“As I said before, we would like to help in whatever way possible. I am sure we have something of value to offer the village, all you need to do is ask.” Egosum turned his head up in pride as he looked her in the eye.
“Unless you are the most capable hunters in this forest, I doubt you can offer us much help.” She wiped the tears from her face and steeled her expression.
“I am deceptively strong and Cinera is a classically trained mage. Taking down a beast several times our size will be simple. Coyotl is ….. Here. It will be easy.” His confidence was brimming. If all he had to do was hunt down some beasts in the forest to help out and please Coyotl, that would be exactly what he does.
“I can appreciate confidence but the forest will not be so kind. The beasts that live in these woods are closer to war machines than animals. Some have already crossed the gap into monster-hood. They range from flighty and impossible to track to massive brutes that will smash you to a pulp.” She watched their reactions for any visible change before scoffing at trying to read amphibian facial expressions.
“We are no strangers to combat. In fact, I welcome a fight. That is when I learn the most. It would definitely pay back my efforts if we stumble across a challenge in these woods.”
“Fine, I won't stop you but do not expect any help from me. I am old and tired while the rest of the village is scared to travel these woods in small groups. I hope you prove my expectations wrong. Now leave. I have other things I need to get back to.”
The woman stood up and made her way to the flap to allow them to exit from her abode.
The trio walked out of the home and proceed to the forest edge that surrounded the encampment. The blue glow shined on their faces, welcoming them back into the wilderness.
Before they could take their first journey back inside a scream halfway between urgency and secrecy caught Egosum’s attention.
“Please wait up for a second! I want to talk about something!” The voice was familiar and came from the same direction they had just left. Thunkar, the old lady’s grandson, was running towards them waving his arms to try and catch their attention.
“Yes? What is it?” Egosum turned and addressed the young boy as he approached.
“I want to come along.” He looked hopeful and excited at the prospect of adventuring into the woods.
“Absolutely not. I don’t want to get in trouble if you die and did you even get permission with Morgal?” Egosum immediately shot him down as he thought of the repercussions of any incident.
“I definitely got permission to go with you guys plus I go in there all the time without permission, so this is a perfect opportunity for me to guide you guys. I can even locate some meat with my nose. I have the best one in the entire village.” The child tapped his nose to brag.
“Egosum, I don’t see why not. We can just say he lied if she makes a big deal out of it. Plus, I think he will be safer in there than we will. You might not have seen his other form, but I did, and it was terrifying.” Her mixture of cunning and praise left the kid standing before them awkwardly, unsure if he should be prideful or second-guessing himself.
Egosum weighed about the pros and cons of taking him along before throwing caution to the wind and accepting the help.
‘It will be better for us if we can succeed and if it is telling the truth I might as well take any advantage offered to me.’
“Fine then. Let’s head out now. I want to make as much progress as possible.” He turned and began the trek into the forest.
“Yes!”
-
The group of 4 traveled through the trees and underbrush with relative ease. The only issue the group had run into was a certain individual talking incessantly.
“Alright, we are not going to keep doing this. You need to keep quiet. You are scaring off all of the prey that we might have stumbled upon. We might already be done with this if you just be silent for once.” Cinera’s patience finally boiled over as she snapped at the boy.
He flinched back slightly at the verbal lashing before quickly recovering and changing topics.
“I was wondering why we were just walking in a random direction. My talking has nothing to do with the lack of meat we have found. It has to do with there being nothing of note around us in the first place. How do expect to find food if you hunt in a desert? “
They all turned to him as he finished talking.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“How do you know there isn’t something ahead or that there wasn’t anything around us already?” Egosum was the first to speak up.
“I mean, I told you I have the best sense of smell in the village. I know where pretty much everything is nearby with just this thing alone.” He tapped his nose again to emphasize it. “I thought you guys just wanted to talk for a bit before getting into it, you know? I swear.”
“So, we have just been walking around for no reason when you could have literally guided us to something to kill anyway?” His voice took on an edge he was unfamiliar with. Apparently, the constant talking had unknowingly worn away at his nerves as well.
“Of course. I mean really. How do you think the village has been getting along for so long without the hunters doing much? Those times the hunters come back to drop off food aren't always the hunters. Keep this between us, but I bring back way more food than they do, I just don’t take the credit.”
He leaned in slightly and looked side to side as he spoke like he was watching out for any people listening so deep in the forest.
