deer that were caught next. Eventually, they had to conclude that both were clean.

  Finally, on the third day, they managed to find what they were looking for.

  As soon as the animal perished, felled down by Varre’s sword for the first time, Elvira dismounted and approached. Her expression showed that she wasn’t very hopeful. She knew that her task wouldn’t be easy, but she was starting to feel like the mystery would remain unsolved.

  But while she was still about fifteen feet away from the carcass, she froze. “I feel it. This is it girls, come here!”

  Her apprentices jumped off their horses and quickly jogged towards their teacher. The three girls all knelt besides the stag, but the examination was quick.

  “It’s just as I thought!” the court mage exclaimed, holding her palm above the animal’s head, “it’s the eyes again. I think we got it!”

  After a short celebration, the deer was quartered and the specimen was sent to the makeshift laboratory in the wizards’ bedroom. At least there was a window there to air out the smell of blood.

  The investigation revealed some important insights. This spell was done in the exact same way as the last. In fact, despite the seemingly inexperienced and uneducated magician casting it, it was strikingly similar to the first. Perhaps whoever enchanted the eyes was following some procedures after all. They were simply far too strange and foreign for the local mages to understand.

  It also proved that this wasn’t just a one off coincidence. If two deer were affected, it was very likely there were others. So far, two were enchanted, while two were clean. Though with such a small sample size it was difficult to estimate any reliable data on the numbers.

  Still Elvira was more than happy to allow Rodger to try going after different animals next. She was curious if whoever placed this spell was skilled enough to achieve the same results on other creatures.

  Rodger was brimming with excitement. The trackers managed to stumble on an aurochs in the nearby woods and were eager to go after it before it ventured too far away. They knew how much their liege loved going after these creatures, so they made sure to keep following it in the meantime. Tomorrow, the group would finally get to face off against it.

  To prepare for this quest, Rodger gathered several more spears and lances for each participant. He even brought out a few bows and handed them out to his servants. He wasn’t going to sully his hands with such an ignoble weapon, but the commoners were welcome to.

  Varre too was excited at the prospect of finally meeting this mysterious monster. And slightly worried at all the extra armaments that the lord was bringing. The stag was already powerful enough. If so many more weapons were needed to slay this strange creature, just how dangerous could it be?

  When they finally arrived at the location designated by the tracker, the king was starting to get a little anxious. He didn’t like having to dismount his horse and leave his best avenue of escape behind when he had to sneak through the bushes to approach the expert.

  The truth ended up being rather disappointing. Hidden behind the bushes, and chewing on some grass,,l was something that resembled a bull.

  Sure, it was a large bull, with huge horns and a thick coat of fur, but seeing the massive skulls and hearing the excitement in the lord’s voice, the king had expected a little more.

  “There he is, the bastard,” Rodger said loudly, not caring about keeping his voice down.

  “You’re going to spook him,” Varre noted, though he only half whispered it. After his previous four deer hunts, he knew that the chase was part of the process, but it didn’t seem like any of the others were ready just yet.

  “Don’t worry, they’re not afraid of humans,” the lord replied.

  As if to prove his point, the aurochs raised his head and looked towards the source of the sound. It spotted the humans prowling nearby, but it simply huffed and returned to its meal.

  “Are we going to shoot it now?” the king gestured at the mounted archers in the formation.

  “You know that’s normally not my style,” Rodger winked, “besides, if we try that, we’d just get him mad. And you don’t want to do that without your horse.”

  “Then what do we do now?” Varre asked.

  “First, we get back on the saddles. But we’re going to have to spook it a bit.”

  The lord gave everyone a minute to check their equipment once more. Once they had mounted up on their horses again, he pulled out a horn and loudly blew into it. Then, everyone threw themselves into a sprint forward, aiming right at the aurochs.

  Though they’d soon find out that the animal was far from the most dangerous thing prowling the forest today.