Chương 55: Break away

When he found his loud companion flailing around in the grass Blick relaxed just a little bit realizing it was wounded but still very much alive and in no immediate danger from the arrow that took it from the sky. With the bird making so much noise he couldn't make out anything moving nearby. No sounds and no sight. This was the first time he was both blind and deaf to the danger that he knew was close by.

He knew he had to move fast to remove himself and his bird friend from the situation so he wrapped the bird up in his arms and ignored its squawking. It was large but he was much stronger so he held it tight to his body with both hands and sprinted away in an awkward squat to stay hidden. It was only a handful of feet away that he realized he had lost track of which direction the tree-line was. He could either run aimlessly or figure out the right direction.

The only way to see anything was to raise his head above the waist high grass. But that brought the danger of an arrow to the face. Not trusting his reinforcement to keep him alive while an arrow flew into his head, Blick shrugged that idea off. Keeping low and running he worked to remove the arrow from the birds wing. He broke it off with his thumb and pulled the barb out the other side ignoring the flailing and pecking bird who couldn't seem to break his skin with its attacks.

Thankful once again for the dense fur covering his body, he yanked the shaft out of his companion and placed a hand on the injury. With one arm wrapped around the struggling bird and the other holding a clearly broken wing he tried to mend what he could. The bone would not heal properly if he didn't do this while holding it still. Blick did just enough to stop the bleeding. Then he left the mangled wing hanging while he ran.

Zach was watching the most chaotic rescue ever. Whatever was flying through the grass reached the bird and after just a second of no movement it took off in another direction entirely. The men on the ground attempted to follow, but couldn't see whatever it was so they had a scattered reaction that was far behind the actual thing.

"Maybe it's one of the panthers that saw the bird go down and went to steal the kill?" Zach asked his partner in the tower.

"I've never seen one of them abandon the trees while humans are around." The older guard responded. Zach scrunched his brow thinking. The two men walking to the downed hunter finally reached him and reacted fast dipping below the grass line and out of sight. It was less than a minute before they lifted his body over one of their shoulders and started running back to base. The hunter was moving so he was alive at least.

There were very few people trusted to be hunters and they kept the camp fed beyond the normal horrible broth and oats. Losing a hunter hurt them all indirectly. The man was moving but it looked like he was bleeding deeply from a leg and maybe had a broken arm. Whatever had taken him down had hurt him a lot for just the short second they tussled.

"It didn't slow down after hitting that hunter. It probably wasn't injured in the scuffle. Whatever it is probably has at least a couple of drops on the hunter down there to be able to take him out so easily." Zach vocalized his thoughts. This was a puzzle he was interested in solving. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"A scary idea that a predator could find a source of mana to draw from long enough to get that strong." The other man noted.

"Guess it doesn't matter honestly. It's leaving with the bird. Not sure why it's going out that way. There's nothing out there but grass and rock piles for miles." Zach shrugged watching the line of grass disappear into the distance and the two hunters following it losing ground. The column of workers returning from the rock pile gathered back up and returned to the camp without missing a single person. It seemed a few sported new injuries.

That would hurt the workflow and he sighed knowing that meant more punishments coming soon. If the tower was the best job, administration of punishment was the worst. The whip usually left the weak one's worse off and they would get less done. He didn't understand why the men in charge thought that was the best way to punish people if they wanted production to continue at speed. It wasn't actually the only thing that didn't make sense in this damned place either.

Looking into the distance he sighed before turning back to watch the camp and check the gates between sectors. The excitement was over.

Blick ran for a long while before coming to a stop and listening intently for any sign he was being followed. After about a minute he decided it was worth the risk to peek above the grass. When he did he nearly stomped his foot in frustration. There was absolutely nothing visible for miles. Just grass and random piles of rock. He could clearly see the line he had cut into the grass so he knew where he had come from at the very least. That also meant someone could track him to here.

He slowly walked towards the nearest rock pile trying not to leave a trail this time. When he reached it he sat down with the now quiet bird that had either passed out or fallen asleep in his arms while he ran. Since it was still and not fighting him he decided to focus in healing the damaged wing. He didn't know exactly how wings worked so it was a best guess. It didn't take him very long to mend the bones and he wouldn't truly know if it was back to normal until his companion woke up.

Leaving the bird where it lay in the grass he climbed the stone pile recognizing this was a human made pile and not some natural obstacle. Blick climbed to the top and took a good look around to come up with his next plan. He could vaguely make out the fortress of a village next to a long line of trees. There was his very visible line of broken grass in a near straight line way from the compound, and walking along that path was two bow welding men. They hadn't noticed him on the rock pile yet.

Probably due to his grey fur blending with the grey of the rocks around him. He watched them move for a while deciding if it was worth the risk to try and get some of his questions answered about the odd village.