Tal huffed at Sah's peremptory tone, but since the other man was helping him out with a dangerous tiger hunt the courier held his tongue against further protest. This would be a lot more dangerous without the hunter's muscle and magic to back him up and if it worked a few cookies and a cake were a small price to pay.
His fingers twitched greedily at the thought of that airship as he placed the meat.
As it turned out, their timing couldn't have been better and the companions didn't even need to show themselves as lures. The molten tiger that appeared was young and not, perhaps, as wary as an elder beast would have been. It sniffed the first piece of meat and then licked it. The cat pulled back with a startled look - rhampire wasn't usually on its menu - but then pounced on the gobbet, snapping it up eagerly.
One, two, three. He paced along the bait trail, moving more quickly with each tasty morsel. Golden eyes gleamed with the same molten light as his stripes, greedy and glowing as he trotted into the shadowed area, drawn forward by the scent of an even larger hunk of meat just beyond--
An angry squall erupted as the tiger pounced towards the haunch and struck the net instead. Claws swept at the metal, catching at first but the steel was already softening beneath the heat. Droplets of molten gold splattered around the area as it struggled to tear through the obstruction between it and its prey.
The net's anchors gave way suddenly, folding down from the top over the big cat even as the lower sections glowed with a cherry-red heat where they draped across the tiger's back. The sudden release of tension caught him off-guard, however, and he tumbled forward. The rhampire meat caught in the net as it was rolled over and for a moment the tiger teetered on the edge of the pit before gravity tipped it over and dropped with an indignant yowl that ended in a grunt as it hit the bottom.
And then a truly pissed off snarl echoed up from the depths as it got its breath back.
"Now!" Tal called to Sah from his perch on the lowest root-branching of his own tree, having watched the entire show intently through his Goggles. He was already slipping down with the insulated pottery jar to begin scraping up the drip-splatters from the trees and ground.
His fingers twitched greedily at the thought of that airship as he placed the meat.
As it turned out, their timing couldn't have been better and the companions didn't even need to show themselves as lures. The molten tiger that appeared was young and not, perhaps, as wary as an elder beast would have been. It sniffed the first piece of meat and then licked it. The cat pulled back with a startled look - rhampire wasn't usually on its menu - but then pounced on the gobbet, snapping it up eagerly.
One, two, three. He paced along the bait trail, moving more quickly with each tasty morsel. Golden eyes gleamed with the same molten light as his stripes, greedy and glowing as he trotted into the shadowed area, drawn forward by the scent of an even larger hunk of meat just beyond--
An angry squall erupted as the tiger pounced towards the haunch and struck the net instead. Claws swept at the metal, catching at first but the steel was already softening beneath the heat. Droplets of molten gold splattered around the area as it struggled to tear through the obstruction between it and its prey.
The net's anchors gave way suddenly, folding down from the top over the big cat even as the lower sections glowed with a cherry-red heat where they draped across the tiger's back. The sudden release of tension caught him off-guard, however, and he tumbled forward. The rhampire meat caught in the net as it was rolled over and for a moment the tiger teetered on the edge of the pit before gravity tipped it over and dropped with an indignant yowl that ended in a grunt as it hit the bottom.
And then a truly pissed off snarl echoed up from the depths as it got its breath back.
"Now!" Tal called to Sah from his perch on the lowest root-branching of his own tree, having watched the entire show intently through his Goggles. He was already slipping down with the insulated pottery jar to begin scraping up the drip-splatters from the trees and ground.
