"Hurry up boy, we don't have all day." Brionde told him in a tone that was not very friendly.
Martin started trotting up to him and got into the cart pulled by a bicrien.
'That grumpy old man is always so pleasant' Martin remarked.
Barely seated that Brionde snapped the reins used to lead the animal and it began to move forward.
The sun hadn't risen yet and everything was dark. They passed in front of the few houses that constituted the village of Hena. There were no more than ten of them. It was a very small village surrounded by fields and pasture. A single dirt road, bordered in places by a stone wall, crossed it.
They quickly moved away from the village and were now surrounded by fields where cereals were growing. These cereals were brought to a windmill, halfway to Nahoko and transformed into flour. Jho used this flour to make bread. Martin had taken a piece that Jho had made the day before. He also took a fruit that looked like a red pepper on the outside but was sweet and juicy. These fruits grew in the vegetable garden behind the inn.
Martin started eating and began to enjoy the ride. The majority of the trip was done in silence with the exception of Brionde who was giving commands to his beast. After half an hour Brionde opened his mouth.
"We'll be there soon boy", he told him pointing to the edge of a forest not far from them.
'Boy, boy, I'm nineteen I'm not a kid anymore you grumpy old man' Martin hoped to have the courage to tell him to his face.
They left the road and crossed a meadow to join the forest.
"Grab the bag next to you and get down boy."
And Martin did as he said.
Brionde, after tying the bicrien to a tree, took the bag and opened it. Inside were two crossbows and two leather cases containing bolts. Once equipped, the two advanced into the darkness of the forest, lit only by the first rays of sunshine.
"You follow me and you don't make a sound." Brionde called out to Martin, who nodded back.
'Anyway, I didn't think I was going to do anything else. I don't even know what to do.' thought Martin.
They walked straight for a while, then Brionde stopped and stared at the ground. He had spotted tracks. Small trace left by an animal with cloven hooves like those of a goat.
"Ok boy, the most important thing in hunting is observation, listening and silence. You pay attention to everything around you. Do not hesitate to stop to hear if there is something close to you. You remain silent and be careful not to walk on dead branches, it would make too much noise. There are fresh traces of a mevros there. If you see something moving, you shoot. And above all you don't make any noise, is that understood kid?
"Yes, understood." replied Martin timidly.
'Don't walk on dead branches, it's a forest there are dead branches everywhere.' he says to himself.
Martin had already seen mevros several times. Dead, delivered by Brionde to the inn. It was a four-legged animal that looked like a goat. Larger than but smaller than a deer, with four horns on its head and a russet coat. This creature also had a hairless tail and legs that seemed to be made of gray stone. Their meat had a strong taste and was really good served roasted.
"Ok I'm going in this direction and you over there, so we will cover more ground. You always stay within sight, I don't want you to get lost or lose sight of me and shoot me thinking I'm an animal." Brionde told Martin.
On this last words they moved away from each other. They continued to advance in the direction of the tracks but at a slower pace.
Martin did his best. He put all his concentration to make as little noise as possible and to watch his surroundings.
Chuk!
Brionde had landed a bolt. He had seen a bird of the size of a big owl with yellow glowing eyes perched in a tree and had not given him time to flee. He picked up his prey, put the bolt back in his crossbow and proced his walk.
They kept moving forward like that and the sun was now fully visible in the sky. Which gave back its colors to the forest. It was verdant and shone with the rays of the sun which passed through the leaves of the trees. A gentle warm wind made the branches sing as it passed.
Martin hadn't fired once when Brionde was already on his third take. He had hung them on his wallet. There were two of these birds and a creature with an elongated body covered with thorns. It looked like a cross between a sausage dog and a porcupine.
Martin stopped and looked around. He didn't see anything moving apart from the branches with the wind. But he had heard wood cracking and it didn't come from Brionde's direction.
'There's something over here.'
Martin bent down. He approached the source of the noise as slowly and silently as he could. He advanced about ten meters and stopped. He couldn't hear anything, couldn't see anything but he knew something was near. But after while nothing came into view.
As he was going to get up thinking it was just the sound of branches that had broken due to the wind, coming out of a bush, about twenty meters in front of him, a mevros.
The beast hadn't noticed Martin. It was feeding on the leaves of the bush.
Martin aimed his crossbow at the creature. he breathed deeply.
'You can do it Martin don't screw up.'
He pulled the trigger.