Hunter

by Joanna White

  “Not like this.” Quinn gritted his teeth, crossed his arms, and narrowed his eyes on Lehlax.

  “We should at least tie him up.” Axe stroked his beard.

  Lehlax shot him a glare. “We should kill him.”

  “I’ve got some rope.” Ignoring Lehlax’s comment, Quinn tied Jared’s hands together behind his back and then his feet.

  “We should get moving,” Lehlax snapped.

  I stared at Jared and couldn’t help kneeling beside him, desperately wanting to say something in the vain hope that he could hear me… that maybe he was still in there somewhere. His voice saying that he sliced Gabriel’s throat open made the words hitch in my throat.

  “I enjoyed watching him drown in his own blood!” he had said.

  I winced and bit my lip to keep from screaming. Turning him over onto his back roughly, I pounded my fists against his chest furiously. Screaming until my throat was raw, I finally released all the emotions I had been bottling up inside. I didn’t stop screaming or beating him until my knuckles were numb and covered in blood. His blood.

  “Averella!” Quinn shouted. He grabbed my arms and tugged me to my feet. “That’s enough. We should go.”

  I nodded, completely numb physically and emotionally as I followed him and the others. The sun was setting, casting the sky in a mixture of fire and twilight, as we continued through the rock forest. None of us stopped until we left the rock forest, which was about a forty-five-minute trip. We only stopped twice to catch our breath.

  As we exited the rock forest, I gazed at the surroundings around us. Off in the distance behind us, slightly to the right, I could see the mountain plateaus high in the sky. Ahead of us, a huge mountain had smoke billowing out of the top, completely blocking out the stars all around it. I realized then that that was the volcano. Beside it, were others, all with black smoke billowing away from the peaks. The volcanoes took over the whole horizon, as far as I could see.

  “Is that just smoke?” I asked, trying to distract myself from thinking of anything that would hurt.

  “It’s ash, too. Ash falls from the volcanoes all the time, but in all my years here, they have never once erupted.” Lehlax looked at me as he explained it.

  “What about those hills over there?” I pointed to my right. I could vaguely make out some hills in the distance. The entire horizon to my right seemed to roll across an endless parade of them.

  “They’re an area that’s about fifty miles in diameter just as you come out of the swamps on the south end. The shadow forest also leads into the hills a little too, if you head all the way directly south.”

  Farther to my right I could see the dark trees. I couldn’t see anything past the tree line, so I knew that was the shadow forest.

  “If you look left and squint for a while you can just barely see the wall,” Quinn pointed out gesturing.

  I stared in the direction he was pointing. I could barely see something high and black, poking out over the horizon that way. It was too dark to see anything or to tell what it was. “The wall?” I asked.

  “Yeah it’s the gate where all the prisoners come in,” Quinn answered.

  “I don’t remember there being a gate.” I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to think back to when I had arrived.

  “You were being dragged, just like all prisoners when they come here. Most don’t pay attention at the time to notice it then.” Lehlax shrugged as if it was a simple answer.

  I nodded in response.

  “Come on, the burrow isn’t far,” he said. We all followed him through the trees that were scattered out farther than the normal woods we walked in most of the time. Lehlax led us to an oak and kicked aside some large fallen leaves. I realized that underneath them was a hole and Lehlax jumped inside. It was medium-sized but large enough for a person to fit inside it.

  “Come on down!” Lehlax called.

  Axe jumped down and I sat down and slid in, followed by Quinn right after me. He had somehow managed to move the giant leaves back over the hole before he jumped in so that it was perfectly covered.

  Minutes later, light burst from Lehlax’s hand and I realized he had lit a torch. “How did you get an actual torch?” I asked him.

  “We leave it in here. The Hunters don’t know about it and we don’t come here often because we don’t want them finding out about it. Sine managed to sneak in matches when he was taken, so we leave them here with the torch,” Lehlax explained.

  I watched as the fire flickered, throwing shadows and silhouettes onto the dirt wall.

