The Shining Wyrm

2.2

When they were drawing close to the border of the forest and the meadow, the riders dismounted and set their horses to loose ties on branches near the trail. Alexander stretched and did a few squats to work the ache out of his thighs.

The saddle was not as well proportioned for her brother, since he would eventually grow into it. He had to sit with a wider splay to his legs than Muriel or any of the hunters did on their own horse.

After that the hunting party moved softly on foot. Jewel settled on far less exuberant strides, keeping herself practically belly crawling, bunching herself with twists from side to side instead of arcing her spine in humps.

It was harder to remain quiet like this. Her tail took extra concentration to avoid lashing at the brush and shrubs.

Her wings were especially awkward impediments and limited the routes she could take, while Alexander and the four hunters could take narrow passes between brambles and underbrush.

The soft leather of their hunting shoes and even steps barely disturbed the grass and hardly made a sound at all.

They had circled around the side of the meadow to stay downwind, and Jewel could smell the warren even before they saw it.

She could smell the beasts gnashing at the freshly sprout soft leaves of clover and meadow grass. The pleas and dire warnings tingling in her nose to try and muster for those around they needed to grow more bitter against the endless devouring.

The smell of the rabbit’s prey dying was almost stronger than their own scents.

A glance to Muriel for permission was rebuked with a gentle shake of the head.

Jewel’s pleading eyes got an eyeroll from the governess as she slowed her approach to stalk beside Jewel and whisper softly.

“I know you can smell them, young lady, but let your brother win by his own merit, not yours. It’s his hunt and his glory this day. We are here for his honor, to be there for his triumphs.”

Jewel could hear the unsaid but still present message in her tone that they would also be there to commiserate with Alexander for his failures too on this hunt. Should he not be able to make any of his marks himself.

So she held her tongue despite the growing scent of rabbits eating. Mingling and interlaced with the scent were the other beasts walking through the meadow and the vegetation there.

There was a great many Quail foraging amidst the taller grass just over a rise away from where the four hunters and Alex were stalking forward. They were careful to avoid disturbing by noise, scent or sight as they entered the sun-dappled clearing of the meadow.

The other animals added their scent as Jewel paused at the edge of the clearing. The grass would perhaps conceal her, but it was too rich a green to fully hide the shine of her scales. If it was third summer or early autumn the grass would blend well and obscure her.

But the shoots of all the plants were still young and fresh despite the carnage chewing and biting through them everywhere.

Muriel nodded at her restraint and then strode hunched and hidden into the tall grass, trailing her brother, leaving her to watch the meadow and drink in the rivers of scent that carried on the wind.

Burrowing beasts she had never seen before announced their presence from the earth. Small field mice practically chirped their presence among the taller stalks.

Even the faint sweet scent of bees and others of the world’s smallest of birds settled into her nose as they flitted upon the summer blooms before ascending above the tall grasses and entering Jewel’s view.

Standing this close to the quarry, their ears alert, and trying to line up a good shot on the warren and its rabbits, the party no longer spoke. She could not spot them through the drifting grass and had to guess that they were catching one another’s eyes and gesturing circumspectly to guide and consider the situation before them.

Her nose tickled with Alexander’s sweat, the four hunters and Muriel’s own musk. So much like their horses and yet distinctly unique to any other beast Jewel knew.

Their leathers added a unique fragrance that took a forefront with no other senses to distract.

Jewel imagined they must have found a vantage to line up a shot since their smell was no longer moving further into the field.

And it was not very far from the diffuse presence of the rabbits and the midmorning meal she had already caught.

A quick glance to make sure no one was looking and Jewel slid her tongue loose into the air to taste, letting the fuzzy sense of presence sharpen to clear rivulets of scent dancing in the wind, arcing over and through each other like a tapestry’s weave.

Making sharp and clear all the presences of plant and beast all through the meadow. Practically rendering the obscurement to sight an afterthought.

Yes, that was her brother down low enough for a crouch, but the distinct shift suggested where his arms were poised, exposing his pits more as he pulled back on the bow string. She could not hear the strain of the string over the sound of the many beasts in the field.

