Hunter

by Joanna White

  I didn’t answer. “Move,” I murmured to the others. They caught up with me and we sprinted through the trees, as far away from the Hunters as we could.

  There, Malik said suddenly. I sensed him as well as heard his wings. He had almost reached us— about ten feet behind us, but twenty feet in the air. Before we could react, he dove downward.

  Frowning, I reached out for his thoughts, feelings, and intentions. He was planning to take Dalex. I stretched out farther and sensed who all of them were after.

  Dalex.

  I shoved against Dalex’s back. “Go!” Dalex stumbled, but we all picked up speed. Just up ahead, the tree line broke and opened up into a vast clearing. Once we reached it, it would be much easier for the Hunters to pick us off. I looked for a way to avoid it, but there wasn’t any, not for a mile or two in either direction. We couldn’t waste any time trying to go around. More than anything, we had to move forward, away from the Hunters.

  I stopped for a split second, wondering why I was helping the prisoners way past what I was expected to.

  I knew the answer before I had asked myself the question.

  The Hunters were hiding something from me.

  Then again, so was Dalex.

  Was that the real reason I was helping the prisoners? Or was it something else, something I couldn’t see?

  “Come on!” Dalex hissed at me, pushing me forward.

  “We have to get across this clearing before they reach us!” Sine answered.

  I didn’t tell him what I was thinking. That the clearing was a lot bigger than any of them expected and we wouldn’t be able to cross it all before Becx and the others caught up with us.

  Why were their intentions completely focused on Dalex? They didn’t even care about the other two prisoners. They wanted Dalex, and they wanted him alive.

  Why?

  It had something to do with whatever secret he was hiding. Somehow, Hindah knew that secret and wanted the others to take him alive because of it.

  This bothered me more than I could explain. Hunters never took captives. Never.

  Not until now.

  Were they planning on turning him into a Hunter? If so, why would they keep that a secret from me?

  As soon as we reached the clearing, I felt a surge of energy go through me. Suddenly we were surrounded by walls made of gray stone. The corridor went on for as long as I could see.

  “What the…?” Sine started.

  Dalex turned around to run back the way we came. Off in the distance, I saw Becx grab earth and pull it up, blocking the entrance. The walls went up as high as any of us could see.

  “There’s no going back now,” Lehlax said quietly.

  “It’s a maze,” Dalex whispered.

  I stretched out with my senses again.

  “Guess we have to find our way through.” Sine sighed.

  “The Hunter who controls earth will let down the wall once the rest catch up and then he’ll let them all inside.” As I spoke, I pricked into everyone’s minds, finding all of their feelings and intentions.

  “Guess we run,” Sine started, taking off. We all followed.

  “How do we know where to go?” Dalex asked.

  “We don’t,” Lehlax replied. Up ahead and to the right the path turned. Part of it kept going straight while another part turned off to the right and the left.

  “Guess we just pick somewhere and turn?” Sine asked as we jogged.

  I looked through all the stone. The maze had a center, which had places to hide. If we could get there, then we could hide until Becx and the others went past us. Once they passed us, we could go through the other half of the maze and find our way out.

  “This way!” I yelled, leading them straight ahead. The path curved, and several other hallways branched off, but I ran past them all.

  “How do you know where to go?” Sine eyed me suspiciously.

  I paused before answering, turning to the left down another hallway. “I’ve been here before.” Up ahead there were two more hallways, one to the left and the other to the right. I took the one to the right.

  Sine still had that look, but he nodded.

  I could sense the Hunters getting closer.

  “They’re behind us!” Dalex shouted.

  “How much do you want to bet that that other Hunter locked them inside here with us?” Lehlax asked in a hard tone.

  Malik, fly above and tell us where to go to find them, Novarch said menacingly.

  Hey, Jared! I see you, Malik replied, with a smug hint in his tone.

  Cheaters, I hissed back.

