Alanus

Unfortunately, finding Agron was much easier said than done.

Haganto sighed as he poured some rabbit stew into his bowl, causing Animo to climb out of his pocket and sniff after he jumped onto his arm. Even though they had only met each other a few days ago, the baby weasel’s ribcage was no longer visible and he had enough energy to not constantly need to nap throughout the day. Haganto had even managed to comb out his matted fur, though there were times he had accidentally been too rough, causing Animo to squeal and struggle till Haganto calmed him again. Animo didn’t make any moves to escape though, and he was pretty happy to play with Haganto later so the half-ogre figured he had been forgiven.

So when he sat back from his small campfire, Haganto carefully blew the steam off a spoonful of soup before holding it out towards Animo. The kit quickly crawled down to his wrist and eagerly dug into his first bite of stew. Haganto grinned and patiently waited until Animo was done before he partook of the meal. He sighed as his mind took him back to more solemn topics.

Haganto had hoped that he would find more unusual creature activities like the fleeing herd of cockatrices but so far, there had been none. He couldn’t find any other signs either, and as much Haganto would like to hope that meant Agron decided to lie low, he knew that wasn’t the case. Agron had attacked Erzu in her mountain lair and had also caused the harpy to flee from the coast. He was clearly done with lying low and was taking every chance to cause chaos, agony, and despair.

And the worst part is, with all the rivers intersecting each other in the Cruel Continent, Agron could be anywhere at any time if he wanted. Haganto could hear of him attacking a village far away in another kingdom and make his way over there, only for Agron to arrive exactly where he had been a mere half-day later.

If it wasn’t so dangerous, Haganto would just find a river and stick by it, hoping that Agron would take the bait and attack him. He might have to do that if he doesn’t find the creature soon.

There was possibly one other option though…

A rustle of leaves erupted into the calm atmosphere. Animo squeaked as he quickly turned towards the noise while Haganto quietly put the bowl and spoon down on the ground. His eyes peering into the dark terrain full of bushes, he reached back and grabbed the hilt of his club.

It could be nothing but-

“Ah, there was once a man who was not quite a man,” a voice suddenly sang cheerfully as the sound of a lute found themselves in Haganto’s ears. Haganto groaned as he let go of his club and placed his head in his hand.

He knew that voice all too well.

Then after another rustle of leaves, the lute stopped.

“Hello Haganto, I hope I didn’t alarm you too much.” Haganto looked up and standing in between a bush and his campfire, stood a tall and lean man who looked down at Haganto and Animo with a wide smile, still holding a lute in his arms. Despite his young features and his claims of not being more than twenty-five, his dark hair had a thin but long patch of silver hair that hung just above his right sky-blue eye. He wore a patched red tunic with a dirty gold vest, complete with black leggings, the traditional colors for a bard. The other telltale sign that he was a bard was the raven on his shoulder, that helped the traveling musician perform by echoing his words.

The bard’s name was Alanus, or Alanus the Silver Strand, and his raven went by Grimoire. And while Haganto sometimes wished they wouldn’t just visit him whenever they wanted, both Alanus and his raven were harmless.

“No, Alanus,” Haganto sighed with a shake of his head. “I assume you want some stew.”

“If it’s no trouble,” Alanus accepted as he sat down on the ground and when Haganto didn’t say otherwise, he took out a bowl out of his knapsack and held it out to him. Haganto just took the bowl and filled it up before giving it back without a word.

Haganto had met Alanus by chance a few years ago in an inn after defeating a griffin that had been terrorizing Chesternigan Path, a mountain pass that was the only connection between a mountain town and the rest of the world. The bard had quickly heard of his deeds and sang of how he saved the town from starving in the upcoming winter. He had earned no small amount of coins from that improvised song which is probably why after he was done, Alanus had come up to Haganto and begged him to tell him more about his life.

Surprised and honestly somewhat uncomfortable, Haganto told him about some of his hunts, like the harpy that took him a half-day to kill. But when Alanus asked him to regale him about his childhood, Haganto kept his lips closed and abruptly left the inn.

