Chapter Twenty Two

Unsuspecting Prey

Now that she had the opportunity to properly stretch her legs, Inerys was beginning to realize how useful her new body truly was. Without the incessant hum of the city around her, she could hone in on the smallest of sounds without fear of overwhelming her sensitive ears and appreciate the calm ambience of the forest around her. Amid the distant owl calls and insect wings, she caught occasional disruptions along the forest floor: a crunching of leaves, a gentle hiss of fur passing through the underbrush. If she were to hazard a guess, she was being tailed by a pine marten or some other weasel. The stride was too erratic, too quick, to be a hare and too large to belong to any rodent she was familiar with.

Crouching in the grass, she reached out with her Awareness. Her consciousness expanded, mapping the world in perfect detail a good two dozen feet in all directions. Trees highlighted around her in her mind’s eye, as did the bushes and lesser fauna. Though she quickly realized there were holes in what she could detect. The roots beneath her feet marked the ground well enough, but any rocks, soil or boulders were strangely missing, almost as if they were voids in reality. Their absence was strangely unsettling. However, she was confident she could still navigate the forest through her Awareness alone.

The only downside was the slow ache creeping in at her temples. The more she used the ability, the more her head began to throb, so she’d been using it sparingly throughout the night. Usually in quick bursts whenever she drew close to something of interest. Like her newfound mystery companion.

Scanning her surroundings, she became aware of two distinct Souls within her immediate vicinity. One sat perched above her along the canopy while the second, presumably her shadow, lingered along the fringes of her Awareness. While she was aware of their presence, she couldn’t tell what they were. There was no distinct shape to them, merely a suggestion of sentience. The power the two forest dwellers exuded was minimal and thus, not worth further inspection. The creature inside her tended to ignore anything that wasn’t her companions, she’d noticed. Which occasionally made things difficult since it tended to willingly ignore anything of lesser Ascension. She suspected it had something to do with cost versus reward. Anything of low Ascension wasn’t worth the effort to hunt and feed from.

She took a moment to scent the air in an effort to familiarize herself with the individual scents of the forest. Of the creatures within, more specifically. Prior to this vampire business, she’d never put much thought into what a bird or a pine marten might smell like. When it came to deer, there were certain scents she was familiar with, but had yet to come across in the long hours she’d spend stalking through the woods below camp.

Whatever it was perched above her, reeked of three-day old carrion and curiously, dried grass. She peered up into the branches, searching for anything out of place. Her vision was keen enough in the dark, though she found she relied far more on scent and sound. A hoot issued from one of the boughs, drawing her attention to a tall, feathery figure. The creature’s large eyes were fixed on her, wide as they were yellow.

Inerys wrinkled her nose, making a mental note that owls possessed a particularly nasty case of rat-breath. She spared a glance back over her shoulder, as if she might spy her two Nar’Adai shadows. They’d kept their distance ever since they had all left camp, so as to not interfere with her Awareness or her senses, though every now and again, she felt their eyes. Much as she appreciated them, she couldn’t help but feel as though she were being babysat by the pair. She’d ventured into arguably more dangerous territory countless times before without her newly acquired senses or her strength. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know how to handle herself.

To be fair, though, that was before she had become anyone of any real importance. If she took a moment to step back and place herself in their position, she could understand their concern. Given all they had told her, she was important whether she wanted to be or not. And dangerous, given the right circumstances. Thankfully, this far from civilization, she was of no real risk to anyone beyond herself.

Dropping her Awareness, she continued along her path toward the river, taking the time to grow accustomed to her newfound feline grace. Her steps were lighter, more poised and she felt more a predator than she ever had before. After the cleansing of her physical core and half a day spent sleeping through the daylight hours that followed, her body had been remade. It was stronger, harder. Which had brought on an entirely new set of challenges.

If she were not paying attention, she would end up partially launching herself each time she decided to move faster than a brisk walk. Once she’d discovered that particular inconvenience, she’d spent a half an hour or more practicing a light jog until her coordination acclimated to an adequate level. She was certain Rhydian and Ayduin had had a decent laugh at her expense. She could only imagine how ridiculous she’d looked, flailing about as she had, but she knew she wouldn’t improve if she didn’t practice. A little embarrassment now was a small price to pay.

