Arlo raised his hand, pausing mid-step. "There," he whispered.
Noah followed his gaze and spotted a brown-feathered bird perched lazily on a branch high above, its head bobbing slightly as it pecked at the bark.
Arlo reached into his satchel and pulled out his own enchanted arrow. He funneled mana into it with practiced ease, the arrow gleaming faintly before he tossed it upward in one smooth motion.
The arrow whistled through the air.
A sharp squawk cut the silence, and the bird dropped like a stone, disappearing into the brush.
"Nice shot," Noah said, nodding.
"Of course," Arlo replied smugly, already heading in the direction the bird had fallen. "That's one more to our tally."
Noah followed him, pushing aside low branches and thick ferns. The forest was denser here, and the sun barely reached through the clustered canopy.
Then, they stopped.
Just a few feet from where the bird had landed lay something else.
Something bigger.
A carcass.
