Sah Lee paused a moment to think before answering: “Get your best hunters together in groups of three. Send them to the outskirts of the city to find any survivors and scavenge anything that might be useful. If they even think they see or hear vulpen, they come straight back here. That goes for everyone. We’re all hunters, we can face a vulpen pack between us. If we meet back here at dusk, your teams should have had time to do a survey and bring back anyone they find and anything they can carry. If they find anything too heavy for them to carry, it is of no use to us. Your less able hunters can stay here and set up a camp site and a fire. It’s unlikely that a pack of vulpen will attack a sizeable group, but they’ll have to be ready to defend themselves. I’ll spilt my class, my team, to scout the university site and the train station to find out if there is anything left, though from what we have seen so far, I don’t expect to find much. I’ll get a hunting party to go beyond the city to try find prey and water. We’ll camp here tonight and move out before first light.”
“Where to?” Sor Tan asked.
“We’ll pick up the railway line and follow it into the plains. There is nothing for us here. We know we can find food and water on the plains and we can return to our villages as we come to them.”
“What do I do?”
“You said you’re a good hunter. You’re going to lead the hunting party with me. We need to work together Sor Tan. We’ve no time to fight amongst ourselves.”
Sor Tan gave a tight smile. “It looks like you’re the leader now Sah Lee. At least, until we find a village with elders. I’ll be right by your side. I’ll see to my team. Meet me back here with your hunting party.”
Sor Tan turned to jogged back to her group of survivors and started sorting them into groups.
Sah Lee ran back to her class mates who were looking around disconsolately. Rin Tor stood looking into the distance with a lost expression on her face.
“Listen everyone. I met Sor Tan over there.” She gestured behind her. “Her class was on the way to the port. She has most of them and some from another class that they met on their way back here. Their tutors have gone back to the port with a few of the students. Sor Tan is organizing scouting parties and preparing a camp site for tonight. She said there is a rumor of a vulpen pack near the city. Be vigilant and if you see, hear or smell anything that might be a vulpen, get straight back to the camp. I’m going to lead a hunting party outside the city to see if we can find some prey and water. It doesn’t look like we’ll find anything to eat or drink here. I want a party of students to check out the train station, if there’s anything left of it. Rin Tor, would you take six of the students and see if there is anything useful you can find at the University?”
“You’re not in charge!" Han Sek interrupted. "We’re not on the field trip now. Rin Tor is the tutor. She can tell us what to do.”
Rin Tor cleared her throat. “That’s all right, Han Sek. Sah Lee seems to know what she’s doing. I must confess, I am completely bewildered by all of this. The Makers put the four moons in place to protect us. Why did they let this happen?” Her face crumpled, and she abruptly sat on the ground and buried her face in her hands, quietly sobbing. Ran Bor quickly moved over and sat beside her, putting an arm around Rin Tor’s shoulders.
“Perhaps you could go with her, Ran Bor.” Sah Lee said. “Can you get five other students to go with you?”
“Of course, just give me a few minutes and we’ll get going.”
Mah Dak, Lat Raan and three more students walked over to gather round Rin Tor and Ran Bor.
“It looks like you’ve got your volunteers. Tir Mal and Kel Mai, I want you in my hunting team. They both came and stood by her.
“Would you come with me too please?” Sah Lee asked Han Sek.
“Why, so you can keep an eye on me?” She sneered.
“Because you are a skilled hunter, a good runner and I’ve seen you fighting at the fight club. And, so I can keep an eye on you.”
Han Sek gave a wry smile and walked over to stand with her.
Sah Lee quickly picked another four students and asked the rest to go as a group to check out the site of the train station, telling them it was about one thousand paces east of where they were now. She told everyone to be back at the camp site by dusk,
“Where do we go now?” Han Sek asked.
“We’re going to meet Sor Tan, she’s coming with us, then we’re heading out of the city. We’ve got about six hours daylight left so we’ll need to hurry.”
