The Hunted
Page 1
Copyright © 2019 by Andrew Wichland.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Contents
Chapter 1: Tortuga
Chapter 2: The King of Pirates
Chapter 3: The Judgement
Chapter 4: Settling In
Chapter 5: Buccaneer Squadron
Chapter 6: Apprentices
Chapter 7: The Haystack
Chapter 8: A Course to Danger
Chapter 9: Difference of Opinion
Chapter 10: A Sister’s Wrath
Chapter 11: Charybdis’ Maw
Chapter 12: Coming to Terms
Chapter 13: Guiding Angels
Chapter 14: The Balance of Magic
Chapter 15: The Beast of Bedie
Chapter 16: Magic Hats
Chapter 17: The Great Fall
Chapter 18: Raiders
Chapter 19: The Hunt
Chapter 20: Old and New Friends
Chapter 21: Promises
Chapter 22: Ask for a Thief
Chapter 23: Adam
Chapter 24: Wanted
Chapter 25: Water Rustler
Chapter 26: Coming Together
Chapter 27: The Ice Raider
Chapter 28: The Great Escape
Chapter 29: The Chase
Chapter 30: I’m Coming
Chapter 31: A Savior’s Voice
Chapter 32: The Power of Three
Dragon Knight Chronicles: The Search
Chapter 1
Tortuga
“We’re nearing the exit point,” LJ said after looking over his shoulder as Robin, dressed in clothes similar to those he wore when on Alberan, walked into the cockpit. He had discarded the rags he’d been forced into in the mines of Morehoth, grateful that he, his sister, Tekmet, and Kylie escaped from that hell whole.
He sat in the pilot seat of The Will of Odysseus. “Killing Hyperdrive engines!” Robin called out when he was strapped in his seat.
With a great shudder and a clap of what sounded like thunder from the engines, they dropped into normal space into an asteroid belt
“WHOA!” Robin barked as he turned the ship sharply, barely avoiding an impact. “A little warning would have been nice!” he snapped, glancing at his friends.
“Well, we wanted to see if your reflexes were still good,” Much said with a grin.
“Yeah, right,” Robin growled, maneuvering around a pair of asteroids with a spin of the ship. “I can see why Tortuga was hidden here,” he added, reaching overhead to throw and kill switches and make a few adjustments.
“Any ship larger than the Odysseus gets pummeled in this big a field.” The others nodded around them.
“As you can see,” Willa said, and everyone in the cockpit gazed out the corner viewscreen as they flew by a severed section of a battle cruiser, “some learn the hard way.”
“We’re almost there,” LJ said as they flew around more asteroids, one of which was the size of a small moon. “Better go alert the others.”
“I’ll do it,” Robin said, pressing a button on his chair and making it slide back. Before the others could say anything, he was on his feet and through the hatch.
When he entered the main room, he looked around at his mother, who sat on a bench behind a small table and talked with Tekmet.
He also spied Freya, who looked over Kylie as she slept. She gently stroked her when she grew restless in her dreams, twitching and murmuring in her sleep. It calmed her at once, and she returned to a peaceful slumber.
Turning, Freya looked at Robin. “Are we there?” she asked, climbing to her feet.
“Almost,” he answered. Everyone but the sleeping Kylie looked at him. “Better get ready.” They nodded as he turned back toward the cockpit.
A short while later, back in his seat, the group maneuvered the ship through the belt. Finally, they came to an open area that was large enough for the ruined space station that dwarfed their ship with asteroids circling it. The hull of the station was greatly marred by battle damage. At the bottom of the floating fortress, one of the three sensor fins was broken in half from a long-ago fight.
Robin’s eyebrows arched in surprise. “That…” he started slowly as they moved closer to it. “Is that Tortuga?”
LJ glanced at him and frowned. “Not what you were expecting?”
“Kind of, yeah,” Robin answered as he made a few more adjustments, “but I expected it to be more heavily armed and guarded.” He eyed the area again. “Did you tell them who we are?”
After sharing a glance with him, LJ answered, “We thought it would be best for us all to decide that.”
Before Robin could say anything, alarms blared. Checking the readouts, he saw they were being targeted. Looking upward, they found what appeared to be a double-barreled cannon drop out of a slot at the bottom of the ship. It swiveled to point right at them.
As more and more smaller cannons appeared from hidden slots, fighters flew out from behind large asteroids and bays opened on the side of the station.
“Maybe for now, we should stay behind masks,” Robin said as he eyed the fast-approaching fighters. “That is, unless Dulgard and Suji shot their mouths off while we were away.”
“If they did, they’d have to deal with the whole village,” Willa growled, “and then whatever’s left of them would have to deal with me.”
The main body of the fighters was a shaft with a smooth top coming to a cone-like point. At the back, right before the engines, was the cockpit, and on either side of it were two halves of a ring with a pair of trapezoid wings attached.
Another fighter that caught Robin’s eye was shorter in length. It had a broad, rounded front with a second level on top of it and a massive Gatling blaster attached. There were similar guns on its four stout wings with a set of afterburner engines on the main wings with fins attached above and below each tip. Right above the main engine was a rotating double-barrel gun turret.
