Hunter

by Joanna White

  His neck snapped, and almost completely ripped his head off.

  I quickly jumped onto a branch on another tree next to his body.

  The last prisoner glared up at me and took out a bow. He knew how quickly I would move, so he took little time to aim before he shot. I stayed perfectly still, and when he noticed I refused to move, he looked somewhat surprised. I easily caught the arrow with my right hand and threw it back toward the prisoner. He didn’t have time to jump out of the way. The mixture of the darkness and his weak, human eyesight was his downfall. The arrow buried itself in his left side and he fell to the ground, gasping and groaning, trying to catch a breath.

  With the fighting over, I didn’t have to even concentrate to feel the emotions radiating off all the prisoners below me. Two of them were already dead. The boy Luke wasn’t quite dead yet, just barely grasping life. I could feel every ounce of his cold fear… not fear of the unknown, like most of them got. No, this was fear for his father, for what he was going to do without him, if he would live, or give up. His life faded, beating, almost like the faint sounds of his heart.

  The prisoner who had been hit with the arrow had waves of confusion, fear, and anger consuming him. It was slowly replaced by icy terror until it was all he could feel.

  Luke’s breaths began getting more spaced apart. The beats of his heart, though they were loud in my ears, grew faint and slow until there was finally nothing.

  Lehlax’s grief and sorrow overcame him, slamming into him all at once until he could barely breathe. It would have been so easy to kill both him and Municx in their ignorance of being watched.

  I didn’t. Whether because I didn’t want to put him out of his misery or something else, I didn’t know. For whatever reason, I left them, and continued running through the trees, looking for more prisoners to kill.

  We found the prisoners a few times in between hunting and killing others but decided to wait until they came to a more interesting location. They were heading slightly northwest, though when I looked into each of them, Sine and Wexx hadn’t decided where exactly they should go yet. With Dalex, as usual, I couldn’t get specific thoughts from him, just vague feelings of despair.

  I smiled. So, it was finally hitting him that he was stuck in here, forced to run for the rest of his pathetic life, however short it was. I was torn between wanting to follow through with Hindah’s plan and discover as much as I could about him and wanting to kill him immediately for how he had injured me.

  I could sense Malik just behind me. My hand inched toward my blade. Malik saw the movement, despite that it was light enough no human would have noticed it.

  You better wait and kill him later, like Hindah wants. His tone, even inside his thoughts, was thick with warning.

  I glared at him, not bothering to answer, and removed my hand from my Inquiri blade. Reluctantly, I followed behind the three of them for a while. Though Dalex appeared to be getting to know both Sine and Wexx fairly well, he never talked much about himself and I was left infuriatingly in the dark about him.

  I had been hoping to discover what I needed to know about him without going through Hindah’s stupid plan. Annoyed, I left the group and ran off until I saw a few traveling prisoners heading toward the glass pyramid.

  I smiled, shaking my head. Too easy.

  I climbed up and inside the huge structure, and though it was clear, they were so oblivious I didn’t even have to blend in with it to keep myself hidden from them. I came up behind one, grabbed his neck, and twisted it to the side.

  I ducked out eyesight, just as another one turned, hearing the noise.

  “Barrlix?” The man looked around for his lost friend. He finally saw the other man’s body on the floor and ran to him. Just as he knelt, I ran past him and slammed a dagger into his chest before he had a chance to blink.

  I left their bodies there and continued dashing through the glass pyramid, climbing the labyrinth of hallways inside the structure, taking out all of the prisoners inside it one by one to release my frustration until there were none left alive.

  Wexx, Sine, and Dalex laid low for the next few days after that. For a complete cycle of both day and night, none of the Hunters had any idea where they had gone. It wasn’t until an entire day after I’d last followed them, almost a week since the fight and since Dalex had arrived, that Malik flew around, thinking that he was close to them.

  I found ‘em, Malik announced.

  Where? I asked.

  They’re on the mountain plateaus, he answered.

