The Hunt

Geran was happy when they finally left the camp behind. Nobody had said a word, but it was clear that just two men leaving the camp with spears was very unusual. Berd interrupted his thoughts.
"Edensaw is a great leader. He's intelligent, and he understands a lot in people. He's not always very self-confident, though, and more conservative chiefs like Holata could take over, then. Your diplomatic mission backed him up at the right time."
"That was the idea of it," Geran agreed. "We knew about the situation here from a report of Drasnian Intelligence, and decided to take steps."
Berd looked a little surprised. "Drasnian Intelligence? But there weren't any Drasnians here, only a few merchants. Are you trying to say that they were spies?! But then, selling information gives a nice extra profit, of course."
Geran laughed. "You're wrong, Berd. It may seem strange, but the Drasnian merchants don't take money for that usually. They are patriots, they always were. And you know what - I can understand them. I've heard of King Rhodar, I met his widow, Queen Porenn, and I'm a friend of their son, King Kheva. I can but hope that my subjects will ever love me like that."

While they were talking, they moved farther and farther away from the camp. Geran enjoyed the colors and the smells of the arctic summer. He didn't expect to see animals yet - he was sure that the presence of that many people in one place scared them away. He wasn't entirely right, though.
"Look at that," Berd whispered and pointed at some deer-like animals, "here are lanus!"
It wasn't really necessary to whisper, the animals had seen them already. They watched the humans very carefully, but they didn't feel in danger - they were sufficiently far away. If Geran't plan worked, this would be a fatal error.
"They look like animals I saw once far from here in the south - antelopes," Geran said in surprise. "I didn't think I'd meet similar animals in an arctic plane."
"They are very rare," Berd admitted. His eyes were very bright. "And they don't fear us - they are very fast, and they'll run away as soon as we come closer than a certain distance."
"They are beautiful, Berd, but we are hunting here. Are they edible?"
Berd looked at him with an amused expression. "Edible?! Their meat is the most delicious I have ever eaten. It's almost impossible to hunt them, only once has a hunter been lucky while I've been here. It would be great to bring such an animal to Enola." His look went dreamy.
Geran knew better than to smile. He was honest with himself - this hunt was an attempt to impress Ainoukh, so he could understand Berd very well.
"It's worth a try," he said. "They won't expect any danger from this distance."
Berd looked at him incredulously. "Can you really do that?"
"Yes, I think so, and I think you can too. Of course, we'll cheat a bit. Watch what I'm doing - with your mind, not with your eyes."
And Berd watched how Geran threw his spear. It wasn't very powerful, but the spear couldn't fall down - Geran pushed with his will against it from below. Only when the spear had covered half the distance, Geran let it sink down and take up speed. And then, Berd felt the surge of a translocation - right to the left shoulder of the animal. The spear still had an enormous speed, and hit the heart of the lanu, killing the animal instantly. They other lanus didn't even flee - they couldn't see an enemy near them, and felt safe.
"In principle, you could translocate the spear into its heart directly," Berd remarked.
"Yes," Geran admitted, "but it would look very unnatural. I think this variant is more impressive." They chuckled.
"Try to do it yourself, Berd!" Geran told him. "I think you can manage a translocation."
Berd looked hurt. "Please, Geran, a translocation is the simplest thing in sorcery at all!" He tried to repeat what he had watched - and failed. There was no need to explain to him were he blundered.
"I watched only the spear, and when I wanted to translocate, I couldn't find my target in time. What a stupid mistake!" Berd raged.
"Try another time, Berd. Get your spear - you should translocate it here, or the others will flee," he warned him.
"They won't run far, Geran. They aren't used to the notion that something can kill them at such a great distance. The hunters told me a lot about these animals."
They went to the killed lanu, and Geran saw that the spear really had hit the heart. When he wanted to pull it out, Berd advised him to leave it there.
"It proves that you have killed it - and it shows how good your shot was," he said with a grin, and he picked up his spear. The other lanus run away about two hundred paces when they approached them, and then they stopped and continued feeding on the grass. Unfortunately, their notion of a safe distance turned out wrong, again - Berd didn't make the same mistake twice. His spear hit the lanu like a lightning bolt - without the thunder, of course.
"We've got a problem now, Geran," he remarked. "We can't leave them here. The predators here don't seem to be afraid of our spirits - they will take the lanus even if they didn't kill them themselves. We'll have to contact somebody who can hear us, and ask them to send a few people for the transport."
"Uh, I don't like the idea, Berd. I think we should bring them into the camp ourselves," Geran objected.
Berd could see his point, of course. "It will look much better, but they are almost as heavy as we ourselves. The camp isn't very close, you know."
