Three days after his last lesson Kal was still struggling with fire and he didn't dare to ask Cyrus for pointers, so, in the morning of the fourth day he decided to take a rest from his practice.
More than a week, ten days to be precise, had passed since he "join" the Redpaws and aside from his master and the captain he had already made some acquaintances. Landy had keen eyes, slender and small figure and strong and fast legs, so, his main job was to get ahead of the expedition from time to time and seek out ambushes, traps and that sort of things. Whenever he wasn't actively need it, he spent his time chatting with Kal or observing his elemental manipulation. Since they were in the saddle of Lizzy, the lizard-like beast, Landy was high enough to have a good view of the surroundings, so, Gil would not scold him for neglecting his duty.
"Hey!" said Landy while sitting next to Kal, he was panting a little since he came from his usual scouting shift.
"Anything interesting today?" asked Kal as way acknowledge his greetings.
"Same all, same all. You know!? I heard that Narla, the other female scout, found beast footprints."
"Wouldn't that be exciting? Didn't you say that these plains are plagued with monsters of all kinds and sizes!? If it wasn't because I have been busy with my training I would have died of boredom by now." muttered Kal.
"Yes, I suppose. By the way, how come you are not doing the thingy with the… you know, whatever that was?"
"I decided to take a rest today, sometimes taking some time off gives perspective."
"Any perspective yet?" asked jokingly Landy.
"Nah, but I'm ok. I do not expect to become a mage in a week" said Kal nonchalantly.
"So, you are just lazing around?"
"I suppose, yes. Why?"
"Want to come with me?" asked excitedly Landy.
"Where to?"
"To track the beast's footprints."
"Wouldn't you neglect your duties? Whatever they are" said Kal smiling.
"I did my rounds today so I have some time to spare, besides, if we do find a beast and manage to secure its location, caps will reward me. I mean, us" he corrected.
Although they were no friends in the warmest terms, they did get along and Landy was a nice guy. Kal was actually rather bored and decided to trust Landy and follow him in search of the beast.
Landy showed to Kal a map that signalled where the other scout had seen the footprints and he deducted the probable path that their prey could have taken. They took a smaller version of Lizzy, the lizard –like beast, as mount and went straight to the signalled point in the map. Kal was trying not fall from the saddle, he wasn't used to this form of travel yet, and he had almost no experience riding. After tens of minutes the Redpaws could barely be seen in the distance, they went away of the main road and were losing sight of the rest of the band. Kal started to get nervous but Landy was quite capable. He never lose their position and was completely aware of their surroundings. Half an hour later they found the beast, it was a 4 meters tall bird of greenish and black feathers. Its eyes were of an intense yellow, the beak and the claws were pitch black. From its nostrils could be seen some sort of mist coming out. The beast didn't look so frightening to Kal, in fact, it looked like a mix of chicken and peacock with some remarked features; only the intense yellow eyes and the blackness of its claws were a little disturbing.
"Stay here and don't lose the sight of it. I'll go get the captain" said casually Landy to his surprised friend.
"Are you insane? I reckon the chick looks some sort of adorable but you called it a monster, so, I assume it's quite dangerous and I have zero fighting skills" interjected Kal.
"Look, it's just a forest cockatrix. As long as you don't make much noise it won't notice you. Those things are basically deaf, stay quiet and out of its sight. I'll be back before you notice."
In an instant Landy disappeared without leaving any trace, so, Kal just stood there stupefied by his "friend's" decision.
"If I make alive I will kill him" thought Kal.
After ten minutes of tense surveillance he started to relax a little. The beast seemed asleep and was posing no threat to him. Hunting, or in his case, helping to hunt a ferocious beast could be counted as an adventure, or a quest, and he was in a magic world now; this was the sort of experience he should be enjoying. Kal thought of this and started to feel a rush of adrenaline throughout his body. Sure, he wasn't doing anything particularly heroic but compared to the passive life he lived in his old world this was epic.
Another 20 minutes had passed and all the excitement was replaced by boredom. No one told him that surveillance tasks were so dull and he was starting to fall asleep. He was absentminded trying not to close his eyes when he noticed that the cockatrix had vanished. Kal started to feel anxious, surely, no one was going to blame him for loosing track of the animal, after all, he was no scout nor hunter or anything like that, however, the thought of being chased by the oversized chicken was not pretty. After checking his surroundings he found no trace of it and far from disappointment he felt relieved.
"Well, I guess that was it. It was nice while it lasted. I'll head back to join the group then" he thought out loud.
Unfortunately someone, or better said, something, was looking at him curiously. Kal could feel a chill in his spine, he didn't know where it was, but he knew that the bloody chicken was lurking and now he was its prey. He stood still not knowing exactly what to do. He could blink but he didn't know where exactly the cockatrix was and he could just land in front of it. After some deliberation he decided to go to a clearing that was not far, in the woods he was prompt to suffer an ambush. Kal blinked twice and appeared next to a small lake, there was no big trees near him so he could see clearly his surroundings.
There was no sign of the animal but the chill he felt before hadn't vanished, it persisted. Kal thought that his paranoia might have been playing him some tricks, but he was now in a magic world and maybe here the sixth sense was actually a thing. He decided to wait there for Landy and the others and this time he was alert. Ten minutes passed and there was no development but the odd feeling was still bothering him, so, he didn't lose focus. Suddenly he heard a hoarse voice -"Behind you"-. Kal didn't even turn to see and blinked as far as he could and in the distance he could see the frightening black beak in the air.