  He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “This way.” He led us down a narrow corridor for about ten feet and through a small doorway that opened into a small room. It was about fifteen by fifteen feet, and the walls were made of stone, rather than dirt like the corridor had been.

  “This has been here way before any of us were. Municx said a couple of prisoners that were arrested before him found it back when they were here. They kept it secret for about fifty years.” Lehlax placed the torch on a holding attached to the wall and sat down as he spoke.

  On the wall were strange markings, symbols, and pictures I didn’t understand. They seemed to tell a story, one that was intriguing and mysterious. I wondered what or whose story they told.

  “None of us know what the symbols mean. We’ve all had our share in guesses, but no luck yet. There even have been a couple of experts in symbols here before, but even they had never seen them before,” Lehlax continued, as if reading my mind.

  I looked around in awe.

  “I’ll keep watch for a while, so the rest of you can sleep.” Axe walked back down the corridor and seconds later I heard the rustling of leaves.

  “He’s going outside?” I asked.

  “When we keep watch here we always go outside and sit by a tree not too far away, so we don’t draw suspicion. We can’t hear anything down here, so whoever keeps watch has to stay above ground. The watcher has a certain tune he’ll loudly whistle if any Hunters are coming. We’ll be fine.” Lehlax closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall.

  I didn’t know if his words helped. “What about the torch? Won’t it burn out?” I suddenly became afraid of being down here in the dark.

  “We burn susuvar leaves. They only burn out after a hundred years of being used, unless you put them out yourself. So, no worries there either,” Lehlax responded. I looked over and Quinn was already asleep, snoring away, keeping one hand on his sword. I lay on the ground and closed my eyes, trying to sleep, but was unable to keep Jared out of my mind.

  I thought of Gabriel, of his dark hair, like mine, of his smile that showed his teeth, and of his laugh. How he would always work hard, to try to provide for Mother and me. How he felt useless because he was usually too sick to work very long. I thought of the last time I saw him, in chains with the Gredi about ready to leave. I remembered how he shook his head when he saw that I wanted to come after him.

  I thought of Jared, tried to picture a sword in his hands while Gabriel collapsed onto the ground, unable to do anything about it. Wincing, I tried to imagine Jared killing him, but I couldn’t. It was probably for the better; I didn’t need to see it. It wasn’t until my arm felt wet that I realized I had been crying. My eyes felt heavy and, judging from the way they slightly burned, I guessed that I had been crying for a while. Closing my eyes, I allowed the tears to come and continued to weep, knowing that I would never see my brother again.

  Deep inside, I felt I had lost not only one person I loved, but two.

  Jared was lost to me forever.

  I don’t know how much time passed, or even if I slept, but when I opened my eyes, the sound of leaves rustling and thuds of people jumping down reached my ears. Shooting upright, I clenched my hand on my sword, ready to kill anything that came in here. I noticed Lehlax was leaning against the wall asleep, and Axe lay on the ground to my right. Through the door, came Quinn with Sine right behind him.

  “Sine!” I sheathed my sword and relaxe
d.

  “Quinn told me that Jared already attacked you?” Sine asked, looking at me frantically.

  “Yes, when we were passing through the rock forest. What do you mean already?” I furrowed my eyebrows, meeting his gaze as dread seeped into my veins.

  Our voices woke up Lehlax and Axe. I just then noticed Municx standing behind Sine and Quinn.

  “Municx!” Lehlax shouted. They hugged and patted each other on the back.

  Municx nodded toward Axe who shook his hand. “Good to see you again,” Municx said to Axe.

  “You too, old man.” Axe smiled at him.

  “Sine, tell them what you saw,” Municx said. He sat down beside Lehlax as Sine told us everything. He said when they first got Jared to their camp Hindah allowed each of the Hunters to use their power on Jared one time, as punishment for his betrayal.

  “What did they do to him?” Quinn asked him.

