FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 10

The moon illuminated the ground with its silvery light, putting to rest those who waited for it and waking up those who cherish the night. Those nocturnal creatures broke the silence that usually follows the night and they were not the only ones. Among the sounds of the nightly beasts a sole cheetah was sitting on a rocky ground near a fire, which was surrounded by trees.

The sound of the cracking fire perfectly intertwined with the sounds of the nightly life. Hunter has been chasing after the second group for hours, and since he was catching up to them it was a proper time for preparation. He poked the fire with a stick, the flame as if annoyed burst with new bright flames, emitting more light and heat at the same time.

Placing the stick down the cheetah reached for his weapon, he grabbed the bow alongside his quiver and placed them just next to him. With that he picked up the bow and examined it closely under the light of the fire, satisfied he placed the weapon just in front of him on a nearby flat rock illuminated by the red flames. He then reached for his quiver and pulled four arrows, three of them he put just next to the weapon while the fourth he carefully placed on top of the bow, so the projectiles tip laid directly on the weapon's surface while it's feathers were slightly behind its string.

With the weapons in place he unstrapped his belt, the flames reflected from the blue gems surfaces, the remaining bags and a sheathed dagger sprawled neatly on the rock. Hunter straightened his left paw and reached down his leg, his claws disappeared in the barely visible cut in his pants just above his knee. Seconds later he withdrew his hand, gripped in his claws was another dagger, he brought the blade close to the fire. He examined the weapon, he could see his own reflection in its silvery surface, with a delicate nod he put the dagger just below the bow.

Hunter then unstrapped the yin-yang symbol and reverently placed in the corner of the flat rock ahead of him, as far away from the weapons as possible. The cape without anything holding it in place cascaded down his back, he grabbed it and hung the cape on a nearby tree branch that seemed quite sturdy and was hanging just at arm's reach.

With that in place Hunter with clenched teeth grabbed his coat, with painful hissing he slowly grabbed his coat and began to yank it to free himself. Eventually the clothing landed in his hands, revealing a white shirt with three bloody cuts beneath it. He observed the wear under the red light, with sad and painful eyes he hung the almost destroyed coat on the branch.

He grabbed the hem of his white dirty and bloody shirt, hissing and groaning he straightened his arms upwards pulling the shirt through his head. Just like the coat the shirt had three long cuts on it, with a painful sigh he hung the bloody clothing next to his other clothes. Hunter touched his chest and winced, the bandage he wrapped around himself was not really helping, however the provisional healing method prevented the wounds from becoming infected.

The stinging pain lingered there, it even intensified after his touch, Hunter raised and looked at his hand, his ears flattened against his skull when he noticed that his palm was drenched with blood. The bandage was already soaking, with an angry snarl he grabbed the end of the bandage and began to unroll it from his chest. When he was done he wanted to throw away the bandage but didn't allow to give himself to his reckless impulse, on a mission every bit of helpful material counts.

The scout put the rolled bloody bandage on a nearby rock and reached for his belt, from it he unstrapped a single bag. A sound of glass knocking against glass could be heard as he reached down the bag, from it he withdrew a small flask with a greenish substance inside of it. The cheetah uncorked the flask and dipped his forefinger inside the glassy container.

The substance was moist but at the same time quite sticky, it almost felt like some kind of glue. Hunter wasn't really an expert in herbalism, he could of course prepare a simple ointment that would somehow help to heal his wounds but nothing like this. He received this medicine from Amela and she was a healer in a draconic city so it goes without saying that the cheetah knows more about medicine than he does.

With an anxious and somewhat sad sigh he pressed his sticky finger to his wound and instantly clenched his teeth while hissing painfully. The moment he pressed his finger to the cut the stinging pain dramatically intensified, he impulsively flexed his abdomen muscles, the wound itself began to bulge pumping new fresh blood through the laceration.

With an afflicting groan he continued to smear the ointment along his first cut, it hurt but what years of battle experience have taught him is that a good medicine always tastes and feels bitter. He continued to cover his wound until the hints of red were completely hidden under the greenish glue, he did the same thing with all of his other wounds, also remembering about that on his arm, the cheetah kept hissing as he worked, the pain was antagonizing but unfortunately necessary.