  I told him what I wanted him to do. He gave me a brief okay, and then I was off, heading west. The swamps were a good five hundred miles away from where I was at, and the mountains were at least fifty miles away. Running at full speed, I broke the sound barrier and left a wind vortex behind me. None of the creatures or prisoners I passed realized what was happening. It didn’t take me long before I was there.

  I stretched out with my senses as I glanced up at the mountain, and then took another drink and felt a surge of energy. Immediately I sensed exactly where they were. It was Sine, Wexx, and Dalex. They were pretty high up for how slow they moved and given the time frame they had to climb.

  Malik landed on a rock formation a little above them, so he could swoop down on them. I started climbing on the right side so that I would come out to their left whenever he attacked.

  I reached my target just as Malik attacked. I hid behind two huge boulders, with enough space in-between them for me to squeeze through whenever the time was right.

  Malik took Sine and threw him. He hit the mountainside with a thud. Dalex gasped; Wexx growled and went in to attack Malik, but he laughed brutally and flew up in the air, flipping around to land behind Wexx. He went to do a choke-hold, but Dalex swung his sword to try to catch Malik in the leg.

  Malik easily dodged quicker than their eyes could follow and knocked Dalex to the ground and flew right back behind Wexx before either of them knew what had even happened. Dalex groaned and pushed himself up off the ground, rushing back to lightly nick him in the arm. It was barely a scratch, but Malik growled, and spat a curse word, and slammed Wexx sideways. Wexx stumbled, but caught himself. Malik stood tall and firm, keeping his attention on both Wexx and Dalex.

  Scrawny one is a bit more difficult than I’d imagined, Malik thought, irritated.

  The scratch had healed almost as soon as it had been there. Part of me wanted to roll my eyes but the other part of me knew he was right. It was rare when a human could even defend themselves against us, much less get a scratch in. Wexx met Dalex’s eyes and I sensed when he decided to attack.

  Malik kicked Dalex’s hand, knocking his sword across the rocks. It landed not too far away from where I was hiding. Malik turned, grabbed a small dagger out of his boot, and met Wexx’s sword.

  Sine had gotten up to his hands and knees from where he knelt against the mountainside. Groaning, he threw a knife. Malik managed to see it and dodge just before it hit him. Dalex, keeping ahold of his hurt right hand, went after Sine’s dagger.

  As Malik fought Wexx, who kept up with Malik very well for a human, Dalex threw the dagger and it landed in the back of Malik’s left shoulder, narrowly missing one of his wings.

  I swear I’m gonna kill ‘em, he thought, viciously, going to kick Wexx’s knee out.

  Wexx dodged it but didn’t expect Malik to flip over him and grab him by the shirt collar. Malik flew up in the air, and kicked the back of Wexx’s hand, trying to get him to drop the sword. Wexx grunted but didn’t drop it. He swung back, trying to hit any part of Malik he could.

  Dalex stood underneath them, urging Wexx on. Malik didn’t see it, but I sensed Wexx’s decision. Wexx dropped his sword. Malik smiled, thinking he finally got him to do what he wanted.

  He didn’t expect Dalex to catch it. Dalex ran and jumped off the rocks I was hiding behind and swung the sword up high. He hit Malik’s ankle. Malik growled in frustration, grabbing his ankle. Wexx took advantage of the situation and el
bowed Malik in the face. Malik lost his grip on Wexx’s collar. He landed hard but caught himself and stood fast. Dalex joined him and the two darted over to make sure Sine was okay. They kept their eyes on Malik the whole time.

  The whole idea of the plan, Malik, was that you would win so I could come in and save them, I thought sarcastically.

  He growled at me mentally, flying up higher. I sensed what he would do. This would get them.

  “Is he leaving?” Dalex asked, out of breath.

  “They never leave a fight,” Wexx murmured, watching him. His human eyes wouldn’t be able to see Malik, but I could. Using all the strength he had, Malik pulled one rock out from underneath the others piled at the top of a small cliff above them.

  There was a loud rumbling and the earth shook violently.

  “What the—" Wexx started, but the crash cut him off. I ran forward when I realized that Dalex was about to be crushed and knocked him down, throwing myself on top of him. The blow knocked his breath out and he gasped as dust flew up everywhere.

