Ranger's Diary, the Last Page

"'Grandpa,' I pleaded. 'Leave me.' He looked at me and silently shook his head. It was a long time coming. I'd gone out to scout as usual, spotted a handful of monsters, quietly turned to head back – only to find a second pack had crept up on me from behind, as I was watching the first. And then things started happening very quickly. I scurried blind into a side tunnel I'd never explored. They follow me down. I scamper somewhere else – and run right back into them. I spin on my heels and bolt for my life, but they get me in the leg so I'm limping. By the time I hear the song... it was way too late. I had nowhere to turn. I saw her, and she saw me. It was a large cave, well-lit by local standards. She stood in the middle and sang, and monsters of all types lay at her feet. Claws, jaws, fangs, stingers – so many that it seemed like one huge beast made of everything that kills. And she was its heart. The Wicked Chanter. She is not very Wicked, if you listen closely to what she is singing. But then it grew very quiet, and she walked right at me. I pressed my back to the wall, and I'm thinking – 'This is it.' And she comes up to me, tilts her head and sniffs me. There's nothing living in her big black eyes, except for something mean and wild. How could she grow up in pitch black darkness with the beasts, and become anything more? She looked at me and me at her. And I say, 'What are you looking at? Never seen a redhead?' And I'm thinking to myself that I might have one quick shot, but then that'll be it. They'll all attack, and bite and slice, and tear me to ribbons – a pool of gore at her feet. She reached out and touched my hair. And then she turned around and walked away, all the monsters with her. I found a little nook, crawled inside and passed out, knowing that if I ever woke up, it would be when something started eating me. But no. I opened my eyes and I saw him. The elf. He'd come looking for me, when the others refused. The scoundrels. He shouldn't have paid them up front. I'd lost so much blood, I thought I'd never make it back up. I kept telling the elf to leave me, but he wouldn't budge. Then I reminded him about his wife's bones, that he wanted so bad to recover. I told him – 'If you try to save me, you'll die. And you won't get what you came here for.' That was when he finally spoke. 'You're a fool tenderfoot, Red. And I'm a fool too.' Then he sat right beside me and looked at me with those same black eyes. 'I've come here over and over, gotten two parties wiped out, just to find Rivel's bones. I felt like I'd abandoned her in her moment of need. I know her pendant is still here somewhere... It calls out to me, and led me here. But do you know what? It was all for nothing. All these people died for nothing. I dragged them to their doom just to drown out my own conscience. And it was only when you went missing... only then I realized. I might take this guilt to my grave, but I'll drag that boy alive from the darkness, before I drag out some old bones, even if they are the bones of my beloved!' As he was saying all this, his face lightened up a little – for the first time I'd ever seen. It was like he'd found something for himself. Something he could call new. And all I could think of was Her, her wild black eyes, and I knew. I could never tell him now. I'll throw away this book when he's not looking. And I'll never say a word. About the song she sang. And the cradle I found at the camp by the lake."