CHAPTER 14

The hunting party made good time. The Saguk were perfectly suited to threading among the giant trees of Tyr. They were also an oddly smooth ride. I’ve never ridden anything before that hasn’t been equipped with a grav engine so I was expecting that there would have been some bucking around involved. It took me just a couple of minutes to get used to the running motion of our mounts. Mostly, I was trying to keep the hard, boney back of the bird from scraping my butt.

“Are we supposed to be riding? I was expecting, I dunno, a lot more stalking and shooting from behind the bushes.” I asked Franny who was riding beside me. She has a smile on her face and was obviously enjoying her day out in nature.

“Antuanas got smart and tend to avoid populated areas. They might raid a farm or two in the outskirts of the city but they do it at night. They tend to stick to the deeper parts of the woods.” Franny explained.

“Okay, I got that but what about these birds then? Or that crossbow? Wouldn’t it be better to use a grav bike and a rifle? Grav bikes are silent and a rifle is a lot more accurate compared to a crossbow.”

“Ah, you’re right, of course, but you’re forgetting the most important part of hunting. It’s not about the efficiency of the hunt, it’s the challenge of it. If we wanted to, we could use a drone to search for the boar and use a long range rifle from the rooftop of the ranger station. This here, the bird and the crossbow has been the favorite of hunters since Tyr was settled. Forget about the higher level tech for the moment. This is what hunting is all about.”

“Never took you as a purist.”

“You’ve never really talked to me outside of work, you know.”

“Ah. Right. Forgot about that.”

Franny just made some cute grunting noises and focused on looking around. We were following Ethan and Aoife as they’re the ones who knew where the best hunting grounds were. The drone following slightly behind Ethan was jarring as it was really out of place. Ethan said that he always documents his hunts.

The surroundings were getting darker as we move deeper in the forest. The large, purple leaves of the trees were forming a canopy, limiting the amount of light. It was strange that everything has a slight tinge of purple. The leaves seem to throw its colors when hit by light.

Eventually, Ethan slowed down and had us look for a camp. According to the ranger, this particular area of the woods had yet to be graced by hunting groups. It was only last season that the area has been surveyed and cleared for hunting.

The group searched around until we found a relatively small clearing. I was in charge of the grav pallet so I had to wrestle with the thing. The thickening forest was giving me hell in ensuring that the pallet doesn’t get snagged on something.

We hobbled the Sugaks on some stakes while Aoife gave them some feed. We unloaded the pallet and deployed the folding tent. We were only here for a day trip so it was an open air tent. Ethan waved us to join him on the table wherein he had a holo of the surrounding area.

“Right, we’ll be doing a slow sweep of the area. Aoife and I will be leading since we’ve doing this thing for quite a while and are experienced in moving silently. Franny, if you could, give our mate here a hand in moving through the forest. We can’t have him scaring our game. Albert, we’ll try to get you as close as practical to an Antuana so you can try that spear on them. You get first kill.”

“Is that a good idea? I mean, me getting the first shot at it? This is my first real hunt after all.” I asked.

“Exactly, mate. It’s your first real hunt to let’s make it a bloody good one.” Ethan grinned at me and winked. Aoife gave a thumbs up when I looked at her for confirmation.

“Now, in case Albert misses or injures the animal, it’s going to be as mad as a cut snake. We’ll be positioning ourselves so we could take it out before it does some damage. Aim for the heart, people. It’s got a big one.” Ethan was probably saying that for my benefit. Possibly, Franny’s too. The holo was projecting a picture of a typical Antuana with the area where the heart should be pulsing a shade of red. I stared at it closer and agreed with Ethan, it was a big heart.

I spent a couple of minutes getting last minute instructions from Aoife on how to move in the forest. There were a couple of things that made moving in the Tyrian wilds different from earth based flora. Tyrian trees are large, rubbery trees that also have large, rubbery branches. You are more in danger of tripping on them rather than cracking on one when stepped upon. It was also made extensively clear to me that most of the plant life is poisonous to humans. Tyr was colonized by Inugorians hence Inugorian compatible plants. The last bit of instruction I got was not to shoot any creature not an Antuana. There are a few ground-dwelling animals around, mostly herbivores, so confirm your target before shooting.

When Aoife was satisfied that I was properly educated with the necessities, we moved out with Ethan leading the hunt. Aoife was trailing behind with me and Franny in the middle. Ethan decided that having Aoife as read guard might be a better idea than having both of them at the front.