Geran shrugged. "A little cheating won't hurt. I wouldn't go so far as to translocate them, but I think I can bear the weight - if I use my Will. Do you think you can handle that?"
The young Dal considered it. "Yes, I think so. But I won't be able to walk tomorrow, I'm afraid." Indeed, they were able to put the lanus on their shoulders, holding half of the weight with their Will. Then they went in the direction of the tents.
Berd made a face. "I don't use my Will very often - usually I wouldn't know what for, but I think we should hurry a bit, as I'm not sure if I can do this for long."
Geran smiled. "Oh, I hope they will allow for a day of rest for the great hunters."
Berd couldn't help laughing. "A day? I'm fairly positive we will sit for a bit longer than a day with the hunters and tell our story, in all details. How clever we were to find those rare animals, how we worked out our complicated and dangerous sorcery - all that kind of stuff."
"But I don't remember those details!" Geran exclaimed. "And it wasn't really that complicated."
"I think I can come up with something," Berd said. "I've heard dozens of those stories."
"You wouldn't really lie to them!" Geran sounded slightly shocked.
Berd smiled. "It's not called a lie, but an embellishment. It's expected, Geran, the Morindim would be terribly disappointed otherwise."
Geran had to revise his opinion about the Dals. He always thought they were a little... helpless in practical life. But this one would be able to challenge even Belgarath - at least with telling stories.
"I wonder what she will say when I bring her this one," Berd mused.
Geran realized that he was not speaking about Ainoukh. "Enola? I think she will be glad. We'll find out very soon - from this side of the camp, we'll come to their tent, first."
They didn't speak much during the rest of the walk. Even using their Will, it was still heavy, and they had to walk almost three miles. But when they reached the camp, they forgot about the weight, as the men looked at them with undisguised envy, and in the eyes of the girls was pure adoration. Geran was happy about Berd's advice - they had left the spears sticking in the hearts of the animals, and the women were discussing the fact openly. Quite obviously, they knew all about the anatomy of animals.
"The women usually do the butchering," Berd explained, "unless the bodies are too heavy to bring them here in one piece."
"Enola!" Berd shouted in a loud voice when they arrived in front of the tent of his hostess.
The young girl appeared immediately - and gasped. "Oh, Berd... two lanus... You never told me you're a great hunter!"
"I didn't know myself," Berd said in an offhand way, "Geran here showed me how, I tried - and it worked.
Geran concealed a smirk. Berd was fairly good at that. It was worth the trouble, of course - Enola was not Ainoukh, but she was a very nice girl.
"Ah, sorry, Enola, but this is a bit heavy...," Berd groaned a bit exaggerated.
The cheeks of the girl reddened. "Oh, sorry, Berd, I'm a stupid girl! You can lay it in the tent, right beside the entry."
Berd winked at Geran before he went into the tent.
Enola looked at Geran. "You'll bring the second one to Ainoukh, won't you?" she asked curiously.
"I think so," Geran replied. "It's something new for a change. Until now, she brought me food. It's about time that I earnt my meals here."
Enola smiled. "You've learned a lot here already, Prince Geran. Please, excuse me, now - I'll have to cook a wonderful meal for my hunter." She waved, and then she followed Berd into the tent.
Geran moved on to the tent of Edensaw, and called for Ainoukh. And he didn't have to wait long, either, and her eyes went wide.
"A lanu, that's wonderful - they taste very good. Come in, put it down here," she pointed.
When he had laid down the dead body, she looked at him with a slight rebuke.
"Did you have to bring it here alone? To bear such weights isn't good for your health," she chided him gently.
Geran smiled. It was very nice that she worried about his health, but... When would the first woman in this world realize that some men were grown up already, and could take care of their health themselves? Of course, this event would probably darken the sun, though.
"Don't worry, Ainoukh, I used my sorcery to help carry the weight. I'll need some rest now though - it's almost as tiring as doing it with my back."
Ainoukh laughed. "You'll have much rest now, Geran. Our men will be busy listening to your story and discussing every detail for the next few days."
"Berd told me that already," Geran agreed. "We hunted together, because I thought of a way to use our sorcery, we..." He couldn't speak further, Ainoukh's hand closed his mouth.
"You can't tell me the details, Geran! Hunting magic is taboo for women," she reminded him.
"Sorry," Geran apologized, "I forgot about that. Anyway, Berd brought his lanu to Enola."
Ainoukh's eyes brightened even more. "And how..."
Geran understood what she wanted to ask. "Oh, she was impressed, to say the very least. Could it be that your women will have something to talk about for the next few days, too?"
Ainoukh laughed her silvery laugh again. "You're very perceptive for a man," she said approvingly.
Unfortunately, this was only half true. Geran was not sure concerning Ainoukh's reaction. She was glad, of course - but every friend would be glad about this success. But he still didn't know if she felt more than friendship - and he wasn't supposed to ask.

