Far away in the Northern Seas, Teris Argun had a problem of his own: namely, trying to catch his prey before it noticed him. He crept barefoot through the jungle, careful not to break a twig or crush a flower underfoot in case it alerted the creature to his presence. His target was a Green Eagle, a majestic, plumed bird that stood perched on a branch overlooking a rapidly running river. He moved with a grace that suggested great time in practice despite his young age. He wished he could take credit for it, but it was simply the case that he had inherited the skills from the previous Bearer of his soul and undergone his first Awakening a few years prior to gain access to them. Thanks to it he was already he was among the best young hunters in his tribe, and he intended to show this Green Eagle exactly that. He reached for his throwing knife, grimacing as he remembered snapping his bowstring a few hours before. He wasn't looking forward to making a new one, but his bow was indispensable. It was how he had survived these eleven months in the wilds.

Eleven months and three weeks, but who's counting?

Teris's arm blurred as he whipped his knife at the eagle, catching it unawares as the blade buried itself in its throat. With a wet, pathetic squawk, the noble creature toppled to the ground. He licked his lips, silently thanking whichever master hunter had possessed his soul in the past. According to the laws of the Cissic tribe, all members were to be expelled from the tribe's lands once they saw fifteen summers and would live in the wilds for a year before undertaking the Trial to be deemed a full citizen and allowed to re-enter. This also meant that he had gone eleven months hunting and cooking his own meals. After so much time, it was safe to say that he was tired of his own cooking. Seasoning was hard to find out here after all.

He sat down on the jungle floor and began plucking his meal, but a sudden rustle in the undergrowth caused him to jump to his feet with a start as three dark-skinned young tribesmen emerged from the bushes near the riverbank. He recognised them, of course. They were Cissic youths, like him, temporarily exiled to the wilds to qualify as an adult. The wilds were brutal, and although killing other Trialists was technically forbidden, the jungle was a savage place, and none of the Elders would bother asking questions without witnesses. He only knew the name of the one at the front: Abel, a brute born with strength beyond his years. Teris supressed a smile as he saw the flickers of fear in his fellow Trialists' eyes. They hadn't forgotten him from their first fifteen years, it seemed. There was no fear in Abel's eyes, but that oaf was too stupid to feel real fear.

"Give us the bird, Teris, and we'll let you go. You can always catch another". Abel growled, stepping closer to Teris on massive, muscular leg.

Teris looked deeper into their faces and realised that beneath their fear of him laid hunger. They hadn't eaten in some time, and that made them dangerous. Not for the first time that day he cursed himself for snapping his bowstring. Now he couldn't kill one without killing all three for fear of reprisal from the Elders, and his bow would have been the only way to do that reliably. No killing then. But that didn't mean he'd run from these idiots.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Fuck off Abel. My kill, my meal." Teris flipped his knife in his hands. Unless you want a reminder of the last time you screwed with me."

Almost unconsciously Abel fingered the scar on his left cheek, a remnant from when he'd tried to steal one of Teris's good knives from his room. Abel had laughed at him then, knowing Teris couldn't overpower him physically. He had stopped laughing when Teris hit him with a chair.

"You cheated then you bastard! Fight me now, fairly, for the bird!"

Teris idly wondered how he thought challenging a much smaller man than him to a fight over something that was his by right was fair but dismissed the thought. The justification didn't matter. They were coming for his meal, which was the same as trying to kill him. They'd learn. Maybe the two with Abel had learned not to fuck with him already, by the way they stood warily behind their fearless leader. Well, perhaps it was time to remind Abel who top Trialist was.

Without responding to the challenge, Teris waited until Abel was only a few metres away from him before pulling his knife out of the Green Eagle and whipping it at the brute. Abel quickly crossed his arms over his face and throat, protecting his vitals. His knife stuck into Abel's forearm, failing to penetrate properly. If it had been his proper knife this wouldn't have been a problem, as the fine Velsh steel of his personal weapons would have easily severed through flesh and bone. Unable to bring their own property on the Trial, however, he'd been forced to make it himself from a piece of polished obsidian he'd stumbled upon. Luckily, Teris hadn't been looking for a critical blow. He'd been after a distraction, which Abel realised as he lowered his arms and saw Teris charging him. The idiot froze for a second, shocked at the sight of someone so much smaller coming at him like with such ferocity.

He unfroze quickly when Teris landed a flying kick to his crotch

Howling in pain, Abel dropped to his knees with tears clouding his eyes. Teris picked himself up from the ground and viciously grabbed Abel's hair and pulled his head back. He yanked his knife out from Abel's forearm, noting the point had chipped. Abel had strong bones after all. Decisively, he placed the jagged tip of his knife on the left side of Abel's forehead before savagely pulling it across to his right temple. Blood poured into his eyes as the boy kept screaming. Teris grimaced. He'd bring worse beasts than Green Eagles down on them if he kept that up. This could be self-defence, right? Better to be alive to defend himself, at least. He dragged Abel to the edge of the riverbank with great effort, as the boy twisted and flailed, unable to see, before unceremoniously kicking him down it and into the river.

"He probably won't die" Teris thought as he watched his opponent be carried away by the current. The water would wash the blood away and let him see again, and they had all been taught to free themselves from the river's current at a young age. Well, as long as he didn't attract the attention of any of the river's denizens.

"Yeah, he'll probably be fine".

Teris turned to see if he had to worry about the other two youths, but it seemed they had cut their losses and run during the fight, if it could have been called that. He was lucky the knife had worked as a distraction. Even one blow from Abel would have been devastating to endure. Regardless, he had won, and to the victor went the spoils.

Teris picked up the Green Eagle's corpse and continued to pluck his dinner.

————————————————————————

(Thanks for reading! Please don't forget to vote if you enjoyed the chapter, and if you have any thoughts/suggestions don't hesitate to let me know!)