Wild Hunt (The Island Book 2)

by C. M. Estopare

  Slate rolled open his palm. “Your keys.”

  Both men gave him puzzled looks.

  “The Godcallers,” he said, then repeated the phrase in island speak.

  Tension rolled through the room like flame. Ren could hear the wind roar over the silence, while rain tapped, splattering on the roof above.

  Maka was the first to hand his over, shrugging as if to say it didn’t matter to him. Slowly, Kato took off the necklace and held the Godcaller aloft.

  “Why?” he breathed.

  Ren’s lips were glued together. She held her breath, unsure of what was going on. Air seemed to rush from the room, oxygen leaving the cottage.

  Before Ren could even blink, Slate dropped his skin and took on the guise of a Nephilim. A gigantic bull skull amassed around his head and bled into existence. With his costume complete, Slate even wheezed like one of them. Touching his taloned finger to Kato’s hand, gray stone grew from the point that Slate touched and crackled over Kato’s hand. Frozen in place and encased in stone, Kato’s hand trembled as Slate swiped the key and pocketed it, his disguise dropping. Fading away like a storm that gathered too quickly.

  Kato retracted his hand and the petrification dissipated. The air in the room returned and Ren gasped abruptly.

  What. The. Fuck.

  Slate stomped away as Kato, Ren, and Maka exchanged shocked glances.

  Would you like some advice?

  Ren narrowed her eyes and turned on her heel. “What?”

  That man is not your typical Shaper.

  Ren shook her head. “Nothing on this damned island is typical.”

  Nakato sighed heavily. Perhaps you need to see to understand. And her voice died, the regions of Ren’s mind suddenly going silent.

  It felt like everything was falling apart, or falling into place. Was this how things were supposed to go? Was everyone—the Shapers, Scions, and Godcallers—supposed to be at each other’s throats?

  Or, was she just a horrible fucking leader?

  The house moaned and rocked. Ren raced down the hallway and back to the front door. Throwing it open, the door slammed into the side of the house and ricocheted, slapping her in the face. Pushing the door away, her nose throbbed as rain pelted down her face, soaking everything. Opening her eyes, a pitched black sky stared down on her as the river beyond threatened to destroy the nearby dock and flood the cottage. A howling wind shrieked across the plains, a thick curtain of rain obscuring everything in the distance.

  Ekanna and Chi Chi were still out there. All they needed was one more key and that damned water scion. Ren ran her fingers through her hair.

  Those girls better get back quick.

  27

  Wood splintered, the dock thrashed by a powerful wave that dove straight into its rickety planks, spearing through it. Slate’s rafts bucked against the heaving river, fighting to stay afloat before a screaming surge of white water sent them plunging under, the force cracking the rafts into millions of wooden pieces.

  Ren fought to slam the door shut, but the wind held it flat against the wall outside. Grabbing the knob with both hands, she forced it closed with a grunt.

  Dammit.

  “Guys,” she called, huffing, “boats are gone.”

  Slate was the only one to acknowledge her, peering down the hallway before tilting his chin toward the living room, beckoning her.

  What now?

  The men crowded around a window to Ren’s far left. Standing slack-jawed in the hallway, she inhaled slowly, eyes widening to saucers.

  Flooded with rain and debris, the waters of the Great River climbed up the drowned plains of grass and surged for them. Slowly, lurching forward like a Nephilim, before raging toward their little cottage.

  If Ekanna and Chi Chi didn’t return soon, they wouldn’t have a place to return to. Hell, that monstrous wave would take the house down and drown them with it.

  Fuck.

  Ren curled her fingers toward her palms. In the arena, she had controlled earth—

  Correction, Nakato snapped, I controlled it. Not you.

  Correction, Ren clenched her jaw, this is my fucking body.

  Nakato’s laugh charged through her head. Do you see that wave out there? She laughed. Do you think it cares who, or what, stops it?

  She had seconds to make a decision. The seconds seemed to stretch and weave into minutes. Hours. Ren blinked away the rage burning her eyes.

  You want control, right?

  A wicked smile stretched her lips. Yes.

  How are you going to stop it?

