The Beasts of Rainfall

Chapter 2- The Hunt Begins

Clio inhaled a breath of misty morning air as she slipped between the towering trees of the Fallen Forest, enjoying the serene song of little larks perched up in the trees branches. Clio liked birds. She was pretty sure her spirit animal was a bird.

A loud, boisterous voice off to the right made Clio stop and turn her head slowly to where the noise came from. Hoisting herself up a tree, Clio climbed until she could peek over some of the lower branches and see where a group of three men were walking through the woods. Clio snorted quietly as she realized that the lead one was Mace, followed by two Mace wannabes.

       “…Then, we shall surround the beast and kill it! I shall slay the first one, but you two can take care of the one after that, if you want.” Mace was saying. Clio sighed softly and swung herself up onto the next branch of the tree as their voice faded from her mind. Mace would not be the first to catch a beast. She would be.

       Now, Mace was not one of those guys who had muscle but no brains. Nope, he had both, which was one of the reasons so many found him attractive. If he had no brains, he wouldn’t be a Bane.

       But all Banes were taught by the academy back in River Town, they all had the same training, the same knowledge, the same tricks up their forest green sleeves.

       Clio’s sleeves were darker than the Bane’s, and had tricks that the others could only dream of.

       The thing about the Beasts was that they were smart. Eerily smart. Some would even say too smart, and almost impossible to catch. It normally took weeks to catch a Beast. Clio was confident she could catch one in a few days.

       Because the truth was, Clio wasn’t a Bane, and she had never undergone the Bane training, or gotten the official Bane robes and badge. Her father was a Bane. Her uncles and aunts were Banes. Her grandfather had been a Bane. Being a Bane was a way of life with her family.

       Until her mother came around.

       Her mother was a beautiful woman with long blond hair and blue gray eyes. She laughed a lot, had a sad smile, and was skilled at breaking the ice. She was also a conservationist.

       Conservationists wanted to protect the Beasts. They thought they could be contained, and therefore, saved. They worked tirelessly to study the Beasts and understand them. They didn’t just learn the Beast’s weaknesses. They learned the workings of their souls.

       At least, that’s what her mother had always said. Clio thought that was a little dramatic.

       How her parents had fallen for each other, Clio would never know. They had a rocky relationship, but loved each other so much. But when Clio had chosen to follow her father’s footsteps and become a Bane instead of her mother's, things got a little colder.

Except, Clio was not a Bane.

After years of training, after years of yearning, after long years of swordplay and archery and tracking and climbing, the Queen had taken one look at her and shook her head long golden hair frantically, saying “Not that one! That one must not enter The Fallen Forest! I am sorry dear, go home.”

Of course, Clio realized it must have been her mother. Her mother, who she loved so much, was holding her back, just because she disagreed with the Queen.

Clio smiled vacantly. She didn’t care what the Queen thought, or her mother. She was going to be a Bane. And she was going to be the best.

Finally reaching the top of the tall, lush tree, Clio leaned in towards the rising sun with her trademark grin, the one that always scared people away. But today, there were no people to scare, just miles and miles of misty green.