  “He’s coming!” Sine shouted through the noise.

  “Behind you,” Dalex hissed in my ear.

  I shot up off him, turning as I did so. I kept my movements carefully slow, purposely moving at a human pace. I took my Inquiri blade out of the left side of the waist of my pants, waiting for Malik.

  “Above you!” Dalex warned.

  Of course, I already sensed Malik coming from above me, but to make it believable I turned too slow, too late. I let Malik hit me, knocking me to the ground. I pretended that the blow knocked my breath out, but I still turned, reached for my blade, and stabbed toward him. Malik met my attack, but kicked my blade, making it fly backward and off the cliff.

  I cursed at him in my thoughts. That was my Inquiri blade! I thought a few more curse words, muttering to myself.

  He smiled, grinning from ear to ear. To the others, it would look as if he was anticipating my death. I jumped up and tackled him, knocking him to the ground. He wasn’t expecting it, so it surprised him.

  I sensed Sine had found small cracks in the rock slide and a path through all the rubble. He was helping Dalex dig Wexx out.

  I punched Malik, but he shoved me off. Since I was supposed to be human and a lot weaker than him, I let the blow knock me back and into the wall behind me. I faked a wince when my back hit the wall hard and gasped, figuring a human would gasp for air. So, this was what it felt like to get beaten up in a fight, or as close to getting beaten as I would ever get.

  He took a dagger out of his waistband and stabbed toward me at high speed. I could see his every movement, but I didn’t react until it was too late. I put up an arm to block the attack, making his knife slice my arm.

  I gritted my teeth in annoyance and anger, cursing at Malik again in my head.

  He grinned and darted toward Dalex, whose back faced us. I pushed myself up onto my arms and shouted at Dalex. Dalex turned just as Malik reached him. Malik picked him up and carried him into the air.

  Making this difficult, huh? I thought to him.

  I rolled my eyes and, using human-like speed, leapt off the two boulders as Dalex did before, hoping I jumped at a suitable distance for a human. My hands grasped onto Malik’s ankle. He looked down at me, completely dumbfounded.

  Dalex tried elbowing Malik in the face. The blow landed, but Malik didn’t let go. Dalex struggled, kicking out, almost hitting me in the face.

  “Don’t! You’ll get me,” I yelled to him above the wind. We were high in the air now. Despite my warning, he kicked out again, coming very close to my eyes.

  Then, I saw what it was he was trying to show me. He had a dagger stuck in his boot. I grabbed ahold of his ankle; I had to do this fast before Malik reached a higher distance.

  I would survive but the boy wouldn’t and the whole point of Hindah’s orders was to keep him alive. If we ended this quickly, we wouldn’t find out anything. Although, I wouldn’t mind if the boy died, but when he did, I wanted to be the one to kill him and not a stupid fall. I stabbed Malik in the foot, ripped out the dagger, and stabbed him again in the thigh. With a sly grin, I sliced it down his leg, knowing that would be the only way to make sure it was somewhat painful for him. He grunted and let go of Dalex.

  As we fell, I grabbed a hold of Dalex, who held on to me tight. I was surprised because he never screamed. Not once.

  I had to let him survive this. I reached for the top of the side of the mounain, where Malik had started the rockslide. My hands caught hold of the top as Dalex grabbed onto my legs.

  “Now what?” he demanded, annoyed.

  I smiled down at him. “We climb.” I hoped he wouldn’t recognize my voice. I found a good hold and pulled myself over the top partway.

  “Grab onto the rocks,” I yelled down at him. One hand at a time, he let go of my leg and grabbed onto a rock. Kicking with my legs, I smoothly yanked myself up and over the top. I turned around to help him.

  I instructed him where the best holds were at. Once he was close enough, he reached one hand up and I grabbed him, pulling him over the top. He collapsed, panting hard.

  From where we sat, Sine and Wexx were hundreds of feet below us. There was another wall behind us.

  “How do we get back down to them?” Dalex asked me in-between gasps.

  “These rock formations go on like this for hundreds of miles high. No one’s ever made it to the top yet,” I explained looking at him. In the last light of the day, his face looked young. Younger than nineteen. He was very skinny and didn’t look to have any muscle at all, which was surprising, given how long he held on.