  A wall, Nakato replied matter-of-factly, like the wall Nyx had. It will stop it and save you. But, for my help, you must give me control.

  Ren’s jaw throbbed.

  Are you just going to let them die, Renata?

  A spark of pain bled from Ren’s palms as she dug her fingernails deeper into her skin. She couldn’t let her friends die, but she couldn’t give her body to Nakato either. Nakato wouldn’t continue Ren’s mission—and besides, she knew what it felt like to be in Nakato’s position. It was like being a fucking puppet. And Ren was not a fucking puppet.

  Time is passing…

  But she couldn’t let her friends die.

  Ren shut her eyes. Do it.

  When Nakato took over, a flood of ice chilled her veins and stilled her heart. Her limbs moved, fingers splayed and dancing, as her face contorted, her eyes widened as a wall of earth grew from the soaked plains and shot up into the sky. Ice melted in her veins as Ren fought to not be forced into that far corner of her mind. This was still her body, even if Nakato was using it for her earth magic. It was still her body and Ren wouldn’t let Nakato take complete control ever again.

  “Let go!” Nakato’s voice exploded from Ren’s lungs as Maka, Slate, and Kato threw exasperated glances Ren’s way. Recognition flashed across Kato’s face. He mouthed Nakato’s name, but couldn’t say it.

  This is my body.

  “It is a travesty that she chose you—an insult to true islanders. She never meant for—”

  Tendrils of black energy wove through Ren’s gaze. The cottage faded, the living room and sofas melting into pools of inky black. Ren stretched her fingers, fearful to take a step forward as the floor blackened. Something solid still held her up, but she could no longer see any type of ground. Just blackness.

  A tall curvaceous body materialized before Ren. Nail guards glinted in a dim silver light and bell-shaped skirts swished.

  The Shamaness. No—Nakato.

  “She never meant to choose you,” Nakato growled, her smile forced. “You are a mistake.” She took a step forward. “Don’t you wonder why I’ve attached myself to you? Or, perhaps you’ve wondered why I allowed you to kill me—why I wanted it to happen?”

  Fire roared to life around Ren’s fist. “Truth is, I really don’t give a flying fuck.”

  Nakato threw back her head and laughed. “That is a shame.”

  Curving her arm, Ren threw a line of fire at Nakato’s form. When the fire died, blackened energy wafted from the space Nakato occupied. Ren blinked, scanning the darkness. Water pelted her head and she looked down, eyes widening at her soaked clothes. What in the fuck is going on?

  Nakato reappeared, inches from her face. “We are in your head, stupid girl. How fitting that it is empty.”

  Fire cut through the lines of Ren’s palms as she raised them and slammed them to either side of Nakato’s face. She might have attached her soul to Ren’s body and somehow cheated death, but this time Ren was going to make sure that Nakato stayed dead.

  Fire rippled through Nakato’s form, roaring down her face. Engulfing her in flaming orange and white. Black energy whispered from Nakato’s body as she stood silent, eerily still. When the fire dropped to the blackened ground, a pile of black ash stood in Nakato’s place. No bone, no nail guards. Just…ash.

  The blackness melted away. Suddenly, nothing solid held Ren up. She was no longer standing, but floating.

  A wet h
and held her by the collar. She spread out her arms and blinked the strange black room away. In its stead, she saw water. An ocean of it. Churning water surrounded her and the others. Kato held her afloat and she almost screamed at the jarring change. Her vision became bleary and she fought the urge to faint as water pushed and pulled at her. Rain slapped her face and wind whipped at her hair. Kato tugged at her collar as a massive shadow moaned and engulfed them. Ren threw a crazed glance over her shoulder.

  A wave.

  28

  Ren braced herself, shoulders rising up to her ears as every muscle in her body locked into place.

  The shadow wavered and held, the screaming storm refusing to lessen as the water pushed and pulled them. Ren chanced a look at the wave threatening to devour them and bit back a gasp. It just stood there. Frozen. She attempted to swim forward, her heart slamming into her ribs as the wave parted into two, the water surrounding the group dropping back to ground level.

  The Water Scion.

  Blinking, Ren’s palms found damp grass. Forcing herself to stand, she met the confused gazes of Maka and Kato. Slate, however, seemed unperturbed, if not a little wet.

