"Two miracks? Jenna, you believe him?" Jonah asked in disbelief, clearly not expecting to be answered seriously.

  "I saw the dex claw indentations myself, and I trust Korin's instincts," Jenna said.

  He scoffed. "The instincts of a cook, you mean? His instincts of how much seasoning to add to meat, when a boar is done roasting, and what the boiling temperature for water is. Those marks were probably from the same mirack. Get to bed, guys. We have a pursuit to complete tomorrow."

  Unlike Jonah, Em and Obrick were visibly put off by the possibility of two mirasauls. One was hard enough to hunt. Two was suicide for copper hunters.

  "Do you really think there's two?" Em whispered to Korin.

  "Doesn't matter what I think now, does it?" Korin made a troubled face.

  The party went to bed on a full stomach that evening. Surprisingly, Korin was able to have a restful sleep. Dreadful memories of that night were drowned out by the gentle symphony of nocturnal wildlife.

  That peace, however, turned on its head in the morning when everyone was startled awake by Obrick's agonizing cries.

  "What happened?" Jonah asked as the last to awaken.

  Korin had Obrick lie on a cot. The wound on his right leg which they had disinfected and bandaged up was slightly purple. Pus oozed where the rugga had bitten into.

  "It's like my entire leg is on fire!" Obrick groaned.

  "Ruggallis bacteria. Causes swelling and ignites the nerves, but it isn't fatal. One thing's for sure. You're not fit to hunt like this," Korin said.

  Jonah shook his head. "That's not your call to make. We have ointment and poultices for this. Patch him up and let's get this mirack."

  Everyone turned their eyes on Jonah.

  "Don't look at me like I'm crazy. No hunter's ever ranked up from giving up. Obrick, imagine going back and telling everyone that you fought through the pain to slay a mirack. It's too soon to give up," he insisted to them.

  Obrick traded glances with Korin.

  "It's your call," Korin began. "I have herbs to help reduce the swelling and take most of the pain away. But no one will think less of you if you want to call it quits."

  "I will," Jonah chimed in, but a sharp glare from Jenna shut him up.

  "Patch me up the best you can, Korin. I want to see this pursuit through," Obrick said.

  The only reason Korin didn't push the issue was because he would have wanted the same in Obrick's position. Right now, he could only abide the hunter's wish and help him to be as able as possible.

  With only a mortar and pestle, cauldron, and herbs collected from the wilds, Korin created a cocktail of consumables that might help. With some familiar herbs and mushrooms outside the camp, he crafted an antibiotic salve. From the slain ruggas, he brewed a broth with their livers to help with inflammation.

  "Everything should kick in once you start moving and get your blood flowing," Korin assured him, patting the big guy on the back.

  The group packed the essentials this time around and left the rest behind in the campsite. Stage two posed the greatest risk of being caught in the process. They needed to be as light as possible, silent, and unburdened by anything but their weapons and wits.

  "Alright, let's get to tracking it," Jonah impatiently declared. "We're going with the 2-2-1 formation again. Me and Jenna front, Korin and Em center, and—"

  "No. Go with 2-3 instead. You have to account for an injured member of the party," Korin said.

  Interrupting Jonah struck a nerve, deeper than Korin expected.

  "You're starting to really tick me off, buddy." Jonah fumed.

  Refusing to back down this time, Korin folded his arms in defiance. "I don't give a shit anymore. Either you put Obrick with me and Em, or I'll take the back alone. You want to tell Commander Winston you put your handler alone in the back? Which is it going to be, Jonah?"

  "He's right. With Obrick limping around, he'll look like an injured ravernad fawn." Jenna intervened and finally sided with Korin for once.

  "Fine, 2-3 it is." The fiery-haired hunter relented to Korin's relief, then walked right up to his face and lowered his voice so only he could hear. "I invited you to come out of the goodness of my heart because it looked like you wanted to. But as a handler, not as a hunter. Get a sash first if you have such a hard on about it."

  Well, so much for trying not to become a wedge in their party. At the very least, Obrick was going to be safer in the larger of the two split groups.

  Jonah, that dumbass. It made so much sense now. 2-1-1 and 2-2-1 formations made it more likely for the lone members to be attacked. Now that they were 2-3, he and Jenna made for likelier targets. All he wanted was to spend more alone time with Jenna, but at what cost?

  Right out of the capm, Korin and Em noticed Obrick lagging behind.

  "You need a shoulder?" Korin offered.