The moment he finished he let out an exhausted breath, it was finally over. To his surprise the ointment seemed to be working right away, the stinging pain was quenched almost immediately replaced by a delicate enjoyable chill. He moved the flask towards the fire and looked it over, the cheetah couldn't shake of his admiration, how is someone able to do something like this is beyond comprehension of his simple mind.

He wrapped himself cursorily with another fresh bandage, so the wound would make contact with a clean material, the moment he pressed the gauze to the cut green stains immediately covered the white material. With this bandage in place he reached for the bloody one and wrapped it around himself, covering the new fresh gauze.

Now everything that was left to do was to wait, he reached for the shirt and put it on, he once again examined the weapons placed before him on the flat rock, he touched each of them as if giving them the sign that he didn't forget about their purpose. With a sigh Hunter grabbed the stick and started to poke at the fire once more, after a short while it spitted out flames as if trying to punish him for his pestering.

There was a burst of laughing when the nearby fire spitted out flames that nearly burnt the face of the young cheetah nearby, the feline dropped the stick he was holding and instantly landed on his butt while patting his head and face just in case his fur would burst in flames. The laughing never ceased but the young cat was unmoved by it, he was focused on his own self entirely, after a while of constant patting he dropped his hands to the ground and stared at the cracking fire with wide blue eyes while panting heavily.

A young cheetah with orange fur pointed mockingly a finger at the shocked feline " Hunter you clumsy idiot!" he laughed

The sitting cat turned to the other cheetah with an angry snarl plastered on his face " Shut up Prowlus!" he growled

The second kid didn't stop laughing " And you want to be a chief! You would burn down your own house!"

Hunter stood up and narrowed his eyes on the feline while clenching his fists tightly " Your home is going to burn down first!"

Prowlus laughed " I'm not so clumsy!"

The first kid growled " I've told you to shut up!"

" Children that's enough!" a firm feminine shout admonished both young felines

Both children instantly shut their mouths and turned towards the female cheetah with a very sharp brown fur and brown eyes, a silvery earing with a tiny emerald in its socket dangled from her left ear. Both young cheetahs dropped their heads respectfully

" Sorry" they said simultaneously

The lively young female tutor stomped her feet on the ground " Do not be sorry, this is a sign of weakness!" she snapped " How many times do I have to tell you that you are rivals, you both are competing to be the future chief! A wise chief never mocks his opponent , he respects him so stop this childish games and focus! Do you understand?"

" Yes" both children muttered at the same time

The female threw her hands in the air " What was THAT?!" she exclaimed irritated while narrowing her gaze on both young felines " This is how a proud chief responds? By muttering something under his breath like a coward? One of you is bound to be a chief so I expect to receive an answer that only a strong and powerful would give, leaving no place for doubt, making his intentions clear." She straighten up and took a breath " So..." she narrowed her brown eyes on the children again "Do you understand?"

Both young cheetahs looked her straight in the eyes " YES!" they exclaimed simultaneously

The female nodded " Good"

" I don't like her" Hunter whispered to his rival

" Me too" Prowlus whispered back

Their tutor scratched her left ear and folded her arms " Now Hunter, will you tell what have you done wrong?"

The young cheetah scratched the back of his head while staring at the cracking fire confused " I...I don't know, I've used the herbs just like you told me to do and it just burst"

" Think" she snapped " You want to be a chief who doesn't know where he makes mistakes? A chief who doesn't learn and draw conclusions? You want to lure your enemies with a fire like that? What for? When they would only find your scorched body"

Hunter growled faintly, their new tutor irritated him greatly " I don't know!" he exclaimed angrily

" That's right! Anger, rage, it fuels you but you have to focus it properly" she narrowed her eyes on the cheetah " What does fire do?"

The young cheetah sighed irritated " What does that have to do with anything?"

" Don't question your tutor child!" she snarled " Answer the question"

Hunter shrugged not really knowing what to say " I don't know... it destroy things" he replied negligently

" Exactly" the young cheetah ears perked up, he looked at her surprised, hearing the female agreeing with him " So if fire destroys things, it kills things so what is fire to you?"

