Cinderella Dressed in Ashes

21 A Massacre in Furry Tell

Shew and Cerené watched the horde of Huntsmen invade the small town of Furry Tell. Their black cloaks fluttered in the wind hardly resisting their unicorns’ intensity.

The unicorns were hornless with a third eye where their horns had been cut off, all but Loki’s, the leader of all Huntsmen. His unicorn was black, and instead of a third eye, it had a horn. Shew recognized it immediately because it was Loki's famous Alicorn.

Wherever Loki rode his unicorn, the laughing wind spiraled around him. It was like a second conscious, a ghostly black wind that waved like a guardian curtain, showing face and hands. It talked like a human, and it applauded Loki each time he chopped off one of the villager’s heads.

"I can’t believe my eyes," Shew looked away from the blood and gore Loki was spreading in the town. At least, she’d seen him from far away. She didn’t think she could take it if she had been closer.

“That’s horrible,” Cerené muttered, changing her mind about her fascination with the Huntsman whose blonde hair fluttered from under his hood as he rode and killed through town.

“Furry Tell is such a small community. Hundred people or more, maybe,” Shew said. “Why would he kill them so heartlessly?”

“He wouldn’t do it unless the Queen of Sorrow demanded it,” Cerené said. “I heard he tends to kill ninety nine people whenever he raises his sword. He calls it his lucky number," she said.

“Why ninety nine?” Shew wondered.

"I heard the Queen of Sorrow made him the master Huntsman after he'd killed ninety nine vampires on his own in a battle on the borders. But that was some time ago when he was still that cute boy in the king’s army," Cerené said.

Shew wondered where Angel was in all of this. She remembered Angel had been away for long periods while fighting the Intruders, sometimes for a whole year. He’d always been proud of Loki. That’s why Loki had been so close to the royal family, and why Angel had assigned him to protect her personally later. She thought it was an unwise move by Angel to assign Loki as her guardian. Loki was one of the youngest and bravest fighters in his army. Demoting him to a position where he protected the princess didn’t make sense. Maybe he’d been worried about Carmilla hurting Shew, and he thought that Loki would be the perfect protector for the princess. How could Angel forget about Loki’s past, being a son of an angel and demon?

Ironically, it was exactly what Carmilla needed.

Shew turned back to look at the Furry Tell massacre. Loki was killing unapologetically. She wondered if he’d known why he was doing it. Had he just become a marionette played by Carmilla, the puppeteer?

He never missed someone’s head, not once. His chops were swift and he never looked back at the heads that rolled on the ground. Some of the other huntsmen picked up a head and started kicking it with their feet while the laughing wind clapped among them. Shew was too shattered to notice that she was witnessing one of the earliest soccer games in history.

Loki’s face wasn’t visible underneath the hood, and Shew still wished it wasn’t him. What if she pulled the hood down and discovered that it wasn’t him, wouldn’t that be the best thing that ever happened to her?

You know it’s him, Shew. Don't try to change it. You can feel it in your heart. Even if you can’t remember everything, you never forgot him. He tried to kill you in the Queen's name when you were sixteen. Only you don't remember how he fell in love with you after that.

"Listen," Shew said. "Stay here, Cerené. I’m going down to Furry Tell."

"No! You stay here."

"I have to go. Maybe he remembers me," Shew said.

"Of course, he remembers you. He is in the Queen's service. Why wouldn't he remember the princess?"

"I don't mean it like that. I mean remember—" Shew held her tongue. She was going to mention that Loki should remember she was the one he loved. Maybe if she managed to kiss him, she'd save him like he’d saved her in the Schloss.

"There is nothing we can do, Shew," Cerené pressed her hand. "I don't think I like him anymore after what I just saw. I mean hearing about someone killing and being powerful is one thing and seeing him do that is something else. How could he kill so many people? There are women with their children down there. He is just like the Queen, and my stepfamily."

“Do you have any idea why they’re raiding this village?" Shew asked.

"I can't hear them from here,” Cerené said. “I could try the earth again.”

“Not necessary,” Shew said, about to run down to Furry Tell.

“I wonder why the huntsmen are gathering so many children," Cerené pointed.

Shew stopped. Cerené was right. Loki was killing the elders in Furry Tell as the huntsmen gathered the younger ones in the middle of the village. The children knelt down with their hands behind their backs while the huntsmen checked them out one by one. They pulled the children violently by the hair, sniffing them and looking into their eyes.

"What’s going on?" Shew said, hesitating again. Should she just run down and face Loki, or?

Stop hesitating!

"I wish I knew," Cerené replied. "Look, he is letting one of the children go."

"Where?"

"That blonde girl!"

It was true. Shew wondered why the huntsmen freed one of the children. She noticed they let another one go, then another one. The huntsmen yelled something, the same phrase over and over.

“Can you hear what they are saying?” Shew asked Cerené.

“Wait,” Cerené knelt down and put her hand on the ground again, trying to listen to figure out what the huntsmen were yelling. Shew wondered if that was normal or one of the powers Cerené possessed. “I think they’re saying something like ‘winter in their eyes’,” Cerené said.

“That doesn’t make sense,” Shew said. “Why would they say that?”

"I’m sure this is how the words rhyme, but maybe it’s something that sounds like ‘winter in their eyes.’ I can’t be sure,” Cerené stood up again, unable to listen to the massacre anymore.

Furry Tell was swimming in blood, and Loki finally got off his unicorn, walking among the children. They lowered their heads while shivering and pleading for forgiveness.

Loki said nothing. He pulled a girl’s hair and cut a slice of it with his sword, and used it to wipe his sword clean as kicked a victim’s head and sent it rolling into a well.

“I will stick to liking the prince,” Cerené mumbled.

Shew said nothing. She was tongue-tied. She’d just realized that if she failed in bringing Loki back to his senses, they were destined to become enemies in this dream. As long as Carmilla owned his Fleece, he was one of those she was prophesized to kill.

Unless she found a way to bring him back.

Be honest with yourself, Shew. If you could save him, could you forgive him for the things he’s done in the past, the people he killed, the children he is about to kill right now?

Shew shrugged, dazed by the thoughts in her head. Why wouldn’t she forgive him for the horrors he’d done in the past when he’d forgiven her for all the blood she’d shed in Sorrow. She had killed hundreds of teenagers in the Waking World, and yet she was prophesized to be the Chosen One. Was it possible that becoming the Chosen One wasn’t a quest, but a redemption for her past sins?

“Cerené,” Shew turned to face her. “Are you sure this veiled Huntsman is Loki?” it was illogical to ask, but love was blind, and wishful thinking was its middle name.

Shew wished she’d gone def before she could hear Cerené’s inevitable answer, “Of course, it’s him, Shew,” Cerené said confidently. “It’s him, the Huntsman. The ever famous Loki Van Helsing.”