Chapter 6: From Mante to Sacro, part 1

The four waited for the caravan to make some last-minute preparations. They had bought some rations for the road, mostly for Eleric, as he was going to hunt down animals and bests alike for Anmu on the road and Fen and Alistair fed on different things than food.

The caravan leader, a bearded man by the name of Gregory, made the sign for the caravan to move out, and just like that, everyone began to move.

The four were fanned out. With Alister walking at the head of the caravan, Fen and Eleric bringing up the sides, and Anmu slithering behind the caravan.

Nothing much happened during the first hour, but then Eleric noticed footprints that had claw marks on them.

"Halt," he called out to Gregory. The caravan leader came to him, and stared at the footprints. "It is not safe to continue. Let me just hunt this thing, and we can continue."

"If you say so," Gregory agreed, and Eleric nodded and began to follow the footprints. He made it to the river banks, where a giant rat-like creature was drinking water.

The elf looked around. Such creatures usually went out with their brood. Yet, he couldn't see any more rats. He didn't want to give such unfit meat to Anmu, but he knew that he had to take it out. It could attack them in the night.

He aimed an arrow silently, and let it loose. It struck right where the spine was, and the rat fell. Eleric went to the rat, and slit its throat with his dagger. He looked at it for a long moment. Then, he shrugged, and carved out the heart and the liver.

If Anmu didn't want to eat them, he would say so. Chancing one last look around, to see if there weren't more rats around, he went back to the caravan.

"There was a giant rat by the river," Eleric spoke, and the caravan began to move again. "You don't have to eat the meat, if you don't want to. I understand that rats are..."

Still, before he was even finished talking, the Naga took the bloody cuts, and gobbled them up.

"I love all kinds of meat," Anmu told him, as he licked his fingers clean. "Thank you."

The Naga leaned, and gave Eleric a kiss on the cheek. The elf blinked, and pressed a hand on the kissed spot. With a dopey smile, he went back to his spot.

They made camp when night fell, away from the river, which was bound to attract even more animals. Eleric wanted another kiss, another smile. So, he went out in the dark, and went in search of something more decent than a rat for Anmu.

Soon, there were footprints he could follow. He smiled wistfully, and continued until he found a cave. What he found was a bear, young and male, that growled at him.

The elf imagined the pelt around Anmu's shoulders. Or, as a bed cover. He aimed his bow, and began to shoot an arrow after an arrow.

The bear took quite a few arrows to its hide, but it did charge him. A paw swiped at his head, and he had to sidestep. With a grin, he let loose a point-blank arrow at the bear's left eye. The animal stumbled, and fell. Its chests heaving.

Eleric had hoped it would provide more of a fight. He shot an arrow in the other eye, and distanced himself from the claws. He must have waited for half an hour until the bear's body stopped moving around, and then he went and slit its throat, just in case.

Now, he wished he had invited Alistair on the hunt. Surely, he would have managed to get the bear in the bottomless bag with less trouble than Eleric himself.

Yet, with much huffing and puffing, he got the bear in the bag, and went in the cave to see if there wasn't something of interest in there.

He saw the remains of many men, still in their hunter's get-up. He collected their bows, to bury by the river, and their jewelry, which lay scattered around.

A silver bracelet, one with leaf motives, he was going to give to Anmu. An earring with a fang dangling from it, he was going to give to Alistair. It would suit him. Fen would just have to do with a golden medallion that had a secret compartment on it. Perfect for storing pictures.

With his bounty, he went to the river and got a shovel out of his bottomless bag. It was something he would have liked done for him, if someone found his bones in a cave.

The bow was a part of the hunter's spirit. Every bow buried was equal to a hunter being buried. It was an old custom among hunters to give last rights to the bow, rather than the bones.

When he was done burying the five bows, he got up and placed a single river stone on top of the grave. After he clasped his hands, he said a prayer for the departed, and then went back to the caravan.

"You look melancholic," Fen told him instead of greeting him.

"I had to bury some good men," Eleric spoke.

"Did you bring our dear Naga something?" Fen persisted. He wanted to be the one to feed Anmu the bloody meat. Something so pure as the Naga, eating bloody cuts. Fen felt the heat pool in his groin.

"A bear," Eleric went to where Alistair and Anmu were sitting, and deposited the bear by the campfire. "I will dress it immediately."

Anmu's eyes shone, when he felt the residue mana coming off the beast. He licked his lips in anticipation, and sat straighter in his spot on the picnic blanket.

"Next time, I am coming with you, Eleric," Alistair spoke, when he saw Anmu's reaction. "To make sure you are safe."

"I will be safe regardless," the elf protested.

"Be that as it may, I am still coming with you," Eleric snorted at the vampire, knowing that his safety didn't concern the man all that much. Then, he began to dress the bear. Taking extra care with the pelt.