Hunter of Legends (Fate of Legends Series Book 1)

by Clayton Wood

  “Ok,” she mumbled.

  “You all right?” he asked, glancing down at her. She shook her head.

  “No.”

  Gammon continued forward, saying nothing for a long moment. Then he sighed.

  “I couldn’t save them,” he muttered.

  “I know.”

  “I tried,” Gammon pressed. Sukri glanced up at him, seeing the moisture in the big man’s eyes. He was staring off into space, his lips pulled into a thin line.

  “I know you did,” she replied, patting his broad chest with one hand. He had tried, standing toe-to-toe with the Ironclad while the rest of them had been thrown around like rag-dolls. If it hadn’t been for Gammon, all of them would be dead.

  Sukri sighed, turning to gaze at the Deadlands ahead. The sun touched the horizon in the distance, sending a splash of red-purple across the scattered clouds high above. She lowered her gaze, remembering the last moments she’d spent with Kris. How she’d hated him, wanted to tear into him.

  And how awful was it, that in that brief moment before the Ironclad had attacked, she’d wanted him dead.

  Chapter 16

  Hunter glanced down at the corpse of the Ironclad, half-expecting it to rise up from the ground and attack him. But it laid there in a pool of its own blood, the back of its skull a sunken mess. He glanced up at the strange woman who’d killed it. Who had single-handedly taken on the massive beast, defeating it in a matter of seconds.

  “Who are you?” he asked. She stared back at him with those green eyes, her arms still folded across her chest.

  “Vi,” she answered.

  “Like the letter ‘V’?”

  “Right,” she replied. Then she glanced down at Kris’s body on the side of the path, shaking her head. “What are you morons doing out here anyway?”

  “We’re not morons,” Hunter retorted. Vi arched one eyebrow, and Hunter glared at her. “We were sent here,” he explained. “We’re initiates of the Guild of Seekers.”

  “Oh really,” Vi grumbled. She strode up to Hunter then, reaching out and grabbing the front of his shirt. She yanked him toward her. She was as tall as he was, and surprisingly strong, her arms far more muscular than his. She peered at him, her face inches from his, and he pulled away from her…or tried to. Her grip was like iron.

  “What are you…” he began.

  She shoved him backward then, lowering her arms to her sides.

  “You are an initiate,” she muttered. “What are they doing sending babies like you out to the Fringe?”

  “Babies?”

  “You’re fresh from the picking,” Vi explained. “You’ve barely got their stink on you.” She frowned, pulling him in again. “Thorius chose you,” she realized. “My my, aren’t you special.”

  “How did you know?” Hunter asked. Vi smirked.

  “You have Thorius’s stink on you too.”

  Hunter just stared at her.

  “You don’t know shit, do you?” she inquired. Hunter started to reply, but she held up one hand. “That was rhetorical.”

  “Who are you?” Hunter asked.

  “Already answered that.”

  “I mean, what are you?” he pressed. “Are you a Seeker?” She clearly knew about the guild, and about Thorius.

  “I was.”

  Hunter glanced down at the fallen Ironclad, then back at Vi.

  “Thanks for saving me,” he offered.

  “Yeah, well you’d better get going,” Vi replied. “That sound it made was it calling its friends to come join in.” She waved him away with one hand. “Run off while you still can.”

  “Wait,” Hunter urged, glancing over her shoulder. He could barely see the tipped-over carriage in the distance. “We were supposed to get something from that carriage.”

  Vi turned to glance at the carriage, then eyed him with an expression he couldn’t read.

  “Thorius sent you,” she replied, pointing to the carriage, “…to get that?”

  “There’s supposed to be a chest inside,” Hunter explained. “With a bone or something.”

  Vi just stared at him.

  “What?” Hunter asked.

  “Thorius sent you to retrieve that Ossae,” she stated. Hunter paused, then nodded. “Really,” she added.

  “Yeah, that’s our Trial.”

  “Oh my,” she murmured, shaking her head. “All right then.”

  “What is it?”

