It was near dark by the time that they had the huge lizard dragged out of the pond into the clearing and rolled onto its back. Even Loudin marveled at how big it was. He said it was the biggest Bark Skinned Lizard he had ever seen. He paced its length off, and found that it was six paces longer than the biggest he had ever heard of, thirty two paces, from nose to tail. Its mouth was big enough to swallow a man whole, and was as pink as a maiden’s ribbon inside. Its four legs stuck up from its stiffening body, like grotesque tree stumps, with wickedly sharp stunted limbs.
Mikahl learned that Loudin had a horse and a camp not too far away. Together, the horses had done most of the hard labor of moving the big beast, while they had used Loudin’s ropes to guide and roll the lizard over. It was no easy task, even with the horses, but they manage to get the creature ready to skin.
Mikahl did his share of the work without complaint, even though he was horribly sore and bruised from his crash landing. His nose was broken and swollen, and black circles were forming under his eyes. He had seen his reflection in the pond water when he had washed away the blood. No one at Summer’s Day would recognize him, unless they were looking for a raccoon.
Mikahl let his mind wander while they worked. He had never been to the Summer’s Day Festival and found himself more than a little excited. King Balton sent a delegation of competitors each year to represent Westland, and Mikahl had listened raptly to the tales they carried back with them. Lord Gregory had once won a fistfight called, “The Brawl,” and had his name engraved into the great spire for the victory. Lord Ellrich had also once won a prize for eating more sausage coils than his competitors, but that feat didn’t warrant getting your name etched into the spire for all to see. Elves were said to come out of their hiding places in the Evermore Forest to win the archery tournament every year, and wizards turned stones into snake-birds, or fruit trees, for coins. Wild men breathed fire, and hawkers sold everything you could imagine. He couldn’t wait to see such things. The prospect of it made it easier to labor through his pains in hopes that they wouldn’t arrive too late to witness them.
They stopped working at sunset. Loudin said there was no use trying to skin the beast by torchlight. Mikahl wanted to retrieve his sword from the creature’s gullet, but decided that it could wait till the morrow. He would also have to find his longbow. He’d thrown it down somewhere in the clearing when he and Windfoot had made their hasty retreat into the trees. He would have searched for it earlier, but he was too embarrassed to admit losing it to the hunter.
They cleaned up in the pond again before they made their way to Loudin’s camp. Loudin said that it would be better to stay away from the clearing for the night. There was no telling what sort of things would come sniffing around the carcass.
“Won’t something try to eat the meat and ruin the hide?” Mikahl asked. Loudin held a branch aside, until Mikahl took it, so that it wouldn’t whip him in the face.
Loudin answered, “The tongue, or what’s left of it, and the eyes maybe; the hide’s too thick.”
While they were washing, Mikahl noticed that Loudin was slick bald, and had large, black tattoos on his scalp and back. This was confirmation of his Seaward heritage. The contrast between skin and ink on the hunter’s back, made it easy for Mikahl to follow him in the darkness.
“The big scavengers –” Loudin was saying, “– the ones that could possibly get a tooth or claw through that thick bark hide, won’t bother.”
Loudin ducked a low hanging branch and turned sharply to make sure that Mikahl didn’t bash into it. He waited until he saw Mikahl duck, and then he continued.
“The big’uns will run off the little’ns feeding on the tongue and eyes. They’ll keep the little’ns away till they get their fill. And they won’t bother with the stuff that’s hard to get to. Ah! Here we are. Hold tight Mik, I’ll get the fire going so we can see.”
Loudin did just what he said he would do: he built up a huge fire. Mikahl was glad for it. He got so close to the fire that his battered flesh was nearly singed by the heat, and he knew he would feel better for it later. After Loudin sat down, Mikahl studied him. He gave the hunter a big piece of cheese and some bread that he’d retrieved from his pack saddle. Loudin was roasting some of the lizard’s tongue meat on a stick, but he took the offer with a nod of thanks.