Chapter 131

For a hunter, their best skills were observation and patience.

They needed to be able to have a sharp sight that would let them see the many little details that animals left on their way, only then the hunter could follow the trail. Patience because the hunter ha to chase for quite a while, even for hours, and then prepare the best spot to assess the killing hit.

To catch animals, it was almost the same.

Lucas had to observe if animals had left prints on the ground, feathers or clumps of hair stuck somewhere, or even pay close attention to any sound the animal made. Catching required patience and traps.

He had spent the first part of the morning placing traps near where he had seen some prints on the forest floor and walked away to wait. After all, if the animals caught a recent smell from him, then they would not get closer to the trap.

Strangely, coming noon, the traps had remained untouched. There were no signs of any animal walking by, even to inspect the trap. Some traps had been activated, but the animal had not been caught, which tended to happen.

The more empty traps he saw, the more his frown grew.

The situation was not strange anymore, it was concerning. There was something going on. 

He had seen something similar when he came across a foreign group of hunters that combed through the area. Apparently, they had caught too many animals and the ones who were able to escape did so very far away or hid very well.

Since it was a similar situation, Lucas thought that maybe a group of hunters had gone through the mountain the day before, forcing the animals to move further away.

He was actually very deep into the mountains and had not seen any animal, so he was only left wonder just how far away the animals ran away.

With no haul, he could only return home empty handed. Although he was a bit disappointed, he could do nothing but pick up his traps and leave.

To make things worse, he cut himself when he was dismantling the first trap. He sighed, licking the blood that flowed out and then started cleaning it properly.

Isabelle had made him carry a few bandages on him just in case. He softly smiled and inwardly thanked her for nagging about it. He had been a bit annoyed as it felt as if she didn't trust him, but mistakes could always happen.

He was tending to his mistake.

Once he bandaged his hand, he resumed his task. He wanted to finish quickly, eat his food and then return home before it got dark. 

When four of the five traps were dismantled, he heard it.

The crunching of leaves behind him. It sounded quite loudly, meaning the weight of the animal was quite considerate. In those forests, the heaviest animal was a boar. 

So, he quickly grabbed his long knife and turned, expecting to see the robust animal about to lunge at him. Boars could be quite violent after all. What he found was nothing, only the bushes that swayed due to the breeze.

His experience didn't allow him to ignore the sound, and he remained alert, staring at a bush where the sound came from. Then, there was another crunch to his right. His hair stood on end. His gut was telling him not to turn, but his logical mind could not ignore the sound either.

He turned.

He shouldn't have.

A wolf…

He saw a wolf brightly and openly staring at him. 

 He had heard from passing (from that foreign group of hunters he once encountered) that where there is a wolf, there is a pack nearby.

Wolves had somehow entered the mountain.

It somehow made sense as to why he had not seen chickens, rabbits or even boars. Either the wolves had scared them off, or they had already been eaten. 

Wolves were not natural predators in that area. For them to be there meant they had been displaced from their true place of origin. 

Lucas had no idea if it had been a good or bad decision in the area where the wolves came from. He only knew that at that moment, it was a dismaying situation for him.

How to fend off against animals that attacked in packs?

Lucas had never done so. His years of experience simply told him he needed to cover his back. So, he walked backwards, trying to look for a tree wide enough to protect his rear. Meanwhile, the wolf he saw plus another one that came out from behind the bush he had been staring at also came out.

He was not wary of the enemies in front, but of the possible hidden ones.

He could hear the blood rushing in his ear from the fear and tension. If he made a wrong move, he could actually die there.

His gut clenched at the thought. He didn't fear death, he feared not being able to see his loved ones again. He also felt deep regret. If he fell there, he would not be able to see his unborn child. 

He had to live to continue being a Husband, a brother and a future father.

Crouching, he grabbed a fistful of leaves and dirt. The wolves became alert and started growling. Lucas immediately moved and threw the leaved and dirt directly at one wolf and ran in the same direction of the 'blinded' wolf.

He would be crazy if he showed his complete back at the both of them. His decision was the most assertive one because yet another wolf jumped from behind the tree he had been using as protection.

He swiped at the lunging wolf and managed to injure it. 

With two incapacitated, the remaining wolf hesitated. That gave him time to run at full speed to look for a better place to face the ferocious animals. He was aware that he could not outrun them, so he didn't try.

His efforts successfully angered the two wolves. When they deemed themselves still able to hunt, they immediately pursued Lucas.

He could feel their hot breath tailing him very closely as he madly dashed through the vegetation. Unluckily, he had taken an unknown path in his desperation to run away, making him flounder and trip, and by consequence slow him down.

One of the wolves lunged at him and grazed his leg, slicing through the fabric with its claws. He swung back and hit nothing, the wolf smartly having retreated after earning a small victory.

After a few more attacks like that, he realized the wolves were trying to tire him down before they could launch a full attack. Which was working. His breathing turned labored from his exertion in running, from trying to defend himself and from the blood loss.

For a moment, he thought that was the end. 

No one would know he died there. In fact, he would not want his brothers to look for his mauled corpse with the wolves still roaming around. 

If he died, then he had to take the wolves as far away as possible from his family. That pushed him to keep running despite his legs screaming at him to stop. 

The wolves just tailed him, not attacking anymore, probably also of the same thought as him: that he was done for.

Somehow, he crossed the mountains and arrived at some valley. He despaired a bit when he saw no village or town around. Someone could have helped him chase away the animals. However, there was nothing like that.

Finally, his legs could not carry him anymore and almost gave out. 

He managed to remain standing to face the wolves that circled around him. He wildly slashed at any wolf that got too close, trying, by some miracle, to actually survive.

His vision blurred, rendering him unable to see the incoming attack from a wolf. By instinct, he used his arm to block. The animal's maw chomped onto his forearm, sending thrills of pain up his arm and down his whole body.

The pain woke him up and allowed him to maneuver the knife with his other hand to stab the wolf in the belly. It howled in pain and let him go. The other wolves immediately attacked to avenge their injured comrade, toppling him down.

The last thing he saw were the sharp teeth of a wolf that chomped down at his face.