The young feline looked at the ground, his pupils were moving from side to side like they were trying to read an invisible text from the earth " It destroys things...it kills things...it hurts things..." he muttered thoughtfully, after a short while he looked at the female with determination in his eyes " It is my enemy"

She nodded " And when we fight with an enemy we always look for an-"

" Opening" both the female and Hunter spoke in unison

The female tutor nodded once again " Well done Hunter"

The other cheetah snorted " Finally, I figured it out a long time ago"

Hunter clenched his fist angrily while throwing his rival an irritated glance " You are way too stupid to do that"

Prowlus shrugged " Still I'm the one who prepared the trap right and would live to see another day"

The young cheetah narrowed his blue yes on his competitor while growling angrily " You...you...you..."

" Hush" their tutor let out a single word, yet it ringed with such a gentle and commanding tone that it silenced both children immediately " Now Hunter grab the stick and I'll show you how to do it right"

The young cheetah nodded and excitedly picked up the stick before crouching next to his tutor carefully eyeing the fire with her.

The feline tutor stared at the fire for a while, its flames were dancing in her brown eyes " Tell me Hunter, is anger a good advisor in battle?"

" Only if you focus it properly" he replied unhesitatingly

The feline smiled, despite her strict demeanor, her beautiful smile was full of kindness, like there was an completely another person hiding behind all that veil of rigor " Good you were listening"

She narrowed her eyes on the flames and her smile disappeared instantly, replaced by the stern expression the young cheetah was so well accustomed with " Fire is pure destructive power, its hate is unrelenting and uncontrolled hate leads to a downfall. To conquer a raging opponent you have to fuel your instinct by your own anger, but don't hate your opponent directly, focus instead on the things you will lose when you are defeated, let that anger you, never get provoked by your rival"

The female tutor took a pause before continuing her speech " You lost a battle with this fire because you allowed yourself to get provoked, evaluate your moves, think and you will win" she looked at her pupil's hand which tightly gripped the stick " The stick is your sword..."

Hunter impulsively looked at the woody part and studied it carefully, as if he truly could see a silvery blade instead of a tiny piece of a tree

The female grabbed his hand and guided it towards the cracking fire, with the stick pointing forward " ... and as if in any fight, you look for an opening" she yanked his hand forward, the stick poked at the burning wood, tiny flames burst out as if sending an alarm signal that it is a dangerous game that the cheetahs are playing

She leaned closer towards the young cheetahs head, her own face stopped just right next to Hunter's ear " Always be confident" she whispered " Don't get intimidated by your opponent's display of power, control the situation." She yanked his hand again, once more the wood had been poked at new flames burst out momentarily

" See these slightly darker flames? This is your opening, take advantage of it and the fire will succumb to your will. Just like with a living enemy, absolutely never strike where your opponent is the strongest " she pointed at the fire with her other hand " Like this bright orange flames here, always look for a weakness and take advantage of it"

Hunter poked at the fire with the guidance of his tutor until the fire finally spitted out flames but not as powerfully as before.

" It worked!" the young cheetah jumped in triumph and exclaimed happily

She smiled and stood up " Of course it did" she eyed the fire from bottom to top, the smoke coming out of it was way bigger and thicker than before " With a fire like that you will lure your opponents to your position with ease" her smiled was gone once again, she turned towards her two students and folded her arms " Now, what is the most important thing when laying a trap?"

" Strength to defeat all of your enemies of course" Prowlus replied confidently

The tutor shook her head " Wrong, strength is just a minor factor when setting up ambushes"

" Wit" Hunter added

She hummed thoughtfully " Wit is important yes, but when literally laying a trap, wit is important to judge the situation, if it safe enough to lure your enemies, to judge if you will survive the encounter. Imagine the trap is set, so with the ambush already prepared what is the most important thing that will make it work?"