“You and Sor Tan on the same hunting party! Who’s going to be hunt leader?”
“I am.”
“That will be an interesting conversation when you try to explain that to Sor Tan. I look forward to seeing that.” Han Sek said with a smirk.
Chapter Ten
Surveying The Ruins
Sah Lee set a fast pace, and they quickly found Sor Tan. As soon as she saw them approach, Sor Tan and her team ran to join them. She fell in beside Sah Lee.
“What’s the plan?” She asked.
“We travel as quickly as we can for a tenth of a day. That will take us well beyond the area of destruction, then we’ll start hunting. That will give us half a tenth of a day to hunt before we must return. If we find clean water on the way out, we’ll stop briefly to drink and fill our bottles. We’ll note the spot and refill on the way back.”
“Half a tenth? That’s not long to stalk an imaya or farun.”
“If we stop soon enough to give us more time to hunt, there won’t be anything around to kill. We heard whatever it was that happened a day and a half’s travel away, you must have been closer. I’m pretty sure there won’t be any prey around for miles, but there may be some ranuals that took shelter in holes, so that’s what we’ll be looking for. We’ll also look for any edible roots, leaves and berries in case there aren’t even any ranuals.”
“You’re good at this. It’s just as well I made you hunt leader.” Sor Tan said with a grin.
Sah Lee grinned back at her, then stepped up the pace.
After two-and-a-half hours of hard running, Sah Lee called a stop, and the group gathered around her.
“We’ll get our breath back before we start hunting. Forget trying to find anything bigger, we’re after ranual, edible roots, berries and leaves. If you find clean water have a drink, fill your bottle, make a note of the spot and keep hunting. We haven’t got much time. We’ll meet back here in half a tenth and if we’ve found water, we’ll all go to the nearest water hole, drink and fill our bottles, then we’ll make a fast run back. If anyone gets hurt, stop hunting immediately and come back here with your partner. We won’t have time to search for you, which is why we aren’t splitting up to go off by ourselves, even though we could cover more ground that way. Tir Mal, Han Sek and Kel Mai, you’re together, you two,” Sah Lee said gesturing at the two remaining students, “you’re together. Look after each other. Your safety is more important than prey. Look out for signs of vulpen. If you see any, call out and come straight back here. If you hear anyone calling, get back here. Don’t be late back. Sor Tan and I will be together. Good hunting.”
Each of the teams headed off in a different direction, half crouching, sniffing for scent and eyes sweeping back and forth looking for telltale traces of prey.
As soon as they were out of earshot of the others Sah Lee asked: “How good are you at scenting water?”
“Pretty good, but I thought we were looking for food?”
“We can all manage for several days without food, but we won’t last long without water. My group are nearly all out of water. How about your group?”
“The same. We didn’t stop to look for any on the way back here, we just wanted to get back and see what had happened.”
“We’ll concentrate on finding water and hope the others find something to eat.”
“OK, you’re really good at this.” Sor Tan grinned. “But I’m the one clever enough to put you in charge.”
The time was nearly up when
Sor Tan caught the scent of water. She and Sah Lee filled their bottles and had a drink.
“Not too much.” Sah Lee said. “It will lay heavy in you during our run back.”
Sor Tan raised an eyebrow. “I know, I’m the clever one, remember?”
Sah Lee laughed and said: “Come on, let’s get back quickly and bring the others back here. We’re cutting it fine to get back while there’s still light.” In a more serious tone, she continued: “It’s not just the devastation, or vulpen, something’s not right. There is safety in numbers, Let’s get back to the others.”
Sah Lee broke into a run. Sor Tan paused a moment and bent down to pick up a fist sized rock. She ran to catch up with Sah Lee. As she drew abreast of her, she swung the rock at the side of her head. The rock connected with a solid thunk and Sah Lee collapsed mid stride, skidding for almost a pace length, face down in the dust. Blood poured from the deep wound on her head and started to form a small bloody puddle.
