Hunter says "If he can find my son, then I don't care what he is!"

Lin turns and holds up the shirt, playing at being a beast I lean over and sniff it. I pick up the boy's scent, but I also scan with my mana to detect his signature. Then I send out a wide pulse of mana looking for that same signature.

My mana finds the boy several miles away on a ledge in a river gorge. He is still alive, but he is not in very good condition and won't last much longer. As soon as I locate him I turn and give Lin a nod so that she knows I found him.

Lin says "Where is your village?"

Hunter says "It is over there, just around the side of that mountain."

Lin says "Alright. Head back to your village and I will bring your son to you?"

Hunter says "No, I want to go with you!"

Lin says "First, we will be flying. Second, if your village shoots at my mount, bad things will happen."

Hunter says "Oh, alright then. I don't think I would take well to flying. Are you sure you can find my son?"

Lin says "Yes, my mount can find anything."

While Lin is reassuring the hunter that we will find his son, I put on my saddle and then crouch down. Lin climbs up and takes her seat, once she is in place I spread my wings and take off. As I turn to fly towards the gorge, I can see the hunter below, running for his village.

We reach the gorge in about fifteen minutes and I land on the cliff above the kid. Then I use my mana to grab him and gently float him up to where we are. While I am at it I use my mana to dry out his clothes, then I gather some wood and start a small fire.

Lin says "Aren't we taking him back to the village?"

"We will, but not right away. If we left now we would arrive well before that hunter. Besides, his leg is broken and I thought it would be nicer to set it before he wakes up."

Lin says "Oh? Okay, we will do it your way."

The boy looks to be around fourteen or fifteen and is dressed just like his father. He also looks just like his father, minus the beard, but he doesn't have a bow. He may have lost it when he fell, he seems a bit young to be hunting on his own, but maybe I'm wrong.

In more rural areas kids tend to start working earlier, so maybe he is a hunter already. In order to set his leg, I shapeshift into human form just long enough to do it. Once the leg is set I use a healing spell on the kid to heal the bone, then I return to normal form.

While we wait for the kid to wake up, I lay down and let use me as a backrest. It takes about twenty minutes before the kid starts showing signs of waking up. When he wakes up he looks around looking confused, but when he sees me he screams and almost goes over the cliff again.

Lin says "Calm down, he won't hurt you. In fact, he is the one who found you, so he saved your life."

Kid says "Are you sure? He looks like he wants to eat me!"

Lin says "I'm sure. As skinny as you are you wouldn't even be a snack to him. How are you feeling?"

Kid says "Considering I should be dead, I feel pretty good. Thank you for saving me. um, who are you exactly?"

Lin says "My name is Lin and I am a mage. I was in the area when your dad found me and begged me to search for you."

Kid says "You saw my dad? Is he doing okay?"

Lin says "He was fine when I saw him. He should be back at the village by now, waiting for me to bring you to him."

Kid says "Oh. I thought that since he didn't find me, something must have happened to him."

Lin says "If you feel up to it, we can leave right now."

Kid says "Sure. I think I can walk."

Lin says "You won't need to, we will fly to the village."

Kid says "On that?! No thanks! I would rather walk!"

Lin says "Too bad. I promised your father that I would bring you back. Now, you can climb on and take a seat, or I can put you to sleep and wake you up when we get to the village."

Kid says "No, don't. I will ride, just please don't let it eat me."

The entire time they have been talking I have been fighting the urge to laugh. It was even tempted to growl at the kid, just to make him freak out again. However, Lin definitely would not be amused and would probably hit me again.

So, I stay quiet and lay perfectly still as she helps the kid climb up to the saddle. Once they are both seated and ready, I take off, but I keep it gentle and stable. I also fly low, keeping to just above tree-top level, so that the kid doesn't get too scared.

I fly to the mountain and then circle around it until I spot the kid's village. It is a small village, a couple of dozen buildings or less, but there is no room for me to land inside it. So, instead I land just outside the village and when I do, the villagers all come running.

Almost all of them, including the women, are carrying weapons, mostly bows and spears. The kid's dad is the first to reach us and when he does the kid jumps down into his arms. It is a touching scene, only ruined by the dozens of villagers all pointing weapons at me.

Lin says "Hunter, remember what I said about your people attacking us."

Hunter yells "Put your weapons down! They saved my son!"

Some of the villagers lower their weapons, others just look around at each other. It looks like they are waiting for someone else to make the first move so they can just join in. However, no one seems to be brave enough to make that call, until a man in a white robe comes running.

Priest yells "What are you waiting for?! It is a demon beast! Kill it before it kills all of us!"

The priest's yell gets most of the villagers to point their weapons at me again. However, none of them seem to be willing to be the first one to attack me. When no one attacks me, the priest grabs a bow from another villager and fires an arrow.

The arrow flies through the air, aimed directly at Lin, and then bounces away. The magical shield built into the saddle is more than enough to deal with a hundred normal arrows. However, that doesn't stop me from wanting to tear the priest into little pieces.

Before I can even move, Lin pats my neck and I can tell that she wants me to wait. I am about to ignore her when I notice that no one else among the villagers has made a move. In fact, the hunter has drawn his bow and has an arrow aimed at the priest.