Necromancer: Kingdom Building with My Legion of Undead Knights

Chapter 212: One More Hunt

"I know you are exhausted," he said to Seren. "I am too, but let’s try and go on one more hunt."

Seren looked at him and rolled her head back, sitting on the floor. She let out a long, heavy sigh, the kind that came from deep in her chest. "Wish we had brought a horse," she said, her voice flat. "Too tired to keep walking."

Darion smiled. He understood part of her problem now, she was tired of the constant walking.

He understood completely. They had been trekking through the forest for hours, their legs carrying them over uneven ground, through thick underbrush, across streams and clearings.

His own legs ached, his calves burning with every step. He was tired of the act too.

He had thought of taking a horse before coming here, but then he had decided against it. The forest was unpredictable, and the sound of hooves would have carried far through the trees.

A horse would have been a liability, noisy, easy to track and easy to spook. He didn’t want to make noise and get killed before he found the animal. A case of the prey finding the predator. It was a risk he couldn’t afford to take.

"I’m reserving all my strength for when we will trek back," Seren said now. She was saving her energy, conserving what little she had left for the journey home. She knew the walk back would be long and dangerous, and she didn’t want to be completely drained when they finally started the return trip.

"We already made a lot of undeads, y’know," Seren continued. She gestured vaguely at the forest around them, as if to indicate all the creatures they had collected. "Fourteen Horned Olfs. Four Errligs. The Yuimons. The Slitherer. That’s a lot. More than we came with."

Darion thought about it. Yes, he had made a lot of undeads. His inventory was fuller than it had been in a long time. But Seren had probably thought that this was just casual hunting, a simple expedition where they would hunt for some undeads and then go home.

She had probably assumed they would spend a few hours in the forest, kill a handful of animals, and call it a day.

But no. That wasn’t the case. Darion wanted to refill his inventory. It wasn’t just a preference, it was a necessity, a must for him. He had a goal, a target, a number he needed to reach. He couldn’t call it a day until his animal inventory was full. That was the plan, and he was sticking to it.

Maybe if it was a much lower cap, like forty, he would have wrapped it up already. But his cap was seventy, and he currently had forty-eight. He needed twenty-two more. Twenty-two animals stood between him and a full inventory. It was so close, so tantalizingly close, that he couldn’t give up now.

He looked at Seren, sitting on the forest floor, her head tilted back, her eyes closed. She looked exhausted, but she also looked like she was listening, waiting for his response. He took a breath and spoke.

"Seren," he said, his voice gentle but firm. "I know you’re tired. I know you want to go home. But I need twenty-two more animals. That’s it. Just twenty-two. If we find a pack, we could finish this in minutes. And I have an idea that will make this easier for you."

She opened one eye and looked at him skeptically.

"You’ll ride one of the Horned Olfs," Darion said. "You can hold onto the horns for better grip. You won’t have to walk anymore. You can just sit and let the creature carry you."

Seren’s expression shifted. She sat up straighter, her eyes narrowing. "Ride a Horned Olf?" she repeated.

"Yes," Darion said. "They’re sturdy, they’re fast, and they obey my commands completely. You’ll be safe. And you won’t have to walk."

She considered this, her lips pressing together. She didn’t look convinced. "I don’t know about climbing on one of those things," she said slowly. "They have fangs. And those horns look sharp."

"They won’t hurt you," Darion assured her. "They won’t even move unless I tell them to. Trust me."

She stared at him for a long moment, then let out a breath. "Fine," she said. "But if I fall off, I’m never speaking to you again."

Darion smiled. "Deal."

He summoned a Horned Olf from his inventory. The creature materialized beside them, its green eyes glowing, its body still and waiting. Seren approached it cautiously, her hand reaching out to touch its side. The creature didn’t react. It just stood there, patient and obedient.

Darion showed her how to mount it, how to grab the horns for grip, how to sit comfortably. Seren climbed on, her movements slow and careful, her face tense with concentration. When she was settled, she let out a breath and looked at Darion.

"This feels weird," she said.

"It’ll get better," Darion said. "Just hold on."

Now that Seren was taken care of, Darion needed to adjust his hunting approach. He couldn’t afford to wander aimlessly through the forest anymore. He needed to be efficient. He needed to find animals quickly.

He thought about his options. He could send his original undead wolf and the Slitherer out as trackers.

They were great detectors, even as undeads, and they would do the job. The original wolf had a seemingly special way of catching undeads, its instincts were sharper, its senses more acute.

It could track prey across miles of forest, could sense the presence of animals long before Darion saw them.

And the Slitherer, with its armored body and keen senses, could move through the underbrush silently, finding prey that other creatures might miss.

Together, they would be an effective tracking team.

Darion summoned the two creatures, giving them the command to head into the forest as trackers.

They moved quickly, their bodies low to the ground, their eyes scanning the shadows. Darion watched them go, feeling their presence through the binding.

He could sense what they sensed: the rustle of leaves, the distant sound of movement, the faint scent of prey. If they found anything, they would alert him through the binding, and he would know exactly where to go.

All Darion wanted now was to stumble on a pack of any wild animal. A pack would make things easier. Instead of hunting creatures one by one, he could take down an entire group in a single encounter.

A pack meant multiple kills in a few minutes, which meant multiple additions to his inventory. It was efficient, clean, and fast. And he needed fast right now.

He knew that packs of wild animals were common in this part of the forest. The Horned Olfs had been a pack. The Yuimons had been a pack. There were more out there. Probably pdifferent variations of deer, wolves, boars, creatures he hadn’t even seen yet. All he had to do was find them.

He looked at Seren, who was sitting comfortably on the Horned Olf, her hands gripping the horns. "Ready?" he asked.

She nodded. "Let’s just get this over with."

Darion smiled and turned to follow his trackers. The hunt was on.

They moved through the forest in silence, the Slitherer and the large undead wolf well ahead, their bodies low to the ground, their movements fluid and deliberate.

The Slitherer slithered through the underbrush like a shadow, its armored body barely disturbing the leaves beneath it.

The wolf padded beside it, its nose low, its green eyes scanning the darkness. They worked together like a team of hunters who had been doing this for longer than Darion could remember.

The wolf tracked by scent, the Slitherer tracked by vibration, and together they covered the ground quickly and efficiently.

Darion followed at a distance, his steps careful, his breathing controlled. Seren remained on the Horned Olf, her hands gripping the horns, her body tense. She was tired, but she was also alert, her eyes scanning the trees around them.

Soon, the Slitherer found something. Darion felt a subtle alarm through the binding , a shift in the creature’s energy, a quickening of its movements. The Slitherer had detected something ahead, and it was retreating slightly, moving back toward Darion to avoid being seen.

Darion stopped immediately, raising his hand to signal Seren. He made a shush gesture, his finger pressed to his lips, his eyes fixed on the trees ahead.

Then he commanded the Horned Olf carrying her to wait through the binding. The creature stopped, its body still, its green eyes fixed on nothing. Seren stayed silent, her grip tightening on the horns.

Darion walked forward, his steps light, his body low. He moved to the place where the Slitherer had found the thing, hiding behind a thick tree trunk. He peered around it, his eyes scanning the clearing beyond.

And behold, further off, was a pack of wild animals...