Chapter 4 - The Hunt

The Brass Owl was a small pub, a block off the main road through the Elven Quarter near the city gate. Drinks on tap were decent and the food was nothing to write home about. It sat tucked behind a few workshops a stone’s throw from the district’s guard barracks.

 

So, naturally, it was considered one of the best locations in the city.

 

The guards were regular customers, often dropping by to drink a portion of their day’s pay after serving their shifts. Brawls were kept to a minimum as even the routiest drunk would think twice before throwing hands in a pub that had at least three off-duty guardsmen being served at any given moment. The fights would have been non-existent if said guardsmen were not prone to the occasional overindulgences as well. Luckily, their on-duty peers were little more than a holler and snap of the fingers away from breaking things up.

 

Currently, the requisite trio of guards sat at the bar, nursing mugs of ale as they killed time for the rest of their team to arrive.

 

“Why’d we ‘ave to get stuck with ‘im?” one of them, a dirty-blonde fellow with thick stubble, grumbled. “We gotta ‘unt and they stick us with babysitting duty.”

 

“Ah, it aint that bad,” the other guard, his mustache weighed down with the ale it had absorbed, assured. “Lil highborn’ll just stand at the back while we’re doing the work. Old man probably stuck him with us to get him out of his hair for a bit. We just gotta make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. Tell ya, Evans… play our cards right and we might get a few extra coins outta this.”

 

“Yeah?” Evans remarked. “You might ‘ave a point there, Dillan. What about you, sarg?”

 

The third guard lowered his mug as he looked over at his peers. “I’d say the two of you talk too much.”

 

“Why’s that?” Dillan asked.

 

“Ahem.”

 

Evans and Dillan snapped around in their seats, nearly spilling their drinks in their haste. Standing not a half-dozen paces away was a young man in officer fatigues, an olive-green cloak wrapped around his shoulders. It wasn’t quite the attire they expected the son of a lord to be wearing. Perhaps more resplendent clothes were reserved for the first heir instead of the eldest son. Either way, it did not change how his arms were crossed over his chest, and annoyed glare filling his grey eyes as he looked at the guards at the bar.

 

Beside him stood an elf dressed in uniform similar to Dillan and Evans, the only difference being the red and white band on his arm marking him as part of the Magic Brigade. His chestnut hair was tied back, leaving his nervous eyes uncovered as he followed the young man over towards the bar.

 

At his approach, Evans and Dillan quickly stand at attention. “Apologies, lord Caravet , sir,” the latter said. “We didn’t hear you approach, sir.”

 

“Obviously,” Callum Caravet remarked drily as he approached the third guardsman at the bar. “Sergeant Leon, I’ve been assigned to your hunting party today.”

 

Leon drained his mug before looking at the lad. “The commander already informed me. Says you want some experience in the field instead of the classroom, that right? Well, not my place to question who he wants to saddle me with. The knife-ear behind you his idea, too?”

 

“I requested for one of the Magic Brigade to join us when I learned we were hunting lindrakes,” Callum replied evenly. "Corporal Nishi volunteered."

 

“That so?” Leon remarked, eyeing Nishi. The elf stood at attention, his back straight as an arrow. “Well… good to have a mage on hand. So, tell me: what do you know about our assignment?”

 

“Couple of civilians had a run in with some lindrakes last night before final bell,” Callum said. “Our job is hunting them out of the forest. Is there anything else?”

 

Leon shrugged. “That’s the gist of it. Specifically, the guards on the wall last night reporting four drake wolves chasing the kids back to the gate. Anyone of you lot have experience hunting them?”

 

No one raises their hand. Dillan seems to start to bring his hand up, but a sharp glare from Leon makes him drop his hand back down.

 

It… wasn’t what Callum had been hoping for. He knew lindrake sightings were rare around Olbrin, but he expected the assigned team to have a bit of experience with them. His coursework at Everset  had taught him about some of the subspecies, though practical knowledge would have been preferred over pure theory.

 

Well, he had to play the hand he was dealt, as his uncle liked to say.

 

“Then a quick lesson about what we’ll be hunting,” Leon said, setting his mug on the bar counter. “Drake wolves are much like your typical wolf, only tougher and smarter than a woodland mutt. They got Ore magic in ‘em, making their hides tough against sword strikes and the buggers know it. Now, the report gave us a count of how many we can expect, but expect ‘em to use those numbers to their advantage. Any questions?”

 

Nishi raised his hand from where he sat at the far end of the bar. “Sir, how do you propose we hunt them?” he asked.

