Caeluma tiptoed cautiously. Before each step, she moved aside any branches or other foliage, preventing her steps from making noise.

Slowly, she crept along the undergrowth, while tightly gripping her bow.

She was crouching, as to remain as hidden as possible.

Finally, she crept close to a clearing and found her target.

A deer was grazing in the middle of the clearing.

Every few moments it would raise its head and scan its surroundings.

Its legs were different from those of a regular deer.

They were longer, and the muscles were differently arranged.

A spring mechanism was embedded into its anatomy, allowing it to accelerate quickly, should the need for it arise.

This specimen was referred to as a jumping deer and was one of the most difficult prey to catch.

Silently, ever so slowly, Caeluma reached behind her back and gripped an arrow from her quiver.

The spring breeze was blowing in her direction, preventing the deer from smelling her, but she would need to consider the wind when aiming at this distance.

The bronze tip of the arrow gave off a slight glint, as it caught the rays of the sun.

The ring around the planet was beautifully visible today, due to the lack of clouds.

Caeluma knocked the arrow into her bow and began to draw back.

The wood strained against her pull, as she drew to the full length of the bow.

She raised her arm and aimed.

After holding for half a second, she released the arrow mid-exhale.

The feather at the end of the arrow stabilized the arrow, making it spin quickly in the air.

The deer seemed to notice something was off and prepared to jump.

Just before the deer left the ground, the arrow struck true.

Caeluma aimed at the deer's heart, but because it moved she managed to only strike it in the leg.

The deer let out a pained grunt but was determined to continue escaping.

The deer completed its flight path and was about to land.

The moment it landed, it would use its powerful legs to kick off the ground once more, but before it could do that, a second arrow came from a different direction, striking it in the neck.

The deer let out a guttural groan before slipping and falling to the side.

The kinetic energy of the arrow had destabilized it and caused it to miss its landing.

It didn't remain lying on its side though, and struggled to get up.

Perhaps it would have succeeded if it was only wounded in the leg, but it also had an arrow embedded in its neck.

It gurgled on its blood, and before being able to stand up again, it once more collapsed.

This time it stayed there, as the light slowly faded from its eyes.

Caeluma stepped out of her hiding spot and approached the fallen deer.

"That was a great shot. You saved us from having to stalk this deer for the next few days."

Saying so, she crouched next to the deer and pulled out both arrows.

One of them had a bronze tip, while the other had a tip made of obsidian.

Spreta emerged out of the undergrowth from the direction from which the second arrow had come.

She slung her bow behind her back and walked over to Caeluma.

Caeluma handed her the obsidian-tipped arrow and asked her.

"Why do you keep using the obsidian arrows? They break a lot faster than the bronze ones. If you want, I can ask Stella to send some for you."

Spreta shrugged her shoulders, before pulling out a rope made from vines.

"The obsidian arrows are lighter, and I'm used to them. There's no reason to mend something that isn't broken."

Saying so she tied the rope around the leg of the deer, and together with Caeluma, they hung it up over a tree branch.

They used the branch as a pulley, to hoist the deer up.

They then attached the rope to a protruding root in the ground, securing the deer in place.

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"I can't believe it's already been five years since our children left to establish their cities. And look how well they turned out to be."

Caeluma pulled out an obsidian knife and slit the throat of the deer.

Since the heart was no longer beating, the blood wouldn't leak out as fast.

Spreta gathered a few short and thick sticks while answering Caeluma.

"Hmm, they sure have developed well. The only considerable hurdle they had faced was that drake. Last I've heard, it still plagues the lands in the north."

Caeluma released the rope holding up the deer letting it slowly descend to the ground.

They then dragged it to the side, so that it wouldn't lie in a puddle of its blood.

"Don't underestimate Stella and the others. For one, they have that cavalry of theirs. People say one lizard rider can rival five men in combat. Plus, I've heard that they are planning to deal with the drake soon."

Saying so, Caeluma pulled out her obsidian knife and kneeled before the deer.

Spreta helped lay the deer on its back while spreading its legs to the side.

"Let's hope they'll come back safe."

Caeluma slit the stomach of the deer, making sure that the cut was shallow and didn't puncture the stomach or intestines. Halfway through the cut, the knife got caught in the skin.

"You know, Inpar promised me he would send a bronze knife with the next caravan. He said it's better for this kind of work than an obsidian blade is."

Caeluma finished making the incision and started to remove the organs.

She set aside the livers, heart, and kidney, as they could be eaten. Before she could remove the intestines, she had to make a circular cut around the anus of the deer.

Afterward, the intestines and stomach were thrown to the side.

If they were close to the city, these organs could have been used as fertilizer in the soil, or as bait when fishing, but considering how far out they were, it wasn't worth the effort to bring these organs back.

"That sounds nice. You sure seem to have taken a liking to those arrows of yours too huh?"

Spreta propped open the now empty ribcage with the short sticks she had gathered.