  “Don’t worry about them. Just keep running,” I said out loud. The path turned into a “V” in the road. I took the path that veered to the left. There were two more hallways on the right and two more on the left. I took the second hallway on the left and followed another hallway that veered from that one on the right. We finally reached the corridor that I wanted.

  He’s on the outer edge leading them, Malik said.

  I briefly wondered why they hadn’t tuned me out yet, but realized they probably wanted to let me hear as a way of taunting me.

  I glanced over at Dalex, trying to sense anything from him. He had a concentrated look on his face. He had come here for a reason that much I knew, but I still didn’t know why. Whatever that reason was, or whatever secret Dalex had, the Hunters all knew. They wanted him, and I wanted to know why.

  The path reached in a dead-end. About two feet before the dead end, it branched into a narrow hallway.

  “A dead-end—” Sine started, giving me a hard look.

  “No. There’s another corridor,” Lehlax pointed out. We all jogged down it. I could sense Becx and the others closing in.

  You’re getting close to them, Becx. Jared, you better hurry it up, Malik teased.

  I grunted in response.

  It wasn’t long before the next hallway branched off. It had one path on the right, and two on the left, one of which was diagonal. We took the one on the left that wasn’t diagonal. There were no other hallways, just that path that curved around. We followed it until we saw the next doorway up ahead on the left. Slipping inside it, I looked around.

  We stood at the entrance to the center.

  He’s in the center, Malik told them.

  We’re getting closer. Get them! Better make this look like a good fight, Jared. Remember why you’re with them, Novarch reminded me.

  Swallowing hard, I shook my head. I didn’t want to be reminded.

  “This isn’t the end of the maze.” Sine smacked his thighs in exasperation.

  “We can hide here until the Hunters pass us. They’ll head to the exit, thinking that’s where we went. They’ll pass us, and then keep looking for us outside the maze. Once they’re gone, we can take our time, rest, eat, and sleep. Then we can keep going,” I explained, my voice rough.

  “Smart thinking.” Lehlax nodded to me in approval.

  Despite that I could see through all the walls and hallways, it was easy to see the center of the maze, as big as the room was. Picking out the exit, though was impossible. There were so many different doors and hallways, I couldn’t tell them apart from each other. We would have to find our way through the maze the normal way. But we wouldn’t be able to do that with Hunters following us.

  How would we hide without Malik seeing us? If we hid, he would just tell the Hunters where we were. He had already told them we were in the center.

  I had to get rid of him.

  Lehlax clenched his bow tightly.

  “Find somewhere to hide. I’ll take care of the flying one, so he can’t alert the others where we are,” I told him. He nodded, handing me the bow and a quiver of arrows.

  All around the center were scattered trees. The tallest one was on the other side, by the outer wall of the center. Darting over there, I slipped the bow and quiver across my back. I immediately started climbing and reached the top with ease. Once I reached a branch I thought was high enough, I grabbed the bow,
and nocked an arrow, looking up in the sky. Stretching out with my senses as a Hunter, I followed them toward where Malik flew.

  The tree was concealing me, so he couldn’t see what I was doing.

  The prisoners are still in the center, but I don’t know what they’re trying to do. I lost Jared. Where’d you go, man? Malik asked in my thoughts.

  I took in a breath and didn’t release it until I loosed the arrow. It hit his right wing, starting at the top, and slid down it, creating a tear, just like I wanted.

  “Stop! It’s quicksand!” Sine shouted. I glanced over, looking through branches so I could see them. They had been heading toward a circle of rocks that connected with part of the wall on the side, halfway across the center. Sine had been running ahead of them. He was in the ground, sinking faster by the second. The others had stopped, frozen in their steps. They hadn’t reached the sinking sand.

  I jumped down off the tree, not bothering to climb down, and sprinted toward them.

  “Sine!” Lehlax shouted.

  “Dalex, go get a branch thick enough to hold his weight!” I nudged him and stopped beside Lehlax.

