I didn't let myself get lost in the feeling of victory. There were still fifteen more of the beasts nearby, and I refused to lose a hunter after we'd already won. Whistling commands filled the air, and my people moved in every direction, making sure we weren't swarmed by the other wyrms. Worrying that there would be several swarming since they'd heard the death throes of the creature I'd just killed, I made a command.
"Kill the trapped one. Brutus, if you need to help to hurry it, go now." I still hadn't looked back at the ongoing hunt, though I could hear barked directions and the sounds of spears puncturing flesh. Looking at the far-off forest, I watched for any movement as I grabbed the wyrm corpse by the tail. There was no movement approaching me as I yanked the tail and pulled the much larger creature towards the perimeter of flames. Now that I could simply touch the creature without fear of being poisoned or merely harmed, I was interested in evaluating what kind of creature they were.
Its body, long and thin, slid easily enough through the snow as I pulled it. The leathery, thick skin that covered it wasn't black, as I'd always thought. Instead, it was a deep blue, so dark as to be nearly black. Along its spine, a ridge of bony protrusions almost like scales was patterned. Looking further up its body, I saw that on each of its hands it sported four claws, each one long and sharp-tipped. As I dragged it along by its tail, I couldn't look at its face, but decided I would do so by the time night fell.
I was initially alone, but the wolfstags joined me after I whistled for them. While we hauled it back, I thought of Arwa, and how she'd have jumped right in to assist. I sent a quick prayer to Nievtala for Arwa's litter to be born healthy as my tail came close enough to a fire to be uncomfortable. At that point, I looked at the still-surviving shadow wyrm. It was surrounded by Khatif, their spears piercing into its ribs and legs. Its multi-part jaws opened wide in a menacing hiss, but Brutus was quickly circling it. To my surprise, he was remarkably stealthy, hunched low and moving only when the wyrm's attention was on the other side.
I was about to put myself forward, but Brutus saw his opportunity first. When the wyrm lunged forward at one Khatif that pressed in, Brutus leapt forward, his feet landing on the wyrm's back where its two limbs joined its serpentine body. It fell forward, my guard's massive weight knocking it off-balance. Brutus was much more ready for his assault than the creature was, and his jaws shot forward, locking on the back of its neck. Though the wyrm was much longer than him, Brutus was nearly as broad shouldered as it was, its "shoulders" shaking under its and his weight.
The Alqat snarled and ripped and tore, but instead of focusing on potentially killing the monster, he was a weighty distraction that kept himself safe. A dozen spears found their homes deep in the wyrm's ribs and chest, and it collapsed under its own weight. As it screeched in exhausted submission, Brutus settled his bite more firmly, bit deep, and with a roar of effort, ripped most of the wyrm's spine out of its neck.
"Everyone get in the perimeter!" I commanded, continuing to pull the other, slightly larger wyrm into the comparative safety of the flames' light. A dozen pairs of hands joined me, and it wasn't more than half a minute before all of the hunters and the two bodies were safely within the bounds of the fiery perimeter. Then, every person went to keep an eye out. There was no telling when the others would come, and if they'd bring with them the bodies of some of our Sik'Tal.
Five more minutes passed in tense anticipation, people calling out things they spotted, but there wasn't anything that approached before Silf. He jogged out, his tail flicking in confusion. Seeing us in the flames, spears at the ready, he came forward and went directly towards me.
"They're all gone." the Sik'Tal explained. "Whatever that noise one of these two dead ones made was, it made the rest reconsider and stop chasing. When there was another, quieter noise like that, every wyrm we saw turned tail and fled, sticking more to the shadows than before."
"And we had a Sik'Tal on each individual?" I clarified.
"Yes." Silf flared his frills. "Every one fled downhill, and once they reached the edge of the forest, they were seen rushing away in their hunting pairs. All seven pairs, fourteen escapees. They didn't take anything with them."
I cocked my head to the side, wondering what that could mean. We'd never seen them even remotely working together until now, but now they had shouted commands? Or was it merely a death keen, and they weren't used to hearing those? Nievtala had emphasized that they didn't get along with the ants, but they were basically in hibernation at this point. Maybe they came up here with the intent to hunt the creatures? Perhaps that would be something they could do only this time of year.
It wasn't long before I ceased worrying about it. I was more than happy to speak with the rest of my Keel to see what they and their subordinates thought about it, but for now, I was happy to bring the bodies back to Nievtra. And establish defenses to maintain against the possibility of more coming. And prepare the materials for that. And figure out how to feed the swiftly burgeoning population of my country.
There was nothing for it but to do it, and I gestured for everyone to drag our prey back. Before we could leave, though, Brutus grunted. I looked at him, and he held his right hand up, where a small puncture could be seen right between his thumb and the next finger.
"I wasn't feeling anything until now." He explained as he swayed on his feet. "It might have gotten me, though."
As Brutus fell to the ground, I called for the already approaching Vefir. Hopefully, this time he could actually find out what to do about the venom before its victim died.