บท 58: The Hunt
The next few days were rather difficult on us. We weren't going straight towards Sedon, and our food supply didn't magically increase over the night. That meant we had to ration our plants, so that both us and Tauruses could eat. Though the situation didn't look great, the tracks indicated we were getting closer. "We might be about a day or two away from them, though they are heading east now. That's opposite of Sedon, but we are getting close. We should increase our pace, since we don't know when they will stop or move again", Dawn proposed. Both me and Tara agreed to that plan.
Finally, after another day of tracking, we caught up with a group of Ognars. There were four Ognars in that group, and they were on the move. "They are already moving, which plays to our advantage. We can use diversion, to take down one of them. What do you think, Anna?", Dawn asked.
I wasn't really sure how to proceed, but we couldn't simply attack the whole group. "Attacking from a distance would be the best idea, but I doubt you can take down an Ognar with your bow. Besides, I should participate as well, since it was my idea. That means, we have to get closer. You mentioned a diversion, how did you want to do it?", I replied.
"There are three of us, which means we can use diversion tactics. More precisely, one person gets their attention, while the other two attack one of the Ognars", she explained. "That is actually the best plan. As long as the Ognars are focused on one person, the other two can sneak up from behind and strike. I think Dawn should act as a distraction, while me and Anna strike", Tara added.
"Shouldn't I play the decoy? Turry is faster than your Tauruses, I can run away better", I asked. "No, because I will be of no use to Tara. Don't forget that my weapon is a bow. I can easily grab their attention without any risks. Hunting them with a bow while riding, is not something I'm able to carry out at this stage", Dawn explained. "She is right. Her arrows will do little damage, even if she manages to actually hit the target. With my spear and your sword, we can kill one of them quickly, then retreat", Tara said.
"Alright, we will go with this plan. Dawn will grab their attention while approaching Ognars from behind. Make them follow you, so that Ognars don't see our movements. While you do that, me and Tara can position ourselves on both sides, then await the group of Ognars chasing after you. Once you pass our positions, we will chase from behind. Tara, you have a spear and therefore a much greater reach than me with a sword. You have to strike first. I will try to deliver the final blow", I explained so that everyone was on the same page.
"Once you kill the Ognar, we have to retreat. There is no way we can get the meat with the other three Ognars around. Once they calm down or run away, we can go back to get the meat", Dawn added. "Yes, we will go with that then", Tara agreed. Dawn began her chase after the Ognars, while we prepared to take our positions. "Tara, you take the right side, I will cover the left. Once you attack, the Ognar's attention will shift towards you. That's when I'll make my move. Are you fine with that?", I proposed. She agreed and we separated to cover our positions.
We had to wait until Dawn attracted the group, then led them our way. Though we had no way of affecting anything at that stage, we could watch. Dawn took her bow out, then shot at the group of Ognars. 'She wasn't joking about the difficulty...'. Her aim was all over the place, none of the arrows made it close to any Ognar at that stage.
Despite that, the Ognars noticed her. The creatures continued for a while, but then stopped and turned around. 'They are focused on Dawn right now… Yep, they will chase', I thought while glancing at Tara in the distance. Dawn wasn't stupid either. She used her speed, distance and agility to reorganise their group. She was after isolating one Ognar at the back, so that we could attack.
Once Dawn passed our positions, we immediately gave chase. Dawn was really good at grabbing their attention. The Ognars didn't even notice us on their tail. Me and Tara got closer and closer, but it was Tara who had to make the move first. Before she attacked though, the Ognar at the back finally spotted us. That wasn't something we could prevent, but Tara had to be quick.
Instead of actually getting even closer and thrusting her spear, she threw it. The distance between her and the Ognar wasn't that big, though it was a risky move on her part. Fortunately, her spear pierced the creature's backside, resulting in a slow down and a roar. That was my chance. "Go Turry!", I urged him to increase the pace.
Turry ran at his full speed, while the Ognar limped slowly towards the group. "Shing..Raaah!", My sword slashed through the back and front leg of the Ognar, making it release a loud roar in pain, "GRAAW". The wound was very severe. That was enough for the Ognar to drop down, unable to support its weight, "Bam!".
"Turry, stop!", I exclaimed. Before Turry fully stopped, I jumped off of his back and rushed at the Ognar. "Anna, hurry up! The others are turning around too!", Tara warned me. '...I'm sorry', I said to myself, then used everything my body had on offer to cleave at the Ognar's head. "Swoosh, Crack...Tsssssss", my attack cut through half of its head, spraying a lot of blood and brain parts everywhere. The method looked cruel and bad, but it was the fastest way I could think of. "Anna! Stop daydreaming! Run already!", Tara shouted at me once again.
"Turry!", I called out while turning around, but he was already next to me. "Run Turry, quickly!", I urged. Thanks to Dawn's diversion and our quick attacks, we managed to escape the other Ognars. "It's alright now, we are slowly losing them. You can relax now", Tara tried to calm me down. I nodded but deep down felt bad. I knew the faster we killed them, the less pain they would feel. '... At least it died quickly, with the least amount of suffering', I thought.
