The Hunters of Sian

An End to the Winter

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Chapter Twenty-Nine

An End to the Winter

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It took nearly a full week for Sallos and Nell to butcher the Crawling Nightmare from start to finish. The size of the kill meant that they had nearly filled the ice room. Nell enjoyed walking down there and just looking and the rows upon rows of meat, neatly stacked and carefully cut. He had been starting to worry that their food stores would run low but with the new quilldeer and now the Nightmare kill, they had enough to get through the last of the winter comfortably.

Sallos allowed them both a few days to recover and heal all their cuts bruises before declaring they were ready to start hunting again. In just over two weeks, Sallos had full use of his arm again. Nell was a little jealous. He knew he certainly wouldn't be spear throwing after just two weeks after that kind of an injury.

The dracks were healthy and strong. Eating on the regular, Thorn was starting to grow again, his horn stubs turning into actual sharp little baby horns. Nell had learnt this the painful way when he had walked past the young male and the drack and head butted him, the horn tips digging sharply into his backside. Sallos heard him swear all the way over from the wood pile.

His master did at least have the manners not to laugh as Nell came limping out of the stable, rubbing his right buttock. With Sallos recovered and the dracks well fed, Nell didn't feel nearly as worried about heading back into the forest. He was still weary and under no illusion they weren't in danger but now that they had brought down their first Nightmare, it felt like the largest hurdle had been cleared. He knew what to expect and had the confidence to carry his weapon.

It took another week and a half before they found another Nightmare to bring down. This one was much smaller and only a juvenile. This time it was Sallos who landed the killing blown whilst Thorn and Nell danced around the beast to keep its attention. Sallos gave him some of the meat to cook. He didn't even need to add salt, the meat flavoured the stew and filling the whole hut with the scent of spice. He decided it was one of his favourite meals.

Every day the sun lingered for just a little bit longer and whilst it was still bitterly cold, it no longer snowed or hailed. There was a hushed expectance in the air, the promise of the darkness lifting out of the Hoarfrost Forest. Spring was coming. It was a good thing too because many of the vegetable previsions Nell had harvested for them were starting to run low. It was a good thing the Nightmare meat didn't need much added to it to make a meal.

'We will need the ground to still be frozen when we leave. The sled will be full of our previsions. The longer we can go without putting the wheels back on the sled, the better,' Sallos explained one night as Nell washed out their bowls and cutlery.

'Won't the meat spoil if it defrosts on the way?'

'If we allow it to, yes. This is where your training with the freezing sigils will come in. We will need to monitor the meat carefully and keep the sigils active.' Nell winced. That was going to be tiring.

'I still can't believe that you did all this yourself,' Nell said. His master looked up from his book of numbers.

'I won't pretend it wasn't difficult. My own master came with me to the Hoarfrost Forest many times over the decades before ever I attempted it on my own,' the demon replied.

'Even so, it's impressive,' Nell said, flushing slightly at the small smile the man gave him.

'Come here for a minute Nell.' Nell was instantly on alert, his sense picking up on the change in tone. Nell left the bowls to dry and came to sit at the wooden table.