Life as a New Hire Chapter 49
By FinalStand
*Editing magic performed by Shyqash, plus contributions by the regular gang of brigands and neer-do-wells*
*The Hunt is never an easy thing because in the Wild there are things which hunt the hunters*
*The Great Hunt*
{SEPTEMBER 11TH — FIRST DAY OF THE GREAT HUNT}
{CENTRAL ARGENTINA}
Felix was still nursing his hurt hand when I came back from my Ishara-space.
“Well?” he smirked.
“Plenty of good news,” I smirked right back from the place where I had dropped when Felix had cold-cocked me. “Suffice it to say the weather on the final day will be in our favor ~ no more precise answer than that from the goddess SzélAnya ~ plus our horses will not throw us, or give away our position. That’s from the Goddess Epona by the way.”
“Finally, the Goddess Ishara will be watching over us and our travails… she will send omens to warn us of hunters closing in as well as talk to me in my dreams. Apparently she doesn’t want me — us — to shame her in this contest so is taking this competition seriously. Mind you, this means the other goddesses will be taking this contest seriously as well, so we have our work cut out for us again.”
“What is Ishara the Goddess of again?” the teased me.
“Oaths, love and medicine,” I repeated my answer.
“Fine,” the grinned, “is there any goddess in my corner?”
“None that bothered talking to me,” I snorted. “Want me to knock you out and see what you can see?”
“Nah… I’m Felix Melena. I work better alone.”
“You mean in alone in a team of two, right?”
“Yeah — a team of four actually, Nyilas. Don’t forget our mounts,” Felix motioned to our two horses.
I was ecstatic because they had brought Peppermint down from ‘Summer Camp’ for this romp through the Pampas. To me she was the perfect mare for this endeavor.
Felix had been gifted with a spirited gelding named ‘Thunderbolt’ — ‘Rayo’ in Spanish. He was a black haired beast with white sox and a white diamond on his forehead. Felix had wanted a stallion, but the Horse-mistresses of Epona had nixed that choice as highly impractical for a horse-virgin such as himself. I had to agree as stallions had far too much spirit and the likelihood of one making noise when it smelled an unknown mare was far too high… so a gelding it was.
Not that an ‘unknown’ mare was that much of a possibility. See, we had been put down where the other thirty huntresses would also be starting from — a makeshift corral our host Freehold had put together as the entrance to some ‘badlands’ in which the hunt would be taking place. There ten Amazons — with their own mounts — manned the place, fed the horses and made sure no one cheated out of the starting gate.
We had our 24 hours head start on our pursuers, but that didn’t turn out to be the huge edge we thought it would be. We were given the first part of our map… which led to the area we would find our second part of our map… and so on until sometime late Saturday night, or Sunday morning, we would find the final part of our map which would direct us to where our extraction point would be.
We were to be extracted at NOON — not sunset as we had originally been told — on Sunday. Actually, anytime between ten minutes before to ten minutes after… so fair this was not seeing as we were novice outdoorsmen. Still, those were the rules we were given so off we went early Thursday morning. In the truest Amazon fashion, this was to be a contest which required the utmost skill and endurance to win.
Heading out, Felix and I were deciding on what the enemy strategy, or strategies, would be. We figured some would start by simply trailing us seeing as how they were better both at tracking as well as doing so from horseback. The second group would follow a different, but equally difficult ‘Treasure Hunt’ toward our final point of extraction and wait for us there.
I reminded Felix that neither he nor I nor any of the Amazons would be riding our horses to death, or even injury, because that wasn’t the Amazon way. Such callous disregard for one’s mount wasn’t in them and we had to follow that dictum, or suffer irreparable harm to our own ‘honor’ should we do so and somehow win. Doing so and losing… we decided to not even go there.
This also meant we had to take time for our horses to graze and find water for them to drink along the way. After getting that lecture, Felix wondered out loud if it wouldn’t be a better idea for us to let our horses loose and ‘hoofing’ it ourselves seeing as how the Amazons would also have to follow the same horse etiquette. I had to remind him reluctantly how much faster horses could travel. Horses were the way to go.
The difference was there was no rapid charging across the landscape with the Sun at our backs as we headed out. No, we took it at a steady trot until we hit our first terrain feature — a steady gradient cut in the side of a canyon which had been created over the millennia by the forces of wind and rain. Down we went. Our horizon sunk down esenler escort until all we had were the walls of the canyon.