The forests of Tyr are very different from your earthlike ones. The large, springy trees actually breaths. If you place your hand on one, you can actually feel air being sucked in by the trunk. The deadfall is also a pain in the ass. Rather than small branches and dried leaves you have car-sized branches and wet, gooey purple splotches that used to be leaves. It didn’t take long for my shoes to be a mess. The biggest difference that I’ve noticed is that the forest was cooler. I don’t know if it’s because of the trees or some other reason but it was a couple degrees cooler compared to the open spaces.

It still didn’t stop me from sweating.

Since the boarding action on the Woglinde, I’ve made good with my promise to work on my stamina. I’ve been visiting the gym regularly, working out about an hour every other day. It was hard the first week but gradually, I was starting to feel more energized by my exercises. My holo coach program did a great job in guiding me in my workouts and I’ve already lost half a dozen kilos. There is still a long road ahead of me but I’m off to a good start.

Ethan was methodically moving through the forest, examining his surroundings for traces of the armored boar. It did not take him long to drop down on his knees as he stared at the spoor left by the animal. We continued to follow him as he moved deeper in the forest. I noticed that the drone took a higher vantage point and it was constantly recording.

I just jumped over a large branch when Aoife held up her left palm. She and Ethan conferred for a bit then she looked at us. She pointed to her eyes then towards the far right. She then waved for us to join her quietly. I don’t know if I was quiet but I tried to step lightly.

We came to a stop beside her as she passed her binoculars to me. She pointed to a specific direction to direct my vision. I lifted the binoculars to see what she was pointing at and after a bit of searching, I found the target of today’s hunt.

An Antuana was rooting about just below a tree. It was good sized one too. Now that we have stopped, I could faintly hear the loud snorting of the animal. I observed the Antuana as it pulled something from the ground and started chewing on it. I checked the binoculars and it was telling me that it was about a hundred and twenty meters away. It was way over my maximum throwing range, not that I was planning to try anyway. Ethan sidled up to us as I passed the binos to Franny.

“Right, our big boy over there hasn’t noticed us yet so let’s keep it that way. Albert, you’re with me. Aoife and Franny, if you could get into position over there, you’d have a great shot if the Antuana makes a break for it. Good?” Ethan whispered to the group. I could see that he’s excited. Everybody nodded and Aoife and Franny made their way towards a small rise that was overlooking the rooting Antuana. There was no tree blocking their line of sight so they could react very quickly if needed.

Ethan had me crouched over as we carefully moved closer to the armored boar. I was not used to moving in a crouch so my back started complaining. I ignored it and focused on not tripping. I looked with envy on how easy Ethan was moving through nature. He wasn’t jumping over obstacles rather, he looked like was flowing over them.

I was focusing too much on watching my feet that I almost bumped into Ethan when he stopped. He grabbed me by the arms to prevent me from stumbling.

“Whoa. Don’t want to scare our prey now, don’t we? Alright, slowly raise your head up and see if we’re close enough for a throw. You have a good view of its sides from here.” We were behind a rock outcropping. I slowly peeked over our cover and took a good look at my target. The Antuana was perfectly profiled for a throw. It was still digging around, no care in the world.

Now that we were closer to it, I got a better understanding of how large it is. It didn’t look too imposing from a distance but its muscular and wide body really is intimidating up close. I haven’t a range finder but I judge that it’s probably close enough.

“Yeah, I think we’re good here.” I informed Ethan when I ducked back down. He grinned and loaded his crossbow.

“Good. Let me get my sights on it and you can throw at your pace. Fun, eh?” Ethan rested his arm over the rock then used it as a stabilizer for his crossbow. He gave me the thumbs up and just waited, concentrating on keeping the Antuana in his crosshairs.

I unclipped the spear from my belt and extended it. I checked to make sure that it was not damaged, however unlikely that is, then slid my right hand to where I felt most comfortable with. I took a couple of deep breaths to calm down.

When I felt I was ready, I activated my force multiplier then peeked over again to make sure that we haven’t been spotted by the animal. Reassured by the calm scene, I stood up slowly then raised the spear for a throw. I pulled as far back as I can then, after a moment to adjust my aim, threw with as much force as I could muster. I judged that we were as close as I was when I practiced on the tree at the ranger station parking lot but I have been wrong before so some extra muscle wouldn’t go amiss here.

The spear sailed through the air with some faint swishing sound. My forceful throw compounded with the assistance of my multiplier had the spear streaking through the air at amazing speed with a lot of force behind it.