  "No, I'm fine!" Obrick insisted as he stuffed something into his pocket before catching up to them.

  On their way to Lake Bennesal, Korin refocused his thoughts on figuring out whether his hunch of two mirasauls was true or not.

  No tracks on the ground. Above, however, dexclaw notches on the branches were plenty. He couldn't tell how old the notches were, only that a mirack had come and gone from up there. So far, they were on the right track, and there was no sign of a second.

  Think. During the tracking stage, considering all possibilities was the most important part. Corroborate what was known and learned.

  Emaciated rugga meant their usual prey was being contested, which contributed to their increased aggression. Claw marks and a pounce impression near the campsite was evidence of a mirasaul having passed by at some point. The original pursuit details suggested the mirasaul was closer to Lake Bennesal. Mirasauls were supposed to be solitary hunters. If there were ever two together—

  "Korin, color surprised about how knowledgeable you are about hunting." Obrick's sudden remark interrupted his thoughts.

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  "I thought so, too!" Em exclaimed. "You could be silver if you put your all into it."

  Korin scratched the back of his head. "Shae's nice enough to put up with me. I learn a lot from her when it comes to hunting, tracking, skinning… you name it."

  The two gaped. Anyone would if they heard that a mere cook had a rapport with an obsidian hunter.

  Lake Bennesal was close, as evidenced by the runoff creeks coursing below the banks.

  "Over here!" Jenna waved to them. "Mirack fur."

  She used a knife to carefully carve dark brown and black tufts of fur from the bark, taking care not to damage them too much. The mirasaul must have rubbed itself against the tree.

  Jonah pointed to the ground and smirked. "And tracks over here. If this thing is going to make it easy for us, then I'm not complaining."

  Something was off, and Korin was the only one confused over why there were tracks on the ground. Especially from a behemoth that dwelled and traveled by leaping from branch to branch.

  Why?

  Follow your gut. Shae's words echoed through his mind.

  "The second mirack… is pregnant," Korin muttered.

  "What was that?" Em asked while collecting some beast's discharge into a glass vial.

  "Miracks are solitary behemoths, unless the female is pregnant. They stay together until the female gives birth. That's the only way to explain it," he said.

  "The female stays near the lake for fresh water, while the male goes out to hunt because she can't. A pregnant belly gave it an itch, so she rubbed against the tree. You might be right… Wait! I think the fur coat of a female mirack's underbelly is more brown than black. We can confirm it with the fur sample Jenna collected, can't we?" she asked.

  They hollered for Jenna and explained to her their hypothesis.

  "For all of our sakes, I hope you're wrong. Two is more than we can—" Jenna's next words lodged in her throat upon unfolding the leather wrap, revealing mostly brown fur tufts and few black strands.

  "We need to get out of here!" Korin implored.

  As the trio thought to warn Obrick and Jonah, a low growl alerted them to a mirack emerging from the bushes. The large, brown and black striped felidae behemoth peeled her lips back to reveal sharp fangs.

  "Holy shit. It came to us instead. Time to earn our bread, everyone!" Jonah shouted.

  Not good, Korin thought.

  Obrick. Where's Obrick?

  "Guys, I'm on my way!" the injured hunter shouted.

  By the time Korin turned to Obrick, it was too late. He was limping to catch up to them, unbeknownst to him a second mirack was in mid-lunge. Like giving a doll to a cat, the hunter crumpled and was thrown around clenched in its jaws. He didn't so much as utter a sound.

  The others followed Korin's gaze to their companion's unmoving body and gawked in horror.

  The male mirasaul let Obrick drop to the ground and stomped his head with a large forepaw. A sickening crack snapped Korin out of it. He whistled sharply to bring everyone back to their senses.

  "Now's no time to freeze up!" Korin yelled.

  However, that brief moment of distraction was all the female mirasaul needed. One swipe of its powerful paw sent Em crashing hard into a tree.

  Seeing her second hunting companion hurt, Jenna fired three bolts into the female mirasaul in quick succession and it whined aloud in pain.

  The male mirasaul became enraged at hearing his mate's cry. The behemoth roared and leaped into the branches to lunge at Jenna as she was taking aim again. Korin tackled her to the ground, narrowly saving her from the same fate that befell Obrick. Having missed, the mirasaul skidded across the dirt and hissed.

  "I had the mirack in my sights!" Jenna cried.

  "And the mirack had you in his!" Korin fired back.

  What was their plan? Every second that ticked by sharply reduced their chances of survival.