" Confidence?' the orange cheetah answered hesitatingly

She narrowed her eyes on the young cheetah " Are you asking me? This is how confidence looks like?" she snapped back at him irritated

Prowlus frowned " Confidence" he repeated determined

The female nodded slightly " The MOST important children, confidence plays a big role in every fighter's life, you have to be always sure of your decisions if you want to be a chief, even if one day they will turn out to be the wrong ones." she made a circular motion with her hand urging the children to continue " Go on"

Both young cheetahs looked at each other, lack of any further ideas beamed in both their eyes

She eyes both children, waiting for their response, giving them time to think even if their reaction already betrayed that they have no idea what to say " Do you know what is the most important thing when preparing an ambush or not?" she finally asked after a while of silent staring

Both young cheetahs dropped their heads in shame and shook them

" Control" she said and waited for the children to look at her before continuing " Control is the most important factor during an ambush, you have to make sure that the place of your ambush is your playground, make your enemies dance to your music. You don't want a bloodthirsty mercenary surprising you now don't you?"

She kneeled down while observing the young cheetahs intently " And how do you prevent your enemy from surprising you?"

" Whenever I hunt I always take advantage of my surroundings" Hunter replied confidently

She smiled " Precisely, you will be a great scout one day Hunter if you only wished to become one"

The young cheetah grinned, not everyone however shared his happiness, an irritated snort could be heard from his young rival

The female tutor chuckled " It hurt your pride Prowlus didn't it?" the young cheetah looked at her with an angry frown on his face " Good, you realize that you can't be the best in everything, nobody can. That's why when you become a chief you need to know your soldiers, use their best skills, respect them and they will respect you"

The orange cheetah looked at the ground thoughtfully, after a while he raised his head and nodded in understanding

She smiled once more as she stood up and started to walk away from the children as if lost in thought " The idea of this trap is to make your enemies notice you, so how do you plan on using your surroundings when you can't hide?"

Hunter scratched the back of his head " I...I...I..." he kept muttering until a sudden snap coming from the direction where his tutor went forced his ears to flinch, he looked at her surprised

" Why did you stop thinking?" she asked strictly

He looked at the ground " Sorry, you snapped a twig, I've got distracted"

She grinned " Is that so? Tell me children what makes us special as people? What our specie has that nobody else has?"

Both cheetahs looked at each other and began muttering something under their breaths thoughtfully until another snap ended their struggle

" It's hard to focus when you do that!" Hunter protested

" Really?" she crossed her hands behind her back and snapped the twig again " Did you hear that?"

" Of course we did, I've already told you its distracting"

" Doesn't it seem strange to you?"

Hunter looked at his tutor confused " Not really, what strange can be-"

" You are too far away" Prowlus muttered cutting off his young rival

She pointed a finger at the orange cheetah " Yes Prowlus keep going"

" You are standing too far away from us, but we can still hear the twig snapping"

Hunter looked at his tutor, then at the ground, it was in fact quite a distance between them and the female " Hey, you may be right..."

" Exactly" she exclaimed before grabbing the tip of her ear and wriggling it delicately " Hearing, this is our great advantage. Our sensitive ears can catch a sound even if it's coming from afar, apes nor even dragons have such sensitive ears"

Hunter's eyes widened " Dragons? I've never seen one, is it true that they can do magic?"

The female cheetah frowned and let out a growl while throwing the youngster an angry glance " Dragons are not a part of this lesson, maybe one day you'll meet them but it won't happen if you won't focus on your task!"

The young cheetah didn't say a word, he only dropped his head and nodded apologetically

The female showed them the twig " This is how you use your surroundings when laying a trap like this, scatter the sticks or similar things that make some noise when stomped at and you are one step closer to making a successful ambush. With the sticks laying in a safe distance from your position you wait until you hear a..." she snapped the twig once more, making the ears of both young cheetahs to flinch "... this is how you will know that your enemy is approaching, knowledge prevents unwanted surprises."

She flicked the twig away and approached the two cats while patting the hilt of her sword strapped to the side of her belt " Any ideas why this trap is so alluring to your enemies?"

" They can see us" Prowlus replied

She nodded " Correct, however there is a way to make this trap more efficient, risky but if you trust your skills you'll survive this with barely a scratch" she sat in front of the fire and motioned for the two children to take place at her sides

The moment their butts touched the ground she continued " Why people start fires in the wilderness in the first place?"

