Prey

This Lord of the Hunt is an impressive creature, Abbil. Not just physically, although…but no, that’s not what I mean. Wind suggested it was possessed of hubris, yet all I could sense was just how well placed its confidence was. Surrounded by so many loyal hunters, I am not surprised, but even without them I felt it would succeed in any hunt it took on.
 
It told me that it had never failed on a hunt. Ever. That brought back some painful memories of that orc. I’m going back for Kardar, Abbil, one day. The Unbroken will slaughter that orc lord.
 
The Lord of the Hunt seemed to take a shine to me, which I won’t lie, was fairly gratifying, and wholly appropriate. There’s a little something there I think, so I’m going to call him my Lordi. I could tell it took a shine to me because it offered me a deal. Which could be a bit of a problem for the guys. Before we left camp on the night Ussi came back to me, Rafi told me to under no circumstances make any deals in these woods.
 
But the things is, I’d already made a deal by that point, and these are technically different woods, so I’m sure this other deal I’ve made is ok. Lordi spoke clearly and plainly to me and it did not seem insincere. I would trust it more than most people I have met on these travels so far. In this. I would also trust it to follow through on its word and allow its pack to slaughter us should we fail. I would trust it to laugh while that pack did so, even as I took some of the hounds with me.
 
Part of me wants to laugh too, at that thought. The others wouldn’t understand, didn’t understand Lordi, but there is a respect between the hunter and its prey that those who don’t hunt can never perceive. I’m not talking that poncy, horse-bound shit, mind you, I’m talking hunting to eat, to live. To gain vengeance. To right a wrong. Your prey is to be tracked, marked and slain. Hunted. It is not to be slaughtered, executed or humiliated. Thanks is given to its sacrifice. Its carcass is put to use.
 
Lordi announced, with pride, that it was not prey. Well you know what, Abbil? Neither am I. I’m of Den Saeness. Whatever the mistakes of that Den, we are most definitely not the prey of Xhorhas. Until we were. Until something bigger, badder and more organised came along. There was talk among my family of running. You do not run from a hunter. You fight or you hide. If you run, a hunter will catch you and kill you, eventually.
 
So I am not prey. Until I very much was.
 
Lordi knew all of this without us talking, of course, as did I. The thing was, I couldn’t tell if Lordi wanted Ussi or me to join its hunt more. Its first interest was definitely in “my beast” as he put it, an insult which I will one day repay it for, as Ussi is far more than mere beast. It was definitely more interested in me as I declined to ever become hound. Lordi seemed then more keen to accept me as I am. Which I’m surprised it didn’t want to do before, frankly, but then Lordi doesn’t know me that well, yet.
 
I’m going to owe this creature three favours once this is all said and done and my prey lies dead. I’m sure Rafi wouldn’t approve of that, but hey ho. I feel a change. I’ve felt much more comfortable with my bow in recent weeks. A better bow and I know I can help the Unbroken more still.
 
Do you know what Orlando said to me around the fire on our watch the night Ussi came back to us, Abbil? He said he wasn’t sure he offered the group as much as the rest of us did. I’d never heard such nonsense. From the gnome who got on his tiptoes and stuck a gun down the throat of a troll, blowing its head off. But it got me thinking. Clearly Zeni has arcane power beyond any of us, Sabali steps ever closer to the shadows and Ceri and Simeon can literally call the power of the fucking gods to slap their foes in their asses.
 
Well, do you know what, Orlando? You fire bullets, Wind fires bolts and I fire arrows. Those things tend to, I find, stick in anything you fire them at, so I think it’s the group that needs us. As far as I’m concerned, the concerns and ambitions of this group…of my family…are as much mine as they are theirs, and I will move mountains to help Orlando out in this quest, but this druid is mine.
 
The Harbinger of Silent Doom is a weapon I must wield. All I have to do is kill to get it. This should not be a problem.