On the far side of the huntsman’s camp was his largest captive—an enormous six-legged behemoth with a rust-colored armored shell. Its shape reminded Eva of the holograms she had seen of sow bugs, albeit a mammoth-size sow bug. The behemoth was calling out in melancholy bellows that echoed throughout the forest. It too seemed to be fixed in place.

Eva was transfixed by the sheer size of the armored animal, and she soon realized that there were two—the smaller of which was hidden alongside the larger one. The huntsman appeared, stepping between the pair, his weapon now replaced with a long pointed lance.

The huntsman’s wide, hulking shape was covered in bristly coarse hairs patterned in varying shades of gray—almost as if dappled light from the treetops were shadowing him. His cobby tapered head held two deep-set, piercing yellow eyes. His cold stare brought to mind the holograms Eva had seen of owls, or even certain types of dinosaurs. Strapped over one of his many broad appendages was an unusual haversack with electrical wires running to the back handle of the lance.

He traced his talons down the side of the larger behemoth, stopping to face both animals. Eva could hear the familiar humming sound as the huntsman’s lance charged. The pair of armored animals shifted about nervously.

“Tuda neem,” said the huntsman, placing the tip of the lance between the smaller one’s bulbous eyes. He pressed the trigger. The animal let out a gagging cough and slumped to the ground.

The large survivor let out a long, mournful wail.

Eva clamped her dirty hands over her mouth, stifling a cry of shock. Her lashes gummed up as she continued watching.

With powerful arms the huntsman grabbed the slain animal by the legs and rolled it onto its back. After hopping on top of it, he removed the beast’s head with one stroke of his humming lance. Viscous clear liquid drained from the body and stained the soil blue as it soaked into the ground.

Eva focused her vision on the burly huntsman as he began to slice the slain animal into large pieces with surgical precision. She wanted to close her eyes, but somehow she could not stop watching, mesmerized at how the humming sonic lance carved the flesh so effortlessly. It reminded her of Muthr cutting up spinach the night prior.

The huntsman flayed off the thick armored skin, peeling it away as though it were a wet blanket. Then he began carving the meat within. The thick, fatty flesh was tinged pink and was jiggly, like gelatin. He reached down, deep inside the chest cavity, and pulled out one of the creature’s organs with his talons. He dropped the organ, what looked like a large dark cluster of grapes, into his toothy maw and gulped it down with relish. Eva closed her eyes as her stomach lurched.