As night fell, the ship slipped deeper and deeper into the heart of the lake. Far from the rocky shores, the waves calmed, the surface of the lake suddenly tranquil. A thin crescent moon hung in the sky, its form reflected in the still waters.

With their mast lowered, the boat slowly drifted towards the ice floes. Hundreds of kalmû were piled up on the ice, their brown bodies turned a barely visible black in the dark night. Jasper stood at the ship's bow, Ihra at his side. Even the light breeze of the day had fallen still, and the only sound to break the silence was the rise and fall of their breaths.

Bā’er appeared behind them, two cloaks gripped firmly in his hand. “Come, put these on.” Jasper examined the heavy mantle in the moonlight, the long cloak dragging against the rough planks of the ship. It was the skin of a kalmû, preserved in its entirety; the long, glossy hair felt slick and oily to the touch, and the giant head lolled to the side with a toothy grin.

There were no sleeves, nor any other means to tie the cloak down, which only left one other option. Jasper lowered the kalmu's head onto his own. The giant skull slipped easily over him, the cloak rippling as a sudden gust of wind raced past. The kalmu skin was shockingly heavy, his neck crying out in pain from the weight, but he held his head high as the boat closed in on their target.

The ship rocked, as it gently bumped into an ice floe. The hunters erupted in a flurry of activity, throwing hooks over the railing to tie the boat tightly against the sheet of ice. This particular floe was smaller than most. Only a few kalmû were resting on its far edge, and they quick slid away into the water as the hunters leapt over the side of the boat.

“Come, follow me,” Bā’er called. Jasper turned to grab his weapon, but the burly hunter shook his head, gesturing for him to put it down. “You won’t be needing any weapons tonight, my lord.”

His curiosity at a boiling point, Jasper followed him over the side. He landed heavily, a thin layer of snow crunching beneath his feet, Ihra landing lightly beside him. She was swallowed up in the cloak, the voluminous kalmû skin billowing around her, but despite the heavy weight of the leather and fur, she rushed ahead of him, her feet dancing across the slippery ice as light as a feather and as sure as a billy goat. He followed more slowly behind, the treacherous ice more than once threatening to cast him on his face.

In the center of the ice, the hunters begin to build a pile of wood, hauling loads of silvery-grey logs from below the deck. He cautiously slipped across the ice, joining Ihra and Bā’er around the growing circle. “What’s all the wood for?”

Bā’er responded solemnly, his usual gruff cheer replaced by reverence. “We are preparing the ritual for Lady Hurbas̆u. Do not fear, my lord - we are only using the finest of warodim wood for the fire.”

After about fifteen minutes, the circle was completed, the wood piled high in a mounding heap. Bā’er approached the impromptu altar, a flask clutched in his hand. Opening the top, he drizzled the wood with a clear, amber liquid. When the heap was thoroughly drenched, he took a swig of the liquid and passed it around the group.

When Jasper’s turn came, he reluctantly pressed it to his lips. A foul taste flooded his mouth, and he gagged, spluttering. The man next to him grabbed his arm. “You must swallow it, my lord - to waste the oil of a kalmû would give offense to the goddess.”

Somehow he choked the noxious liquid down, passing the flask to Ihra. Once everyone had drunk, Bā’er waved Jasper over. “My lord, would you do the honors?” He gestured at the pile of silver wood, and after a moment, Jasper realized what he was asking. Bending down, he willed the fire through his hands. The pyre erupted in a flash, thick clouds of black smoke drifting up into the night as the foul smell of the oil filled the air.

The fire burned red hot, the orange flames licking the night sky, but Bā’er reached into his pouch. Drawing out a handful of salt, he danced around the pyre, tossing in one handful after another. Slowly the color of the fire changed from a reddish-orange to a yellow bordering on gold. As the flames changed, the hunters begin to dance in a circle around the fire, dragging Jasper and Ihra along with them.

Holding hands, each clad in a kalmû skin, they whirled around the golden pyre, whooping and yelling, while Bā’er knelt on his knees, his voice rumbling in a low prayer.

Jasper raced around and around the fire, the stars spinning above him, as the hunters surged across the ice. His vision blurred as the face of a woman appeared in the midst of the golden flames, her lips moving in an unheard speech. A strange heaviness filled his body as he stumbled along, the feeling of inexorable weight growing stronger and stronger. The cloak wrapped tightly around him, the kalmû's head shrinking against him - and then, he was sliding across the ice in a body not his own.

A voice entered his mind, cold but soft, like the waters of the lake. Hunt well, child of earth.

Acting on an instinct not his own, his body slipped over the edge of the floe, plunging into the icy depths of the lake. He was dimly aware of dozens of forms splashing into the water all around him. With a mighty thrust of his flippers, he shot deeper into the lake. Thousands of towering strands of kelp reached up toward him, and he dove down, sweeping through the watery forest.

A scent crossed his nostrils, and he growled. Intruder. The great beast shot forward, chasing after the offending scent. Giant boulders littered the floor of the lake, the moon above no longer visible in the inky depths, but the kalmû needed no light to chase its quarry in the dark. Dodging through the craggy rocks, it pursued the one who had dared to threaten its territory.

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And then it spotted it. A hundred feet above, a giant silhouette slowly circled through the waters, sharp fins sweeping back from its massive body. A karish. A thousand razor-sharp teeth gleamed in its gaping maw, its skin covered in overlapping plates of protective cartilage, but the kalmû knew no fear.

It idled beneath its quarry, unspotted by the mighty fish. Then it struck. Its mighty flippers propelled it forward, racing toward its prey. Driven by ancient instincts, the kalmû arched its back, its teeth tearing at the solitary weak point of the armored predator, a patch of unarmored skin beneath its jaws.

