We continued moving forward without talking until we arrived at the crest of an incline that afforded us a fuller view of the plains of the hunting grounds.

  “Over there, there are some feeding on the edge of that woodland,” Boronir said, pointing to our right, “the best way to get there would be to head over to that verge and then go down the path that’s behind it.”

  We followed Boronir’s lead and headed in the direction of the verge to our right. There were four dahus in the group that we were tracking, all of which looked like adults, which made me concerned for the dark elves that were with us who were going to have to carry the carcass back to the city.

  The verge was a rocky plateau that extended out from a large rock formation that was accessible from a moderate slope. Boronir wanted us to go up the slope and onto the verge rather than simply going around the formation so that we would have a complete view and understanding of the terrain that we were heading into. When we reached the verge Boronir had us get off our dahus and approach the edge of the verge to explain to us how the hunt was going to work.

  “We’ll continue down the path on the backs of the dahus but once we reach the bottom we’ll have to continue on foot to avoid startling the dahus. I’ll take the lead and carry out the kill, the rest of you keep a safe distance in case there are predators nearby. I should be able to bring down a dahu with one shot, but if I don’t just be prepared to…What are you doing?” He asked Uraia.

  While Boronir had been talking Uraia had stepped away from us, removed the bow from her shoulder and an arrow from her quiver and took up a shooting stance.

  “You’re not serious,” Boronir said to her, believing that it wasn’t possible to make the shot from so far away.

  He didn’t know Uraia. She released her arrow and it flew with perfect accuracy, nailing one of the dahus in the neck and bringing it down instantly.

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  “Very impressive, Lady Uraia, very impressive. I’ve never seen an arrow fired from such a distance before,” Alleria said.

  “I told you you didn’t have to worry about her,” I said to Alleria.

  With discernible disgruntlement, Boronir led us down from the verge to collect the carcass. By the time we got to the carcass the other three dahus were nowhere to be seen. Voran walked into the small woodland and chopped down a small tree with his hatchet that he then stripped of its branches and pulled out of the woodland. With the help of one of the other dark elves he tied the dahu’s legs together with rope and tied their bound legs to the tree trunk to carry. Given the size of the dahu I was certain that they would have to call for a wagon to come and haul it but to my surprise Voran and the dark elf that was helping him were able to hoist it up onto their shoulders and carry it without any trouble.

  “Right, that’s it for the hunt; we can go back to the city or, if you’d like, we can explore the hunting grounds a bit more,” Alleria said to me.

  “Let’s return to the city, this has been more taxing than I thought it would be,” I responded.

  “I thought you might be feeling a bit fatigued, these hunts can be a bit much for first timers.”

  Naturally, having gone on hunts with the Okwari this was nothing for me. My hope was that I would be able to come back later and explore the hunting grounds with Myra, in which case it would be a waste of time to explore them now.

  We had turned around and were getting ready to head back in the direction of the entrance gates to the hunting grounds when I heard a rustling noise coming from the woodland where Voran had cut down the tree. I looked to my left and I saw a creature charging out of the woods in our direction. The creature looked like a boar but it was larger and had long, curled tusks protruding from the sides of its snout.

  “Everyone, look out!” I yelled, alerting them to the danger.

  The boar was on a collision course with Alleria, who was the closest to the edge of the woodland. In a flash Uraia was off her dahu and managed to get to the boar in time before it rammed into Alleria’s dahu. She stopped it in its tracks by grabbing it by the horns and then wrestled it to the ground and held it there until one of the two dark elves that weren’t carrying the carcass ran over and drove a blade through its neck.

  “My queen, are you alright?” Boronir asked frantically.

  “I’m fine Boronir, thanks to Lady Uraia and Arven here, though it’s not their responsibility to protect me, is it?” Alleria angrily responded.