Page 134 of Huntress

“I don’t think she will,” Saint said. “She wasn’t kidding about her promise, or her people. Mages are not like hunters. My guess is you’ve made yourself a new friend.”

Four days later, Elsie checked the lines on all the tents. They’d set up on top of a mesa, overlooking the wide, flat plains below. It gave them a huge advantage over the demon they were hunting on this mission.

Banks had a tent to himself. She’d have preferred Morgan for this one; it was the perfect situation for their sniper, but Trenton needed him more. Banks was a crack shot, and she’d gotten Marley out of the deal. They’d need her if anything went wrong.

Their target was an enraged demon with earth magic. As usual, the reports said nothing of what had upset the demon enough to send him on a rampage. The damned file hadn’t even told them what species the demon was, as nobody had gotten a good enough look at it. He’d destroyed three of the last five supply deliveries to the second colony, and on the third attack, he’d killed an ambassador and a merchant.

Marley was sharing her tent with Riven, while Elsie and Saint shared the third. The mage had kept her word. Not a soul outside the three of them knew anything about what she’d seen.

In all three instances of the demon’s attack, he’d done it right below their chosen stakeout location. Elsie walked to the edge and peered over. It was too high for her liking, but this was the best way to get the lay of the land without leaving their scent and signs of their presence all over the place. She wanted their target to think they’d been random passersby. Nobody would descend for the next two days, when the next supply run was scheduled to pass through.

Climbing up hadn’t been easy. They had the tents and a week’s worth of food to haul on their backs. Riven assured them they wouldn’t need to bring extra water. She’d make sure they had enough to drink.

“No fires,” Elsie ordered, resigning everyone to using the shoddy heat packs that came with their dehydrated meals. “We don’t need to attract his attention.”

They quartered the mesa, each hunter picking a direction to monitor for activity. Anything that would give them an idea of the beast’s behavior patterns. If they caught him before the scheduled delivery day, they’d all be better off.

Taking the idea from their friends at Frost Hollow, Elsie had everyone rotate one position to the right every hour. It kept everyone from getting too bored and gave each landscape a fresh perspective.

“I think your dog has separation anxiety disorder,” Riven laughed during one of their rotations as Saint followed Elsie like a shadow.

“Isn’t it gross?” Marley grumbled. “She literally tried to give him away, but he’s still obsessed with her. I get that it’s easier to keep an eye on him, but I don’t know why you put up with his bullshit, Captain.”

Elsie was careful not to react to the confirmation that she had her biggest critic fooled.

“Hey, Mutt! Find a new hobby, you’re pathetic!” the healer called over.

Banks chuckled, but he stayed out of it. He’d been fairly neutral as far as Saint was concerned. As long as Elsie kept her demon under control, he looked the other way.

As night fell, they congregated near the tents. The light moon was a crescent, and the red moon’s eerie light wasn’t enough to see long distances. The demon was the only person in the group with excellent night vision, and he didn’t work for them.

They made their packaged meals, and Riven sighed as she picked at her food. “Nobody at home is going to believe how terrible the food you eat is. I’m going to have to sneak a few of these things into my bags to prove it to them.”

“You get used to it.” Banks raised his cup toward Saint. “He did, eventually.”

“He wouldn’t eat for days.” Elsie gave her demon a sidelong grin.

“I don’t blame him. This stuff is gross.” Riven held up a forkful of soggy, tasteless noodles as proof. “What is this even supposed to be?”

“Fettuccine Alfredo,” Elsie and Marley said together. Saint snorted, and Marley shot him a quick glare.

A distant scream split the night air, and both Marley and Banks lunged to their feet.

“Breathe, guys, it was an animal. Sounded like a big cat to me,” Elsie laughed at them, Riven joining in.

“Scared of a kitty?” Riven teased.

“Not scared, just taken unaware,” Marley sniffed, gathering her things. “I’m going to bed.”

“I knew what it was,” Banks joked, sitting back down.

“Sure you did,” Riven giggled.

They saw plenty of movement the next day, but nothing that was even close to a threat. Twice it was tumbleweeds.

“Hey, what the hell is that thing?” Riven asked at one point, and everyone gathered to watch a little brown creature skitter across the scrub brush.

“It looks like an armored rat to me.” Marley’s nose crinkled with distaste.