by Atlas Kane
“If you stink like a kill, how can the deer not smell you?” she noted, and he couldn’t argue.
Finally, they set out toward the herd, getting a bit closer, so that Cade could see the tall antlers protruding from the males and even spot the smaller calves still huddled against their mothers for warmth.
Cade was about to ask what the plan was when Minda explained her tactics. “If we go in with bow and blade, we may get four or five. More if we are lucky. But then the whole herd will run a dozen miles away, and we’ll need to follow them on foot for another attack. We do not have the time for such nonsense. Instead,” she said, summoning a bundle of sharpened stakes, all around five feet long, “we will use these!”
Seeming to know questions would follow, she shoved the bundle in his direction and told him the rest. “Do you see that slight downhill slope?” she said, pointing to a pitch of grass off to one side of the herd. He nodded. “We will assemble these along both sides, running away from the herd itself. It is downwind, so all should be fine. Push the stakes in, no hammering to wake them all up in a foul mood, mind you. And each time we do so, we get a little closer together. Then after we run cordage between all of them, we will have made a funnel to push the herd toward a single point that will be only ten or so feet wide.”
“So then we both kill a bunch of them as they pass by us?” Cade asked, getting the image better as she’d used her hands to illustrate quite efficiently.
Minda giggled, enjoying his uncertainty. “No, Cade. You alone will be in the kill zone. I will drive the herd from the opposite side, taking as many as I can while doing so.”
When he understood the implications of the plan, he couldn’t help but scowl at the woman. “Don’t worry,” she intoned. “A big strong man like you with your powerful axe will have no trouble at all. But be careful of the bulls. The largest weigh as much as three hundred pounds. If my only sex partner were to die, I wouldn’t know what I’d do with myself.” She grinned at him for a while, then added, “Masturbate, probably.”
Cade gave her a shove, then they walked to the ambush site together, the mood light despite the tension in the air. He gazed at her a few moments, grinning like he was on a date with his first girlfriend. She was amazing, so much fun and so wild. And I suppose she is my first girlfriend, in Last World at least.
He forced his mind to the task at hand. A lot hung on this one opportunity. If the herd went the wrong direction, or if he got knocked down and couldn’t kill enough of them, they’d still need to follow the herd and try again.
The soil of the grasslands was soft, at least a foot deep, so pressing the stakes in was easy. They began the opening of the funnel perhaps fifty feet apart. At first, Cade thought they meant to force the entire herd through, but she’d shown him the folly in such an approach. Not only would they most likely sweep the trap aside, but that many animals pushed toward Cade would mean the end of his days here on Antinium.
Moving ever closer together, Cade occasionally looked up and watched Minda work. Her tough frame did the same work he did with double the efficiency. If you could distill a hunk of awesomeness and a bushel of raw femininity, you’d end up with something like her. Why didn’t I find anyone like that on Earth? Cade mused. If I had, would I have been smart enough to recognize it? Or had I spent too many years in darkness to even notice? Those kinds of thoughts gave him a sense of loss and despair until he realized he’d been lucky enough to try it all over again. Last World was a strange and rare experience that he fully intended to treasure.
When they finished, Minda produced two spools of cordage. Following her example, Cade wound the thin rope around each stake and on to the next. They began a foot and a half off the ground, then, reaching the end of the line of stakes, wove the rope around the tips of the stakes moving back toward the opening of the trap. It wasn’t a sturdy thing, and if one of the deer panicked, they’d tear straight through in a heartbeat. But according to Minda, deer were cautious creatures, always afraid of injury. So most would follow the course of the trap, funneling themselves towards Cade’s position.
Speaking of such, Cade headed there now. His job was to lie still and wait. The morning sun was up, and the herd was casually grazing. In a short time, were they left to their own devices, the deer would move on in the direction their alphas took them.
But Minda was already halfway around the herd. She’d loped away, keeping downwind and as far away as she could until in position. There was no way she could speak with Cade any longer, no signal to tell him the plan was in motion other than the disturbance he’d notice in the deer themselves. That, she emphasized, would be obvious.
