Once upon a time, there was a faery, a king, and a vial of starlight. Once upon a time, there was a hunt, a loss, and a massacre. Once upon a time, the lives of everyone in Kyrilla were shattered. Once upon a-

    "Are you going to get on with the story?" My sister Annie pokes me in the ribs. "Stop saying 'once upon a time' and just tell it!"

    I tickle her, and she rolls away screaming. "No way, Annie-bean. You want the story; you have to hear me tell it the way I want."

    Annie pouts. "Then I don't want the story."

    "Suit yourself," I say, standing up. "But you should be honored that your brother was chosen to represent Kyrilla in such an amazing way."

    Annie's eyes fill with tears, and she grabs my arm. "But I don't want you to go. What if you..."

    "Die?" I finish her sentence. "Well, I can't really control that, Annie, you know that. But I promise you, with all my heart, I will try to get back to you."

    She doesn't look convinced, but she lets go of me and allows me to walk out of our small one room cabin to go train.

    Training for the hunt is different to every hunter. Some people focus solely on weaponry and being able to kill anything that might get in their way. Others focus on survival skills so that if needed, they can live off the land in the forest and keep themselves alive. I practice both, to give myself a better chance at being selected this year.

    The one hundred strongest and bravest people in the kingdom are chosen each year to compete in the Race. The Race is a competition held in a special modified room in the castle to mimic the forest. After that, only the top twenty hunters earn a spot in the Hunt. Getting chosen for the Race is an honor, and you get paid in coin and food rations, but the real fame and fortune comes with the Hunt. 

    While the main mission of the Hunt is less ceremony now and more find-the-vial-as-soon-as-possible, any and all hunters who participate get food and money sent to their families. If they die, their family will be provided for by the royal family. If they survive, they are showered with praise and get food and money to get by for another year at least. But if you survived the Hunt and did well, even if you didn't recover the vial (which no one has), you will likely be chosen again the next year. And the next. And so on, until you either die or get so old or weak you cannot achieve the top twenty.

    The problem with the Hunt is that the faery cursed it. Well, the king claims it's a gift, but we all know otherwise. Each year, one hunter must die to continue the protection the faery has so graciously given us. Instead of the special star-jar powers of the vial, a charm is put upon the twenty members of the royal hunting party. But for some reason, this magic requires a human sacrifice. Theoretically a hunter can sacrifice themselves and hope that the rest of the party can find the vial without the worry of being killed, but no one ever does that, since the vial has built up a reputation of being impossible to find. 

     There's also another story, of a young man who stole the vial, and brought the wrath of a witch down on the forest and the kingdom, but I don't like telling that story much. Either way, the man supposedly returned the vial and was banished, so it makes no sense that the vial is still missing.

    So, whether it's a gift or a curse, each year twenty people enter the forest, newcomers confident they'll find the vial, veterans just hoping they can hold out another year. No one has ever gotten close to the vial, and every year only nineteen hunters remain.

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Original written February 12, 2021

First edit 11/14/21

Second edit 2/28/22

Rewritten July 5, 2023

Word count: 679