Candystriper's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Candystriper sharpened her blade against the whetstone, watching orange sparks dance in the dim light. The Gingerbread Hag had murdered her village, fed every soul to those terrible Peanut Brittle Beasts. She would hunt that witch through every shadow in Ashwood until justice was served. Her fingers traced the metal canister hanging from her belt. The small container was dented and scarred from months of use. She'd blessed it with salt water and old prayers, making it safe to hold the evidence she needed. Every time she found traces of the beasts, she scraped samples into this canister. Brittle fragments. Sugar crystals. Claw residue from tree bark. The pieces told her how the creatures moved and where they hunted. Each trace brought her closer to understanding their patterns. The Hag's trail led north through Ashwood, marked by destroyed villages and missing people. Candystriper would follow until she found the witch's lair. She would study every attack site and fill her blessed canister with proof. When she finally cornered the Gingerbread Hag, there would be nowhere left to hide. No more villages would burn. No more families would vanish into the bellies of those sugar-coated monsters. Candystriper slid the canister back into place and stood. The hunt began now. She walked toward the village square where survivors gathered. A wooden board stood against the old meeting hall, covered with scratched warnings and torn parchment. The townspeople had carved crude symbols into the aged wood showing where monsters had been spotted. Candystriper studied the marks. Three attacks in the eastern woods. Two sightings near the mill. She pulled a charcoal stick from her pack and added her own marking where she'd found fresh claw marks yesterday. Other hunters would see it and stay alert. The board helped everyone survive. She stepped back and checked her blade one last time. The evidence in her canister was building. The tracking board showed the pattern growing clearer. Soon she would know exactly where the Gingerbread Hag was hiding, and then the witch would pay for every life she'd taken.