“Simple, corporal,” Leon replied. “We stay as a single unit, maintaining lines of sight on each other. You and Evans will remain at the center of the party as you both can attack at range while Dillan, Caravet, and I scout for the wolves. You’ll be responsible for providing magical support as well as medical. Can you handle that?”

 

Nishi nodded his head. Meanwhile, Evans grumbled something under his breath, seemingly about his assigned position.

 

“Ah, suck it up, Evans. I doubt the knife-ear bites. Now, if no one else has anything to say, I say we’d best be off.”

 

Leon stood from his stool and made his way towards the door. Callum and Nishi followed, the latter staying close behind the former. Dillan and Evans drained what remained in their mugs before standing, picking up their cloaks and weapons from the rack by the pub’s door.

 

The barkeep waved them off, collecting the empty ale mugs and preparing a set of fresh ones as a new trio of guardsmen walked in to replace the old.

 

Sergeant Leon lead the hunting party out of the southern gate and down the dirt path through the woods. The report had said that the drake wolves retreated this way after they finally gave up on clawing the gate. Callum wished the report included where the civilians had encountered the lindrakes originally, but no one had even seemed to have noted their names, let alone take a statement from them.

 

Callum had wanted to ask about that. Why had the guards not taken basic information when the incident occurred? The time to voice his question had passed, however. They had a task to do and voicing his curiosity and criticism would have to wait until they returned to town.

 

The five of them walked along the path for perhaps half an hour before Leon called for them to stop. He pointed to a nearby bush, specifically where a few of its branches were broken.

 

Having found a trail, they got into formation as Callum had instructed with the young noble taking point with Leon. Evans and Dillan silently exchanged a look when they saw this, but quickly turned their attention to the task at hand.

 

They followed the trail of broken branches and the occasional footprint, each with their weapon drawn and at the ready. No one spoke as they slowly marched. It seemed as if the whole forest had suddenly come to hold its-

 

Snap.

 

Callum turned just in time to sidestep as a drake wolf pounced from the bushes. He countered with a slash from his sword. The blade connected, but failed to do much damage.

 

The twang of a bowstring sounded accompanied by a scream. Callum filched his eyes over his shoulder to see a second wolf sinking its fangs into Evans’ arm, his bow lying at his feet. Leon swung at the beast with his axe, forcing the wolf to release Evans and leap back where it was joined by a third.

 

“Close ranks!” he shouted. “We can’t let them flank us!”

 

That’s three drake wolves, Callum noted as he and the others fell in to surround Evans. He quickly scanned the surrounding foliage, wondering where the fourth was hiding. The thought only lasted an instant before the wolf growled, its hackles rising in anticipation of another attack.

 

Callum brought his sword up as the beast charged. The drake wolf was fast, but Callum’s swordplay was dexterous enough to match it. He landed a few hits as he dodged, a few even painting some blooming red lines into the wolf’s fur.

 

Growls and grunts sounded behind Callum. What had started as a hunt was now a battle of attrition between their skills as fighters and the wolves’ durability, one they couldn’t afford to make mistakes in.

 

Callum’s wolf twisted to avoid his blade, grazing his arm with its claws. It did more damage to his sleeve than his flesh, but it still stung fiercely. The wolf landed and tried to press the attack, but was forced back by a fire spell from Nishi.

 

A sharp crack filled the air behind Callum, followed by a wet thud. The wolves facing Dillan and Callum paused for an instant before growling with new intensity. A howl pierced the air, its source unseen. The two drake wolves both let out one last growl before turning and running back into the foliage.

 

Nishi, having grabbed Evans’ bow, managed to catch one of the retreating wolves in the flank with an arrow. Dillan leapt on the opportunity and finished the wolf with his spear.

 

“Anyone else hurt?” Callum said in between heavy breaths.

 

Dillan and Nishi shook their heads, having leveraged their weapons to keep their drake wolf out of range to attack. Leon pulled his axe head out of his wolf, seeming none the worse for wear.

 

“You and Evans were the only ones they got,” the gruff guardsman said.

 

Nishi quickly stepped forward and knelt next to Evans. The guardsman was clutching at his bitten arm, his hand hanging limply and sweat beaded on his pale face. Nishi got to work and tented his hands.

 

Taking a deep breath, a warm glow emanated from his fingers that he directed towards Evans’ arm. The grimace began to leave Evans’ face, but not entirely. After a minute passed, the glow left Nishi’s hands and the elf looked markedly paler.

 

“That should stop the bleeding and dull the pain,” he said, panting from having spent so much mana. “I am afraid I cannot fix his broken arm. Sir, do you need me to heal your arm as well?”