This allowed the carcass to cool faster, preventing the meat from spoiling too quickly.

Caeluma let out a low chuckle while making cuts around the ankles of the lower legs.

Spreta mirrored her actions with the upper legs.

"Now that I think about it, a lot of new inventions have appeared within the last few years."

Spreta glanced at Caeluma's bow and gave out a humm of agreement.

She made another incision, running along the inside of the leg, connecting the chest of the deer to its ankles.

There she cut another ring around the base of the leg, where the armpit would be.

"New inventions are nice, they make life easier, but the most important thing is food. The southern city has been providing grain to the holy city for the past two winters. They were also the first to keep animals, instead of only hunting them."

A hint of pride appeared in Spreta's tone of voice. Caeluma let out a soft chuckle.

"Yes yes, and the first inventors of the bow were also from the south, I get it."

She removed the skin from the legs using her knife and continued by scraping off all the small bits of meat hanging onto the skin.

Spreta's cheeks reddened a bit before she let out a soft cough.

"I suppose discovering bronze is a pretty impressive feat too."

Mumbling so, she hastily continued with her work.

Watching her act in such a manner, Caeluma let out another soft chuckle.

Together they rotated the deer and cut across its spine.

They had some difficulties with the bones there, but in the end, they managed to get a clean line.

They then removed the skin from the sides of the deer, laying them out on the grass to dry.

Once again they scraped off any loose bits of meat left sticking to the skin.

"Speaking of bronze, Inpar also mentioned something else in the letters that he sent me." Caeluma once again chimed in. At that, Spreta's ears perked up. "What did he say about the bronze?"

Spreta cut around the shoulder joints of the deer while Caeluma did the same around the hips.

"He said that bronze had a special quality? Something about how it reacted when it came into contact with his blood. Hold on."

Caeluma struggled to get around the leg bone of the deer, and couldn't complete the cut.

Spreta let out a light smile and took the knife from her hands.

"You started too low. You have to cut from here and at this point, go in a half circle to go around the bone. Here you cut through, and just like that you're done. Try it on that leg."

Spreta gave the knife back to Caeluma.

Caeluma tried to replicate Spreta's movements, but where Spreta's cut was smooth, hers was jagged.

Caeluma quickly restarted the conversation, as if to hide her embarrassment.

"Anyway, Inpar wrote me that he once cut himself while sharpening a bronze blade and that the blade seemed to absorb a part of his blood. He said that he felt some weird connection with it. He ended the stone tablet by writing that he would experiment with the bronze to see what he could make with it."

While speaking, the two women stripped the muscles from the bones of the legs and torso.

"That certainly sounds interesting. It truly is wonderful what our children managed to achieve in such a short time."

Spreta then removed the leftover scraps of meat from the neck and ribs and placed them to the side on one of the skinned pelts.

These could be later added to a soup.

Caeluma removed the sinew from the back legs of the jumping deer.

Theirs was especially strong, making them perfect for an even more powerful bow.

She would surely use these to make a good bow.

"I'm sure that God has been looking over them. He has been guiding them to all of their successes."

Spreta stilled, a scarp of meat still in her hand.

She placed it next to the others while revealing a helpless smile.

"Perhaps. but I wouldn't be so quick to assign all their achievements to God. That would be dishonorable to our children, who put so much effort into establishing their cities."

A sad smile flashed briefly across Caeluma's face before it was quickly covered by a cheerful expression.

"Yeah, our children truly are the best. They have exceeded all my expectations until now."

Caeluma turned from Spreta, hiding her expression, and wiped the blood from her hands on some moss.

Spreta followed her with her gaze and her expression softened ever so slightly.

"What's the matter? You'd usually be more fired up by now, trying to prove God's influence in the world around us."

Spreta reached out a bloodied hand to Caeluma.

Caeluma sighed lightly, turned, and took Spreta's hand in her own. Her hands once more got bloodied.

"It's just... I'm scared and... worried. I feel like something bad is coming and I feel powerless to avert it."

Spreta furrowed her brow and felt a pang in her chest, seeing Caeluma so worried.

"Don't worry about that drake. The children are strong. They will manage themselves just fine."

Caeluma shut her eyes and shook her head lightly.

"It's not the drake I'm worried about. It's about what happens after. I fear that the competition has driven our children too far apart. I can read it out of the tone of their writing. I do not wish for them to fight each other."

Hearing Caeluma's worries, Spreta embraced Caeluma in a tight hug, just as Caeluma embraced her all those years ago upon the plains at the foot of the temple.

"You believe that God looks over them, right? So believe that He will prevent that from happening."

Caeluma nodded wordlessly, while Spreta felt a hot liquid roll down her arms.

They remained like that for a few moments.

After a while, Spreta slowly let go and stood up.

"We should gather a few sticks to make a sled. We need to bring all this meat back to the city."

Caeluma wordlessly nodded her head and followed after her.