Chapter 691: Arvend

Kael finished reading the report during breakfast and placed the three sheets on the table. Sylphie picked up the first while he studied the small drawing of the trap. It was not a device used by ordinary hunters. The ring had small inscriptions engraved into the metal, and part of the chain was still attached to a stake that had been ripped from the ground.

"This doesn’t look like something made to kill," said Sylphie, running her finger near the drawing of the inscriptions without touching the paper. "It looks made to hold."

"I thought so too," replied Kael, pulling the second page toward himself. "And the creature was bleeding after breaking this."

Amelia, seated on the other side of the table, finished reading the copy of the report and placed it near her plate. "The rangers have managed to keep the hunters away for now, but the Arvend administration says that won’t last many days. Two frightened herds were already enough to make the residents nervous."

"Was any animal attacked?" asked Kael, although he already knew the answer.

"None," replied Amelia. "There are also no remains of prey near the villages."

Sylphie handed the report back. "Then it’s injured, but it isn’t feeding on the herds."

"Or it can’t," replied Kael. He pointed to the measurements of the tracks. "The stride becomes shorter after the second site. The right hind paw also barely puts any weight down."

Amelia looked at him. "Are you going?"

"Yes," replied Kael without prolonging the decision. "Now we have enough reason to check personally, and they’ve already done the part I asked for."

Sylphie took a sip of tea. "I’m going with you."

"I expected that," replied Kael.

Umbra emerged from the shadow of his chair. "Me too."

Kael looked at her. "I expected that too."

They did not turn the trip into an imperial operation. Kael only asked Amelia to inform Arvend that they would arrive that afternoon and that no hunting group should enter the slope until the assessment was finished. Elion would remain at the mansion. Seraphine also decided to stay because she wanted to finish one of the books before another outing, and the nameless man showed no interest in accompanying an investigation in the forest.

Before leaving, Kael found the man kneeling in front of the garden beds. He had already counted the sprouts that morning and was making a small mark in the notebook when he noticed Kael approaching.

"Are you going to the creature’s city?" he asked, closing the notebook.

"Arvend," replied Kael. "We’ll probably be back tomorrow. Maybe today, if it’s simple."

The man looked at the garden beds. "I can check these while you’re gone."

"I know," replied Kael. "The primroses may need water tomorrow morning if it doesn’t rain."

"I’ll check the soil first," said the man, putting the pencil away. "I won’t just add water."

Kael nodded. "Perfect."

Sylphie, who was beside him, smiled and said nothing. Kael noticed, but did not comment either.

Arvend was smaller than Kael had imagined. The town occupied a narrow strip between two hills and a trade road that continued west. The buildings were low, almost all made of pale stone and dark wood, and the mountains began shortly beyond the last houses.

A forest ranger was waiting for them near the administrative building. She was a tall woman, with brown hair tied behind her head, wearing a thick coat and a field knife at her hip. She introduced herself as Mara Venn and wasted no time with formalities.

"The most recent tracks were found this morning," said Mara as she handed Kael a small map of the slope. "The creature moved about three kilometers north during the night. It continues avoiding the villages."

"Any new animal deaths?" asked Kael, following the line marked on the map.

"None," replied Mara. "We found the carcass of a deer, but it was almost a week old and had been partially eaten. It may have been hers."

Sylphie examined the map beside him. "And the trap?"

"It’s being kept here," replied Mara. "We brought everything we could remove without destroying the markings."

The device was in a side room of the building. Kael needed only a few seconds to confirm that it was not ordinary hunting equipment. The steel was heavy, the chain had reinforced links, and four containment symbols were engraved on the inside of the ring.

Sylphie crouched near the table. "This would drain mana from whatever was trapped."

"A little, but continuously," replied Kael. He turned the device using a glove Mara had provided. "It was made to prevent a magical creature from breaking free through force."

Mara crossed her arms. "None of the local hunters recognized it."

"Because it probably didn’t come from a local hunter," replied Kael.

Umbra emerged from beneath the table and examined the broken chain. "There’s blood on it."

Mara nodded. "The same type found on the rocks, as far as we could determine."

Kael put the trap back down. "I want to see where it was."

The walk to the slope took a little over an hour. Mara led the group along a trail used by lumberjacks until they reached a stretch where the vegetation became denser. The first signs appeared shortly afterward: bark torn from a pine tree, deep grooves, and a small darkened stain on a rock.