The next few days were exactly as Ainoukh and Berd had predicted. They only sat and talked - and ate. Lanu really was very good, and when the two animals were eaten, things calmed down a bit. Berd met with some other priests of Eriond to teach them their method of hunt sorcery. The Morindim no longer spoke about Geran's and Berd's hunt - they spoke about a big hunt. The short arctic summer would end soon, and they needed some food supplies for the winter. As Geran learned, the earth here in the north was frozen even in summer below the ground, and in a deep enough pit meat could be kept for months. Of course, this time they would hunt larger animals with more meat - musk-oxen. Since it was impossible to transport the animals or their meat over large distances, they had to wait when a herd of them was not too far away.

Naturally, Geran met Wolf now and then, and Wolf listened curiously to his story about their hunt. A hunt wasn't really a great thing for a wolf, but this time Geran had to explain why he couldn't simply go wolf.
"They wouldn't eat a deer that is killed by a wolf or a bear," Geran finished his explanation, "they won't steal a prey from the hunter."
Wolf's reaction wasn't really unexpected. "One is surprised. Those man-things are more sensible than others."
Geran had much less success when he tried to talk about his problem with Ainoukh.
"One doesn't understand," Wolf wondered, "Are you of such a low rank in the pack that you aren't allowed to mate? One doesn't think this can be true."
"You're right, I'm a prince, and she's a princess - but it doesn't work that way in a pack of humans, anyway," Geran said. "The problem is that I don't know if she wants to be my mate, and I can't ask her. It's a custom here - the females choose their mate, and the males have to wait for their choice."
Geran wasn't surprised by Wolf's reply to that, either.
Wolf's tongue lolled out. "Customs should be observed - but that's a very strange custom. When two wolves want to mate, they simply know it - both of them. There's no need to ask at all."
Geran was absolutely positive that he would see it the same way in the form of a wolf. It wasn't very helpful in his situation, though.

A few days after that, one of the scouts returned with good news. He had detected a big herd of musk-oxen not very far from here. Geran noticed that the Morind seemed to be paid much respect among the hunters, despite his youth. Geran still had trouble judging the age of Morindim, but this one was certainly much younger than Geran, almost a boy. Nonetheless, he was a fairly serious guy, and he wasn't boasting with his success - not very much, at least. His name was Atonwa and he was of the wolf clan, having most of his kinship far in the north. His mother had chosen a hunter of Edensaw's tribe during one of the get-togethers of the clans - Morindim women always chose husbands from another clan.

