Once the liquid that the orc poured on his wound started to effect, sparing him the annoying pain, Death’s attention returned to the easy prey that he left behind. He heard her fall and he knew well where she fall into. He wasn’t one to take useless risks, though. He expected to still find her there, head crushed by the cliffs if he had any luck, or at least in as bad state as he was when she discovered him. How did that elf notice him?! He wasn’t an inexperienced pup, noisy as a pack of histeric goblins. And yet she did feel his presence and turned, searching for him! He planned to stay hidden until the attack madness settled and then make his way out with an impressively exact report of their defenses and maybe a few elegant kills along his way out, even with the pain from that scratch bothering him. They always become so careless when they think they are in control ! And they look so horrified when they realize, too late, they were no control at all and that death was watching them all along, choosing a perfect timing. And now this strange elf was bothering his plan! He moved towards the exit silently but fast and, to his amazement, she still followed. She was, as well, almost noise-less, expertly running in the darkness. He turned to look for a moment, curious who this elf was and if she was indeed still on his trail. She sure was! The corridor made a sharp turn just as she was reaching for her quiver, preparing to shoot, from some distance, in the dark! The exit was near and he expected the bridge to be down, giving him a good advantage, for he made that road many times with and without the bridge installed over the crevasse. The wound bothered him but the thrill of the chase compensated. He was able to jump over the crevasse and he soon heard her hitting into the cliff wall. He grinned. He was still close enough to the orcs forward camp that it worthed getting the advantage of no pain bothering him before going after her, especially that descending safely into that crevasse was only less unpleasant as going back up. The roles were just about to change.. And if she managed to gain some distance things would only become more fun! He was in the mood for some hunting for the sheer joy of the hunt.
He did not expect to give a full report and even less to have to wait to give it, but making an enemy of the massive uruk that claimed command of the outpost was not a wise thing to do. A few hours would only have given her a small advantage, if she still lived. When he reached the place where he had to descend into the crevasse the sun was well up on the sky. To his surprise there was no elf down there, unless she turned into an apricot color warg striped like a tiger, who looked him up from the bottom of the crevasse as he reached the edge, narrowing her eyes challengingly. She -yes, definitely she!- seemed bothered by his showing up to a hunt that she seemed to want to claim for herself judging on how she was inspecting the traces that the elf left. He still jumped expertly down the rocky wall and landed at a perfectly safe distance. She ruffled her fur menacingly and growled, standing her ground: “My prey!”
Since this was to be his time-off hunt he was in good enough mood not to take offense to the challenging tone, and a hunt partner was a nice addition, was she too proud or too young to have learned that? He laughed in answer, loud and long, to her growing annoyment. “Now, now, unless you think the pointy eared usually stumble and fall down the cliffs to assure the survival of random scavenger species,you already know that is not so. I started this hunt, I only had to postpone it for a little while. But I am willing to share it.. ”