In a familiar sense, Cade had done as he had so often before in the Army. The morning was all about hurrying up to wait. As he lay on his belly, a screen of swaying grass before him, he examined two of the nearest deer.
Farliri Deer Calf
Level 1
Grazer Fauna
Farliri Deer Doe
Level 3
Grazer Fauna
Not so scary then. I’m only level two, but if I managed to take down a level six drakeling, I should be alright, Cade figured, chewing on a piece of grass to distract himself. He found one of the larger males and examined it next.
Farliri Deer Alpha
Level 5
Cade felt his stomach drop, the idea of facing such a stronger foe, especially in numbers, was terrifying. Fuck it all, man. Go big or go back to Tanrial. He struggled to strengthen his resolve, fortify his mindset before this all began. He closed his eyes and took a long breath, the scent of the grass around him calming his nerves. His trusty axe lay beside him, and his body was strong and ready. This was gonna happen.
Suddenly, a deer’s bleat rose above the herd in the distance, a sound of panic and pain. Another sounded after, and then a third. Minda had begun the hunt.
She had told him her portion of the plan before they’d parted. Once she was opposite his position, she would use the bow she kept in her Inventory and fire at the deer, alternating to the right and left. In that way, the deer would begin moving away from her position, toward their trap. The bow she had wasn’t a soul weapon, didn’t have arcane killing potential. But it was finely crafted nonetheless.
At last, the buck and jostle of the herd became visible from his position. Many of the deer panicked and bolted away to the side, but the majority started to run toward Cade. Hold your position, bro. Do not panic, he told himself. Not only did he need to remain hidden so as not to spook the animals, he needed to allow several of them to pass over him, waiting until the group was thick enough to take full advantage. He just hoped he wouldn’t get stepped on too many times.
A few deer entered the far end of the trap and broke into a run, the herd now galloping and gaining momentum. Soon, a full stampede would ensue. More cries of pain came from the deer, Minda continuing to shoot the stragglers and force the herd onward.
Then the deer were upon him, just a few leading the pack. As planned, he allowed these to trot past him, their hooves thundering near his head. Not a single one stepped on him, and he was grateful. Before he could celebrate, a large doe crushed one of his legs. She weighed perhaps one hundred and fifty or more pounds, but the small and pointy hoof broke his skin and bruised the muscle beneath. He grunted with pain and sent her bounding away in panic.
A clump of deer followed, behind them dozens more. It was go time.
Cade jumped up, wincing with pain as his leg threatened to buckle beneath him. He shook it out and brandished his axe.
Cade felt alive with fear and anticipation, his body thrumming with energy. He used Wyrm’s Wrath first, and his axe blurred before him. Five sweeping strikes flashed out at the deer, cutting into their necks and chests. Three of the beasts fell and a fourth a moment later when Cade shot the injured one in the chest with a Slug Shot.
There was no time to think as several more of the deer rushed his position. Cade hacked at another doe, his axe nearly decapitating a lar
ge deer. Too many of the beasts were rushing past him, and he braced himself as a group of ten or more charged, fear raging in their eyes.
Cade waded into their midst. His axe was a thing of nightmares, moving with unnatural speed as he chopped and cut the deer down. Two deer fell in a second, and Cade blasted another in the temple with the ether rifle.
Four more deer fell in that group as he struck out with the enhanced speed of the drakeling. The last, however, an alpha, attacked Cade with its antlers. He rolled away, the deadly horns missing him by an inch. The deer shot past him. Yet it was not fast enough to outrun another Slug Shot. The mana projectile slammed the deer in the side of the skull, tossing brain and blood over the grass.
The following minutes were a blur of pain and exhaustion. His Wyrm’s Wrath wore off, his body lurching back to normal speed. He felt like a slug, and heaved to catch his breath. The world spun around him, but he fought on.
After what seemed like ages, the deer thinned, coming in ones and twos instead of groups. He breathed hard, hoping it was over. Before his feet lay dozens of the creatures, more than enough he assumed, to complete their quest. But ahead, he saw a frightening sight.
