"Its not as bad as it looks, Kan." Kyera replied as she slowly brought herself into a seated position. He frowned and looked her over. "What was he?" She asked and Kan sighed."Wild, don"t worry Princess, you didn"t kill one of your own. He was wild but, I would say tied to them." He replied jerking a thin cord off the panther"s neck. Kyera sighed and nodded. She took her bow and arrow off her back and shot the panther in the heart just to be certain.
"Kan, no mercy." She replied quietly as he tossed it to her. The little dial of metal was marked with a claw mark across the center. She recognized the symbol of the tribe, the knights crest slashed in half by a claw. It was the Mark of the dark ones.
"I understand Princess, No mercy." He agreed and grabbed the panther throwing it over his back. "Mount up." He steadied himself and waited for him to climb onto his back. Kyera got into place and sighed. Her body hurt with every motion of Kan"s shoulders, but he tried his best to keep it level.
"We need to hunt a bear tomorrow." Kyera told him softly her hand ma.s.saging her tummy and soothing the baby. Her mind was finally settling down from the fight.
"You wanted to stick to stag…" He reminded her as he walked across a fallen log and jumped onto a stump to cross a small ravine. Kyera winced.
"I know, but if we kill a bear I can stop hunting." Kyera replied sighing as she thought about the amount of meat she was bringing back as it was. Hopefully a bear would be enough to consider her a bell of the hunt.
"Well, we can get a bear and at least a stag tomorrow. That should take care of it, granted I never expected you to look for a quick end." He replied honestly a bit surprised but only mildly curious. It wasn"t something he wanted to ask about directly.
"Yes, well I didn"t think about being hunted. If I had landed wrong or on a larger rock back there I could have hurt the baby. I thought I could get away without fighting but it seems that isn"t as easy as I hoped." Kyera pointed out and Kan nodded. He had been considering how to protect from above.
"True enough, then that shall be our focus tomorrow." Kan agreed as they neared camp. Kyera sighed knowing there was going to be a lot of fuss about her body and the marks on her. Then again, for once, she was honestly looking forward to being taken care of.
"Its Kyera." A guard announced and several people were sitting around the fire eating dinner. It looked and smelled to be roast rabbit. Kyera stayed on Kan"s back and Lazren and Cora made their way to her side.
"Kyera you look a mess. What in the earth and sky happened to you?" Cora demanded helping her off the tiger"s back. Lazren took the killed panther to the table to begin carving to bits. Kyera laid her forehead on Cora"s shoulder for a moment.
"I got jumped by a rather nasty panther. I was hunting a stag but unfortunately it seems so was it." Kyera explained as Cora took her to the tent. Before pausing she began to remove Kyera"s leathers to get a better look at the damage that had been done. The scratches and gouges in her skin as well as several badly placed bruises.
"I would definitely say that panther did quite a job on you, and I thought that cat was suppose to keep things like this from happening." Cora scolded as she cleaned the wounds on Kyera"s shoulders. There was a clear annoyance in her movement as Kyera sighed, fidgeting slightly.
"The baby?" Kyera asked honestly not trusting her own instincts when it came to the cub in her stomach. Cora glanced at her as if deciding what to say.
"It seems the baby is fine. You are good at defense and controlling your falls. I think if it had been anyone else, we may have lost the child." Cora warned her shaking her head gently. Kyera nodded, the deep breath she had been holding slowly let out.
"Okay, I think it is time we quit playing the game, shall we?" Kyera asked running a hand through her hair letting the long strands slide slowly through her fingers. Cora smiled brightly at him.
"I am not sure why you ever did." Cora smiled as she cleaned the final wounds. Kyera smiled softly.
"Nor do I."