Elevation of Mana Chapter 30 Winter Part Two The Hunt

Ninden and I stood over our empty trap. There were enough in the area that we were splitting into smaller groups, everyone was nearby, but for the moment, we were alone.

Winter was in full swing and I was frankly thrilled that it only came to call once every several decades if this was what we were getting.  There'd been colder winters in the north back on Earth, but this was supposed to be a tropical jungle, not a temperate forest.  The normally green trees, with all their leaves flying above were now replaced by dead-looking spires.  The world was grey and brown, with a bright white covering the ground where snow had fallen over the past few days.

"Another empty," my friend declared, shaking his head.  "Not even getting the small game now.  If we're lucky maybe we'll have enough for a sliver of meat each."

I shook my head, there was really nothing to do for it.  The game was in hiding or dead, none of it was out and about right now.  Even the birds, normally so vibrant, had disappeared.  I suspected they were all in some torpor somewhere very hidden, probably high up or buried, but had as yet no conformation.

"Well, at least we won't starve," I pointed out, it had been a real worry right after our village had been wrecked that not everyone would make it.

"Fair, but I'd still like some different foods," the older boy responded.

All day we'd only caught two of the little rodents known as kennits.  They were small, thick furred, and the taste was not great at the best of times, we were all quite ready for something slightly better.  Our group met up as we began moving to the next site, slowly working out way through the brush.

"Anything from you guys?"  I asked, only to be met with shaking heads, "Dang."

As we rounded a bend which overlooked one of the little creeks that crisscrossed our lands we saw it, down by the stream.

Here there was a small waterfall-like area, the water forming a pond above on a few large rocks before spilling over and continuing it's journey.  At the bottom was a small pool, formed by the erosion of ages, and one of the few places liquid water was still widely available right now.  Most of the creeks and rivers had at least partially frozen, but this one was just deep enough that the water continued to flow beneath the ice, leading to the small cascade.

At that pool was one of the small deer that were endemic to the region.  Its coat had taken on a flecked white and brown coloration, making it hard to see in the new conditions.  The animal's head was down, drinking deeply of the water we probably would have stopped to refill our own water-skins from.

All of us froze and slowly lowered down.  We'd gotten lucky, approaching from downwind, our sound masked by the noise of the water on the rocks.  It hadn't seen us, or noticed a thing, at least not yet.  Though it was still a good hundred or so yards from where we'd fallen back.

"Far shot, not sure I could hit it, can you?"  Ninden whispered to me.  His personal ability was a boost to his muscles that allowed him to toss a spear like a missile.

"Mmm, not sure," I responded, it was indeed a far shot, further than any I'd tried using my magic yet.

"Okay, plan," he said, and we all grouped up.

Olond was still, by far, the sneakiest among us.  I suspected that there was some form of magic going on, whatever his ability was, but for the life of me couldn't pin down exactly what he was doing.  There was definitely some sound muffling going on, as when he began to move around, keeping downwind, I couldn't hear him.  He probably had some sort of reactive camouflage illusion too, but I lost track of him before I could get a good look.

The general plan was for him to get around to the other side of the deer, and spook it towards us.  If we could get close enough, either Ninden or myself would make the shot to take it, but there was a good chance to miss, so we were going to be careful.  The other boys, the twins and Rindal joined us, trying to form as tight a net as possible in the woods the animal should flee to.

We had plenty of time to get into position before a small spear flew forth from the vegetation on the far side of the river, followed by our scout.  I don't think he believed he could actually hit, but he'd come pretty close.  The flint point had struck the air over the deer, only inches keeping it from the animal's spine.

Without hesitation it turned and ran, right towards me.  I was silent as I popped my hand forward, unleashing a small bolt of force.  These were my fastest spell, invisible and easy to aim.  It whiffed, the animal's leaping and bounding throwing me off just enough for the bolt to go wide.  Rindal was near me, his shot going similar.

It turned and headed downstream, down towards where Ninden and the twin-like were.  He threw first, scoring a grazing hit on the deer's flank, a bright red joining the white of the snow.  The others missed, but the animal still turned.  We as one began to run after it, joining up as we did.

A wave of my hand retrieved spears mid-stride as I made to join the others, the stationary objects were easy to target once I'd gotten within a hundred feet or so.  The others smiling as I brought them back to our troupe.

