A Ranger's First Hunt

Echo pounded through the trees. Thorns and vines slashed at his arms, but the thought of his master Rayrod lying prone on the forest floor and the monsters in pursuit urged him on. Faster. Faster. The word drummed in his mind in a frantic beat. 

Soft whooshing sounds came from behind him. He glanced back. A white blur flashed through the treetops.

They were coming.

Gritting his teeth, he hurled himself onward.  A stream ran to his right. He knew he could return to the log forte the Rangers called home by following it, but the creatures would catch him long before he reached it.

Echo leaped over a fallen tree and the breeze sent his green cloak flapping behind him. 

He could hear the monsters drawing closer. 

Echo ducked around a tree to his right and splashed across the stream, soaking his boots.

A thick clump of bushes crowded the bank. Could he hide? He crashed into them falling to his hands and knees and crawling underneath. He needed to get an antidote from the Rangers and fast, but he had to evade the venomous creatures first. Guilt tugged at his stomach at the thought of his master.

In the bushes, emerald leaves impeded his vision and branches snatched at the bow slung over his shoulder. The smell of damp earth filled his nostrils. All he could hear was his panting and the crackling of the bushes as he shoved his way through them. Were they behind him?

Echo broke from the thicket with his cloak torn and smeared with mud and his sandy hair drenched with sweat. He looked around. No white blurs. Just silence.

 Had he lost them?  But he was not about to wait around and find out. 

Echo ran onward, his pace now hardly more than a heavy jog. The bow slung over his shoulder jostled, and his arrows rattled. 

Echo stumbled, tripped over a root and sprawled on the ground. He grimaced and pulled himself to a sitting position. He had been so excited to become a ranger's apprentice at twelve and so thrilled to go on his first hunt. His father had been proud. But he had not expected to be the one hunted. He had wanted to prove himself, but he had ruined everything. If only he had not thrown that knife before Rayrod commanded him to.

Thwumph.

Echo’s heart skipped a beat. No. 

He swung to find a white, fluffy creature the size of a berry bush. It had a pink button nose, beady reddish eyes and pointed ears as long as swords with stingers pointing out. It crouched on four limber paws. It wrinkled its nose and tilted its head at Echo. 

A rabbit. A Deadly, Adorable Rabbit of The Jungle and the trespasser in the Kings' Wood. 

Echo stared into its eyes, waiting for it to strike. Sweat trickled down his face. The pounding of his heart sounded too loud. A breeze rustled the branches and a green bee buzzed lazily nearby. Hoping against hope, he wondered if the rabbit might leave if he remained still.

Thwump, thwump.

Echo glanced to the side. The second rabbit sped toward him, with evil intent gleaming in its eyes. He was doomed.

Echo's mind whirled. The rabbits could move faster than the blink of an eye and had dodged Rayrod’s arrows easily. What if he slashed at its ears? But that was too risky. He'd already tried hurling a knife, to no avail. He had dodged one of the rabbits before… but then it had landed on Rayrod instead and stung him. So, much for impressing his new master.  Echo shook his head, he needed to focus… but what if that was the way...? An idea formed on his mind. Echo unslung his bow and snagged an arrow between his index finger and thumb and with his left hand, he snatched his knife from its sheath.

He hesitated a split second, waiting until the running rabbit was almost upon him. Then he threw the knife at the stationary rabbit and dove.  

The knife missed.

Both rabbits sprung.

Echo landed on his back on the ground. 

He knocked an arrow on his bow as the rabbits collided midair right where he’d been a moment before. He fired. 

The arrow hit the flank of one rabbit and both fell to the ground beside him. He jumped to his feet, knocking another arrow. He already knew he was too slow, the second rabbit would be up in a flash...

But both rabbits lay still.

Had he managed to hit both with one arrow? He knelt and peered closer. The ears of both rabbits were stuck into each other. Had it worked...? Had they stung each other? Echo panted and blinked at the dead rabbits on the forest floor. They had. He had done it. He had finished the hunt.

Epilogue

By the time Echo reached the Ranger’s Keep, his arms and legs felt as if they had been clawed by a dragon. Between gasps, he told the gatekeeper what had happened. The ranger saddled a horse and left to find Rayrod while Echo waited. When the ranger returned with Rayrod, his skin had turned a sickly shade of white and his lips were blue.

"Is he...?" Echo began.

The old gatekeeper saw Echo’s concerned expression. “He’s alive, but barely.”

Echo slumped.

When Rayrod woke, he called Echo into his room. 

Echo shuffled as he entered, dreading the news he knew was coming.

Rayrod was a tall man with chiseled features that seemed designed for scowling. He narrowed his brown eyes at Echo.  “Lad, I told you to wait, but you didn’t and you almost got me killed as a result.”

Echo studied his filthy boots.

“But… I heard what you did. You dispatched two of those monsters at the same time? Well, that takes some fine thinking.”

Echo raised his gaze to meet Rayrod’s. He was surprised to see a hint of admiration on his face.

Rayrod coughed. “You have got something to learn about discipline, but I will say this,  today you proved yourself a real ranger.”

The end