  “The guild must be slipping,” she replied. “Sending untrained initiates to the Fringe is a suicide mission, especially in Ironclad territory.”

  “We would’ve made it if the chest had been there,” Hunter protested. “We would’ve been in and out before that thing ever found us.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “We would’ve,” he insisted. She ignored him, turning around and walking down the path toward the carriage.

  “Run along,” she called out over her shoulder. “You don’t want to be here when that thing’s friends arrive.”

  Hunter glanced up at the sky, seeing red-purple clouds high above. The sun was setting…and pretty soon it’d be dark. There was no way he’d get back to the city in time, if he could even find it without Sukri’s help.

  “Wait,” he called out, rushing to walk beside her. “I can’t go home now. It’s too late, and I don’t know how to get back.”

  “Should’ve planned better,” Vi shot back.

  “I didn’t have the map,” Hunter countered.

  “Should’ve memorized it.”

  “Didn’t think I’d need to,” he said. She glanced sidelong at him.

  “This change your mind?”

  “Yeah, watching one of my friends get murdered changed my goddamn mind,” Hunter retorted. Then he sighed. “Sorry, I’m just…I’ve been through a lot today, and I could really use your help.”

  “That’s for sure.”

  “Look,” Hunter pressed, feeling exasperated. “What was the point of saving me from that thing if you’re just going to leave me to die out here anyway?”

  Vi didn’t respond, striding over the path with an eerie fluidity, her boots hardly making a sound on the dirt.

  “I need a place to stay for the night,” he continued. “Can I stick with you until the morning?”

  Vi stopped suddenly, turning to stare at him silently for a long moment.

  “Something’s wrong with you,” she accused. Hunter blinked.

  “Excuse me?”

  “You’re…simple,” she explained, cocking her head to the side and putting a hand on her chin.

  “Gee, thanks,” he muttered.

  “Your aura,” she clarified. “The wills you’ve absorbed in your lifetime. You barely have any.”

  “I’m not from around here,” he admitted. “I’m an Original.”

  She stared at him for a long moment, her green eyes unblinking. Hunter felt increasingly uncomfortable under her gaze. There was something…off about her, about the way she held herself. Or maybe the way she looked. He couldn’t quite place it.

  She turned suddenly, continuing down the path. He hurried to catch up with her, and they walked around the fallen carriage, continuing past it.

  “Will you help me?” he asked.

  “When did you go through the Gate?”

  “A couple days ago.”

  “And the Seekers sent you out here,” she muttered, shaking her head. “Who’d you piss off?”

  “No one,” Hunter answered. Vi arched one eyebrow, and he grimaced, remembering the barfight. “Well, no one important.” He hesitated. “Will you help me?” he repeated. She sighed, her jawline rippling.

  “Fine. Come with me. Don’t annoy me or I’ll leave you out to die.”

  “Thanks,” Hunter replied. “I owe you one.”

  “Two actually,” she corrected.

  Vi veered off the path then, traipsing through the woods, weaving between the tall trees and wide bushes. She moved quickly and gracefully, and Hunter was forced to follow her from behind, q
uickening his pace to keep up. This gave him an unfettered view of her back; her brown leather uniform clung tightly to her tall frame, and despite her height, she was not lacking in femininity. She had somewhat broad shoulders, and a defined, muscular back, tapering down to thick, powerful-looking legs…and a butt to match. She was clearly in phenomenal shape, and judging on how quickly and effortlessly she’d killed that Ironclad, an experienced fighter.

  “Where are we going?” Hunter inquired.

  “My place,” Vi answered.

  “Where’s that?”

  “Wait and see,” Vi replied.

  A deep wailing sound echoed through the air, and Hunter stiffened, glancing around. It was similar to the sound the Ironclad had made earlier, before Vi had killed it. He sprinted up to her side, glancing over his shoulder.

  “Is that more of them?” he asked.

  “Definitely.”

  “Will they attack us?” he pressed. Vi smirked.

  “If they find us.”

  “Can you take on more than one at a time?”

  “Wouldn’t be the first time,” she answered. “They usually run away when they see me.”

