‘Hey, have you heard? They say the Red Hunter has entered our kingdom!’ ‘No way bro! What would a monster like him even do here?’ The castle had been like this all day, and Cooper was getting sick of it. ‘Will he come for us? Are we safe here? Can you protect us?’ So many stupid questions, he thought. No matter how strong that hunter may be, he’s still just one man. As if we, the mighty Hammer Brigade, would not be able to stop him. Still, as Cooper kept patrolling, a question of his own kept tugging at his mind. Why now? The hunter and our king had been at odds for a very long time, yet he never invaded our kingdom before. Does it have something to do with the ‘guest’ that was brought to the castle yesterd- ‘HEY Lil Coops, last I checked patrolling required you to pay attention!’ As Cooper noticed who yelled at him, he jolted into a bow. ‘Ah, I.. I’m sorry Lord Carrion! Please forgive me!’ ‘It’s Captain Carrion now that you’re under my command, boy. But forget it, of course all of you upstarts are rattled by the appearance of that monster. Anyway, follow me kid. Our brigade has a battle to plan.’ ‘Yes sir!’ Cooper said, as he saluted. ‘I have to ask, Captain. Why do you and the others call the Red Hunter a monster?’ “You’ll see.”
Captain Carrion led Cooper to the castle’s meeting room. It was already filled with a majority of the Hammer Brigade when Cooper took his seat, and more trickled in over the next few minutes. Once the last seat had been filled, the room fell silent immediately. ‘Brethren!’ Captain Carrion shouted to his soldiers. ‘As you have all heard, the Red Hunter has made his appearance in our kingdom. The king has said that his target is our castle. As the strongest Brigade in our lord’s army, it is our sworn duty to protect it.‘
‘Before we begin with strategy, do any of you have questions you need answered?’ Carrion continued. Silence filled the room. After a few seconds, Cooper couldn’t take it anymore and stood up. ‘Captain, sir. We are not the only brigade in the King’s army. Before the Red Hunter can reach us, he will have to get past many of our soldiers. Why are we so sure that he will be able to threaten us here?’ ‘A good question, Cooper. The answer to this is simply that our army is not strong enough to stop him.’ Cooper sat down again. Pushing this issue wouldn’t benefit anyone. Furthermore, Lord Carrion’s blunt answer left a weird, unsettling feeling.
Another soldier stood up to his left. By the looks of the guy, he was even younger than Cooper. ‘Captain, sir. Legend says that the Red Hunter became that colour from the blood of all who stood in his way. I-Is that true?’ The room was eerily silent before, but whispers and snickers where now all over the place. ‘If he has ever heard of hygiene, I would say not likely.’ Carrion answered. ‘But-‘ He paused, and the room fell silent again. ‘According to our scouts, he is riding a Dragon here.’ Murmurs filled the room, ‘Impossible!’ ‘No one can do that!’ and more that Cooper could not quite catch. Something was wrong here, terribly wrong. Before the Captain could silence the room again, Cooper heard the sound of a heavy bell. It rang once, then twice, thrice, ringing louder and louder.
‘THE HUNTER IS HERE!’ Carrion shouted. ‘Troop 1, protect the king’s room! Troop 2 and 3, you are with me! Our goal is to force him off his dragon. All other troops, scatter throughout the castle. Do everything in your disposal to stop him from reaching our king. GO!’
Cooper positioned himself in the hall to the king’s room. The door he came from was the only reasonable entrance, and if worst came to worst, it had multiple escape routes. Furthermore, he could get backup from the guards of Troop 1 if the hunter got here. He made a barricade of stones while he was waiting. Once the noises came, he stopped. Cooper firmly gripped his hammer. His heart felt like it might burst any second. ‘This is it. I can do it. Stop saying ‘it’. Wait. Why don’t I hear anything?’ The hall felt eerily silent all of a sudden. Click. The door opened, and Cooper saw the visage of what was unmistakably the Red Hunter. As the hunter approached him, there was just one thought going through Cooper’s head: RUN!