  “So, they are cliffs that keep just going higher and higher?” He furrowed his eyebrows.

  “Yeah, it’s pretty much just a whole bunch of rocks piled on top of one another, forming a small plateau at the top. Then, half the plateau has more rocks piled on behind it, and the top of those rocks has a plateau and so on.” I gestured to the pile of stones that formed another rock wall behind us.

  “Whoa.” His eyes widened as he glanced over his shoulder and stared at it.

  “Yeah. The fronts of the rock-formations are steep walls. There are paths to the side though. They’re rough, and impossible to climb up from the ground, but easier when coming from up here. Difficult, but easier than rock climbing.” With a sigh, trying to act tired like a human would, I stood to my feet.

  Dalex winced and hobbled to his feet. “So, we get to walk down?”

  I looked at him. “Yeah.”

  “Thank you, God.” Dalex closed his eyes for a moment.

  I lifted an eyebrow at him, that he obviously couldn’t see, and gazed up at the sky. “He won’t be back for a while,” I told him.

  Dalex opened his eyes and his gaze snapped toward me with an odd look in his eyes. “God?” he asked. He still looked really confused.

  “No.” With a frown, I gestured upward. “The Hunter,” I added after a thought. It was weird to not call him by his name.

  He seemed to sigh in relief.

  “I’m Dalex,” he said, holding his hand out. I stared at it during the two seconds it took me to figure out that a prisoner would shake his hand back. So, I did. It was oddly…. soft. Not rough or callused like I expected.

  “I’m Jared,” I told him. I knew it was dangerous to tell him my actual name, but when this was all over and we had him figured out, there would only be two endings to his life. Either death…or life as a Hunter.

  I didn’t know which one was worse.

  CHAPTER 5

  AVERELLA

  I had thought that I would cower away if I ever had to fight a Hunter again. No matter how hard I tried to mentally prepare myself to be brave, when the time came, everything happened so fast that I didn’t have time to cower away or think or be brave. It was all just movement and action, which surprised me.

  It also surprised me how well I was doing with a sword. It felt like a part of me, like an extension of my arm. My father had trained Gabriel and me when
we were younger, but it had been years since I’d even held one, and then it had been only the basics.

  “I’m Dalex,” I said, holding out my hand to the stranger who had saved my life.

  He hesitated. I wondered why but decided that life inside a prison where you’re constantly hunted could destroy your trust after a while.

  “Jared,” he replied, finally taking my hand. His hands were rough, scarred. His skin was surprisingly tan, golden in the setting sun. I quickly looked away and gestured for him to start the way down since I had no idea where I was going.

  There was a small path to the side of the cliff that went up higher and formed another part of the strange mountain, and another part that headed down. He took the latter, so I stayed as close behind him as I could because I didn’t want to lose him. To my right, boulders stood higher than Jared’s head; to my left, the mountain towered up beyond what the eye could see. “Do you think they’re alright?” I asked him.

  He stopped, turned, and looked at me.

  “Sine and Wexx, I mean.” Despite that I was only concerned with finding Gabriel, I found myself worrying for Sine and Wexx anyway.

  For a moment, he just stared at me. “It was a pretty big landslide.” He turned back around and started walking again so I followed him.

  I couldn’t help but think back to when the landslide happened. I remembered hearing Sine shout to warn us the Hunter was coming back. Which had to mean he was still alive. I couldn’t help but say a small prayer, hoping that Wexx had made it through.

  I began to feel exhausted and had to put my hands on the rocks on either side of us. The path in the middle was so narrow that I didn’t even have to reach my hands out at arms’ length to reach the rock walls. Jared walked ahead of me with a smoothness I envied, now more than ever. He stepped carefully over every rock, side-stepped every boulder in our way, never having to reach out to the walls for support.

  “How long have you been in here?” he asked, turning to look over his shoulder at me.

  “About a week, I think. It’s hard to tell in here. So, not very long, but it feels a lot longer than that.” I jumped over a rock that took up most of the path.