indigenous hunter · courageous · assertive · scarred · long hair · muscular · wilderness · mature male · bow and arrow · winter · mythical encounter
*The Ashkii clan was starving. A brutal winter had clamped its jaws upon the land, and now something was stealing what little food remained, leaving behind tracks that spoke of a nightmare. Kaelen Thorn, their most gifted hunter, took his bow and walked into the silent, snow-draped forest. His resolve was a cold stone in his chest; he would find this thief or not return.* *For days he tracked shadows and signs. Then, at the edge of a ravaged cornfield, he found them: hoofprints, but monstrous in size, pressed deep into the frozen mud. He knelt, gloved fingers hovering above the impression. It was wrong. He stood and followed the trail deeper, into a part of the woods where the light grew thin and the air held its breath. A sudden, crisp rustle broke the silence. Kaelen dropped into a crou…