Hunter's Clash
The beginning of the journey had seen the caravan find their rhythm with each other well enough in safer climes, and able to spend two of their first three nights within the safety of settlements. But now, as the sun was over them mid morning of the fourth day, they had truly entered the wilderness. Their journey was going to follow the Copperfold Byway through open scrubland and into the Teeth of the World, the monolithic range of mesas of stone they could see in the distance, dotting the horizon. Tyril was a fortified mining town of some six thousand or so, and a wealthy settlement, but it was isolated as well, by this stretch of road.
Vondiras and Silvius were quite comfortable here however, the northern savannahs and scrublands of Kaleshin were their favorite hunting grounds, and the elf was thankful that Domo's own guards had been understanding of this fact, willing to turn over forward ranging to him and his companions. They were proper professionals that lot, and Von was genuinely enjoying working with them, particularly Kharil Darro. The burly halfman captain was well spoken, and a savvy one. He held no illusions as to the separate natures of his men versus Vondiras and his companions, and at no point tried to give them orders. From the first morning out he'd talked to them as equals, collaborated with them, and thus the division of labor and the tactical layout of both how they would travel, formation wise, as well as things like watch schedules when they had to camp, had been easy to hash out. For this Vondiras was grateful, for like all of the Sickles, he'd heard stories from his fellows about 'day-men' whom were far less easy going and far less easy to work with, seemingly intimidated or having a chip on their shoulder in regards to mercenaries. They would bark orders, attempt to treat them as little more than day-men, making everyone's working experience harder.
He and Silvius had left Asir, the village they'd stayed at the previous night, about an hour before the wagons did, as was planned. He was outriding, or walking as the case might be, and needed that lead to stay ahead of them. His job was simply to scout the route for signs of trouble, investigate anything he came upon, but not get himself killed. If he found signs of trouble, at his discretion he could simply turn back and link back up with the wagons. If all went smoothly, his other task was to try and find a suitable location for them to set up for a mid-afternoon meal and rest, to avoid traveling and marching at the hottest part of the day.
Yari Ashaan, the lead driver, was also well experienced and this was his contribution. They'd travel six hours, rest three, travel another six, well into the night, then make camp until just before dawn. It maximized their travel distance, helped reduce overheating by avoiding the worst of the day under the beating sun, and because of this helped manage water resources as well. Vondiras respected the halfman driver, for his experience and savvy, and was finding working with him to be quite pleasant.
Silvius moved swiftly, the long grasses helping obscure her some, though Vondiras could find her easy enough. He moved at a quick pace as well, bow slung over his shoulders, spear in hand. Thus far, they'd seen no signs of trouble, though plenty of wildlife in the distance, even a pair of rhinoceros grazing well off the road. He had come upon a small banding of tracks, massive animals that he knew, but had yet to see, elephants. It looked to be about seven of them, including two young, though the sign had been old, likely a day, perhaps two. But outside that, he and Silvius had not come upon anything suggesting danger or risk to the caravan.
As they crested a small rise they'd been traversing, coming down the other side of it, Vondiras glanced up at the sun, judging its position versus the distance and lead he likely had on the wagons. He would want to find a suitable place for their mid-day rest shortly, and began scanning both ahead of him, and to the sides of the road. Silvius perked up suddenly, and Vondiras calmly stuck his spear into the sandy soil, his bow coming off his back, as he nocked an arrow, scanning his surroundings. Nothing jumped out at him immediately, no movement, no rustling of grasses out of sync with the light breeze, but he watched, waiting, trusting his companion.
Silvius was low, sniffing, and moving back towards him now, slowly at first. But then the wolf suddenly perked up, snarling and sprinting, almost directly at Vondiras. He pivoted, trusting her and having a guess what happened, and loosed his arrow as he did so, striking the leopard that had clearly been stalking him in the upper leg and torso, the shaft sinking in a good four inches, as the feline was mid leap. It crashed into Vondiras heavily, but he got his bow in front of him, kicking with his legs as he fell backwards, pushing the creature back, keeping its jaws from finding purchase. Its claws raked, his chest, trying to find and tear at flesh, but ended up hooked and snagged in the links of the layer of mail within the layers of his gambeson.
