Raised From The Wild-Chapter 228: Saving The Prey
Vasquez felt uncomfortable by the way Princess Amaya was looking at him. It seemed as if she looked at him like he was a burden.
"Cough.. cough.. cough.." Valdez forced out an awkward cough.
"My mission is to protect him with my life, Princess. Protecting you is coincidental." He said while looking at Marx asking his help to speak for him. He has a feeling that this duo did not want him to tag along, but Ra-Iya’s mountain ranges especially Mount Paraiso an unchartered territory. It will be dangerous for Marx to go there with just the princess.
In the morning when he was spying around, he heard a rumor from the other hunters that there were a group of expert mountaineers with well-trained security escorts who went to the mountain but none of them came back. Surely, three pairs of hands would be better than two. It was not like he did not have any skills at all.
"I did not say anything. I am just looking at you. Why are you so defensive?" Amaya blinked innocently. She did think of dumping him, as from her perspective, he would indeed be a burden.
When Vasquez voiced out his thoughts, he earned Amaya’s administration. He was extraordinarily perceptive to guess her thoughts. He was worthy to be Marx’s bodyguard.
Suddenly they heard a commotion not far away, followed by roars and whimpers of an animal in great pain.
"Hurry, let’s not let it get away. That’s a big one and the points should be high."
Amaya frowned. She sensed that something was wrong with the lioness. Even without seeing the animal, judging by the sound of its roar, she knew that it was a lioness.
Without saying anything, Amaya climbed up the tree to have a better view to survey her surroundings. She saw a lioness being chased by three hunters. She remembered those hunters to be from the capital.
The hunting ground occupied two hills with lush vegetation and dense trees. Some of the rare ancient trees were dug out from the depths of the Janai mountain range and transplanted there. Some of the animals in the hunting ground were bred in captivity and then released in the hunting ground when they were old enough to fend for themselves.
The lioness was crossing the savanna and heading toward dense vegetation at the foot of the Janai mountain range.
The king who chose the location of the hunting ground was indeed a wise king. There was a grassland with sparse trees that separated the mountain range from the hunting ground. The savanna was home to a few lion pride, giraffes, zebras, rhinoceros, and hyenas. Except for the lion, Amaya hasn’t seen those animals in the jungles of Miraga.
Amaya’s attention was brought back to the lioness. It seemed to be in pain and running slowly. The hunters would soon catch up with her.
Amaya looked at the vine that was wrapped around the tree she was standing on. She hesitated and decided against untangling it. She jumped from the tree and ran as fast as she could to where the lioness was heading.
One of the hunters was skilled in archery. When he calculated that he could accurately hit his prey with his arrows even if it was still moving, he stopped running. The big cat was running slowly and it was his luck. He took out an arrow from his quiver and placed it across the middle of the bow with the bowstring in the arrow’s nock. He was following the animal’s movement.
Amaya increased her running speed as the hunter held the bow at its center with one hand and pulled the arrow and the bowstring with his right hand. His bow has a circular thing on it and Amaya has an epiphany that the circular thing is not good for the lioness.
The hunter’s bow was equipped with a three-pin sight and it would make his shot more accurate even if the target was more than 20 meters away.
Amaya took out the bow that was slung at her back. She took out an arrow from the quiver that was attached to the side pocket of her backpack. She stopped running and released the arrow just before the hunter released his.
Amaya’s arrow hit the hunter’s arrow in mid-air. It changed its trajectory and affected its speed. The arrow fell 15 meters away.
"What the hell..." The hunter cursed. He looked at the lion who was about to enter the dense vegetation. It was a good thing that two of his teammates were following the animal closely.
He turned his head to his left where the arrow that knocked his own arrow came from. He was about to curse when he recognized who it was.
"Princess, why did you knock my arrow? Are you preventing me from winning?" His tone was not polite at all. She was a princess but she was not from Ra-Iya.
Princess Amaya ignored him. After retrieving her arrow, she continued to run to follow the two hunters and the lioness.
The hunter cursed silently. He picked up his arrow and ran after her.
’Is she trying to snatch the prey from us? We saw it first. How can she be so selfish and shameless?’ The hunter cussed as he increased his pace.
The savanna was actually large. However, Amaya was in the area where the hunting ground and the foot of the mountain range were just a distance of one kilometer so it took very little time for the lioness to reach the foot of the mountain.
The lioness realized too late that she was cornered. What she thought to be the mouth of the cave was actually just a huge boulder. She paced restlessly as she bared its fangs to the two hunters.
The two hunters were baffled as to why the lioness did not want to attack them. They thought it was a good thing. Both hunters raised their bows and arrows and aimed at the lioness.
"What are you doing?" Princess Amaya asked angrily. She kicked the bows on the hands of the two hunters.
"What the heck? Shouldn’t we be the ones asking you what are you doing?" One of the hunters asked angrily. He did not care that she was a Princess.
He aimed his arrow at her.
