7 – Hunting

Begrudgingly, Ren led the small group, retracing his path back toward the clearing he had appeared in; in his haste to distance himself from the creature, he had left a trail of broken branches and leaves. As they left the area near the nexus, the sense of energy that had filled the air diminished, but Ren could still detect a faint aroma-like haze coming off of the other three, like a strange mana scent.

“Okay, this may sound like a strange question,” he said as they walked, “but can you, like, sense me? I feel like there is a weird haze coming off of each of you, but I thought it was just the pillar.”

“You really don’t have nexi or refinement where you come from, do you?” Kaylin said from behind him. “I thought perhaps you were playing a cultural joke of some kind.”

“Yeah… nope. I come from somewhere that is, apparently, very far away. Assume I’m like a child when it comes to the mana refinement stuff.” Ren ducked under a drooping branch.

“Well, there are several changes that refinement causes,” Kaylin began. “Changes that occur at a fundamental level. You are inherently stronger and faster: You see better, your body will heal much quicker, and you have an innate mana sense. It is weak for those at the early stages of their path but still detectable by creatures that utilize energy in large amounts.”

“Like, people with refined cores?”

“Where do you think all that energy and healing comes from?” Jax said.

“Exactly,” Kaylin continued, lightly stepping over a twisted, exposed root. “With a refined core, your body is able to more efficiently pull ambient mana from the air and consume it. Generally, the by-product is known as aura.”

“Huh, okay, that makes sense,” Ren said. “I assume the stronger the person, the more mana they consume, and the larger or more intense their aura, right?”

“Correct.”

“Not just people either,” Jax said. “All living things consume mana in some form to exist, to survive. Monsters have aura much like people.”

That at least clears that up. “Well, thanks for explaining it. Ah, here we go.” Ren pushed through the undergrowth into the clearing that bore the scars from the encounter with the badger. The center of the glade was a trampled pile of soil and grass with several deep gashes covering the ground.

Wordlessly, In’dala stepped forward, slowly moving to the edge of the turned earth. Kneeling down, the bald tracker examined the scene, retracing the badger’s path from the edge of the woods back to the center and onward to where the creature had fled into the forest. After several moments, she reached into the mess of turned dirt and retrieved a two-inch piece of a claw.

She whistled the same three sharp notes as she had back near the nexus, and the strange, dark bird landed back on her shoulder. Her tattoos glowed briefly as she lifted the fragment up, waiting as the hawk examined it with several slight tilts of its head. Finally, as if catching a scent, the bird spread its wings and flew up into the trees in the direction the monster had gone. In’dala walked back over.

“It seems to be a musttel.” She displayed the jagged claw. “Likely a late juvenile. They do not often hunt alone.”

“More to practice on!” Jax said.

“Jax has a point,” Kaylin added. “With three refined, even at novice, it should not be a problem. Can you lead us, In’dala?”

The tracker nodded before turning and moving off to follow her bird. Kaylin and Jax moved close behind, with Ren shifting to the back. At the edge of the clearing, he took one final glance behind before plunging back into the brush.

For over ten minutes, they wove through the thick trunks of the forest, In’dala moving carefully. Every so often, she would pause and look up until the strange hawk would reemerge. By unspoken agreement, they walked in silence, though, from the frenetic head movements, Ren thought the exercise would prove too much for the large man in front of him.

Eventually, they reached another place where the wood opened up to a large grouping of giant, moss-covered boulders set back into a hill. Several of them rested together, forming the haphazard, tilted opening of a dark cave, its entrance large enough for a small car to fit through. On one of the exposed stones, a small line of almost-dried, dark blood stained the rock. Several pieces of bone lay scattered around the entrance, the white contrasting sharply with the dark ground and rock. In’dala’s hawk perched on one of the large rocks above the cave mouth, ruffling its iridescent feathers.

“The musttel’s den,” In’dala stated. “I will wait.” She moved to the side, back behind one of the larger trunks of a nearby tree.

“I say we go on the offensive! We catch the monstrous creature sleeping.” Jax shrugged his large pack onto the ground and hefted his battleaxe in both hands for emphasis. “What’s your other skill, Kaylin?”

“It’s called Ice Fog; I can create an area of cold that slows and weakens creatures caught within it. Jax, I’m not sure charging into the den is the wisest choice. Perhaps we lay a trap?”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Nonsense! Maybe before, but we’re refined now. Besides, with my mail and Iron Hide, I doubt the foul beasts can even scratch me. Will you join me in the fray, Ren?”

“Uhh, I’m with Kaylin here, guy. Also, I don’t have that thick skin of yours.” He proffered his white-oak sword. “I also don’t really have a blade for a head-on fight, if you know what I mean?”

“Ahh, right you are! Blood and bone, of all the times to not have spare weapons with me.”

“What about this?” Ren continued. “Why don’t you go to the entrance and draw the badge—the musttel out? Kaylin and I can wait on either side of the opening, ready to ambush it when it appears.”

“I think it’s a fine plan,” Kaylin said.