The powerful feline bore him down, but his bow was a major obstruction, keeping its jaws from his throat. He could smell its breath, musty, with the faint edge of rancid meat, and redoubled his efforts to keep the bow between him and its jaws, remembering warnings from some of his fellow mercenaries. Cats often would have bits of previous kills still amongst their teeth and gums, and thus their bites, even if you survived an attack, would often become heavily infected rapidly. It was perhaps amongst the most dangerous injuries one could acquire out in the wilderness or on the job. Vondiras felt the feline's breath and its strength, holding it back was proving a great challenge an even his well made bow was creaking under the strain of the feline's body weight pushing against its curve.
Von was ever thankful for is companion in that moment, for he truly had no idea how to extract himself from the peril, but Silvius saved him the struggle. She slammed into the leopard in that moment, the she-wolf nipping and biting down on the cat's ear and head before shifting and getting a second bite on one of its front legs. Silvius shook and pulled viciously, in unison to Vondiras' own efforts pushing upwards, causing the leopard to lose its balance and ending up on its belly and side. Wasting no time, Vondiras swiftly wriggled free of its one paw and claws that were still hooked in the mail, much to the cat's discomfort as at least one of them ripped free or broke off in the armor. It snarled and hissed its displeasure as he scrambled ot his feet, even whilst engrossed in wrestling to try and get a grip on Silvius. Thankfully, she was smarter than that, not committing to a grappling fight with the larger predator and swiftly fell back. Von whistled to call off Silvius, as he scrambled back to his spear, taking the weapon to grip, and she fell in to his right, side by side with him watching the leopard only some six paces away, to see what the large cat would do next.
If it was the dry season, Vondiras had no doubt he would have had to fight for his life. However as the leopard rose, some blood staining the ground from its various hurts, and it's right front paw clearly being favored, it stared him down for a moment, before seeming to huff, turning and loping off back through the thick grasses, making no effort to hide it's passing. It was a time of plenty, and such a majestic predator would rather try its luck again on less stubborn and more unsuspecting prey, of which plenty was available, rather than with something that would fight back. Vondiras let out a sigh of relief and whispered quick thanks to Boran the Bloodhound for this hunter choosing to back down, for he hadn't wished to kill such a majestic predator, and was glad he'd gotten a choice. The arrow had snapped off in the struggle, and since Vondiras did not use poison on his arrowheads, he had every bit of faith the feline would heal well enough.
Vondiras and Silvius were quite comfortable here however, the northern savannahs and scrublands of Kaleshin were their favorite hunting grounds, and the elf was thankful that Domo's own guards had been understanding of this fact, willing to turn over forward ranging to him and his companions. They were proper professionals that lot, and Von was genuinely enjoying working with them, particularly Kharil Darro. The burly halfman captain was well spoken, and a savvy one. He held no illusions as to the separate natures of his men versus Vondiras and his companions, and at no point tried to give them orders. From the first morning out he'd talked to them as equals, collaborated with them, and thus the division of labor and the tactical layout of both how they would travel, formation wise, as well as things like watch schedules when they had to camp, had been easy to hash out. For this Vondiras was grateful, for like all of the Sickles, he'd heard stories from his fellows about 'day-men' whom were far less easy going and far less easy to work with, seemingly intimidated or having a chip on their shoulder in regards to mercenaries. They would bark orders, attempt to treat them as little more than day-men, making everyone's working experience harder.
He and Silvius had left Asir, the village they'd stayed at the previous night, about an hour before the wagons did, as was planned. He was outriding, or walking as the case might be, and needed that lead to stay ahead of them. His job was simply to scout the route for signs of trouble, investigate anything he came upon, but not get himself killed. If he found signs of trouble, at his discretion he could simply turn back and link back up with the wagons. If all went smoothly, his other task was to try and find a suitable location for them to set up for a mid-afternoon meal and rest, to avoid traveling and marching at the hottest part of the day.
Yari Ashaan, the lead driver, was also well experienced and this was his contribution. They'd travel six hours, rest three, travel another six, well into the night, then make camp until just before dawn. It maximized their travel distance, helped reduce overheating by avoiding the worst of the day under the beating sun, and because of this helped manage water resources as well. Vondiras respected the halfman driver, for his experience and savvy, and was finding working with him to be quite pleasant.
