Hunters

1. Amarok

He glanced over to his sister mirroring her wide grin before turning his attention back to his current task.

Barely ten feet away stood the beautiful and majestic figure of a full grown Amarok, it's grey-blue fur glittering faintly in the morning light.
It was peacefully devouring last night's prey, splattering blood everywhere. Only its flickering ears showed that it was not as relaxed as it appeared.

Eren pulled the string back a little further and took a deep but quiet breath.
He corrected his aim one last time before finally releasing the arrow. The beast had no time to react.
With a small 'thud' the arrow lodged itself into the creature's heart, successfully ending a five week long hunt.

Kora jumped up in sheer excitement and couldn't help but yell out in joy.

Her brother slowly stood up as well.
"Stop that!
We don't want to have any unwelcome visitors.
How old are you? Three?", he reprimanded her.
The effect of his words was greatly diminished by the widening smile on his face.

She stopped her small victory dance and turned around, sticking her tongue out.
"You weren't the one that had to sit outside in the pouring rain for the last six days!", she retorted, slightly shivering at the memory.
"I'm really wondering what brought it so far south.
It took ages to find because Stefan sent us to that raged village up north."

"It was barely his fault. He send a message as soon as he heard the news.
His bird must have missed us by barely half a day."

Kora heaved a sigh and stepped towards the huge wolf carcass.
"Let's start with the preservation before it starts to disintegrate then.
I want to be back before breakfast is over."

They worked diligently and had finished their preparations in less than an hour.
Eren stepped back while Kora opened the spacial bag. She stretched it to its limits and inserted one of the beast's paws into it.
With a small gust of wind the Amarok disappeared.

Kora closed the bag and, with a satisfied smile, fastened it back onto her belt.
"Off we go.", she said cheerfully.

The tavern was tightly packed regardless of the early hour.

Kora still managed to secure a table, or in short, threateningly stared at a group of apprentices happily chatting away until they hurriedly payed their bill and scurried off, and sat down with a sigh.

"What?", she asked as she noticed her brothers gaze.
He shook his head and sat down as well.
"Nothing."

"Did you manage to get us the horses?"
"We will have to make do with a black mare."
"You can't be serious! Such a big town and all you could find was one of these fire breathing man eaters?"
She slumped back into her chair.
"Shit.
Well, I guess we will at least be able to cut our travel time in half."

"Did you send the package?"
Kora, lazily rocking back in forth, stared absent-mindedly at the ceiling.
"Yes.", she replied, "Send the damn bird flying.
I wonder why this client seems to be in such a rush."

Eren shrugged.
"Who knows? Who cares?
As long as we get paid he can try to summon a devil with it for all I care."
His sister chuckled.
"Wouldn't that be interesting?!
I'm sure there would be enough fools to try to hunt that thing down.
Probably much more fun compared to our last few assignments."

"Don't even think about it.", Eren growled.
"The liches in Romania were more than enough black magic for one year."

He watched his twin with a dark look as she happily giggled at the memory.
"Well, I guess a priest is a priest. Excommunicated or not, isn't it your job to exterminate evil?"

She ignored her brothers glare, noticing a waitress coming towards them.

"Alright, alright, I apologize. Let us eat something.
I'm sure a proper meal will lighten your mood!"
"You are paying.", Eren finally commented.
"You are a heartless bastard! It's impossible...", Kora declared giving her brother the same look he had given her just a few seconds earlier, but hurriedly stopped, straightening up as the waitress reached their table.

"Welcome back! What can I do for you today?"
Happily forgetting all her worries Kora started to order.

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Amarok:
- Gigantic wolf like creature
- Appears in myths of North American (circumpolar) natives
- Said to hunt alone, does not live in packs
- Preys on humans (that go out hunting alone) at night
- 'Evil spirit'