The wind told the story, a spike of tension rising, he was breathing harder. Jewel could taste it on the wind, lapping the details out of the air and then the twang of a bowstring released and the muffled skid and clatter of an arrow that missed flesh and instead drug a furrow in the dirt.

The short plants cut by the arrow’s passing screamed their blood voices into the perfume of the meadow. Sharp and sudden and unlike any nibble or browsing. Shocking all that grew with their suddenness.

The rabbit’s scents spiked in terror and Jewel found herself little concerned that she could disturb the quarry more than the scattering rabbit already had been.

She strode still quietly but quite openly, not close enough to spook the quail from their huddling in the tall grass. It would be rude in case maybe the hunters might want to have her brother try for a shot at them.

She arrived at the clearing, with not a single rabbit visible but plenty hiding out of sight by their smell, her brother stomping over to inspect his arrow and the four other hunters already unspooling twine rope and their knives to fashion some snares to leave near the burrows.

“Well sour luck that, we will try again at the next clearing, young Sir, and circle back through here to check the snares. On our return though. No worries, plenty of daylight left.”

Jewel caught Muriel’s attention then turned her gaze up to the clouds, which while still scattered and fluffy were starting to smell with a ponderance of the rains to come.

She could feel the lightning in waiting, gently tugging upon her own flame.

Her Governess considered the sky but offered a slightly raised brow.

Jewel glared briefly, then turned to look at poor Alexander going after his arrow off into the woods.

Her brother was shortly huffing back into the clearing, already inspecting his arrow like it had personally betrayed him. But far as Jewel could see the fletching hadn't even been mussed from its short trip into the loam and shrubbery.

Given the opportunity she sidled up to the group she shot Muriel a defiant look and then spoke softly to avoid spooking the quarry she was about to share.

“There is a flock of quail huddled in the brush over there, just shy of fifty paces.”

Which got a brief look from Muriel, but it’s not like any of them were likely to have noticed the fowl without her.

Also as the hunters and her brother were distracted she caught the Governess’ eye and pointed even more obviously with her eyes up at the slowly building mood of rain above. It was so obvious but Jewel found some times she needed to exaggerate.

Muriel looked again and then seemed to finally have a realization and with a silent sigh and a subtle nod acquiesced. It was best to not have the day be a total waste from weather, and the more attempts her brother got the less the sting of not hitting anything might be.

Tenacity had an honor all its own, after all.

Alexander was looking hopefully up at the elder of the Hunters. Kraok was rubbing his beard and considering Alexander, bow in one hand and a still unbroken or bloodied arrow in the other. A short look to their Governess responded with an ascending nod.

“Alright, worth the shot if we can get in position, Quail are very alert and easily spooked, so we best settle in and try for a hide to see if we can get a clear shot rather than trying to creep up to them. Worst case, you get in position and we drive them to the sky for you sir. You spotted them where, Lady Jewel?”

She did not correct him that she had yet to properly see them at all but pointed where the birds were still huddling close to the ground beneath the field grass swaying in the wind. Just across the meadow.

“Mmm, we will want to take an ambush this way, then. Gimletson, you finish up the snares, you two take up a position on the other side just in case. This way, young Sir.”

With that the hunters split up, one staying there by the mostly (there were pups down below, huddled away for safety, but that was not the hunt today) abandoned warren with Jewel and Muriel, and two circling around silently into the meadow to one side while Alexander and Kraok disappeared from sight to the other.

Muriel watched Jewel with a look that was rather familiar. It was the one she got whenever Jewel was signaling to Alexander how to spell a word that gave him trouble or hinted the answer to a pointed question.

Jewel knew Muriel wanted to give her another lecture over cheating the spirit of an activity.

But given they were still on the hunt she held her admonishments to just a glare.

Jewel had brought up to Mother and Father only once how she thought their Governess hated poor Alexander. But when she explained her suspicions and why Mother and Father had both laughed and then gently told her that she needed to not coddle her brother so much.

Worse, they had started gently forbidding her from helping her brother as much from then on.

Jewel settled down into a lazy coiling loop in the meadow. Flattening down the grass in a pleasing spiral of stalks, she waited for the sound of Alexander’s bow.

This hunt was Important to Alexander. And it was her duty as his sister to help him find his honor out here.