Her gaze saw bloody footprints leading toward a small tree growing at the edge of the field. Examining the tracks, Lualia realized the wounded man had fallen and tried to crawl to escape.
Glancing at other tracks nearby, she saw them approach the wounded man and drag him toward the tree.
She already knew what would appear before her eyes near the tree; the blood trails were growing larger, and turning her gaze to the tree where a figure was visible hanging from one of the branches, the girl fought the urge to move on.
Clutching her spear and raising her gaze to the figure, Lualia continued toward the small tree and the figure hanging from it.
Approaching the tree, she saw blood-stained clothes and weapons scattered about. Looking up at the hunter's naked body, she saw bloodshot eyes and hands bound behind her back.
The huntress's body was covered in various wounds, and her face was frozen in a grimace of horror. Looking down, the girl walked around a small tree and, climbing onto a branch and cutting the rope holding the dead hunter, heard the body fall to the ground.
Descending from the tree and silently approaching the body, she examined the wounds. She saw no wounds that would have caused death, meaning she had been hanged alive.
The girl tried to calm herself, but the smell rising from the body forced her to leave.
She wanted to burn them, but she knew that forest dwellers and potential bandits could see the smoke and find her.
Returning to the tree where the house stood, the girl cast angry glances around, wishing for someone to emerge from the bushes so she could vent her anger on her enemies.
The day was beginning to end, and the girl realized that, no matter how much she wanted to know what had happened to the other hunters, she had to wait out the night here and only in the morning head to other parts of the forest where the hunters were hunting.
Closing her eyes, the girl was wary of all the sounds that came from the forest, placing the spear next to her with the tip forward, Lualia closed her eyes.
The girl opened her eyes and listened to the forest. That night, she couldn't sleep, seeing the bodies of the hunters before her eyes, and wondering what had happened to Kio and her future husband,
Fash. Pushing away thoughts of what had happened to them, Lualia rose from the floor where she had been sleeping.
She felt hungry. Shaking her head, and holding her spear in hand, she headed for the exit of the house.
Stopping near the door and listening to what was beyond it, the possibility that the bandits knew where the house was was high.
Opening the door carefully and looking around, she saw that no one was there. Allowing herself to relax, the girl carefully opened the door all the way and quietly stepped outside.
As she descended, she listened to the forest and tried to peer through the leaves and branches. Finding herself on the ground and crouching, Lualia began to walk away from the house and headed toward another part of the forest, where her friend and future husband had gone.
The girls were tormented by fears about what had happened to them. Looking at the sky, the day was just beginning, she hoped the other hunters were alright.
As she walked through the forest, she heard the sounds of some of the forest's inhabitants already out hunting or returning to their lairs to rest.
Her growing hunger forced the girl to gather various herbs and fruits along the way, which helped her overcome her hunger and thirst. Continuing on, Lualia tried to figure out how the bandits knew where the hunters would be.
Even if they were watching the city, she doubted there were more than one or two watching. Could it be that one of the city's residents or hunters had helped the bandits and somehow informed them where the hunters would be going?
Considering this possibility, she dismissed the possibility that any of the residents would be able to leave the city unless they were exiled.
But no one had been exiled recently, and she had known all the hunters for a long time, except for the young hunter.
She tried to remember how the young man had ended up in the city, let alone become a hunter, but either they hadn't told her, or she hadn't paid attention when they had.
Coming out of her reverie, she noticed she'd begun to walk faster, slowing down. She didn't want to make a mistake that would cost her her life.
Remembering her friend, who often told her where she and Fash preferred to hunt in the forest, she winced. The pair liked to hunt near a small lake where some forest dwellers came to drink.
Being near water, the forest dwellers relaxed and didn't expect an attack, and Kio and Fash took advantage of this.
As she approached their hunting area, the girl stopped, feeling herself growing nervous. The figures of past hunters appeared before her eyes, but their faces were those of her friend and her friend's future husband.
Clutching her spear and listening to the sounds, the girl headed first toward the house, checking the hiding places for prey along the way, but as before, they were empty.
Wincing as her suspicions about her friend's fate began to come true, Lualia headed toward the treehouse.
Like the other one, it was empty, but unlike that one, she saw that someone had been there before her. Examining the tracks, the girl concluded that the hunters had been here after their separation; she felt a rising hope that they were both alive.
Leaving the house and continuing to search for tracks near the lake, she found nothing until she almost walked away. First, she saw a hand reaching toward her.
Stopping and peering at the hand, she saw that whoever was reaching toward her was dead or unconscious, as they weren't moving.
Looking around, Lualia searched for other figures, but either they were well hidden or there weren't any. She realized that if she had been noticed, she was already trapped.
Crouched and moving as slowly as possible, Lualia tried to keep her hand in sight and observe what was on her left and right sides. As she approached, she expected an attack, but no one tried to stop her.
As she approached the hand, she saw a figure lying face down. Looking at it, she found it familiar, but she dismissed the thought of her friend and Fash.
The figure wore a hooded cloak that reminded her of Kufi, who should have been elsewhere. Confused, she stared at the cloak and hood, trying to figure out why she thought she was wearing the cloak of an older hunter.
Listening to the forest and looking around, the girl heard no strange or unusual sounds, which should have reassured her, but looking back at the figure, she felt a rising fear.
Moving closer to the body and examining it, she didn't immediately try to remove the hood to confirm her fears, but instead examined the hand she first saw.
She noticed that several fingers were missing. She glanced at the hand where the skin was missing. Lualia smelled rot and decay from beneath the fabric.
Examining the hand where the skin was missing, she realized that everything looked very.
She felt the smell of decay growing stronger, fighting the desire to stop, the girl turned the bodies over, allowing her to see the face that she remembered well.
The old hunter was covered in blood, his face missing skin and revealing bones and rotting flesh. His gray hair was smeared with blood.
Kufi's expression was one of surprise. The girl lowered her gaze, wanting to wake up from another nightmare, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't.
The old hunter had been kind to her, supporting her after Namil's death and trying to help her find a new hunting partner.
She felt tears streaming down her face, and her gaze began to lose its sharpness. She brushed her hand away, trying to understand what the old hunter was doing so far from his hunting grounds.
Holding back the pain, the girl began to examine his chest, from which blackened blood was already flowing.
Most of the skin on his neck and chest was cut away, and some flesh was missing from the bones.
The girl increasingly saw that the old hunter was being tortured, glancing at his other hand, where rope marks remained.
As she understood it, the old hunter had somehow managed to escape the bandits, but they had caught him and killed him here.
She found it difficult to understand why the killers did not get rid of any of the bodies she saw; was it possible that they did not think that any of the surviving hunters would go in search of the missing hunters?