Who Says A God Can't Be A Hunter Too?

Chapter 18

A fever had come over me during the night; covered in a cold sweat, I was unable to sleep even wrapped securely in Eitri's coils. The overwhelming sense of fear, panic, and weakness had plagued me as waves of Hisoka's bloodlust continued to wash over me – wave, after wave, after wave... There was no end to it. My fever only worsened as hours passed, and soon night terrors and delusions tormented me, denying me peace when I did happen to fall into the arms of sleep.

•••

The fever broke as dawn approached, but I still continued to suffer from its lingering effects.

'He's starting to move...'

I honed in on the location of the target, struggling to keep my mind focused on the link. Hisoka was a fair distance away from where I was now, and seemed to be slowly moving in the opposite direction. His bloodlust had finally calmed, but I could tell that the volatile man was far from sated; he was most likely going to kill anyone he happened to come across.

'Well, as long as he's not traveling this way – I can at least relax for now,' I thought with a sigh, wiping at the beads of sweat that had gathered on my forehead with the back of my hand. I pushed myself to a sitting position, my eyes scanning the area we had decided to rest in the night before. 'No, I can't. There are only three days left, and no doubt applicants who have lost their tags and aren't incapacitated will be coming after mine. I can't just stay here – we have to keep moving.'

"Come on girl, it's time we get out of here," I told Eitri as I struggled to stand, giving her a soft, reassuring pat on her nose as she used her tail to help support me. I picked up my belongings and did a double check to make sure everything was accounted for before I slung my bag over my shoulder.

I began to walk, taking small baby steps, testing my weight on my ankle before bending down to graze my fingers against the skin. After a moment of hesitation, a sigh of relief escaped my lips. 'It's nearly completely healed. I'm glad -- I was sure I put some stress on in when I jumped from that tree Eitri got pinned under, but it looks like it won't be hindering me for much longer.'

"Alright then, let's get a move on," I said with a weak smile, standing straight and starting forward. "If we're lucky, we won't come upon anyone for the rest of the exam."

•••

The day dragged slowly on as we moved through the forest, only stopping now and again for a quick rest and some food and water. While I was tempted to go down to the beach because of the island heat and overall humidity in the forest that made my dress cling to my skin, I knew staying out of sight was the best thing. The beach was too open, and I would not allow myself to be cornered between an enemy and the water. I knew how to swim, but I definitely did not want to use that as an escape route if I didn't have to.

I spent most of the day keeping tabs on Hisoka as I walked, who was still moving quite slowly in the opposite direction. It seems he was still hunting for prey – something I didn't really care to think about if I could help it. I had just finished tapping into the connection, and finally tuned it out after reassuring myself that we were a fair distance away and there was no reason to worry, at least for now.

I heard Eitri let out a quiet hiss behind me, and I stopped short and turned to look back at her.
I watched as she turned twice or thrice in a big circle, weaving her head from right to left. She seemed to settle into the earth, resting her head on top of her silvery coils. I frowned slightly, my brow creasing in worry. She had been acting a bit odd today – moving slower than usual as she slithered over the forest floor. I had seen her eye some other animals earlier on, but she surprisingly made no move against them. Usually her gluttonous appetite lead her to quickly strike before whatever poor creature became her lunch even took notice of the danger, but she strangely held off today.