  Dalex turned, met my eyes, and seeing that it was me, ran off toward a tree that was on the left side. I looked at the ground—for a moment, I couldn’t tell the difference between the solid ground and the quicksand. They looked practically identical. Then, I saw it; the slightly faded color to the sand that real ground didn’t have. The quicksand was a complete circle, fifty feet in diameter. Sine was stuck in the middle, about twenty feet away from solid ground in any direction. I was about to tell him not to struggle, that would only make him sink faster, but when I looked at him, he was completely still. The sand was just above his knees.

  “Here!” Dalex said. He breathed roughly where he held a branch about twenty-five feet long, but super thin. I hoped it would be enough to hold Sine’s weight and pull him to solid ground.

  Lehlax and I grabbed it from Dalex and held it out, trying to keep it from touching the sand. Sine pushed himself as far forward as he could and reached for it. Just as he snatched it, I sensed Becx at the center entrance.

  “Just get him out of there and hide,” I told them, letting go of the branch. I paused long enough to make sure Lehlax could hold it by himself and keep it from getting in the sand.

  I turned to face Becx.

  “I’m guessing you’re the one that shot down Malik, huh?” he hissed just for effect. I nocked another arrow and aimed it at him.

  He laughed, thinking that I was going to shoot him. I knew he would have a wall of earth in front of him faster than I could release the arrow. I wasn’t stupid enough to try.

  I released the arrow but flicked my wrist at the last second so that it aimed toward Novarch before he realized what was going on. His fast reflexes kept him from getting hurt, but his left arm had been grazed.

  We’re going to capture you and the prisoners, he snarled at me in his thoughts.

  No, you won’t. I kept my mental tone just as infuriated as his.

  Hindah’s orders! he yelled.

  I shot him a questioning look.

  He wants to capture you and the new prisoner. Make it look real, he answered.

  Dalex was just behind me, looking between me and the Hunters. “I know you’re probably in shock, but don’t just stand there! Do something!” he yelled.

  I couldn’t help but let the corner of my mouth twitch up in a hint of a smile. He looked at me weirdly.

  Why did I get a knot in my stomach at the thought of putting up a fight, only to pretend to let them capture us? The order only confirmed what I had suspected; that they wanted Dalex alive.

  Why does he want Dalex? I asked.

  He answered my thought by laughing out loud.

  “So, he thinks it’s hilarious that they have us cornered,” Dalex muttered. He took out his sword and glared at the Hunters.

  “There’s no need for that,” Kehlarch said sweetly, holding out his hands, as they turned ice-blue. A line of frost shot across the ground from Kehlarch to Dalex’s sword, making it freeze. Dalex gasped and dropped it to the ground. I already had another arrow in the bow, ready to be fired. Since my arms were occupied, I used my elbow and pushed Dalex back, sensing what Kehlarch was going to do. My shove pushed Dalex as far back as I could, which was just out of Kehlarch’s range.

  I was the only Hunter who knew all the other Hunters' strengths and weaknesses; their limitations, if they had any. Becx could move the earth with his mind, so long as he could see his target or sense that the target was there. But there had to be earth around him for him to move it.

  Gurnarch was the same way, if he saw or sensed someone, then he had no limit on how far his fire could reach. He could create fire with his mind, so he could be anywhere and use it.

  Kehlarch could create ice or drain the warmth from anyone or anything around him. However, he had a limit; he had to be close.

  None of them realized I knew this about them. They didn’t know that I could see through things and people; that I could pry into their minds, see all their thoughts, true feelings, and intentions… everything inside them if I wanted. Even Malik only knew that I could read thoughts, nothing more.

  We had to get them away from the doorway to give Lehlax and Sine a chance. I stretched out with my senses. Lehlax had gotten Sine out and wanted to come to help us. I glanced at Dalex and stared at him, hoping he would understand what I wanted.

  He slightly nodded, just the littlest hint of acknowledgment. He took off running and I followed close by, shooting arrows as quickly as I could at the three Hunters, so they were forced to dodge. That gave us the second we needed to duck behind some rocks with Lehlax and Sine.

