Dawn of the Hunters

by Ryan Wieser

  She had no answer for him, for she had no explanation for any of these things. She didn’t know whom Hydo had known. She didn’t really know anything about Hydo, she realized. Which was odd, considering the time Falco had spent schooling her on his former mentor, preparing her to help take him down. She knew about his abilities, his training tactics, and the strength of his mind. She knew exactly how long it had taken her to trap him inside a memory. But she had never once used that time during his deep sleep to peruse his mind, to find out more about the man. She had never seen reason to. As she stared at Kohl’s slowly rising shoulders, thinking about the things he had brought up, she wished she had taken advantage when she had the chance.

  “Why didn’t you just kill him when you had the chance?”

  Kohl’s voice didn’t surprise her, but his line of questioning did. Unlike Falco, he did not have unfettered access to her thoughts, he hadn’t truly known what she had been thinking when he’d asked the question. But somehow, nonetheless, he had known. He rolled over on the firm ground and stared at her from across the crimson embers.

  She readjusted her position on Falco’s arm. “I suppose we wanted more ...We wanted him to be shamed in front of all of you, to admit his trespasses against us, to admit what he did to my family and to Falco. If I had just killed him, he would have died a hero to Daharians everywhere.”

  “I wish you had just killed him.”

  “So do I.”

  They stared at one another in silence, the fire between them slowly dying out. “In hindsight, knowing how I reacted when you brought him to the terrace, if you had done something sooner, I probably would have killed you.”

  “You would have tried and you would have failed.”

  “I know.”

  She held his gaze, knowing they had not spoken in the middle of the night like this for quite some time. “I know nothing about him, really. Which is odd, given my focused plans to kill him.”

  Kohl moved, so he was no longer resting on his shoulder. “What’s there to know? He was the youngest Lord Protector there ever was, best friend to Hanson and Urdo, he had led well all those years since Falco had disappeared.”

  “Best friends with Urdo? Hanson I can see, but Urdo?”

  “Yes, but you could have actually watched them grow apart in my lifetime. We never knew what caused the rift.”

  She would ask Urdo about it. She needed to know more. She had never thought that the face of the woman from Hydo’s memory would have been that of her mother, but she would have been lying if she claimed the entire thing hadn’t piqued her interest somewhat.

  “Gredoria Vane was the Lord and Protector before him—he’s still alive isn’t he?”

  Kohl shook his head once more. “Died a year ago or so. I met him once, actually. As mad as they come.”

  Jessop had never asked Falco about the history of the Hunters, so she knew very little about what had happened before Hydo Jesuin. “What do you mean?”

  “Quite literally that. He lost his mind. They found him rambling in his quarters one day, all alone, repeating Hadonia, Hadonia ...over and over.”

  “What’s Hadonia?”

  Kohl smiled. “Who, you mean. Hadonia was his wife.”

  Jessop thought about it. Imagining losing so much of yourself with a fractured mind. “He didn’t know his own name, but hers he never forgot.”

  She could feel Kohl’s intense stare. She wanted to look away from him, but she couldn’t.

  His eyes were filled with love and sadness. “I know what that must feel like.”

  * * * *

  In her dream, Jessop saw five men, laughing and speaking amongst one another, with children playing all about them. One of the children was Jeco. She stood adjacent to the group, but they did not seem to see or hear her. She watched as Jeco played swords with another boy, one with flaxen hair and bright green eyes. The boy was perhaps a year older than Jeco and he played well with her son. Jeco was laughing.

  The children were dressed all in white—ivory tunics and breeches, even the female child, whose long golden hair was tied back. These were children who trained. Jeco was dressed as they were, but his gray eyes and dark hair set him apart. Jeco was not the only one to stand out—one of the men had dark features. His skin was golden, as Jessop’s, he too had dark hair, and as he turned to reach for a drink off the table, she saw that his eyes glowed. Jessop knew instantly he was part Kuroi. And though he did not have the same shared qualities of the others, there were different features that they had in common. All of them had strong jaws, muscular and lean bodies, scars—even the youngest, who appeared several years Jessop’s junior, had a long scar down his jaw. Warriors dressed in white.

  “Cara’ka, Jeco,” the golden-haired girl spoke, taking Jeco softly by the hand and leading him to the table near the adults. Jessop did not know the language the female child spoke in, but she watched keenly as the girl pulled fruit from a large serving bowl and expertly carved it into small, edible pieces with a sharp blade. She pushed it towards Jessop’s son and then poured him water into a golden chalice. It was only then that Jessop noticed the finery—the serving platters and goblets were gold and encrusted with glittering gemstones. The table and chairs were covered in ivory linens that bore no wrinkles or stains. The garments the men and the children wore were of the finest making. Jessop had been accustomed to such luxury in Aranthol—but she had yet to ever see it elsewhere in Daharia.

  “Misa, casos,” one of the fair-haired men spoke. Again, Jessop could not understand the language, but by the tone and the look in the man’s eye, she knew he was the girl’s father.

  Jessop walked closer, rounding the table until she could kneel beside her son. He seemed so content. His hair was clean and combed, he had lost no weight, and he smiled with each bite of food. She slowly reached her hand out, needing to brush his hair back, to whisper his name and tell him she loved him, when suddenly a movement in the corner of her eye halted her.