The spear punched through the Antuana’s hardened exterior. The spear went in almost halfway through the pole. The Antuana let out a high pitched squeal that was astonishingly loud. It bucked from the hit then tried to run. Its six, powerful legs were trying to get it moving but four of its legs collapsed under it. I could see that I made a very good throw. With the size of its heart, It was possible that I hit it or even nicked it badly. The Antuana finally rested on its side and stopped moving. Ethan and I scrambled from behind our rock and jogged towards my kill. I was about to approach to get a good look at it when he grabbed my arm.

“Wait a minute, there. It might still be alive. Check first before you try approaching a dead dangerous animal. That thing could still gore you if it has some fight left in ‘im.” Ethan warned. I immediately stopped and let Ethan poke the Antuana to make sure it wasn’t playing dead before getting up close.

The armored boar was lying on its side with the spear sticking out. I grabbed it and pulled it out. I was worried that it would get lodged in the animal but the molecular spearhead made short work of any resistance. The hole started bleeding out as soon as I cleared the spear. Looking closely, I could see that the Antuana is actually covered by fine, coarse fur. It was prickly on the hand when I tried running my palm on it.

“Great shot, mate. That’s a good-sized one right there. Of course, we can’t leave it like that now can’t we?” Ethan called the drone to come closer. The lev pallet was slaved to the drone so that it wouldn’t interfere with our hunt. Ethan had the pallet park itself beside the downed game. Franny and Aoife hitched a ride on it as it passed them by.

“You really should have told me how good you are at throwing.” Franny reprimanded with a pout. She also tried rubbing the hide of the Antuana but quickly pulled back when she felt the coarse strands of fur.

“I didn’t put two and two together until late into the game. I seriously thought that I was just lucky the first couple of times I actually hit something with my throwing arm.”

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“You’re a natural, if I am to judge. The Tyrian Spear Society would probably want a word with you.” Aoife added. She opened the utility box on the pallet and retrieved a knife. It was a good quality one with a small hook on the side. It was an unusual gutting knife compared to what I’ve used before.

Aoife placed the knife on my hand.

“You killed it, you dress it. Here, let us help you string this big bastard up. That’s why we have this pallet here. We tie up the boar then the pallet would lift it up. No dragging around required. Franny, a hand?” The four of us had a heck of a time getting the ropes around the ponderous animal. After a lot of shoving and pulling, we finally had it properly roped. Ethan had the pallet hover higher and it lifted the weight of the Antuana without any difficulty. We had the animal strung up by its back leg. The pallet had to hover pretty damn high to get it to stretch out. I consulted the hunting guide and found a video on how the dress this particular animal. Though they are almost the same in terms of shape, their innards are a bit different. For one, Antuana blood is more viscous compared to its earthen brethren. It really stinks and goes bad so fast so it was advised to dress the animal as soon as possible. You also had to string it up due to the weight of its innards. It is a lot easier to let gravity do the hard work of pulling out the nasty parts. It is no fun pulling out a fifty-kilogram intestine. Franny offered to help me but I declined. I didn’t want to take her away from her relaxing spot on the ground. She was having a good time chatting with our two guides and I wanted her to really not worry about a thing. She already helped me out quite a lot at work.

After half an hour, Ethan declared the boar well prepared. I was very confident about being able to do it properly. Whenever I go with Flower for his hunting trips, it always fell to me to prepare the meat that the hunters bring back. Rich guys don’t exactly want to get elbows deep in blood and guts. I’ve learned to dress and butcher a lot of different kinds of game animals and it was kind of interesting dressing the Antuana. I had to be more forceful with the knife since the animal was all muscle. There was a thin layer of fat on the belly but nothing compared to an earth hog. I tried to make sure that I strip the animal as cleanly as possible. The stripping didn’t take long, actually. The sharp knife and judicial application of modern technology helped me strip it before lunch time.

“Hey guys, how about we roast a couple of slab of this?” I suggested.

“A good, old-fashioned barbie? I love it! We have to get our containment shield first, though. We don’t want the rangers coming down hard on us for starting an open flame.” Rather than going back ourselves, Ethan sent his drone back to pick up the unit. While we were waiting for it, Franny and I prepared two different dishes. I rubbed some rosemary, basil, salt and pepper on mine while Franny had made a quick marinade that she dipped a couple slices on the meat into. She added a special chemical that hastened the absorption process. We grinned at each other as both of us thought about the same thing.

