The hunter gave no response to his questions. And no indication that he was going to. This annoyed Milartek slightly, but he presumed that the man was busy tracking, and that his questions could wait until a convenient time.
Or until he had finished with the poo he had just touched. A little disgusted, Mialrtek shock his head, wondering why on earth the young man had done that.
He glanced down to wear the man was looking. He saw a smudge in the ground, and the more he looked the more like a paw print it became. He could see were the pad had struck, and maybe the hole just in front of it had been a claw?
He wasn't sure, anyway Roderick soon interrupted his thoughts with the answers to the Akalaks questions, which served to both educate and confuse him further.
So what he had seen was a print, a sign left by a passing animal in the ground. Other tells were fur caught on trees, or other flora. Disturbed shrubs and grass, although he didn't know how to look for those because it all looked the same to him! And then dung, which explained why the hunter was playing with it. Not that Milartek had any intention of doing the same.
At the mention of wolves however Milartek instinctively reached a hand to brush his Lakan, making sure it was indeed still there. It seems that he might prove to the hunter that chain was the right apparel.
Something caught Roderick's eye then, and he bent low to a patch of grass that seemed to be a little flatter than other places. But it could of just been an optical illusion.
His chain shirt clinked as he bent over at the spot the hunter had just left. A dark stain was in the grass. It wasn't until they saw more of it that he clocked it as blood. Roderick picked up the pace, and Milartek had to be careful not to trip over on the loose rocky outcrop they were climbing as he tried to keep up. Fortunately Roderick stopped just past the outcrop and it wasn't until he reached him That Milartek realized why.
A body.
The young warrior had unfortunately seen death before, however it always saddened his heart. The man had great gaping wounds that tore through his armor and proved fatal. his face a contorted symphony of agony. He only hoped that the man had died quickly.
HE almost tore the hunter off the man when it was clear that he intended to loot the body. The dead should be honored and respected, not abused and just left. It was true what Roderick said, he didn't need them anymore. But that wasn't the point. Even dead he deserved respect.
Milartek vowed to make sure that the man received a proper burial and that whatever had killed him died by his Lakan.
Once Roderick had taken everything he deemed of value, he asked Milartek to take the bow, which he did reluctantly, and turned into the direction that the wolves had left. Even Milartek could tell that something big, or a few medium sized creatures had been here recently. The grass was flattened in places and there was at least one bush he saw that looked as if a creature had gone straight through it.
Roderick drew his bow and nocked an arrow, which the Akalak took as a sign to draw his Lakan and discard the bow as it would only get in the way of his fighting. As the approached, the Akalak still clinking away but now being a little more careful with were he stood, they could hear the sounds eating.
The wolves were close.
Instead of following the hunter Milartek made off to his left, trying to be as silent as he could, but making just as much noise as normal, until he was a good 15 feet to the left of Roderick. It was then that he heard the whole of the Wolf and the snarls of its companions. The hunter had shot one. Good, they were going to attack them after all.
Milartek didn't hesitate now, and sprinted past the tree line into the little clearing the wolves were in. 3 were running towards were he now presumed Roderick was, and one was dragging its back legs behind it. Obviously on its alst legs.
The warrior kept going, straight at the wolves coming in from the side of them. The wolf at the back of the pack was too intent on the hunter to react in time and the massive warrior barreled into it, causing wolf and Akalak to sprawl to the ground in a heap.
His Laken had sunk into the wolfs flank as he had charged it, left shoulder down and right hand lowered so the Lakan went in on impact.
Unfortunately he had not managed to maintain his grip on it on the sprawl and he now struggled to get free of the wolf, who was now thrashing on the ground.His claws scraped against the mail, but one set managed to scratch at his arm and the Akalak grunted in pain as fresh blood was drawn.
He managed to kick his way back off the wolf and scrambled to his feet. He reached up to his back, were his spear should have been. But it wasn't there. Curse it the petched thing must have fallen free of its rope binding and now lay useless somewhere in the forest.
The wolf was struggling to get up, the Lakan embedded deeply within its flank. Acting quickly the young warrior approached and when he was a couple of steps away leaned back, lifted his right foot up and delivered a brutal front kick to the head of the wolf, catching it on the end of its muzzle. Then he sprung at it, forcing it back onto its side, and wrapped his two powerful arms around its throat and squeezed with all his might.
its front legs kicked painfully at his chest, but he couldn't let go of his hold now. If he did, he was dead.
Unaware of the other wolf approaching him from behind, the warrior kept his grip true, the struggles from the wolf getting weaker and weaker.