Hunted no more

The most important rule when dealing with any crisis is to keep calm. This so that you can make the right decision in order to resolve it as efficiently as possible. Of course this is easier said than done. Especially when you are being chased by a homicidal maniac. In the middle of the night, we were playing a deadly game of cat and mouse that seemed to last for an eternity. Though thinking back, it couldn’t have been more than a few hours at most. During which he got close to finding me on numerous occasions, but somehow I managed to keep giving him the slip. Now I would like to say that this was due to sheer skill, but that would be an utter lie on my part. Beside skill, I also needed to use up a lifetime’s worth of luck as well. And for an Elf, that is saying something.
 
I tried doubling back a few times. This in order to not only leave him in the dust, but also to reunite with my friends so that together we might come up with a plan to deal with him in a proper way. But sadly he wasn’t having it. Whenever I made the attempt, he always managed to be right there in my path, ready to strike me down the moment I would reveal myself. As you can imagine, It was beyond frustrating. Not just because I was worried about my own safety, but also for the safety of my friends as well. I knew that they were more than capable to reach the safety of the lumber camp Logvale on their own. But not knowing was killing me. Thus it as with a heavy heart that I eventually had to decide to abandon the idea of regrouping with them for now. No point in leading Cornu straight to them.
 
But despite this, as time continued to pass on, I started to get a bit more hopeful. Hopeful that the hunter would soon become too frustrated to continue and might abandon his search for now in order to come up with a new approach. Sadly he did indeed come up with that new approach faster than I would have guessed. And it stomped out what little embers of hope I had. For in the distance I could hear the telling sound of the howling of wolve. His new approach, calling for backup.
Despite my best efforts, the combined stalking of Cornu and his hounds slowly closed the noose around my neck. And I was running out of options, I knew that I had only two choices left. I could delay my capture for a few more minutes or I could make my last stand. Two death sentences to be certain. But just as I was about to make that choice, it was made for me. Covered in wounds, Sylvesse suddenly stormed out of the mist towards me. I wasted no time and quickly jumped on his back as he dashed past me. The last I heard was Cornu cursing us in the distance as the mist swallowed us up once more.
 
The downside of travelling through the mist is that it makes it difficult to tell the passing of time. Thus before I knew it, the night had already passed as Sylvesse and I continued our escape. We dared not to slow down for a moment out of fear that the hunter might catch up to us. All I knew was that Sylvesse was taking us to a place where we might be safe. And hopefully where we might meet up with the others. Fortunately, I did receive a bit of good news. Alistan had contacted me through the runestone. They had succesully found their way back to the main road and asked if I was safe and could join them. I quickly confirmed this and told them that I would join them as soon as I was able. That message relieved a huge weight off my chest.
We continued our journey to just beyond noon, when we reached the edge of a clearing. Beyond it lay the small settlement of Logvale and more importantly the safety that its wooden walls promised. But sadly that safety would proof not to be without cost. When we arrived, my friends were already making a mad dash towards the open gate. Sadly Cornu and his hounds had beaten them to it. And were now in the process of trying to prevent them to reach it. I descended from Sylvesse’s back and together we began to assist them. Sylvesse cleared the way for us and as we were close to reaching the gate I shouted towards him to flee.
 
However his noble spirit prevented him from doing so as he wanted to make sure that we had reached safety. This would prove to be his downfall sadly. For Cornu and his hounds swarmed him and sadly managed to take him down. The sounds of his death throes would hound me for several nights. Even to this day, it still sometimes catches me of guard. While trying to hold back my tears I launched one more arrow that struck Cornu in the shoulder as the gate closed.
You’ll have to forgive me for not being too accurate from this point on concerning the remainder of this day. As I was mostly just going true the motions in an attempt to keep it all together. So my memory concerning the rest of that day is fuzzy. I do remember Hayley and the others attempting to comfort me. And while it did remove a little of the sting, it was sadly still too raw at that point. I also remember the leader of Logvale, Farah, telling us that this place had some kind of magical protection that became active when the mist appeared. But she sadly did not know much about. She did however offer some rooms in the local inn, in order to recover a bit. But while the others graciously accepted this offer, I respectfully declined. I simple wished to spend some time alone in order to straighten out my thoughts and emotions concerning everything. Sadly however this was a luxury that was not given to me. For deep in the night, I was pulled out of my emotional stupor by the sight of a trail of mist finding its way through a small crack in the wall. And this mist, Corvu manifested.
 
His tenacity had forced him to appear before me once more, but not without price. For whatever magical protection Logvale had was doing a number on him as it almost appeared as if it was burning him away before my eyes. He slowly stumbled towards me demanding that I handed over the prize that he sought. Now the smart thing to do was to capture him in order to get answers on the why of things. But my rage got the better of me and I told him that all I would give him was several arrows as I attempted to shoot him. He was however quicker on the draw and almost got the better of me. If not for the timely arrival of my friends who wasted no time to come to my aid. This allowed me to fire off one more arrow. But as it shot wide, we were surprised by a light coming from something tied to his waist. Which caused the arrow to curve and catch him in his remaining eye, killing him instantly.
 
It was over, the nightmare of Cornu the hunter was finally over. Still we moved with caution towards him in order to inspect the thing that was tied to his waist. The antlers of Sylvesse, taken as a trophy. As I moved to retrieve them, in order to find a nice place near Keralon in order to give him proper burial, a most curious thing happened. For a moment it seemed like the antlers turned to liquid as they reformed themselves into a most magnificent longbow. The final gift that Sylvesse would ever gift to me.
 
I carefully picked them up as I continued to watch the magics of Logvale burn Cornu’s body to ash. But as the last bit disintegrated, a scary thought came to me. What was so important that it caused him to risk certain death just to retrieve it. The remainder of that night I continued pondering this question. I even unpacked every single item in my possession in order to inspect them. But the only thing of true value that I possessed was the bow given to me by Edna and I highly doubted that that was what he was looking for. Kust as I started to pack up once more however, a thought came to me. A notion that, while unlikely, was certainly possible. But sadly that puzzle would continue to evade me for a long time.