Our map directed us to take this route to the first ‘treasure horde’, whatever that was. By the way we were moving and how the Sun slowly crawled up above us — recall it was almost ‘spring’ down under — we figure we were making good progress toward our first target… which we located without too much hassle around noon.
It was a BONANZA! Not for us, but for the horses. We had four bags of grain for our mounts. We humans received some sort of indescribable jerky (since it was probably not human we decided to eat it… later [it turned out to be the local flightless bird and it tasted like chicken jerk jerky too!]). There was also the second part of our map which led us farther out into the wilderness. Off we went.
By evening we had found our third treasure trove. The second had contained two compasses and two hatchets (Yippee!!). The third had contained two sections of twenty-five meter rope and some flint and tinder so we could start a fire. Felix was all for this as it was butt-numbing cold already and we were damn tired from a day full of riding.
We compromised by creating a banked fire. We also decided to sleep instead of pushing on. It was pretty dark outside even with the three-quarters Moon above. We definitely didn’t want to walk our mounts into something which could bring them up lame this early in the contest. I assured Felix we couldn’t abandon them and leading them would be torture. Essentially we would be disqualified.
I won the compass toss and got to sleep the first part of the night. Felix woke me around Moon-set and then I kept watch — there were predators about, or so we believed — until sunrise. Then we ate the last of the jerky, fed and watered our mounts then head out once more. This time our hearts began to hammer within their cages and every noise had sinister implications.
See, the Amazons are cheating bitches of all cheating bitches and could have started after us at 12:01 last night and pushed on following our trail through the night. Being expert horsewomen and spectacular trackers they could do shit like that. We, their prey, had to be clever in other ways. What those ways were weren’t relatively apparent though.
Maybe Pamela could show up and, after slapping me upside my head, give me a clue. No Pamela arrived though so we were on our own. Shortly after the Sun crested the canyon walls — we kept to the canyons just in case — we came across the fourth ‘trove’… and it was chilling. We received two binoculars and some more jerky (it was to be our lunch). The binoculars were the chilling part because if WE had some then most likely the Amazons behind us had some as well.
Also, the way from our fourth treasure to out fifth put us in the horns of a dilemma. We could either cut over the sides of the canyon to where the fifth treasure trove/map was, or keep to the canyon and travel three times the distance. After a quick discussion followed by some ‘rock-paper-scissors’ (complete with a prayer to Dot Ishara), I won, so up and over the side we went.
To reduce the size of our silhouette, we dismounted and led our horses across the… and stumbled across a herd of cattle — SWEET MOTHER ISHARA! We moved through the herd, waved to the accompanying Amazon gaucho, and went on our way. Felix muttered something about my ‘dumb’ luck. He-he-he-he-he… We talked to the gaucho, turned on the charm and convinced her to not tell any of our pursuers we had come by this way.
She was like nineteen years old and I could tell really took a shine to Felix… so he promised to come back and visit her the moment he won the contest. After we departed her and her track-erasing herd of cattle, I pulled him aside.
“You had better keep that promise to that girl. If you don’t, she and her kinfolk will hunt your ass down and tag you like a mule deer in the Yellowstone,” I cautioned him.
“I know. I know,” he grinned. “These are some crazy ass bitches. Besides, being the lone male in a freehold of women has its own appeal.”
I thought we were in safe territory again when Felix finally asked that doom-laden question.
“Cáel, where have all their dudes gotten off to?”
‘Oh shit’, I mused. How much of the truth could Felix handle?
“I’m only telling you this because I like you,” I said then took a deep breath. “They sold them to the Nine Clans… they are a bunch of assassins.”
“Really?” he studied me. Like he was going to catch me in a lie after four years of dating the most dangerous game on this Earth — girlfriends.
“Really. Where do you think they get those legion of ninja and combat fighters from? Sure their life expectancy isn’t what we have, but it is much better than they would have if they stayed home.” There was some part of the truth in that.
“That seems… short-sighted.”
“What do you think guys like us are for? Now they won’t have to kidnap local passer-byers for bayrampaşa escort weeklong orgies.”
“How come words has never gotten out about this?” Felix was relentless.
“It has from time to time, but Havenstone makes sure such reports are relegated to the realm of tabloids and UFO aficionados. If that doesn’t work, they bribe some people to bury the story. If that doesn’t work, they kill some people.”