“Damn. Those are looking good! You guys are officially my favorite hunting buddies.” Aoife said as she was looking over Franny’s shoulder, staring as she flipped the slices of meat she had on a folding pan.

“Why have we never thought about bringing somebody that can actually cook is beyond me.” Ethan enthusiastically agreed. I taught him a simple meat rub recipe that works for a lot of different kind of game meats. Ethan listened while he was helping out in rubbing spices on the slices I prepared.

We didn’t wait for long before the drone came back lugging the containment unit. It essentially is a monitoring pylon that has a sensor attached to a dry fire suppressor. You plant it on the ground and set the parameters for fire usage. If the fire goes beyond the designated area or has risen above the expected temperature range, it would automatically warn people in the vicinity through ArmComm, light, sound, and vibration. It will then deploy the suppressor unit that will extinguish the fire using dry chemical retardants. It’s cheap, portable, and infinitely useful.

The drone also picked up a small portable grill. Ethan set it up but Franny was our grill master. I’m pretty good as a griller but Franny has a proud family history of great grillers, well, that is according to Musaka. I was a bit worried that the herb meat I prepared would turn out strange since I was not exactly sure about the gaminess of the meat, if it was even that. This is will be my first time eating it but according to the hunting guide, it should work.

When the synthetic charcoals were hot enough, Franny carefully placed the meat on the grill. It was a simple one without a cover so she was a bit limited on the grilling styles she could use. I did wonder how long it would take for the meat to cook considering that it was tough muscle but was surprised when Franny started flipping a lot earlier that I expected. I looked closer and could see that the thin layer of fat was boiling just under the outer layer of meat and was cooking it from the inside. Rather than browning, the meat actually cooks purple. Ethan explained that it was due to their diet. Franny has done this before so was not fazed by it. A pleasant aroma started wafting in the air.

“Oh god, that smells delicious! Okay, you guys are welcome in all of our hunts. We’ll even pay you for bigger hunting trips.” Aoife said.

“Like what the lady said. Top notch cooking, that.” Ethan agreed.

It is always nice to get complimented on your work. We just stood there, watching as Franny meticulously worked the grill. When she was satisfied that the barbecued meat was ready, Ethan took out some bread. Franny slapped the cooked meat on top of the slices of bread and passed it around. We didn’t really have extra vegetables with us to make a sandwich or anything but we were not complaining.

I took a large bite out of my sandwich. Franny gave me a slice of her marinated meat and it was scrumptious. The texture threw me off when I sank my teeth on it. I was expecting to encounter hard meat and almost rattled my teeth when I cut right through it. I asked Aoife if it was the same for her because we were both snacking on Franny's dish and she explained that fire does that to Antuana meat. That's why it's so popular as a game animal. It was also not gamey at all. It was completely different from whatever my expectations were. I stopped analyzing the meat when I saw Ethan reaching for another slice. I focused on eating and grabbing another slice for myself. Franny served me some of mine and it was also good. Not as good as Franny's, but also good.

We spent our lunch laughing and chatting around while we filled ourselves up. We took care to clean the area we used when we were done and made sure that the fire was properly extinguished. We drank some tea that Aoife packed on a thermal jug to settle our stomachs. It has been a while since I had a cup of earl gray and I thanked Aoife for it.

"So, you guys up for more hunting? You guys said something about bringing down a few more for your ship." Aoife asked.

"Yeah, we're good for more. We don't have an extensive meat stock so this will give us an opportunity to update our menu. I'll be teaching Albert here a couple of popular dishes we have served in the past. How about you guys?" Franny inquired.

"This big boy here is probably enough for us but, what the hell. The boys in Flosshilde would probably want to try that marinade you just taught us." Ethan replied. Aoife grinned and rubbed her hands, thinking about future meals with it.

The rest of the afternoon was spent going around the area, hunting down Antuana when we can find them. We were able to bring in four more before we called it day. I was exhausted from all the stalking and walking we did. Franny was breathing heavy too but the other two hunters were acting like we just went for a stroll in the park.

We took turns dressing the Antuanas that we killed and I was able to compare my work with an expert. Ethan's knife work was amazing. He stripped his Antuana so efficiently. There was hardly any wasted meat. Aoife was not as good but still pretty damn exceptional. Franny and I asked for their supervision when we worked on ours and we learned how much we don't know about the intricacies of dressing the animal.