  I met Lehlax’s gaze and murmured so I knew only he and Dalex could hear me. “We’ll be bait, leading them back through here. Hide here and sneak to the door as soon as they follow us. Go through the entrance and get out of here.”

  He and Sine both nodded toward me in gratitude.

  Dalex and I started jogging, avoiding the quick sand. “Meanwhile we need to try and hide. We probably won’t be able to sneak around them, so prepare for a fight. Once they get out, then we need to head for the exit as soon as we can,” I told him.

  Dalex nodded. He had dropped his sword, so all he had was a dagger tucked in his left sleeve. I had another arrow ready, so I told him to grab my spare sword, making sure to tell him to grab the sword and not my Inquiri blade. He put his hands on my waistband, snatching the extra sword I kept tucked in my belt there. For a second, he had a weird look on his face, but it was gone as soon as he held the weapon in his right hand.

  I stretched out with my senses. The three Hunters jumped over the rocks we had been hiding behind and charged toward us. I could sense Lehlax and Sine were already on the other side, on their way to the center’s doorway.

  They were going to get out.

  Becx spotted us. “What’s the matter? Don’t want to play?” he yelled, taunting us.

  “I think I’ll pass,” Dalex hissed in reply.

  They all laughed.

  Put up a good fight, Jared, but you will let us capture you, Novarch commanded.

  I glared in his direction in response, clenching my fists around the bow. “Are you going to play fair?” I snapped, still glaring at Novarch.

  “By fair, you mean none of this?” Kehlarch asked, making the temperature all around us drop thirty degrees. We could see our breath when we exhaled.

  “Trees,” I whispered to Dalex, hoping he would understand. In response to Kehlarch, I loosed an arrow. They all laughed, thinking how foolish I was to try to shoot any of them with an arrow.

  You’re doing a great job of pretending to be one of them, Jared! Novarch said, laughing out loud.

  If he’s even pretending, Becx replied.

  As my arrow knocked down a thick branch in a tree above them, Dalex and I used the distraction to climb into the tree behind us and to the right. “Keep the sword ready. I have to
put the bow on my back while we climb,” I told him quickly.

  He nodded in response as we climbed as quickly as we could, and as high as the branches would hold our weight. We were about fifteen feet up by the time Becx and the others found us. “Go from tree to tree using the branches,” I told Dalex.

  He looked at me with a surprised expression, but all I said was “go.” Finally, he listened to me and walked as quickly as he could, slipping around other branches that intersected in front of him, as he crossed from one branch to another until he reached the other trees. I copied him and we continued doing this, sometimes having to climb higher or lower down to get to other trees. “Keep going,” I told him when I sensed they were getting close.

  He hesitated, shooting me a worried look.

  “Dalex. Go.” I grabbed the bow and crouched down as low as I could. Loosing another arrow toward a few branches one or two trees over, I paused to make sure they fell for it. When the branches ripped off, Novarch told Becx and Kehlarch to go check it out, while he continued heading for us.

  By that time, I already had another arrow nocked. I was perfectly hidden where I was, but I had no idea if they would hear or see Dalex. Looking through the trees, I didn’t stop until I saw Novarch.

  Cursing, I tried to shift through the branches to get a clean shot, but I couldn’t. Instead, I shot a branch above him with enough force to make it fall. It crashed into the branch he had been standing on, causing him to jump to the ground. With that, I quickly turned and started after Dalex. Once again, there weren’t any feelings coming from him, other than his intense concentration and a feeling of worry. I sped up faster than humanly possible and within seconds I was at the entrance to the center of the maze.

  Dalex stood just outside of it, watching the entrance and waiting for me to come.

  “I told you to go!” I yelled at him, my voice harsher than I’d meant it.

  “I don’t leave anyone behind,” he said with such a firm determination that it made me freeze in my steps. Why wouldn’t he leave me behind and save himself? Get as far away from the Hunters as possible, and leave me to them?