The Free Trader of Warren Deep (Free Trader Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

at the thought of roasted venison.
    He crouched as he stepped carefully along a game trail, seeking to make no noise. He looked for any movement to show where the deer may be. His arrow was nocked. All he needed was to aim, pull, and release.
    As he had hoped, the deer was using the same trail. He stopped silently, slowly raising his Rico Bow. The deer gave him a thirty degree shot from the front. He aimed carefully and let it fly. The arrow buried itself to the feathers and the young buck jumped straight into the air, then bound into the brush. Braden heard the crashing as it continued its headlong flight.
    ‘Damn!’ He thought. He had counted on a clean kill. He hated to see an animal suffer. He also greatly disliked chasing after a wounded animal, especially in the dark.
    He tried to run after the deer, but something held his foot. He almost fell down and reached down to free himself, while not losing sight of where the buck had disappeared. His fingers fell upon a vine wrapped tightly around his ankle. He pulled on it. It pulled back.
    This time aloud, “Damn!” A mutant tree. He threw his bow to the side and pulled his long knife. Two hand spans of new steel, sharpened on both sides slashed downward through the vine. A second vine snaked toward him, then a third. He slashed them away. He ducked his head to the side and retreated away from the tree. Crawlers generally couldn’t take on a human with a knife, their vines weren’t fast enough. If you fell asleep against one or had no way of cutting yourself free, you would have a tough time.
    He picked up his Rico Bow and walked backwards away from the Crawler. They were solitary creatures, so he didn’t worry about running into another one. Not this close anyway.
    He turned back along the game trail, getting his bearings, then jogged after the deer. He followed the trail of broken brush, until the blood trail on the ground grew in size. As the deer ran, the arrow caused more and more damage.
    There! Twisted in among the brush as it tried to leap one final obstacle, but failed. Braden’s shot had barely missed the heart, but by running, the deer drove the arrow home. The buck was probably dead before he made his final leap.
    Even though Braden made quick work of cleaning the buck, it was nearly pitch black by the time he shouldered the carcass to make his way back to his camp. He went slowly, hunched close to the ground to find his way to the game trail.
    Even though the buck had only gone about 50 strides, it took Braden a great deal of time to make it back to the trail. He spent most of his time waiting and looking. Finally, the moon cast enough light that he could see. At that moment, he was only one stride away. Once on the trail, he looked for the Crawler, but couldn’t find which tree it was. Speed was defense. The buck had gotten heavy. Field dressed, it weighed far less than he did, but there was a limit to how long he was going to carry it.
    With an adrenaline surge, he leapt forward and jogged along the trail, watching the side where the Crawler had come from. Then, he broke through into an opening where two hobbled horses were startled at his appearance, the smell of blood adding to their fear.
    He dropped the carcass, and went to the horses, making cooing sounds to calm them. He rubbed each along their necks. He needed the horses, and he needed them to trust him. That was something he still had to earn. He had no sugar crystals for them, but was determined to trade for some next chance he got.
    He turned back to find G-War fangs deep into a haunch.
    “Really? Ass!” Braden was surprised only for a second. The ‘cat never failed to take care of itself. “Leave some for me you furry little ingrate.” Braden busied himself making a fire. He was even hungrier now.
     

 
    12 – Smoked Venison
     
    The morning came, bringing fog and dew. It smelled as only a forest can after a spring rain. They had all slept well after a filling meal of venison and some