The Hunter's Call
The hunt was, after all, a hunt for wolves.
The Khan surveyed the pack of werewolves with his characteristic lazy smile.
They had rushed in the moment they caught the scent of blood.
“They chased the scent of elves. How foolish to court death.”
“Is that so foolish?”
The Khan shook his head.
“When ewes give birth, they too bring forth their young. In the grip of a winter they have barely survived, with bellies swollen and mouths gaping, they must be in utter desperation.”
“…Indeed.”
“In the scales of those who live by instinct more acutely than anyone else, life outweighs death. Yes, they court death, but I would not call them foolish.”
She seemed to be praising the wolves with the Khan’s own title.
“Whoever finds a value more important than death may rightly be called a hero.”
The Khan looked at Vesta.
“Vesta. Are you prepared?”
Was he asking if he was ready for battle?
“Winter has passed, so our strength and stamina are dulled. Yet the wolves are most majestic at this very season.”
“Because we must feed their young?”
“Yes. They will tear at us relentlessly. Though they may be closer to dogs, they are still those who endured winter.”
“Are you prepared to fight such beings?”
If Vesta answered that he was not, she would not force him. She would not be disappointed.
Surely, yes. Of course.
“Very well. I will learn.”
The Khan smiled and nodded. He drew Vesta close, almost as if to cradle him.
“......?!”
“Hush. I have no intention of teasing you in a situation like this. I am only explaining.”
“Ah, I understand.”
“But it is warm, isn’t it? This shaggy fellow.”
The Khan’s lips brushed Vesta’s ear.
“I will wait for you behind me.”
“I understand.”
“The pack is larger than you think?”
“Yes. Far larger than expected.”
“Ah or will move the Keshik to encircle them. You need only follow her instructions.”
She stretched out a finger.
“Be especially wary of the one over there.”
It was a hulking creature ten times heavier than any other werewolf, its frame almost bear-like.
“The blood of the guardian beast that protects the flock must have mixed into its lineage. Though not a true one, it is still a beast you can chew through bone.”
Vesta observed it carefully.
“And that one too.”
“A goblin…?”
A goblin he had never seen on the steppe.
“Steppes goblins were wiped out by elves, they say.”
“Those who crossed over from the Empire.”
“Do they tame werewolves like orcs do?”
“No. It is cooperation or barter. Keep your guard up; they are troublesome.”
“I will.”
“Then, before we send you on your way.”
The Khan ruffled Vesta’s hair, tousling it this way and that.
“Your head… is no longer a mess.”
“Now go. Ah or will have prepared everything.”
The Khan shoved Vesta’s back.
*
Ah or issued commands with flawless precision.
“This is nothing more than a hunt, so there is no need for undue tension.”
The three elves assigned to other duties looked relaxed as well.
“Vesta-nim, please follow me.”
“Understood.”
“You are said to wield the blade well.”
The Khan nodded. Ah or handed him her sword. It was of moderate length, well-maintained, and had seen much use.
Ah or glanced at her Keshig warriors.
“Bring back as much wolf hide as you can.”
The moment Ah or finished speaking, the hunt began.
*
Ah or had taken on what seemed the most difficult role.
“While the other warriors drive them inward from outside, we will seize the large one.”
She explained why they did not unleash a volley of arrows on all of them at once.
“Even if we hit every single one, they would flee before we could take down several.”
“The rocks are too steep. If they run, there is no way to catch them.”
“Yes. No horse can gallop down the slopes. Though it is a hunt, it is closer to extermination.”
They were close to the werewolves.
“They are still hunting, you see.”
As Ah or said, the werewolves had circled the goats.
“…They are not the she-wolves we released.”
They were cunning. They knew well that they need not risk themselves.
Without opening their mouths, they pressed the goats with lazy ease, hoping to exhaust and bring them down.
“The one is watching quietly.”
The massive target lay with its belly to the ground, observing.
“Is it playing dumb because it is the leader?”
“No. It is not the leader.”
Ah or answered with certainty.
“There is no larger one than this.”
“Even if it was young once, not now.”
Upon hearing Ah or, Vesta saw that it was indeed an older individual.
Ah or said.
“It looks old and worn from running and hunting on its own four feet.”
“Are they feeding it from the pack?”
The goats had been drained of strength, so the werewolves changed tactics.
They lay still until the giant rose at the sound of their taunting.
The giant approached the goats.
The goats, terrified, lashed out with their heads.
“......!”
The horns were razor-sharp. They stabbed deep into the giant’s body, coming out bloody.
The giant grunted and endured the blows with its paws, closer to a bear’s than a wolf’s. It pinned the goats beneath it.
Blood dripped from the giant’s body.
“What is this…?”
“Rock goats are no easy prey. One strike could blind them.”
The giant pinned the goats, forcing its blunt mouth into their throats to end their lives.
“Attacking the goats directly would wound a young, swift one in the pack. It is better to use an older, slower one as a target.”
“Yes. Now that it cannot hunt alone, it has no place in the pack unless it serves this role.”
After the giant succeeded in killing the goats, it did not devour them. It lay down on the blood-soaked ground without a second glance.
“They are being driven into a trap. Until they have been used up.”
“Like a gladiator slave…?”
The packmates did not seem to care about the giant’s injuries.
They might even have wished for its death. To silence its mouth.
“We must end it. Prepare your bow.”
“......”
