11

It was just about dawn.

Gimli admired the sight while cleaning the inside of his mouth with a chewing stick. One of his legs, he had on top of a rock and the other steadily on the ground. At his back, the rangers prepare a fire for breakfast while the others went hunting.

Kara insisted on going with Oscar. The sudden likeness from her towards him was hard for Oscar to wrap his fingers around. The mystery around this young human girl grew and Oscar found himself wanting to engage her in a friendly conversation but he held his tongue, considering that his words come out more serious than intended.

About five feet ahead of them, behind the bushes, Oscar spotted their food for the morning. A deer gracefully ate fresh grasses peacefully, completely oblivious to the presence of the wolf and the human. That was a good start for the hunters and Oscar swiftly held Kara by the wrist to stop her from going ahead and she halted. Scaring off the deer would mean that they have lost a good meat. The deer was just at the right stage to be eaten, matured but not too old to enjoy.

As their eyes meet, Kara raised an eyebrow in question to the wolf and Oscar swung his head slightly towards the direction of their prey, signaling that he had found something. Kara nodded courtly and readied her bow and arrow. Oscar did the same and the both walked slowly towards their prey while keeping their heights at the same level as the grasses so they would not be seen by the deer.

An arrow whistled in the air, by the time that the deer would notice the arrow, it went directly into it's neck and the deer fell instantly. Oscar could not resist the wide smile that was plastered across his face, impressed with her excellent and fast shooting skills.

"Excellent!" Oscar commented, with his hand on her shoulder, making Kara's heart jolt. Being praised by a person who had trained for decades and a perfect fighter was not something Kara anticipated occurring that morning. She could not bite back her smile and her cheeks turned red.

As shivers ran down her spine, goosebumps make their appearance on her skin, the culprit could either be the freezy weather and biting wind or Oscar's cold hand on her bare skin, but the happening went unnoticed by the wolf.

"You are not so bad yourself." Kara responded as Oscar left her shoulder and went ahead, although her remark made him stop in his track and looked back.

"I mean, your hunting skills, you found a good prey. You seem to have been doing it for decades." Kara said as she realized that the wolf was taken aback by her little confession. Although, the latter encouraged a further conversation.

Oscar smiled widely and continued towards the dead deer while he responded to Kara.

"Well, you can say that I am a fated hunter."

"How so?" Kara responded, following behind him.

" The werewolves are hunters. My father and I patrol the forests every Thursdays and Fridays when I was a lot younger than now." Oscar said excitedly, recalling the unforgettable experience he shared with his father.

"Well, I will be pleased to learn more from you." Kina responded and Oscar replied with a smile and a nod.

When Oscar and Kara returned with the giant deer,Oscar was almost surprised to witness the appreciation and reverence with which the humans treated the creature.

Oscar observed in fascination how these rangers seemed to be almost attuned with the natural world as his own people.

As they began their journey again, his mind was consumed with thought of his mate. It had already been three days and there was no sign of her or even a city or town where he could find her.

Oscar asked Gimli their next destination after the mountain of chaos and he responded that in accordance to the map, the crystal city would be next.

Oscar hoped that he would find her soon and return back home, just like he promised his parents.

The only question Oscar did not ask was the reason they were going into the mountain of chaos despite the danger that lies inside it.