Artie stared at Eliron as though he had said the most absurd thing in the world.
She took a long breath, then forced out a smile. "What exactly do you—"
A loud sound, terrifyingly similar to a trumpet, boomed over the camp, and then multiple birds took flight, racing to get as far away as possible.
The entire camp became chaotic, the girls huddled up together, staring around fearfully while the hunters gathered around them, their weapons raised in a defensive formation.
There was no elf who had not heard tales of the village destroying monster, the beast who could single handedly slaughter an entire village without breaking a sweat.
But even as everyone had their guards up, Eliron looked visibly relaxed.
"Don't tell me throughout last night, when you were on patrol…" Artie gasped when she made the connection.
"What the actual hell, Eliron? Are you trying to get us all killed?!"
The young lord sighed and waved his hands dismissively in the air. "Don't worry, it's not as bad as you think…"
"Not as bad as I think?" Artie stared at him, dumbfounded.
Ash then sprinted towards him, with Yen trailing lazily behind.
His words were rushed and filled with tension as he spoke. "My lord, it seems a monster is nearby! We need to evacuate the camp at once!"
Eliron sighed. "Alright, everyone calm down. I have everything under control…"
"Sorry, my lord, I don't quite think I follow," Ash replied.
"Don't worry, just gather the hunters, we are going mammoth hunting…."
Ash stared at Eliron with visible concern in his eyes. If not that he still held his composure, Eliron was sure Ash would have called him mad.
It was not every day someone ran towards danger rather than away from it.
Ash's shoulders slumped.
"If you still wish to challenge that beast, then I have no option but to support you. Give me a few seconds, I'll gather the hunters."
Like Ash promised, it didn't take long for a hunting group to be assembled.
Out of the twenty hunters, five were left to take care of the girls while everyone else followed Eliron, albeit reluctantly.
"Why do you have that goofy grin on your face?" Yennefer asked, jabbing her thumb into his soft cheek.
They had been walking for a few minutes and were finally close to the obnoxious trumpet-like sounds.
Now that they were close, the sound was grating, but they still had to endure the pain.
"You've done something again, haven't you?" Yen frowned as she watched him.
Eliron smirked. "Why don't we take a look?" He paused and pushed the leaves in front of him aside, revealing the hulking monster that was a respectable distance away from them.
The monster had the frame of an elephant, but it was far too distinct to even be compared.
It had a thick rocky hide, its skin looking like a congregation of indomitable rocks.
Unlike elephants that often had two eyes, this monster had only one, a large crimson orb that stood at the center of its head, gleaming with nefarious intent.
Four twisted tusks, two on each side, hung on both sides of its face, each one probably sharp enough to puncture a hole through a tree.
But as the elves watched the monster with a certain degree of apprehension in their eyes, they realised something they had never expected.
"It's… stuck?" Yennefer mumbled as she stared at the monster, which only made Eliron chuckle quietly.
The magister mammoth was nearly knee-deep in the quicksand he had found last night, and the more it struggled to get free, the lower it was pulled into the concoction.
Artie's eyes narrowed as she watched the beast, unable to hide her astonishment.
"How?"
That simple word had summed up every single question she had in mind.
How did you trap the mammoth? How did you attract it here? How did you do it so fast?
Eliron turned to her. "Do you know that elephants have a very strong sense of smell?"
The average elephant could sniff out food from several miles away and even detect other elephants at a distance.
Artie answered thoughtfully, "Yes, I am aware of this."
A lot of other hunters silently agreed as well, as they paid rapt attention to what he was saying.
Eliron nodded.
It was because of this very fact that he was certain that the magister would have the same uncanny ability, or something even greater.
He then went on to explain everything that had happened last night.
After discovering the quicksand, he got a brilliant idea of how to set a trap for the beast.
Magisters were carnivores, so unlike elephants that would be attracted by the smell of plants, the magister had a thing for blood.
He already knew that the magister had once taken a nearby path, so all he had to do was invite it back, this time for a feast…
But of course, just a small amount of blood was not enough to rouse this giant's curiosity.
"That is why I went back and took the bodies of every single goblin we killed."
"All ninety-seven of them…"
The silence was deafening.
Once again, everyone stared blankly at him, because only a mad person would utter the words he had just said.
It took them roughly thirty minutes to get here on foot, and they had jogged for the most part.
Even if Eliron chose to follow the tunnel and carry three goblins at a time, it would take him approximately thirty-two hours if he worked without taking a single break.
What he was saying was more than absurd, it was borderline insanity.
"All ninety-seven bodies…" Artie muttered to herself as though repeating it would allow her to understand his words.
"That isn't logically possible," one of the hunters murmured, unable to believe Eliron's words.
Although they found it hard to believe, as some would say, the proof was in the pudding…
This time, the pudding was the quicksand, and the proof was the countless bodies lodged within it.
A tarp dripping blood was hanging on a branch just above the pool as well… It was clearly bait for the monster.
'I used the infinity pouch… but I'm not interested in explaining how I got my hands on it, at least not now,' Eliron mused.
It was not like they had the luxury of time either.
Very soon, the magister mammoth would figure out how to escape, and if it did, they would be as good as dead.
"I know I'm pretty enough to outclass any princess, but what the hell are you guys all gawking at?!" he yelled as quietly as possible.
"That right there is a month of premium meat, and I need to sink my teeth into its flesh tonight!"
"Let's get to work, that monster isn't going to kill itself!"