The Divine Hunter

rowning, concerned.
“With claws sharp as daggers and teeth lethal as poison.”

“Probably panthers or wild dogs.
Or foglets, maybe.” Letho had voiced his opinion, but he knew he was wrong.

“No beast is strong enough to take them out that cleanly.
Foglets have different teeth.
And besides…” Roy scanned the scene of the massacre.
“I have a feeling there’s only one killer.
These aren’t the killing grounds.
Everything’s covered in grass, and there’s a lack of footprints here.”

Letho stopped asking him about the killer.
“If that’s the case, the killer must be as powerful as a witcher at their peak.
Do you still want to continue?”

Roy was in a dilemma.
“We have to do this whether we like it or not.
The troupe could get attacked at any time, and we’ll be right in the middle of it.
We have to at least find out what that thing is so we can prepare for it.” 

Roy knelt one on knee and plucked a handful of grass that was caked in red blood.
The killer’s blood.

“I have to tell Alan what we’re up to in case they get worried.
I’ll leave the tracking to you.”

***

After Roy had gone off to the troupe, Letho hobbled along the path for a few minutes and arrived at the source of the scent.
There was nothing there except for some craters on the ground around it and barren tung trees and messy footprints.
Most of them were the kikimores’ footprints, but there were a few gigantic footprints among them.
The most distinct part was how they only had three toes.

There was also something bizarre in the clearing’s center.
Green spheres the size of human fists huddled together tightly, but there was a smidgen of reddish-black among them, obviously caused by a claw.
Those were kikimore larvae, but they were destroyed, leaving nothing but sticky fluids and dead young kikimores.

“It doesn’t leave anything behind, huh?” Letho investigated a tung tree and saw some claw marks on the bark.
He wondered if they were left by the killer on purpose, and then his eyes gleamed.

***

The troupe members were starting to get restless when Letho came back.
Alan even came to talk to him.
“Please don’t stay away for too long next time, Letho.
Everyone’s been waiting for you.
You might not need this advice, since you two are experienced survivalists, but don’t leave the camp at night.”

Alan waited for their answer and only left when he got their guarantee.

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“What did you find?”

“I went back to the scene after you left and found something interesting.” Letho looked in Shire’s direction.
“The nest isn’t that far from Shire, and there’s frequent activity between both spots.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I found bones of livestock in those bodies, and also a human shirt.”

Roy was surprised to hear that.
“So that means the chief got it all wrong.
The villagers weren’t harmed by rusalki or fairies; these kikimores did it.” Then he looked confused.
“The killer’s doing them a favor? That’s weird.”