Chapter 2

Seven Years Later

Casimir lay still on his mattress inside the small bedroom, staring up at the ceiling. It was too dark to see anything, so he waited, listening carefully. Mr. and Mrs. Kastillan usually turned in by eleven o'clock. His foster parents were always so reliably boring. Ulrich, however, was less predictable and sometimes stayed up late, finishing his homework and fulfilling the duties that came with being an honors student with a flawless report card. Tonight, however, Casimir's ears picked up nothing but quiet snores. The circle on his back began to sting.

“Alright, alright,” he muttered to no one as he rolled out of bed, and, with soundless steps, moved across the poorly furnished room to the window and quietly slid it open. He hauled himself up so that his feet rested on the window sill, turned to face the inside of his room, and hooked his fingers on the top of the window frame. As he stepped off the sill, he pulled the window shut as gravity did the rest. His room was on the second story of their house, but he had done this so many times, it came without thought. As soon as his feet hit the ground, the stinging faded, but he was already well-accustomed to that menial pain that the circle brought every week.

To be more precise, it wasn't simply a circle, but an Ouroboros Mark, or at least that's what Illedris called it. It was one of her favorite symbols, she had said, and so she picked it as the seal that would lock Casimir's soul forever under her service all those years ago. The Ouroboros depicted a snake--a winged snake--biting its own tail to form a perfect circle. Like a tattoo permanently etched into his skin, the Mark's black design came with barely any detail save the hole for the snake's eye and the black smears representing the outstretch of its wings. When he first received it, Casimir had spent months studying it in the mirror and even tried to scrub it off with a sponge once when he was eleven, but the Mark punished him with a painful burn, so he never tried again. At first he was afraid others would see it, but Illedris assured him that no mortal could see it with the naked eye.

Silas was a quiet town at this hour, conveniently so for Casimir, who made his way around most nights without trouble. With the Kastillans, life was simple, not quite deprived, but definitely not extravagant. Putting food on the table and clothes on their backs was not a problem, but their foster parents didn't make enough money from their bakery to buy anything extra, like a mobile phone. Silas itself was nothing special, just a run-of-the-mill rural town in the countryside, and many of the families in his neighborhood shared the same lifestyle.

He continued running through the dark streets under the chilly night sky until he reached the forest on the edge of town. There, he slowed his pace to a jog. His gray eyes gleamed as he passed through a small patch of moonlight that seeped through the canopy. Before he met Illedris, his eyes had been hazel, like Ulrich's. In fact, when they were younger, the two brothers matched in most of their lineaments, including hazel eyes and short, golden brown hair. Since he sold his soul, Casimir's hair became noticeably darker, appearing jet black in dim light and ash brown under the sun, while his eye color gradually faded until it left only a grayish hue.

As he drew deeper into the forest, his thoughts absently wandered to his younger brother. Ulrich knew nothing about his long nights out or about the Ouroboros Mark, and Casimir swore to himself that would never change. When they had returned home that night seven years ago, Casimir had told Ulrich that in the cave he had tripped on a rock and was knocked out cold, and so Casimir had dragged him all the way home. The dragging part wasn't a lie, but the tripping part, well, it was a stretch. At least Ulrich believed it, if somewhat reluctantly. The important part was that he still had a soul that was truly his.

Finally, just as his thoughts were getting increasingly grim, he reached the entrance of Illedris's lair, the cave where it all began. He proceeded to jog inside carelessly, as if he went into demons’ nests on a weekly basis, which he did. When he reached the empty chamber at the end of the tunnel, he called into the darkness, "I'm here!"

Smoke tinged a familiar sickly green color rose from one of the stalagmites on the ground and began to take the familiar form of a woman. When the smoke finally shaped her black eyes, she rolled them. "Most mortals would greet a rogus in a much more frightened manner. What if I retaliate one of these days? Where's the fear I used to see in your eyes?"

