Chapter 19: The Hunt

Adrian stood beneath the tree and looked up at it for a moment before placing his hand against the trunk and starting to climb. With every branch he reached, pain shot through his bandaged arms, and more than once, he nearly lost his grip. But he kept going until he finally reached the branch where the bow and quiver were hanging.

He grabbed the bow and began counting the arrows.

"One... two... three... four..."

His hand reached toward the fifth arrow, but stopped halfway.

Adrian glanced toward Valdrin and found him standing in the same place, silently watching him. The man didn't say a word, but his look was clear enough.

I see you.

Adrian swallowed, then slowly pulled his hand back and returned the arrow to its place.

He sat on one of the branches and looked around the forest. A few moments passed, then several minutes, but he couldn't spot a single creature.

He raised his head and called out, "Valdrin! I can't see anything! It's too dark!"

Valdrin's voice came from a distance.

"Keep your voice down. You'll scare the prey away before you even see it."

Adrian lowered his voice reluctantly.

"Then what am I supposed to do? There aren't any animals here."

Valdrin calmly replied, "Because they know we're here."

Silence fell for a moment before he continued.

"If you want to hunt, you'll have to go deeper into the forest."

Adrian sighed and stood up on the branch.

"Fine... As if everything I did today wasn't enough."

He began moving from one branch to another, slowly making his way deeper into the dark forest.

The farther he moved from Valdrin, the denser the trees became. Their branches twisted together overhead, making the forest feel like a completely different world, cut off from everything outside.

Adrian thought to himself, The trees are so dense... moving between them should be easier.

After a few minutes, he stopped on a branch and scanned the area around him. The darkness was so thick that he could barely see anything, so he closed his eyes for a moment and focused on his hearing instead.

Only a few seconds passed before he picked up a faint sound coming from the grass.

Footsteps.

Adrian's eyes opened immediately.

He steadied himself on the branch and slowly began climbing down, following the sound without making a noise.

The closer I get...

The better my chances of hitting it.

But before he reached the lower branches, he remembered Valdrin's warning.

"The animals here can smell you if you get too close."

He stopped and thought for a moment.

Then I'll stay as far away as I can... and make sure I don't make a sound.

He continued climbing down carefully, placing his feet lightly on each branch until he was barely even breathing. He watched between the trees until he finally spotted a group of wild boars.

They were gathered in one place, digging through the ground for food and quietly eating the grass.

Adrian slowly raised his bow and nocked an arrow. He pulled the string all the way back and held his position for several seconds as he carefully aimed.

Then he released it.

The arrow shot forward, but missed the boars and slammed into the trunk of a tree.

The boars raised their heads at the same time before suddenly charging away into the forest.

Adrian lowered his bow and sighed.

"Looks like... I'm not very good at archery."

He didn't waste any more time and continued moving through the trees. After a short distance, he heard the sounds of small animals moving quickly through the grass.

He stopped.

The sound was close, but he couldn't see anything in the darkness.

He hesitated for a moment before saying, "I don't have a choice."

He raised his bow and fired an arrow toward the source of the sound.

Silence followed.

Adrian jumped down from the tree and headed toward where he had fired the arrow. He searched through the grass, checking the area once, then again, but he couldn't find anything.

"Where did it go?"

As he continued searching, he suddenly heard a low snort behind him.

He froze.

The sound came again...

But this time, it was much closer.

Adrian slowly raised his head.

And froze.

The wild boars were standing right in front of him.

From high above the trees, they had looked relatively small... but now he realized just how big they really were.

Each one was almost the size of a fully grown horse.

They stared at him with sharp eyes, slowly scraping their hooves against the ground.

Adrian knew what was coming before it happened.

The boars suddenly charged at him.

Their attack gave him no time to think. He turned and jumped toward the nearest tree, and within seconds, he had reached one of its higher branches.

The boars stopped beneath the tree and began circling the trunk angrily.

Adrian stared down at them for a few seconds before looking at the tree he had just climbed so quickly.

"How...?"

He paused.

Then he remembered how he had moved through the water earlier, and how his body had become faster after hours of training.

A small smile appeared on his face.

"So... this is the result of the training."

He looked down at the boars again.

"I didn't even notice it before."

He tightened his grip on the bow.

The training he had thought was nothing more than torture all day... was finally starting to show results.

