They walked for what seemed like a good quarter of an hour, before stopping at a low cliff with vines hanging at the edge. Ember looked at her son judgingly. Pearl took a knee and touched the ground. He, in theory, was supposed to be the second best tracker in Nanaral but since he barely went on hunting expeditions that claim was quite unclear. Pearl personally believed his perception to be quite solid.
Closing his eyes, he focused his senses. As was the case for everyone, the lifesong of the forest initially overwhelmed him. The rhythm of every tree, every animal, and even every single blade of grass rang vigorously in his head. Pearl slowly sorted through them, shutting out the unnecessary ones like the flora, the birds, the insects and then the smaller animals. He did it until he found what he was looking for. A silhouette formed in his mind, eight silhouettes actually, shaped like a large dog with a longer face and more fur.
"The wolves are separated in two groups." Pearl drew a rough map in the dirt with his finger, "The larger one, with six wolves, is here in this foliage." He pointed at a circle on the right side of his improvised illustration, which would be somewhere between north and east direction.
"The remaining two are somewhere here," he pointed at the top, which meant towards the west, "I think this is some sort of cave or an enclosure formed by rock outcrops. Anyways, it has just one opening."
Ember squated, touching the ground. She closed her eyes and nodded. "Very good, Pearl. You have the potential of surpassing me, even if you put the slightest effort."
But I don't want to surpass you, he almost said out the words before stopping himself. He responded with a shrug, "What's next?"
"River?" Ember prompted.
"Well, I think it would be a good idea if we split up as well." She suggested, "I, Mist and Ember should go for the larger pack while Pearl and Fern can clear the cave."
"Sounds good enough to me." Ember agreed.
"Wait," Mist said, "Can't you take Fern instead of me?"
"No," River answered, "You two have a history of messing things up by fooling around. And it would be better if Fern's first hunt was a more controlled experience."
"It's hard to argue with her assessment." Pearl told Mist and then turned to Fern, "Come on, kiddo. Let's finish this and get back home as quickly as possible."
He walked to the edge and checked a vine for its sturdiness.
"Be careful." Ember told, to which Pearl nodded. Then grabbing the vine, he slid down the slope.
Fern followed his lead. They hiked through the vegetation with muffled steps and silent breathing. After moving westwards for a short distance, they reached the proximity of the cave. Its mouth opened from the mountainside and was wide enough to allow two tall men to enter. Pearl gestured Fern to crouch low.
"Now we will wait till the wind changes direction." He told the young girl. After waiting for a few moments, Pearl felt a slight breeze over his face. "Pick up a rock and throw it at the cave."
She obeyed without asking any questions, which was weird but worked for Pearl since he was acting purely on instinct rather than any real hunting method. As it would be, nothing happened.
"Nothing happened." Fern noted, speaking to him for the first time that morning.
"I figured that much, thank you." Pearl tapped the ground with the index and middle finger, "Let me check once more…" Four rhythms struck him. Two belonged to the wolves, while one was oddly human. The fourth one was something alien, to Pear at least.
"I miscalculated," Pearl cursed, "there's another opening to the cave that leads to the creek."
"So," Fern spoke, devoid of surprise or excitement, "did the wolves leave?"
"No," Pearl rose to his feet, drawing an arrow from the quiver on his belt, "There is a human too, still alive. We have to go inside."
Fern nodded and got up. Following Pearl with muffled steps, she reached for her satchel and removed the torch she had prepared for night travel.
"Put that away," Pearl asserted before she could light the torch, "Use the lifesong to...oh," Pearl pressed his thumb against Fern's forehead and hummed a note.
"Attune this and focus the Lifesong towards the eyes." Pearl told. Fern obliged, doing as he said immediately. Her eyes felt cooler and darkness in the cave faded away. She looked at Pearl, who's irises had grown lighter and wider. Fern assumed that her's looked similar to that as well.
The interior of the cave was much wider than its opening. It looked oddly uninhabited since there were no bones of the sheep or even droppings of the wolves. The cave extended into the earth downwards with several ledges and slippery moss-covered walls. As they moved downwards, the cave began narrowing again. Soon they could see the second entrance which overflowed with light to the point that it hurt Fern's eyes. Pearl seemed to have noticed that.
"Withdraw the lifesong from your eyes, if you wish." Pearl told as they approached the entrance. Fern did so, her eyes relaxed but felt slightly heavy. Hungry growls from outside moved away her attention from her eyes and reflexively caused her to draw an arrow.
"Wait here and watch the entrance for now," Pearl said, "Come only when I give the signal."
Fern nodded and took the position with an arrow notched to the bow string.
Pearl heard the sound of the waves that was muffled by the wolves' growling. He ventured out into the creek, his eyes instantaneously adapting to the illumination. He saw a wolf prowling around what seemed like a plank from a ship, with a human body lying over it. Pearl notched an arrow and drew the bow. With his aim aided with the lifesong, he took the shot. The arrow flew with flawless precision and pierced the wolf's eye, killing it instantly.
Pearl looked around for the second wolf as he slowly approached the plank and the corpse. Hearing muffled steps from his left side, he turned instinctively. The wolf pounced on him, it's massive jaws ferociously opening to bite. Pearl immediately raised his hand, and prepared it for pain.