"I got over that after about two years with you." Casimir waved off, leaning back on the rock wall of the chamber and folding his arms over his chest.

"Most mortals would be scared out of their wits for at least ten years," Illedris shrugged, the ends of her hair curling over her shoulders and rising up again.

"I'm not most mortals," he replied.

"And most mortals wouldn't have taken their sweet time getting to their master's lair," Illedris continued, as if she didn't hear him.

"It's not like we're in a rush or anything," Casimir said, "I mean, I'm not a little kid who needs to be trained five hours a night anymore."

Illedris sighed, as if he were a hopeless case. "And most mortals would have needed many, many more years to master the skills I already taught you," she forced herself to admit.

"That’s just how talented I am," he laughed softly. It wasn't every night he received a remark that was remotely flattering from his "teacher.”

"I suppose I chose well, making that deal with you," she mused, "I was afraid in the beginning that you would die in the training process, but here you are." Casimir made a conscious effort not to grimace as she spoke. He remembered the first few years under her wing, which had been physically and mentally rigorous every night with her training regimen, to say the least. The days after were unbearable. Aches riddled throughout his body, bruises hidden under his shirt, and his head throbbing, all while he tried to navigate his way through school without passing out. He made it through each day somehow, half asleep and half delirious. "Not many people could have survived all of that," she said, as if reading his thoughts, "But you have a strong soul, even for someone like you."

Someone like you. Casimir knew what that meant, and he also knew that Illedris didn't like the name spoken out loud. She had told him once, what his true nature was, but only because she knew he could not hurt her under their deal. A venator, or in lay terms, a hunter. Not the kind that hunts game, but more like a warrior that protects humans from supernatural creatures, or what they called the rogus.

"Funny, isn't it?" Casimir said humorlessly, "That you happened to make a deal with someone like me. I guess you knew, though, when you took a closer look at my soul." Apparently venators had souls that differed from typical mortal souls, and rogus could see the variations. In fact, those variations made them more desirable, or more appetizing as Illedris would say.

"I didn't realize it at first, since you were so little, but yes, when I inspected your soul closer I knew," Illedris said, "And I thought binding your soul and having you serve me might not be such a terrible idea. Perhaps better than devouring your soul."

"Right." Casimir said. Once in a while, Illedris liked to rub his ultimate mistake in his face, and since it was the last thing he wanted to hear, he cut right to the point. "So why did you call me here again?"

"Just a small job for you tonight," Illedris told him, "There's a rogus who's just entered my territory. It might eat some of the souls I've been saving for a while. I'd like you to get rid of it. Go be...what you really are."

"That's it? What kind of rogus am I working with here?" he asked as he straightened up and headed toward the opening of the chamber.

"It takes the form of an animal. Probably a vicious animal. But that's all I can tell you," she said, fading into translucent smoke as their meeting came to a close. "By the way," she added, her voice echoing though she was no longer visible, "You should try that new weapon I told you to work on last week. You did practice, I assume?"

"Practice? I prefer natural talent," Casimir returned. He could imagine her exasperated look of disapproval. That was fine by him. If she was going to keep him bound to her forever, then he wasn't going to go out of his way to be her perfect servant.

***

Casimir walked through the forest at a leisurely pace until he finally found what he was looking for, an open clearing deep within the woods, nothing but grass dotted with flowers waving in the breeze under the waning moon. Perfect for fighting a rogus. Here, he had a much greater advantage than in the dense forest, where the creature could use the trees to climb or to hide. Now he just had to lure the beast right to him.

He cleared his thoughts and closed his eyes. He imagined he was looking deep inside himself, not inside his body, but his spirit. At first he saw only infinite darkness, an endless void, until a glowing orb spawned into view, hovering defiantly in the vast nothingness. His soul appeared to be just a sphere of radiant white light, like a single star amidst the empty stretch of a midnight sky. It was weightless and fit in the palm of his hand, but it was one of the most important things he had, second to Ulrich of course.