Ah or drew her bow. Vesta assumed a ready stance as well.
“Fire first, and I will follow.”
-!
A commotion rang out. The encirclement had begun.
In that instant of panic for the werewolves, Vesta loosed an arrow.
The shaft struck a werewolf in the rump. Not the best target.
And then.
Thud—
It pierced the giant’s vital spot.
The werewolves leaped up, only to collapse where they stood.
“Even hitting you is enough.”
They had not aimed correctly and were running.
“Whether up or down. Either way…”
The elves would be waiting.
Ah or cared little for werewolves that strayed into other elf territories.
She focused on the one assigned to her, capturing it one by one with the method she had taught Vesta.
“......”
Vesta gave up shooting.
It was not his role.
He had other work to do, and he wanted to complete it properly.
“Ah or.”
“Almost done. Just a little longer…”
“May I? That role you are taking.”
Vesta looked at the giant werewolf.
It lay on the bloodied earth, refusing to flee even as its kin fell.
It could die in battle, but its body was too exhausted to run for survival.
“Let me handle it.”
Ah or glanced at him and nodded.
His eyes burned with a resolve she had never seen before.
*
Ah or did not trust Vesta’s skill.
She turned her head toward a ridge.
The place where the Khan stood.
Ah or knew the Khan watched Vesta.
She needed no warning.
Where her eyes fell, her arrows would soon follow.
When Ah or finished cleaning up, she watched Vesta’s action.
Vesta walked straight toward the front of the massive beast.
—Foolish.
It was injured and old, yet still a beast.
Its body was almost bear-sized. Even exhausted, it could crush a man without effort.
—What arrogance.
Ah or thought.
A boy of the same age would not dare approach even the son of a martial master.
If he had mounted a horse, worn armor, or even carried a long spear, he might have summoned courage.
But Vesta carried only the courage within himself and one sword in his hand.
“Is this not something to be stopped?”
“Uushun?”
“I don’t know. I should watch instead.”
Uushun sat on the ground with legs spread wide.
Aruk followed, concerned, but Ah or’s nod placed her beside Uushun.
The werewolves noticed Vesta.
They stared at him with empty eyes.
Vesta did not avoid the gaze. The distance narrowed.
Even exhausted, he reached the point where he could no longer look away.
“Oh, it stands.”
[When they come close to humans, they stand on two legs.]
As Orolbai had said.
The giant exposed its red belly and rose on two legs.
Vesta’s vision darkened. The creature was enormous.
Grrrr.
“Hmm.”
Vesta looked up at the giant’s jaw and spoke simply.
“You understand human speech?”
Its hand, used like a foot, moved as it prepared to wield it as a weapon.
“Even if you had left it alone, it would have died to an arrow. You.”
If it had been Ah or, she would not have come close. She would have loosed heavy arrows from afar and waited for death.
That was efficient hunting.
Vesta was not doing well.
“What is it. Why am I acting so foolishly.”
He had been stubborn and pushed forward.
Because Vesta remembered the past.
Because the Empire viewed death by arrow as dishonor.
Some bodies too exhausted to run for survival, even though they could die in battle—
A young centaur and its comrades, every enemy faced—
And the fate of dying in that red circle.
A young bestiarius boy.
[Those about to die will pay respects to His Majesty the Emperor.]
-!
“Ah.”
The giant swung its arm, drawing an arc across the air. Vesta dove inward.
If he had retreated, the claws would have torn him apart.
Vesta pressed close to the giant’s right knee. He reversed his grip on the sword, using his other hand to steady the blade.
He need not worry about the hand.
Vesta knew the sword’s structure thoroughly.
He knew that spot was where the blade met resistance, so no over-sharpening was needed.
The sword, held firmly with both hands, struck the giant’s knee.
He pushed the hilt with the force behind the shallowly embedded tip. The blade slid in with a grinding noise.
The giant thrashed, trying to pull its leg away. Vesta’s eyes glowed.
He hooked both legs around the giant’s shins and ankles, using the sword as a lever to twist.
-!
The giant screamed in agony, dropping to all fours.
The moment it turned its head, Vesta was ready.
Between shoulder and ribs, a fragile blood vessel unprotected by bone and muscle.
A spot where the artery pulsed.
He threw his full weight into the strike. The sword, heavy with Vesta’s body, severed the artery cleanly.
Vesta drew the blade and raised it again.
Pshak—
The werewolf’s mouth gaped as it lunged at Vesta.
It was past the point of no return. The action was less intent than the beast’s instinct born of wolf blood.
Vesta watched the empty eyes calmly.
The sword hilt, thrust with the force of Vesta’s chest—
- Crushed the werewolf’s nose.
-!
For creatures that perceived the world through scent, blinding the eyes was an even deadlier wound.
They lost their awareness of the world.
The werewolf thrashed its head left and right, but Vesta was already gone.
When it looked up in confusion,
Vesta stood with the sword high.
“It is over.”
Uushun, who had been watching silently, sensed the end.
Swoosh—
Vesta knew he could not cleave a werewolf’s neck bone with one hand.
So the moment the neck rose, he cut beneath the jaw, protected by nothing but skin.
The giant’s head fell, blood pouring.
“You’ve gone mad.”
“…Indeed.”
“At your age, you swing a blade like that?”
“Not the son of a martial master.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
Uushun turned at Ah or’s words, but Ah or offered no reply.