A wounded buck alpha, blood dripping down its flank from a long gash, lowered its horns and charged. Cade dodged, but he was too exhausted, too weak to avoid the attack. The beast slashed Cade across his ribs. He cried out in pain as the buck reared up, swinging its hooves at his face, trying desperately to finish him.
Cade blasted it in the chest with a Slug Shot, but his aim was ruined as a hoof struck the haft of his axe. The projectile grazed off with little effect. He backed away, swinging his axe defensively. The deer fell to the ground and made to charge once more. Cade tripped over a deer corpse behind him and watched the bull come on.
Suddenly, an arrow sprouted from its neck, throwing off its momentum. The creature thrashed its head around as if to attack whoever had harmed it. Cade saw his opening and stood up, sinking his axe into the beast’s chest. The blade cut past bone and into its heart. In a moment, it was dead.
The herd was gone, moved on, and all over him, on his face and hands and in his hair, Cade dripped with blood. He spat, tasting some in his mouth, whether his or some unlucky deer’s, he didn’t know. Then he fell to the ground, lying back on the warm corpse of a deer and panting.
“I won’t even tease you, Terran. Fine work,” Minda said. Then after a pause, she announced, “Shit. You’ve killed thirty-eight by yourself. I killed nine, and that one there is my tenth. We’ve done it!”
Cade nodded, blinking away sweat that burned his eyes. He was exhausted, his stamina at less than fifteen percent, but he felt ecstatic. What a rush, he thought, reveling in his new life. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would play a part in a mass kill hunt like this.
The clean-up was quick and almost painless compared to the preparation and the hunt itself. They retrieved the stakes and wound the cordage back onto the spools, and the process of looting took only a minute. When he was done though, he was weighed down by loads of deer meat and hides. Additionally, several other items dropped, many of which would add XP to the quest when turned in.
In all, the full list of their gains was incredible.
72 Farliri Deer Hides
184 Farliri Deer Meat
14 Farliri Pristine Horns
28 Long Deer Bones
52 Short Deer Bones
96 Hyacin Berries
1 Lucky Farliri Deer Tail
Trinket - Unique - +1 Charisma, +1 Constitution
“Well, shit on a shiny shingle, that is good news!” Cade announced. “We have plenty of bonus items that should give us a ton of XP. Some Short Deer Bones, whatever they do. But most importantly, look at this! We got a trinket, girl!”
Minda shot Cade a fierce grin, her hands on her hips, legs spread wide. “Imenda and the others will be proud. You did well. Better than I’d hoped even. At the end, I saw you fighting, Cade. You are a true Chimera Lord. Savage.” Her voice grew husky as she ended, her eyes boring into his.
“Ha! Now you want me. Okay, but hunters never do that sort of business out on a hunt, remember?” She laughed at his mild joke, but then Cade added, “This trinket. It is pretty great, and we wouldn’t have been able to do all this without your expertise. Here, take it.”
Cade summoned the trinket and handed it to Minda. She pushed it back though, her face obstinate. “No. I am not a leader, and neither is Satemi for that matter. We have our strengths, but you, Cade, you are meant to be the leader in our group. Not only your class, but your Attributes suggest as much. Keep it.”
He thought of fighting her on the point, but especially concerning classes, she was right. Chimera Lord had a nice ring to it, but it also suggested he would become more than a simple warrior. Nodding, the warmth of gratitude bloomed in his chest as he placed the item back in his inventory.
“Not like that, Cade. Here, let me have it again,” she said firmly. When he gave it to her, she pulled the cordage back out from her Inventory, cut off a piece, then stowed it again. After some fiddling, Minda managed to make a necklace of the trinket and hand it back to him. “There, now put it on. You won’t be able to gain the stats if it is in your Inventory alone.”
Cade did so, not entirely pleased that it still smelled faintly of blood and deer ass, but he immediately felt the Attributes kick in. His body felt stronger, leaner, as the Constitution kicked in. As to the Charisma, he could see its effect directly as Minda’s eyes grew more lustful the second the necklace was on.
