The argument over who had technically killed it lasted another ten minutes. Prince Lucifer insisted his hammer strikes had done most of the work, and Atheline insisted that removing a creature's brain generally counted as the killing blow.
Simion attempted to act as referee. That had been his first mistake, both immediately turned on him and demanded judgment.
His second mistake was trying to be fair. Eventually, he declared it a shared kill and neither accepted the verdict. The argument continued while they harvested materials from the beast.
By the time they finally moved on, the sun had already begun descending toward the western mountains far into the horizon.
The forest darkened considerably as shadows lengthened around them. The cold intensified, yet none of them felt inclined to return.
Strong beasts still lurked deeper inside since the beast swarm had not fully dispersed.
