Free Seers of Verde: The Legend Fulfilled: Book One by ML Williams Page B

trophy,” Hart said, not bothered by his friend’s taunt. “Besides, I’m too clumsy to sneak up on anything close enough to use a sight.”
    All eyes turned to watch Marco unfold what looked like a small rocket launcher. Looking up, he smiled. “I am not ashamed to use a little tech to bring down game. This is a sonic launcher. I auto-sight an animal and fire the projectile.”
    Lar was dubious as he examined the weapon. “A sonic, but that only stuns things.”
    Marco smiled. “I just need enough time to get to them and then I go to work.” At that, he pulled out a huge knife, almost a half-meter long. The steel glinted in the sunshine as its owner demonstrated his throat slitting technique.
    The other hunters looked away from Marco’s demonstration and finished readying their equipment. Lar stared for a bit and shook his head. He felt for his weapons, a much smaller knife than what Marco carried and a short-range energy pistol. The game would have to be small and nearby if he was going to contribute to the meal.
    “Why don’t you three with the noisemakers team up?” Lar said, looking at Zek, Hart and Marco. “Drever, Neb and I will try to stay upwind of you. Between the two groups we should at least have rodents to roast.”
    Before setting out, Lar reminded the hunters to keep their comms turned on in case the groups lost sight of each other.
    One hour later, Neb, Drever, and Lar had sighted a white grazer standing on a boulder about two hundred meters away. The white animal had two short horns and a beard.
    “It looks like an Earth mountain goat, only smaller,” Neb whispered. “I won’t get close enough to get a shot.” He nodded to Drever. “In range for you?”
    Drever nodded and readied his energy-burst tube. All he needed was to lock his laser on the animal and it would be a smoldering carcass a second later.
    At that moment, two loud cracks and a muffled explosion cut through the air. The three men flinched from the sound. Their prey was no longer perched on the rock, having scrambled away to safety.
    “Sounds like they’re fighting Tanlians,” Drever scowled, disappointed at not getting a shot off. “They had better have bagged something with all that noise. We won’t see another animal for a kilometer or two now.”
    Neb smiled. “If they didn’t bring down anything, they should have to eat a rock lizard.”
    Drever laughed. “I would like to see Marco eat one of those. Perhaps he could slit its little neck to make him feel better.” Lar and Neb chuckled. All three turned and walked in the direction of the other group, hoping there would be meat to roast this night.
    It did not take long for Lar’s group to find the other three hunters. Marco and Zek were cleaning the animal, another mountain goat, but smaller than the one Drever had wanted to bring down. Hart watched as the two worked on the animal, a big smile on his face.
    Neb surveyed the scene. “Let me guess who was successful.” Not willing to answer, Marco and Zek shrugged and kept working. They had it gutted and were dragging it to a nearby pine to hang it and let it bleed out.
    “We had a bet. The other two would clean the first kill. Early Earth tech proved to be the better weapon,” Hart said brandishing his scoped rifle.
    “Zek shot the tail off a big one, and Marco scared the rest of the herd away. Good thing I was here. We will eat well tonight.”
    Marco glared at Hart. “You could have killed the big one. Why this one?” he growled.
    “I wanted something tender to eat, not tough jerk that would take all night to cook,” Hart said. “Sometimes you have to take your best shot, not wait for a trophy. Besides we would not be able to eat one of those big rams. It would be a waste.”
    “You are a strange hunter,” Marco said. “My trophy rooms on Sirius 7 are full of the biggest specimens one can hope to find on the colony worlds.”
    Hart shook his head at Marco. “But how did they taste? When you are hungry