  I didn’t want to hear this; I couldn’t, but I couldn’t find my voice to tell Sine to stop.

  He told us of all the horrible things that the Hunters did to him, as punishment.

  I held back tears. I wasn’t sure if I was crying because hearing about him made me think of how he killed my brother, because everything he said had been a lie, or because deep inside, I knew he probably deserved everything the Hunters did to him.

  “They put him in this cage that was high up in a tree and left him there for hours. Every time he would almost pass out Zagerah would keep him awake, but eventually, he passed out anyway. About two hours later they woke him up and told him it was time. Zagerah’s other power is that he can control any Hunter with the silver lines inside his veins. It has something to do with his connection to each of them because he helped create them.” Sine sat crossed-legged and alert as he explained what had happened.

  “So, Zagerah is controlling him?” Lehlax asked, desperate.

  Somehow, I didn’t believe it.

  “Yes,” Municx answered. When no one else spoke, he continued. “Every Hunter has a device placed inside his chest which is used in case they decide to betray the other Hunters. They’ve never needed to use it before. When Zagerah’s silver lines reached into Jared’s head, it slowly seeped into him, filling him and encased him inside with silver. It’s why his eyes are silver. When the device in his chest was filled with that silver, it brought out the Hunter in him and allows Zagerah to control that Hunter inside of him.”

  “Is it any kind of silver that can do this to them?” Lehlax asked.

  “No, it’s only comes from Zagerah. Because Zagerah created them they are a part of him in a way, but only when they communicate telepathically. To be completely part of him and control him, Zagerah has to put his silver inside of him,” Municx explained.

  My head spun.

  “Averella? You’re being too quiet,” Lehlax murmured. All eyes shifted to me.

  “I—I can’t believe you,” I whispered to Municx and Sine.

  “Everything I’ve just told you is true.” Municx met my eyes with a reassuring gaze.

  “I wouldn’t lie to you, Averella.” Sine looked hurt.

  “Jared did! Everything he told me, even when he promised he would never lie to me again, when he told me he knew he loved me… that we gave him hope, that we taught him something he had never known before…. When Hindah said that they had planned it… all of it was a lie! He—he killed my brother and I can never forgive him for that!” I no longer tried to control the tears coming down my face.

  “Averella, I saw and heard when Zagerah took control of him. I watched as he begged him not to send him after you. Zagerah just laughed at him.” Sine’s eyes looked as if he was reliving the memory.

  “He may be controlling him now, but he wasn’t when he killed my brother in cold blood.” My voice sounded menacing in my own ears.

  “He may have not been controlling him outright then, Averella, but in a way, Jared was being controlled without realizing it.” Municx’s gaze softened on mine.

  “What do you mean?” I asked him.

  “When he told you that Zagerah had planned it all, Hindah was not lying. When a Hunter is created, they are taken from the prison once Zagerah gives Hindah the order and tells him he can feel their potential. Zagerah can sense their potential. When they are created, they are made into a perfect killing machine. But they cannot create a perfect being, so each Hunter ends up with a natural weakness, along with a strength. Despite that, ultimately, no one would stand a chance against them. Their memories are wiped, and they are filled with hate and anger. Killing is all they remember, killing is all they know. It is all they feel and do.” Municx’s eyes were distant, and there was so much pain in them, it made my chest ache for reasons I couldn’t explain.

  I narrowed my eyes in confusion. How could I believe everything he was saying? Jared claimed to have felt more than just anger and hate and killing, if he had been telling the truth in the first place. I shook my head, trying not to think about it, about the betrayal I still felt deep inside my chest. Swallowing back a lump in my throat, I tried to focus on Municx’s words.

  “So, you see, all Jared knew was following orders and doing what he was created to be: a Hunter. It doesn’t take away the lives he has taken, including your brother’s life, or Luke’s. But now he has been shown another life, and he knows and understands that being a Hunter isn’t all there is. It isn’t the only life to live. He knows it is a better way to live, even if it is life on the run for the rest of his days. His time with all of you without killing you proved it.” Municx almost smiled as he finished, but it still didn’t reach his eyes.

