The ringing of the bells filled the night, and immediately Lilura's bloodied hands stilled, the fire before her glimmering in her golden eyes as a smile snaked up her face.
"They are back," she whispered and sprang up to her feet.
"Lilura," her grandma called, pushing another stick into the fire, "you must finish cleaning the meat——"
"Do you not hear that, grandma?" she asked as she washed her hands hurriedly in a bowl of water. "They are back from the hunt!" She giggled, backing out of the kitchen. "The meat can wait! Join us this time, Grandma. It will be fun."
With that, she turned and ran as fast as her feet could carry her, out of the house and into the center of the village, where many had already gathered and were hailing the returning hunters. She pushed through the crowd, her mind racing with excitement as she searched for her father and her husband. She saw her father first - the dark-skin, tall, bald-headed man with a stern look, blue eyes that twinkled only after every successful hunt. They twinkled now, with the end of a poison-laced chain in his hands that fully wrapped a monster in its grip.
It was the biggest they had ever caught.
This was a great hunt!
Her smile broadened, and she ran towards her father. "Father! Welcome back, and may the Ancestors bless you for honouring us."
"Ny'ka. My Flower," laughter rumbled in his heart as he pressed a kiss to her forehead and pulled her into an embrace.
"I must follow you to the next hunt. I am ready. I have practiced, I have trained, I promise—"
"You are so impatient, Flower. The Ancestors are pleased with your eagerness to take this path. Let me address my people first."
She laughed and nodded. He moved forward, pulling his captive along, and her gaze fell upon him. Red eyes like those of a serpent, strips along his grey skin like lava tearing through rocks. Stripes. That was the first time she would be seeing that. He had scales around his face, too, and collarbones. What type of monster was he?
He staggered defeated, following the tug of her father on the chains, but he kept his eyes, and an eerie feeling washed down her skin.
A hand cupped her neck from behind, and a pair of lips pressed against hers. She took in a deep breath, kissing him back, the thoughts of the creepy monster now forgotten. "Delroy, my love!" She turned to him fully. Her hands cupped his face as she tried to see if he had been hurting anywhere.
"I am fine." He laughed. "I have missed you. You were on my mind every night—"
"On mine, every time."
He smiled, his face reddening. "What did he say about you joining the hunt? If the next hunt isn't with you, I will not go."
The Hunt would usually take a long time. A moon or more Moons. It was a worthy sacrifice, after all, the Hunt was to clear the land of the monsters that plagued it; otherwise, they would take over, and everyone's lives would be in danger. They were creatures of darkness, and if left unchecked, they would infect everyone with their darkness. It was the way of their ancestors to make sure that would never happen; it was their way of life to maintain order.
The highest attainment anyone could have was to be a Hunter; to be a hunter was to receive the Ancestors' blessings, and Lilura wanted that; she wanted it so much, maybe more than even her life.
"I think this time, he might let me."
"I will miss your hair." He pulled his fingers through the lines of her cornrows, and her fingers toyed with his short brown hair.
"It will be an honour to wear it like yours——"
"Delroy!" Her father's commanding voice cut her off. "Bring the other monster!"
He nodded and he started walking off immediately, but not before whispering to her, "Tonight, you and I."
She blushed, only for that eerie feeling to wash down her spine once again when her gaze fell upon the other monster that was held captive in Delroy's chains.
Her skin was a dull purple, glittering too. She had no stripes, but she was just as scary.
They were different and horrifying with their claws, fangs, scales, tails, serpent-like eyes, weirdly shaped ears, and their abnormal heights.
The monsters always had different features; this was the first time she had seen these two types.
She looked away quickly to her father, who was now at the center of the circle, as some people prepared the spikes upon which the heads of the monster would be mounted.
Her father began his speech, and Lilura listened to every word as she was certain she had for all 23 years of her life. Delroy snuck behind and pulled her into an embrace as the entire village listened. She rested her head against his chest, her gaze moving from one bloodied monster to the next.
"People of Valka, we bring home to you, monsters!"