“This is Buccaneer lead!” a voice called out over the coms. “Identify or be blown out of the stars!”
Eyeing the fighters, Robin opened the channel. “This is The Will of Odysseus,” he answered the lead fighter. “Requesting permission to land.”
“Passcode,” the lead fighter commanded.
Blinking, Robin looked at the others. His eyebrow shot up, and an exasperated look cloaked his face.
Leaning over, LJ said, “Passcode James De Wolf.”
For a second, there was silence. “Passcode accepted,” the squadron leader said as the guns on the station were retracted.
While lights started coming on all over the station, the fighters took flanking positions on either side. “You will follow us in,” the squadron leader told them. “For all first timers, I welcome you to Tortuga.”
“Roger, Buccaneer leader,” Robin said as he followed them toward the main hangar. “Matching speed and will follow your lead.”
When they neared the hangar, the armored doors split and slid open. They passed through the forcefield barrier with a small flash of light, and Robin lowered the landing skids and set the ship down with a small shudder.
After lowering the ramp, the group exited into the hangar. Robin eyed the fighters that had landed around them, noting the pilots in their flight suits as they climbed out and removed their helmets after dethatching the face masks.
He felt at ease when he saw not only humans but also elves, Valeakings, a couple Dromeanias, and even a few broad-muscled dwarfed. One of them had exited the more heavily-armed fighter and moved quickly in their direc
tion, his helmet under his arm.
“Good to see you all back. Bryan,” the dwarf said, “I certainly have missed your crazy streak.” He looked at Willa, who propped a hand on her hip. “And you must be the famous leader, Ryuu.” The dwarf looked up at Robin. “Though, what kind of a leader abandons his people?” He eyed him while the rest of the squadron gathered around.
Giving the dwarf a side look, Robin rested his hand on Freya’s shoulder; her hand rested on Kylie’s.
“The kind who would do what he has to do to rescue family,” he answered, and the man eyed Frey’s. “That’s something I would have thought a dwarf would understand, considering your people put their clans first.” For a few seconds, Robin locked eyes with the dwarf, and then the man issued a great burst of laughter.
“That’s certainly the kind of leader I could get behind,” the dwarf said, slapping Robin on the arm. “One who would put himself in danger to save those he cares about.” He stuck out a hand. “Roaran, son of Orin.”
Smiling, Robin took the dwarf’s firm grip in an equally firm one. “I look forward to that”—he looked at the rest of the squadron—“but only if you can tell me how a dwarf took command of a squadron with elves in it.”
Over the sound of a door hissing open, a gruff voice said, “I believe you can imagine through the same stubbornness that got you here.” Robin turned to see a large black minotaur walked toward him. “Pure stubbornness and guts.”
Chapter 2
The King of Pirates
“You must be the famous Ryuu,” the minotaur said, looking him up and down before offering his hand.
“I seem to be getting that a lot,” Robin said before taking it.
“I am curious; what made you decide to leave the people who entrusted you to lead them?” the minotaur asked. “After coming up with a plan for them to come here, you would just run off and abandon them?”
In answer, Robin stepped aside to show them Freya. “She did,” he said, as both the dwarf and minotaur looked at her. “This is my sister Freya,” he explained, and they looked back at him. “Now, I think anyone would do what they could to save family from the Black Dragon.”
Slowly, the pair nodded. “Personally, I’d say that earned you a drink from me.” Roaran nodded his approval before he turned to walk away.
“I suggest you take him up on that,” the minotaur said. “The sooner you do, the sooner you’ll be tired of it. He may be one of my best pilots, but he uses any excuse to have a drink.”
“Do not!” Roaran called back before he slipped through the sliding hatch doors.
“Sir,” said Robin, “it seems a little unfair that you would know my name but I don’t know yours.”
Nodding, the minotaur faced him. “You may call me Hector,” he said, offering his hand. “Tortuga base commander.”
Nodding in return, Robin took his hand in a firm grip. “Then I guess that would make you the Pirate King.”
“That’s one way of putting it,” Hector said as he led the way through the hangar doors. “Only we have to keep putting my kingdom back together or it would fall apart.”
At his words, Robin eyed the people around him. Many of them were repair teams going about their jobs, sparks flying from their work. Around them, people moved about, some in and out of makeshift shelters.
“Ever thought of expanding?” Robin asked, stepping aside as a young child on a rusted hover tricycle went by.
“Certainly, we’ve thought about it,” Hector answered. “The problem is finding and moving a second base into position to weld them together.” After a pause, he added, “After all, more people arrive each day. We’ve started hollowing out the surrounding stable asteroids—just not fast enough.”
Robin nodded in understanding. “So that’s where those fighters came from…”
“Guarding the work force,” LJ said.
“At least we caught them at the change of watch,” Much said, and they all looked at him.
“Excuse me,” Freya interrupted. “Is there somewhere I can get Kylie settled in?” She boosted the little girl into her arms.
“On that note,” Robin began, “how are my people settling in?”
