Cutlass Sharpened (26 page)

During the retelling, Stone and the others
arrived, removed their armor and quietly sat own. The elders
sometimes glanced to the young Hunters and companions in attempt to
discover any farfetched lies, but found none as the six nodded
right along.

Three hours later he closed the story saying
“and left the empty plantation to arrive here.”

“
Do any of you have anything
to add?” Elder Scythe rubbed his shaven head.

“
He said it all. All
I
could add is to keep an
open mind. He has repeatedly destroyed my assumptions of what is
possible.”

“
Then I will have him in my
bed tonight.” Elder Javelin said as she turned on her side, showing
off great attributes.

“
I beg you not to be
offended, but you do not smell right.” Oliver blushed
some.

“
Oh? Do elaborate.” She
didn’t take offense.

“
You are indeed beautiful
and strong… but not strong enough.”

“
Not strong enough? Is there
some reason I’m not aware of.”

“
My blood is not afire,
Elder Javelin. My cock is not rising at the thought of you in the
way I do when imagining Renee Dorgen.”

“
Do not be offended. He’s
been propositioned several times by the crew, Elder.” Deegen said.
“His senses are very acute. Bell will not be mated by a male
inferior to her. She’s an alpha female.” The wolf dropped her snout
in a nod. “If his sense of smell is better than hers, he probably
can tell Ms. Dorgen has a trait ideal for him.”

“
But what makes me weak? If
I have weakness I must develop it or risk it being my
end.”

“
She is a class
twelve
, Elder. Like her
father Jake Dorgen.” Steven snapped his fingers as an idea was made
clear to him. “She would be an ideal Hunter’s mate had she become a
sister. Her children would likely have higher psionic abilities.
With Oliver’s sense of smell, he is attracted to it. The strong
alpha female gets the best males. With Oliver’s own abilities, they
would have psionic and physical attributes exceeding normal
children.”

“
Then I’m content.” She
said. “No offense taken, Brother. I’m in need of a good fuck
anyway. Elder Scythe, will you scratch my itch?”

“
I’m afraid I’ve made
promises, but I would be honored once I’m done to please such a
sublime woman. Please, rest up in my room. I will be there around
midnight if all is well done.”

“
Then I will be waiting.”
She retired.

The other ten likewise got up, taking with
themselves a copy of Oliver’s report.

Elder Scythe stood and gave a mighty stretch,
making the loose shirt get snug. “Brother, let us begin tracking.
Meet me in the back courtyard. Young ones, you need rest as well.”
He tapped his ear and called three names and told them to come.

In practically no time at all Oliver was
rejoined by the massive elder along with three older teenagers. Two
girls and a younger boy. Introductions were made by the elder and
hands were shook. Apparently the teens were in awe of Oliver,
probably due to the fact so few were as physically overwhelming as
the elder of the village. Out in the spacious courtyard, many that
trained had left for the evening and made it very quiet compared to
the sparring before.

Scythe drew his battleaxes and stuck one of
the impaling spikes fixed to the tip in the ground to draw a rough
diagram. “Oliver, this represents the village. You came from this
direction, the southwest, but we are going northeast. You want to
track? I’ll start you off on a simple Beast hunt on an elusive Mole
that has been giving us some issues recently. Its tracks look like
this…” he stabbed the dirt.

“
Isn’t is more like this?”
Oliver knelt and used his thumb and forefinger to represent the
track.

The elder smirked. “That is a queen’s track.
I take it you memorized all Beast paw prints then?”

“
Beast, animal, Keptl and
Creelin fauna actually.” Oliver confessed. “I have the written
techniques, but I do not have their scent memorized or actual
experience in tracking.”

“
Then half the battle is
won, Brother.” He turned to the teens. “Young Ones, we hunt in
stealth. Keep your weapons ready and mouths closed. I know you’ve
hunted Moles before, but even I can fall before the E-Rank vermin.
Keep your helmets on as well. No need to be hit by their poisonous
spit.” The three teenagers all vanished behind full helmets and
drew their weapons. “Ancient Brother, I will lead you to the last
seen reports.”

