It wasn’t a long flight to Punxsutawney. They landed in a small clearing in the woods about a mile walk from the town. After they landed, Hunter slid off Ulysses and drew his bow. “Stay here.” He said quietly as he cautiously walked into the woods. If there was anything he had learned it was to be cautious about unfamiliarity. He stood in the woods with his bow at the ready and listened. It was quiet. Almost silent. Hunter finally walked back to the horses. “Okay. Let’s get going.” He said with a nod toward the woods. As they walked through the woods, they were quiet. It could have been nerves. It could have been an effort to be aware of their surroundings. Either way, it was silent. In the distance they could hear the faint sound of music. As they got closer and closer the music got louder. After about 15 minutes, they broke from the woods to see a Groundhog day celebration in full motion.
“This seems really dangerous.” Kyle said quietly, with a chuckle. “I wonder if that cotton candy over there is secretly a monster. Maybe that little kid in a stroller. He’s some kind of monstrous beast.” Marina slapped his arm.
“Would you be quiet?” She said with a smile. Kyle nudged her and chuckled Hunter rolled his eyes and kept focused. He glanced around subtly. Nothing out of the ordinary, really. People laughing. Music playing.
“It doesn’t look so bad here, guys. Let’s just relax a little.” Kyle said with a shrug as he walked over to a cotton candy booth. He bought a cotton candy and walked back. He shared some with Marina and looked around the fair. “There’s a ride. Let’s go.” He said as he grabbed Marina by the hand and led her over.
“Kyle. I have a bad feeling. Let’s stay focused.” Hunter said glancing around nervously.
“You always have a bad feeling. I, however, have a good one.” He said with a chuckle. “This is my quest. I order you to have fun.” Hunter rolled his eyes and watched the two of them walk off. He sighed and looked around again.
“There is something wrong about this place.” He said quietly. He gulped and froze for a second when he saw a cop staring at them. There was something odd about him though. He was in his uniform, but his face was obscured by a scarf. Everything except his eyes. Hunter shook his head and played it off.
“It’s probably nothing.” He said quietly to himself. He reached up and rubbed his pendant gently. He moved closer and closer to the crowd and kept his eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. He glanced around to see a few more cops looking right at them, their faces again obscured. The sight gave Hunter shivers. “We’re a few kids. I look nervous. This is normal.” Hunter convinced himself. Hunter continued to walk feeling more and more nervous. He was at the edge of the crowd and he turned around to see several cops walking toward them. “Guys. We need to get into the crowd. NOW!” He said before shoving Kyle and Marina into the crowd.
“Hunter, what’s going on?!” Marina asked frantically. Hunter shook his head and looked back briefly to see the cops pushing through the crowd toward them.
“HALF-BLOODSSSS…” One of them hissed as the scarf was ripped away revealing a snake-like beast in the uniform. Hunter’s eyes widened.
“Run!” He shouted as the crowd broke into a panic. Hunter whipped around and fired an arrow into the first beasts head. It exploded into a cloud of dust. More came, though. From all over. Beasts that were in disguise as tourists, policeman, and fair workers. The regular people dispersed as Hunter felt a sharp pain in his leg. He looked down to see a large gash on his calf. He looked up to see one of the creatures notching another arrow. He quickly fired one of his own. He turned to see Marina and Kyle engaged in a fight with more of the beasts. Hunter drew his knife, but was overwhelmed. He hacked and slashed as best he could, but was finally knocked out by the hilt of a sword to the back of his head.