Asmodeus wrinkles his nose slightly, evidently deep in thought. "I don't think so," He concludes. "Mind.... if I come along?"

i set a steady but slow pace, at least, slow enough that vitalus and Asmodeus can keep up without running. for once, orion manages to not trip anyone up or be underneath their feet. when we reach my property i bring them to the very farthest edge of my property, a good ways away from the house.

a cows carcass lays in the tall grass, surrounded in a pool of blood. however there are no sigs of a struggle, despite the various wounds that would indicate otherwise. "this cow wasn't killed here, it was moved here. it's not tagged or branded either, all the towns either brand or tag their cows. that means it's not from here. it was brought here for a reason" i point out "and look, it's eyes and tongue are missing. the cut's are too clean to be any animal. and no human in the area has ever shown reason to do something like this"

Vitalus shakes his head at Asmodeus, "No try to find if people missed the offering," Vitalus said and rode next to Andromeda. He listen to what she said and replied, "Your right no one would do this in town and I'll look into this as soon as I can Andromeda,"

"thank you. i'm going to clean up this carcass so it doesn't attract predators... i don't know what i'm going to do with it, though. it doesn't seem right wasting it or eating it." i shake my head "this carcass means something, if it means something bad i don't want to be targeted for eating the tainted meat."

Asmodeus coldly inspects the carcass. He does not seem disturbed or grossed out by the gory scene.

"you've been pretty quiet" i remark "what do you think we should do with it? maybe give it to him as an offering?" i ask, lowering my voice for the last question.

Vitalus sighed, "No don't offer it to him if it was from him," Vitalus said.

"yeah... yeah you're right. i think i'll burn it tonight" i say, glancing towards orion. his tail is between his legs, and he gives a small whimper, bravely hiding behind me and vega. vega's ears are pressed to her head, and she snorts, trying to take a step back. they're both staring at the forest in fear, but i can't see anything out of the ordinary.

Vitalus looks into the woods. "I think we should take this carcass away from the forest before it attracts anything else," Vitalus said.

i nod, jumping down off of vega, who stomps her foot anxiously. "help my carry it to the field over there, i don't want it on my land any more than it has to be" i grimace, i'll have to make another offering this week, just in case.