The bear growls loudly once more at Lyra and Huddy, and the two duo can't help but cower in fear.
Chuck, as well buries himself deeper into Huddy's arms in fear.
"What should we do, Lyra?" Huddy questions, too scared to move.
"Don't. Move"
The bear growls one more time, launching itself straight at Lyra and Huddy. The duo let out a terrified scream, but before the bear's claws could scratch at them, the bear growled again, changing its direction from the terrified duo.
"I've got it" Called a young male voice to another. "It's headed this way"
"Now, Arin!" responds the other as both brothers slash their knives against the bear's fur, bringing it to the ground.
The appearance of both brothers comes to light before Lyra. They were both teenage boys probably around the age of her and Huddy.
They were both dressed in hunting gear with a hairband over their hair. The boy with a green band walked towards Lyra and Huddy. "Sorry about that, fellas. We lost track of our hunt for a little bit. Our bad"
"I'm Arin" He continues, pointing over to his brother who had a red hairband over his hair. "And this is my brother, Eryndor"
"Hola" Eryndor greets, uninterested.
"We're the hunter brothers"
Lyra couldn't let herself get sidetracked by this stranger. For all she knew, she was positive this encounter with the bear wasn't a coincidence.
She was certain it had something to do with the mysterious man that had appeared before her earlier and Lyra couldn't bear to waste any more time. "Nice to meet you but we can't stay and chat as we have to leave the rain"
Arin stared at Lyra and Huddy for quite a while before speaking up. "You two don't look like you're from around here. Why don't you come home with us, get some dry clothes and food in your stomaches before you leave"
Lyra was on the verge of turning down Arin's offer but she heard Huddy's growling stomach and couldn't help but give in. "Then, we'll leave immediately when the rain stops"
"No sweat" Arin responds, dragging the paralysed bear against the ground. "I hope you can eat bear meat"
"Anything is fine really"
The quad strolls a little bit deeper into the wilderness before they reach the exit. Just across the exit was a small house with an iron gold gate.
Small scented roses and sunflowers were potted on its lawn. Even at night, the house still shined brightly making it stand out the most.
Lyra's jaw drops as the hunter brothers make their way towards the small house.
"We're home" Arin announce.
"You two live here?" Lyra inquires, unable to hide the hint of surprise in her tone.
A slow smile plays across Arin's lips. "Why do you sound surprised?"
"Because.." Lyra paused not wanting to sound rude. "It just draws so much attention"
"That's why we are hunters," Eryndor says. "We have weapons so we can protect ourselves"
"Eryndor, help our guest get settled in while I go prepare us dinner with our hunt" Arin suggests.
"Sure" Eryndor agrees."Be careful. It gets slippy when it rains"
"Will do" Arin leaves the trio in front of the iron gate as he moves to the back of the house to butcher the bear.
"Let's go in then," Eryndor says, prompting their movement into the house.
The interior of the house was less cozy than it seemed from the outside as it had weapons dangling from each and every side of the wall.
Now, Lyra could understand why the two brothers weren't scared to live in such a flashy house.
Words didn't need to be said to know that they were hunters. The house screamed so that Lyra could spot a bull's head dangling over a nail at one side of the wall probably signifying a victorious hunt.
At the other end of the living room were shelves that housed ancient books.
Pointing towards a closed door, Eryndor says. "You and your friend can stay there"
"Thank you," Lyra says as she watches Eryndor take his leave. Turning to face Huddy, she says. "You can go in first"
"Why?"
"Nothing. I just saw some shelves back there in the living room and I was wondering if maybe I could find some clues about the map's second piece in those books"
Huddy exhales, placing his hands on Lyra's shoulders. "I know you really want to find the ancient powers, Lyra. But you should rest some time"
"I will, Huddy. I promise. Thank you for looking out for me"
"Anytime"
Huddy disappears into the room as Lyra heads towards the shelf skimming through the pages of the ancient books.