Kael crouched beside it.

Sylphie touched the ground a few centimeters ahead. "Old blood. Two or three days."

Mara pointed to a depression among the leaves. "Hind track."

Kael compared it with the drawing in the report. It was large, with four long toes and claws that had pierced the soil. The next print was much shallower.

"It’s limping," said Kael as he followed the sequence with his eyes. "The right one barely supports any weight."

Sylphie approached the marked tree. "And this isn’t territorial."

Mara looked at her. "Why?"

"The height changes with the terrain," explained Sylphie, indicating three marks. "If it were marking territory, we’d expect a more consistent pattern. It’s using the trees for support or to climb."

Kael found another groove on the opposite side of the trunk. "Here."

Mara walked around the tree. The mark had a fragment caught in the wood.

It was not fur.

It was a small dark scale, dull, slightly larger than a fingernail.

Kael carefully removed it and placed it in his palm.

Sylphie examined it. "Fur and scales?"

"Some species have both," replied Mara.

Kael held the scale closer to the light. The edge was broken, and there was an almost imperceptible blue tint beneath the black surface.

"I’ve seen something similar," he said.

"Dragon?" asked Mara immediately.

"No," replied Kael. "Too thin, and the structure is different."

Umbra appeared beside him. "Mountain griffin?"

"Not that either." Kael placed the scale inside a small cloth envelope. "But we’re closer."

They followed the tracks for almost half an hour until they found the point where the trap had been anchored. The stake had left a deep hole in the ground. The creature had dragged the chain for almost forty meters before breaking the final link against a rock formation.

Kael crouched down.

There were human footprints.

Two people, maybe three.

Mara noticed at the same time. "These weren’t visible when we found the site. It rained two days before."

"They’re beneath the creature’s tracks," replied Kael. "They came first."

Sylphie walked a few meters to the side and found another print near a bush. "Narrow boots. Not yours."

"Not our rangers’ either," replied Mara.

Kael followed the pattern until reaching an area where the ground hardened. The human tracks disappeared there, but he found something different caught on a root: a small piece of gray fabric, torn at one end.

Umbra picked it up before he needed to crouch and placed it in his hand.

"Uniform?" she asked.

Kael rubbed the fabric between his fingers. "Not imperial."

Mara looked in the direction where the footprints vanished. "Then someone placed the trap, lost the creature, and left."

"Or they’re still looking for it," replied Sylphie.

Kael stood up. Now the sequence made sense. The creature had not arrived in the mountains and begun frightening the herds because it was hunting people or domestic animals. It had been captured or nearly captured, injured its leg while escaping, and spent the last few days looking for shelter while avoiding populated areas.

He handed the fabric back to Mara. "Keep the hunters out of here."

"I’m already doing that," she replied. "But I need to explain why."

"Explain that the creature is injured and still hasn’t attacked anyone," said Kael, looking at the marks leading north. "And tell them we have something else to look for."

Mara frowned. "The people who placed the trap?"

"Yes," replied Kael, adjusting the sword at his hip. "The beast may be a problem. Whoever tried to capture it already is."

Mara nodded and summoned two guards to alert the villages. Kael, Sylphie, and Umbra continued following the tracks northward. The creature was slowing down; the marks from its wounded paw were appearing closer together, and the blood—though sparse—was fresh.

"It isn’t far," Sylphie said, touching a broken leaf that was still damp. "It passed through here just a few hours ago."

Kael looked up toward the hillside. The trail ended at a rock formation surrounded by ancient pines, with a narrow opening at its base.

"Then it likely found shelter," he replied, approaching without drawing his sword. "Stay quiet."

Umbra vanished into the tree shadows and moved ahead. A few seconds later, his voice came directly from Kael’s own shadow.

"It’s inside. Alive. Huge. And there’s something else."

Kael paused.

"A person?"

"Yes," Umbra replied. "A man. He’s hiding above the entrance with a crossbow aimed at the cave."

Sylphie immediately glanced at the rocks above them.

Kael’s expression didn’t change. He simply shifted his hand closer to his sword.

"Then we’ve found one of the hunters."

Before he could move forward, the click of a mechanism rang out.

Kael took a single Celestial Step.

The bolt struck the stone where he had been standing just a moment before.