Jack could tell the scene was still tense. These were the Hill People, and no one knew how they would react. With their advantage in weapons, armor, and numbers, Jack was confident members of the Dragon's Caravan would come out on top, but with two tamed wolgen backed by several argu'n, they still might pay a steep price.

Right now, the male who'd shouted commands at the rogue wolgen looked over at the other wolgen S'haar finished before the arrival of the hill people. He was probably noticing all the bolts and spears in its hide, the fact that no one in the caravan seemed any the worse for wear, and with a startled glance, he even saw Jack riding on a wolgen of their own. Jack was confident the male was doing some rough calculations in his head and didn't seem to like his conclusion.

Looking back at the impossible metal woman who'd tamed one of his wolgen with seemingly little effort, the male bowed. "I apologize on behalf of my people if our hunt placed you and yours in danger. I am Rak'shal, the master of this hunt, and I will accept responsibility for any punishments you may require."

While Angela's body seemed not to move or speak as if deep in thought, her voice came in over the headset. "Just checking before I offer blanket forgiveness, but we don't have to make a thing out of this, do we?"

S'haar didn't take long to answer. "Well, we shouldn't leave without some spoils, or we'd look too soft, but it doesn't have to be too much. We'll simply claim the wolgen we killed and call it even."

Finally, Angela stirred, addressing Rak'shal. "I don't think any punishment is in order. After all, this was only a mild inconvenience. So we'll lay claim to the wolgen we slew and continue on our way."

-

Rak'shal raised an eye ridge at the idea of a mated pair of wolgen being chased into this metal goddess's followers being only a mild inconvenience. Though, to be fair, the evidence before his eyes seemed to reinforce that claim. Then there was the odd argu'n in the middle of the formation riding a wolgen... Sometimes it was everything he could do to keep the wolgen under his care from turning on a careless handler, and even then, there were sometimes accidents. They even had to put the occasional wolgen down if it got too aggressive and started maiming or killing tribesmen. But that wolgen was far more docile than any he'd ever encountered, even if it was smaller than usual. Then there was Var'sha, who was usually more temperamental; he seemed to be behaving himself under the metal goddess's ministrations. The Huntmaster desperately wanted to learn these strange people's secrets.

Looking back to the odd metal goddess, Rak'shal bowed again. "I appreciate your generosity, but I feel we owe your people more than just the spoils of the wolgen you rightfully killed. So, please, be our guests at a feast in your honor. It's the least we can do to apologize!"

The goddess shook her head as she answered. "Sadly, we have to decline. Time is of the essence for us. We need to keep moving."

Rak'shal felt the opportunity slipping through his claws, so he doubled down his offer and decided to be honest. "Well, perhaps I can tempt you with the actual prize of our hunt! We hunt for mated wolgen every spring, not just to clear them out of our territory but also to take and raise the pups for the benefit of the tribe. Right now, our tribe is near the capacity of how many wolgen we can support, so how about we allow you to take and raise the pups of this pair? All I ask is you allow us to send a male of our tribe with you to learn your methods for raising and training wolgen."

The goddess crossed her arms and tilted her head. "The honest approach, huh? I respect that, but that's not my call to make. First, you need to speak with our leader."

That confused Rak'shal. "Are you not the goddess of these people? Do they not obey your commands?"

This time the goddess threw back her head and laughed. "First off, I'm no goddess! I'm quite happy supporting those more fit for such roles. You may call me Angela. The one who leads us is none other than Lady S'haar. You'll have to make your request to her." Angela held out a hand indicating S'haar as she walked up to join in the conversation, having been close enough to overhear most everything until now.

Rak'shal felt a shadow fall over his face. "S'haar... Are you by chance related to the warrior De'haar?"

S'haar's eyes, which had been relatively open and calm before, suddenly held a sharp edge. "He was my father, such as it is, but we've been enemies longer than we were a family. The last two times we met, we crossed swords. The world is better off without him!"

Rak'shal raised his eye ridges in surprise again. "You crossed swords with that monster twice...and lived? And he's dead now? Well, then I owe you a drink out of gratitude! The last time that beast visited our tribe, he killed one of my wolgen for sport. Then he stole many of our young males away with promises of riches and honor. They never returned... As far as I'm concerned, simply being De'haar's enemy makes you welcome in these lands!"

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Some of the harshnesses left S'haar's eyes as she nodded. "My partner's people have a saying, 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'"

The Huntmaster nodded. "Wise people."

At that, S'haar laughed as if Rak'shal had said something unwittingly funny. "You have no idea. But Angela is right; we do need to get moving again. So what was it you wanted to offer us?"

Rak'shal nodded and repeated his offer. "Right now, some of our hunters are extracting the pups that belonged to the mated pair of wolgen we accidentally chased onto your camp. I'd like to offer both animals to you as an apology and as payment for you to take along one of my hunters to learn your training techniques with wolgen."