Sor Tan dropped the rock and continued to run with a mirthless smile on her face. “I said I was the clever one.” she said quietly to herself.
Chapter Eleven
Sor Tan Returns
Sor Tan came running into the meeting point and yelling out “Vulpen! Run!”
The other hunting teams had returned, relaxing, sitting or lying on the ground. They jumped up, shocked by Sor Tan’s words. They had all heard of vulpen packs, but it was many years since any had been seen. If a pack were to come to the plains, large hunting parties made from several villages would go out to hunt and destroy them.
Sor Tan continued running back towards the city while the rest of the group grabbed their possessions and ran to catch up behind her. Sor Tan kept up such a fast pace that there was no time to talk.
After two hours of hard running, Sor Tan and her companions reached the campsite in the city. She skidded to a halt and bent over panting. The rest of the hunting group followed, her, equally breathless.
Rin Tor came over and stood by Sor Tan and laid her hand on her shoulder.
“What is it Sor Tan? What’s the matter? And where is Sah Lee?”
“Sah Lee?” asked Sor Tan, gasping for breath, “She’s not come back yet?”
“No,” replied Rin Tor, “why, what happened to her?”
“We were hunting in groups,” Sor Tan said between breaths, “Sah Lee and I were about to return to the rendezvous point when I saw a vulpen running right at us. I knew there would be more of them close by, they live and hunt in packs, so I thought if we both attacked it and killed it quickly the others may not notice us. I threw a rock at it expecting Sah Lee to join in but saw her running away. I got a lucky hit with the rock and stunned it, so I turned and ran back to the group as fast as I could. I don’t know what happened to Sah Lee. I hoped that she was making her way back here, but she may have run into the vulpen pack. May the Makers protect her.”
“She didn’t stop to fight it with you? That doesn’t sound like Sah Lee.” Rin Tor said.
“I can only tell you what I saw. Now, in case the vulpen got our scent, I suggest that we build the fire up and prepare for an attack. Half of will us stay ready to defend the camp while the other half rest. We will swap over at midnight. I don’t think we’ll get much sleep but at least we’ll be rested. I remember being told that the vulpen only hunt between dusk and dawn, so we’ll break camp at first light and travel onto the plains as fast as we can. I’m sorry Rin Tor, I seem to be taking over. You are the most senior person here, you take charge.”
“I don’t know what to do Sor Tan, I’m just an academic. We need an experienced hunter who knows the plains. You know what to do, so you take the lead. I do know about the vulpen though. I have read all the histories that tell of the times when they freely roamed the plains, preying on the Aarnth. They are big, powerful and lethal predators, difficult to kill. I fear for our small band if they should attack us, but you are right, they only hunt in the dark, and they are afraid of fire. If we survive the night and get far away in the morning, we should be safe.”
“Very well Rin Tor, I’ll assume leadership for the time being. You four,” Sor Tan addressed four of the students who had been in the hunting party, “gather all the prey we brought back from our hunt and anything else we have to eat. We’ll divide it into two halves - those resting now will eat, when we swap, the others will eat. My hunters, we’ll rest first and take over the guard at midnight. The rest of you, bring any weapons you have and gather round me.”
There was some muttering amongst the group. Not all of them were happy about Sor Tan being in command, and those that knew Sah Lee doubted that she would have run away in the face of danger. But none of them would stand against Sor Tan.
The group gathered in front of Sor Tan, some eager and attentive, some with downcast eyes and scuffing their feet.
“I don’t know if we can hold off a pack of vulpen, but if we’re lucky, they won’t find us here. If they do, from what little we know about them, we can only stop them if we work together. There are nineteen of you. I want you to form into three teams of four, with Por Fah, Sen Tak and Arl Ret making up the third group, You three are the biggest and strongest. Each group go to a corner of the camp and take cover in a position close to the camp perimeter where you have got good vision of anything approaching. Your job is not to attack but to warn us. We’re all hunters - apart from you, Rin Tor - we’ve all slept out on a hunt with our ears open, ready to wake up as soon as alerted in case of danger. This is no different. If the vulpen come, we all take our part in defense.”
