The Lizard King

Part 11: Meeting the Quota

The woods echoed with bird calls in the early morning. The young deer, light on his feet, quietly browses amongst the leaves of his favorite bush. Winter is fast approaching and he needs to build up his strength if he's to get a head start on growing his antlers anew in Spring.

In this state, he has few ways to defend himself. He must constantly be on alert. Even the slightest out-of-place sound causes alarm. As he eats, an unfamiliar sound causes his head to shoot up. It ends as abruptly as it began. His ears turn every direction. He holds his nose high. Nothing there.

A snap of the twigs. He turns suddenly. He doesn't see anything. His nose says different. He jumps out of the way just in time to avoid the snap of the giant reptile's jaws.

He bolts through the forest underbrush. He can hear the loud crashing footsteps behind him. Thud. Thud. Thud. He glimpses back. It's chasing him on all fours.

The young deer twists and turns through the trees. Nothing works. No matter how much he runs, it doesn't matter; the beast is on his tail every step of the way. Finally, he spots a clearing. It's his only escape. As he jumps into the clearing, he suddenly realizes that the beast stopped. Then the pain hits. Sudden and in his head. Then...nothing.

The body of the deer hits the ground and slides right into the body of another one. They both lied there, arrows straight through their eyes.

Kayla got up from under the cloak. I really could use it like a tent, she thought. Riptheil stepped into the clearing a few seconds later. It was still dark, twilight just beginning to give way to dawn, but the two found each other easily. Examining their quarry, it was obvious they were getting better.

The two started hunting together a few days after their second encounter in the cave. It's been going a lot like this ever since. Kayla would head over a couple days a week to draw and help Riptheil learn how to write better. Everything he could remember, Riptheil wrote down. It was usually a lot of little things. How to make shelter. Find water. Hunt for food.

Once midnight passed, the two would head off in attempt to perfect their new hunting strategy. Just two weeks in and they already bagged their first full quarry: one deer for each. Kayla figured she could sell one at the market and the other could just go to Riptheil. A joint effort, with the rewards split evenly.

"Not bad," he said, "right in the eye."

"Thanks!" Kayla said.

"I've been hunting these woods for years now and I've never bagged two deer in one night." He grabbed his cloak and shook it off. "Looks like this was a good idea."

"Thanks, I like to think I have good ideas often." Kayla grabbed her deer and slung it over her shoulders to carry it better.

"Go on and say it." Riptheil said, grabbing his deer like a sack of grain.

"Say what?"

"I told you so."

Kayla smiled. "No, I told you I wasn't gonna say it, so I'm not gonna say it." The two started walking on down the way to the cave. "But I did tell you didn't I?"

The two instantly starting laughing. Kayla loved being around Riptheil. It turned out that he was easy to talk to and more. Her slight curiosity about the past turned out to be more. She considered him to be a friend. She didn't always know what was going through his head but she always hoped it was good things.

As the two came to the base of a large oak, the two stopped for a moment. Kayla knew what it meant. She didn't want it to end.

"You could stay with me for the day," said Riptheil, "you know I have the room."