Ralltiir
Near the High Ontis mountains
14 ABY

The small farming community was situated at the base of the central continental mountain range and the start of a large marshy area that extended to the ocean. Small farms dotted the area, growing a rice-like grain that helped to feed the local area. Small herds of Nerfs and Batuuans slogged through the marshy fields, occasionally fertilizing the land.

"It's got to be stopped!" yelled one person.

"He killed six of my Batuuans, left them in pieces!” another woman exclaimed.

“Two children and their mother were slaughtered by this monster.” the town constable softly said. The group of people became very quiet at this.

Benn looked at his mother and cocked an eyebrow in query. She pursed her lips and then nodded.

“I’ll hunt it, the killer,” he said stepping forward. “I will need some help tracking this thing, but I’ll get rid of it for you.”

Everyone turned to look at the young man, some having to look up at him. Broad across the shoulders, exuding a calm strength, Benn put his hands on his hips and looked around.

“But, you are just a boy!” one older man laughed, getting some of his cronies to chuckle along with him.

“Yes, and I am also the one willing to go take care of this problem, unlike you.” Benn replied, looking the man in the eye. “This has been going on for how long now? Two, three weeks? And yet here you all stand doing nothing but complain! And this after the death of two children!” Benn looked around at the people, seeing fear and shame in their eyes.

The constable stepped forward. “Constable Joba Rethlorkin, I’ll help, I think I have an idea where the bastard has been hiding out,” he said, holding out his hand to Benn.

Benn nodded and shook the other man's hand. Adjusting his blaster he looked around. “Anyone else?” He asked, pointedly looking at the smartalec man from earlier. The man wouldn’t meet his eyes.

A local farmer named Quin, and a friend of Benns stepped forward. “Yeah Benn, sign me up. I’ll get my rifle and be ready to help you in a few minutes.”

Benn walked over and kissed his mother on the cheek and smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure I stay safe,” he said as he left.

Quin ran off to grab his rifle from his hover truck, then came back grinning. The trio headed off, Benn and the Constable in quiet conversation.

"Luck!" one of the townspeople yelled out.

Looking back the three smiled and waved.

The "hunt" turned out to be rather uneventful. Once the three were out of the town, and heading towards the forests at the base of the mountains, spoor from the monster they hunted started appearing everywhere. Dead animals, partially eaten, food containers and wrappers, tracks all over.

The constable pointed towards a rocky overhang about 95 meters from where they stood. "I have a feeling we'll find what we are looking for in there. The tracks all seem to head in that direction."

Benn unholstered his blaster and charged it. Quin chambered a round in his rifle, as Constable Rethlorkin pulled out a slug thrower and racked the slide back.

"I'll head over that way," Quin said, pointing off to the left. "I have a hunting stand over there, maybe I can spot something up there.

Benn and Joba nodded. "Should we take the cave straight on or?" he asked the constable.

"I can lead, just be careful with that blaster," the older man joked.

Nodding, he made sure the blaster's safety was switched on as they headed towards the caves.

Benn looked at the other man, eyebrows raised once they got close. "What the hell makes such a mess? This makes my bedroom look clean."

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it seems to kill just for the joy of killing, and it will eat anything apparently," Joba said, kicking a half eaten container of spoiled food aside.

Except for the bones and half eaten bodies of various animals.. The search in the caves was fruitless, so the two headed out.

Breathing in somewhat fresher air, Benn hoped the putrid smell of rotted meat, spoiled food and death wouldn't stay in his clothing.

"I want to try something," Benn offered. "I don't know how it works, but I can sometimes feel or sense things around me. I just have to concentrate on it."

The constable nodded and stepped back from the young man. "At this point? I'm open to anything."

Sitting down on a nearby rock and closing his eyes, he managed to slowly clear his mind of all the chaos around him. Slowing his breathing, he began to reach out to the world around him. The feelings, smells, sounds, everything, became muted. Soon he was lost in a swirl of shifting patterns. He "felt" Joba, standing by him, then as he expanded outward he "felt" Quin up in his tree stand. He felt the earth, the trees around him, everything seemed to be connected. Then he felt rage, anger, and pain. It wasn’t far away, and it was coming closer.

Coming out of his trance, Benn started to look around at the surrounding forest. Slowly, as if called, the killer appeared, It was huge, brutish, feral. Its eyes were a bright orange with black slits for pupils.

“There!” he yelled as the monster charged him. Without really knowing how he did it, he lept backwards from the attack, just avoiding the outstretched claws.

Joba swung around and began firing at the figure, the bullets impacted, blood and gore spurting and flying. The brute just kept on moving, howling as each bullet struck.

Benn aimed and began firing. The electric crackling sound of the bolts mixing with the sharp crack of the rifle filled the clearing. The smell of singed hair, burning flesh, spattering blood assaulting the senses.

Suddenly it was over. The thing lay splayed out, not moving. Blood leaking from numerous bullet holes, hair smoking and singed around blaster marks.

"I don’t think he will be a problem any longer,” the constable said, panting from exertion.

Benn glanced at him, then looked back at his target. The blaster shot was one in a million. It had caught the hulking brute right in the middle of the spine, paralyzing, but not killing it.

"Hey! You got 'im," Quin yelled out, a smile on his face as he approached the scene.

Grinning, Benn nodded and pulled out his knife. Reaching out to pull the brute's head back, he slit the killer's throat. Blood sprayed everywhere, causing the two others to jump back.

Saying a prayer of forgiveness to himself, he reversed the knife and drove it between the ribs and into the heart. The murdering beast shuddered once and died.

'"Urg, er, that is nasty," said the constable wiping blood from his boots. "You killed it, you deal with the mess."

The young man nodded and got out some synthecord from a belt pouch and bound the feet of the corpse.

Spooling it out, he looked around for a suitable tree branch to throw the cord over. Finding one he tossed the thin synthecord over it.

"Hey, help me lift him. The sooner we are done the sooner we can get home and eat". Benn said, grunting as he pulled on the rope.

The men grabbed the slack end of the rope, and between the three of them they hoisted the corpse off the ground.

It swayed in the breeze, blood slowly dripping from the gaping cut in its throat.

“Soooo….what now?” the old farmer asked, looking at the beast that hung before him.

“Well, um, I don’t know,” Benn said as he examined the beast. “The History museum would probably pay a good amount of credits for the body, but this one is full of holes now.” He bent down and examined the teeth and then the paws. “Hey! See here? It’s paw is infected, It can’t use it to make it’s kills. That's why it was killing easy prey.”

The other two men looked at the swollen front paw and saw that the area around one of the claws was red and inflamed.

“Well I’ll be damned. You’re right," Joba said. “Are you going to keep the head as a trophy?”

Benn shook his head and stepped back. “No, it was a noble beast that fell due to sickness. Killing it was a kindness. I think we should burn the body, or at least bury it."

Joba sized up the young man beside him. “You know people are going to want to take revenge on this thing for what it did.”

Benn started laughing. “What, are they going to beat the corpse with a stick? Will that bring back the woman and her children? It was doing what its species does, nothing more nothing less. No, we burn the corpse and call it a day well done.”

That night, as he looked up at the stars from his back porch, he thought about the beast he had slain. Was he in the right? Did he have the right to take a life, even of an animal? What if it had been a human? He believed that what he had done was for the best. He protected others. He was taught that by his mother since he was a small boy. Help others, protect others. Sometimes it will be difficult, in the end you will know. In your heart you will know.

Benn put his hands behind his head and smiled.