Soon, a vaguely familiar scent drew her attention. One of acrid urine and something akin to turned milk. She raised a lip, forcing herself to focus on the scents instead of recoiling, on the individual signatures layered within. Deer had never been particularly attractive smelling creatures, even to her prior nose. Now, the scent threatened to sour her stomach. She crouched beside the faint impressions of their toes along a stretch of damp earth. From what she could tell, there were at least half a dozen in the herd. Hopefully, one of which might be of some interest to her. They were fresh enough that she deduced they couldn’t be far and further down the trail, fresh scat confirmed her suspicions.

They were gradually making their way toward the river, their pace steady and unworried, oblivious to her presence. Of danger creeping ever closer. Mercifully, the evening breeze kept her down wind of her quarry and allowed her to pursue without having to deviate or adjust course too greatly in order to remain undetected. She stalked forward, ears open, body poised.

Foliage rustled ahead of her and as she drew close, she flared her Awareness. Though, when she did, she detected something else. Whatever it was, it was large. Moreso than the deer, however she wasn’t able to spot it. The creature was so close to the idling Souls of the deer that they were practically standing on top of it. Even as one wandered closer, unaware of the potential danger lurking beneath its feet, the creature didn’t move.

Curiosity spurred the young huntress forward, though with no small amount of caution. Aside from the deer and earthen bouquet of moss, she found no discernible scents. At least, none that were out of place. Had she not cast her mental net, she may have missed the animal entirely. Perhaps have even stepped on it.

What intrigued her most, however, was its Soul. The monster inside her roused with interest. Whatever it was that lurked in the mud, might be enough to sate her, at least for a time. She would have probed it further, had she not recalled Rhydian’s warnings. Awareness worked both ways and any direct inspection would be felt by the recipient. Having been on the receiving end of more than a few intrusions herself, she knew it wasn’t often a subtle sensation. Alerting anything to her presence was something she wanted to avoid.

That aside, if the creature was in fact of higher Ascension, she wasn’t in the best position to fight it off on her own. Her best option would be to run away and hope that she could outrun whatever it was or that Rhydian and Ayduin were close enough to intervene. Which they likely were, in all honesty. But even so, she wasn’t one to take unnecessary risks. If there were more of them out in the woods, observation and patience would prove invaluable.

Deciding it best to sit and watch, she situated herself in a sheltered thicket with a clear view of the herd. They milled about in the underbrush, grazing on leaves and grass alike. From what she could tell, all were female with Souls ranging from their second to third Ascensions. One circled around behind her companions to nibble on the tender leaves of a low growing bush. She came within a hair’s breadth of the creature when the ground suddenly erupted.

Deer scattered.

A long, wide maw gaped open, surging after the doe who desperately tried to leap out of the way. Only, she’d been too close when the predator struck. Its jaws snapped around her front end, crushing bone with an audible crunch that reverberated through the trees. Its head shook violently as it lumbered out of its hiding place, moss and ferns growing from its scaly back. The overgrown lizard dropped its prey into the clearing, the doe twisted and broken, twitching in the grass. Her ribcage had been flattened, spine broken. The poor thing hadn’t stood a chance.

A long, forked tongue flickered out from the reptile's mouth, not unlike that of a wyvern. Its head was near the size of Ephaxus’, but absent the horns and distinct cresting. It bore no wings, but rather stubby legs that protruded out from the sides of its long, fat body. Studying its meal, it waddled a few steps forward and had to tilt its head sideways in order to gather its prize. It took the doe by the head with the tip of its jaws, gulping the carcass down whole in a series of jerky movements.

Inerys had been too stunned to move.

The creature’s camouflage was incredible, especially for something of its size. The dark, muddy-brown scales of its side and underbelly blended almost perfectly with the damp earth and moss and patches of grass present along its back all but rendered it invisible. Even its scent was indistinguishable from the forest floor.

A shiver ran the length of Inerys’ spine. One wrong step and it could be her sliding down that beast’s throat rather than some unfortunate doe. With its attention still focused on fully swallowing its prey, she dared to brush its Soul with her Awareness. Though not quite as powerful, the quality of its Soul was near comparable to the wyverns’. If she remembered correctly, they were all in varying stages of their forth.

Surely, a creature of its size could provide enough blood of adequate quality to tide her over for a time. She only hoped its blood was more attractive than its physical appearance. She took up her bow and notched an arrow to the string. For a long moment, she eyed the arrowhead, wondering if it would be enough to even pierce the creature’s hide. She stiffed, though, as the sudden absence of sound registered in her ears.

