Eritance - Chapter 2

Orin felt a tingle as he sniffed the fresh mountain air. On a typical day, Orin could be found scavenging through the wilderness, no more than a day’s journey or so from the village that he grew up in -Hallen. As Orin wove through the dense foliage he stumbled upon an animal trail. “Hmm, what animals could use this trail?” he pondered silently to himself, “the trail is too large for horned rabbits, but it is also too small to be spine bears, not that I would want to run into such a monstrous creature by myself anyways”. Horned rabbits themselves would be difficult, even for a seasoned hunter to capture, due to their superior agility and somewhat lethal horn. Spine bears were fearsome creatures that ranged from 3-4 meters in height and were covered in tough spikes all over their body, they almost resembled a giant porcupine.

The prints on the trail however, told him all he needed to know. The imprints had been left by a medium sized anteleer, most likely within the past 15 minutes or so. Anteleers typically traveled in small herds of 10-15. They were extremely cautious by nature, but quite weak when it came to defense. They made the perfect target to hunt for their meat, as well as being able to be used as useful materials in all sorts of products by craftsmen.

Nearby a babbling brook could softly be heard, perfectly reflecting the day’s saphire-like sky. The world was at peace. Orin almost decided to give up on the hunt, so as not to disturb this tranquil moment, although he knew that he couldn’t, as it would mean going hungry again.

Orin had just turned seventeen. He was a somewhat tall person, standing in at around a little over 1.8 meters in height, with a thin and wiry body. The clothes he wore were all quite worn, as he did not have the money to buy new ones. Everything he had was a worn-down hand-me-down of a hand-me-down.

Tan pants that had been worn down, almost to the threads, and a worn forest-green shirt that had seen better days to contrast his emerald green eyes. Attached to his old leather belt was a knife that he used for skinning and hunting animals, and on his back, he had an old bow and quiver that he had recently acquired for doing a full day’s labor in the field for the Chaca family. Tyed back behind him was his hair, thick in length and white in color. This odd silvery-whiteness that comprised his hair color is where he derives his name from. Orin meant white in the ancient language, or so he had been told once by a travelling storyteller. His white hair contrasted with his sun-tanned skin, creating a somewhat handsome appearance that caught more than a passing glance from some of the village girls. Finally, at his side, was a medium sized leather pouch that he could wear as a bag, in which he kept small provisions like kindling, food, other things he thought would help him while scavenging and hunting through the forest.

As Orin slowly followed the anteleer trail, the path gradually widened until he was nearing an opening to a small glade. “This must be where the anteleer come to rest” Orin thought to himself as he crouched down and slowly inched forward. As Orin got closer to the glade he was able to see a group of 11 anteleer resting and drinking from a small pond formed from an offshoot of the nearby brook. Orin carefully examined the small herd and found his target. It was a male anteleer. Th male was somewhat large, easily weighing 90-100 kg. It had gray fur the was speckled with red dots of fur all over its hind legs. “I’ll have enough meet to last me the week at this rate!” Orin exclaimed to himself quite excitedly, “I’ll even have enough to sell and finally be able to buy the new leather boots I’ve been eyeing”. As Orin thought this, he slowly circled around the glad so that he could get a better shot at the male. As Orin got into place he knocked an arrow in his bow and held his breath as he aimed for the male anteleer. Suddenly though, a group of skophers burst through the bushes on the other side of the clearing, startling the herd into a stampede. “Just my luck!” Orin cursed under his breath as the herd began to run away, “you’re fast, but not out of the range of my ability” Orin thought, silently praising the anteleer’s agility. Suddenly he burst up from his crouching position and drew the arrow back as far as he could while holding his breath. Squinting with one eye closed, he released the arrow towards the male anteleer. The arrow sped on with a high amount of force and pierced the anteleer through the brain, causing it to lurch forward and tumble down a hill. Seeing this, the other anteleer scattered into different directions.

Orin almost danced with excitement as he reveled in the thought of being able to eat meat. Recently he had been having trouble finding anteleers and other suitable prey to hunt. As such, he suddenly realized that this trail had led him into the dark forest. It was called such, because many who entered became lost, or were attacked by stronger and more mystical creatures that made the spine bears look like harmless horn rabbits. “I’d better hurry and collect my prize” Orin thought to himself. Moving down the hill towards the dead anteleer Orin noticed a small, wooden box laying several meters from where the anteleer had fell. Curious, Orin went and picked the box up and examined it. The box was beautiful. It had a deep cherry-oak finish on it, with intricately gilded designs picturing all sorts of beasts. On the top was a depiction of a golden warrior riding a giant beast that he had never seen before. Orin immediately became excited, “with how fancy this box is, I’ll be able to buy a near endless supply of meat!” Orin couldn’t help but shout out loud joyfully. With his mouth slightly drooling, Orin decided to open the box to see what kind of treasure was inside. However, try as Orin might, he could not remove the clasp on the front of the box. Thinking there must be some sort of hidden mechanism Orin began to examine the box more carefully. Just as Orin did this though, a deep and menacing roar echoed through the dark forest, reminding Orin that he was not in a safe place. “I’ll figure this out later when I have more time” thought Orin, not wanting to become the snack of a more fearsome beast of the forest. With that, Orin began the long and slow process of dragging the anteleer back to Hallen, thinking about the many ways he would cook the meat and use the other animal parts to give his life situation a boost.