" To make camp, to rest" Hunter answered without hesitation

She nodded " Very good"

Prowlus snorted " That was easy!"

She smirked " Yet you haven't answered the question"

Hunter cackled mischievously and poked his tongue at his rival

The orange cheetah growled faintly

Their tutor frowned " Enough of this, focus children" she exhaled and withdrew her sword " The idea of this trap is to make your enemies think that you are unaware of your surroundings, that you are preparing to rest. Make everything in your power to make this illusion as real as possible, clean yourself, take off your clothes, patch your wounds if you have any, this will make your enemies surround you"

Prowlus shook his head " It sounds like suicide, with no armor even a single scratch might cripple you"

She moved the sword closer to the fire and began to move it slowly back and forth, while observing the flames reflecting in its silvery blade " You are a Falcon, you aspire to be a chief one day of this tribe so it is your duty to become the perfect hunter just like the symbol of your tribe. To become an ideal hunter you need to learn the secrets of every other cheetah clan, this day I'm passing to you ours. Honestly I don't care if any of you becomes chieftain, I see potential in both of you and if you are not meant to become a leader I'm sure this knowledge will be useful to you anyway.

She put down the sword and sighed " To answer your question, yes it seems to be suicidal, yes it seems to be crazy but it also proves that you are worthy to be called a champion. Be like the Falcon children, fast, precise and merciless. This is a dangerous game and if you will make a mistake there won't be any second chance. Are you still willing to learn?"

There was a moment of silence as both young cheetahs looked at each other, they haven't said a single word yet they understood each other perfectly.

" Yes" both of them answered at the same time

The tutor nodded " Very well, may Fortune favor you in years to come" she clapped her hands startling both children " So, we already have the fire lit, the illusion of a camp is prepared, now it's our turn to act. First your weapons " she placed the sword in front of her " The idea is to make your enemies believe that you are unarmed, so place your main weapon in such a way so it can be easily spotted by your enemies but also remember to lay the weapon close enough for you to reach it when the fight starts."

She pulled out a dagger " Next your secondary weapon, place it close and in sight, use it as soon as the attack starts, I always carry a spare in my pants anyway, you should too. Now the last thing depends on your fighting style" she withdrew a throwing knife " As a warrior I always carry these babies with me but bow and arrows work just as fine" she placed three knifes in front of her " These are your projectiles, use them right after your secondary weapon. I've learnt that three is the best I can do before the enemy is on top of me, so I advise you to use three as well, that way you use all of them without leaving any for your enemies, always remember that your forgotten equipment might be used against you."

" Now clothes and armor " she unstrapped the dark cloak she was wearing which cascaded down her back, the cheetah grabbed it and gave the children a saucy smile " That's enough, you are too young to see the rest" she winked

She put down the cloak " Act as if you are patching up yourself if you really don't have any real wounds that's it, if you do use the opportunity to heal yourself. By now your enemy discovered you and is preparing to attack, yet they still are waiting for the right moment. To hasten their advance..."

She unstrapped her belt and threw it to the side, all kind of weapons and bags dangled from it and clattered as they hit the rock " Every fighter carries with him a belt filled with all kind of daggers, bags and the like, throwing that away shows your enemies that your are giving away all of your weapons. Remember to place the belt close, grab a weapon from it as soon as you use all of your projectiles and pick up the belt, as I said you don't want your enemies using your own weapons against you."

With a pat on her knees she stood up, wrapped the belt around herself and sheathed her sword, knifes and dagger " This conclude our training session for today, this was pure theory, tomorrow we will see how you both will fare when we will push the training to a more practical sessions. Remember " she turned towards the children and grabbed the tip of her ear " When your ears will react, your enemy is attacking, fight back as a predator you are and may Fortune favor you children"

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Hunter smiled, it's a wonder how his perspective changed some months later, a child whose only dream was to become a chief abandoned his some may call it destiny just to pursue his fascination. No regrets, that life wasn't for him, this is where he found purpose, serving under the banner of the creatures that mesmerize him. It's a risky and dangerous life, but he wouldn't change it for anything else.

His ears flinched, they had caught the sound of a twig snapping, Hunter swallowed " Here we go..."