The karish reacted immediately, rolling through the water, as it thrashed wildly. The kalmû clung on, its teeth digging into the skin, a trail of bloody bubbles left behind in the thrashing. But the karish’s might was too great for the kalmû, shaking it off. Instantly it struck back, its toothy maw narrowly missing the kalmû who squirmed just out of reach.

Suddenly on its heels, the kalmû shot towards the surface, every muscle in its body straining as it fought to stay ahead of the armored predator chasing after it. In a shower of spray, the kalmû broke the surface, its body arching above the waters, before it landed with a gut-crunching thump on the floe of ice. Not stopping for a moment, it wriggled across the slippery surface.

A moment later, the ice where it had been ruptured as the armored karish slammed into the floe. The mighty fish hit the ice sheet so hard that it split in half, and the kalmû was sent, spinning wildly across the ice, back into the frozen waters. It darted away immediately, the karish not far behind, racing towards its last hope: the kelp forest.

Slipping between the towering plants, the kalmû dove and swerved around the boulders. While it could not match the karish’s speed in open waters, its maneuverability was unmatched. Able to turn on a dime, the kalmû managed to slip away, leaving the wounded predator searching.

The beast hid between the rocks, following the thin trail of blood the karish left behind as it waited for its chance. Finally, the karish begin to ascend higher into the lake, leaving the kelp behind. Its wounded throat lay bare, small trickles of blood still washed away in its path.

The kalmû surged forward, determined to make its chance count. It was a trick. At the last moment, the fish snapped downward, the spikes on its fins scraping against the back of the kalmû, as it wildly spun out of reach of the gaping jaws. Rather than fleeing, the kalmû stood its ground, circling around the armored predator, as it played a dangerous game. Could its maneuverability outmatch the karish’s brute strength and speed?

Like a mongoose fighting a cobra, the kalmû struck again and again, each time opening the wound a little further. The blood began to flow more freely, the icy depths turning a deep scarlet as the kalmû harried the great fish.

The karish fought to the bitter end, its instincts never allowing it back down even as it knew it was dying, but, at last, the kalmû was left victorious. It hummed beneath the waters, the sonic waves announcing its victory over the intruders. And then, latching on to the hole beneath the karish’s chin, it dragged the hulking monster up toward the surface.

He broke through the waters, dragging his prey up onto the battered sheet of ice. His flippers flopped against the frozen surface, as the weight of the beast begin to grow, and he cried out in pain as his bare hands stuck to the ice. He yanked it away with a curse, leaving behind some skin. “What the hell?”

Jasper stared in shock at the giant corpse that lay on the ice behind him. Something like an armored shark lay on its side, its throat turn out by vicious fangs. He felt his cheeks, the memories flashing through him. My fangs? The water-logged kalmû cloak was still wrapped tightly around him, feeling like it weighed a hundred tons. He struggled to push it off, chattering slightly from the cold, despite the fires within.

A moaning noise gurgled over to his left, and he turned. Ihra lay on the ice a few feet away, another of the great fish beside her. Her lips were blue and she shook violently. Stumbling it his feet, he slipped and slid across the surface over to her. Dragging the cloak off of her, he furiously pumped his essence through her, the warmth burning away the cold. His light blazed forth, great clouds of steaming rising into the tranquil night, until the last of moisture was chased away.

Her eyes opened up, and for a second, he half-expected her to punch him. But a grin broke across her face, as she sat up, taking a wild look at the armored sharks lying next to them. “That was bloody awesome!”

He laughed, his enthusiasm returning as he saw she was okay. “I don’t know what I was expecting, especially after he didn’t let us take our weapons, but it definitely wasn’t that. It was pretty amazing.”

As the minutes passed, more and more of the hunters joined them. Most dragged a karish behind them, although a few returned, bloodied and successful. When Bā’er finally returned, bringing along a beast that dwarfed the others, he idled over to Jasper and Ihra. The wet cloak clung to his body, but he appeared entirely unbothered, the water dripping into puddles on the ice floe.

He nodded with satisfaction when he saw their kills and clapped his hand on Jasper’s shoulders. “Did I not tell you you would find favor with Lady Hurbas̆u? Tell me, truly, do you regret taking the time to do it?”

Jasper shook his head. “Not in the slightest - it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. I can see why so many people travel here for the kalmû.”

Bā’er laughed. “There are few indeed who get to experience this.”

Jasper frowned. “I thought lots of people came for the kalmû hunt.”

The husky hunter leaned forward conspiratorially. “Ah, but you see, there’s the kalmû hunt and then there’s the kalmû hunt. Most come simply to hunt the kalmû for the many things they give us - food, oil, and furs. But very few outsiders earn the privilege to hunt as a kalmû.”

Jasper inclined his head to the left as he thanked the man. “I had no idea it was such an honor.”

The hunter waved his thanks away. “No need to nod - you Moon-kissed have always been a little too fond of elvish customs.” His expression grew serious. “But in all honesty, it is you who deserve our thanks. A noble like yourself probably doesn’t understand how much this haul means to us. I expect our share of the treasure to equal ten, maybe twenty, years of harvests. You have brought prosperity to our village - this was the least we could do in return.” He nodded at the karish, which lay sprawled against the ice. “I’m glad Lady Harbas̆u showed you favor. These fish should fetch a fine price at the market.”

The hunter stood back up, stretching his legs out, as he twisted back and forth, wincing slightly. “If you make the transition a lot, it starts to become more painful, as if your body’s resisting the change,” he explained. He started to walk back towards the ship, but paused. “By the way, I think next time you meditate you’ll find a welcome bonus - at least we always do.”