Hunt

"SCREECH"

The creature opened its maw and let out a harrowing sound.

The battle had started.

Dashing towards him, the beast quickly gained ground. Now head to head. Like a spring; it tensed its body and twisted itself.

It whipped its body while turning backward. On pure instinct, Aldric took a leap away from his enemy. 

Too late.

"URGH"

A large force knocked him over onto his back. With the air pushed out of his lungs, the pain on his arm did not even register.

Aldric felt a sharp pain from his forearm down to his elbow in a diagonal line.

'Just the force from its tail knocked me back'

Without being given even a moment to think, a large shadow loomed over him in mid-air.

"Shit."

Immediately rolling to the side, he dodged a bodyslam from the 500-pound monstrosity. Not wasting his chance, Aldric exchanged a slash in retaliation and aimed for one of its beady eyes.

The monster screeched in agony. With one eye blinded, it had a look of absolute fury aimed toward its prey.

'That would have crushed my ribcage and punctured my lungs with the broken pieces you bastard!.' He thought in anger as he returned the look with a sharp gaze.

The monster had lost all sense of reason. Not that it had any to begin with. But now it was completely feral. 

You see that was one of the problems awakened had with nightmare creatures. They were creatures. You know what they say about a wounded beast. "A wounded tiger is a dangerous animal." Erratic. Unpredictable. Those are a few of the many words that can be used to describe them. It will do anything to survive. Even tearing its limb off if need be. With none of the rhythm and steady tempo of fighting a human, it was hard to adapt to such a chaotic battle. 

This led to a stalemate. Where the beast was attacking with the intent to kill and Aldric was dodging while not being allowed to counter. With his stamina waning, he knew he had to end this.

'I can't keep fighting like this. Its unpredictable attacks are giving me no chance to counter with an attack of my own. It is taking all of me to stay at a safe range and dodge.' 

Something had to change. 

Out of nowhere, Aldric dashed away from the beast. Noticing his prey seemingly fleeing, the beast gave chase. It could not see what the hunter was planning with his back towards the creature. Picking up his torch from a makeshift stand against a rock. Aldric had a plan in mind.

With the beast closer, Aldric turned around and threw the torch towards the nightmare creature unprovoked. In shock, the beast shrank in fear. Fire was the weakness of mindless creatures after all. With its only eye closed, it could not see its imminent death.

With a smooth motion, Aldric stuck his dagger to the hilt through the skull of the creature. He could feel the dagger break through its cranium and pierce the brain. He took out his dagger as quickly as it went in and backed up from the dying creature. Not sure if it was dead. 

A faintly familiar sound voiced out.

[You have slain a dormant beast, Burrow Fiend.]

"My first kill" Aldric exclaimed.

His endorphins spiked from the near-death experience he just had. Combined with the adrenaline still in his system, Aldric felt like he could kill a titan.

'This kill is the first step on my journey. Whatever happened before and whatever happens now. I'm here.' He thought in glee.

However, reality soon set in for Aldric. 

'How am I going to make it back to where the man left me?'

The torch was dead on the ground. With not even an ember still alive, the cavern fell into complete darkness. Aldric felt like he descended into the pits of despair.

His mind raced to his wound. Ripping a piece of cloth from his person, he tied his injury in a makeshift bandage.

'That will have to do for now.'

A rough but familiar voice echoed in the void.

"Well done Silo" the older hunter from earlier said.

'Silo?. That must be the name of this body'

Even with his enhanced vision in the dark, he could not make out all the features of the person in front of him. Just grey eyes glowing slightly in the dark and pale white skin.

A sudden sound of flint against rock echoed out and suddenly the cavern was illuminated in bright light. The hunter had thankfully brought a torch with him.

"We will take your kill back to the sanctum. It will be disassembled and prepared for the feast. Take pride. The tribe will recognise this achievement." The hunter explained.

"I understand." 

"Let's go." The man grabbed the Burrow Fiend by its tail and dragged the corpse with ease. 

---------- 

After an unknown amount of time through the winding system of caves and caverns, they finally arrived at a large clearing. Spanning the length of 2 football fields; the open area housed over 200 hundred people. Along the wall were hundreds of small burrows spread around. Some are larger than others. Large enough to fit humans in their sleep.

The combined sound of the tribe caught Aldric's attention. Life sparked in the area. With people laughing and eating. Some bartering and haggling. Others enjoying recreational games. All adorned in a similar garb to both of the hunters. Some variation seems to denote something of importance.

'A hierarchy' Aldric mused.

Men, women, and children all living life. It was amazing to see. It was like seeing an isolated indigenous tribe from the Amazons in person. It was very rare to witness and take part in something like this. 

"Everyone!" shouted the man.

People slowly started to look at the man.

"This aspiring hunter has completed the initiation to join the hunting troop. He faced adversity and triumphed where 100s have failed." Roared the man. Electrifying the air with his words.

Cheers and applause filled the open area. Bringing the already high energy to a maximum. 

A lone figure entered Aldric's vision.

"Elder Yarnm" The hunter beside Aldric exclaimed in respect.

An elderly man garbed in cultural garms slowly approached the pair with a steady gait. Lacking any hair on his head, he had large black eyes with an iris that took up most of his eyeball. It was unsettling. With red and yellow fabric uniquely covering his body, even his attire denoted his status. With wrinkled skin, he had the well-known look of an elderly person in their 80s. However, he seemed very limber for his age. While his appearance looked completely vulnerable and meek, his eyes told a different story. Aldric could tell this man had lived a lot of life and lived to tell the tale.

"Silo, my child. Congratulations. The tribe will always welcome an accomplished hunter. Now to give you the mark." He said in a gentle voice.

While grabbing a mysterious red paste from the hands of someone behind him, he dipped his thumb inside it and motioned for the now young man to bend down.

"With this mark of the hunter, I hereby recognise Silo of the 12 as a man. Let it be known that he is an official hunter from this moment onwards." He made a diamond shape with a line trailing above it on the temple of the young man.

A familiar sharp pulse of uneasiness spread from his gut. Even more sharp than the last pathway on his hunt. [Clear mind] worked quickly to calm the effect of [Insight]. With a steady mind, Aldric wondered.

'Just who is this man!.'