Lunation of Fate

The flickeries soon ceased in emitting their romantic glow. Each had already found their mate and each pair had settled down to somewhere far away.

The ripples and tiny waves in the shallow river water turned calmer and calmer as soon as Juste stopped his motion.

The surrounding area became dimmer and silent.

If one listened closely, only the hissing sound coming from the tree was evident.

But Juste and Chastine were still too engrossed with each other to even notice that lone bothersome sound.

Only their breathing were palpable within their earshot.

The slithering viper drew closer and closer towards them, carefully sliding its way so as not to be noticed.

It made its stance to ready itself to bite Juste’s arm.

*Hiss!*

Juste had quick reflexes, but he wasn’t able to dodge the hungry snake in time.

Still, the young fellhound was spared from being injected with a potent enough venom to let him have a cruel death.

It was all because of Maxill’s speedy response to save them from the famished viper.

Maxill one-handedly grabbed it by the head and quickly squeezed it so hard, its head bursted and its cranial innards splattered all over the area.

He then swung his arm in an abrupt motion to rid his limbs of the snake’s blood and carcass.

It was only afterwards when the handsome bloodhunt noticed Juste and Chastine’s position and surmised that they were doing the deed.

Juste and Chastine quickly broke off their bond and covered themselves with the few clothing they have had at that time.

Chastine wrapped her torn tunic around her body to cover her nakedness, while Juste pulled up his white boxers to hide his still standing shaft.

In a classy Maxill-style of sarcasm, he said, “sorry for the interruption you two, I was only making sure that the snake won’t kill you after you’re having your time.”

Juste and Chastine were both flabbergasted and at the same time humiliated. Then the fellhound bravely confronted the bloodhunt sleuth.

“You were watching us all along?!”

Maxill denied the whole idea, “eww. HELL NO. I was perched on top of a tree somewhere far away thinking about your mom’s poetry.”

“I thought you’d gone for a swim?”

“I was. But then my mind wandered off into solving the poetic puzzle so I turned bat, flew up to a branch, and closed my eyes to think clearly.”

Maxill added to his statement, “that was when I got disrupted by the sound of the loud hissing. It was meters away from me, but I still had gotten annoyed by it I checked to see what the snake’s fuss was about. So, lo and behold.”

Maxill snickered at his mention of ‘lo and behold’.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

Chastine was too humiliated she bowed her head and looked away from Maxill to hide her crimson-colored face.

“Relax, you two. Of course I’m happy, now you’re finally at it. I thought it will take longer, but you finally set yourselves free from holding back.”

Juste didn’t know what proper expression or words he would say to the proud bloodhunt.

He knew Maxill to be supportive of their relationship, but this was such an awkward moment for the three of them to be in the same ‘room’.

All he could do was laugh with mirth upon his face.

“Hah hahaha, dear lord!” Juste wiped a few tears of joy away from the corner of his eyes.

He also felt proud of himself as he courageously confessed and confess in romantic fashion.

Chastine was also happy at the outcome of his confession. Her embarrassment dwindled down when she saw Juste’s smiling face looking upon hers.

She then openly cupped his neck and put a gentle peck on his lips in front of Maxill.

Juste held the small of her back while at it.

“Ehem, I’m still in the room.” Maxill glared at them with an amusing smirk on his face. But his face turned serious after.

“The cuddling will have to wait. There’s a pressing matter we need to solve.”

Juste downright agreed with the now serious bloodhunt.

“You got something?” Juste asked with anticipation.

“You bet. So now we have to go to the Field of Ojor.”

“Now that we’re almost back to square one, that’s quite far from here.”

“Ah, but your nimble feet can manage getting there. You can carry your girlfriend to the field in your wolf form. Meanwhile, I’ll fly my way in there.”

Juste agreed to Maxill’s plan.

—

The field of Ojor is a vast land of tall eeriely crimson-colored greenery.

Ojor Field is called as so because it is home to numerous carnivorous plants, hence its name.

Some say it’s the location dump for unwanted bodies, dead or alive.

Blood is spilled onto the field as the plants munch on the unassuming corpse, sometimes from melting the flesh with acid, while others were swallowing the flesh whole.

What the trio troupe was looking for in the field was the rabid eater plant.

This giant carnivore shrub could go as 2 meters in height when its body is stretched upright.

When rested, it curls up into a ball of thick shrub.

It is shallowly buried on the ground because its root base can also serve as feet. Yes, it can be mobile and moving.

It can run at a speedy pace, especially when it is chasing its prey, hence the name.

The trio arrived at this destination, to capture one as they needed to cut the leg root of the said shrub.

As Maxill had pondered and studied, the rabid eater plant was the most ideal candidate in the description of the first line of the poem.

“So, where’s that thing we’re looking for?” Juste was quite inquisitive of the said matter.

Maxill closed the herb codex on his hand. “Book says they are just lying around here somewhere, assuming a form of a harmless shrub.”

Juste took a few steps towards the strange field.

But just before one of his feet touches the red ground, a vine of carnivorous plant tried to twist itself around his foot to snatch him and eat him.

“Whoa!” Luckily, Juste’s reflexes saved him this time.

“Easy. We’ll lure out that rabid eater out of that field’s area.” Maxill was coming up with a solid plan.

Before there was Ojor Field, there was a long stretch of wheatfield around the edge of that field.

It has a taller-than-common wheat grass that when people trek it, they are like walking into a corn field; only the vegetation is finer than corn plants.

“Maxill, I think I have an idea.” Chastine had come up with a plan.

“Yeah? Let us see then.”

Chastine went near the edge of the depressed field. She drew out Juste’s pen knife and she tried to cut her palm with it.

Drops of blood trickled down her hand, continually dropping on the field’s bloody ground.

Maxill and Juste were startled at the move she did.

The young fellhound quickly grabbed her by the crook of her other arm and pulled her away from the field.

“What’re you doing? Are you crazy?! You could’ve been dragged away and instantly eaten.” Juste began lecturing Chastine.

But Chastine hadn’t had the time to react.

The field of Ojor began to get agitated. The plants shivered and shrieked in unison and tried to suck Chastine’s precious blood that dropped on the ground.

Then the unthinkable happened.

The trio noticed; they were covered by a shadow above them.

It was the plant that they were looking for.