Skinning and gutting such a large beast as cienja was gruelling work. It took hours. Hours she did not have before the Sun would set and beasts more dangerous than even the cienja would prowl the jungle floor.

So she had to decide how to honour this kill.

This cienja was not the first one she hunted, and would probably not be the last. The last times, she managed to kill the beasts close enough to her camp to drag the carcasses there to utilize it. This time was different. This cienja travelled almost half a day from her camp. For reasons, Larisa was not privy to. It might’ve had a mate nearby. A thought that made Larisa shiver. A grieving cienja would be an even worse opponent.

No matter the reason, she decided to take the beast’s claws. Larisa could use the powerful talons as arrowheads. If she shaved and ate them, it would increase her connection to the darkness in the Essence. Not that she had that much problem with that, but some boost like that might one day save her life.

The talons came off easily enough and the carcass would feed the lesser predators. A boon to the smaller wildlife in this area. Next season, the hunting grounds would be plentiful and life would be in abundance. A nice thought, thinking about how busy it will be. How less empty the jungle might feel.

She put the talons in the satchel hanging by her side. It was time to move. The journey back would normally not be much of an issue, but the arrival of the dragon might’ve spurred some wildlife to become more daring.

Larisa got up and headed west, to the place she came from. From there on, it would be a quick jog to her camp. It was well-kept, and no other animal would normally bother her territory, but still, it was best to not dawdle around here.

The alkanosts started to sing after she took about fifty steps. During this time of year, the birds high up in the trees sing loudly to attract mates.

They had to be that high up, since in the tall branches those birds were not the only residents. Latavis hunted high. Flying snakes with a nasty tempter that adored the juicy meat of those birds. Larisa knew, since she had eaten an alkanost before. The bird was naturally quite fatty and round. The meat was tender and overflowing with delicious juices. A real treat for sure.

The simple thought of food made Larisa’s stomach grumble. She had not eaten since this dawn, and it wasn’t as much as she would normally eat. She hadn’t had time to eat this morning because of the cienja’s threat. She only had some small pieces of smoked fish she caught a couple of days ago.

Thankfully, as Larisa pondered on what her next meal should be, she spotted a manioc shrub. They were easily recognizable since when ripe the leaves had a light shade of purple on their normally plain green complexion. That meant the tubers that hid underneath the ground were ready to eat. They made a delicious porridge when prepared correctly. Otherwise, they made for a great poison when Larisa needed to hunt some fish. You simply put the uncooked manioc mush in the water and it could stun smaller fish. An easy way to hunt.

Larisa decided to grab some. The preparation of the rhizomes was not the easiest or simplest, but they made for a good meal.

She pulled a couple of hand-sized ones from the ground and hid them back in the satchel.

She looked up as a stray sun ray lit up the area she stood in. There she saw threads of amber hiding beneath the clouds in the eastern sky. She had to be faster, so Larisa moved on.

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The camp stood unmolested. The fire had burned out since this morning, so Larisa had to wake the flame up again. Other than that, the shelter looked just as she had left it.

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Larisa began preparing to cook the manioc, but before that, there was a fire to be awakened. Some dried woodworms’ nest made for a great kindling, so she had those things in abundance. Then she took to making a fire.

The process was getting longer with the wet season approaching. The humidity in the air was starting to upset Larisa a bit. It made the jungle feel a hundred times hotter than it truly was, and the shelter she built would not last long when the river finally flooded. She would have to go back to the cave at the south of the mountain. Every year she waited through the wet season there, and she disliked it every time. The shelter kept her safe and dry during the floods, but she couldn't see the stars. She loved nights. The moving sky with its thousand lights and the Moon watching her as she watched back.

No matter, some things must be done. Going back to that cave was one such thing.

She took her bowl from underneath her shelter and put some manioc in there after peeling it. Now all she had to do was to ground it up and clean the mush in some water. After that, boil it and you have yourself a nice meal.

Larisa thought she still had some rdest left over from her previous meal. A weed that gives a sharp taste to most things. Tasty addition.

As she cooked and then cleaned, Larisa thought about the upcoming days. The jungle would change, it probably already did in some way. Maybe it would be fun to venture a bit further out. See what changed and what didn’t. Fun and prudent, Larisa thought. It was good to know one’s home.

With these thoughts, she went to sleep underneath a shining moon, that watched her as she watched it back.

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It’s been four days and Larisa was ready to venture further than usual. She wasn’t sure how long it would take to traverse a bit further north. The last travels she made there were met with little opposition from wildlife, so she assumed the area to be quite calm. Who knew if that was still the case?

In the past days, since the arrival of the dragon, Larisa had to fight a couple of beasts who tried to claim her territory. Latavis, boars, anacondas and another cienja. More predators tried to come into her territory than ever before. Larisa was getting quite exhausted with constant vigilance. She understood the need for assuring your dominance in the areas of this jungle. You simply had to if you wanted less conflict, but it was getting ridiculous.

The dragon scared away other predators near the mountain. As a result, the beasts from the west came running to the east, through her land. Eventually, they encountered a stronger predator. A pretender they had to fight. Larisa.

By going north and abandoning her camp, Larisa thought she might find a place set higher than normal. She remembered hills there, though she never went close enough to them. Maybe they would provide her with a good shelter before the wet season.

“We’ll see,” Larisa said. She sometimes spoke to herself, although she suspected that is not something a person should do. She didn’t know why she thought that it simply was something that was left over from her younger memories.

It was jarring, hearing yourself speak. No other animal in this jungle made noises similar to Larisa’s. She was able to imitate them, but her voice was lost on other creatures. She would know. She tried to speak to them, but they did not respond. Not in a way that proved their understanding.

That thought awoke a curious idea. People. The soil spoke to her before. The jungle was scared of people venturing into the jungle. Larisa knew others looked like her, but she had never seen them. The dragon’s rest brought forth an invitation and Larisa was apprehensive, and a little excited about it. She would like to see a person. To speak to one and to see how they moved, how they smelled and looked. Would they be much different from her? Or an exact copy?

With these thoughts, Larisa was moving through the jungle. Further and further north the trees would get denser and the shrubs and bushes bigger. She even saw some basilisks running on her right. Sheepish and cute creatures, utterly harmless if you didn’t bother them.

She wondered if something further ahead had spooked them. They were running south, away from where she was headed.

To be safe, Larisa prepared her bow with an arrow. It was better to be cautious. Always be cautious.

She pulled some darkness and soil into her own Essence and stalked ahead. The birds still sang, and smaller animals ran across the jungle flood. Nothing unusual, if not for one new sound that graced her ears. Some hundred steps ahead, there was a noise that did not fit. She strained her control over the air to let the sound carry forth.

Fast and laboured breath touched her ears, and then something made her stop. A word. A single word with meaning. Something that Larisa understood.

“H- Help. Help me-” A person. A human. Hope.

Larisa moved, and then she saw a figure with a flaming head.