The Hunt (1)

The trio of father and sons stepped out of the house, into the forest that surrounded their small cottage.

"This is where we'll past way.", the voice filled with wisdom came, before pausing. "Good luck, my sons."

Then, the elder walked off, leaving the children he sired behind.

Venator turned to face his younger brother, and they knew that this may very well be the last time that they see each other.

The siblings could not bare to say the words out loud, instead opting to move in for a hug.

As they parted, Venator whispered to his younger brother, "Good luck, Erobus."

There were no responses to that.

They walked into the deep forest, each going their own way.

"Farewell."

Those words scattered in the wind.

...

Venator entered the forest and spread his senses out as much as he could.

He was very familiar with this environment, he knew it like the back of his hand.

'The boulders would be a good place to take refuge on. I would have the high ground advantage and it's quite easy to spread out traps and baits for the beast as well.'

He already has made a plan to capture the beast, showing his excellent decision making and planning skills.

There was only one problem. He didn't account for all the factors.

(Venator's POV)

I headed through the forest after saying farewell to my brother.

We would never see each other again.

A bitter feeling was rising in my throat, aimed at my father, for making us do the impossible.

I shook my head and bit it down, then headed for (in my opinion) the best place possible in this large forest.

The bait and traps were secured in my satchel, and my bow and quiver was strapped on my back.

I was as well prepared as I could be in this scenario.

I jumped from tree to tree through the forest, quickly reaching my desired location; the boulders.

I slowed down and landed on the foot of a boulder, then I started placing my traps and baits.

The bait is supposed to be the most attractive thing in the eye of the snake, while the traps that it would swallow along with them were infused with the only substance poisonous to the Snake of Mercury.

There was only 1 downside to this plan; the poison would take some time to act. And that it was also non-lethal, only causing tremendous pain and paralysis to the snake.

It was unknown how long the poison would take, due to my ancestors never being alive long enough for it to take effect.

I finished laying down the traps and baits, and then I proceeded to climb the boulder, reaching the top fairly quickly.

I took a deep breath and prepared for the inevitable battle, that could very well turn me into the hunted instead.

I was interrupted by the sound of trees crashing, followed by screaming. Screaming that sounded an awful lot like my father's voice.

'He's dead already?'

I was shocked. Although my father was old, he was also the most experienced and easily the smartest in our family. He was only weaker than us siblings (including Quintus and Dacetha) physically, and that was easily made up with his craftiness.

I felt a chill running down my spine at how fast my father was slaughtered.\

Then, the tremors caused by the snake was slowly getting closer and closer.

*BAAAAAAM*

The ground exploded in a mixture of dirt and rocks, and the baits (and traps) were swallowed by the Snake of Mercury.

I've seen its description in photos drawn by survivors, but seeing it in the eye mesmerized me.

It was a white snake with grey scales, something that was extremely rare among snakes, (as far as I know.) It was easily 50, no 60m long, and the thickness of it far surpassed what I imagined was possible for an animal.

It was a tita-, no, BEHEMOTH of a beast.

All the false courage that I had melted out of my bones, but still, my instincts as a hunter forced me to grip my bow.

'There's a spot created by one of my ancestors... the only weakness that the snake has.'

The spot was right underneath its mouth, but it was covered most of the time due to the snake slithering.

I drew an arrow from my quiver and nocked it onto my bow, before aiming at the snake's nose.

'They generally have an excellent sense of smell in part to make up for their horrible eyesight...'

I was about to release the arrow when the snake lunged at me.

I was barely able to avoid it by dashing backwards onto the next boulder, which was quickly destroyed with a lash of its tail.

I was barely grazed by its tail, but the force behind it was still enough to draw blood.

Then, I felt a sudden rush of nausea.

I looked down at the small cut on my shoulder and saw that it was quickly turning purple.

I turned my attention to the end of its tail, belatedly spotting a stinger.

I felt dizzy once more, and resisted the urge to vomit and dove as far as I could away from my current location, dodging a slam from the snake.

"F*ck! How long until this sh*t works!?"

I abandoned all manners and cursed, wishing that the poison would work soon, before I die from being poisoned.

Then, the snake began thrashing around, and I found my opportunity to nock an arrow and fire it at its weak spot.

That was a bait from the snake, and clearly, I fell for it.

The momentary distraction that the thrashing provided for the snake was enough for it to slam its tail into my body.

I felt a sudden force knocking me through the forest, my body destroying trees as it flew backwards.

I finally stopped when I reached a hill, but at that point, my body was covered in splinters from the trees, and I believe I saw a wooden spike, drenched in blood, sticking out of my guts.

The snake was fast approaching, and its vision was tunneled for me.

Its jaws opened, and I saw the dried blood on its teeth.

The blood of my ancestors.