Chapter 13 : Is it a bird?

The next morning, Dalene explained his plan to the others. Expecting a lot of resistance from them, he dad come out with all sort of strategy to persuade them.

- You actually want to take the ptedon request?

- I’m certain I have pinpointed the position of their nest. While we were making our way here, I’ve asked questions in every village and cities and adding what I already gathered on Nyx’s side, I am one hundred percent certain I am right.

- I don’t doubt you, I know you are good, but you are not the only one… All hunters know the young are about to leave the nest, we’re going to have a ton of competition.

- It takes five days to go from the capital to the place I have marked on the map, a worst we will be gone one fortnight.

- We won’t be able to take all the carts with that kind of terrain, which means we will have rent some space with an animal keeper and some guards. That’s not cheap.

- It’s seven crowns per ptedon’s head, and there four of them.

- Ptedons have no useful resource though, so there are no other benefits.

- Think about it, twenty-four crowns for two weeks.

- That’s twenty-two if you account for the cost of travel and the rental fees.

- The commander was right, it’s an open job with no daily wage for this job, the guy who put the request was a cheap bastard. Even if you do not account for his reputation, it’s no wonder no one took the request until now.

- I’ve accounted for everything, we only need to use one cart and two horses. We use one of them as bait while using the nets to protect ourselves and…

Arc interject.

- Like hell, you’re using our horse as bait!

- I agree, they not war-horses, but they are still horse trained to keep their calm around danger, they are not cheap.

- Same here, that’s a stupid idea, really not worth it.

- I am thankful for the support, but… What I meant is I’ve had my horse since before I joined you, I like that horse! Next year, I intend to put him with to some guy I know you take care of old horses. Dalene, you’re not getting near Horsy ever again.

- Horsy is the dumbest name for a horse.

Slightly vexed.

- I’m not the one who named him.

- Anyway, there’s less risk in buying a new horse then reselling it afterward, if it survives.

- Agreed.

- Whatever, we use one of the horses as bait and use the net with some green to hide and protect the cart and ourselves. When the ptedon come to attack, we use a net. If it fails, we’ve also got the chained bolts and contrary to birds, they need some space to take flight.

- We don’t disagree with your plan, just with the fact that no one else thought of it before.

- I’m not telling you we must absolutely do it. Just to think about it, if there is no other job, we’ll be losing money anyway.

- True enough, I only heard about exploration and scouting request on the way here.

- Well, better wrap up thing fast, dawn isn’t far away.

They hurry to finish their meal and prepare the cart but because they lost so much time talk, by the time they are finished, the sun is already up.

- Don’t blame us, you’re the one who slowed us down.

- I know, I know, it’s just there isn’t a lot of margins, to begin with.

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Hours later, the hunters separate in two groups, one takes the horses and cart to a hostel with guards and animal keepers while the other takes care of accepting the request. Turns out, coming there was a waste of time, as there was no need to register and one only need to show proof of the kill and wait for verification of the kill to receive payment.

Later, when the groups rejoin Dalene is pleased to hear that the others are now agreeing with his plans but not so much that they have come here for nothing.

- It’s not for nothing, I wouldn’t trust my stuff to some random inn.

- True, but if we went right away, there would have been no need to put them into a stable in the first place.

- Don’t start with that, you finished recouped the information yesterday, and you couldn’t have done it without going through all the villages and cities anyway. It’s starting to feel like you are complaining for the sake of it.

Many times, Dalene open his mouth like he’s about to talk, only to close it right away. After going through the motion, he sits in the back of the cart, sulking.

Chris approach Belina, asking:

- What the hell is wrong with him, he’s been acting weird ever since we talked about coming here?

- How should I know, he’s always weird when we aren’t on a job, and that’s been the case since we first met.

Suddenly Chris realizes something.

- Something like having difficulties talking to you? Getting red-faced?

- Yeah, why?

- No reason.

She gets in the front with Arc who’s currently in the driver seat, leading the horses.

- I know why Dalene is so adamant about this job?

- Really? What is it about, he’s been acting weird recently.

- Last time you were in the front, so you didn’t hear them complain about their old friends.

- Again? If they bother them so much, they can just avoid them, right?

- Whenever they come around here, they get asked when they are going to settle down.

- Argh, that kind of conversation. My folks used to do the same every time.

- I got raised by my uncle and he was a hunter, so I wouldn’t know… How did you make them stop?

- They died.

- Sorry.

- It was a long time ago, in a way it’s funny, most of the folk in the village got killed by a behemoth a few days after my parents asked me to quit because it was too dangerous.

- How did that happen?

- The army didn’t answer a request… They lacked the budget apparently. Or maybe they so used sitting on their lazy asses they couldn’t get up, I don’t know, I think it’s the second option though.

- I know you don’t want to hear that, but you’ve seen how the lord was acting in Nyx? Moving an army isn’t cheap.

- Keeping an army that doesn’t move isn’t cheap either. Let’s stop talking about that, it infuriates me. What about Dalene?

- They were pissing me, so I told them to act like they were married.

- For Dalene, it’d be like a dream come true.

- I think that’s why he wants the money, he wants to ask her for real.

- He did spend a lot of money on book and equipment, I don’t think he’s got a lot saved… You might be right. That’s going to be hilarious.

- Until he starts pouting because she rejected him again.

Having a hard time stopping himself from laughing.

- You are harsh, she did not reject him, she didn’t have a clue what he was talking about and told him to stop wasting time.

Chris look at the sky then say.

- It was about time it happened again, it’s been at least six months since last time.

- I’m looking forward to it.

<><><>

It’s been four days, and the team is approaching the site designated by Dalene, so far there’s been no sign of hunter, which is encouraging, but also no sign of ptedons, which is not.

For the last few days, every night, the scouts have looked around for leftovers from a hunt without seeing anything. At the same time, Dalene and Belina, who were staying at the camp have been collecting tall grass and other plants to put on the net as camouflage.

Although Dalene seems confident the place they are heading too is in the flight path of the feathered flying lizards, the two scouts are starting to fear it’s all been a great waste of time and money.

It is while they are entertaining such dark thought that they see a long shadow passing by. Excited, Arc who’s guiding the horse again ask Chris who has her field-glass with her:

- Is it a bird?

- No, it’s a young, Dalene was right