Oliver’s casual attire changed to the caped,
seamless body armor, but his head remained open, like the elder.
The kids gasped. “I’m ready.”

Elder Scythe hung his great double bladed
battleaxes across his broad back and jogged across the ground,
Oliver lazily keeping pace at the man’s side. The three gangly
youths following. They didn’t go back down the cliff, but kept
going across the expanse and startled a flock of pheasants hiding
in the tall grass. One got snatched up by a falcon companion with
different markings than Oliver knew Satellite had.

The sustainable run crossed into a forest
before reaching a staircase going up the onyx wall that surrounded
the entire village. Oliver simply dropped ten meters without
grabbing a zip-line the four other’s took to reach the ground.
Elder Scythe was startled Oliver was unharmed dropping so far and
not the least bit sore. Anyone else would have shattered every bone
in their legs. The kids were whispering among themselves, but they
soon restarted the run.

Twenty minutes later Elder Scythe came to an
abrupt halt and knelt beside a mound of freshly churned earth.
“Brother, tell me what you see here.”

Oliver knelt beside the
ground and looked down a deep hole. He took a sniff. Musky, wet and
pungent odors wafted from it. It wasn’t greatly mouthwatering, but
it wasn’t unsettling. “It’s definitely a Mole exit tunnel. There
are no gouge marks from digging
down
, but it didn’t come out. Why?”
the elder opened his mouth. “Wait.” Oliver took a deep inhale.
“Coppery salt? I smell faint traces of blood. Not human… a
herbivore I think. It doesn’t smell like a predator.”

“
Not a bad nose you got
there. Look a half meter to your left.” The elder
pointed.

Oliver readjusted and took a closer look. “A
deer?”

“
A young doe. Look how the
hooves curve. Moles ambush like Vipers… from underground. The doe
was killed and taken. I found the barest traces of blood, but Mole
venom acts fast.”

“
Did it drag the deer to its
subterranean nest?” Oliver asked.

“
First, do you have its
scent?” he nodded. “Second, can you tell if there are
others?”

“
Three were with the one
that came up. One is a young, pregnant female.”

“
How do you know?” one girl
asked and her intrigue wasn’t reprimanded by the elder’s earlier
command for silence.

“
The Mole has a similar
smell to a woman I met near to giving birth. I think the male took
the deer to feed her.”

“
Correct. You do have a
natural knack for hunting Beasts.” Scythe clapped the dirt from his
hands. “You may not remember, but your instincts are keen. Indeed
there is a female. Signs of recent animals vanishing by Mole holes
in this area support your deductions. This female will become a
queen if left to claim territory so close to the village. Now comes
the part experience plays. It won’t be in data files, Brother, but
from hunting many Moles. Instead of crawling through the tunnels
they left, I can tell you that we must go in that
direction.”

“
Why?” Oliver asked as he
looked in the direction the man pointed.

“
Look close at how the
ground rises gradually. Mole nests are often situated in a hill.
When the rains come, their tunnels will flood, but their nests
remain nice and dry as most of the water will run downhill. Find
the peak of the nearest and largest hill, find the
nest.”

“
But don’t Moles hunt at
twilight?” Oliver asked as he looked to the fading sunlight peeking
between the dense, humid jungle.

“
Precisely.” He turned.
“Young Ones, make a triangular pattern and climb the trees to gain
the best vantage a half kilometer
that
way. Brother Oliver and I will
deal with the Moles, you watch. Learn.”

“
Yes, Elder.” They all said
and jogged in a triangular formation into the brush, weapons ready
and crackling with blue-white around the sharp ends.

