"I'm really sorry," Jules watched as Ravin saddled Opal, his expression fixed into a stern scowl. His master had just returned to the castle only to be summoned to the guardhouse, where Captain Rogre gave him a full overview of his apprentice's misdeeds. Jules couldn't recall having been that embarrassed in his whole life.

"I know you are," Ravin fastened the girth. "But I don't think you realise how much trouble you caused."

"I didn't mean to! If you heard what Arthur said to Evionel you would understand!" Jules leaned against the wall of an empty box, watching as Ravin made sure Opal was comfortable. The memory of Arthur's words re-ignited the anger in his heart, his red, swollen eyes sparkling defiantly. "He got what he deserved!"

"Oh, did he?" Ravin cast his apprentice a warning look. "What did he say then?"

"That she and Mistress Lara will end up like Melissa! Can you believe it?!" the boy banged his fist against the wall behind him. He threatened her with being buried alive!"

"Jules," Ravin's voice was low yet sterner than the apprentice had ever heard it. "Arthur has no idea what really happened to Melissa. He believes that she left in disgrace. The only people that know the truth are Kedmon, Rogre, you and me."

"No," Jules shook his head stubbornly. "He knows! If you heard him, saw him - he must know!"

"I highly doubt it. Regardless of him knowing or not knowing the truth, you started a fight. Is it what I train you for? To punch other boys?" Ravin inhaled deeply, slowly shaking his head as his patience was wearing off. "Using magic against him is a disrespect to the Hunters' Oath, and against the King's law,"

Jules cast him only a sideway glance, refusing to meet his eyes. He was too afraid to see the disappointment in his master's gaze.

"I didn't mean it like that," he muttered. Chewing at his bottom lip, he found comfort in petting Opal's muzzle. "Arthur choked me, and I couldn't get him off myself. I didn't mean to use magic on him. It just happened."

"It's good you can use magic on instinct, but it's not an excuse. Hunters fight beasts and monsters, not people," Ravin opened the door of the stable, and Jules walked Opal outside. "I'll work on your ground fighting skills, though. Now, why are you unarmed?"

"Dammit," Jules ran his hands over his face. That was too many failures for one day. "Captain Rogre has my bow. He took it before the assembly in the Great Hall and I forgot."

He expected Ravin to lecture him on the necessity to always carry a weapon, to cite the old saying that 'unarmed hunters are dead hunters' and send him over to get his bow, yet the man only mounted the black horse and offered him a hand. Jules climbed on the stallion's back, slightly disappointed that he couldn't ride Grumbler - but persuading the moody steed to hurry would be a difficult task.

The castle's gate was double-guarded. Once they left, it shut tight after them.

The Stone Town seemed asleep in the afternoon's sun. A raven nibbed at the beady-eyed doll. Many other perched on the roofs and fences. With the streets being almost empty, the black birds seemed to be the town's main residents.

"Now, about the pendant. What were you thinking?" When they left the town behind, Ravin glanced at his apprentice over his shoulder. "Or was it Rosalie's idea?"

"How do you know?" Jules shook his head with disbelief. "We wanted to win a ghost to teach her to to appear to the living, but she couldn't leave the castle. I thought that we could take something important to her as an anchor. Rosalie was sure that no one would notice the pendant is missing."

"I don't doubt you had good intentions," the hunter sighed, tiredness sounding in his voice. "Still, it was unreasonable. If I hadn't known Kedmon for years, we would have a hard time proving you weren't a thief."

Jules gave a miserable nod. When he thought about it now, sneaking the pendant out of the castle didn't seem such a great idea. He should have trusted his guts more, he had had a feeling that taking the necklace was wrong. Yet, the urge to help Rosalie, to cheer her up, had been stronger than his reason.

"Damn," he slammed his forehead against Ravin's back. He really felt like banging his head against something hard. How many times had he seen Raimont falling over for a girl and getting in trouble? Now, there he was, following the exact path of his foster brother with the little difference that Rai's girls were at least alive.