“Hold on. Why don't you just keep going out to support the village? I saw how skinny everyone was. It doesn’t make any sense. If you are such a good hunter, why don’t you hunt more?” Egosum pressured the kid as they both spoke rapidly.
The question seemed to embarrass him causing him to pause before speaking up.
“You saw how I got into trouble. That wasn’t the first time. Granny keeps on trying to protect me inside the village because she feels guilty about my parents or something. I don't know, but she just won't let me go out and hunt unless I sneak out when she is busy.”
‘More familial love, huh? First the elves and now the beastmen. Why are the amphibian families so business-like? My line only came to teach us the specific skills that would be helpful in our future as front-line warriors.'
“Alright, if your nose is so great, I expect you to be able to point us in the right direction for the hunt.” Egosum looked at him with a smidge of hope that he hadn’t been lying the entire time.
“Awesome. Yeah, just that way. It’s only a few thousand paced ahead and we will have our first piece of meat.” He appeared stoked for the true hunt to finally begin as he pointed to their left slightly. “Maybe a little more than a few thousand paces if we use you as the standard.”
Egosum sighed, but the group carried on down the path as they all advanced toward the subject.
They finally broke through the forest and got a look at what Thunkar had described as meat.
A large muscular deer stood fearlessly in the distance. Beyond its physical fitness standing out, it appeared as plain as could be and devoid of any monstrous features to dissuade them from fighting.
“I am not sure about this one. It looks like an alpha spikedeer. They have a recommended group size of four or more. They are known for goring unsuspecting hunters when they are underestimated.” The kid's hushed wisp was a far cry from any noise he made previously. The air of childishness quickly sapped from his body as he got low to the ground and appeared to blend into cover.
“I am sure we are plenty capable.” Egosum tried to calm his nerves as he spoke, but Thunkar rebuttled him quickly.
“They are pretty terrifying once they know they have something to contend with. I am serious.”
“Just watch. We even have the element of surprise.” Egosum turned his head slightly to look at the boy.
“No, we don’t. You talked too loudly.”
“What are you-”
“Ooahhhhhh!” The loud bugle of the creature caused him to fling his head forward and meet the downturned eyes of the beast as it stared him down from a standing position.
Not one to back away from the challenge, Egosum hopped forward.
“Cinera, offer me cover. Thunkar, make sure Coyotl is safe.” He heard some shuffles from behind and focused on the beast's eyes.
His back legs tensed as he drew on Qi to empower his body. The muscle fibers rolled under his skin as he primed himself to launch into the beast. Before he could let loose, the deer began to rapidly grow large antler-like spikes facing in every direction along its raised front legs.
The intent was clear from its stance and the billowing steam pouring from its nose. It was ready to fight to the death and was not about to back down from anything.
“Meep!” From behind, Coyotl’s ear-piercing call caused the creature to flinch slightly and elicited a shout of pain from the frog's guard.
He chose that opening to launch ahead and rocket into the deer's chest before it could fully recover. The cool air of the forest gilded by him as he watch his target rapidly grow closer each moment.
The moment of contact was near when the beast threw its eyes open and watched his blurred figure for a fraction of a second before throwing itself into action.
One of its spiked front legs shot out like a battering ram, catching him head-on with the antler’s points snagging his skin and throwing him backwards into the ground, drawing a trench in the soil as he came to a stop.
The beast did not pause to look at his handiwork and rushed forward to secure the kill, unsure if the strike had somehow failed to end the rocket toad.
A cloud of gray smoke billowed out from the salamander and rushed to cover Egosum’s downed figure. The deer plowed through the smoke with wild speed as it stomped and thrashed the ground in hopes of smashing the amphibian into a bloody pulp.
The beast looked around in frustration as it failed to stomp on anything that felt like flesh. It spotted Cinera off the side and blew a large puff of air out of its nose before taking a step. It got down on all fours before it trotted towards her.
After just a few steps forward it faltered in place, yanking its legs up from the ground with each step it took. Its eyes turned bloodshot as it became increasingly frustrated by the slowing progress it made towards its next target.
Every step brought up larger clumps of mud stuck to its antlered feet. It finally broke out of the ashen cloud when it failed to jerk its leg up from the ground.
It stumbled forward, landing in sticky muck that was rapidly replacing the forest floor around it.
From behind the deer's imposing figure, Egosum pulled himself free from the hole he was thrown into and hopped with all of his might at the beast's back legs.