Chapter 70: Blades and Blood - Part 1

They soon neared the forest.

"Hey, let's go deeper today," Nila said, seeming to forget what Beam had said about being in a rush.

Beam bit back an angry response, before realizing that they'd need to go deeper anyway, because he'd already taken up most of the dead-standing trees from his previous area. He wasn't sure that there were any more.

"Nice!" Nila said excitedly. "If I get a deer, you'll be able to carry it back on the sled, won't you?"

Beam nodded grimly.

"Hey, cheer up," Nila said, jabbing his arm. She was the very opposite of him in spirits – everything was going well for her currently, and right now, she could hunt all she wanted. Even with a miserable companion, she felt on top of the world. "I'll give you a deer leg for your help. What do you think? Sounds pretty good, right?"

"…" Beam hesitated to reject her, for fear of sounding like more of a child than he already had, so he just shook his head without saying anything and pushed further along the path.