Chapter 25 - Cleanup

Jamie inspected the Blue Leopard through the video feed. The video feed tilted slightly as Eve looked in Leo's direction and raised her back paw to her stomach, coating her paw and healing a wound. He asked Amber "How is the wound on Leo?"

Amber grimaced "Not good. He may not be able to fight if another fox approaches."

"Eve can heal him."

Amber looked towards Jamie's direction "Are you serious?"

Jamie nodded, keeping his eyes glue to the laptop. "Very. Tell Leo to lay on the ground."

Amber's eyes blanked for a moment, then Leo started to lie on the ground side on, exposing it's wounded flank. Jamie then sent a mental message to Eve "Heal Leo's wound."

Eve approached Leo, and then lifted her front right paw, gently placing it on Leo's wound. A rippling golden light started to form around it, and Eve gently pressed her paw on Leo's wound. The liquid flowing from the wound started to dry at a visible pace, and the wound slowly began to close. Thirty seconds later, the wound was fully closed. Eve let out a huff, then backed away from Leo, and sent mentally to Jamie "I think I need a break."

"Good job Eve. Take a quick rest."

As Leo started to get up, Amber flashed a smile to Jamie and said "Thanks."

"Your welcome. Let's go outside and inspect the damage."

Jamie and Amber walked outside, using the lights on their mobiles to illuminate the surroundings. What they saw made them wince. The hay that they spent so much time placing was scattered, and clumps of grass was dug up all over the place. Amber shook her head "We won't be able to ambush any more."

Jamie sighed "At least the two cattle survived. Let's store the corpses outside."

The duo moved the two cattle inside after having Eve heal them, and moved the corpses outside, spreading them out slightly. The beasts with them started to salivate as they divided the bodies into two piles. Eve sent a mental message to Jamie as he placed the his last fox corpse on the ground.

"Jamie....can we eat them?"

Jamie paused, startled, then remembered he hadn't fed his beasts yet. "Sure, just the ones on the right. Leave the heads"

Jamie also sent a mental message to Blackwing. As they started to gleefully feast on the carcasses, Jamie turned to Amber "So, what now?"

"We sleep, and take shifts. Divide the night between us, and wake each other up if more foxes approach."

"Okay, I'll take first shift. I can't sleep anyway."

Amber nodded, then they both went inside the cattlehouse, Jamie to sit in front of his laptop, and Amber lying down in her sleeping bag.

>>>>>>

'I feel irrational. So confrontational'

Jamie got up from his sleeping bag, rubbing his eyes.

'To tell the truth I am getting away with murder'

He reached his hand across to his phone and turned his alarm off. Jamie then got up, yawning, and started stretching. He then walked towards the front of the cattlehouse. Amber pressed her lips together, watching Jamie approach, and said to him "Good Morning."

"Morning"

They ate a couple of muesli bars as they walked to their vans, driving them to the cattlehouse and packing their equipment away. Once they were done, they could see two utes approaching the cattlehouse. They waited for them to arrive, standing in front of their vans. Steven and Anna got out of the ute's, wrinkling their noses as they exited. Steven winced as he saw clumps of grass dug up from the ground, and the hay scattered all around.

"Good lord, what have you done to the place?"

Jamie shuffled from side to side awkwardly, while Amber looked straight at Steven and said "We fought and killed eight foxes. And the two cattle placed outside as bait survived."

"EIGHT?! Show them to me."

Amber gestured to her right, and eight fox heads starting to decay could be seen on the grassy plains. Upon seeing the heads, Steven started to laugh madly.

"HAHAHAHA!! You got the entire skulk! Well done!!"

Anna's eyes widened momentarily before she asked "How many did you each kill?"

"5" "3"

Anna eyes flickered towards Eve, standing behind Jamie, then settled on Jamie, occasionally looking at Amber as she said "Well done. I will have the money sent to your accounts when I get back to the ranger station. I hope you are still interested in killing the Red Stripped Falcons?"

"Yes." "I am"

"Good. They should start attacking in one hour. Unlike the foxes, they originated from a portal."

Anna clenched her fist and her expression twisted in rage. "The Red Stripe Falcon are vicious, and enjoy tearing living creatures apart for enjoyment. They have been attacking the people in the town, both for enjoyment, and for food. Unlike the foxes, kill as much of the falcons as you can. The price is $200 a head."

Anna pulled out a map from the glove box of her red ute, showing it to them and pointed to a location on the far right of the town of Bulagd, on the opposite end of town.

"This location is untouched by the Red Stripe Falcon, so it could be a potential target. I've notified the officers there earlier that some bounty hunters will be joining them. They should be waiting for you at Refresh Hotel. It's the largest building in the area, with a flat roof that is accessible by the stairs."

>>>>>

Jamie and Amber pulled up to a three storey red building, with a sign in white plastered near the door with "Refresh Hotel" in black writing. At the front was two white and blue police cars pulled in front of the entrance. Jamie and Amber got out their vans with their bonded beasts, and walked into the hotel. After they entered the building, they could see a male at the reception in a white collared shirt, with bland features sitting at the desk.

As soon as Jamie and Amber walked into the lobby, past the black sliding door, the male's black eyes looked towards them, and he called out. "Excuse me, Sir, Miss, this building is closed."

Jamie and Amber walked towards the bland male. When they were in front of the reception desk, Jamie said "We are bounty hunters. Anna said she notified the officers in advance that we were coming."

"What are your names?"

"Jamie Smith" "Amber Jones"

"Just wait one moment."

The male picked up the phone on the wooden desk with his calloused hand, and called someone.

"Their are two people here claiming to be bounty hunters sent by Anna."

"..."

"They claim their names are Jamie Smith and Amber Jones. Both teenagers, the male is at average height, slim with black hair and striking blue eyes. The female is tall, has long blonde hair tied into a ponytail, and amber eyes."

"...."

"Black Dragon, wolf with two tails, Blue Leopard, Red Lined Eagle."

"....."

"Noah left earlier. He took one of the cars.."

"...."

The man put down the phone. After he did so, he rubbed his black hair, before he smiled and gestured to the elevators. "Please use the elevators to get to the top. When you get there, an officer should be waiting."