There was a sound of some arrows being released, accompanied by the cries of charging enemies. The cheetah instantly dropped to the ground, the moment the arrows whizzed above him he adopted a crouching position, he heard a and noticed an ape throwing an axe at him with an angry growl. With a quick spin he managed to avoid the whirling axe, he saw the weapon passing through the flames as he turned. He grabbed the dagger he prepared early and the moment he was about to face the mercenary he flung the weapon at him, the blade pierced the soldier's eye, killing him on the spot.

Still spinning around Hunter grabbed the bow with the prepared projectile laying on top of it, he strung it in mere seconds just to release an arrow moments later. The wooden projectile impaled itself right in between the eyes of one of the archers. The scout moved his hand backwards to grab another arrow before jumping on the ground to avoid another set of arrows coming his way, while in the air he set loose another projectile that struck down a second archer.

With a swift swipe of his tail he picked up the last two arrows, he raised on one knee and released one of the projectiles that took down a third archer. With a fast turn he fired the last arrow at the fourth archer, the arrow killed the soldier but not before he could release an arrow of his own, however the mortal wound forced the ape to lose accuracy, with a sharp yank of his body to the side Hunter managed to avoid the projectile, yet he could feel the feathers brushing against his shoulder as the arrow raced past him.

The scouts ears flinched again as an evil roar sounded just behind him, the cheetah instinctively raised his bow upwards. His sturdy weapon managed to stop the sword coming from above that would otherwise split his head in half. He could hear the soldier faintly gasping in surprise, taking advantage of the shock he caused Hunter reached down his other pantleg and withdrew a dagger which he later plunged into the soldier's uncovered kneecap.

The mercenary howled in pain and began to collapse unable to hold his weight on his injured leg, however his fall just like the howl was abruptly ended by a dagger piercing his jaw. Hunter stood up tightly gripping the hilt of his weapon, he could see the bloody blade protruding from the soldier's jaw inside his mouth.

The cheetah's sensitive ears picked up the sound of a stringing bow behind him, Hunter pushed the dagger as far as he could to get a better hold of his opponent's body, with a sharp turn he exchanged positions with his enemy. Moments later a bolt struck the soldier's back severing his spine and killing him on the spot. Hunter withdrew the dagger from the soldier's jaw dragging a trail of blood behind it. The body slumped to the ground, the moment nothing blocked his view Hunter flung the dagger at the orc, it struck him right in the throat stealing all the life out of him in seconds.

He dashed forward and reached for his belt, he wrapped it around himself just to pick up the sword of the recently fallen mercenary. Hunter parried an attack of another soldier who threw himself at him, the cheetah unsheathed the dagger from his belt and prepared to sink it in the soldier's chest. Unlucky for him the orc realized what he was up to and instantly tackled the feline pushing his arm with the short blade to the side.

Hunter hit the rocky ground with a grunt, the dagger rolled out from his arm at the impact, once again he found himself being pinned by his enemy. Both their main weapons also were thrown from their grip and clattered somewhere on the nearby stones. The orc straightened up and struck the cheetah's face with a powerful hook, before he could defend himself Hunter received another blow to the other side of his face.

Just as soon as fist was approaching him again, Hunter raised one of his arms to block it while with the other he reached down his belt and unstrapped one of the bags. He was defenseless against another strike to his face however, he could hear his teeth grinding against each other in pain, without wasting any more time he flicked the bag straight into the fire while striking the burning wood with his clenched fist.

He hissed as his hand was burned but the end result was worth it, the accurate strike created an opening inside the cracking wood just like the one he made when he was young. The fire intensified by the powder he threw into it recently spit out flames slightly to the air, it looked like a dragon was just using his elemental attack. The hot flames scorched the orc on top of him, the soldier rolled off of him screaming in pain while covering his face.

Even from the ground Hunter could feel the heat, in fact he was quite certain that he got burned but it wasn't anything he wasn't used to before. He quickly rolled in the direction where the thrashing orc laid while picking up the sword from one of the nearby stones. On his knees Hunter grabbed the hilt in two hands and raised it high above his head just to bring the weapon down with a sharp move and a growl. The blade sunk deep into the soldier's chest forcing out a stifled groan out of him, with the sword locked in place Hunter twisted it forcefully, his sensitive ears picked up the sound of the orc exhaling faintly his last breath.

