21 City of Ravens 7 (1/2)

Waking up in the morning my body felt refreshed. I ate my rations and prepared the meat that I collected yesterday from the Orthrus. The curse of bad cooking showed up again as somehow the meat got burned. It was edible but burned almost to a crisp.

I refilled the water at a stream and began to search for another Orthrus. Going through the lush forest, I saw many plants and monsters, all in a balance. Small monsters like goblins and jackalopes feeding on plants and each other, while stronger monster feeding on them.

Enclosed in a vicious cycle of life and death. There was nothing that could escape it. Not even humans!

I found the stream that I was observing yesterday and made my way alongside it. Looking for a lair or footprints of an Orthrus, I saw many kinds of monsters and avoiding them became a habit already.

Only the target was important!

It was thirty or so minutes alter I found tracks that looked like Orthrus footprints. Following them I lost them a few times but, in the end, they led me to the lair of the Orthrus. It was like the previous one, hidden from sight with lots of remains littered around. The Orthrus was resting in the corner, with its four eyes closed.

Not wasting any time, I rushed towards it and attacked! It woke up while I was running, but with its reaction delayed I was able to jump on its back and grabbed one of its necks. Holding on with both arms I held as it tried to throw me off.

While I struggled a bit, I broke one of its necks! The other head howled in pain and grief. It started to throw around a lot harder, I lost my grip and fell to the ground!

It jumped on me and tried to bite me, but I grabbed its mouth not letting it close! Feeling the warm breath and saliva dripping on me I panicked a bit. I could see all the details, nooks and crannies of its teeth.

I started to kick it with all the power I had, but it didn't do much to the soft underbelly. Thinking quickly, I came up with a plan of how to get free. I pulled my legs to my chest and with all my strength pushed it up! It got lifted up giving me some breathing room, I moved my arm placing the elbow inside its mouth not allowing it to close!

With one of my hands now free, I grabbed the knife and shoved it deep into its mouth. Slashing and cutting I was soon cover in blood! Cutting open the airway's, arteries and veins, it was dying while coughing its lungs out.

While I ended up covered in blood, I never came close to getting hurt. The only mistake I did was when the soul image disappeared after the fight all the blood that was on it fell on me. Next time I should at least try to get most of it off me.

With my scent being that of a bloody corpse I remembered what happened yesterday. After skinning the now dead Orthrus, I rolled around the ground and moss in an attempt to mask my scent.

With the skin in a bundle, I hastily went back to the tree I slept in and stored it with the other one.

It was now noon, I had plenty of time to hint two more. I made my way back to the stream and this time I went in the opposite direction I took last time. I spent the next hour searching, and the lady luck smiled upon me! I found an Orthrus dragging pray.

I almost missed it, for some reason it only had one head! Where the second head was supposed to be there was a big scar with a part of the spine bone sticking out. It was gruesome.

I climbed up a tree, and when it got close to me, I jumped down and quickly finished it. With one of the heads missing and the considerable scar, it won't be worth as much, but the profit will still be plentiful.

I carried the body closer to the stream where I skinned it. After gathering wood and making a fireplace, I started to roast the meet.

If someone saw me now, they would not think I was a human. Single handedly consuming almost half of the Orthrus. It was burned and a bit hard but edible! There was no place for me to complain, while stuck here to get that amount of food is already good.