"AY-HU-HA! AYHU-HA! AY-HU-HA!" The people hailed, jamming their weapons against the ground as they beat their chests. Lilura joined in, slamming her fists against her chest as she shared a smile with Delroy, who smiled back.
Her father raised his head, and they all went quiet.
"Every monster that we kill, we honour our ancestors. We rid the land of the darkness that would consume us otherwise. It is the path. For every hunter that we have lost, we do not grieve, for they are not dead! They rest in the bosom of the ancestors! They live with the ancestors! They join the ancestors!"
"AY-HU-HA! AYHU-HA! AY-HU-HA!"
"Are you not ready to live for the will of the Ancestors?!"
"WE ARE!" They all shouted in response.
"Are you not ready to fight for the will of the Ancestors?!"
"WE ARE!"
"Are you not ready to die for the will of the Ancestors!'
"WE ARE!"
"Are you not to join the Ancestors!"
"WE ARE!!!"
"IT IS NOT A CHOICE, IT IS OUR DESTINY!" Then he paused and looked right at her. "Lilura," he extended this sword in his hand towards her, "come and accept your destiny."
Lilura froze. It was happening. He was letting her be a hunter.
"Go," Delroy said from behind her, and only then did she realize that she still hadn't moved yet. She hurried to him, took the sword, and he signaled for her to go to the female monster.
She did.
With her heart racing in her chest, she looked around, hoping that her grandma would be in the crowd, but she wasn't; instead, it was only her husband.
Well, he was enough.
"To hunt for the ancestor is to die for the ancestors,' she whispered to herself, her grip tightening around the hilt of her sword. It was a rite of passage for every hunter to kill a monster and be bathed in their blood. It was finally her turn. "And to die for the ancestors is to join the ancestors."
With that, she raised her sword, but it froze in the air —she froze when she saw the tears in the eyes of the monster.
Something in her shifted. Something strange.
All that she had been taught rushed through her mind, and she tried to stay focused, but she just couldn't.
The growls from the other monster distracted her too.
People were beginning to mumble, and knowing that she needed help, her father came to her, his voice low as he spoke.
"They are full of darkness, My Flower. Whatever you are feeling is a trick, it is a test, their dark magic, and you must overcome it to be a hunter. They are nothing like us; look at it, we are not the same. It does not deserve to live. If you spare it, then you are demanding the curses of the ancestors. You do not want that, Lilura. It is our destiny to rid the land of their darkness. Remember what they would do to us if we don't kill them. Do not fail me, Flower, do not fail your ancestors."
He took a step back after that.
She nodded, the fire once again ignited in her.
"It is not a choice, it is my destiny!" With that, she sent her sword down swiftly, and the head of the monster rolled, blood splattering on the ground.
The village hailed, filled with happiness, but not for long.
Growls ripped from the throat of the other monster, and fire unleashed from every stripe.
Chaos consumed the land.
Lilura had only blinked, but the next moment she opened her eyes, and there was blood splattering from her father's mouth, with her sword in his stomach, the monster holding her hand in the attack.
Her hands trembled as he pulled out the sword, the weapon slipped from her grip, and she fell to her feet as she screamed in agony.
"Ring the bells! Ring the bells!" People screamed as the havoc continued.
The blood of the villagers turned the soil red, their screams echoing into the night, fire consuming all it could around her.
"No, father, no!"
"I—" Blood splattered from his mouth. "Join the ancestors." He smiled.
She stood up and looked around. Bodies upon bodies, she could still hear some villagers cry in agony, and now she could hear the bells ringing.
Where was Delroy? Was he dead too?
She coughed, the smoke filling her lungs. If she stayed here any longer, she would die.
"Grandma!" She remembered suddenly. She had to go and protect her.
With tears in her eyes and a last look at her father, she picked up the sword, still dripping with her father's blood, and ran towards the house, hoping to find her alive.
But before she was able to run far enough, the monster was standing right in front of her. Without a second thought, she drove her sword through him, but that never happened; the sword melted at the contact with his skin.
Before she could question things, a hand jammed down on her neck, and darkness consumed her.
The last thing she heard was the bells… ringing.