"Now?"  Rindal asked as he plucked his from the air.

"Chase," Ninden declared, pointing to the trail of red in the snow.  His spear hadn't bit too deep, but it had given us a good way to track the creature.

We spread into a loose formation, the Alun taking point.  His sight and tracking were marginally better than the rest of us, and with us keeping an eye out for any trails crossing we should be able to follow easy enough.  The wounded beast headed along the creek, nearly parallel to our village, a small bonus for us, since we weren't really supposed to get much further away than we were right now.

All of us knew the hunting tactics our fathers used, and now we employed them.  This wasn't a sprint, the deer was far, far faster than any of us at this kind of distance, no, this was a marathon.  We settled into the jog that a lot of us used when going out to help the older men, plodding along at an easy pace.  Elves, much like the humans of Earth, were built persistence hunters.

We were in a good position, the trail was easy to follow, bright on the pure white ground.  The blood also showed that the animal was injured, how much remained to be seen, but any injury was enough.  We could keep this pace for at least a couple of hours, harrying the beast bit by bit as it lost fluids and energy, never letting it rest, always keeping the wound open and moving, never letting it close.  Every ounce of it's lifeblood spilled onto the snow was one step closer to us filling our bellies tonight.

We drew in as the trail seemed to slow, most animals didn't run too terribly far before trying to rest.  We found it hiding in a small thicket, trying to catch its breath.  There would be none of that on our watch though, this was food we needed, our village needed.

Ninden and I were the ones throwing out shots as we came upon it, both of us better at hitting over the sort of distance we were looking at.  This time it was he who missed, his spear's tip shattering loudly as it struck a tree and broke.  It was of no consequence, a destroyed spear nothing compared to the potential gain.  I got three force bolts off, the quick movements of the deer not quite as fast, though it only helped one of them land.

My shot scored on a back leg, one more injury onto the pile, as the harried beast flew off again.  I'd have preferred a clean kill on the first, every hunter would, but I was taking anything I could get at this point.  Ambush kills were always the ideal, but in a world like ours ideals were not often what one got.

Alun passed his spear off to Ninden, being busy with tracking and not as good a thrower as the other boy.  Normally we kept our tools our own, but right now the goal was to eat, so we were all all in.  I realized that Ninden could now use his ability at least twice, maybe even three times in a day if he was getting another spear.  That was great, and meant that he'd been practicing a lot.

I didn't know how long the chase went on, but a few hours at the least.  Our wounds had hurt the creature, but it was resilient, and wanted to live.  It ran, and ran, and ran.  All things must end though, and the deer was not made to run for so long, particularly not while losing fluids, heat, and energy like it was.

Our group was ragged as we approached again to where the deer now lay exhausted.  We too were tired, and covered in sweat, some of our fur clothing even loosened to let the air cool us down better.  I was lower on magic than I'd like to be, Ninden had finally used all of his small reserves on a few more close shots, even those who hadn't been using minor or major magics were wiped, having run for longer than any of us were used to.

"Anyone want the last shot?"  Ninden asked as we closed in.  The deer tried to rise but couldn't, instead struggling on the ground.

"I'll take it," Rindal said, looking at me challengingly, as if I wanted to use even more of my reserves than I already had.

"All yours then," our leader declared, waving forward.

I didn't like him, but I had to give him this, Rindal was professional.  He closed in as much as was safe on a wounded animal and did what he could to make the strike clean.  The deer, tired, in pain, and on its last leg died quickly after that, finally bleeding out onto the snow with only a few more halfhearted kicks.

After a basic cleaning we began to head back towards the village, only now realizing just how far we'd gone.  It was getting late, the sun much lower than we normally let it get before heading home and well before we got there a light went up into the sky.

Elaya had a system of flare signals she used with my father before I was even born.  Most of these were fairly simple light colors.  The one sent up now was the one for non-emergency gathering.  The same Elaya had used when our scouts had disappeared, in this context though, it was a question.  'Where are you?  Hurt?  Come here.'

I responded with the color signal for safe, or rather, 'We're fine, coming.'

The other boys looked at me as I sent the flare up.  "We'd better hurry back, they're looking for us," I told them.

When we finally got home the sun was setting.  We were briefly met with unhappy gazes from parents, angry that we'd not come home on time.  At least until they saw what we were carrying.