A surprisingly light touch grazed her Soul, but the intrusion was unmistakable. On instinct, she aimed and loosed the arrow, leaning on years of muscle memory. The air around her cracked with the force of the string, the thicket around her thrashing. She did not wait to see if her shot had struck true, for she was already on her feet. She rocketed forward on her enhanced legs, muscles screaming. However, she wasn’t yet used to her newfound strength. She stumbled, having pushed off and away with too much force.

The creature barreled after her, possessing a frightening speed despite its grubby body. It crashed through the trees behind her, having clearly decided her worth the extra effort of giving chase. Inerys scrambled forward on all fours, her gloved hands digging deep into the damp soil, until she recovered. She was fairly certain her claws had ripped free of the fabric, but she didn’t care. Her pursuer was practically on top of her.

She skidded to a stop in front of a particularly thick tree, waiting until the last moment to dive aside. The reptile slammed head-first into the tree, the resulting impact rattling the forest like a small explosion. Roots sprung free of the ground as the trunk groaned, the beast’s bulk having knocked the tree bakward. Unfortunately, it hadn’t split the creature’s head open, like she’d hoped. Instead, the creature followed its momentum and used it to launch itself at her.

Somewhere ahead of her, she registered a build up of magic. Then, a flaming arrow the size of a spear streaked by. The resulting light seared her vision and Inerys floundered, tripping over an exposed root. She pitched forward, landing hard on her wrists. Behind her, a howl shook the night as Rhydian’s arrow-spear made contact. She threw herself onto her back, eyes wide. Gold-tipped flame scoured the creature’s flesh just below the neck in what should have been a lethal strike. Perhaps it would have been, were it not for the thick plating of its scales.

Though it faltered, the beast lumbered toward her, jaws wide and ready.

Inerys bit down on her scream, right as a blur of white burst through the canopy from above.

With a snarl, Ephaxus slammed down upon the unsuspecting reptile with all the force of a raptor bearing down on a field hair. Its back buckled and before it could whip around to snap back at its attacker, the wyvern wrapped his jaws around the back of the creature’s skull. The pair struggled, the reptile attempting to roll onto its back and out of harm's way. However, Ephaxus maintained the upper hand, his wings beating wildly.

Wind and debris buffeted Inerys and she threw her arm up to shield her face. Strong hands gripped her from behind, dragging her away from the titans. A second arrow lanced through the night, striking the creature in the soft, burned underside of its chest as Ephaxus hoisted its front end up off the ground. The creature keened, forelegs flapping wildly for purchase when the arrow struck home. In the same moment, the wyvern gave a clean jerk of his head.

The creature’s body went slack, dangling from Ephaxus’ jaws. His head dipped with the weight and he released it, allowing the body to drop with a heavy thud. His talons remained buried in the reptile’s back as he took a moment to ensure the threat was neutralized. With a satisfied growl, he eased off of his fallen foe, attention quick to seek her out. Inerys stared at the corpse until Ayduin released her arm and offered her a hand up.

“What is that?” She breathed.

“Lesser drake,” Ayduin said, “big one too.”

Not bigger than I, Ephaxus said, tongue flickering out in front of Inerys.

Blood still stained his maw, but she reached to touch his snout all the same.

“I’m glad you’re on my side,” she said with a shaky smile.

He drew away, neck arching in a manner that put swans to shame.

You may be small and delicate, but you are mine nonetheless. Anyone foolish enough to threaten you will have to answer to me, he said.

She caught his haughty, though teasing air and she shook her head.

“Thank you, Ephaxus. I can’t say I was expecting this outcome tonight. How did you know I was in trouble?”

I thought it wise to monitor you from above, since you would not have me at your side.

Was that bitterness she detected?

“It’s not that I didn’t want you with me,” she said, “it’s just . . . well, you’re not exactly travel sized.”

Immediately regretting her phrasing, she grimaced. One could argue he was, considering he had been her primary means of transportation these past few days. He’d taken her words about as well as she’d expected too, given his glower.

“What I mean to say is it’s far easier for someone of my size to sneak around in search of game. You aren’t exactly inconspicuous.”

He snorted. Because I do not have to skulk about to find prey.

“Some of us weren’t born with wings, Ephaxus,” she sighed.

Ayduin watched with an amused grin. “The two of you are getting along, I see.”

“Everyone all right?” Rhydian asked, jogging up from behind.

“We’re all in one piece,” his partner said.

“More or less,” Inerys said, “just a bit rattled.”

He nodded, regarding their kill. “The forest provides. Shall we see if our unfortunate friend here is up to your tastes?”