S'haar raised an eye ridge. "Are you able to make such offers on behalf of your camp?"

Rak'shal shrugged. "Regarding the wolgen, yes. I'm in charge of their care and maintenance, and I've already said we're near our capacity. As for sending one of our people, no, but I can make such a call regarding my family. So I'd like to offer you my son's services as a hunter in return for you teaching him your secrets for training wolgen."

Hearing that, one of the other hunters looked surprised but didn't object. S'haar tilted her head in consideration. "Well, he'll be expected to pull his weight as a full hunter. With two extra wolgen to feed, we'll need him hunting full time. Any learning he does will have to be done in what little free time he can find for himself, and that won't be much. Also, I'm not certain if or when we'll ever be passing by this way ever again. We're being chased by an enemy whose numbers vastly exceed our own. Are you still certain you want to send your son with us on those terms?"

Rak'shal looked at the odd argu'n riding a wolgen, then the dead wolgen with all sorts of strange sticks protruding from it, and finally to Var'sha sitting contentedly at the side of the not-goddess. He returned his gaze to S'haar. "Even if he only picks up a fraction of what you people have to teach him, I suspect it'll be far more than I realize right now. Also, I raised and trained the boy. So he'll be able to find his way home no matter how far you travel. This is an opportunity for him to secure a future for himself and his family. Sure there's a risk, but every hunt is risky, and I think this quarry is worth tracking to the end."

S'haar looked at the hunter a moment and nodded. "Travel with us until we find our resting spot for the night. We'll discuss it further then." Then she turned around and directed her hunters to prep the wolgen carcass for travel.

Realizing the potential disaster he'd stumbled across might have turned into an opportunity for his people, Rak'shal directed a prayer of thanks to his ancestors while he turned around and directed his hunters to prep their wolgen for travel.

-

Dar'shal wondered what his father was thinking. He seemed to think this tribe knew something about wolgen taming they didn't. But it seemed apparent to the younger hunter that the wolgen the odd argu'n male was riding on must have been a runt they somehow managed to rescue. That his temperament made him so mild-mannered was likely more luck than skill.

Still, his father was right about owing these people more than simply letting them claim the wolgen they'd killed. Two wolgen pups seemed a bit generous, but on the other hand, they could have wiped out the hunting party if they'd so chosen, so maybe getting on this tribe's good side was smart.

He'd arrived a little after they'd set up camp for the night with three other hunters. Capturing and dragging the wolgen pups on sleds had slowed them down enough that they'd been the last to arrive.

Looking around, Dar'shal found the large silver goddess. He pointed back at the wolgen. "I've got the wolgen pups my father promised. Where would you like them?"

The goddess looked at him and then the pups before nodding in approval. "You must be Dar'shal! Sare'en is in charge of animal management. She's also the one who raised Grim, so she'll probably be in charge of these two. You can find her by the arlack near the center of the camp."

Dar'shal bowed and took his leave, directing the hunters to bring the wolgen pups with them. It didn't take long to find the arlack. What amazed the hunter was that this tribe's wolgen was sitting in the middle of the herd, unrestrained, simply eating his dinner.

A female argu'n looked up from what she'd been doing only to rush over to the wolgen pups tied to the sleds, completely ignoring the hunters dragging them. "Oh, you poor babies! You must be so scared! Well, don't worry, we'll take good care of you from now on!"

With that, she started feeding them strips of meat. At first, the pups seemed to ignore the meat as they continued struggling against their bonds, but eventually, one seemed to think better of the situation and started gulping down the offered food. The other looked over at its sibling, but after nothing bad seemed to happen, she started munching on her own meat. The female argu'n kept feeding them meat by hand, careful to avoid getting bitten, whispering calming nonsense the whole time.

There was a slight grumble from the tribe's adult wolgen, but another female simply patted him on the neck. "Easy Grim, they're just pups. Sare'en knows what she's doing."

Dar'shal saw another male eating nearby, carefully watching everything and everyone. He nodded affably enough, but the hunter noticed the male's hand was never far from the long knife he wore on his belt.

Suddenly, Dar'shal realized the female feeding the pups was untieing one of the wolgen. "Woh, that might not be a good idea! You gotta establish dominance before..."

The female, Sare'en Dar'shal remained himself, continued unabated. The hunter's hand lept to his own weapons, it would be a waste to kill one of the pups, but it was better than being accused of causing injury to one of the tribe's females through neglect. Though, instead of lunging at her as he'd expected, the wolgen pup just laid down and continued eating while Sare'en kept petting it and mumbling softly.

Not long after, she had both pups free of their bindings, lying on the ground, enjoying their full bellies and huddling close to her. The process had taken less than an hour, and the pups seemed to accept her as their new mother. Maybe this tribe had something new to teach them after all...