Taste of the Hunt

by Matt Mememaro

  “Abner, who’s this?” Elizabeth asked walking to the door wrapped in the blanket, which barely covered her breasts.

  “A Lord, if you’d believe it. He’s come to train with us instead of following the ways of his family in the kidnapping and murder industry,” Abner said.

  The noble’s smirk slid straight off his face, meanwhile the Hunter outside chuckled. “Don’t you dare compare me to the rest of my family. I am the one that came here to change and do some good in the world. Where did you come from? A sewer? Don’t you dare think you are better than I am!” Alexander said.

  “Don’t worry Ally, I won’t think about it. If you like we can go out on the field, grab our swords and everyone could watch me beat you in five-seconds flat,” Abner said. “I’m better than you because I had to fight to survive in this world, while you got everything handed to you on a silver platter!”

  “You shit! How dare you insult me?” Alexander’s arm came up in a flash.

  Abner walked straight into the punch, grabbing Alexander’s arm, pulling the blow past his body. The Lord was off balance, unable to control the fall of his body. Abner brought his elbow up, smashing it into the nose of Alexander. Blood splattered everywhere and Alexander hit the wooden floor, becoming instantly unconscious.

  “Well, fuck me, they told me you were good with a sword but I didn’t expect that. Rowan was right putting him with you, couldn’t stand his constant smugness on the trip,” the Hunter said closing the door. “Have fun with him.”

  “Well, what do we do? He’s out cold,” Elizabeth said.

  “We’ve got to clean him up. Help me take him into the washroom.”

  They found a cloth to hold over Alexander’s nose stopping the blood flow. Abner’s hand had become covered in blood sticking to the cloth. Elizabeth dropped the blanket, working on cleaning his face with a wet rag they’d found in the cabinet underneath the sink. Once Alexander was clean, they carried him back out to the main living room before sinking into the bath in each other’s arms.

  “I really enjoyed all of yesterday,” Abner said as he cupped a breast.

  “Didn’t I tell you that you would?” Elizabeth said. She swept her hair around to one side, allowing Abner to kiss her neck.

  “You did, but I just think there’s something out of place. And I’ve never felt so sore, even after training,” he said.

  “Aww, poor baby. Swallow some steel and harden up. You’re mine now and that’ll be happening more often.” Another loud knock came from the front door. “Are you fucking serious? We just got in here.”

  Abner rose from the bath, wrapping a towel around the lower part of his body. Elizabeth followed suit, rushing to pull a shirt over her head. He looked out the window, seeing nobody there, however as he pulled the door open, it was pushed onto him by an excited blonde.

  “Ab! We made it! This place looks amazing!” Lois said. She looked around at Alexander and Elizabeth before her eyes finally rested on his naked torso. Her eyes dropped. “Oh, are we interrupting something?”

  “You’ve been gone for a day and the boy has already moved on.” Barros laughed as he came into view. He noticed Elizabeth with the towel around her waist. He let out a sigh. “Of course.”

  “Elizabeth Nevet.”

  “Lois Behan.”

  Both girls held out their hands and a look of understanding passed through them. Their glares turned up the heat in the room making Abner flush even more. He couldn’t look at either of them.

  “Oy, who’s this on the chair?” Barros asked crouching beside the boy.

  “A Realla, he’ll be sharing this place with me,” Abner said. “I knocked him out when he thought it would be a good idea to attack me.”

  “Let’s just hope something else isn’t knocked around here,” Barros said with a glance at Elizabeth. The girl quickly averted her gaze.

  “Right, well good to see you in fine spirits, Abner. I expect you on the training yard in ten minutes. Lois you as well. I need to show you what you’ll be facing as Hunters. Bring your swords, don’t be late,” Barros said. He ducked out of the cabin and vanished from view.

  Lois took one final glance at Elizabeth before she stormed out after Barros, shaking the windows with the force she slammed the door. Elizabeth bit her lip and faced Abner.

  “She’s the girl you wanted,” she said. “Of course.”

  “I didn’t know what to tell you,” Abner said.

  “You and I share something that the two of you don’t. How many times did you fuck me yesterday? I felt something, and I know you did to. I’d wager you’ve barely touched her,” Elizabeth said. “But there’s something between the two of you.”

  “We grew up together and we trained together. When you see your house burnt to the ground alongside someone, and the person you saw as a father killed, you tell me there wouldn’t be at least a small connection between you and whoever went through that with you!” Abner said.

  “Fine, I’ll go. Talk to you later, Abner,” Elizabeth said. She gathered her clothes, changed in front of Abner as if he wasn’t even there. When she was finished she threw back her hair and stormed out of the cabin in a huff, leaving the new novice in a stunned silence.

  Minutes later, Abner emerged from his cabin before heading off down to the training ground. Barros and Lois were already there waiting for him. The Hunter stood with his back to the novices, loosely holding his sword in his hand.

  “About time you showed up, Abner. Now I want you two to impress me.” He raised his arms towards the sky, dropping his sword.

  “How are we going to do that?” Abner asked.

  “Follow me,” Lois said.

  She crouched low to the ground, drawing a dagger from her belt. Barros still had his back turned as she lunged for him. The Hunter spun low, ducking underneath the blow sweeping Lois’ legs out from underneath her. As he finished the turn, Barros flicked up his sword, in a flashy display, then forgetting it, meeting Abner head on as the boy began to assault him raining blow after blow upon his arms and gloves.

