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The hour of twilight looms overhead making the sky shades of indigo, orange and pink. The hunter awakens from his daytime slumber. Normally there would be warm cozy laughter around him, but this winter has not been kind to him. The only sounds he hears now are the creaking floorboards beneath his lonely feet and the cold whispers of a draft that had not been there before. He solemnly walks over to his chair and slumps down into it, holding a locket to his chest.

“Life just isn’t the same without you my dear Persephone.”

He glances over at his favorite shotgun.

“Today might be the day that the hunter becomes the hunted,” he whispers to himself as he drifts back into a deep sleep.

“Damn, got away again! This isn’t like me. I never lose a trail like this.”

The hunter rises from his blind.

“I guess I’ll just head back home. I’ll have to try again tomorrow.”

Gathering his supplies and his favorite shotgun, he takes his time returning home. His gun is a gift from his wife. She had sent out for it specially and had the barrel engraved, “To my sworn protector.”

The hunter glances down at his gun while walking, tears welling up in his eyes.

“I failed you my love. I couldn’t protect you.”

Arriving back at his cabin, he drops his supplies inside and sits against the wall.

“I can’t do this anymore. I don’t want to be here anymore.”

He pulls ammunition from his bag, loads his gun and turns the barrel to face him.

“This is it, goodbye cruel world.”

*BANG!*

The hunter leaps up from his chair and finds his hanging cookware has been knocked down. He jerks his head around trying to spot an intruder. He runs over to grab his gun and checks to see if it’s loaded. When he lifts his head, he is met with a face full of feathers. After being spun around, his feathered intruder perches on the cooking rack.

“What the- how did you get in here?”

“Hoo hoo?”

The hunter’s intruder is a bright white barn owl with golden tipped wings, larger than any owl he had seen.

“I was just… dreaming…”

The hunter’s face looks relieved.

“I don’t understand how you managed to get inside, but you can’t stay here.”

“Hoo Hoo?”

“Yeah, you you. You have to leave now.”

“Who, me?”

“Yes you! You don’t belong- wait, did you just speak to me?”

“Who, me?”

“Yes you!”

“I believe it is you who is speaking to me,” replied the owl.

“Who, me!?”

“Yes you! You let me in your house. I apologize for knocking over your cooking pans.”

“Wait, I was asleep. I couldn’t possibly have let you in.”

“But you did. Did you not notice me when you came back from your hunt?”

“I haven’t hunted in months. Not since my wife…”

“You were about to do something awful, so I had to do something to wake you.”

“How did you know I was… Wait, were you looking in my dream? Am I still dreaming? WAIT, I’m talking to a freaking owl! This must be a dream!”

“Oh my, you’re quite confused I see. Let me help you understand. Life… is a dream, and when we dream, where do we go? The answer is… anywhere. When we sleep, we can be anywhere at any time and I caught you just in time.”

“So, according to you, I’m still dreaming and that this isn’t real.”

“Nothing is real actually and that’s the point. You can imagine anything and have it become real.”

“Okay, say I believe you, does that mean I could bring back my wife?”

“Hoo Hoo? Has she gone missing?”

“You could say that…”

The hunter takes a deep breath.

“When I met Persephone, she was to be married to a man named Luke C. Helling, who belongs to one of the richest families around here. Persephone is from a poor family so when Luke showed his interest, her family arranged for her to be his wife.”

“Hoo Hoo, let me guess, she had no say in the matter and was unhappy with the decision?”

“Unhappy? Well, that’s a light way of putting it. Luke is a tyrant. A spoiled rich boy who has never faced a single problem in his life. Meanwhile, Persephone worked very hard to support her family. Her sense of character and strength is larger than life.”

“Hoo, I see. So how did you two meet?”

“The Hellings hired me to supply meat and furs to their businesses and I served as a hired gun for extra security. They paid me very well. I was out delivering my goods and went to the main residence to get my pay. Normally the staff answers the door, but this time it was Persephone who answered.”