 

Callum looked at his arm, his sleeve stained scarlet, then back at the pale-faced elf. “It looks worse than it is,” he said. He ripped off what remained of his sleeve and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket that he handed to Nishi. “Just bandage it for now. Best to conserve your magic for injuries that need it. Dillan, use this to make a splint for Evans.”

 

Nishi nodded and quickly staunched the bleeding with the handkerchief. Dillan followed instructions and used the ragged sleeve and a couple sticks to splint Evans’ arm.

 

Evans winced and cursed the entire time from the pain, shooting a glare at Nishi while the latter bandaged Callum’s own arm. He muttered under his breath, but the words ‘knife-ear’ and other colorful names were clear enough to be heard.

 

Callum had half a mind to tell Evans to shut his ungrateful mouth, but decided to bite his tongue for now. They weren’t out of danger yet and chewing each other out wasn’t going to help. All he could do was give a sympathetic look to Nishi as he finished tying off his arm.

 

“Sergeant Leon, should we return to town and get Evans medical attention?” Callum asked.

 

“No,” Leon answered firmly. “We still got a job and that means we need to follow that drake wolf you let slip away. Best chance we have of finding the rest of the pack is following it. Evans, you follow behind Caravet and Dillan while the knife-ear takes over as archer. Think you can manage?”

 

Evans grunted, but nodded as he pulled out a dagger with his good hand. “Aye, sir.”

 

“Then let’s move. The faster we hunt those last two wolves, the sooner we can all go home. Just think the bonus pay waiting for us once we deal with the beasties.”

 

Evans, Dillan, and even Nishi seemed to perk up at the mention of their added pay. Callum wasn’t quite as enthused, but kept his thoughts to himself as they fell into their new formation.

 

If anything, the drake wolf had left a fairly clear trail for them to follow. Stilled keyed up from the fight, the five of them marched through the foliage with weapons drawn and nerves on high alert.

 

A half-hour of trekking brought them to a small clearing beside a cliff wall, a cleft in the rock face creating a shallow cave in which a lone drake wolf lay huddled against the ground. A line of crimson marked its side. The wolf raised its head and sniffed the air, a growl rising from its throat as it turned towards where they crouched in the bushes.

 

“So much for taking it by surprise,” Dillan muttered as he readied his spear. “At least you got a good slice on it, Caravet.”

 

Dillan was right, the gash in the drake wolf’s side looked deep. But… where were the other wounds Callum had given it? While he doubted how much actual damage he had done, he knew he had landed a couple decent hits with his sword. The wolf before them only had the single cut in its side.

 

“Sergeant,” Callum whispered, not taking his eyes off the beast. “That’s not the wolf I fought. The wounds don’t match.”

 

“That right?” Leon remarked as he hefted his axe. “Must’ve found the fourth wolf the report had mentioned. Lucky us.”

 

As if to prove his theory, another drake wolf leapt out of the bushes near the alcove and placed itself between the guardsmen and the fourth lindrake. This one was much more familiar to Callum, its cuts matching what he recalled giving moments earlier.

 

Finally having their fourth wolf, the guardsmen readied their weapons and prepared to strike. The drake wolves, likewise, bared their fangs at them, hackles raised. Callum tightened his grip on his sword, making the leather of his gloves creak as he looked from one wolf to the other.

 

Both had their share of wounds, but the one he had fought hardly looked slowed from them. The other one was a different story. Its stance looked weaker, like it was an effort to simply stand. How had the lindrake managed to chase a pair of civilians all the way back to the city gate?

 

A strangled scream from his side gave him his answer.

 

Callum turned to see Dillan fall to the ground, fangs tearing into his throat.

 

It had been a five-wolf pack, not four.

---

Author's Note

Bit of a break from previous chapters with this one. 
There are a few different things I want to explore while writing Vestria and one of them is the lindrakes. I'm still working on the broader beastiary, but I wanted to get across how much of a threat they are when in the wild. Honestly, I think I did about three versions of the initial fight before settling on what you see above. As much as a headache as it was, I did enjoy figuring out a man v beast fight scene for the first time.
The other thing I wanted to explore were the guards. I hinted at them not being the brightest/most adept at their jobs back in chapter one (as well as not being the biggest fans of elves) and I wanted to show a bit of a range of that here along with some consequences from the previous night. Namely, no one asking Zach or Ryu for details instead of shoving them off.
Callum is a character I've been toying with behind the scenes for a while and another avenue for some of the societal aspects of Vestria. Still not 100% sure where I want to take him, but he does allow me to play with some of the inspiration I had for him to begin with.

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