  Hydo. He wore his black Hunter’s clothing and his dark eyes were focused on her. He could see her as clearly as she him. She stood, leaping in front of Jeco. “What is going on? Where is this place?”

  He raised his hands slowly, as if offering peace. “You’re in a dream, Jessop. I simply arranged a visit. To show you what life was like for us, what it could be for your family.”

  Jessop wanted to kill him, to strike him down where he stood, but she knew what he said to be true. This was nothing more than a dream. “I will kill you for taking my son, Hydo. Do you hear me? I’ll kill you for taking him from his family.”

  “I would never take him from his family.”

  He slowly extended his hands out and Jessop sensed the shift in the dream. The eyes of all the men and children were now on her. They could see her. They could hear her. They no longer laughed in conversation; they did not sip their drinks or eat their meals. They stared in silence, directly at her. She turned quickly to see Jeco, staring up at her, his gray eyes growing wide. “Mama.”

  “Jeco!”

  Jessop woke, her scream echoing through the cave.

  Falco grabbed her instantly, pulling her into his embrace. “It was a dream. Just a dream.”

  She was shaking in his embrace. Sweat covered her body. She could see Kohl sitting upright, his hand on his Hunter’s blade, alarmed by her scream. The fire had died out completely. “It was more than a dream. It was Hydo ...He was in my head.”

  Chapter 11

  Haren’dul Daku

  Present Day

  The morning light barely cracked through the cave. Jessop had started another fire. They had discussed her dream at length and had come to few conclusions. She sat, the lengths of her index fingers pressed firmly against her mouth, as she remained crouched down against the smooth wall of the cave. Falco stood opposite her, arms crossed, leaning against the stone. Kohl was reclined by the fir
e, his hands firmly gripping the sides of his head.

  “An apparition—he used Sentio to appear in your dream,” Kohl recapped.

  “Jessop’s mind is far too strong,” Falco said. “My love, how are you certain it wasn’t simply a very realistic dream?”

  “I just know.”

  He nodded but she wasn’t certain he believed her. And she didn’t blame him. Her mind was as strong as he said—strong enough to live out her double life in the Blade, stronger than Falco’s, stronger than any Hunter she knew. Except for Hydo, it seemed. Though she had been the one to put him in such a deep sleep none could recover him.

  “The mind is weaker in its subconscious state. Yours is very well fortified in your waking hours, but as you sleep, your defenses lower,” Falco spoke, finishing her thoughts.

  She had not opened her mind to him, nor anyone, that morning. Not since the dream. He simply knew, as Kohl had known her thoughts without entering her mind that previous night. They simply knew her.

  She didn’t know what face she had made, but Kohl rolled up to a sitting position. “Jessop, even with lowered defenses your mind is a fortress—as impenetrable as a seasoned Hunter’s in waking hours.”

  “Not to Hydo.”

  They sat in silence for a long moment before Falco pushed off the wall. “What about the others in the dream—you said they became aware of you?”

  “Yes, five men, a handful of children. One who had so many similar features to me, but also to the others, he was part Kuroi ...At first, it was as though I were invisible to them, then at Hydo’s will, they could all see me.”

  “And you think they were real too?”

  “I think it was all real.”

  “Good.”

  She glared at him, unsure of how any part of their situation could be characterized as good.

  “You said Jeco was well and being taken care of, he was with other children, happy and content—if that is true, then it is a good thing.”

  She realized the truth in his words. If it were real, Jeco had also been real, and he had been happy. She thought on him and how he had seemed and then remembered Hydo’s words ...

  “Hydo said something to me—I nearly forgot. I threatened him over taking Jeco from us, and he said ‘I would never take him from his family’.”

  Kohl stood. “This must have something to do with the Octayn coincidence.”

  “Kohl—”

  “I’m being serious. Jessop, I can feel this—something isn’t right. Something about this woman and Hydo, something about your family, it all feels wrong.”

  She said nothing. She didn’t like his words, but that didn’t make them untrue.

  * * * *

  She had decided they could wait till sundown. If Urdo hadn’t arrived by then, they would continue on in their search. She couldn’t waste any more time sitting in the caves, contemplating the strength of her own mind or the state of her life—worrying constantly about her son.

  She paced the width of the cave, watching Kohl and Falco spar in the corner of her eye. Their camaraderie was still odd to her—so recently each had been determined to kill the other. Theirs was a relationship she would never understand. A small part of Jessop felt disturbed by the realization that Falco had always been more Hunter than he had let on. He had missed his brothers, loved them more than hated them, longed to lead them more than punish them.

  But Falco was not what mattered most, getting their son back was. Jessop watched as Falco twisted Kohl’s arm back in a quick, paralyzing motion. Kohl hissed, but rolled out of the hold with expert motion, only to fall quickly back into another trap. He was no match for Falco. As she had long known, he never had been. Her eyes trailed over the wild mess of scars that covered both of their large frames. She wondered if the rite of passage they had undergone was partly responsible for their quickly restored friendship. They were forever bonded by their shared past. The thought was not impossible for her to imagine. Jessop had scars that bonded her to the both of them too.