Normally, souls were pure spherical entities. Casimir's wasn't, at least not anymore. On his soul there was a small blotch of black, as if someone had spilt a dab of ink the size of his thumb, marring the beauty of the sun-like orb. Seven years ago that distortion wasn't there, sitting on his soul like a leech, but since then it had become a permanent stain.

Before he could try the new weapon Illedris suggested, he had to get the rogus to come to him. As he sat with his legs crossed and eyes closed, he dropped his defenses and put his soul at its most vulnerable. It was a technique that had taken years to perfect, but made his soul’s presence much more noticeable. There was no way a beast could resist his tantalizing soul in the middle of the clearing, alone and exposed on a silver platter. He only had to wait.

It didn't take long. About fifteen minutes later, he heard the rustling of trees and the snapping of twigs and branches. Opening his eyes again, he stood up and brushed off his clothes while scanning the edge of the clearing. It was still dark out, but he could sense the rogus's presence as if it were second nature to him.

There was a moment of stillness.

With a snarl, the monster came leaping out of the forest in front of him. Casimir held his ground until the last moment, the beast's fangs missing him only by inches. The rogus landed lightly on its paws, whirling around with a hiss. Casimir grinned and summoned his life energy to his palms. He held out his hand as a bronze shaft began to form in his grasp. Light gathered at both ends of the shaft, solidifying instantaneously, as it elongated until it was about his own height. From one of its ends sprouted a broad, curved blade, which glistened like silver as he twirled its shaft around his wrist.

When Illedris had first told Casimir about his true nature, he couldn't believe he was anything more than human. For the most part, venators were human, but they had been endowed with the ability to convert the life energy residing in their souls into abilities that could be used to combat rogus. Apparently, it was rare that a venator could command his life energy into physical objects like Casimir could.

As the rogus circled him, like a predator would its prey, Casimir heaved his axe and rested it on his shoulder. To other mortals, it would have looked like any other cougar, though it was unnaturally aggressive, but Casimir knew that the trick to identifying a rogus was in its eyes. Eyes that conveyed an insatiable lust for something more than human flesh, something much more precious.

“A feline rogus, huh? Fun."

The cougar flicked its tail angrily, baring its fangs. It lunged with another fierce snarl, ready to sink its teeth into his skull. Casimir blocked upward, using the long shaft of his weapon to intercept its maw before its canines could close down on his head. The cougar tried to bite through the bronze shaft instead, but Casimir's weapon, fashioned from his own energy, held firm. Using the monster's momentum against it, Casimir pivoted on the balls of his feet and hurled the beast across the clearing. The feline twisted in the air and landed nimbly on its paws, before pouncing with its claws outstretched. Instinctively, Casimir rolled out of the way and jumped back to his feet in one swift motion. He swung his axe at the rogus, but its reflexes were too fast, and it evaded the counterattack easily. Casimir frowned. The axe wasn't really his style.

While the cougar circled him again, Casimir let go of his weapon, and the axe disintegrated into dust that scattered in the breeze. Seeing him defenseless, the cougar tensed to leap once more, until a voice called through the trees, "It went this way!"

The sudden interruption of the quiet night startled both the rogus and Casimir, but he didn't waste the moment of distraction. Ignoring the voice, Casimir quickly began to forge a double-edged sword, as the cougar reverted its attention to the venator. White light flowed into Casimir's grasp, aligning with his will to take the shape of the weapon he needed. In a matter of seconds, the light was converted into a sharp, metallic blade with a leather bound hilt, exactly as he imagined.

As the demon attacked, Casimir heard footsteps break out from the forest and enter the clearing. Not now! Humans weren't supposed to go this deep into the forest! He had to end this before someone got hurt, or their souls eaten. While the cougar was still in midair, descending upon him, Casimir ducked under its massive claws. As the feline passed above him, he sliced upwards, his blade piercing through the rogus's pelt and into its chest. The cougar fell to the ground. It struggled to get up with a whimper, then toppled onto its side, melting into the dirt.

