Grandfather would only have left for supplies if the situation was dire. Sure enough, inside I found the remnants of food I’d brought from the fortress yesterday, and nothing else.
“Grab your dagger, my love.”
Hunting with a toddler wasn’t always a recipe for success, but I was more concerned about a return trip to steal food from the fortress that ran the risk of Carmine tracking me down.
I listened to Adeuto’s stories of the morning’s adventures as we trekked across the gray sand. Demons didn’t come out this way—only animals. The toughest of animals at that. Once this realm was entirely desert that extended right to the peak where the fortress and Crave Arena now stood. Demons had all lived atop the peak, but as the realm’s power grew in tandem with our increasing territory on Earth, the desert had progressively retreated. If Carmine conquered the other supernatural races, then one day, this desert may not exist at all. All this desolate gray sand would disappear to accommodate more demons and more mud shacks. More markets and factories and tradespeople. Learning centers, healers, and tinkerers.
And that would be a great shame. There was such beauty and peace in the sameness of endless sand. The isolation and quiet could sound so loud, and other times so eerily silent. I felt a camaraderie with the creatures here.
That didn’t mean I wouldn’t eat them.
I cast my magic forth and located a nismus a mile away. I shuddered. Nismus were akin to demons in my opinion. White-scaled beasts that were too intelligent for me to kill. Which was ironic, I knew, considering I’d killed actual demons days before… and would again.
I look the other way with my magic for the easiest prey, the animals on top of the sand or in the sky.
None to be found, which I could blame on the peak heat of the day. The best time to hunt was right at dawn, the coolest time when the majority of creatures moved slowly. Also the time of least smoke in the sky, so smelling prey was possible instead of using magic. Magic made hunting too easy sometimes.
I searched beneath the sand. Two targets. “Rte or zaza?”
Adeuto screwed up his nose. “What about the nismus?”
“I don’t like killing them.”
“Why? They’re food. And good food. Better than rte or zaza.”
“The look in their eyes.” Plus, nismus weren’t an easy kill, especially with a toddler. And also with Tiers to play in a few days’ time, I should conserve my power.
I could see that my reply baffled my son, and perhaps I shouldn’t worry about his resilience. The boy was a demon, certainly.
He sighed. “Rte. With hythre?”
We had a few hythre leaves left. “I can do that.” Might as well enjoy cooking with my toddler if I’d already pissed Carmine off.
I shot out a spear of my power and stabbed through the rte’s heart fifty feet under the sand. The animal didn’t have an iron-encased heart like a demon, but all animals in this realm had some sort of protection there. Many of the realm’s creatures possessed a small amount of magic, too, and they also attacked and betrayed each other as readily as any demon.
We jogged over to claim our kill before the other predators in the area smelled an easy meal. I used magic to yank the animal up from the depths, then held the scaly creature aloft by the tail. Rtes had vicious teeth that I’d equate to a beaver’s. I’d been injured before after failing to confirm a rte was really dead. This one was gone.
I talked through the gutting process with Adeuto, letting him do the easier parts.
This rte would provide enough food for Adeuto and Grandfather today, and I’d eat later.
We turned back, but I tightened my hold on Adeuto’s hand, spotting a nismus in the distance. The creature was standing on our footprints, back where I had cast my magic out to find food.
The white-scaled creature lifted its great head and looked at me. Nismus were a mix between a horse and oxen. Wide shoulders, and sturdy, but with the longer legs of a horse. They werefast,even on sand, and surprisingly nimble. I’d seen them change direction in a blink while in a full canter.
I clicked my tongue, but the nismus didn’t move other than to toss its head. “Huh.”
Usually these beasts respected the hierarchy. Was this one brash or senile? “Come on, it’ll run off.”
We walked to the shack, and my eyes narrowed as the beast stayed put.
“They don’t do that,” Adeuto said, looking up at me.
I cocked a brow. “They don’t. Normally.”
I clapped my hands a few times, and when that failed, I cast out my magic in warning. “You’re really not going to move? It’s like you want to be eaten.”
From ten feet away I could see that the beast wasn’t an old one, and not young either. A female nismus, pregnant. “So what, you want my help?”
