Not surprisingly the brothers found little further sleep. They waited a few more hours until the first rays of sunlight appeared on the horizon and then set off. The excitement of the hunt was now fully upon them.
They moved in the direction that they had watched the beast flee hours before, and after a short trek through the arid wasteland they picked up its trail on the broken ground. With Thibalt in the lead they followed the trail for several hours. Yet the burden of the blistering heat once more began to sap their strength. To Christill the desert seemed to go on forever with little change. The rocky surfaces that covered the Miirvkin continent were covered in coarse sand and stones that stretched out along the horizon.
Thibalt called a halt to their march as the sun fully entered the sky and they were impelled to find shelter under a small outcropping of stone. Once again they forced themselves to get some sleep and fill up on water.
They eagerly left the outcropping in the afternoon, as the main heat of the day began to subside, and continued to follow the trail. However by midnight, they had still not caught up to the Irian. They ruefully set up a small camp.
"How can you be sure that we are still following the right trail. I have seen several other sets of tracks today. We may have crossed over onto an older trail," said Christill.
"It is the right trail. I have seen enough of Jin's footprints to know the mark of the Irian."
"But we have walked for miles. Why would it be travelling so far from its lair?"
"The little I saw of it makes me believe we are following a young male," replied Thibalt. "He would not have a mate yet. Which means that he would not have his own territory or lair."
"Well I guess I feel a little better about killing him then," replied Christill.
Thibalt simply shook his head.
The next morning the boys were up and moving well before the sun had risen and at a quicker pace. There was a fire inside both of them, craving to finally find and confront the beast. They ran through the rocky desert as the sun moved slowly across the sky. Once again it seemed to go on endlessly without a hint of change and the brothers began to wonder if they were travelling in circles. Yet as they considered stopping to find shelter from the midday sun, they spotted a strange sight.
At first it appeared to them as an unusual spot on the horizon, but as they approached it they began to make out the shape of a giant stone jutting out of the earth. The stone was dark black in colour and pointed upwards at an angle as though it had fallen from the sky. The top of the stone was unusually smooth and made it seem like a walkway of sorts. They approached it and found a pool of crystal clear water at its base. Christill walked up to the water cautiously and bent down to investigate. It was filled with tall reeds and water flowers and was oddly cool to touch.
"Tell me this isn't slightly strange," Thibalt said, cooling his feet in the water.
"I have never heard of this place," Christill replied. "I know there are hidden pools in the desert, but not like this."
Thibalt nodded and walked over to the stone. He studied the large rock, running his hand over the coarse surface at its base. "Look at this."
"What?"
"The top point of this stone stops in the exact middle of this pool. It looks almost like a ramp from which to jump into the water," answered Thibalt.
"It may have been placed here by some of the miners from Mulphus or Numukh."
Thibalt shrugged his shoulders. "We might as well rest here until sunset." He heaved the pack off his back and let it fall to the ground. Christill slumped and yawned loudly. They both sat silently for some time, letting the water cool their feet. Christill, mesmerised by the ripples in the pool, almost dozed off when he noticed an odd reflection in the water.
He gazed up to see the menacing eyes of an Irian staring straight at him from the other side of the pool, and at that moment all that he could hear was the heavy beating of his own heart. The cat was hunched down flat on the ground, half in the water and hidden by the tall reeds at the water's edge. It was the same cat that they had been chasing, Christill recognized its piercing yellow eyes. The Irian, knowing it had been spotted, arched its shoulders, muscles tensed as if ready to pounce.
A hundred thoughts rushed through Christill's mind, but time was of the essence and he had to act quickly. Without further thought he dived for his bow and arrows and yelled out a warning to Thibalt.
The Irian sprang to life and began to run around the left side of the pool heading for Christill. Thibalt, who had just spotted the cat, rushed to his pack and retrieved his spear. By the time Christill had readied his weapons the cat was already upon him. It leapt into the air and struck him with an almighty force. He tumbled to the ground with the cat on top of him.
Christill lashed out to hit the cat repeatedly with his bow, but the pitiful strikes did little. The Irian savagely scratched and raked him with its razor claws, all the while trying to wrap its teeth around his throat. Thibalt panicked, terrified, and flew at the beast. With all of his might he kicked the cat's head causing it to fall off Christill.
"Come on, get up!" Thibalt yelled at Christill, as he lifted him off the ground.
The cat stood back up and shook its head, blood flowing from its nose. Then, quick as lightning it was at them again. Thibalt pushed Christill behind him protectively and raised his spear in front of him, but was too slow. The cat swiped its claws through the air, catching Thibalt's side and tearing open three long gashes. He let out a loud cry of pain and fell to the floor clutching at his side.
