Julian’s wolf lifted an eyebrow.So butt-sniffing?
Butt-sniffing.
And they did, indeed, take a whiff of one another’s nether regions. Julian was a mixture of dusky and sweet.Unlike as a human, the scent was pleasing rather than not.
Okay, okay, I’ve got your scent down.Would recognize you in a completely dark room,Julian told him as he shook his head as if to clear it.
Same here.Now, which direction shall we go in?Where is our prey, Julian?Ryder asked.
Uhm…Julian padded in a slow circle, looking in vain for any sign of something to hunt.
Ryder chuff-laughed again.Scent, Julian!Use your nose again.Lift it into the air and smell some quarry for us.
Julian lifted his snout into the air, rising on his back legs.Ryder knew the moment that he had found the scent as Julian began to turn rather like a circus dog.
There!There!In that direction!Julian cried as he plopped down on all four paws.
Let’s stalk it, Ryder suggested.
Julian did not need to be told twice.The white Winter Wolf flowed into the surrounding forest utterly silently on fleet paws.There was stirring in a nearby tree, however, as a large bird lifted off. Ryder lost track of it.Likely, it was nothing.Still, he stayed close to Julian.The young man’s head was low to the ground as if to hide as they loped between the massive trees.Only occasionally would the young man lift his head to catch the scent.
Ryder knew what they were tracking.He hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d told Balthazar that he truly could tell most people apart by scent.He could tell general classes of animals apart too.From the slightly ophidian odor mixed with swamp rot, it was an Umbraling.Part reptile, part predator bird with razor sharp teeth and claws, standing seven feet tall with a long tail studded with poison spikes.
That doesn’t sound good to eat!Julian sent, having picked up on the image of the Umbraling in his mind.
It isn’t.It’s poisonous and bitter.Like eating burnt blood,he explained.
Definitely not tasty.Julian’s mind clenched at the thought of such a taste on his tongue.
The young fledgling was still drinking only from Daemon, which he would be for some time yet, so likely the blood of any being other than his Master would hold little appeal.But the Umbralings were especially disgusting.
Should we keep hunting it then?Julian asked.
Most definitely.One shouldn’t be this near Nightvallen.They normally hunt in packs of over a dozen, but they will send a single scout out ahead of them to make sure the way is safe and there is plenty of game,Ryder explained.
A city full of humans would definitely qualify as that!Julian’s fur puffed up in alarm.It must find their scent overwhelming.
Yes, not even the knowledge that where there are humans in the Ever Dark, there are Vampires is keeping them away.Not even the fact that it is Nightvallen is doing so,Ryder added.
The creatures here respect Daemon, worship him in their way, but they are still driven by their basest impulses,Julian reminded him.
True.And quite some time has passed since anyone has lived in Nightvallen.They must have forgotten all the hunting we used to do,Ryder remarked dryly.
A memory surfaced of creatures staying far from Nightvallen’s walls, of him and Ashyr having to sail several nights to reach anywhere the creatures still dwelt.They had stayed cleared of the Vampire capital city, Daemon’s home.
We will have to remind them to stay well clear again!Julian sent and increased his speed, but still remained silent.
The two of them raced through the trees, jumping effortlessly over fallen ones, and avoiding stray branches that might snap under a poorly placed paw and give away their passage.The scent of the Umbraling was growing stronger every minute.
Slow, Julian!It’s near,Ryder warned.
Julian slowed his run to a slow trot.Ryder urged him to keep low to the ground and be one with the night.While Ryder’s black fur had him nearly invisible in the shadows, Julian’s white fur glowed especially brightly when they passed through a stray moonbeam.
They both stopped, crouching down behind two large tree trunks as the forest opened up ahead of them a little to accommodate a small, bubbling brook that wended its way through the forest.The Umbraling was crouched by the side of the brook.It was having a drink with itsdinner.
That’s a person!It’s eating a person!Julian cried out and he rose up from his crouch, ears alert, tail standing up on end.
Get down, Julian,Ryder commanded.