  The storm still howled, though the Great River sat back, bloating the little stream that once ran beneath a dock and piling over the land on the opposite side. A curtain of rain still held the city beyond in its clutches, concealing everything with a five-mile radius in a silver sheet of rain.

  “You are lucky,” the Water Scion stated, “all of you. But you will not be for long. Come.” And the Water Scion parted the group, stomping a path straight through.

  Behind them, a drowned knoll rose like a small wave. The gradual rise of the plains continued the farther they went, the rise eventually stopping at a slope with a single hut topping the precipice.

  The hut reminded Ren of Nyx.

  Teal beads clicked as the Water Scion pulled them aside, beckoning the group to enter with a wave of his hand. Burning incense filled Ren’s nostrils while, beside her, Kato visibly tensed. His throat bobbing as he took in the walls around him. The place smelled of lavender and teakwood, a familiar scent for him.

  The Water Scion followed Slate and Maka, entering the hushed silence only to end it. He pointed strictly at Kato, mouth open, jaw slack.

  Ren ignored the urge to snap, “What?” instead, she ignored the gesture, “Thank you?” she said, unsure if he understood English or not.

  “Kato?” the Water Scion asked, Ren’s words ignored.

  “Desta,” Kato said, turning on his heel. He crossed his arms over his chest, his chin dipping. “You aren’t alone out here.” It sounded more like a question.

  Avoiding eye contact, Desta shook his head.

  Kato’s gaze dropped.

  A gust of wind rocked the hut, thrashing up against the thatched roof above. “What’s going on here?” Ren hissed, grabbing Kato by the forearm. “You know him?” Because, of course, you fucking know him.

  “His father,” Kato corrected, “I knew his father.”

  “May Moira watch over him.” Desta murmured, hand over his ear.

  Ren worked her jaw. She was pretty sure she knew what that meant and wasn’t sure if she should apologize for what she was about to say next. “You’re Mesh, right?”

  Desta nodded, eyes on the straw matting beneath his feet.

  “Thanks for saving us and all, and I’m sorry for…” Mia! What about Mia? Ren forced a sigh. She had a job to do. Something that was leagues bigger than herself. Mia could…well, wait.

  Ren tried again, “We need your help.” She sighed, parting her lips. “The island is dying and in order to stop its destruction, we need the Scions. We need you.”

  “I could have let you four drown. Is what I’ve done not enough?”

  Her mouth opened and closed like a beached fish. “E-excuse me?”

  Desta’s face darkened as the tapping of the rain lessened. “This island can only take so much. It will not take my life.” He backed away toward the entrance of the hut. “The moment I saw you in the arena, I knew that the island had sent you. It isn’t every day that I fight someone who can control Her Rage—”

  Kato rounded on him, hissing at him in island speak.

  “The island wants to re-initiate me through you. But, to it, I say that I am done. I would rather become a Nephilim than give any more of myself to this place.”

  Ren threw Kato a confused gaze. “Okay, so, most of that just flew over my head because I’m pretty sure there’s some stuff between the lines that I’m just not getting. But, it’s okay.” A gentle hand on her shoulder stopped her rambling. Kato shook his head. “Long story short, if the island isn’t saved Moira’s made it pretty clear that this place is connected to every other place if you get what I’m saying.”

  Desta twisted his lips. “I have saved you. Twice. I believe I have done my part in helping you, Outsider.”

  Ouch, was it really that obvious?

  “She has sent the Great River after you, typhoons, earthquakes—” he shook his head, “when will the Blessed learn?”

  Ren was pretty sure he was talking about her. Just to make sure though, she turned to Kato, “What is he talking about?”

  Kato’s lips stretched into a straight line. Suddenly, he was unable to maintain eye contact with her. Was there something he was keeping from her? Mesh-only secrets?

  “Kato.”

  “Desta,” Kato began, “the burden no longer rests on you—”

  “I am going beyond the Veil.” Desta said, “to be with my mother’s people. Whatever happens to this island and its people, I promise you that it deserves what-so-ever may come.”

  The burden no longer rests on you.

