"Don't you think this detour might cost us a good amount of time?" Pearl asked Eranae as they followed the man and, as they were told, his daughter and son-in-law.
"It might," Era agreed, "But the old man was literally crying. We should at least hear them out."
"Nanarin-tem-Kelesar," Pearl repeated the name of the village they were headed for, "I've checked the map, it's not far from here. But what concerns me is the task they might want our help for."
"Which is?" Eranae asked. She had learned enough Narlspeech from Pearl to perform basic communication but the words that the man, Yarn was his name, were still unknown to her.
"They want us to hunt something," Pearl yawned, "Most probably it's some kind of sentient beast."
"A monster you mean?" Era prompted.
"You can call it that, but at the end of the day it's just an animal, a smart one yes, but just an animal." Pearl explained, "And I really hate it when they show up."
"I never took you for the faint-hearted type, Pearl," Eranae joked.
"It's not that I'm afraid of them," Pearl cleared, "I hate it because the hunts involving them stretch for far too long. Such beasts are smart and will try to evade any hunter that they deem to be a considerable threat. You cannot just go out with your bow and kill it."
"You cannot?" Eranae had spent most of her life in places that were generally hubs of civilizations. The 'hunting games' she had participated in were usually organised in lord's or a rich merchant's private estate. So she knew next to nothing about actual hunting and even less about monsters that Pearl addressed as sentient beings.
"Well you can kill it in conventional ways but most times, nearly nine out of ten, the beast is intelligent enough to avoid direct confrontation." Pearl said.
"Are you good with the bow?" Eranae asked. Pearl still hadn't unstrapped his bow from the travelling pack except when he polished it with some kind of sap he harvested from the trees around. She had never seen him use it though.
"I am...passable as an archer." Pearl shrugged, "My brother, though, he is what you would call a master marksman. Every Nanar kid is taught how to use a bow regardless of the profession they might take up in future. That's why Nanar caravans are usually more safe from bandits and highwaymen."
Eranae nodded considerately, which was enough of a reply for Pearl. Archery was considered to be less honorable than melee combat by the Cerhin, so it wasn't included in Eranae's tutelage.
They approached the walls of Nanarin and saw that it was much more heavily fortified than those of the villages they had passed. A trench was dug around the stone walls and it was embedded with large pointed wooden spikes. The wall itself was manned by at least a dozen villagers armed with longbows. On seeing Yarn approach, the villagers inside opened the gate, which was much thicker than the one at Nanaral, and placed a broad plank of wood over the trench to serve as a bridge.
A group of men and women wearing fur jackets, carrying swords and axes, waited at the gate's opening. Yarn hurried ahead and told them something, gesturing Pearl and Eranae to get closer.
The bearded man leading the armed group came forward, inspecting the new arrivals. He said something to Pearl with an inquisitive tone and then eyed Eranae with suspicion, looking at the large weapon strapped to her back. Pearl drew out the dagger on his left and slit his own palm, showing the cut to the bearded man as it began healing instantly. The man's composure turned humble and now spoke in an apologetic tone. Pearl spoke back in Narlspeech and then turned to Era.
"They are taking us to the Alderwoman." He informed her.
The interior of Nanarin was much smaller and more crowded than that of Nanaral. Closely packed cabins and newly raised huts lined the main street that led to the alderwoman's quarters. It was a wooden building, a little smaller than Ember's cabin. Inside was a group of elderly villagers, a middle-aged woman with a wrinkled face sitting in the centre.
Pearl introduced himself in Narlspeech and Eranae followed his lead. The Alderwoman then greeted them, introducing herself as Maple. Once seated, Eranae and Pearl were served tea while Maple began talking. Most of it went over Eranae's head and Pearl had to translate the information for her quite repetitively.
The Alderwoman told that their village's vicinity has turned into a hunting ground for a Terash-Eratan, which was a beast that Eranae had never heard about before. Apparently it had appeared from the forests north of the village a couple of weeks ago and had began picking sheep at first. Then it grew bolder, targeting children and weary travellers instead. Up till now, fifteen people had fallen prey to it. Since Nanarin was a small village with no lifesingers of it's own, they had sent a messenger to bring lifesingers of a neighbouring village but he never returned. It seemed that the beast had hunted down the messenger. Now, everyone in the village was scared and desperate.
"What do you think, Eranae?" Pearl asked her opinion.
"They need our help," Era said, "I don't think it would be honourable of us to refuse them."
The Alderwoman, who was consulting with other people in the room, interrupted the two and told Pearl something. He immediately replied in an excited tone.
"What happened?" Era asked softly.
"The village is offering us twenty five silver pieces for killing the beast." Pearl grinned, "And as you said, it would be dishonourable of us to refuse their plea."