Hunters of Sian - Book 2. The Užaren Canyon

Pop Goes the Weasel

'Derek!' There was a screech and the thud of flesh on flesh. The sudden disappearance of the bright light had the apprentices all floundering. One thing was for certain, Nell was sure only two other bodies pressed up against his in the pouring rain. Derek wasn't there. The sound of the dracks was louder than the storm. Nell could hear them roaring and tugging on their reins.

Suddenly there was the sound of leather snapping. Had one of the dracks pulled itself free?

'This is madness!' Jeremy yelped.

'We have to get to the dracks!' Nell called over another roar of thunder. He moved towards the noise. Unwilling as they were, the other two were forced to follow or break their formation. They were nearly there when a sudden flash of lightning lit up a truly strange sight. At first, Nell's panicked brain struggled to put together the tangle of limbs and tails.

Derek was standing with a knife in one hand and his drack's cut reins in the other. He was covered in mud and blood was dripping thick from his left arm. He had apparently clashed with the Itachi, and in the dark, gone for the dracks. Likely, they had been easier to locate.

In one fluid move, Derek swung himself up in the saddle as the Itachi bounded forward. Nell took aim and threw. His glaive hit the beast in the lower back. It screeched in pain. Whilst it was distracted, Jeremy threw his own harpoon. It sunk into the animal's shoulder as it tried to turn. Derek's drack reared, clawing the air. Derek shouted to it and the drack landed, both feet on the creature's head. The skull gave way with a sickening wet pop.

It took a long moment for the boys to understand it was over. They still couldn't see and their dracks were still making enough noise to wake the day.

'Come on, we may as well try and calm them down,' Nell groaned. With the Itachi dead, the adrenaline was beginning to wear off and the ice-cold rain was making every bruise and scratch ache.

'How badly are you hurt?' Jeremy asked as they made their way slipping and sliding to where Derek stood panting.

'It cut my shoulder. Probably looks worse than it is. I figured if I got Scorch loose, he would either take my head off or kill the Itachi in self-defense.' He sounded winded. Judging by how caked in mud he was, Nell guessed that the Itachi had knocked him to the ground pretty hard.

'Well, this night has been fun,' Jeremy yelled over another crack of lightning that made Marshall jump. The noble glanced at the still form of the weird dead animal.

'It is... dead?'

'Marshall, its head looks like a rotten pumpkin after a fall festival. What do you think, mate?' Jeremy said dryly. Nell couldn't see but he guessed Marshall was flushing. The other boy really needed to find his courage and fast if they were going to survive the canyon together.

'Do you need a hand?' Nell asked as he yanked his glaive free of the dead beast. Scorch was still snarling and stamping. He was at least a year or two older than the other dracks and already much bigger. With his injured shoulder, Derek was wincing with pain every time the reptile yanked on his broken reins.

'Just get the spare bridle out of my kit.'

'You carry a spare bridle?' Jeremy spluttered.

Derek stared at him. 'Of course. Don't you? We're allowed to use everything that we normally keep in our satchel.' Jeremy and Nell glanced at each other. Now that Derek said it, it seemed like a pretty basic thing to do. Spare bridle leather could be useful for many things. Honestly, the only real thing Nell had added to his satchel since the year before were some good strong bandage wrappings. He didn't count his spice jars because he didn't bring them on his regular training days. They were for cooking, not medicinal purposes.