The cheetah instinctively spun around while swiping his sword in a wide arc, to his surprise however there was no one there. His eyes traveled across the battleground, besides him there was no one left alive, the fire was cracking intensely and several bodies were sprawled on the ground in pool of their own bloods. His ears perked up as he began to listen intently for any sound, he remained in that position for a while but nothing caught his attention that sounded out of the ordinary.

With a tired sigh his shoulders slumped down, together with his ears flattening on his skull. He had done it, panting heavily he examined the scene once more, archer, archer, a common soldier..., his eyes widened, something was nor right. When he was tracking this group he could easily discern the mark of one of the leaders or similar high ranking soldier he already had a comparison embedded in his mind , yet no officer was laying dead here on the ground.

His blue eyes caught a glimpse of somebody moving behind the trees, he rolled forward and instantly withdrew an arrow from his quiver, by now the shrouded figure already spotted what he was doing and began escaping in panic. Fast but steady. Hunter picked up his bow and strung the arrow, he waited for the right moment and set it loose. There was a scream of pain as the arrow struck the escaping figure in the leg and brought it to the ground.

The cheetah flung the bow behind his back and dashed in the direction of the form while preparing his sword in case he had to defend himself. There was a lightly armored ape soldier crawling on the ground with his injured leg being dragged behind him, the soldier kept groaning and panting quickly as he pushed with all his strength to be as far away as possible from the cheetah. Hunter spotted the figure and began approaching it slowly with the sword tightly gripped in his hand.

There was a snap and the ape immediately looked behind him, he screamed in terror when he noticed the feline approaching him with his sword at the ready. Groaning, grunting and screaming he started to crawl even more faster, at least he thought so, he swiped with his arms chaotically but he was even moving slower than before, in fact it seemed that in his panicked state he was doing more harm to himself than the arrow did in the first place.

Hunter grabbed the crippled soldiers shoulder and forcefully rolled him onto his back while raising his sword

The soldier raised his hands defensively " Please don't kill me!" the ape yelped

The cheetah looked him over, the ape was young, and clearly unexperienced, it almost seemed like this was his first task. Hunter narrowed his blue eyes on the mercenary " What are you doing here, so far in dragon's territory?"

" I don't..." the soldier muttered horrified " Don't kill me please!"

" Answer the question" the feline replied coldly

" I don't know!" he blurt out " They never told me anything! Just don't kill me!"

" Tell me where you leader is and I might let you live"

" He ordered us to stay here and wait for anyone who might be following while he made his way to rejoin with the first group"

" WHERE?" Hunter snarled

The mercenary shivered " East! East! Near the jungle, where there is some kind of a stony terrain or something, I don't know really that's what I've overheard. I swear that's everything I know, please don't kill me!"

" Why have you joined the Dark Army? Don't lie to me"

" Wealth! I only wanted wealth! I don't care about power or these strange gems, I just wanted to be rich!" he almost cried

Hunter sighed and lowered his weapon, the young ape's reasons were stupid but they weren't malicious. Not to mention that he couldn't kill someone in cold blood, he isn't a murderer " Greed will be the end of you one day" he reached down his leg and pulled out the arrow forcing a painful yelp from the ape " Go and never come back, I don't care if you'll survive but if you do I don't want to see you here ever again"

The ape couldn't hold back his tears " Thank you! Thank you I swear you'll never hear of me again!"

The scout gave the ape a bandage and a single flask of his healing ointment " Take this, it will help your wound to heal faster"

The unexperienced soldier accepted the gift with shaking hands and nodded not being able to utter a single word of gratitude.

Hunter returned to his camp and prepared for the journey ahead, there was still some distance he has to cross before he will catch up with the remnants of the Dark Army. He still had no idea what they were planning but at least now he knew where he was going and won't waste time locating tracks. Not to mention that he also eliminated two groups already, there was however one still left and most likely it was the most dangerous one.

Hunter put out the fire and started his pursuit, he only hoped that Fortune was still on his side.