Kel hoisted the deer's corpse across his waist, strapping it to him. It was much too late to make way back home, and as such, he had to spend another night in the forest.
He sought refuge on another tall tree, climbing up its branches and selecting one that would serve as his place of rest. He smelled foul—of old blood and dirt, a smell commonly associated with men of his occupation.
"Maya won't be too happy." He mumbled, staring at his engagement ring and the wound around it.
Despite the effort digging had demanded, and carrying game almost two times his weight, he did not suffer an iota of fatigue.
His improved senses had been something he had dismissed as temporary and simply luck, but this, this he noticed, and as he closed his eyes in the dark, he recollected the happenings of the day.
He sternly opened his eyes, and nocked an arrow, simply having the tree opposite him as his target, glaring at the tree spot as if he was certain he could kill it. His hand left the string, and with his improved eyesight, he saw it. A blue flame streamed out from his ring finger. Like a calm river, it drifted quickly—near an instant and doused the arrow.
A loud snap followed and the tree Kel struck fell. He held his breath, and then spoke, "What is this power?"
As soon as he asked that question, an eerie rough voice cut in, and he froze. He shook his head convinced that he had just imagined the words.
He pulled another arrow, setting his eyes on another tree. The arrow struck with a twang, but nothing else happened. He squinted at the miniscule blue energy he observed burning around his ring, there was no pain, no heat, and strangely enough, it was reassuring.
He nocked yet another arrow and let it fly, again, it struck and none of the energy accompanied the arrow.
He pondered, his massive bow held out by his abdomen.
'Is this the god's will? If that is the case, I'll use this power to the best of my abilities.' He had heard legends of ordinary men gaining superhuman abilities and as such, accepting he had changed and become different came easy to him.
Tiredness crept in as he was in ponderment, and before he knew it, he fell asleep.
The morning came, and Kel was forced to open his eyes to the chipping sound that was awfully close. He felt a ruffle in his clothes and panicked. Immediately, a rodent bolted out from his pocket, a brown snack in its paws and it drifted, gliding down to a bush below.
This caused Kel to chuckle, his meal bars had invited a flying chipmunk into his pockets.
He looked by his right flank where he held the deer corpse, and he felt his hunting bag to confirm the presence of his kills. All was right, all was well. It was time to head back home.
The journey back home was a long one. He trod for hours until he began to hear sounds of human activities. He smiled, this had always been his favorite part of his hunting trips: returning to his people.
"Kel!" He heard a man say. However, an invading chill sank into his body immediately he took a step, and he heard a grunt, there was no mistaking it, that was the sound of a predator.
He hurriedly turned to where he believed the sound had come from, but there was nothing, wild animals rarely came this far in the forest, and humans typically scared them, and yet, he could not shake away that feeling, that sensation of being watched.
His heart began racing, sweat beads adorning his skin, his chest heaving with fear. He had felt this core fear earlier, on his way back, when he came across the spot that Kutashibe was killed. It had felt like the ground would part and he would fall in at the moment.
"Kel," he felt a warm pat on his shoulder, and his heaving stopped.
"What has happened? Do not tell me you're nervous about seeing your wife? It has just been three days!" The young man teased and gave Kel a playful slap on his back.
Kel chuckled, "You have not seen Maya when she's annoyed, it is like she becomes a bear." Kel's shoulder drooped, buying into the act, and the two men immediately roared in laughter.
"Welcome back, I see you worked so hard."
Kel grinned, 'We are going to have a feast tonight!' he declared.
With his friend's help, he pulled off the extra weight he carried. He hoisted a sand rabbit by its ears and walked to his hut.
"Kel! Kel!" Children cried with joy when they saw him, circling around him. They were the future of the village and he was always delighted to see them.
'It is high time we have one of our own.'
He struck the door once and it pulled open almost immediately, opposite him stood his beautiful wife.
"Maya, how long have you been standing…" he swallowed his words. Her face was flushed with anger, Kel took a step back expecting a rebuttal when she jumped on him and gave a tight hug.
He froze, her grip was tight.
"I was afraid you know, soon after you left we saw men clad in black pass by the village. They did not seem to be up to any good."
"I am back now, that's what is important." He held with his rough hands.
Maya nodded energetically and pulled him even closer. She then pulled back suddenly almost like she was stung.
"What is it?" Kel asked. Maya raised her hands to show the blood stains on them.
"Right," he chuckled, and then held up the sand rabbit, "I got this for us."
The rest of the day went fairly smoothly, the village was aware that Kel had returned with a huge game, and that a feast was inbound.
It snowed lightly towards the evening and into the night, the six families of the hamlet gathered at the Hamlet's center, stands of fire surrounding them for warmth and illumination.
It was a tradition to share a meal when a huge game was caught, they were a small community and this was one way they were encouraged to see one another as family.
Kel's condition deteriorated towards the night, voices stormed his mind, voices inhuman and eldritch, like the whispering of leaves. He could have sworn he saw a small serpent creature hover through the air when the men cut apart the deer. It was a fleeting moment and he questioned whether he actually saw the thing or not, and then the voices came.
"Dear," Maya called it to him. He had zoned out yet again to the sound of the voices.
"Are you certain you were not attacked or bitten by something out there? You don't seem comfortable."
"I'm well, it is just the voices in my head that I can shake away. It feels like my mind is drowning in them."
"Voices?"
They were interrupted as three men cut them, they were the only young men in the village, and Kel's friends.
"We are about to have a drinking competition and we need another to watch."
Kel shook his head lightly in disagreement, he did not want to seem like a killjoy but he was in no condition to gauge anything for anybody. He needed to rest, and to drown these strange voices that would not leave him.
"I am going to take a walk, I need to clear my head." He said to his wife, leaving the table and trodding to the trees.
As he walked, he could feel a weight atop him, one not so much exerting physical pressure but rather causing his body to shrink in fear. His walk seemed almost mechanical, slow and intentional. He could not look behind to see what it was that hovered above him, and since no one had mentioned anything, he sought to convince himself that it likely was simply his mind playing tricks on him.
He glanced at the trees before him, barely keeping his eyes on them for more than a minute. He had turned away from the trees when he froze, and then slowly began turning back to them.
'That was not my mind, was it? That was not my mind.' He froze once he met it, the trees had eyes and mouths, devilish maws that spread to a wicked smile.
He backsteppped, his body shook not to the cold but at the sight. The eyes and mouths remained, they were not a flicker of imagination, and the mouths moved.
Kel fell on his back and ran back to the others, and yet the voices reaching his ears did not dwindle.
"Watch where you are going Kel." Ora, the last of the village's young men, blurted as Kel almost ran into him. As soon as the man spoke, the voices stopped and Kel could not help but bear a wry smile, "Hahaha! I am going insane."
"No you are not, you just had too much to drink. Let's get you to your hut, get some sleep."
"Yes, sleep, he muttered.
Ora brought him to his wife who with a worried look took him into the hut.
"Lay with me, I am afraid, the voices." He mumbled stiffly on the mat, his arms tightly crisscrossed around his chest, and his toes curled.
Maya had questions but now was not the right time, her husband was stressed from his hunt, and he needed to sleep. She laid by his side, spooning him, hoping that her body would bring a modicum of comfort to him. It did, her warmth eased him.