  “Wait, they run from you?” Hunter exclaimed. Vi nodded.

  “If they’re smart,” she confirmed. “Not sure why that one was stupid enough to stay and fight.”

  She veered to the right, toward a steep, rocky slope leading to a valley some fifty feet below. Without so much as a pause, she sprinted right down it, stepping from rock to rock as if she were going downstairs. Within moments, she was at the bottom; she glanced back up at Hunter, gesturing for him to follow.

  “Oookaaay,” he grumbled, pausing at the top. He took a tentative step down, aiming for a large, stable-looking rock. It carried his weight without rolling, and he paused there, searching for another.

  “Any time now,” Vi called out.

  “I’m not a goddamn mountain goat,” he muttered under his breath, taking another step down, then another. After an embarrassingly long period of time, he reached the bottom. Vi had already resumed walking, and was a good hundred feet away, forcing Hunter to run to catch up with her. Thankfully she didn’t make any more snide comments. They continued forward, the red-purple sky darkening steadily until the first of the stars were visible in the sky. Hunter thought he heard the sound of water in the distance.

  “How far away are we?” he asked.

  “You’re an impatient one, aren’t you,” Vi observed.

  “Just wondering,” Hunter countered. “It’s getting dark. I thought the forest was more dangerous then.”

  “Do I look worried?”

  “No,” Hunter admitted. And it was true; she might as well have been taking a stroll in the park. He sighed, walking alongside her in silence. The sound of rushing water grew loud as they went, and before long he saw a narrow stream to their right, its dark waters flowing around large rocks in the riverbed. The stream was moving in the same direction they were, the water gurgling pleasantly. Vi followed it silently, her pace as brutal and consistent as Gammon’s had been. Hunter pictured the big guy, wondering how he and Sukri were doing…and if they were even still alive. If so, they’d make it to the city and tell Thorius what’d happened. Chances were they’d assume Hunter was dead. Hell, they probably wouldn’t even send a search party to find him.

  The stream veered to the left, and Vi followed it, Hunter trailing behind now. His legs were starting to burn, and it took a considerable amount of effort to keep up with her. If she noticed, she certainly didn’t slow her pace. After a few minutes, the sound of gushing water grew louder; Hunter spotted a clearing ahead, the trees ending abruptly. Beyond that, the forest floor terminated in a steep drop-off. Vi took them to the edge of it, then stopped. Hunter stopped beside her, looking past the edge of the cliff.

  His breath caught in his throat.

  The cliff gave way in a sheer vertical drop to a large canyon several hundred feet deep, and as wide around as several football stadiums. The stream flowed off the cliffside, forming a small waterfall that cascaded all the way down to a large lake below. Countless other streams surrounding the crater formed waterfalls all the way around, the sound of rushing water near deafening now. And there, in the center of the lake far below, was a small island. A house stood in the middle of it, a narrow wooden bridge connecting the island to the shore of the lake at the perimeter of the canyon.

  “There it is,” Vi declared, gesturing at the house. “Home sweet home.”

  “Uh,” Hunter said, looking around. “How do we get there?”

  “We jump,” Vi replied. Hunter stared at her, then looked back down into the canyon. It was at least a three hundred foot drop to the lake below…and there was no telling how deep it was.

  “You’re kidding, right?” he asked. Vi smirked.

  “Just seeing if you’d do it.”

  “Wow,” Hunter grumbled. “No offense, but you’re kind of a dick.”

  “Unfortunately that’s something I’ll never have,” Vi replied. She slapped him on the back, hard enough that he stumbled forward, nearly falling over the edge of the cliff. He swore, backpedaling quickly, and shot her a murderous glare.

  “Jesus, you could’ve killed me!” he exclaimed.

  “Sure could’ve,” she replied, still smirking. “Follow me,” she added, turning leftward to follow the cliffside. Hunter grit his teeth, swallowing his anger and following behind her.

  “You’re a piece of work, you know that?” he grumbled.

  “You have no idea.”