As soon as the hunters had finished their preparations, Atonwa led the way. Even Edensaw had to accept that - he was only one of the hunters now. He had to show that he was one of the best, otherwise he wouldn't stay chief for long. There was no real choice about who could lead their party - only Atonwa knew where the musk-oxen were. He had gone out for scouting alone, and Geran thought that the lad had yet to learn the difference between "brave" and "stupid". To his surprise, he clearly read a challenge in the look of the young hunter. He probably wanted to defend his reputation of the best hunter, but Geran didn't know that this was not the whole truth.
Unlike their usual behavior, the Morindim spoke little, and in subdued voices. Musk-oxen certainly wouldn't be afraid of a single hunter, but they would avoid a large group. The eyes of the men were bright, but they were a little nervous and Geran knew that the hunt was dangerous. They had to approach the animals closely to cause considerable damage with their spears. Sometimes it happened that the whole herd fled from some real or apparent danger in the direction of the hunters in blind panic...
Finally, the herd of musk-oxen came in sight.
"Ah, Atonwa, I think we can stop here," Geran said in a calm voice, "we're close enough."
Atonwa looked at him with a faint smile. "Are you afraid to get closer, Prince Geran? Everybody knows that there's some risk in this hunt."
Geran shrugged. "I don't doubt that you are very brave, but there's a difference between a necessary risk and carelessness. The tribe expects that we bring back dead musk-oxen, and not dead hunters. We can kill the animals from here."
"Do you think we are children?" Atonwa asked contemptuously, "Nobody can throw a spear that far."
Geran realized later that his reaction was stupid, but he didn't like the tone of that guy. "Look," he said shortly.
Of course, he could have done it in another way, but the opportunity to show off was too tempting. His arm moved faster than the string of a crossbow. His spear whistled when it cut through the air - there was no need to support it with his will. Of course, there was no need to correct the direction, there was always a musk-ox in the way. The spear was that fast that Berd couldn't see the translocation, but he could feel it. The spear went into the shoulder of the animal at half of its length. The large bull shuddered, then its forelegs gave in, and it fell to one side, motionless now. There was a dead silence among the hunters, they were merely breathing.
Berd bit down hard on his lip when he saw the hopeless expression on Atonwa's face. He berated himself that he hadn't warned Geran. Atonwa had had the attention of almost all the young girls in the tribe - including Ainoukh, until recently, but he had no chance as soon as she met Geran. Life wasn't always fair, but love almost never is and there was absolutely no point in humiliating him.
Edensaw cleared his throat. "Prince Geran, none of our hunters will be able to throw a spear like that," he said in a low voice.
Geran saw his mistake now. "This won't be necessary, Edensaw. Our sorcery - Berd's or mine - will not allow your spear to fall down before it hits the target, even if it's moving more slowly. But it will be your spear, and your musk-ox."
"We'll see," Edensaw said dubiously. He pointed at one of the animals. "I'd like to hit this one." Then he threw his spear.
Edensaw liked a good meal, and not all of his weight were muscles, but he was certainly a strong man and skilled hunter. Of course, his spear wouldn't have made even one third of the distance without Geran's help, but he had the direction almost right. The weapon didn't go into the body that deep - it hit the heart, though, and that was all what was needed.
Atonwa didn't look at Geran. "As I understand it, you can do this magic as well, Berd?" he asked.
"Yes, of course," Berd replied, "which one did you want to kill?"
Geran had the impression that he missed something here. He heard Berd's voice in his mind. "There's no time to discuss that now, and no need. We'll speak about it later, after the hunt."
Then, Atonwa's spear hit the next animal.

"That will do," Edensaw decided finally. "Now we'll have to transport the meat to our tents."
The hunter approached the herd, shouting as loud as they could. The large bulls at the edge of the herd didn't really regard them a danger, but they decided to move the herd away, leaving the killed oxen behind.
Naturally, there was no chance to transport musk-oxen in one piece - they were much heavier than horses. The hunters started to take off the hides and to cut the bodies apart. Much of the job they did with the sharp blades of their spears. Geran couldn't do much to help them - he didn't have the skills. However, there were other things he had to do.
"This is a very dangerous part of our hunt," Edensaw warned them. "The smell of the blood could attract predators, who are lazy to hunt themselves.
"Wolves wouldn't do that," Geran protested without thinking.
Edensaw looked at him disapprovingly. "I'm not speaking about wolves."
Geran understood that he didn't want to call the name of the animal - it had to do with hunting magic, probably. But he joined the hunters who watched out. Unfortunately, Edensaw was right. A white bear came in sight, and approached them rapidly. The musk-oxen weren't its prey - but it was its territory. Of course, the bear didn't have a chance against a group of experienced hunters with spears, but the beast wasn't bright enough to understand that. And Geran knew that those bears were very quick and strong - the bear wouldn't survive a fight, but neither would one or the other of the hunters.
"I'll try to handle that without killing," Geran said hastily. "Don't be afraid, I'll change form."
Geran blurred into the form of a white bear. As soon as he was a bear, he knew that the other was a female. She seemed to be confused at first, but her attack at him was playful, just to get his attention.
"You are a strong and handsome bear," she said rather bluntly. "And you have much meat - but this is my area. Be nice, and give me some of the meat, or some of the man-things."
"It's all mine, and my area is, where I am," Geran answered. He wasn't that rude normally, but the language of the bears didn't leave him much choice.
The she-bear looked at him with surprise. "Don't you like me? Be nice, and I'll be nice, too."
"It's all mine, go away!" Geran replied. There was only one possible alternative - and this was clearly out of the question.
Her disappointment turned into rage practically without warning - bears are well known for their tamper. This time, her attack was serious. Geran knew that she-bears can be terrible fighters, especially when they are defending their youth - or their territory. Of course, he was much bigger and stronger, and she didn't really have much of a chance. She retreated under the heavy blows of his paws. Finally, he drew himself up to his full ten-feet height and roared at her. She fled, and Geran followed her for a while to make sure that she wouldn't return.