The sun was pretty low in the sky and the pallet was already heavily loaded. The others were busy making sure everything was properly stored before we make for camp so I took the opportunity to answer the call of nature. That's one inconvenience when out in the woods. No toilets but hey, look at that. A tree.

I moved a bit further since it was a bit embarrassing to let them hear me tinkle. When I was satisfied that I was far enough, I stepped up to the nearest tree to drench its thirst with my life giving fluids.

I was feeling relaxed from the pressure slowly leaving my bladder when I heard a snort from behind. I looked over my shoulder when I saw an Antuana, not ten meters away from me. Looking at me.

Shit.

I slowly turned, making sure not to make any quick movements that could be interpreted as hostile. I faced the snorting Antuana as it stared at the puddle I was making in front of me. I finally stopped pissing and buttoned up my pants slowly.

"It's alright. It's okay. I'm going away now. Juusssttt backing away slowly..." I chanted softly as I kept my body facing the Antuana. It stopped snorting but it was still watching me. I've taken maybe a half a dozen steps when it suddenly let out a loud squeal. The Antuana reared up on its mid and back legs then slammed both front legs on the ground. With one more loud snort, it dug its powerful legs and charged at me.

Once it let out that squeal, I knew I was in trouble. As quick as I could, I drew a throwing knife and had it in the air by the time the Antuana slammed its forelegs on the ground. The knife buried itself on its muscular left shoulder but the animal didn't show any kind of reaction to it. I didn't have time for another throw before it was already upon me. It's unbelievable how fast the fucker was given how big it is. I threw myself to the side, rolling on the ground. I popped back up and the enraged animal was already turning for another go. I grabbed the retracted spear from my belt as I ran behind the tree I was pissing on. The Anutana is great in straight lines but corners are a problem for its bulky frame. I was able to buy myself a couple of seconds so I extended my spear and tried to look for somewhere I could escape to. The branches of the large trees of Tyr are too high up for me to grab on to and the trees themselves are too wide for me to climb. Again, the Antuana didn't give me time as it made its way around the tree squealing and snorting, picking up speed. I threw another knife at it in hopes of distracting it and was marginally successful. The knife deflected on the creature's tusks, missing its face but the knife took off the top half of its left ear when it ricocheted. The animal screamed in rage and again reared. This time, I didn't wait for it to charge me.

I've heard about how for some people, time seems to slow down during times of extreme duress. Combat, accidents, even sporting events were constant examples of those who have experienced this phenomenon.

Using the short opening that was presented, I took two steps forward then stabbed forward with the spear. I leaned on it, putting as much weight as I could behind the thrust.

In what must have been just a moment, it felt like I was moving in slow motion. I watched at the spear on my hands traversed the distance between the Antuana and me. The injured armored boar was on its way back on all six legs and I could see spittle flying all over the place. I dug my leading left foot on the ground harder, trying to put as much momentum as I could generate.

Midway on the way down, the spear tip neatly sliced through the creature's chest. I didn't particularly aim at that area but it was the largest and closest target I could find.

As the spearhead sank into the Antuana's broad chest, time snapped back. I could not stop myself. I actually headbutted the left eye of the animal, barely missing its tusk. The spear went all the way in until my gripping hand stopped it from continuing on. I slammed on the Antuana then rebounded, violently throwing my body back. The added force of the animal's landing had me rolling back before landing flat. I heard a loud squeal as I flew but I couldn't do anything about it as I was trying to catch my breath. I could also hear shouts coming from behind the Antuana as I feebly flipped myself on my stomach. I got my wobbly feet under me and almost fell again before a pair of arms caught me.

"Relax, mate. You'll be alright. Bloody hell, you're one crazy son of a bitch, ain't ya? Didn't you know that you are NOT supposed to leave your hunting party?" Ethan reprimanded. He was keeping me vertical for the moment since I was having trouble standing up. I tried shaking my head to clear it but that just made it worse. Now I wanted to barf too.

"I needed to take a piss." I mumbled.

"Not an excuse. Nobody goes around the forest alone. Understand? nobody." Ethan forcefully added.

"Albert!" Franny's voice cut through my haze. She cursed as she went over a large branch obstructing her.

"Are you hurt? Do we need medical?" Franny skidded beside me and her hands started exploring my body. I tried shoving her hands away but she swatted my arms. Satisfied that I was whole, she helped Ethan sit me down on a rock.

"What the hell were you doing!? disappearing like that!" She yelled.

"That's what I said..." Ethan said under her breath. My world was starting to make sense so I was able to look at Franny's face and, oh boy, she's pissed.