"Looking for something?" A voice inquires beside Lyra, startling her.
Spinning around, she turns to find Arin beside her holding a tray of food. "Arin, right?"
"Right. Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you" He apologizes. "I just wanted to inform you that dinner is ready. You can go call your friend up"
"It's not a problem" Lyra responds. "It's my fault. I didn't hear you come in. Dinner right?. I'll go call up Huddy now, thank you"
"So...Were you looking for something?"
Lyra swallowed deep still uncertain whether she could trust these brothers. She decides to keep it to herself. "Just going through some books. They make quite interesting reads"
"The best"
"Excuse me while I go call up Huddy"
Lyra moves to call Huddy and soon the quad is seated around the dining table to eat while Chuck is being served dog food as well in a small bowl.
"We never did catch your names" Arin started the conversation while they dined.
"It's Lyra and Huddy" Lyra replies. "The little guy is Chuck"
"Lyra and Huddy" Arin repeats. "If the rain doesn't stop, you both can stay the night. You don't need to feel persuaded to leave"
"We'll keep that in mind"
A comfortable silence fell on the dining table as the quad ate their meal but curiosity gripped at Arin like a knife.
"The second map piece" Arin suddenly blurts out " We can help you find it"
Huddy's eyes brightened up. "Can you?"
Lyra smiled. "How did you know about that?"
"I didn't mean to but I heard when you are Huddy conversed about it. In fact-"
"Don't say it, Arin" Eryndor persuades but Arin spills what he knows nevertheless.
"In fact we've seen it"
Lyra's jaw drops. "You've seen the second piece of the map?"
"Seen it. Touched it. Smelt it. Felt it." Arin says proudly.
"Well, where is it now?" Huddy inquires, his curiosity increasing while munching on the bear meat in his hands.
"Long story short, it's in a dragon's lair"
Silence fills the table before Lyra inquires. "You're kidding, right?"
"He's not" Eryndor declares. "He's telling the truth"
"May I ask what you guys were doing in a dragon's lair?"
"We are hunters, Lyra"
"So I assumed you went in there to hunt...dragons?"
"We didn't know we'd walked into a dragon's lair" Arin dictates. "We'd walked in and saw these giant eggs and thought it'd make a good dinner"
"The dragon mother woke up giving us a hot chase. I hadn't realized the second piece of the map was missing until we'd returned back home" Arin continues.
"What makes you certain that the second piece is in the dragon's lair?" Lyra questions. "For all we know it could be anywhere"
"We call it a 'Hunter's hunch' " Eryndor explains.
"So Huddy and I are just going to walk into some dragon's lair based on some hunch?"
"You did lead us out of the village to Mount Fugji based on your hunch"
"Huddy!"
"Sorry"
"Look, whatever you want to do is totally up to you" Eryndor states. "You're the one who wants to retrieve the map's second piece"
"But if you do decide to go into the dragon's lair" Eryndor continues. "My brother and I will accompany you--just to make sure you two are safe--"
Lyra didn't want to state the obvious but she was moved by Eryndor's words. "Why would you do that for us?"
Eryndor shrugs. "I just don't want to hear any funny stories about us leading you to your demise"
"Plus" Eryndor continued. "My brother seems pretty eager to join you on your 'quest'. If not, he wouldn't have spilled out any information about the map's second piece"
"You bet I am" Arin states, rising up to his feet as he begins to clear the table. "I suggest we go take a nap right now so that we can be able to set out before first light tomorrow morning"
"Hey, I was still eating" Huddy whines as his plate is being cleared off the table by Arin.
"Don't worry, you can have more of where this came from tomorrow. Now off to bed" Arin states ushering Lyra and Huddy to their rooms.
The following morning, the quad got up early before sunrise and headed straight for the dragon's lair.
The pace they at which they arrived was faster than normal as the hunter brothers had mastered the trail.
Now standing in front of a cave that looked completely dark within, Arin announced."We're here people; The dragon lair"