Leaks in the Noose | Refresh

That Hand | S 1 ♦ M 7

Kani carried on the pursuit that he'd suddenly been dropped into all throughout the day, even though he'd been steadily losing progress. Marah had nearly caught up with him earlier, though a rotted wooden stake from an old game trap had slammed into her thigh, and she'd since fallen out of sight.

The Ayuk they were pursuing was incredibly fast with remarkable endurance and a deep understanding of the local area. In an open field, Kani would have overtaken him, but the dense brush was giving it an enormous advantage, and now Kani was relying on instinct to continue his pursuit.

In truth, the Ayuk would have certainly escaped and gone on to notify the surrounding clans if Inka hadn't thoughtfully involved himself.

He'd raced south and raised the attention of as many animals as he could. And this great disturbance had buffered the fleeing Ayuk just as he was in the process of moving inland; the scurrying hopyins and rising swarms of krel warned too loudly for the Ayuk to proceed. So he'd carried on the way he'd been going.

Kani searched his memory, examining the map he'd seen, and decided that the Ayuk was heading down a peninsula. He thought about the birds being spooked off to his right. We must be cornering it. He pictured Inka, that bizarre and terrifying figure, then he imagined the mysterious form of Selinne; who seemed to be somewhere in flux between human and jogini. He didn't care for or trust either, though he was certain that they'd put such a plan into play.

Relax yourself, he then repeated, as he eased into a steady run. They'll know I can't catch him.

It wasn't long before he reached an open grassy area that struck out like a fist above the crashing sea far below. It was the sort of area he'd been hoping for, yet the target was nowhere to be seen.

A short time after he arrived, Selinne appeared with the small and thin figure of Inka arriving just a few moments behind.

"Did it slip past you?" was the first words out of Selinne's mouth.

"Of course not."

"Alright then," said Selinne, becoming noticeably calmer. "This should be easy."

Her slim and jagged figure made its way to the cliff then began side-stepping along the edge. Almost immediately, she stopped and then froze in place. After a few odd moments, she stepped away from the cliff face and turned.

"You didn't bother to look?" Selinne grumbled. She then began making her way to various points around the cliff wall, leaning over to stare down for a few moments before moving on.

Kani moved over to where Selinne had been standing just as Sorush arrived at the scene.

"So you lost 'em?" Sorush started, after looking around the area.

"It's traversing the cliff," Selinne explained.

"Why's no one heading down?"

"Someone will. We're about to decide that."

Behind them, Kani was dislodging a head-sized stone from the earth. Everyone then began watching as he carried it over to the cliff-face to stare down as he held it out before him.

Selinne returned to the edge just in time to see Kani drop the stone. She watched it fall for a moment before striking the head of the Ayuk scaling down the wall. The Ayuk and the stone then continued to fall until they slapped against the sand.

"Idiot," Sorush barked, "now we have to make our way down to see if he's dead."

"We would have had to anyway," Kani lazily replied. "What else should we have done? Eh? Did you have something better worked out?" He scoffed. "That put an end to it. Anything else would have had us climbing all the way down that ridiculous cliff then chasing it all over again."