“Now that I believe,” Felix nodded.
“That they kill people to keep their secrets?”
“Absolutely. They look like the kind of girlfriend who wouldn’t be happy unless she burns your balls before your eyes after you break up.”
“How succinct,” I nodded back.
“So, are we ever going to see Khalid, Trent, or Brian again?”
“Sure… they are only being kept prisoners and milked of their seeds… but I can arrange for you go to go meet them if you really want to,” I offered.
“No thanks,” Felix shook his head then grinned. “They washed out while only you and I remain. Let me find them on my own and get some sort of permission from Ms. Love (Katrina) first. I thought Khalid was kind of cool and Trent was the kind of brother I could invite out for a beer, or ten.”
“Not Brian?”
“Brian was too invested in himself and his weevil-ing ways. I couldn’t trust him at my back, or with my girl. Mind you, I wouldn’t trust you with my girl either, but we are otherwise okay.”
“Smart move. I have exceedingly low impulse control around the ladies plus an over-developed libido.”
“Yeah,” he smiled my way. “I’d trust you in a knife fight, but not with someone I loved. You are way too smooth, Nyilas. Way too smooth.”
“What brought that revelation on?”
“Ms. Lee (Brooke). Normally I can mend any fence with any girl I come across, but not with her after she’d been with you. I admire that,” he studied me.
“So, are you and Gene going to be a regular thing?”
“Yeah. I think so. I still expect me to be getting plenty of tail at Havenstone once I win this thing, but having a less-lethal girl on the outside wouldn’t suck either.”
So much like me… I admired that about the guy.
“Once we win, don’t ya mean?”
“Sure thing, Nyilas,” he chuckled. “I figure it helps me to help you across the finish line. The better standing you end up in the better an ally you make back at work.”
“That reminds me — Katrina told me they are going to spin this — your participation in this inaugural Great Hunt is that all sins are forgiven — yadda, yadda, yadda. Thus you still walking around Havenstone being the bad boy you are.”
“Clever lady and always thinking ahead. Is she seeing anybody?”
“No, and dude, you don’t want to go there. She is far too clever by half to fall for any of our reindeer games. She scares me,” I cautioned him.
“All the more reason to pursue her,” he snorted.
“Go for it,” I shrugged. Hey, I’d warned the guy.
“What about that blonde number I saw you with… Elsa was it?”
Oh, he knew exactly who Elsa was, but he was acting all nonchalant about his treatment at her hands.
“Yeah. Elsa. What about her?”
“Is she in your stable?”
“Nope. Not really,” I shrugged. “Going after her too?”
“Oh, definitely.”
“Good luck with that,” I sighed. He’d learn the hard way.
“There is something you are not telling me.”
“Yeah. She has the hots for me. Wants to own me… and not in a good way.”
“Oh… is that your way of cautioning me to be wary of her?”
“Most definitely. Elsa is one scary lady and she already knows who and what we both are.”
“What are we?” he was eyeballing me again.
“Hunters on the prowl. Guys who like a challenge. In your case, the guy who only wants the best. I’m more of an omnivore.”
“You mean you are a man-slut,” he snorted.
“Got me,” I chuckled.
“So, you think she’s out of my league?”
“No. I think she is Katrina’s friend and Katrina sees right through both of us. Elsa might not have those interpersonal skills, but she’s twice as lethal. Trust me on that — I’ve fought her.”
“How tough was she?”
“Beat me black and blue then choked me out because I wouldn’t surrender.”
“Oh… I’d like to get her on the mats.”
“Good luck with that then. Become a ‘Runner’ and there is even more I can tell you about her. Right now it is all simply in-house stuff.”
“Corporate confidentiality details, eh? Executive Services purview and stuff like that. Man, I was wrong to look down on your branch of service. I apologize.”
“Why thank you. I honestly never thought I’d get a sincere apology from you.”
“I can be wrong once in your lifetime,” Felix laughed, “and I’m man enough to admit it.”
“Oh… and thanks for the sim-cards. They helped me get off that deserted atoll.”
“No problem. That was Katrina’s idea though.”
“Well, you got them to us so surreptitiously the Chinese suspected nothing.”
“Don’t you mean those rogue Albanians?”
“Yeah… them too,” I laughed along with him.
“I arnavutköy escort think we can be friends, Nyilas,” he grinned.