Sighing with relief, Casimir turned towards the humans, seeing that there were only two of them, and hoped that the cover of the night had prevented them from noticing the giant, melting cat. He hid his sword behind his back as it dissolved and sifted through his fingers. Apparently, he was in luck, because the two strangers glanced around the clearing, and when they saw only Casimir standing in the center, they both frowned, disappointed. In the moonlight, he noticed how odd the two boys looked next to each other. Both seemed to be about Casimir's age, the first shorter and leaner with choppy, black hair and inquisitive brown eyes, and the other possessing a much broader build with messy, beach blonde hair and unusually bright blue eyes. He had never seen them before, which was strange because the town was so small, so he assumed they weren't from Silas. The dark-haired one wore a long coat that fell past his knees while his companion wore a thin athletic jacket, but both bore an insignia of an eagle bearing a sword.

"Hey, kid, you shouldn't be out here," said the second as they moved into the clearing to meet him. "It's dangerous to be in the forest after dark."

Kid? We're probably in the same grade, Casimir refuted internally. Outwardly, he returned, "I can take care of myself, trust me. But you guys should take your own advice."

The dark-haired one started to respond but faltered when a low rumble rippled through the air around them. When Casimir turned, he saw three more cougars slinking into the clearing from under the trees, growling vengefully. He cursed and readied his hand for his next weapon. Killing the giant cats wouldn't be a problem if he was alone, but keeping humans safe made the fight more complicated than he cared for. Without taking his eyes off the rogus, he called back to the strangers, "You two run. I'll buy you enough time to get away."

Instead of running, however, they stepped beside Casimir confidently, and the blonde one had the nerve to move Casimir behind him by his shoulders, saying, "Don't worry. We've got this."

The dark-haired one nodded, reaching inside his coat. "We didn't come here defenseless. Just stay back."

The feline rogus were close enough to pounce. Casimir couldn't believe people this stupid existed. Irritated, he pushed past them and ignored their objections.

"Are you crazy?" the blonde cried, but it only made Casimir angrier. Humans are so thick.

"These monsters can't be killed by guns. They're stronger than normal cougars and they will tear you apart, so just get out of here!" Casimir shouted, but it was too late. With vicious snarls, the three rogus attacked simultaneously, the first leaping at Casimir while the other two raced toward the idiots behind him. He summoned another sword to his hand, and as he evaded the cougar's pounce, the light finished hardening in his grasp. As the feline's form passed in front of Casimir, he plunged his fresh blade into its hide. With a yelp, the rogus crashed into the grassy floor, disappearing as the one before it had, along with his sword.

Casimir whirled around, ready to make another sword and save the others, but stopped in disbelief. As another cougar sprung at the blonde one, he bobbed under its snapping jaws and with the most powerful uppercut Casimir had ever seen, he caught the rogus under its snout. As it staggered, dazed, he seized its fur and lifted the beast over his head. Grinning, he brought down the rogus over his knee with a sharp crunch. When the cougar fell, it was already melting.

Meanwhile, the last rogus swiped its claws at his dark-haired opponent, who ducked and revealed from under his long coat two identical, curved swords. Upon the sight of the blades, the cougar recoiled, but the dark-haired boy was faster. He drove one sword into each of its eyes, and as the rogus reared its head and howled in agony, he withdrew his blades and slipped under its neck. In one fluid motion, he released the cougar's head from his shoulders, and both parts thudded to the ground before disintegrating.

"Well, I didn't see that coming," he laughed, turning to Casimir as he sheathed his weapons and hid them under his coat.

"Not bad," the blonde one said to Casimir, running his hand through his hair. "It looked like you pulled that sword from thin air. Who knew there'd be another venator around these parts. I'm Ryker, by the way." He held out his hand, the same one he had just used to break the jaw of a cougar.

