Seren eventually decided to ask. Not because she was suspicious or accusing Panett of anything, she was simply curious. The other archers looked curious too.
"Panett." She called.
The woman looked up. "Yes?"
Seren gestured toward the dead Bogart. "That arrow, how did it inflict the damage it did, a normal arrow definitely wouldn’t do that."
Several heads imdiately turned. Apparently everyone had been waiting for soone to ask.
Panett followed their gazes toward the corpse before understanding what they ant. "Oh." She seed almost surprised that anyone was interested. "It’s too nothing special."
They all imdiately looked unconvinced. The arrow had practically buried itself inside a Bogart’s neck. That definitely sounded special.
Panett smiled slightly. "The arrows are different."
"What do you an?" one of the archers asked.
"The arrowheads."
She pulled one from her quiver and held it up. The others gathered around, and the difference beca obvious imdiately. The arrowhead was narrower than normal arrows and significantly sharper, the tal tip looked more like a spike than a broad hunting head.
"I had these made years ago," Panett explained, her finger running lightly across the tal point. "They’re stronger and much sharper. Better for piercing thick hides."
The knight who had nearly died stared at the arrow. "So that’s how it went through the Bogart."
Panett nodded. "Normal arrows can kill them too, but these have a much easier ti getting through tougher skin. When the Bogart jumped, I switched arrows."
Several archers blinked. "You changed arrows?"
Panett nodded again. "The mont it leaped."
The realization made a few of them stare. Not only had she reacted fast enough to shoot, she had reacted fast enough to recognize the danger, select a different arrow, draw, aim, and fire, all within a few heartbeats.
One of the younger archers whistled. "That’s actually impressive."
A few others nodded. The knight looked at the arrow, then at Panett, then back at the arrow, then back at Panett again. Clearly he still couldn’t quite believe what had happened.
"Well," Seren said with a small smile, "That was a very good decision."
Panett shrugged. "Yes, it worked."
That only made the others laugh. "It worked," one of them repeated. "She says that after saving soone’s life."
More laughter followed. The tension left the group completely after that. The fear that the now dead Bogart had inflicted on them was now gone.
A few monts later they gathered around the Bogart’s corpse. Now that nobody was in danger anymore, excitent began replacing fear. The creature was huge. One of the archers kicked its side. "That’s a lot of at."
"A very lot of at."
"Castle kitchen is going to love this."
The knight who had nearly been killed volunteered to carry it. Nobody argued, it was a heavy one. And if anyone had earned the right to carry the thing, it was probably him, the Bogart had almost carried him instead. Using a pole and so rope, they secured the creature and prepared it for transport.
Then the hunt continued.
The group moved deeper into the forest. The trees beca thicker as they advanced, sunlight filtering through gaps in the canopy above and creating shifting patterns across the ground. Their pace slowed. Now they weren’t just walking, they were hunting.
Soon enough they began spotting signs: tracks, broken branches, disturbed patches of earth. The forest was full of clues once soone knew how to look for them. Seren occasionally pointed things out as they traveled.
"See that?" Several archers followed her gaze. A cluster of leaves had been crushed beneath sothing heavy. "Sothing passed through here recently."
Further ahead she pointed toward a tree. "The bark." A section had been scraped away. "Probably antlers."
The archers listened attentively. For many of them this was their first real hunting trip. Training targets didn’t leave footprints, didn’t move, and certainly didn’t hide.
A little later they found droppings, then more tracks, then signs of rabbits.
The group managed to bring down four rabbits without much trouble.
But as the morning continued, they began finding signs of sothing much larger. The footprints alone were enough to tell them that.
One of the knights crouched beside a track. His eyebrows rose. "That’s a big one."
Several archers gathered around. The print was enormous, whatever had made it weighed considerably more than a deer. Fresh marks could also be seen on nearby bushes where sothing large had brushed past.
"It went this way."
The group imdiately began tracking it. Excitent spread through the archers. A large animal ant more at, and more importantly, it ant a proper challenge. For nearly half an hour they followed the trail.
Then eventually, they found it.
A Cteedle.
Several archers stopped imdiately. The creature stood in a clearing ahead, resembling an enormous cow, only much fatter and significantly wilder. Its hide was covered in coarse brown fur, and powerful muscles shifted beneath the skin every ti it moved. Unlike cattle, it possessed no horns, but judging from its size, it probably didn’t need them. The thing looked heavy enough to run through a tree.
One of the archers whispered, "That’s huge."
The knight nodded. "Good amount of at too."
The Cteedle continued grazing peacefully, completely unaware that over a dozen people were staring at it. Seren slowly raised her hand, and everyone understood imdiately: get ready. Bows were drawn, arrows were nocked, breaths slowed.
Then... a twig snapped.
The Cteedle’s head shot upward. Its eyes widened. And then it ran. Fast. Very fast. Much faster than any creature that large had any right to move.
"After it!" Seren shouted.
The hunt imdiately exploded into chaos. Archers rushed forward, the knight sprinted alongside them, and the Cteedle crashed through bushes and trees while desperately trying to escape. Arrows flew. Several missed completely. One struck a tree, another buried itself in dirt, a third flew over the creature’s back.
The archers quickly learned sothing important: hunting was not target practice. Targets didn’t run, didn’t dodge, and didn’t suddenly change direction halfway through a shot. The Cteedle did all three, again and again. Even Panett missed one shot, the realization shocked several archers. If Panett could miss, then nobody should feel bad about missing too.
The chase continued. Branches slapped against faces, roots threatened to trip them, and the Cteedle refused to slow down.
Then finally Seren saw an opportunity. The creature leaped over a fallen log, and for a brief mont its movent beca predictable. Seren released.
THOOM!
The arrow struck its rear leg. The Cteedle imdiately stumbled, not enough to fall, but enough to slow down. And that was all the opportunity the others needed.
"Now!"
Arrows filled the air. Panett fired, then another archer, then another. Several shots landed almost simultaneously. The wounded creature staggered, blood appearing across its side. A final volley followed, and the massive animal took several more steps before its legs finally gave out beneath it.
It crashed heavily into the ground. The earth shook beneath the impact.
Then nothing. The Cteedle was down.
For a mont nobody spoke. Then cheers erupted throughout the forest.
Another one successfully down!
They had done it. And judging by the size of the creature lying in front of them, Percvale’s kitchens were about to beco very busy.
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