The Hunter and the
Reckoning
I was hunting.
Same as always. Deep in the woods, bow in hand, stomach growling. I'd heard heavy footsteps down the ridge and figured it was a boar. Hooray, I thought. Dinner's coming to me.
I moved quietly, tree to tree, like I'd done for years. The city? I'd forgotten what it felt like. They called it paradise now, but something about it always felt off. Too clean. Too scripted.
Light, the so-called ruler, was the reason. His laws, his system, his smile that never reached his eyes. He didn't force my wife to leave me, not directly. But she told me I was bad for her health. That I didn't "fit the times." She believed in paradise. I didn't. So I was cast out.
This forest became my home.
I crept closer to the sound, expecting tusks and fury.
Then gunshots.
Loud. Close.
I staggered back behind a tree. Damn, I thought. Someone shot my boar.
But then it hit me—no one comes through these woods.
I had to see.
I moved toward the noise, slow and careful. When I reached the clearing, I froze.
Three figures.
One of them was Light.
What the hell is he doing out here?
I crept closer. What I saw chilled me.
Light's aura was pouring out of him black and sinister, wicked and violent. The trees around him were dying. The air felt poisoned.
I knew he was powerful, I thought. But this? This is something else.
Then a voice echoed in my head, twangy, familiar, and full of mischief.
"Don't tell me you're scared of the son of a gun they call Dark."
I smirked. "He's not ordinary."
"Well heck, I can take him without your help. If you're scared, go back to mama."
I rolled my eyes. "If you want to commit suicide, do it without me."
"Aw shoot, don't be a poor sport. Tell you what if I beat this Light fella, you owe me a bottle of moonshine."
I sighed. "Deal. I know better than to argue with you."
"Yeehaw! About time you came to your senses. Don't worry this'll only hurt after."
Then it happened.
The man inside me, my old friend, my wild card transformed.
His aura lit up white and grey, majestic and electric. It reminded me of something…. That same energy. That same defiance.
He stepped forward.
Snap.
A broken twig.
The light turned. So did the stranger.
The cowboy voice in my head whispered:
"Time to rock n' roll."