"Casimir," he said as he took his hand, surprised by their nonchalant reactions to what just happened. Ryker had a strong grip, but it was also relaxed and controlled, and Casimir guessed he was well used to his strength by now. "So you guys are venators, too."

"Yeah," he continued, "Leo and I were tracking those rogus, but suddenly they switched courses and came here to this clearing instead."

"Really?" Casimir had known others like him existed, but he never imagined he would meet another venator out here. After doing Illedris's bidding and ridding the area of rogus by himself all these years, he was certain he was the only resident venator in this town and the neighboring ones. Since he had no reason to travel farther than that, he never came in contact with someone like him.

"Are there more venators living here?" Ryker inquired.

"No." Casimir shook his head. "I'm the only one. So you were following those cougars?"

The one with black hair, Leo, nodded. "Yeah. We were given an assignment to hunt them down, but I guess you did half the job for us. Thank you."

"Assignment?" Casimir wondered what he meant by that. Were assignments like the errands Illedris gave him? Did they sell their souls to a master, too?

"Yeah," Ryker nodded, "For the academy. Do you mind if we take your credit? Or else Mr. Altovar'll make me pick up another assignment...and it'll probably be harder. I really can't afford another bad grade."

Grade? Academy? Casimir's mind was reeling. Illedris failed to mention a word about an academy. Leo seemed to read the confused look on his face. "You know the Bestiarius Academy, right?"

"No, I’ve never heard of it." Casimir frowned. “Like I said, I’m the only venator around these parts, so I don’t know much about that kind of stuff outside of Silas.”

"It's a secret school to train people like us to fight rogus," Leo explained, "We take lessons with experienced venators and other students. For our exams, we receive assignments to show our improvements and our fighting skills. From what I just saw, you would do great."

"Actually," Ryker said, clapping Casimir on the back with startling enthusiasm, "You should come back with us! I’ve never seen a soul skill like yours before! We could use someone like you."

Leo nodded with him. "If you wanted to, you could come back with us and we could convince the headmaster to let you test your way in. There's more like us, a lot more. And it's got the best education that can be offered to a venator."

"S-Slow down, you don't know anything about me," he pointed out. Casimir had been fighting alone for so long, the idea of training and facing rogus with others was almost unfathomable.

Ryker only shrugged. "What else do we need to know? The way you took down that rogus just now? Waiting for the right moment to strike, then finding its weak spot, that's what the teachers are looking for! Top ten material, right there. Take my word for it."

For a moment, Casimir seriously considered the offer, envisioning himself attending school where fighting rogus wasn't just a nighttime activity, but then a flash of Ouroboros Mark disrupted his dream. Illedris wouldn't let him leave, not without taking Ulrich's life first. "It sounds great and all," he sighed, "But I can't."

"Why not?" Ryker inquired.

"I, um, have a younger brother. I can't leave him behind," Casimir said, which wasn't a total lie. "He doesn't know about me being a venator or fighting rogus."

"Bestiarius Academy also has humans like that. Since the school's venator business is hush-hush, we need normal students to attend as a cover. The venators get their own building separate from the ordinary part of the school." Leo studied Casimir's face, reading his indecision. "If you need time to think about it, we won't be heading back until tomorrow at noon. You can find us at the inn by the Silas town square, if you change your mind."

"I...thanks, I'll think about it," Casimir said finally. Without hesitating another moment, he turned on his heels and walked into the dense forest towards Illedris's cave. His thoughts were swimming inside his head, new possibilities coming to mind. He wouldn't have to keep his nature to himself anymore! He could actually talk to other venators and hone his talents. He could go to school with people like him, discuss rogus-killing strategies, show off his power and his combat skills.

Those hopeful thoughts faded into doubtful ones. What would Illedris think of it all? A second, more concerning thought came to mind. Would the Bestiarius Academy even want a student like him? Of course he would keep his deal with his master a secret, but still. It was a school for those who hunted rogus, and Casimir was forever bound to serve one.