Chapter 5: A Hunting
Xanrei was up before us, digging into a freshly caught rodent. Our stomach gurgled in jealousy, it was time we set out to find some food ourselves. Jassen demanded that she stay silent while he and I went out hunting. We must have caught her off guard, for she jumped at the sound of our voice. Her composure quickly regained, she feigned abashedness, as though she hardly ever said anything.
True to her word, not a peep came from her as we prowled the forest for nuts, berries, or hopefully some kind of meat. With many of the plants dead or dying, there were scant edible berries. Rotted nuts or their shells littering the forest floor, hidden below the colorful leaves. If we were to hope for a meal, we would have to find a creature for ourselves.
Traveling parallel to the road, we spent most of the day searching for a sign or tail. Good fortune rained upon us as Xanrei spotted a deer from her high vantage point. Though we would have found something eventually, our stomach thanked Xanrei’s helpful eyes. This was good too, the clouds were dark and full, threatening a downpour. Rain, not completely halting hunting, would have greatly hampered our efficiency in a swift kill.
The deer was not alone, it was trailing behind a herd of four other doe ahead of it. At the sound of our approach, the doe leading halted their march, stomping her feet in apprehension. They all snapped to attention, their heads looked directly at us. They were wary, but not fearful of us. They stood still, looking to what we would do. We stalled with bated breath, not wanting them to run off and out of our reach.
After our stillness assured them we meant no immediate harm, they briskly trotted away from us. We held our spear tightly, it was then that we had to act, less we spend more time spent tracking them. With their heads turned away from us, we wiped our arm back. Jassen lit the spear aflame then, with as much might he was capable of, hurled the fiery pole into the doe bringing up the rear.
Swift and accurate the spear hit its mark, embedding itself into the flank of the poor beast. It bleated in distress, running chaotically into the woods away from its fellows. Soon all were out of sight, but the light from the burning spear kept us knowledgeable of where the doe went.
We passed over our smoldering spear, its tip having blackened blood from dislodging from the doe. A trail of crimson lead us the rest of the way, the doe’s energy draining from the grievous wound. We kept pace, the doe more resilient than expected, leading us far from the road.
We expected the doe to have fallen from exhaustion or blood loss by that time, instead it was still alive, taking rapid breaths tenaciously trying to cling to life. Its will to live demanded respect, but its eyes looked to us in absolute fear. It took shelter under a rocky overhang, too exhausted to continue the chase.
Normally we would not try to hunt anything this large, our feeble frame only capable of lightly puncturing it. But with Jassen’s affinity for mur, we were able to go beyond most others in strength, though not too far. Not that we never had hunt deer before, but this deer was much more vigorous than the others. The sick and the young usually took the rear of the herd, but apparently this entire herd was all lively and primed.
We didn’t know what to do, face to face with a one who ought to be dead. A moment of waiting, staring at the beast, feelings of regret welled within me. Jassen took lead, taking a knife from our bag he plunged it deep between the doe’s terrified eyes. It stiffened a moment before falling limp. I knew we needed food, but was never easy to take the life from another creature. To push past any regret for what we had done, Jassen began to segment the beast.
Xanrei, her body surprisingly accustomed to endurance, caught up to us. We had a fire roaring, holding one of the deer’s flayed legs by the bone over the fire. Xanrei’s fur was wet with the torrent of rain outside. She swooped down to sit by the fire, shaking her body, sending droplets of water all over. I was impressed that she could fly in such conditions, the battery of rain constantly trying to push her to the ground.
No sooner from when she landed did she open her jaws with complaints. “How could you just leave me like that, chasing after a deer like there was no time left in the world. It’s a miracle that I found you guys, your scent basically vanished with this stupid rain. My bones ache, my wings are sore, and I’m soaked in water. And I find you here happily warm and eating. I honestly can’t believe that after I saved your life you would do this to me.”
Rather than first speaking, Jassen tore a large hunk of the not-yet-fully-cooked meat and handed it to her. “Listen, I guess I should thank you for saving us, but there’s no reason for you to follow us. In fact, it would be better if you didn’t. I don’t mean to be harsh, it’s just that you’ll get plenty of hate if you travel with us. You already know we're not normal, and as soon as that’s found out in any village we’re run out. If you have any sense for yourself, you'd just carry on with your own life.”
She looked up from the clump she had her face buried in, meat hanging off the side of her jaw as she spoke, “I steal, do you think I really care what others think? Besides you’re the most interesting thing to happen since I left the nest, there’s not a chance in yon I’d miss out on what your short life will be like.” To our benefit she stopped talking there and dug her snout back into the brown and pink mush on the stone ground.
Our hands were warm, but not burned, from holding the leg over the fire. Once fully cooked, we took it off the flame. Biting into the charred, warm, and juicy hunk of flesh, our stomach ached for us to chew and send the piece down as quickly as possible. It was no gourmet meal, but our hunger held it in the same respect as a dish prepared by a professional. The outer layer was black and crispy while the inside was a bit stringy, but was still wonderfully tasty.
Xanrei seemed to be enjoying herself too, a large animal such as this would have been a much more rare taste for her; her size only capturing insects or small critters. She would rip a piece off, throw her head back, and swallow whole. Fastidious Jassen tried his hardest to keep any juice or pieces off his face and body. In contrast Xanrei’s entire body seemed to make contact, her belly scales shining with the juices of the dear.
We had spent the rest of our time eating in silence. Jassen and Xanrei’s entire attention focused on getting as much food in themselves as possible. Jassen reached out into the rain, cupping his hands to catch the droplets. He rinsed his mouth and hands in the cold water, repeating until there was no trace of stickiness to be found.
Xanrei had spent the time huddling close to the fire, curling herself in preparation for sleep. I was mildly disgusted by her, sticky rotting flesh would leave a horrible smell on her later. But I thought it best to keep these grievances to myself, it was much easier when she wasn’t constantly voicing her every thought.
Jassen must have thought the same, staying quiet to let the wyvern fall asleep. He prodded my mind, asking what my thoughts about her were. I told him that I didn’t truly know yet, we’ve known her too little to formulate a proper opinion of her. Jassen really wanted her gone, “but she’s really annoying, and she’ll bring too much attention to us.”
“No more than we bring ourselves, playing music will draw almost everyone's attention.” I make no means to candidly protest his opinion of her, I played devil's advocate to affirm any of his thoughts.
“I guess, but she’ll tell others about us, or worse. We have to be careful with what we tell this loudmouth.” He bent over the corpse of the dear, “there’s no way we can eat all of this, or carry it ‘till the next town. Think we should just chuck it for some nel to take it?” I tell him we should do that with some of the beast, but we should still take a leg or two for the road.
We carve off its remaining legs, hefting the bloody torso and head far from the overhang. Xanrei made no motion to try to join us, probably being well asleep. The sheets of rain made it hard to see, our body drenched from a single step outside. We were fairly lucky this dear brought us to the overhang, It would be hard going if the weather fell on the road.
With a grunt we toss the carcass into a ditch we came across. It’s blood ran away from underneath its body, snaking its way down to an unseen river. I hope something found it good food, such a waste of life and body if it merely rotted where we put it.
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