  “Hindah wanted him to toy with us, that’s why he kept us alive,” I murmured.

  “No. It wasn’t the only reason. He was allowed to kill anyone but you. It was you Hindah and Zagerah wanted to toy with. No one else. He had plenty of opportunities to kill any of you without a second’s hesitation and he never did. He helped you evade the Hunters. He had chances to even take you, Averella, and he chose to save you and help you escape, rather than let the Hunters have you. He saw a different way of life and he wants to live it,” Municx said.

  “You believe that?” I met the older man’s gaze.

  “I do. Without any doubt.” His eyes were unwavering as they looked into mine.

  “Why?” I blurted the question before I thought anything about why I was asking it.

  “Because he’s my son,” Municx said.

  “What?” I shouted. Even Lehlax and Sine chimed in.

  Municx sighed. “When I was twenty, I married the woman who was my childhood sweetheart. We had our first and only child two years later. Jared. I had given the baby a necklace of mine. Three days later, I was taken. I never got to see him grow up. On the day he turned sixteen, he was arrested and taken as well. I was near the entrance when he came. When we heard a new prisoner was arriving, we all went to meet him and help him out. He still had on my necklace. I asked him where he had gotten it. He said it had been his father’s. I told him that I had given that to my son when he was just a baby. We were reunited right then and there. That was nine years ago. I have been here for twenty-five years. We managed to evade the Hunters for two years before they came for him. I fought them as best as I could, but the ice-one had encased my whole body in ice, except for my head. Hindah wanted me to watch, unable to do anything. I thought they were going to make me watch as they killed my son. But, no… they did something far worse. He took my son and told me of his plans to make him forget everything he ever knew and cared for. Make him forget how to love anything. Turn him into one of them.”

  Municx paused and pursed his lips, before continuing. “Months later, when the process was complete, Hindah’s first orders led Jared to me. He fought me, and I refused to fight back. Jared called me a coward. I tried telling him to remember me, remember our family, but nothing I did would jog his memory. It only angered him more and he pushed me down, saying I wasn’t even worth the kill. He left. Ever since then, I have spent
the past seven years running and hiding. I refuse to fight my son, and I never wanted to give up on him. But I lost all hope over the years. Then, you came, and he pretended to be a prisoner. I stayed with Dorthar because his injuries were life-threatening, but I overheard the earth controller and the shape-shifter talking of Jared going undercover with you to find information on the new prisoner. I kept an eye on him, knowing I couldn’t leave Dorthar alone. It wasn’t until I heard that the new prisoner was really a woman that I decided to find out more information. Dorthar was healing better by then, so I talked to more prisoners and they told me of the prisoner from the caves saving the woman and how they both had evaded the Hunters. No one had seen either of them in a couple of days and I knew the best hiding place would be one place the Hunters never went to—the lake. I had met up with Lehlax and Sine for a short time and they told me of the mermaids and now that they knew you were a woman, it made sense. And it also made sense to go there to hide from the Hunters. We met up with Axe and the others along the way to the lake. I couldn’t bear to face my son again, so I told them I would meet them later and I let them go. I stayed close, and I eventually almost ran into the Hunter camp. I hid nearby, trying to hear their plans when they had found me and captured me. When Jared traded his life for mine, I hoped he would remember me. When he saw me that night, I knew he didn’t recognize me, but I did see compassion in his eyes. He was saving a prisoner, one that he should have killed without hesitation, so I knew something had changed.”

  As he had talked, I listened, and I felt so sorry for everything he had been through. Being forced to run and hide and missing his son’s childhood. Then, the relief he must have felt at being reunited with him, only to have him ripped away from him two years later. How had he lasted through seven years, knowing what his son had been turned into?

  “Now that I know there is a chance for him, I have to save him. I cannot give up on my son,” he said with determination in his eyes and voice.