This is something I can get used to, Cade thought, trying not to feel creepy about the implications of abusing the Attribute.
His mind moving on, he saw his XP bar was at 94%. “Why didn’t I level up? We killed a ton of creatures,” Cade asked Minda, and her answer, of course, made plenty of sense.
“Those were fodder. Most were fleeing for their lives and went down easily. Despite their levels, the deer aren’t predators, and posed little threat to either of us. That last deer that almost gored you gave the most, I’m sure. But the world works that way. The more danger you are in, the more XP. At least that is what I’ve noticed so far.”
Cade nodded, absorbing the information. That made leveling a lot harder, but also more fair. He’d thought that the slaughter they’d just instigated would have given him more than a couple levels. Yet it did seem too much like cheating.
They used water from their skins to slake their thirst and wash their bodies. After, they took turns rubbing each other down with fresh soil, the dirt scrubbing off the residual grime and easing the pain of exhausted muscles. This last part was especially pleasant. Minda’s body was something Cade could rub for hours and not grow tired of.
When he over-emphasized his part in the ritual, she shoved him off, grinning despite her rebuke. “Stick to your conviction, hunter. Stand strong or we’ll be coupling right here instead of heading back like we should. In fact, let’s eat and see how far we can return before it is dark.”
Cade nodded, pulling out one of the deer meat they’d fought so hard for. It was a much smaller piece. An honest steak nobody would mind eating, Cade thought. Wish I had a grill to cook it on and a pinch of salt and pepper. He ate it while stealing glances of Minda. She ate the meat too, blood staining the white fur of her face and chest. He wanted to say it wasn’t sexy to see her eat like a savage, but that would be a flat-out lie.
It was thanks to his zealous attention that Cade caught the flicker of a tail behind her. He stopped eating, his brow knitting with concern. Minda saw his reaction and turned in time to see the huge cat sprinting towards her.
Cade’s mind automatically inspected the beast, having grown used to the necessity of such an action.
Grasslands Puma
Level 5
Predator Fauna
Without thinking, Cade grabbed his weapon, spun it around, and landed a Slug in the creature’s eye. Its head snapped back, and it slid to a stop at Minda’s feet.
A roar split the air, and two more of the beasts leapt out of the tall grass. They were completely hidden by the cover, so Cade didn’t see the one coming for him until the last moment. He dodged, avoiding the first attack, then swung on instinct. His axe-head sunk into the puma’s ribcage with a wet crash. It rolled to its side, thrashing in pain, and died shortly after.
Cade watched as Minda sprung away from three consecutive attacks from the puma targeting her. She looked like a gymnast tumbling on the mat, but she managed to keep hold of her dagger and staff as she did so.
The puma followed her retreat and pounced when she came to a standstill. Minda rolled beneath it, slashing one of its forelegs deeply. The beast fell in the grass, too injured to leap away. Taking the advantage, Minda flashed her staff forward. The soul weapon extended as she used an ability he didn’t know she had. Thick roots grew up from the ground and latched onto the puma, crushing its legs with inexorable strength.
Then Minda bounded forward and opened the beast’s throat.
Cade glanced around, worried he’d see an alpha hidden in the grass, waiting for its turn to duel him. But if there had been one, it would have already attacked. A ripple of sensation, as subtle but distinct as a sneeze, ran through his body. He’d leveled up. But before he allowed himself to celebrate, he grounded his emotions. This is not a game, Cade, he scolded himself, his way of thinking no longer acceptable when others, people like Minda and Satemi, were counting on him.
He felt a small hand touch his arm. It was shaking slightly, and Cade looked down to see Minda looking up into his eyes. “Thank you, Cade. I was too distracted. I have fought these before, and yet… I allowed us to be ambushed. I’m sorry—” she tried, but Cade cut her off.
“Enough. You are not supposed to be the leader, remember? And besides, you cannot be perfect, Minda.”