Silvius moved swiftly, the long grasses helping obscure her some, though Vondiras could find her easy enough. He moved at a quick pace as well, bow slung over his shoulders, spear in hand. Thus far, they'd seen no signs of trouble, though plenty of wildlife in the distance, even a pair of rhinoceros grazing well off the road. He had come upon a small banding of tracks, massive animals that he knew, but had yet to see, elephants. It looked to be about seven of them, including two young, though the sign had been old, likely a day, perhaps two. But outside that, he and Silvius had not come upon anything suggesting danger or risk to the caravan.
As they crested a small rise they'd been traversing, coming down the other side of it, Vondiras glanced up at the sun, judging its position versus the distance and lead he likely had on the wagons. He would want to find a suitable place for their mid-day rest shortly, and began scanning both ahead of him, and to the sides of the road. Silvius perked up suddenly, and Vondiras calmly stuck his spear into the sandy soil, his bow coming off his back, as he nocked an arrow, scanning his surroundings. Nothing jumped out at him immediately, no movement, no rustling of grasses out of sync with the light breeze, but he watched, waiting, trusting his companion.
Silvius was low, sniffing, and moving back towards him now, slowly at first. But then the wolf suddenly perked up, snarling and sprinting, almost directly at Vondiras. He pivoted, trusting her and having a guess what happened, and loosed his arrow as he did so, striking the leopard that had clearly been stalking him in the upper leg and torso, the shaft sinking in a good four inches, as the feline was mid leap. It crashed into Vondiras heavily, but he got his bow in front of him, kicking with his legs as he fell backwards, pushing the creature back, keeping its jaws from finding purchase. Its claws raked, his chest, trying to find and tear at flesh, but ended up hooked and snagged in the links of the layer of mail within the layers of his gambeson.
The powerful feline bore him down, but his bow was a major obstruction, keeping its jaws from his throat. He could smell its breath, musty, with the faint edge of rancid meat, and redoubled his efforts to keep the bow between him and its jaws, remembering warnings from some of his fellow mercenaries. Cats often would have bits of previous kills still amongst their teeth and gums, and thus their bites, even if you survived an attack, would often become heavily infected rapidly. It was perhaps amongst the most dangerous injuries one could acquire out in the wilderness or on the job. Vondiras felt the feline's breath and its strength, holding it back was proving a great challenge an even his well made bow was creaking under the strain of the feline's body weight pushing against its curve.
Von was ever thankful for is companion in that moment, for he truly had no idea how to extract himself from the peril, but Silvius saved him the struggle. She slammed into the leopard in that moment, the she-wolf nipping and biting down on the cat's ear and head before shifting and getting a second bite on one of its front legs. Silvius shook and pulled viciously, in unison to Vondiras' own efforts pushing upwards, causing the leopard to lose its balance and ending up on its belly and side. Wasting no time, Vondiras swiftly wriggled free of its one paw and claws that were still hooked in the mail, much to the cat's discomfort as at least one of them ripped free or broke off in the armor. It snarled and hissed its displeasure as he scrambled ot his feet, even whilst engrossed in wrestling to try and get a grip on Silvius. Thankfully, she was smarter than that, not committing to a grappling fight with the larger predator and swiftly fell back. Von whistled to call off Silvius, as he scrambled back to his spear, taking the weapon to grip, and she fell in to his right, side by side with him watching the leopard only some six paces away, to see what the large cat would do next.
If it was the dry season, Vondiras had no doubt he would have had to fight for his life. However as the leopard rose, some blood staining the ground from its various hurts, and it's right front paw clearly being favored, it stared him down for a moment, before seeming to huff, turning and loping off back through the thick grasses, making no effort to hide it's passing. It was a time of plenty, and such a majestic predator would rather try its luck again on less stubborn and more unsuspecting prey, of which plenty was available, rather than with something that would fight back. Vondiras let out a sigh of relief and whispered quick thanks to Boran the Bloodhound for this hunter choosing to back down, for he hadn't wished to kill such a majestic predator, and was glad he'd gotten a choice. The arrow had snapped off in the struggle, and since Vondiras did not use poison on his arrowheads, he had every bit of faith the feline would heal well enough.
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