Haganto had thought that had been the end of that, but apparently not. For a few months later, while Haganto had been combing the swamp in search of a kelpie that had been drowning and eating traveling merchants, Alanus just popped out from behind a bush with a wide smile and a nonchalant greeting. Despite Haganto almost ripping his head off with his club out of instinct, Alanus just continued smiling, said he had written a new song about the half-ogre, and started singing.

Alanus’ song, though not welcomed, did attract the kelpie, so Haganto did suppose that the song wasn’t completely without merit. Even though Haganto had some trouble keeping the kelpie from going after the bard.

After that, he had Alanus swear that if he was going to pop out of nowhere like a groundhog, he had to give Haganto some kind of warning. Ever since Haganto would always hear Alanus sing the first line of that song he wrote about him before showing up. It was better but unexpected all the same.

Especially when he wasn’t in the mood for a friendly chat.

“Ah, your stew tastes wonderful, Haganto, quite refreshing after a long day of walking,” Alanus complimented as he dug into his meal with fervor. Then he directed his smile at Animo, who hadn’t taken his little eyes off Alanus and Grimoire ever since he arrived. “Looks like you finally have an animal companion. Have you named him yet?”

“Animo,” Haganto answered, causing the weasel kit to look back at him expectedly. Haganto’s mouth twitch as he rubbed Animo’s back in an attempt to comfort him. “Did you find me by chance or did you send Grimoire out to search for me again?”

“Haganto,” Grimoire suddenly spoke, resulting in Animo jumping in place before scurrying back into Haganto’s pocket. Animo didn’t go all the way in though, choosing instead to poke his head out and hiss at the raven.

“Hehe, a bit of both this time,” Alanus said as Haganto patted Animo’s head. Then unexpectedly, Alanus’s smile dropped a bit. “I visited Sarville some days ago.”

Haganto quickly stiffened but before he could ask the state of the village, Alanus continued.

“Don’t worry, Sarville is still safe. Even better, most of the inhabitants have chosen to stay within the village’s boundaries, and the ones who do venture out are cautious and only do so to maintain their livelihood or to keep Sarville running. Of course, I did hear some people grumble about how it’s probably all a hoax but even they aren’t brave enough to just consider it a rumor and live life normally.”

Then Alanus focused all of his attention on Haganto.

“So is it really true? Did you find confirmation that Agron is back?”

Haganto sighed.

“I haven’t seen the monster, but Erzu’s mind was falling apart before I even found her,” Haganto answered grimly. Alanus sighed.

“Can I assume that Erzu is dead, and would have died anyway even if you never found her?” When Haganto nodded in confirmation, Alanus stayed silent as he eyed the lute that he placed on the ground beside him earlier. “Well, I guess we just have to hope that Salith will not find out anytime soon. Or that her rage won’t take her beyond the Decaying Peaks.”

“That only happened once,” Haganto said as Alanus put down his half-full bowl of stew and picked up his precious lute.

“True, true,” Alanus admitted as he idly strummed the chords. “My grandfather once taught me a song about Agron. I never sang it myself to the public before, since it is obviously a tale that no one likes to hear in pleasant company. But since Agron is back, the song might be a good way to spread awareness. However, since Agron got locked away long before my grandfather was even born, there might be a chance that the song is not accurate, as much I don’t want to admit it.”

Then Alanus stopped strumming the cords and looked up at Haganto.

“You’re the monster hunter, and as such, more of an expert than I am. Would you like to hear my grandfather’s song and judge it for its accuracy?” Haganto thought about it for a moment as he looked back down at his stew, which was still mostly full. It didn’t take him long at all before he looked back up and nodded.

It would be up to the people if they believed Alanus or not, though even if they didn’t, hopefully, they would recall the words of his song if they came across any water or any sign of decay.

“Alright,” Alanus said as his smile grew back into his usual size. Then he strummed the strings on his lute one more time. “Let us begin then.”

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