Hunt III

While Selussa was moving into position, Gaelin brandished the vine whip at the crows so that he could attract their full attention.

While the greater blood crows were intelligent they were still, after all, just slightly more intelligent crows. As a result, he estimated that these animals rarely encountered anything which utilized strategy.

His guess was proven right by how the crows seemed to ignore Selussa who was running away from them and towards the trunk of the tree. Gaelin also noticed that the crows were now flinging a black liquid off their wings as they made swooping actions at his location. He guessed that this must be the poisonous oil which their body exudes and they used their wings to throw it at their target.

Right now, he was relatively safe because the crows didn't dare invade within the confined canopy after what happened to their ally. However, he knew this stalemate wouldn't last.

He had noticed that the crows were becoming increasingly loud so he decided that he better end this soon. He felt a tingle in the back of his mind indicating that Selussa was ready, so he walked forward to the end of the branch.

Gaelin had left the shelter of the trees dense foliage and provided the massive crows with ample room to approach him.

The crows looked at him warily but then they were immediately incensed. Gaelin had spread his arms wide which was one of the rare physical gestures among the animal kingdom that was almost universally understood. It meant 'Leave now or come and fight,' or in other words, a challenge.

Perhaps to the crows, Gaelin looked no different than any other monkey that they preyed upon regularly and it was impossible for them to tolerate being looked down upon by mere prey. If they fled now it would be equivalent to a proud lion cowering before an angry fawn.

At this time, the black liquid on the underside of the crows wings had caused them to look extremely greasy and their wings dully reflected the fading sunlight. Suddenly, both crows came in for another swooping action, but this time they didn't pull away and continued to charge at Gaelin.

Gaelin smirked and did not raise the whip despite the trepidation he felt from being charged by two massive birds. He had little doubt that if he were caught by either of them he would be swallowed whole. But, he trusted Selussa with his life and felt certain she could accomplish her part.

As expected, the crows dived toward Gaelin oblivious to the impending danger. To reach him they would have to momentarily enter within the tree canopy.

When the crows were only a hundred feet away, Gaelin finally lifted his whip and slashed it toward the two crows. He used his magic to increase his control over the vine whip. They flexed their wings outward, which carried their large bodies upward, this caused the slash to strike below their bodies harmlessly. But, this strike was only a feint used to force the crows upward and slow their momentum.

Suddenly, two thick vines that were tied into a noose swooped down from the overhanging branch above the crows and wrapped firmly around the necks of the two great birds. Their forward momentum proved to be their downfall as the vines quickly tightened around their necks completely crushing their windpipes.

The birds beat their massive wings desperately but the damage had already been done. It was only a matter of time before they suffocated. However, their desperate flailing caused poisonous oil to fly in all directions and Gaelin felt the oil begin to hit his uniform.

The green cloth portions of his uniform began to dissolve, and the leather portions turned black with a nasty odor exuding from them.

Fortunately, Gaelin had already began to move away from the birds when they were captured and had shielded his skin as much as possible. Even so, the poisonous black liquid still managed to leave cuts on his arms and back.

'Dammit, I didn't know their poison had a corrosive effect!' he said as he gritted his teeth.

The wounds needed to be cleaned immediately or he wouldn't survive the night.

After a few minutes the birds stopped struggling and hung from the vines limply. Gaelin had started to clean his wounds himself but he was dragged into the shelter by an anxious Selussa.

"It will be easier if I do it for you. Take your shirt off, I gathered a few herbs on the way that can help with detoxification," she said without leaving any room for Gaelin to refuse.

Looking at her expression, he knew she felt guilty for him getting injured, even though he knew it was his own inexperience that caused this to happen.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Your blaming yourself. It was my fault that I got injured, you did your part perfectly."

"But I knew the grease from their wings was corrosive, I should have told you."

"There was no time to explain and I should have completely avoided their poison anyways. This was a valuable lesson that could save my life in the future, I should thank you," he said sincerely.

He tried his best to mask any pain he felt, but it was impossible to hide the small winces of pain that flickered across his face from her ever observant eyes.

She puffed out her cheeks at him making her face look extremely cute and commanded, "Turn around we can't waste anymore time."

Gaelin wisely obeyed.

"You're lucky that the poison sacrifices potency for penetration power, otherwise, you could already be dead," she scolded as she mashed several herbs together.

'But if it wasn't corrosive I wouldn't have been injured,' he wanted to say but decided to keep to himself.

Over the next hour the atmosphere in the shelter took a turn for the better as the tension in the air gradually lessened. Selussa had prepared several detoxification herbs and lathered them carefully on the wounds covering Gaelin's back and arms.

At first, the searing pain he felt from the poison was overruling any other sensation he felt but once the herbs took effect he secretly enjoyed the feeling of Selussa's soft hands roaming over his body.

He found her focused expression as she carefully cleaned his wounds extremely pleasing to the eyes.

At this time, he was the sole focus of her attention and he found that he enjoyed this feeling very much. After his wounds were treated, he even noticed that she took her time rechecking her work ,and as she did so, she moved her smooth hands over his toned back seemingly appreciating the definition he so painstakingly maintained.

Sigh.

He couldn't help but close his eyes and let out a contented sigh. The soft hands suddenly stopped moving, when he opened his eyes he was startled to see a pair of beautiful glowing green eyes only a few inches from his face. He suddenly felt that the small shelter was very warm and he couldn't bring himself to shift his gaze.

The pair stared at each other for an unknown period of time until the sound of cicadas outside finally broke the silence. They both awoke from their daze and turned away from each other to hide their expressions.

At that moment, Gaelin realized that he had always harbored feelings deeper than friendship for Selussa but he had never acknowledged them because he feared he would ruin their relationship.

Perhaps, she felt the same.

"I-," she started to say but was interrupted by Gaelin.

"Come here,"

"What?"

Rather than reply he simply grabbed her hand and pulled her into his embrace. She squirmed slightly in surprise but ultimately allowed him to do as he pleased.

"Your not wearing a shirt..." she said slightly embarrassed.

"Does that bother you?"

"N-no..."

"Then we should sleep like this, otherwise, I will get cold."

"Y-your shameless!" she said as she lightly hit his chest.

Gaelin faked a wince.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she hurriedly replied.

"It's fine, as long as you don't move, and aggravate my injuries, I will probably make it through the night. The doctors back home said the first night is the most important when judging a patients chance of survival." he replied while shamelessly exaggerating his injuries. They both knew his injuries were not that severe after the poison was neutralized.

Selussa had nothing to say and could only accept the situation. Truthfully, she didn't want to move but she was just too embarrassed to admit it.

Seeing how his plan worked flawlessly, he couldn't help but thank his father internally, 'Father, you are truly a gifted man. I promised I would use all the techniques you taught me during this trial but I never expected I would need to use your shameless womanizing techniques as well.'

Selussa shifted so that her back rested against Gaelin's bare chest and with a wave of his hand he opened a small gap in the leaf hut. Then, the two silently stared at the night sky as the glow of many moons began to overtake the shining stars.