After spending some time organising our supplies and weapons, the sun peaked, and we all moved inside the shade to share some cold drinks.
" .. 40 arrow can fit into those quivers. That means that in theory, we can take care of 40 men before we become useless? "
" Talk about yourselves if you please. " I waved them away. " .. maybe you forgot I have been training with martial arts and have one of the sharpest blades in the world .. somewhere. "
I looked around in the hopes I would find it, but no luck .. to be honest, I haven't used it often since I picked up the bow and knives.
" .. Anyway.. " I continued. " .. So yeah, I'll be just fine without arrows, Eli. "
Instead of some funny comeback, they shared some looks of worry. They probably realised that if they don't happen to have a bow near them ... They would have to run.
" Maybe we should get some novice advice from Anna about using daggers? "
Some innocent bystanders might have a laugh seeing two young women contemplating getting advice from my 6 year old .. but they were so serious about it. They had already disappeared inside the house looking for my kid.
With most of the things for tomorrow packed and done, I walked inside myself.
———
By later afternoon my husband finally arrived and with some helpful information.
" Well, Hori is ... he will be a headache. " He started after finishing his cup. " .. first thing first .. the locals have zero problems with us trying to kill the beast. They have no faith in us killing it, so.. make of it what you will. "
The guys shared some confidant looks and waited patiently for Zephyr to continue.
" They have a blessed named Draykos. He is a nice enough guy .. can turn his skin into a stone like material, which offers him excellent defence. ..
" You fought the guy, little brother? " Alexander asked.
He shook his head as Anna climbed up and took her seat. " He .. isn't as adapting as fighting as it turns out. The man mostly acts as a sort of guardian of the village, never fought the beast himself. "
As he went on telling us the layout of the mountain area surrounding the village, its people who were just as afraid and miserable as most who had to make yearly sacrifices in the hopes of let alone by a primordial beast.
" .. The leader of the village is a woman called Amarah. She seemed level-headed and kind, and the village itself reminds me of Emet village in a way. " He sounded nostalgic.
" Most villages under such conditions have a similar look to them .. " Granny took over.
" They can't make any real progress developing theirs. They have to deal with the beast and the ruling class. Same as we were before your arrival. "
She smiled kindly at my husband before she continued. " .. Tell us about Hori himself, son. "
She understood that if he went that far, he most likely took a look at the beast himself.
" Well .. he has very thick skin .. from the looks of it .. " He quickly added, catching my eyes. " .. his horns are not only intimidating but according to the locals.. it has the power of cursing whomever it touches. "
We all had some question marks above our heads until he continued.
" Look the beast itself.. he is slow and lumbering, people in the past used to challenge him for honour and such, except nothing they ever done managed to pierce its hide, so eventually they all just gave up and kept feeding him. "
" Means fighting him is .. useless? " Nifa asked the question on everyone's mind.
Zephyr smiled, seeing the dejected faces around the table. " We probably have a better chance than they did .. " He picked up Anna and walked inside our pantry, only to come out with my missing rapier. " .. with this right here. "
The table exhaled, remembering the gift Emet left behind. Those rapiers never failed to cut, stab, or pierce anything until now.
He walked over to me and handed me my sword and our daughter, who kept reaching for it and showed some forgotten black medals.
" I will take these to Olaf and try to reforge some arrow heads for you three .. " He smiled.
Demelza and Eli started squirming in their seats. Eli sobered up first.
" It that means .. we can be there when you fight him? " She asked, holding her breath.
" .. If it's fine with your sweethearts .. yes. " He announced after taking a look at Lucian and Alexander.
As the girls jumped up and .. jumped again on their men .. I turned to mine.
" Are you sure? I mean ..
" Calm down, my love. " He cut me off playing with my hair. " .. I'll let the man take a larger role as well. They have swords and plenty of training, which allows me to stay by your side and the girls .. keep you safe. "
I was beyond happy hearing that. The last shred of previous worries and insecurity finally melted. I leaned closer and thanked him with a few gentle kisses.
Meanwhile, the girls decided to follow my lead and overwhelmed their significant others with kisses until they agreed.
To be honest, as long as Zephyr with us, they had no more room to refuse them.
" Alright, people sit down .. let's go over the plan.. pay attention .. "
———
" .. I can't believe we get to participate in killing the beast on our very first time going out there. "
Demelza was pumped, just like the rest of us.
We were practising our shot outside the garden as Zephyr with his brothers went ahead to get us some divine arrow heads and make some final preparations.
" ..It's lucky, really. " Eli was rotating her arms. Our previous fatigue disappeared like magic.
" I mean Hori being slow and doesn't have any ranged attack. "
Yes .. the divine beast Hori was nearly indestructible with ordinary means had massive strength, but he was also slow moving and defence oriented and without any means to deal with ranged attack.
Meaning it was the perfect target for archers.
The plan basically called the man to stay close and try to injure it with their rapiers, by far the more dangerous task since the beast can squash them if they're not paying attention and for us archers to hit it's weak spots, the eyes.
Worst case scenario .. my husband will step in to help. Meaning he will drop the beast from the clouds, killing it instantly.
" I hope the boys will be limber enough.. " I said as stepping up to make my shots.
The length of our epic battle will really depend on the guys able to hold their own. Because a single missteps will result in my husband stepping in and outright finishing the fight.
" They been all training relentlessly for this. They will do their best. "
I dropped my bow hand a little, getting lost in my own thoughts.
..do their best.
That's basically what I wanted from this hunt..Ehlite let us all come back safe and sound.