Thorunn

3-1

The night air was cool by the Laika River, and Kenton stopped for a brief drink, letting the fresh tasting water wash away the lingering traces of the nightmares that had driven him out so late. The current rippled slightly, and he jumped back, narrowly avoiding the dark shape that burst up out of the shadows, snapping at empty air.

Kenton slipped his quirn into his hand and activated it, counting on its low hum to dissuade the sharp-toothed aquatic creature. The beast hissed at him a few times but eventually subsided, slipping back under the rushing river in search of easier prey.

Danger averted, Kenton thumbed off his quirn and retreated deeper into the forest. A thin path had been cut through the thick undergrowth, and he stepped lightly along the spongy trail, navigating by what little moonlight seeped down through the thick canopy. A dark imprint caught his eye, and he knelt to inspect it.

Vana'byss tracks.

He touched his fingers to the impressions, which were still wet and seemed to head towards the kitterstone deposits. Kenton straightened, melting farther into the shadows. The path ahead would widen in a few metres, the twin moons casting the trail into brilliant sepia tones. He'd have to take the long way around if he wanted to remain undetected.

Kenton doubled back about a hundred paces and swung up into the trees, moving quiet as any klia'an across wide, twisting branches. When he dropped down on the other side of the deposits, the creature he tracked crouched in plain sight, drinking from one of the shallow pools in the smooth rock clearing.

A midnight bird screeched, and the vana'byss flickered out of sight.

Kenton stilled, not daring even to breathe until its four black-coated limbs began to materialise into view once more. He crept forward, close as he dared, closer than was probably safe, but the vana'byss was intently focused on the various stagnant pools that might serve as spawning areas for its young come frix season. Kenton was sorry to have to dispatch the bony animal, but he couldn't let it take up residence in the tribe's main kitterstone mine, much less let it become comfortable enough to lay several clutches of poisonous eggs. He levelled his quirn at it.

At the last moment, it scented him―snapping its head up―and lunged, powerful hind legs disappearing mid-spring.

Kenton kept his fingers wrapped around the shaft of his weapon and breathed out slow, so slow, eyes as wide as he could open them, and there! A shimmer in the air gave away the invisible beast's position and he squeezed hard, a stunning bolt of frix shooting out and aborting its lunge. Sparking energy lit along every bone in the vana'byss' writhing body, and it dropped like a stone to the ground mere paces from Kenton.

He sprang forward and quickly ended its suffering, wary of its twitching limbs and jerking shiny, black head. A quick slash of Kenton's still-dripping hunting knife turned some nearby vines into sturdy ropes, and he strapped the vana'byss to his quirn before heaving the hefty mass onto his back.

Sunrise lit his path home, the cacophonic clamour of early morning birdsong a startling contrast to the steady humming of the nighttime forest. The light revealed some berry trees that Kenton had missed, and he popped handfuls of their fruit into his mouth, glad of the refreshment after his restless night.

Lanae still lingered in the sky by the time Kenton arrived back at the village, though the sun did its best to outshine the second moon, having already banished Lanaekim to the realm of darkness. Kits of varying sizes scampered about, some shifting and watching him with wonderment, all clearing a path for him as Kenton strode towards home, the vana'byss carcass thumping against his back with every step.

Climbing the Tree of Elders proved difficult with the added weight―if not for the abundant vines twined about the massive chishish trunk, he might have fallen to the ground many times over. Kenton barely remembered to bow after he tumbled through the spinner-floss curtains of the loft's main entrance.