  Ren took a step forward and hesitated, her lips hanging open, her finger frozen in midair.

  “The storm is letting up,” Desta said, giving them his back. “I suggest you leave before She begins pelting you with consequences.”

  What in the hell did that mean?

  Ren wanted to scream. She didn’t know everything—hell, it felt like she was just scratching the surface of the core problems with this island and its people. As the group was ushered out, she shook her head in desperation. Wondering why the goddess had chosen her, an Outsider. Someone who didn’t understand the inner workings of this place. Why not choose an Islander? Why give her this burden to bear?

  Drizzle washed her face as she stepped out of the hut. The curtain of rain had finally lifted and in its place hung a curling sheen of white mist. Two silhouettes broke through the mist, heading for them. They were running.

  29

  Ekanna and Chi Chi met them half-way, both broken off and wheezing.

  “The Godcaller,” Slate pressed, earning an exhausted glare from Chi Chi.

  Pulling up a newly acquired chain link necklace, Chi Chi let the key dangle above her collarbone before putting it back in place. “Have we got all four?” she asked, eyes scanning the group.

  They walked back to the wreckage of the dock. Wooden debris floated in the bloated river, pieces of rafts clung to the surface of the water before bobbing and sinking below.

  Ren paced. “We don’t have a way back. We don’t have the water scion—”

  “Or, the earth scion.” Kato reminded her, arms crossed. “Unless?” he raised an eyebrow.

  Near what was left of the informant’s cottage, a small wall of rock rose. It barely came to Ren’s knee, but the fact that she had actually called that made her shiver.

  She couldn’t tell Kato. Not yet.

  “We could walk back.” She decided, eyes going to the horizon, scanning the plains that dropped toward Vost territory. It can’t be too far, right?

  “That would take well over three weeks.” Slate said, dropping down into the grass.

  Did she have that kind of time? Did the island have that kind of time?

  A black sky swallowed the stars, though some brilliance fought through the inky black. Following the path of the darkness, Ren’s heart stopped as
her line of sight fell on a billowing pocket of smoke chugging up in the direction the Northern Shore.

  No, something told her, the island does not have that kind of time.

  What could she do? She knocked her fist against her forehead and dropped her chin to her chest. Had she ever felt this helpless before? Back home—in the States—she remembered feeling useless and troublesome. Going from star student to grade A failure was one hell of a drop. It killed your confidence, made you rethink what you truly wanted to be in the world. Her dive from prodigy to failure was the major reason why she came to the island in the first place. Vacation cures everything, according to her grandfather. But becoming a major cog in a plot to save an entire ecosystem? That didn’t cure a damned thing. In fact, it made shit worse.

  Couldn’t things ever be just…normal for her?

  A little voice in her head told her, no. Thankfully, it wasn’t Nakato’s voice.

  She still didn’t miss that lady.

  “…I can only foresee what the goddess allows, I am not at fault!”

  Ren flinched. Chi Chi and Slate were already at each other’s throats while Maka and Ekanna stood between the two, keeping them apart.

  “Are you sure you have the gift of sight?”

  Chi Chi roared, stomping toward Ekanna who refused to budge. “It is your fault we are stuck!”

  Maka glanced at Ren. “We could walk—”

  “That would take weeks!” Chi Chi said.

  Slate nodded, “Assuming that we actually make it back.”

  “We may have the Godcallers, but we do not have the two remaining scions,” Kato’s glare dug hooks into Ren’s skin, “right, Ren?”

  Ren swallowed. She knew he recognized Nakato’s voice when it came from her. She was hiding something and now he was sure of it. His accusatory glare said everything.

  Yet, Ren couldn’t say anything. Couldn’t fess up and tell him the truth.

  What a shitty leader.

  “We’re fucked.” Ren kept the sentiment to herself, pacing again. Prodding through the sodden terrain while the group tore itself apart, Shapers squaring up against Shapers. The only two Scions in the party suddenly unable to trust each other because of a stupid secret. Would it hurt to tell him the truth? After Kato practically sacrificed his life to make sure she got the chance to meet the Shapers and descend into the Heart—wasn’t it right for her to tell him everything? If only to lessen the weight of everything resting on her shoulders.