The Hunter's Song

12: Voyeur🔥(Mourning Crow)

Tap.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap...

Multiple heat signatures surrounded me, big, angry, bloodthirsty.

I'll kill them all before I let them touch her!

Where's my fucking blade?

One of the shapes swung at me, but my leg struck its head first.

One quick snap and your bullshit is over!

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPP!!!!!!

The tapping stopped.

Wings flying away.

I was standing over Dran with my hands on the back of his head and under his chin, primed to snap his neck.

I hopped back, trying my best to smile and laugh like the fake out was my intention all along.

"That was fucking amazing!" Dran rolled off his belly, chortling from the ground.

My other opponents were circling, but were polite enough to restrain their attacks while their brother was off his feet.

That sound?

I turned to Eh'kt, who was standing with his hand hovering over his wristcomm. He'd set the frequency in a high-pitch range that only myself and nearby animals could register.

"Would you be ok if we cut this short?" Eh'kt chimed in, pointing to his gauntlet. "A small errand has come up for my appointment tomorrow."

I've never wanted to run over and curl up into Eh'kt's arms more than I needed to now.

"Sorry fellas," I helped pull Dran up. "Today's been a little hectic."

"All good!" Dran patted my shoulder. "But we'll be expecting you back. If I'm here, stop by. You'll always have a place in my ring!"

Some of the other Zhaguai groaned in disappointment but stifled their whines when Dran narrowed his eyes at them.

I waved goodbye and returned to Eh'kt's side.

"Thank you," I clenched my ears together and crossed my arms shamefully. I didn't know where to begin or how to apologize. I wasn't sure what was worse, that normally I was unaware of these episodes until long afterward or that now Eh'kt was my witness.

He hooked his arm around me and I instinctually leaned in.

"Every once in a while," Eh'kt spoke softly. "On those rare occasions, when I let you sleep, you get noisy."

My ears shot up and I turned to him.

He thrummed his chest and rubbed his palms on my arms.

"When I rouse you and ask what upset you, you always reply pigeons."

"Pigeons..?"

Wait, what?

Flickers of Thorngate blinked in my mind, and my chest grew cold.

Eh'kt walked me out of the arena as though everything was perfectly fine. Calm, patient, and vigilant. He was my balas when I was certain I was going to drown.

"They ate Two Clouds," I spoke up after a long walk into a section of jungle Eh'kt referred to as his favorite place to meditate. "I couldn't get to her body and lay her to rest proper. On account of that sniper, Red Spider, hiding and using her body to bait me."

The jungle path devolved into a winding swirl of giant vines.

"So I ignored her corpse and let her rot in the open," I continued, as my eyes burned with imminent tears. "Instead, I used the whole mess as an opportunity to hunt down her killer. That's when birds came. A flock of nasty mutated pigeons."