Sor Tan turned away with a self-satisfied smirk on her face. She was the undisputed leader now. With Sah Lee dead there was no one to challenge her. The fear of the vulpen would bind them together. None of them would want to split the group up and go off by themselves with that threat
They may not get any rest, scared that a vulpen pack may attack, but she would sleep well, safe in the knowledge that the nearest vulpen were many days travel away, deep in the northern forests.
As Sor Tan walked away, Rin Tor thought, “Vulpen only attack in the dark, and they hunt in packs. What was a solitary vulpen doing attacking Sah Lee and Sor Tan in broad daylight?”
Chapter Twelve
Return To The City
Sah Lee coughed and a blinding pain shot through her head. She blinked her eyes open and realized that she was laying on the ground. She coughed again and winced as the pain took hold of her head once more. She sat up and looked at the sky. The sun had long gone, the only light were the stars and the glimmer of the Necklet, high in the sky above. None of the four moons were visible, so she knew it must be nearly dawn. She gingerly touched the side of her head and felt a large gash above her ear with the surrounding skin swollen and tender. She held her hand in front of her and saw the blood on her fingers, black in the dim light.
Sah Lee had no memory of what happened. The last thing she remembered clearly was finding water with Sor Tan. They were due to meet the rest of the hunting team in time to get back before sundown. She glanced round. She was far from the water hole and there was no sign of Sor Tan. She felt a twinge of fear as she remembered Sor Tan had told her there may be a vulpen pack in the area. Had they dragged Sor Tan away? Trying to ignore the pain in her head, Sah Lee bent down and looked closely at the ground around her. There were no paw marks, but Sor Tan’s footprints were clear in the dust, even in the dim light.
She carefully stood up and checked herself over. She had grazes on her chin and cheek, and grazes on both knees where she had fallen. Looking down she saw that she had skidded along the ground for almost five hand-widths. That meant she had been running when she fell, which could mean a vulpen had leapt on her back as she ran, but there were no scratches or grazes on her hands, which she would have used to break her fall. That would probably mean she was unconscious before she fell. Reaching over to check her back and shoulders, she could feel no scratches and her tunic wasn’t torn. Also, she would have expected a vulpen to h
ave bitten her neck or head as she went down. And they always hunted in packs, but there were no paw prints. It didn’t make sense.
She looked to the east and saw the first glimmer of dawn light on the horizon. She could see well enough to run at a jog in this light, but her head hurt so much that she didn’t want to jar it. She also wanted to go carefully and be on her guard for vulpen. She drew her hunting knife from the sheath strapped to her back. Holding it ready for use, she moved in a half crouch to examine the surrounding ground. Sor Tan’s tracks went past where she fell showing no sign of pausing and Sah Lee had fallen on top of the tracks. As she looked further back, she could see that Sor Tan’s footprints were on top of hers, which meant she had been in front of Sor Tan. The only explanation was that she had been running in the lead and had fallen as Sor Tan came abreast of her. But that didn’t make sense either.
She turned around and walked slowly, following Sor Tan’s footprints, casting around as she went, looking for paw prints or anything else out of the ordinary.
By the time that the sun peeked over the horizon, she reached the rendezvous point. The air had been still overnight, so apart from a set of ranual tracks that ran from one side to the other, the tracks were as fresh as they had been when the students who made them left.
It was clear that soon after Sor Tan had arrived, they all left in the direction of the ruined city, running fast. There were still no paw prints or any other sign of vulpen
Sah Lee sat on a rock and took a long drink of water. She had plenty of it; she filled all three of her water bottles when she and Sor Tan found the water hole. She felt better than when she first woke, but her head was still pounding. She could do with something to eat, but she wasn’t up to hunting yet, even for ranual.
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