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Votzhem was out hunting again because what else was he to do these days? There was little to fight – the lull after the war and the banditry left a sense of exhaustion. It wasn't quite peace, but people were tired of fighting. They just wanted to live their lives and rebuild.

Which meant that young warriors and Blades had very little to do, and Votzhem refused to spend another day sitting on his rear and feeling the scorn of his sisters. And, despite how he felt about Iroia, sometimes a man just needed some time to himself. To hear himself think.

So, hunting it was, out by the savannah borderlands. He remembered hunting in the Tale, on his way to Jahuar – it had been rough going at times, broken up by the windfall of finding a herd of meaty animals: not bad, considering. Water was the bigger trouble, an elusive mirage at some times of year and simply elusive at others.

In the Jahuar borderlands, however, there was plenty of water and trees, and a few of the Talean animals to hunt – it was a good balance. Far from perfect, with the Jahuaran predators out and about, but a decent hunting ground. Kaalnia claimed that there were beasts that only lived in the borderlands, but Votzhem had yet to see them himself. Then again, a beast was a beast was a beast to him besides, he wasn't so concerned with varieties.

Votzhem spotted a Gani, one of the strange capra-like creatures of the Tale, and drew his blades. They were sturdy and tricky to kill, but their humps were full of fat and their meat fairly flavorful. From his perch at the top of a scraggly borderlands tree, he pounced down on the Gani, his blades angled down to stab it. He aimed for its neck and head, but found himself, at the last moment, falling short: He landed a few feet away on his knees, his bones scolding him for his fall.

The Gani looked at him and swished its tail irritably before it moved away.

”Hmmph.” Votzhem muttered, picking up his blades and following it into the colorful brush...