"You alright back there?" Ravin halted the horse. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just so stupid!" he groaned. He leant to the side, trying to take a look at the road from behind Ravin's wide shoulders. "Why are we standing?"

"Don't move," the hunter dismounted and reached for his reila. He went across the road toward the shrubbery that grew at the edge of the field.

"What are you doing?" Jules strained his Sixth Sense, searching for a supernatural presence, but sensed nothing. Then, something moved between the tangled twigs, a shadow crept between the lowest branches. "What's that?"

"Dismount and hide behind Opal," Ravin halted a few steps from the bush.

"But you told me not to mo-"

"Now, Jules." The hunter's tone didn't leave a room for tardiness.

Jules jumped off the horse's back, cursing his forgetfulness. If he had remembered to take his bow, he wouldn't be ordered to hide behind Opal like a little child. Peeking from above the steed's neck, he wondered if Ravin decided to trick him to teach him a lesson.

A howl sliced the silence. Jules jumped back, tripped over his own foot and fell to the ground just as a huge, black shadow sprung out from the bushes. Opal kicked his rear legs at the creature, sending it tumbling across the road. It stopped with a squeak, flapped its bald, bat-like wings, but the moments it took of the ground the hunter stabbed it with his reila. The blade pierced through the black body, pinning it down.

"Wait, it looks like - is it a striga?" Jules trotted toward his master. He stopped far enough from the creature not to be within the range of its tusks - spiked mouth. The monster's red eyes remained open, its body stilling. "But strigas are night creatures. What is it doing out here?"

"Look," Ravin reached his free hand to grasp at one of the black wings. Straightening it, he revealed sharp tears in the skin spread over the bones. "It wasn't able to fly away," he yanked the blade of the monster's body. "Strigas attack livestock here almost every night. Farmers fight back however they can."

"Hunters haven't been around here for too long, huh?" Jules squatted by the striga to nudge it with his finger. Ravin grasped him by the collar and pulled back. "Hey, it's already dead! How often can you see a striga so closely?"

"There are drowners in the lake attacking fishermen, there're haunted crossroads and houses and many other things to satisfy your curiosity. We're in hurry know."

The Lensters' house emerged from behind the trees, and they rode into the empty front yard. Just as they dismounted, a window on the first floor opened with a bang. A cloud of mist swirled, regaining its shape. Rosalie leaned over the windowsill, her hair winnowed like in the wind like gossamer. She waved at Jules, then froze at the sight of Ravin looking up at her.

"She's gotten stronger," the hunter turned back toward his apprentice. He frowned at the sight of the blush covering the young boy's face. "She doesn't belong to this world anymore, are you aware of that?"

"Of course I am," Jules walked past him, toward the door. He hoped Jerry would still be at home because his mother couldn't hear him knocking. As he heard his master's steps approaching, he couldn't help but ask. "I just don't understand why you insist on her living so much. Can't she just stay here with her family if she wants to?"

The door opened before the hunter had enough time to respond. A maid halted on the threshold, curtsied stiffly, her eyes widening at the sight of the reila in Ravin's hand. The hunter leant his weapon against the wall by the entry, at which she slightly relaxed.

"Who's there, Gween?" an imperious voice called from the dark hall. Heavy steps sounded from the floor above them, the ceiling creaking. The owner of the voice, a stringy man in a black tunic, appeared on the stairhead, his gaze rolling over the hall. The maid stepped aside, bowing her head, as he walked down the stairs. "Ravin Blake, long time no see. So it's true you've come back to work for the Arvers in your old master's place?"

Jules glanced up at his master, curious if the hunter also heard the hint of contempt and animosity in the voice of the man that must have been Jerry's father.

An odour of roses filled his nostrils. Rosalie appeared beside him, the closeness of her ethereal body sending chills down his spine.

"He knows about Melissa and grandfather's death!" her whisper rung in his mind, distracting him from listening to his master and the sir Lenster talking. "He and the Castors are plotting to bring down my father!"