  Vi continued along the edge, striding within a few feet of it without fear or hesitation. Hunter kept farther from the edge, having always had a healthy fear of heights. Or at least heights significant enough to kill him. Eventually they came to a narrow path that dipped downward gradually into the canyon, corkscrewing along its outer wall for as far as the eye could see. Vi took the path downward, not even bothering to see if Hunter was following. Hunter hesitated, glancing at the path warily. It was maybe four feet in width, the canyon wall rising upward to the left, and the sheer drop to the lake below to his right.

  “Okay then,” he muttered to himself. “This couldn’t possibly go wrong.”

  “Try not to die,” Vi said over her shoulder.

  “I’ll do my best,” he grumbled.

  “You’re definitely going to die then.”

  “Ha ha,” he muttered, stepping carefully onto the path. He hugged the wall to his left, keeping as far from the edge as possible.

  Don’t look down, he thought, his heart thumping in his chest. He wondered what would happen if he panicked…if he had a panic attack halfway down. Or if he got dizzy, or his foot slipped.

  “Stop freaking out,” Vi said.

  “I’m not freaking out,” he lied.

  “Uh huh.”

  “I respect things that can kill me,” he explained.

  “You should respect me then,” Vi quipped. She slowed down, turning to look at him. “Stay right behind me,” she ordered. “You’ll feel better.”

  “Not if you’re going to shove me off,” he retorted. But he obeyed, walking right behind her. To his surprise, he felt his trepidation slowly fade. They continued down the spiraling path, and after a few minutes he felt no fear at all, even if he glanced over the edge.

  Huh.

  They continued down the path, gradually descending into the canyon, until at long last they reached the bottom. The lake was surrounded by a crescent-shaped rocky shore only fifty feet wide; Vi strode toward the wooden bridge in the distance, the one leading to the island in the center of the lake, Hunter following behind. He glanced up at the path they’d taken, at the sheer cliff walls surrounding the canyon on all sides. He wondered why the canyon hadn’t filled entirely with water. After all, there didn’t appear to be a river or stream draining the lake, and with the countless waterfalls feeding the lake, the canyon should’ve been filled by now. He asked Vi about it.

  “There’s an underground river
out of the lake,” she explained, reaching the bridge, which was only wide enough to allow them to cross single-file. They did so, Vi taking the lead. Eventually they reached the rocky island on the other side, the house standing before them. Hunter studied it; it was one story tall, and made of rough stone blocks cemented together. The roof was made of what appeared to be curved clay tiles. There was, he discovered, a second, smaller island adjacent to the first, with a small wooden bridge spanning the gap. There was a smaller building there, squat and perfectly square. Vi walked up to the larger building, retrieving a key from her pocket to unlock the door.

  “This is your place, huh?” he asked. “It’s nice.”

  “There’s one bed,” she replied, turning to face him. “And I’m sleeping in it.”

  “Uh, okay.”

  “And you’re not,” she added. “Seeing as I’m not a whore.”

  “What?” he replied. “I never said…”

  “I know you like your whores,” she interrupted. “It’s all over you.”

  Hunter grimaced, shaking his head. He felt his cheeks burning, and was glad that she wouldn’t be able to see it.

  “I didn’t know she was a whore, okay?” he retorted. “I was set up.”

  “Mmm hmm,” Vi replied, smirking at him. “They really fucked with you, didn’t they? You probably thought she was just super into you. Like you were some sort of irresistible sex god.”

  “How was I supposed to know?”

  “So they went from turning you into a sex addict to throwing you into Ironclad territory in the Fringe,” she continued. “Quite the fall from grace. You know, you might just be interesting enough to keep around.”

  “Well now you’re making me feel all warm and gushy inside,” he grumbled.

  “Good,” she replied. “You’re gonna need that warmth. You’re sleeping outside.”

  Hunter stared at her.

  “What? You’re kidding, right?”

  “Nope.”

  “Why?” he pressed. “I promise I won’t try anything,” he added hastily.

  “If you did, I’d do a lot more than break your nose,” Vi replied.

  “You’re really going to make me sleep outside?” he pressed, putting a hand to his nose. It still smarted.