“They seemed to be settling fine just before we left,” Chikako started.
“Well, things are a little different now.” They all looked at Hector, who continued, “Since a few days after you left, one of your members has been working hard to turn people against you all.”
Moaning, Robin raised his gaze to the ceiling. “Let me guess…this person is about this high”—he held up one hand—“with dark hair and eyes, one heck of an attitude, and a thing for himself?”
“Sounds like the right person,” Hector said as they came to a closed hatch.
After pressing the release, the door opened with a hiss and they were met by Dulgard’s voice.
“…abandons us,” he was saying to a small group of the village with his back to the new arrivals.
At once, the people sitting or standing before the campaigning teen reacted to the sight of them. When Robin and the others motioned them to sit and be quiet.
“What kind of a leader is that?” he asked the lot of them as Robin and the others moved closer. “He just left us there—when you all put your faith in him!”
“Then I say, when he gets back, we take him out back and beat the heck out of him!” Much said, and Dulgard jumped nearly a foot in the air before whipping around to face them.
Giving him a hard look, Robin asked, “So, have you been planning a funeral, as well?”
Dulgard returned his gaze. “This coming from a guy who first got our planet destroyed and then just left us?” he demanded. “So, what’s the excuse this time?”
Rolling his eyes again, Robin stepped aside to reveal Freya behind him. “Dulgard, meet my sister, Freya,” he said simply. “Now,” he said, stepping back into his rival’s face, “How many people do you know who would abandon family when the chance to rescue them arises?”
When he looked back, he saw people exchanging glances, none of them with malice. A few nodded in approval.
“Great, now there are two of you to cause trouble for us,” Dulgard growled as Robin returned his gaze. “You brought an Anubis with you,” he continued as he eyed Tekmet, who crossed his arms. “After all, Ro…” he started, but was silenced by a hand falling on his shoulder.
Robin’s gaze fell on one of the bigger men of the village. “It’s good to have you back, Ryuu,” he said, a small smile on his face. “Isn’t that right?” He squeezed Dulgard’s shoulder, causing the teen to flinch slightly.
After the teen gave a small nod, the man released the pressure. After a few seconds’ silence, Dulgard pushed past him and stormed out of the room.
Shaking his head, Robin locked eyes with Hector, who said, “I don’t envy you for having to deal with him.” He turned to leave and then added, “But after you speak with your people, you and I are going to have to talk.” With a clatter of hooves on the deck, he left.
After watching him go, Robin turned back to the big man. “Thanks for that, Dolph,” he said, and the man nodded in return. “Can you gather the rest of the village? I have some things that need to be said.”
Dolph nodded and left through the hatch.
Blinking, they all looked back at Robin. “What are you thinking?” Willa demanded as he leaned against a table, arms crossed.
“That the village put their trust in me and I left on Bazaar, like Dulgard said,” he answered her. “I have to face them for that.”
“Robin,” began Freya as she let Kylie down, “what’s going to happen now?”
“Honestly,” he answered, “I don’t know.”
Chapter 3
The Judgement
In what felt like no time, Robin was brought to one of the storage hangars by Willa and LJ. Meanwhile, around him, people of the village filed inside.
Catching eyes, he saw looks of surprise, wonder, amazement, and in a few, derision.
When everyone had gathered and the doors had closed behind the last arrival, Robin stepped forward, wondering if there was going to be anything left of him after this dive.
“Thank you all for coming,” he said, and all the voices of the people around him quieted as they turned to look at him. “For everyone who didn’t know before they walked through those doors”—he nodded in their direction—“I’m back!” He raised his arms before letting them drop to his sides.
Aside from a couple of grins, none of them reacted.
Sighing, he looked at them all. “I know some of you are sour because I left without an explanation, despite making sure you were left in good hands.” After a pause, he added, “Some have been campaigning that what happened makes me unfit”—he looked at Dulgard and the boy’s father and friends—“and in some ways, they’re right.” The smug looks on their faces just got smugger. “You all deserve to know why I left. This is why.” Turning, he motioned for Freya, Tekmet, and Kylie to come forward.
As they did, people gasped, eyebrows raised, as they stared in wonder at Freya, with fondness for Kylie, and let out deep frowns of uncertainty, suspicion, or derision over Tekmet—some even inched away.
“Everyone, meet Freya,” he said, placing his hand protectively on her shoulder, “my sister.” People shifted in surprise, eyes going wide as they looked at her more closely. “This is Tekmet, the only father she’s ever known, and that makes him a member of my family.” After grinning at him, Robin placed a hand on Kylie’s shoulder. “And this is Kylie. Right now, I don’t know whether to introduce her as my niece or younger sister, going by the way my mother has been looking at her.” He looked at Chikako and then at Freya, who shrugged. “I guess that’s going to have to be settled between these two.” He waved a finger between the women.
“The simple fact is that, while we were on Bazaar, I saw Freya among a group of slaves being put on a ship for transport,” he explained, walking out from behind the three. Realizing she was my sister, I knew I only had one chance to save her,” he continued, “and I knew I had to take that chance.”