That’s not a bull, Riley thought.
It was bigger, and covered in fur, like a sheepdog. Riley stared. She looked down at the spear in her hand, and then back at the creature. The horns were nearly as long as the spear. Lissie looked so fragile standing next to her.
The Nomads had the creature penned in a fence of sharpened bone stakes. There was a step stool like a stile on the outside.
“Riley, this doesn’t feel like a hunt.” Lissie’s voice was soft with an edge to it. “It feels like an execution.”
“Sure, but whose? You said they have twelve-year-olds do this?” Riley felt the weight of the spear; it had a massive cross guard. She tried to remember what her father had taught of her boar hunting, but she had never cared to pay any attention.
Lissie stepped up onto the stool. She jumped over the sharpened stake, and hugged her spear. The creature did not move. It was nosing at the salt. Lissie looked back, and then began walking towards the beast.
With half the distance covered, the monster still had not moved. Lissie tried to hold the spear out before her, but her hands were shaking. The spear dropped, and she left it on the ground.
Riley heard Lissie’s voice over the distance. “This isn’t right.” Lissie turned and walked back the edge of the fence. Nomads along the sides reached over, and lifted her out. Riley saw there were tears streaming down her friend’s face.
Lissie pushed her way through the crowd, and Riley saw her fall into Cora’s arms. The drumming had not stopped this time. It was a single beat. With three breaths between. Loud.
Riley clutched her spear and stepped over the fence.
Strike low, that’s what the poem said.
She crept towards the creature, and it raised its head. Wide eyes looked straight at her, and it snorted. Dust plumed off the ground. It raised a hoof and pawed. Once. Twice. Then it was charging.
Riley dropped low, and held firm. All she could hear was her heartbeat. Then the drums. One note, and the beast closed with her. She tumbled, bringing the spear up behind her.
I’ll brace it on the ground, she thought.
But fire erupted in her side.
She was thrown. The world spun. She landed hard on the ground, and staggered to get up. The drums sounded again. She looked around through the dust, and saw it coming for her. She bolted for the fence and everything went dark.