Lualia went hunting

Lualia, shaking her head, looked at both corpses and turned and began to walk past me, not understanding what she wanted to do, I followed her.

Maybe she didn't have the opportunity to take the corpses of these animals, but then how could she hunt and bring the prey to the city?

Or she hunts smaller animals; I didn't see any kind of amplifiers on her that could help her drag her prey to the city.

I doubted that she had magical devices because of her questions about magic, continuing to follow her I was overcome by the desire to ask the question that was tormenting me.

- Do you plan to take these giokh corpses or can I help you bring them to the city? - I asked looking at the back of the girl who continued to walk

Lualia began to slow down and turned to me and looked at me with interest. It was noticeable in her gaze that my words amused her.

- Apparently you don't know, but animals that had strong emotions before death, such as fear and anger, give the meat a disgusting taste. - The girl answered; in her tone it was felt that she had already encountered such questions.

I listened to her and realized that I had little knowledge about hunting, even though I hunted in the Kray Empire with my family.

We then did not care whether our prey saw us or tried to escape, and after the hunt we gave the prey to the servants who took the prey to the cooks and then brought it ready to the table.

- You're right, I didn't know about such nuances, but why throw prey in the forest if you can use it? - Admitting my ignorance, I could not help but ask about the skins and other remains of Giokha's bodies.

I had suspicions that if not the meat, then other parts of the body could help the residents of their city, and I did not expect such strange behavior from the girl. I heard the girl sigh, I saw her cover her eyes with her hand and close them.

- Rikua, I see that you want to get to the city as quickly as possible, but unfortunately for us the corpses of the gyoh are useless. So let's move on, unless of course you want to try to get into the city yourself. - Lualia said in a tired voice, removing her hand from her face and looking at me carefully.

I didn't understand why she was refusing the corpses of these animals and I could only agree to her demands.

The girl, observing my behavior, silently turned around and walked away again without waiting for me.

Looking again at the corpses of the giokh, I sighed; I wondered how much these corpses would cost in the city.

Discarding thoughts about the possibility of taking these corpses with me, I followed the girl who was already near the tree from which I went out to the giokhs.

Approaching her, I saw that she again began to look closely at the forest and we headed further, at some moments she stopped and looked closely at the foliage and trees, looking for some traces.

I tried not to distract her with my questions; the looks she gave me made it clear that she suspected something.

Sometimes I heard the sounds of animals or monsters, which I told the girl about, she listened to my descriptions of the sounds that I tried to describe as best I could. It was clear from her face that she didn't like the lack of animals on our way that she could hunt.

I felt like the wyvern was above us in the air all the time, but the sounds of its wings were not audible to the girl, otherwise she would have already reacted to my wyvern.

I didn't want to check whether she was trying to hunt her or, on the contrary, looking for shelter. The farther we moved from the corpses of the giokh, the more the forest came to life; the singing of birds in the trees began to be heard, and the noises coming from animals became louder, which the girl also heard.

It was clear from her behavior that when she heard the animals and monsters of the forest, she was happy, although she tried not to show it.

She began to examine the ground more carefully, sometimes sitting down and saying something, then she got up and we changed directions.

Lualia didn't ask me whether I could still hear the animals or not, but I enjoyed this walk through the forest. If she asked, I would answer that we were approaching an animal that was making the sounds that I heard earlier.

Shrugging our shoulders at the girl's behavior, we slowly approached the small field from where the sounds were coming from.

Because I heard I had doubts that a battle was taking place there, watching the girl's careful steps, I also tried to walk more carefully.

Gradually, from the sounds, I realized that there were several individuals in the small field, when I wanted to call out to the girl, she stopped and turned to me and raising her hand up calling me to stop.

Not understanding what she wanted, I stopped and looked at the girl with interest, waiting for what she wanted to do.

Lualia began to show with hand gestures that she wanted to go alone to a small field from where the sounds were coming, but I needed to stay here.

It was clear from her facial expression that she was categorically determined for me to stay here. I had no desire to argue with her, if she wanted to go herself, I had no reason to stop her.

Nodding to her, I began to look around in search of a place where I should wait for her, choosing a small tree, I pointed to the tree and to myself.

From her tense face it was noticeable how she began to relax, turning her gaze from me to the tree and nodding to me, she turned and, bending down, headed towards where the sounds were coming from.

Watching her leave, I shook my head and began to think about my next steps, I needed to explain to the residents of the city where the girl lived why I needed to go to the sanctuary of the gods.

I had hope that they, like the girl, would not try to attack or capture me, otherwise I would have to show what I was capable of.

Turning my gaze to the sky, I still needed to find out why I felt pain when I recalled the wyvern and why the color of my eyes changed to a different one.

I understood that when the girls found out they would be unhappy that I was putting myself in danger.

A smile appeared on my face. Who knew that my exile would be one of the best things that happened to me in my life?

Lost in my thoughts, I began to hear many sounds reminiscent of hooves that began to run away in different directions, the reason most likely was Lualia who attacked her target.

I didn't know who she was hunting now and looked with interest in the direction where she had gone earlier.

In addition to the sounds of hooves that gradually began to recede, I could hear the frightened roar of animals that scattered in different directions.

The day gradually began to turn into evening and I wanted to know whether the girl would return to the city for the night or stay here.

Footsteps were heard from the direction where Lualia was leaving, and in addition to the footsteps, they could also hear something hitting the ground. Narrowing my eyes, I listened as the footsteps grew closer and then a girl appeared.

In one hand she held a spear, which was covered in blood, and with the other hand she was dragging something.

Seeing me, she began to walk in my direction, looking from her to what she was dragging with her hand, a strange animal appeared before my eyes.

It was small in size, had four hooves, and was white in color with large black dots all over its body. The muzzle reminded me of a giohi, but less in size.

Is it possible that the animal was a small giohi? After waiting for the girl to come closer to me, it was noticeable in her gaze that she needed rest.

- What kind of animal is Lualia? - I asked the girl when she was nearby.

Instead of answering, the girl sat down on the grass and, leaning against another tree and raising her head up, closed her eyes.

Not understanding what caused her behavior, I began to examine her body in search of possible wounds, finding no wounds and shrugging my shoulders and looking around, I waited for Lualia to come to her senses.

- We call them shiogi, they are difficult to hunt and easy to frighten. You probably noticed the similarities with gyohi Rikua? - The girl's quiet voice was heard after a while.

Shifting my gaze from the girl to shiogi who was lying in front of me, I began to compare her with gyogi.

And I really found similarities, only these animals had no horns and were smaller in size. Turning my gaze to the girl, it was clear from her gaze that she was expecting my answer.

Nodding to her, she began to tell her that the shiogs were most likely some kind of derivative of the giokh species, which had a larger size and horns.

Shiogi, on the other hand, had more sophisticated ears and it was very difficult to sneak up on them; any broken branch could alert the animal and force the entire flock to run away.

And unlike the giokh who lived alone, the shiog were gregarious. I listened with interest about this species, they were similar in appearance but so different in their behavior.