The celebrations continued until the night. Feast of foods rejuvenated their body, while songs and chatter rejuvenated their spirits. The night was one of the high points of the day off. Major Shalshukein almost gave away a smirk, seeing how well the soldiers were. Avryn and Leifren’s squad gathered around one of the campfires. The topic of their conversation that day were facing Corpses.

  Leifren recounted the story of he and Jenilah’s first encounter with one: a Corpse eagle.

  “This happened shorty after me and Jenilah made our first guns,” he told them.

  They were out on a trip to the Lost Lands with their father back when he still had both legs. It was a trial of sorts for them both. All Rosenfausts had to go through hunting a Corpse by the age of thirteen. Jenilah and Leifren had the advantage of being twins to help, so they had to hunt one together. They arrived on Outpost B and were greeted by the many soldiers there. They know the undertaking they needed to do and gave way.

  “Alright, my children, let’s go for some bird watching,” Auskar said.

  “We’re gonna hunt an eagle then, father?” Jenilah asked.

  The old man nodded and beckoned them. They all had their guns in tow. Auskar gave Leifren a pair of binoculars to spot the bird. The hunt had begun. Trudging through the landscape of the Lost Lands was a dream of the two young Rosefaust twins, and now they were living it. The touch of the grass, the feel of the brambled path, the trees as they whizzed past, it was such an exciting feeling for the twins who were stuck in a home for years with nothing to do. Leifren whistled and pointed up. His binoculars were squarely homed on a bird circling just beyond them.

  “Good eyes, my boy,” Auskar patted him on the back.

  Jenilah readied her gun.

  “At ease, my girl, we’ll need to get a closer shot,” Auskar calmed her.

  “Y-yes, father,” she stowed it away.

  The eagle went further up north, so they continued following it. It was only a matter of time before they found its nest, high up in the trees. Auskar stopped them before the tree and laid down the rules.

  “Alright, this is where I let you go. If anything dire were to happen, I’ll step in, alright?”

  “Yes, father,” the twins nodded.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Leifren turned to Jenilah,

  “You shoot after the bird falls down,”

  She nodded and awaited him. Leifren loaded his rifle and aimed up high. He took a breath and pulled the trigger. The eagle moved at the last minute and whizzed past its ear. It started to fly away. Leifren’s eyes widened as he realized that.

  “Oh no!” he kicked the dirt under him.

  “It’s okay, brother. Right, father?” Jenilah consoled him.

  “Yes it is. This is the essence of the hunt. Come, we must chase your quarry. Don’t give up here,” he motioned to move.

  Just as Leifren was about to continue his tale, a whistle interrupted them.

  “Alright, night guards up, rest of you go to sleep,” a soldier announced.

  “Well, there it is. I’ll finish this tale next time,” Leifren

  The next day, the two squads received their assignment: a Corpse Harper Eagle had been spotted in the area and harrassing the patrolling squads. Leifren laughed at the concept, and chalked it up to fate. They drove their dualcycles to the specified location. The squads followed the patrol routes and found the eagle ready to attack. They countered immediately, with a storm of bullets. The eagle flew easily through the gaps. It used wind magic to disperse the bullets away.

  “Crap,” Avryn switched to his gunblade.

  He looked to Valoche and shared a nod. Avryn quickly jumped off of him and attempted an attack in the air but the eagle saw right through it and blew Avryn away to the side. His back was met with a tree as he fell. His head was ringing as he got back rightside up.

  “This flyer’s smart. This is bad,” he thought to himself.

  Avryn looked around and analyzed the situation. He needed to distract the bird first before doing anything major to it. The Corpse Harper Eagle was keeping its distance as it kept waving wind magic with its wings. He repositioned himself behind the bird. He jumped off a tree and tried again. The bird twirled around him and sent him flying to the rest of his teammates. He crashed onto them and messed up their formation. Valoche uses his ancestral magic to create his own winds. He threw his axes up to the bird, empowered by those winds.

  The gale force winds clashed in the battlefield, scattering leaves from the nearby trees and shrubs. They howled together. Valoche’s axes spun in between the opposing winds and were stuck.

  Meanwhile, Leifren had repositioned himself behind the bird. He aimed with his rifle and took a shot. He smiled as he confirmed the hit. The bird realized in a battle of attrition, the squads would surely win. He took off and escaped back to whence he came.

  “Just like old times,” Leifren whispered.

  “Great, the bird’s gone,” Harver was displeased with the results.

  “Hunting prey like that requires great patience. Something you lack,” Tvira scoffed.

  Leifren was fidgeting with his Scribe. Avryn walked up beside him and asked what he was doing.

  “I attached a tracking device on the bird’s back. It won’t be able to shake it off that easily. Now I’m trying to see where its nest is.”

  He adds that the bird was harassing other patrol routes as it fled. The rest of the squads were setting up a campsite. A special powder was added to the campfire to deter Corpses away from the site. They had a safe slumber. The hunt continued the next day as they followed the coordinates on Leifren’s Scribe.

  The tracker began to move towards them. They readied their weapons and hit amongst the bushes. They struck as the bird flew right into the middle of their formation. This time, they went all out. Tvira had oil tipped arrows that spread on the birds wings. Rinna shot fire crystals which forced the bird into the ground. Valoche wrestled the eagle’s head while Avryn pinned its other wing to the ground with Lerosa. Jenilah charged up and shot its face off with her shotgun, Bernadetta.

  The fight was over and they revelled in their victory.

  “Hmm,” Avryn pondered. “Was that how the story ended? More or less?” he turned to Leifren.

  “More or less. Me and Jenilah got equal parts in hunting that bird down,” he knelt down and grabbed a pinion feather.

  Valoche chopped of its head to bring as proof to the major. Tvira also grabbed a handful of its feathers to use for her arrows. Leifren smiled and replayed that memory in his mind.

  “We did it, father!” he said that as he held Jenilah’s hand.

  “That was some awe inspiring teamwork, my children,” Auskar praised them. “You have become fine hunters indeed.”

  Leifren picked up one wing from the eagle and had Jenilah pick up the other wing. Auskar took a photograph of the two holding their first trophy. Leifren had a copy of that same photo on his person. As the mission ended, he was seen smiling, looking at that photo.