The Ognars couldn't catch up to us at all, they could only give up in the end. "We did it. Let's wait here for Dawn, she should join us in a while... Hey, cheer up, you did really well. Sometimes you have to decide and go with it. It's better to be decisive, than hesitate all the time", Tara tried to cheer me up. "I know, it's just that... It didn't have to be so gruesome. I kind of panicked due to lack of time, and used everything I had to slash", I replied.
"That is why this is an experience. You learned something new, and that is a good thing. Next time, you'll know what to do better", Tara reasoned. "I know. Don't worry, I'll be fine". We waited for a while, until Dawn showed up. "The plan worked out pretty well. You didn't hesitate at the end, which is good. We should be able to go back there in a while, and collect our meat. Are you fine with that, or do you want us to take care of it?", she asked. "I'm not going to hide from this. This is an experience in itself, I can't simply let you do it. I'll be fine, thank you for your concern guys", I replied.
"That Ognar is more than enough for our whole journey. We will take the skin and as much meat as we can. If we have space, we will take the bones too. We shouldn't waste those things", Dawn added. "Huh? Why would you need bones?", I asked, confused. "Vanauts like to chew bones. We can use them as means of payment with Vanauts, or simply sell them. Though my storage item is not good enough to take all of them. Tara's probably the same… Yours on the other hand... I mean you are a princess after all", she replied.
"You'd be mistaken about my wealth. I'm much poorer than you guys, since I don't get money from my parents. The only storage item is my backpack, and it's not the best… I should probably improve that by myself already", I sighed. "Haha, poor princess... This would be a good book. I mean, it would be hilari…", Tara stopped when she saw my face. "Since I'm the princess, I must hold some kind of power, right? Do you think I could have people executed for talking badly about me?", I asked. Tara remained quiet, while Dawn chuckled quietly. "Seriously Tara, you look like you're about to poop yourself. Relax, no one is going to execute anyone here", I added.
"Great joke… Haha…", Tara laughed drily. "Well, you made fun of her. What else did you expect? Anyway, let's check if the Ognars left. I'm tired of those plants, my body craves some meat", Dawn proposed while hopping back on her Taurus. We did the same and followed her.
Once we got back, the other Ognars were gone. "Alright guys, we can take care of the meat now", Dawn announced. My sword wasn't the best tool for the task, but then I recalled a dagger in my backpack. "Huh, what sort of weird thing do you have there?", Tara asked about my dagger. "Yea, I've never seen such a weird design", Dawn chimed in. "'That was made by my father for my mother… I think. She has them so, that would be logical. Anyway, the shape is weird, but it's not that bad when it comes to sharpness", I explained.
"Hey, you use a sword, right? Why don't you give that dagger to me?", Tara asked. "I could take it off of you as well. I mean, it's a good sub weapon for my bow", Dawn wanted a piece of it as well. "Would you mind? Stop drooling over my father so much. The dagger is mine, so get lost", I replied, annoyed. They gave up with their words, but stared at it nonetheless.
Disregarding that, we extracted all the meat, got the skin and even some bones. Dawn knew how to do everything really well, me and Tara could only learn from her. "This amount of meat is enough for at least a few weeks. In my estimates, we will have quite a bit leftover after we arrived at Sedon. Anyway, we can sell the skin, bones and any leftover meat", she said.
"Judging by the amount and quality... We will get around 90 Red Hals for that", Tara added. "That much?", I asked, shocked. "The skin is the most expensive, since it's quite tough. If we were to sell everything, as in including our supply of food, we would get much more", she explained then added, "Anyway, I want to eat some meat. Anna, would you mind making a fire?". "Sure, I'll just draw the Runes here… Dawn… Can't you wait for the fire?".
Dawn was already eating the meat raw. I knew she could eat raw meat without much of a care, but it just looked savage. "Get off my case. I haven't eaten meat in a few days already. Shades are not that great with plants, we like meat the most. Besides, it tastes better that way… Not that I complain about cooked food", she replied. "Whatever, just make fire already. I can't have her eat everything!", Tara exclaimed.
After our meal, we planned to simply go straight towards Sedon. There was no need for us to hunt, therefore no need to make that any longer. "Due to this small diversion, we are about two weeks away from Sedon. We should have more than enough plants for our Tauruses, and there's no need to panic about our supplies either", Dawn informed us. "I can finally return to my energy control training. It's quite crucial, especially for someone who practices Formations", I added.
"Do you intend to master them?", Tara asked. "Well, yea. I mean, why not go for mastery?", I said. "Suly is not considered a master yet, right?", Dawn asked. "No, though she's close. Her knowledge is spotless, she's simply too weak… At least that's what she said", I explained. "How about you? Are you far off?", Tara asked. "Yea, I'd say. My knowledge could be considered intermediate. I can't even release my energy to form Runes. Moreover, I need to be stronger too, otherwise becoming a master will never happen. Actually, all that training was for the sake of Formations… This kind of shifted a bit already… Anyway, let's go. We still have to get to Sedon. Sitting here will get us nowhere", I replied.
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