"I was just taking a tinkle..." I lamely answered.

"A tinkle!? And did you say anything before you decided to go off on your own!?"

"...no..."

"DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH ADMISITRATIVE WORK  I WOULD HAVE HAD TO DO IF YOU HAD DIED!?!" Wow, I didn't know she could scream that loudly. I made the smart decision of keeping my trap shut.

"I SWEAR, IF YOU MAKE ME FILE ONE MORE DAMNED REPORT, I'LL BRING YOU BACK TO LIFE SO THAT I COULD TAKE AN AXE TO YOUR STUPID FACE!!!" She's terrifyingly angry. The veins on her neck were popping out and she had was opening and closing her free hand. I think I would rather take a bolt than to let her get her hands on me right about now. Ethan was making a tactical retreat due to overwhelming odds but I could see hope. Aoife was now standing behind Franny and was talking to her. Franny was still staring holes at me but her nose was no longer flaring.

By some magic, maybe it was through the powers of the cosmos, but Aoife was actually talking Franny down. She turned her away from me and had Franny follow her to check on the Antuana to make sure it's really dead. The boar was on its side, spear deep in its chest. Aoife poked it with her crossbow just to make sure.

"If she had her way, you'll be dead as a maggot." Ethan commented. I breathed a sigh of relief now that Franny's ire was no longer directed at me and nodded at what he said.

"Why is she so angry, though? It's not like I did it on purpose." I asked.

"Mate, you could have died. This was supposed to be a fun excursion. Getting gored by an Antuana was not in the plans."

"It's not like I wanted this to happen."

"Still, you done fucked up. You left the group without notifying anybody. We would be responsible if you had been seriously injured." Ethan explained. He made sure to look in my eyes when he said that to drive the point.

"I'm sorry. You're right. I was not thinking." I said sincerely. I really didn't think about it and it almost killed me.

"You learned your lesson. Can't ask anything more than that. C'mon, let's look at your kill." Ethan slapped me on the back then waited to see if I could stand up by myself. The dizziness was gone and other than some fatigue, I was okay.

We joined the ladies and I apologized again, making damn sure that Franny knew I was sincere in my apology. She calmed down some and there was some redness on her cheeks due to her embarrassment of being so angry. This might have been a taste of that famous anger the people on the ship were warning me about. Suffice to say, I would never want to see her really mad.

I extracted the spear after some hard yanking and saw that it was undamaged. It was covered by the animal's blood and pieces of its large heart were clinging on the thing. We took some time to appreciate the size of the creature. I didn't really take the time to measure it when it was chasing me but now that it was lying on the ground, we could see that it was easily the largest out of the ones we hunted today.

"Hey, let's take a commemorative image of our hunt." Aoife suggested. We posed beside the Antuana and they had me place a foot on it and raise the bloody spear with both hands. I felt ridiculous but everybody was grinning. The drone took our image and a couple more before I started dressing the Antuana. Aoife helped me out to hasten the process since it was getting late while Ethan and Franny went back for our things and the loaded lev pallet.

All in all, it was a very productive and fun day, besides the excitement during the later bit. I was satisfied with how I was able to contribute today and would gladly go on another one. Next time, I would be better prepared and informed.

Franny and Ethan came back with our stuff and we loaded our latest kill on it. We hoofed it back to our campsite then packed everything on the waiting Saguks. I was still in charge of the lev pallet but I have to extra careful this time because now it's fully loaded.

The birds were fully rested and had no problems in making their way back to the station. Aoife called ahead and the Barral ranger was waiting for us. He took back the birds then we loaded everything on the back of Ethan's truck.

"Good hunt, yeah?" Aoife asked us.

Yeah. I really had a great time. Thanks for inviting us." I said.

"Hey, it was fun for us too. How about a beer before we call it a day?"

"Sure! I'd love too. Tell you what, my treat." Franny offered.

"Well then, that's a good thing to hear, if I may say so myself. Let's get going then." Ethan slapped the hood of the truck and we piled in. It was starting to get fully dark when we finally made it back to the city. Franny had some of our people pick up our kills to get it secured in the Woglinde and Ethan made the same call to his Flosshilde friends.

We dropped Franny off at her hotel and we went back to the Den. We freshened up and changed into something more appropriate for a night out then we were back on the streets. Franny told us to go ahead and she'll just meet us at Horny Sam's.

It is always a great end of the day when you find yourself holding a cold one with friends around you.