Adrian looked at the boars one last time, then raised his bow and fired an arrow in a hurry. The arrow flew past them, making the boars raise their heads for a moment before they charged into the forest and disappeared from sight.

Adrian lowered his bow and looked at the quiver.

Only one arrow remained.

He frowned slightly.

"So... I have one last chance."

He sighed and continued deeper into the forest.

A few minutes later, he spotted a deer standing among the grass. He stopped immediately, nocked his final arrow, and slowly pulled the string back. He focused completely on his target until he forgot everything around him.

Then, without warning, a massive shadow swooped down from the sky.

Adrian barely had time to react before huge talons dug into his shoulders. In the next instant, his body was lifted off the ground.

His eyes widened as the forest rapidly dropped away beneath him.

He looked up and saw a giant eagle, nearly as large as a human.

Adrian shouted and struggled with all his strength, but the bow slipped from his hand and fell into the trees.

The final arrow, however, remained in his grip.

The eagle continued soaring higher until they reached the river. The moment it flew over the water, Adrian tightened his grip around the arrow and drove it into the eagle's side.

The eagle let out a deafening screech and violently shook its body before losing its balance.

The two of them plummeted toward the river together, crashing through the surface with tremendous force.

Valdrin was sitting calmly on the rock, as if he were waiting for something. A few moments passed before the surface of the water suddenly broke.

Adrian emerged from the river, dragging the eagle behind him. He kept pulling it until he reached the riverbank, then dropped its heavy body onto the ground. With what little strength he had left, he dragged the eagle over to Valdrin.

He slowly forced himself upright, then looked at Valdrin with a tired smile.

"What do you think?"

He gestured toward the eagle.

"I got us some food..."

Then he held up the final arrow with a small smile.

"And I didn't waste my last arrow."

Valdrin glanced at the eagle lying in front of him, then nodded.

"Good."

After a moment, he looked up at Adrian.

"But where's the bow? I don't see it."

Adrian's smile faded slightly. He looked at his empty hand and said, "That eagle caught me off guard, and the bow slipped out of my hand."

Valdrin narrowed his eyes.

"Don't think you'll get away with that. Tomorrow, you'll come back and find it yourself."

Adrian sighed silently, having nothing to say.

After they lit a fire, they placed some of the eagle's meat over the flames and sat down in front of the fire to eat. Several minutes passed without either of them speaking. The only sounds were the crackling wood and the occasional pop of the flames.

Finally, Valdrin broke the silence. He tossed a small piece of wood into the fire, sending a few sparks into the air, then asked without looking up:

"So, tell me. What did your body gain today?"

Adrian looked down at his hands and slowly clenched them.

"I feel lighter... Like something had been holding my movements back all this time, and then suddenly disappeared. When I was running from the boars, I found myself on top of the tree before I even realized I'd jumped."

A faint smile appeared on Valdrin's face.

"That's exactly what I wanted."

Adrian looked at him, waiting for an explanation. Valdrin continued:

"The water was fighting you all day. Now, you won't find an opponent on land that's tougher than it. If you can move faster than the river, then hunting monsters will only be the beginning."

He paused for a moment before looking at Adrian.

"We're done with the first stage. Tomorrow, we'll begin the second."

Silence fell between them again as the flames danced in front of them. After a while, Adrian looked at Valdrin and asked quietly:

"How is my grandfather?"

Valdrin gave him a quick glance before answering.

"He's fine."

Adrian lowered his eyes for a moment.

"Then why are you keeping him there? And why won't you let me see him?"

Valdrin remained silent for a while before answering calmly:

"There are things I'm not allowed to talk about, and not every order can be disobeyed."

Adrian looked at him sadly.

"But he's my grandfather... Don't I have the right to see him?"

Valdrin sighed and looked back at the fire.

"I'll try to make it happen tomorrow."

A faint smile appeared on Adrian's face.

"Thank you."

Valdrin didn't answer. He simply stared into the flames, as if he were thinking about something too heavy to put into words.

After a short while, Valdrin stood up.

"Come on. Let's head home. Dan has been worried about you all day."

Adrian smiled and stood up as well.

"Then we shouldn't make him worry any longer."

Valdrin threw some dirt over the fire until the last spark went out. Then they gathered their belongings and walked together through the forest.

As they moved farther away from the fire, the darkness slowly swallowed them, and the sound of their footsteps faded among the trees.