Christill watched his brother fall. Enraged, he notched an arrow to his bow and fired it at the cat at point blank range. The arrow struck the hind leg of the beast and made it howl loudly.
"Die you cursed fiend!" he yelled in defiance, trying to attract the attention of the beast.
The cat paced around staring viciously at Christill. It glanced at Thibalt, then back at him. He continued to scream taunts at it, trying to draw it away from Thibalt, who was lying overcome on the floor. The cat, confused by his screams and the pain in its leg, struggled to focus.
Christill took the chance to notch another arrow, but the cat recognised the danger and began to charge at him. Knowing that he did not have enough time to get off a shot, he turned and ran towards the large stone. The cat leapt after him, slowed by the arrow in its side.
Now that the Irian had left him, Thibalt had recovered and was wrapping his shirt around his waist to stem the bleeding. Christill was running as fast as he could, but had no idea what he was going to do. He reached the base of the stone and began to climb its smooth surface with his bow and arrow still in hand. The cat skidded to a stop and then ran up the stone after him.
Christill reached the edge of this makeshift ramp and with nowhere else to go leapt off. Falling down towards the pool, he turned to let loose the arrow that he had carried with him. As he turned it seemed as though the world around him slowed. A strange feeling entered his fingertips and he found himself easily notching the arrow and loosing it. It soared upwards, but before he could see what had happened, he hit the water with a thunderous splash.
He rose as quickly as he could, sputtering water. As soon as he had wiped his eyes he was showered by the spray from another splash next to him in the pool. He struggled frantically to clear his vision and when he did was shocked to find the Irian floating at the top of the pool with a stream of dark blood flowing steadily from of its neck.
Thibalt ran towards him with his spear ready. "Are you alright?"
"I am alive," Christill replied staring at the dead carcass of the Miirvkin cat. "What happened?"
"A miracle," Thibalt said, his eyes wide. "I had just gotten up and saw you leap off the stone and fire off an arrow in mid air. The cat dived off after you and took the arrow right through the neck."
Christill looked at Thibalt in amazement and was speechless.
"I cannot believe what I just saw. The arrow went straight into its throat and then it hit the pool dead," co
ntinued Thibalt.
Christill did not know what to say. Moments ago he had only had one thought, that he was going to die. And now he had slain an Irian in an unbelievable feat of agility. He could also not drive that strange feeling he had felt from his thoughts. It had been almost as if time had momentarily stopped around him. He looked at Thibalt's shocked face and then remembered that he was wounded.
"Thibalt, your side!" he said in a worried tone.
"Don't worry. It's not as bad as it looks. Let's get this body out of the water," Thibalt returned.
The body proved harder to move than the two had thought. It was tremendously heavy and the boys struggled to drag it out of the water and onto dry land. The carcass was now soaking wet and still draining blood, so they left it out for the sun to dry. Whilst they waited, they took shelter under the rock and Thibalt tied a proper bandage around his side.
Christill, who was also covered in deep cuts and bruises, stripped off his clothes and waded into the cool water to clean his wounds. He immersed himself and closed his eyes, allowing his hands to stop shaking. He had finally done something which would show the Miirvkin that he was not feeble. For once in his life he was proud of himself. And also of Thibalt who had bravely thrown himself in the Irian's path to protect him.
Just as he was finding himself drifting off, Christill felt a sharp stabbing pain in his calf. He cried out loudly, stirring Thibalt.
"What is it?"
Christill looked down into the water and found a creature biting into his leg. He jumped up frantically and ran out of the water. The creature tightened its jaw and remained attached to his leg.
Thibalt grabbed his axe and ran towards Christill. Acting quickly he swung down at the creature and shattered its spine. The creature let out a shrill cry and released its clamp on Christill's leg.
It took a moment for Christill to calm his nerves once more. When he did he walked over to the dead creature. It was just short of a foot long and had four lanky legs. Its body looked almost reptilian but was covered in a layer of black fur. A round head held three perfectly round lidless eyes and was covered in a smoother brown fur. Stretching out behind it was an oddly long tail.
"What in Beon's name is that?" said Thibalt, peering over Christill's shoulder.
"I have never seen anything like this," said Christill. He checked his leg. "Luckily the bites were not too deep."
"We should probably take it with us. Someone might want to take a look at it," suggested Thibalt.
"Feel free, but you can carry it."
Thibalt sighed and picked up the body. He carried it towards his pack and shoved it into one of his blankets. Having had enough of the pool, they packed their gear and placed the Irian carcass into a large net from their pack. They then set off for Hamal, dragging their quarry behind them.
Dawn of the Valiant (The Valerious Chronicles: Book One) Page 16