Forest hunting.
The two Blades cut through the forest like a surgeon's scalpel, moving both swiftly and precisely.
The ambient sounds of wildlife grew louder as the Blades pressed deeper into the forest. The tension slowly weighed down on each Blade.
The sun's rays pierced through the canopy of leaves on the large trees, allowing for fractured light to scatter on the forest floor.
Martine moved high in the trees, kicking off and perching from branch to branch. She never stayed still for longer than a second, and she didn't need to, as though her vantage point skipped over small details, she could see any movement in the immediate vicinity.
And after what felt like an eternity, but was realistically only a few hours, her keen eyes spotted movement. Someone or something large, blitzing past her vantage point.
Martine narrowed her eyes as she looked in the direction of where the person/animal dashed towards, the sound of footsteps fading into the distance.
"Wildfire?" Martine whispered to herself as she prepared to leap towards the next branch.
But just as she prepared to kick off her branch, the sound of hurried voices could be heard approaching.
Martine quickly huddled against the tree, as she watched two demons dash past her. Moving with unnatural grace and speed, contrary to their massive frames.
Both standing around 2 meters, (or seven feet.) tall.
They had massive curling horns and long whipping tails. Their bodies were coated in what looked to be wooden armor and decorative furs.
Both were armed with massive black-tipped spears and had their six red eyes focused straight ahead.
Martine remained still, her controlled breathing kept silent as she watched the demons fade into the distance.
As the demons gained distance, Martine began to follow them. She jumped down from her vantage point, landing on the ground with a quiet crunch and roll.
She then picked herself up, and sprinted after the demons with a constant pace, keeping just enough distance to not get spotted.
"Demons…" she muttered to herself, "of the hunter variety, they must be after something important." She whispered to herself.
Martine, understanding a little demon tongue thanks to her time with other tribes, listened in on their conversation. "Who could they be after?" She asked herself, "a criminal, a pathfinder?"
It couldn't be Alexander, not only would that be insanely lucky, but there was no way a six-year-old could move that fast.
And Martine was right, it wasn't Alexander they were chasing.
As Martine continued her chase after the demons, she had a gut feeling something was off. Something nagging at her to draw the demons' attention, but was it because of her usual thrill for fun, or something more serious?
Gritting her teeth, Martine decided to follow her gut.
Reaching into her cloak, she retrieved a dart gun, and two poisoned darts from a pouch.
One to paralyze and another that was lethal.
She then loaded the paralyzing dart into her dart gun and aimed at the closer demon. She narrowed her eyes to keep precision as her feet carried her toward the demons with greater speed.
"If they're after something important, then the other demon will keep chasing it, and if not, then I guess that means I shouldn't worry about it either," Martine muttered under her breath as she lined her sights on the demon's neck.
Waiting for the perfect moment, she took in a deep breath and held it. The surrounding forest seemed to slow to a crawl, and Martine squeezed the trigger, the dart flying from the barrel with speed, its aim true.
It found its mark in the back of Noor's neck, punching deep and causing the demon to stagger forward.
Noor let out an angry grunt as he reached behind his back, and snatched out the dart.
His comrade, the authoritative demon, paused dead in his tracks as he turned to see Noor staggering towards a tree, his movements sluggish.
Noor let out a pained grunt as he threw the dart towards him, barely able to move as the toxin infiltrated his large frame.
The authoritative demon looked down at the dart, his eyes narrowing. The demon muttered under his breath as he readied his spear.
Martine swiftly took cover behind a large tree as she loaded the lethal dart. "Now we wait," she whispered to herself.
Does the demon continue his chase, which means whatever he's after is worth dying for, or does he stay with Noor, meaning the target isn't critical.
Martine smirked, "so it wasn't critical." She whispered to herself, "Guess that means I only need one of you alive." Martine moved to reveal herself for a clear shot when suddenly the sound of rushed footsteps could be heard approaching.
The demon hurriedly turned in the direction of the footsteps, where he was greeted by the emerging figure of a large man in a black cloak.
Martine raised a surprised brow as she peeked from her cover.
The demons were chasing Pierre?!
Pierre unsheathed a knife from his leg, its sliver blade reflecting the fractured light of the sun. Pierre replied in the demon's tongue,
Martine narrowed her eyes as she planned her next move. She didn't know Pierre's exact plan, but she knew he wanted the demon alive for questioning.
The only problem was that the demon wasn't going down without a fight.
This was mostly likely why Pierre was running away in the first place, as he couldn't fight a 2-1 with demons and NOT use lethal force.
It would've been a death sentence.
But now, with one demon paralyzed, and the other on edge, maybe Martine could even put the odds and force the demon to talk.
It was worth a shot.
Martine emerged from her cover with her dart gun aiming directly at the demon's neck.
The demon hurried and turned his spear on Martine.
Pierre met Martine's gaze with a knowing look.