Oliver decided to hang back and take in all
the nuances Scythe displayed. Taking a few steps, pause, kneel,
brush grass aside. As they kept going further and further into the
foliage Oliver found it harder and harder to hear the man in the
brush. Without keeping eye contact, he would swear Scythe was no
longer physically there. Oliver took the strange way he moved and
his own sounds dampened more and more. He began to see tiny sticks
that would break under his weight and turned an ankle just enough
to avoid stepping on it and alerting his position. He no longer
stepped down on grass, but pushed it forward with a foot and laid
them flat. No crinkling. It took some practice moving, but Scythe
paused and turned his head to offer a proud smile as Oliver
successfully masked his stalking through the jungle and made no
sound.

The change from day to night also made a new
sound with the insects, as if the heat of the day made them more
active at night, which also meant louder. Oliver knew he would be
miserable without his armor. It prevented insects from attacking
his body. After a few annoying bites on his neck, ears and face,
his full mask solved the problem. Mosquitoes abruptly stopped
buzzing in his ear and left as if he had gone invisible to their
senses. Oliver was grateful. But even with the mask that covered
all but his eyes, he could still smell and breathe as if nothing
was there to block.

In the final seconds of sunlight Oliver
caught the minor silvery reflection on newer Hunter armor and found
one of the girls up a tree, in position.

“
Elder Scythe,” Oliver
whispered with all quietness and the man paused, pointed ears
hearing the tone of warning loud and clear. “I’m smelling the Moles
coming from all around us. I think their scent is seeping up from
the ground itself. I believe this is their home.”

He spoke just as quietly and Oliver heard
without having hearing augmentation. “Then we must be extra
cautious. They will be awake and hunting at this hour. Do you see
any rocks near the size of your fist?”

“
Just one. I’m coming to
you.” Oliver picked it up and stealthily came beside the helmeted
man. He passed the stone and Scythe tied his grappling hook and
string around it. As he worked, Oliver noticed a rather small
clearing several meters ahead completely empty of grass. The ground
looked newly tilled like the first hole found.

Scythe took the rock and spun it around and
around before sending it up over a tree limb. It landed loudly with
a thump. “Now to lure them out.” He whispered.

A gentle tug made the stone thump the ground
in a way that spoke of a large, wandering animal. Apparently it was
too good a chance to pass and after several fake animal steps the
ground began to shake just barely. Oliver drew his blade, but
Scythe held a hand over his left, a gesture to wait. The man paused
and the ground too stilled. After a pause, he tugged on the line
again. The ground shook. Pause of rock paused the ground.

At the edge of the clearing when the rock
made it, Olive saw a pink star shaped Mole nose barely poke from
the ground. It didn’t move and Scythe drew the walking rock across
the ground. Right as the would be animal would have been over it a
thick spitting sound launched an ominous violet, vile liquid up
into the air before a large, pink body behind long yellow teeth
shot from the ground intent to catch prey.

Once again Scythe held Oliver back. It became
clear why after a few moments when a second, lager male followed
the other out. They made spine tingling screeching sounds, but then
the hand let go. Each was three times that of a man, hairless and
had weak, beady yes, but had a strong sense of smell and felt the
subtlest vibrations.

Oliver salivated as he sprang out from behind
the cover of trees and swung his sword just as the two spit their
venom right at him. A slicing wave flew from the sword just as it
did with the Salamander. Two Moles were sliced horizontally as if
nothing was there. The wave’s energy dissipated before reaching the
other end of the clearing. But the spat venom was too much and
widespread to completely avoid.

Dodging landed him back as violet bubbles
down his right arm, leg and over the cape, but as with the blood
from the Stingray, it gathered in a nasty ball in his left hand to
drop onto the ground.

“
We need armor like yours,
Brother.” Scythe quietly stated. “No longer will we need to wash
our armor from venom or other toxins.”

“
Give me some time to figure
it out and I may be able to see if the nanites can clean rather
than just repair your armor.”

“
If it is possible, I will
be in your debt. As will all our brothers and sisters, but right
now we have one last Mole to slay. If she is not heavily pregnant
she will come. If not, we must draw her out the hard
way.”