  * * * *

  Jessop found Kohl sitting at the mouth of the cave, sipping from the flagon of water. His eyes were red and his cheeks splotchy. She knelt beside him. “I lost my temper with you again ...I’m sorry.”

  He sipped the water once more before sealing it. “You and I can’t spend our lives apologizing to one another.”

  She took the flagon from him and opened it for a small sip. She held the cool water in her mouth for a long minute, letting it swirl about her tongue before swallowing. “Have you been thinking about Mar’e?”

  He nodded, his gaze stuck on the darkening horizon of the desert.

  “She’ll make it and Falco will heal her.”

  “Maybe. But then what? We are walking towards a war and we all know it. It’s you and Falco, leading a new generation of Hunters—a new army—against Hydo and Hanson and all those who fled the Blade with them.”

  “We don’t know what we prepare to face. But we were made for battle, Kohl. And it is not just Falco and I who map this new course.”

  “I keep thinking that if Mar’e survives it all, maybe I could be with her. Maybe being with her will help me stop wishing I was with you.”

  “Kohl—”

  “You betrayed me. And I know that most of it wasn’t real ...but I close my eyes and I can still remember holding you, sleeping at your side, feeling as though you were mine. What’s wrong with me? I tried to kill you and yet still…”

  “We have done unforgivable things to one another. But you deserve better than to live with this torment.”

  “Don’t we all.”

  She thought of all she had done and all she had harmed. Even those closest to her were in danger of her rage. She had lived her life with an agenda—to avenge her parents. She hadn’t been a very admirable person along the way.

  “No. I don’t think we all do. I don’t think I do.”

  He turned to her, a perplexed look painted across his face.

  She handed him the flagon back. “This life is all I know, Kohl. How to kill, how to fight, that’s it.”

  She stood and so did he. He fixed his hazel eyes on her. “We are the same. Hunters are raised with a blind mission. Protect the Blade. The difference is that we have our brothers.”

  “It’s quite the difference.”

  Slowly, he reached out and rested a firm hand on her shoulder. “You are one of us, too, now.”

  “Is that what we are to each other? Siblings?”

  “No, of course not. I’ll always love you. And I’ll always hate you. But you have my loyalty—as does Falco.”

  “I think you’re a good man, Kohl.”

  “When you say such things, remember I burned your city to the ground.”

  “Kohl—”

  “Maybe there is no good or bad ...Maybe everyone is both.”

  “I don’t believe that. There is pure good in this world—and your mistakes don’t change what I know is in your heart. I know you are good, Kohl.”

  “And what of Mar’e? Is she good?”

  Jessop could picture the woman perfectly; beautiful and challenging, but good. “Yes. I think she is.”

  “Hopefully, I’ll get to find out.”

  “I hope so too.”

  “I’ll do things differently with her, than I did with you, if she still wants me. Maybe that will make the difference.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t want to love another so quickly, so hard, again. If the pain isn’t excruciating enough, the embarrassment lives on.”

  Jessop grabbed his hand tightly. “Don’t. Don’t do anything different. You loved me instantly and without apology, and it changed everything for me.”

  “It didn’t change enough.”

  “Kohl—”

  “I love him, too, Jessop. I really do. The h
ate was a lie created by Hydo. I’m glad Falco has you.”

  Before she could say anything further, he pulled his hand free from her, leaving her in the dark.

  * * * *

  Jessop rolled Teck’s pack up tightly. Night had fallen and they would leave the caves to continue their search. Jessop had been uneasy since her conversation with Kohl. There had been so much retrospection in their time together crossing the desert. None of it brought her closer to Jeco. She couldn’t understand how the three of them—the most skilled in battle—had become so seemingly delicate overnight.

  “Nothing will be the same till he’s back,” Falco answered her unvoiced thoughts. His voice was barely a whisper but she heard him perfectly from the shadow of the cave where he sat, watching her.

  She sighed heavily, rubbing her temples. She couldn’t tell if he had been in her mind or if he simply could see her distress—had she left her mind open to him or had he found a way in, as Hydo had done? “Falco, I need to be able to keep Hydo out.”

  He moved with silence and grace, through the cave, to her side. “You will. You have always been able to. He takes advantage of your vulnerability.”

  “I don’t know how to bolster my defenses in my sleep.”

  “Then what if we act preemptively?”

  “How so?”

  “Get in his mind before he can get in yours.”

  She turned in his arms. “Late tonight. When he is sure to be sleeping.”

  “Late tonight it is.”

  * * * *

  “Do you think Urdo ran into trouble?” Kohl asked as they made their way out from the caves. She was angry that they had waited as long as they did and still the others had not arrived, but at Kohl’s words she grew worried. They had encountered attack after attack since crossing into Haren’dul Daku—there was no saying what Urdo had possibly faced.

  “No, they’re safe in their Soar-Craft. I doubt all the desert brigands have Bakunawa cannons.” Falco answered with confidence, but Jessop could tell he wasn’t truly certain. She wondered if Kohl could also tell, or if Falco’s subtleties were still only visible to her.