“Hooooo, love at first sight then, how romantic Mr. Hunter.”

“Tch, I don’t know about love, but I do know that she wasn’t meant to be there with Luke. She invited me in while I waited for my payment to arrive. She made me the finest tea I had ever had and kept me company. I could tell from looking into her hazel green eyes that she was not happy there, even with all the fine luxuries and beautiful outfits she had. She had bruises on her face and other markings that suggest that Luke abuses her. I normally don’t talk much when I’m out there, but I couldn’t help myself from asking her about her life. It took off from there. We would meet secretly every time I had a delivery. I taught her how to shoot my guns, identify animal tracks and she enjoyed every moment she spent with me.”

The hunter picks up his engraved gun and shows the owl.

“She sent word out to the best gunsmith she could find and had this made for me. It’s tarnish proof, dirt and water resistant, and specially engraved. It’s the best gift I had ever been given.”

“So what happened? Were you two found out?”

“I didn’t always used to live here. I had a large estate closer to the town. Like I said, the Hellings paid handsomely and I had a bit of an eye for luxury, but all that changed when I met Persephone. She became the only importance in my life. On the last delivery, Persephone was nowhere to be found. She didn’t meet at our usual spot and I feared the worst. I was met by a courier with a note from Persephone that said to “meet me where the God trees merge.”

“Hoo, is this cabin in that spot?”

“Precisely. There are four giant oak trees whose roots create an interconnected bed, and on top of that bed, I built this cabin. When I met Persephone that day, she had prepared for a small private ceremony for her and I to be wed. She told me that she would be leaving Luke once I had finished building. I thought that we’d be far enough away and that we’d be safe, but I was wrong. Luke had sent out agents to kidnap Persephone and they took her back to him. It all happened so quickly, I didn’t even have a chance to react. But now, I’m ready to find her. White and golden owl, will you help me?”

“Hoo! Yes, that’s what I came here to do! Call me Thena, if you will.”

As the dusk fades into night, the hunter creates a plan to get Persephone back. He writes a letter to her with the instruction to meet him at Styx Court in town. He gives the letter to Thena for her to deliver. He gathers sulfur, phosphorus and black gunpowder to make a few non-lethal bombs with timed fuses to create confusion in many areas at once.

“This will create enough of a distraction for Persephone to slip away, and then we will flee this place entirely. Soon my sweet…”

Thena, with letter in beak flies off to deliver and the hunter makes his way to the town to set up his distractions. Thena will return to the hunter upon successful delivery. The hunter lurks in a dark crooked alleyway right next to Styx Court and waits for Thena. A few moments pass and the owl returns.

“Okay, looks like we’re all set. It’s only a matter of time before the bombs go off.”

The hunter starts to move towards the courtyard but is stopped by a tall silhouetted figure.

“I was wondering when you would show up.”

The figure walks slowly into the light from the courthouse.

“I have eyes all over you know. You can’t snoop around and expect to not be noticed, hunter.”

“Well, if it isn’t the devil himself, Luke C. Helling. I’m surprised you don’t have your lackeys doing your dirty work.”

“Well, when I heard it was you, I knew I had to confront you myself.”

Luke draws a pistol from his coat.

“Now hunter, any last words?”

The hunter grins and says, “Hoo Hoo.”

Thena swoops down from the rooftops and grabs the pistol from Luke.

*BANG*

The bombs start to go off. The hunter grabs his shotgun.

“Thena!”

Thena flies up and the hunter takes aim.

“Time to make good on my promise.”

The hunter pulls the trigger and Luke bursts into a red flurry.

“Hoo Hoo! It’s her! Persephone is here!”

The hunter runs to the courtyard.

“Persephone!”

“It’s you!”

“Come,” says the hunter. “We need to leave now!”

“Where will we go?”

“We can go anywhere my love, because anywhere I am with you is home.”