The hunters had watched the scene, with their spears ready. Berd moved a bit and stood between Atonwa and Geran now. He was afraid that the spear of the boy could hit the wrong bear accidentally.
"You still don't know us, Berd," Atonwa said proudly. "I wouldn't do that, no Morind would. He's our guest."
Berd felt that he blushed. Most people in the world thought that the Morindim were savages... He laid his hand on the shoulder of the young man comfortingly. "I'm sorry, Atonwa. But you are a great hunter, and many wonderful girls are dreaming of you." Atonwa nodded with a sad smile. "I know. But it's not the same," he sighed.

Geran returned to them, in his natural form again. He didn't even notice that he was bleeding - his wounds weren't serious.
"Very well done, Prince Geran!" Edensaw said happily. "She was the danger I had in mind. It was her territory, but now we are safe."
Berd looked at him in surprise. She? He had noticed that some of the hunters were grinning, but he had thought it was from relief. He'd have to ask Geran later.

After this fight, the transport of the meat was no longer dangerous. This was Geran's territory now, and only some scavengers would touch the musk-oxen - if nobody was watching. It was very tedious, though. The pieces were manageable, but still heavy, and the camp was far enough. Cheating wouldn't help here - they were too many, and Geran wasn't able to do that for all. It took some hours for the first half of their party to reach the camp, and then they returned for the rest, which they had left under the observation of the other half of the hunters. When they returned to the camp after this second walk, Geran was really tired. But now, he could relax - now the women were in charge. They had to put most of the meat into the ice-pits, they had to take care of the hides, and they had to cook for the big feast. Geran went into his tent for some rest, and he fell asleep almost immediately.
When he woke up, he didn't know at first how long he had slept. But then he remembered where his shadow was when he returned into the camp. It was about three hours ago, he concluded - or a day longer, but this wasn't very likely. He left his tent, and he noticed soon that all Morindim seemed to go in the same direction. Geran decided that the feast after this big and successful hunt would be there, probably, and he followed them.
In fact, they arrived at a central place between the tents fairly soon. Geran was happy to see Ainoukh there. This joy seemed to be mutual. Ainoukh winked.
"I thought you'd sleep forever, and I didn't know if I should wake you up. This will be very funny here."
She pointed at the musicians. The musical instruments were rather simple, of course - flutes and drums. However, this was enough for a tune and a rhythm, and people started dancing, already. Geran noticed that these dances were fairly specific. For the women, it was merely a rhythmic standing around. The men, however, were moving, and Geran noticed that the young Atonwa was the leading figure here. He remembered that he wanted to speak with Berd about this young hunter, but Berd was obviously very busy - talking with Enola.
Geran noticed soon what this dance of the young hunters was about. It was sort of a pantomime - a talk about their hunt. The dancers were very good at imitating the pecularities of other persons. Geran recognized "Edensaw" without any difficulties, and he could follow the events in the beginning of their hunt.
"They tell you about our hunt," he said to Ainoukh. Her eyes widened.
"They wouldn't speak about this in the presence of women, Geran! Hunting magic is taboo for us - they're just dancing!"
Geran had his own thoughts about the taboos here. They seemed to take that seriously, but they had a way around it. He had to admit that the dancers were very good. The problem was that usually all recognized a certain person - with the possible exception of himself. That wasn't really astonishing - most people don't watch themselves regularly. So Geran didn't recognize himself, but Ainoukh told him - "That's you, Geran, that's how you walk!"
Geran watched how Atonwa showed his actions during this hunt. He hadn't been aware of the fact that he was so full of himself - or was the young hunter exaggerating? Geran had to admit that he had the facts straight. All - men and women - just sighed when he first threw his spear. Geran couldn't help blushing - he had boasted. However, he was just fond of the dancers when they came to the episode with the bear. Another dancer took the hide of a white bear. His motions clearly showed that the hunters had understood - the she-bear was flirting. Atonwa, acting for Geran, took another hide and "went bear". Ainoukh saw his reply to the she-bear, and she was content.
Then, however, Geran caught a glance of Atonwa at him and Ainoukh. The dancers laid aside the hides, and Atonwa simply imitated Geran. The other dancer still imitated a woman, and it still was a flirt...
Geran felt how Ainoukh stiffened. "That's not so funny as I thought," she said silently. "We should better go and look how the feast is going - I think the meat should be good already."
He wasn't very much surprised that the Morindim had noticed his feelings for Ainoukh. They were hunters, and very observative. He was surprised by her reaction, though. It would be normal if she was angry that others had perceived his emotions - but in her eyes was a deep sadness, instead. He couldn't understand why - maybe because she couldn't share his feelings?

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