Hunters of Sian - Book 2. The Užaren Canyon

A Solemn Vow

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Chapter Ten

A Solemn Vow

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'Water is amazing!' Jeremy moaned. Nell groaned in agreement. It was both satisfying and gross to watch the water turn cloudy with the amount of mud, sweat and grit that washed from their bodies. Nell half wished he could burn his uniform, it smelt so awful, but he was hopeful the laundry maidens could fix it. They always had in the past. He half suspected the cleaning servants used a little magic of their own to get the blood and other fluids out of the hunters' clothes...

'Food next. Please can we have food next?' Jeremy sighed. Nell nodded, his eyes still closed. Gods, of all the things he missed about the stronghold, the deep bathing pools with their hand cut stone shelves were right on top of that list. Even the amazing banquets of foods were matched by a steaming hot bath after a long training session.

'I bet your animals were in a right state after the Itachi attacked,' Furcus laughed. He was leaning against one of the benches, his feet in the water and his smelly tobacco pipe between his lips. Nell was almost used to the smell now. It was definitely a scent he associated with the gruff old demon hunter. For all of Furcus' scars, muscles and chipped horns, the demon had a good soul. (Not that Nell was stupid enough to say this out loud.)

It struck Nell that he really didn't know how old Furcus was. With demons, it was always very hard to tell. As a matter of fact, he had no idea how old Sallos was either. From appearance alone, Furcus did appear older than Sallos. The man had more grey hairs through his beard and hair but there were so many strange sub-species of demons, that Nell wasn't even sure if this colour change meant anything specific. His thoughts drifted to the previous year in the icy forest.

He shivered despite the hot water. He could still vividly remember having to stitch Sallos's wound. He remembered being utterly stunned by the sight of the black flesh and dark blood, so unlike a human's. He remembered the terror he had felt as he realized just how different he was to his master physically and how his lack of knowledge might kill the demon.

'Master?' Nell asked quietly.

Sallos looked over at him. 'Mm?'

'I want to specialize in a branch of medical studies that will teach me about demon anatomy and human anatomy,' Nell murmured. There was a brief look of surprise, pride and pleasure that crossed his master's face.

'A right state?! Are you kidding me? River nearly ripped my damn arm off! Thorn tried to stab Nell like fifteen times! Nell, show him your leg!' Jeremy shrieked, breaking the quiet moment between Sallos and his apprentice. Nell couldn't help but laugh.

'I probably would have been impaled on his tail if you hadn't yelled at me to move,' Nell agreed, showing off a bruise that was already turning a deep plum colour. Sallos's mouth almost quirked into a little smile, his long tail swayed lazily back and forth behind him.

'So we got back first, did you guys place a bet on us again?' Jeremy asked excitedly.

'Of course,' Furcus grunted.

'And how much of that money did we win?' Jeremy urged.

Furcus gave his apprentice a nasty smirk. 'Maybe nothing. I haven't decided yet.'

'Oh, come on!'

'Did you feed Thorn and River part of the kill?' Sallos asked.

Nell nodded. 'Yeah, it's how we got them to calm down a little. It made them rideable at least.'

'I bet that's why Marshall and Derek fell behind,' Jeremy muttered. Nell winced, but privately agreed.

'It shows bad form,' Furcus growled. The boys looked at him. 'If a drack makes a kill, you give part of that kill to the drack. That is an ancient law, born of the old world, you understand?' The boys nodded. Doubtless Scorch had been unhappy with not receiving a tidbit for his efforts and as for Marshall's drack... well. That animal didn't get along with his human rider on the very best of days.