Thrum
Chapter 01
By E.L. Logan
It wasn’t all that difficult to hit a moving target from a moving target. It took a little more skill at higher speeds, but that was old hat.
TWK!
If he had been aiming at the big knot in the passing tree trunk, he’d be satisfied hearing the arrow impact on wood. Unfortunately, his target had passed right by the pine’s opposite side when the arrow hit. It had to be Luck. The animal couldn’t have coordinated a move like that deliberately, could it?
The prey ran on, giving him just enough difficulty to keep things entertaining. Maybe it would win its life after all, he thought as the ruddy brown blur gained a bit of distance ahead. He kept an arrow knocked to take the next shot, keeping one hand on his mount’s heavy neck scruff. Froth seemed to spray below with every desperate breath. Appearances aside, Ilia knew his old ally could keep this pace for the next hour with ease. The question was whether or not the heavy beast could maneuver well enough to give him a clear shot. It certainly would not be able to pounce at this rate.
The trees began to spread apart somewhat. Ahead were clear skies and sparse grass patches, none of which offered any cover for the terror-stricken creature ahead of Ilia. The kill zone. It burst through the last tree limb, snapping a tine off one antler in its mad rush. Not far behind it, Ilia could sense the end of his hunt approaching. He drove his mount to give all it had in his eagerness to end the chase. Faster, faster now!
Just before they could pass the same tree as their prey, Ilia’s mount skidded to a halt and crouched. Ilia would have launched into the trunk if not for old skill and a harness built for sudden stops. Experience and trust told him not to argue the action, either. His was a creature with all the weight and killing power of a well-fed ox and more battlefield awareness than most soldiers had shown him. If it stopped, it should have.
“Ursidas Ichneumon” would never ring any bells for the village folk that hid from it. They called it something else. Saberbears were as intimidating as their common name implied, but to Ilia, it was a misnomer. The thing had more in common with a wolf. It hated solitude, and it could run for ages. Sure, it had the fangs and long feline proportions of a big cat, and sported the bulk and hide of its ursine cousins, but it was so much more than that.
Their target ran on, too deep in panic to sense whatever had caused Gulo to halt. The pair watched from the shadows of the tree line, ready. One had its ears forward and mouth open to taste any scent available. The other kept his bow ready with one eye on the sky.
There was no scream from a roc eagle. No great roar like the drakes used to startle prey. Ilia smelled nothing abnormal, and the forest carried on apathetically. The birds did not even halt their song to suggest danger was near. There was no discernible warning at all when it happened.
Stone elks, named for the way their hooves and antlers grew more like crystalline stone than normal antlers, were heavier than average deer. They were still fast, but stout and muscular, as though designed by mountain folk to compress all the power of a moose into something half as large. Miners commonly domesticated them to pull carts in low shafts. Ilia hunted this one because their jerky made nearly immortal pemmican, though a bit gamey.
The dense build of the animal meant when it fell, it fell hard. Something, a root or burrow had to have tripped it, because it rolled as much as flew. Wobbling to stand again looked challenging. It looked back to the tree line at its last moment. Wariness mixed with awe, Ilia and Gulo burned an image of a gargantuan shadow dropping like lead from the sky. The ground shook as though an artillery stone hit, but there was only shadow, a choking black cloud mass where the stone elk had been. It shot upward again just as quickly. Into oblivion, it rose higher than Ilia’s sharp eyes could reach.
What a lovely blue day it was, though. It never ceased to amaze Ilia the offhand thoughts a mind would supply in times like this. Back to the ground, he saw there was no trace of the elk. Even the grass seemed to have reset itself, as though the stumbling animal never rolled it flat. A shadow attacked from the daytime sky, and the land remembered nothing of it or its prey.
Magic. Ilia was no expert on the arcane, but he knew nature. Whatever that thing was, it was not from the nature he knew. Maybe the deer had been unlucky, and the thing happened to see it fall as it passed over the area. It sounded like a foolish thought. Could it have been above them the whole time, watching the chase? Unlikely that Gulo would only just now sense it if so. No, this field was its hunting ground. Maybe.
In any case, the Runner and his beast had no recourse but to turn back, deeper into the tree cover. Instead of bolting in a panic, they crept on pads and silent boots. Gulo had his mouth open again and his ears erect. Ilia listened too, and realized no birds called.
Oh sure, now they shut up.
==============================================================
Here's a bit of (amazing) music to read by. I do hope you enjoy the show.
Samm Henshaw - Only Wanna Be With You | Mahogany Session
DISTURBED - THE LIGHT - DRUM COVER BY MEYTAL COHEN
==============================================================
((I claim neither credit nor ownership of the above quotes, images or videos.))
For a closer look at what I'm about, the cause we serve, or just to learn something you might not find elsewhere, please examine these links:
(You may want to start here...)
https://Ra-El.org/
✠
(For a broad overview of various important topics)
https://sanctuaryinterfaith.org/
✠
(For a closer look at key developments and prophetic news)
https://armageddonbroadcastnetwork.tv/
✠
(For constant updates on all relevant topics, news from RayEl's Imperial Regent, Angelus Domini, and to speak with RayEl's clergy on the less-tempered-with VK platform)
https://vk.com/congregation_of_lord_rayel/
✠
(For constant updates on all relevant topics, news from RayEl's Imperial Regent, Angelus Domini, and to speak with RayEl's clergy on Facebook)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ICoLR/
✠
To donate to the Lord's Templar Commandery directly, please go to:
Ra-El.org/donations.html
✠
To donate to The Ecumenical Order of Christ via the Prime Cleric, please use:
rruff13@gmail.com
Don’t forget to share the light.
==============================================================