“I think so too. I didn’t think so originally. On the first day you and the others treated me like the country bumpkin, but now I think you see me as a survivor… just like you.”
“Precisely. You know I had the option of leaving Havenstone… no matter how this affair turns out.”
“And you didn’t take it? Who offered you this opportunity anyway?”
“Katrina.”
“It might have been a ruse,” I warned him. “These bitches don’t play fair.”
“I took that into account… but I love the challenge of this place. It is like no other work environment on Earth. Challenges every day, hot women all around, and the chance to risk my life on a monthly basis. Screw regular corporate America. I’ve found the place where I belong.”
Felix sounded so enthusiastic. I hoped he understood the fate he was embracing. I also hoped he found a niche in Havenstone which allowed him to live out his life… hopefully a long, long life. Maybe I should warn him about the ‘cliffs’? Perhaps once we had won and were safely back in Havenstone’s motherly embrace.
{***}
Fortune favored us backtracking from our seventh treasure trove — our dinner and more grain for the horses. A few birds flew up out of the brush ahead of us. I took that as a sign from Ishara.
“Felix,” I hissed. “Hide!”
We looked around and found a draw away from the main canyon floor for us to slink into. I used some brush to cover our side tracks then ran back to cover.
No sooner had I gotten there than two Amazons came trotting past us. The lead one was Svetlana Inara and she was tracking us from the saddle. The second one was Beatrice Astarte who was scanning the environment as they moved together following our trail up this vein of the canyon. As soon as they were around the next corner of the vein, Felix and I mounted up and raced down the other way.
The sand floor covered our hoof-falls and we had to go that way anyway. We had barely covered the distance to the next draw when we spotted two more Amazons following our earlier trail this way. We had TWO Amazon parties on our trail and it wasn’t even Friday night yet! This group spotted us and gave chase. They must have ridden their horses hard to get this far because we quickly left them in our dust.
This allowed us to slow down a bit and deviate over to where the eight ‘treasure’ was. Our map had us going back down his particular draw which I thought was most unwise, so we went over the lip of the draw dismounted and led our horses at a rapid run — for us humans — across the greater landscape. Thank SzélAnya, a late afternoon rainstorm fell upon us as we dropped down into the next vein of the canyon before the pursuing Amazons crested the draw we had exited.
We walked through the rain until the sun set then debated what to do next. We were going to need light to figure out where the eighth treasure was at — they were all somewhat hidden. We had to keep moving no matter what because we doubted the Amazons on our asses were going to let up. We decided when we got close to the eighth treasure horde I would do the searching while Felix stood watch on the entrance to the draw.
Using a hatchet I cut off a branch from a bush and set it alight so I could see what I was doing. It took me twenty long minutes to figure out where the treasure was hidden… night-vision goggles and the map to the ninth map piece. Gleefully, I went back down to where Felix was except… no Felix. Oh SHIT! I slipped back and put on my night-vision goggles, got a hatchet at the ready and returned, scanning about.
I spotted one Amazon… she was Carla Nemain… and I recalled her being teamed with Ella Mielikki. Anyway, I tried to sneak up on Carla and it almost worked. At the last moment the cloud cover cleared and the three-quarters Moon revealed me. She spun on me with twin fighting sticks while I tried to brain her with the flat side of my hatchet.
Yours truly took two punishing blows to his ribs while only clipping her with my hatchet. Still, the blow appeared to cause her to stumble so I pressed my advantage. I knocked one of her two sticks out of her hand then missed twice. I thought I heard someone coming up hard behind me. Well… fuck!
“What do you have?” Carla grumbled. “Are you trying to kill me?”
I kept silent, pulling out my second hatchet and pressing my luck a little further. I disarmed her and then hammered her down with a hatchet to the top of her skull. Down she went. I spun around just in time to see Ella Mielikki coming at me with a lasso. She launched it a second too late and I was able to bat it aside. She drew her honor blade and kept coming though.
“Ella… I have two hatchets. This is not a fight you can win,” I addressed her.
“You won’t kill me,” she kept advancing.
“Of course not. We are sisters, but I can do… this!” and I attacked her with the flat ends of my twin hatchets. I so had her too… or I would have had I had the extra moment to ensure Carla was unconscious.
She wasn’t. She jumped me from behind then Ella rushed in from the front and I went down in a tangle of arms, legs and torsos. I was doing surprisingly well wrestling them both despite the odds until Ella put her knife against my throat.