  Obrick and Em were incapacitated. The female mirack was injured and slowed by pregnancy, leaving the male mirack as their only real threat. Stage two to track was interrupted. Jumping right into stage three without preparations or traps meant they had to rely on their surroundings and weapons instead.

  "Jonah, deal with the female mirack! Jenna and I will lead the male away!" Korin shouted.

  "W-Wait, what?" Jonah stammered.

  "Aahhh! Over here! Arghh!" Korin howled in pain and pretended to limp to draw the male's attention.

  The mirasaul took the bait and gave chase. Korin and Jenna feigned throwing themselves into the creek, then clung onto the edge of the bank from a protruding tree root. When the behemoth jumped onto a tree to leap in, he landed in shallow water and puzzled over where they had gone.

  Jenna panicked. "Was this your bright idea?"

  "No, this is!" Korin snatched the crossbow from her hands without waiting and fired at the mirasaul. The shots missed, but he successfully angered it, and drew it away from Jenna.

  Once it leaped into the trees again, he dropped the crossbow and made a run for it to grab Em's spear.

  "Korin, watch out!" Jenna shrieked.

  The male mirasaul lunged from the branches. Korin pointed the blade at an angle and stepped on the crook just as Em had shown him, causing it to impale itself. The blade punctured through its back, but the momentum carried the behemoth forward to land on top of him. He craned his neck left and right to avoid the sharp swipes from its death throes, then… it went limp.

  Jenna raced up to him. "Korin, are you okay? Korin!"

  "I'm… here," Korin mumbled with a mouthful of fur, flailing a hand to show that he was alive.

  It took Jenna's all to push the massive body enough for Korin to squeeze out of it. She threw her arms over him as soon as he was freed. The embrace was tight. Her trembling body came as a bigger surprise than the second behemoth.

  "I appreciate the worry, but we should help Jonah," he reminded her.

  "I'm fine," Jonah replied half-heartedly. "I didn't do anything… One of the bolts nicked an artery. She bled out."

  The female mirack was lying still on the ground. One bolt had punctured deep into the neck, just above the shoulder blade. Blood pouring from the wound was quickly soaking into its fur and the dirt. That was a killing shot to the jugular if Korin had ever seen one.

  "That's right— Obrick, Em!" Korin gasped.

  They rushed over to check Em first. She had a pulse and breathed just fine. However, when Korin went to check on Obrick, his neck was bent at a bad angle.

  There was no need to feel for a pulse to know.

  "Damn it… Damn it!" Jonah punched a nearby tree over and over again until Jenna pried him away. By then, his knuckles were messed up and bleeding.

  Today, their party completed a pursuit. But the brutal reality was that it only took one misstep, one lapse in judgment and careless mistake, for a hunter to lose their life.

  As Korin gazed upon the still body of Obrick, the man whom he had treated earlier and received only kind compliments from, an intense guilt overwhelmed him. Coming out was the right decision. Had he declined, Jonah would have marched his entire party to their deaths.

  That's right. This was his fault.

  Korin stormed up to Jonah, grabbed him by the collar, and raised a fist. However, he was met with a tear-stained face.

  "If you're going to do it, then make it count." Jonah clenched his jaws.

  After taking a second to gather his thoughts, Korin shook his head and let go. "No. Obrick's death is on your fucking hands. You feel that pain right now? Stew in it."

  "Where are you going?" the mourning hunter asked.

  "To make a stretcher to carry Obrick back," he answered.

  Before leaving, Korin offered a prayer to each mirasaul. He begged Goddess Reia for forgiveness, then popped the large dexclaws from their joints with his greshen steel dagger. Each was as thick as his forearm but half the length of his arm, and both were surprisingly light. He wouldn't have time to bring the behemoths back for processing. Obrick took precedence.

  Once Korin built the stretcher out of large leaves, vines, and branches, he pulled Obrick onto it. A familiar gem slipped from his back pocket. The piece of kastreia. Obrick must have found it before they left camp. The guilt returned in force with a weight greater than the dead hunter he tried to lift. Suddenly, that weight lessened. Korin glanced back to find Jonah lifting the other end of the makeshift stretcher.

  "I want to help," Jonah said, having shed enough tears. "He's my hunt mate."

  It was about the only selfless thing he had said this entire expedition.

  "Swap with me. I'll carry from the back." Korin wasn't enough of an asshole to make Jonah face his dead companion the whole way home.

  Jenna agreed to carry Em until she came to consciousness, and when she did so, remained speechless the entire way back.