The butcher and old woman remain behind at the square as the Copper-rank hunter leads Klodryx through the western gate. The HA token rests in Klodryx's scraped hand.
The road narrows between bent hedges and patches of trampled grass. Wind stirs the leaves, carrying the sour scent of disturbed earth and something wilder beneath it.
the Copper-rank hunter
There. Slow down and look before you step. These marks begin near the pasture and turn toward the hedge.
The Copper-rank hunter kneels beside fresh impressions pressed into the damp ground. Each track ends in a hooked point, matching the bloodied claw wrapped at his belt.
the Copper-rank hunter
It dragged weight through the grass, but not constantly. It may be circling the livestock, testing where the fences are weakest.
Beyond the hedge, a wounded calf cries once. The sound cuts off abruptly, leaving only trembling leaves and the hunter's raised hand signaling silence.
Klodryx
The tracks are fresh enough to hold their edges.
✓ Quest Accepted
Defeat the creature attacking the livestock
Director's note
I try and increase my alertness and perception, I want to be able to sense if anything out of the normal happens
Klodryx lowers his center of gravity and studies more than the tracks. He listens past the wind, noting the hedge's shifting rhythm, the calf's silence, and every patch of flattened grass.
Klodryx
The wind moves the leaves, but something nearby moves against it.
the Copper-rank hunter
Good. Do not stare only at the ground. Predators use noise and cover together, and this one has already learned our habits.
A faint rustle travels along the hedge, pauses, then resumes several paces closer. No branch breaks. The hunter's hand drifts toward his short sword.
the Copper-rank hunter
There, to our left. Do you sense it, or are you seeing the leaves respond?
The calf's enclosure stands beyond the hedge, its gate hanging crooked. Fresh gouges score the wooden post, while a darker depression marks where something crouched in wait.
the Copper-rank hunter
It is close. We can circle toward the pasture, or draw it out here. Choose quickly, before it decides for us.
Director's note
I try and see if i can sense where the creature is with my perception
Klodryx stills his breathing and lets the hedge become a field of separate sounds: leaf against leaf, grass under wind, and one rhythm that belongs to neither.
The unnatural movement comes from the left, but not at ground level. A heavier pressure bends the hedge inward several paces beyond the crooked gate, then vanishes.
Klodryx
Something is above the grass line, using the hedge for cover.
the Copper-rank hunter
You found it. There, behind the thorn growth, just beyond the gatepost. Do not rush the opening.
A narrow gap opens between the leaves. For an instant, a hooked limb presses against the earth, testing the distance, then withdraws without a sound.
the Copper-rank hunter
It knows we are here now. Keep watching the cover. If it circles, the grass will betray it before the hedge does.
The wounded calf shifts weakly inside the enclosure. Along the far fence, flattened grass forms a second route toward them, while the hidden creature waits between both approaches.
Director's note
I dash out towards the calf to protect it from any further injury, I would rather myself get injured than the calf because at least i can defend myself