  Barros moved effortlessly, his body in motion catching the blade, his leather armor seeming to absorb the weapon. He struck back with punches and palm strikes, forcing Abner back. Lois regained her footing, this time using her broadsword. Barros retreated ducking away from the longer, more powerful weapon. Abner circled in behind him, the Hunter spun spear tackling the novice before he could react.

  Lois brought her broadsword down forcing both men to roll out of harm’s way. Barros regained his feet first, rolling over his dropped sword. The Hunter rose slowly with a small grin on his face. Abner grabbed his sword, now to Barros’ back while Lois faced him head on. Both novices charged at the same time, however they received the same result. Barros used the flat of his blade to disarm both of them within seconds.

  “Not the best swordsmanship I’ve ever seen in my life, but you two certainly held your own for a split second. You’d probably best a quarter of the Hunters here, while the rest would still dominate you,” Barros said. “Now the formal part of your sword testing is over, it’s time to attend your classes.”

  “We have classes?” Lois asked.

  Barros raised his eyebrows. “Did you think you were here to sit around all day and just bash swords together? There’s a lot more to hunting than the physical component. Follow me.”

  Barros led the novices into the tower once again, this time not as high as Gunthos had taken Abner the day before. Abner and Lois looked at each other, not knowing what to expect. Weapons training as well as reading and writing where the only things they had done with Malvrok. Barros stopped outside a room on the second floor to consult a piece of parchment he pulled from inside his cloak.

  “This is your first class,” he said. “Inside is a man called Remer and he will teach you things you have to know. Make sure you pay attention and good luck.”

  Stooping their heads so they didn’t take themselves out, Abner and Lois ventured inside finding twenty matching woode
n desks taking up the majority of the room. Other novices sat at nearly every desk leaving only five at the back free. At the front of the room stood Remer, a small, hunchbacked Hunter with graying hair and a small curling mustache.

  He looked up from his notes with a smile as he heard the door shut. “Ah more novices! You must belong to Rowan and Barros. Come, come take a seat, we’re currently in the middle of a theoretical class at the moment.”

  The two novices did as they were bid, picking two of the spare seats. As they crossed the room, Abner caught Alexander glaring at him, from behind his busted nose. Remer began to teach again as the novices settled down.

  “As I was saying, can anyone tell me the different types of Vampires we can find? If you could I’d prefer them in order.”

  “Minors, Specters, Banshees, Desires, Shades and Counts,” one bored novice said.

  “Good, good,” Remer said. “Does anyone happen to know who began the war with the Hunters. Who was the first Vampire to achieve a rank higher than Count?” No student answered. “Nobody knows, very well. The answer to this my students, is Tal’davin. Since the beginning of our order we have only had one major Vampire threat made directly against the Huntrey. The legend is that if a single Vampire known as the Hand, holds the seven amulets that Tal’davin himself crafted they will be able to resurrect the monster and unleash the Red Sky across all of Taagras.”

  Abner’s hand dropped to the amulet. Could Malvrok’s gift that had absorbed the second amulet be one of these that Tal’davin had crafted. Lost in his thoughts, Abner zoned out from the rest of the class until he raised his hand, waiting for Remer to notice him.

  “Sir, what would happen if a Hand of Tal’davin attacked Taagras today? How many Vampires would be at his back?”

  “Firstly don’t call me sir, call me Remer. Secondly, I could not tell you. With the current Vampire population the Hand or Tal’davin himself could raise an army of anywhere up to one million Vampires. Simply put there wouldn’t be enough Hunters in the world to stop them. Luckily for us, they remain as undivided as ever, thus we do not need to worry. For the most part our foe is undivided and unorganized and we should be grateful for that.”

  Remer then reverted back to his notes, leaving Abner to wonder whether or not his amulets were two of the seven needed for a Vampire to raise the Red Sky.

  19

  Forthcomings

  During breakfast the following day, Abner was still bothered by what Remer had said about the amulets and the potential for a Hand of Tal’davin to rise. He spoke with Lois whilst they were eating.

  “I think these amulets are what Remer mentioned.”

  “Well, Abner, this can’t wait!” Lois said. “You have to go see Barros about these amulets immediately. They could be dangerous even if they aren’t one that Tal’davin made!”

  “And what if I can unlock its power somehow? Wouldn’t that be better than doing nothing about it before we go seek help?” Abner asked. “Especially if something happens that is for the good of the Huntrey?”

  “Nothing good can come from anything that Vampires and renegade Councilors can want,” Lois said.

  “I know it’s dangerous, but why else would Malvrok have left it in a place in a place we could easily find it. This amulet meant more to him than just some part of the puzzle for the Hand of Tal’davin to find,” Abner said.

  “You’ve got a point there, lad,” Barros. He came up behind the pair without them knowing he was there. “Malvrok would have left it for you specifically. He wasn’t daft enough to leave something that valuable lying around where anyone could pick it up. I saw a replica of the Red Sky in Rhorn once. That was terrifying enough and that was only with one amulet.”

  “What happened?” Abner asked.

  “A powerful Countess had it in her possession. She was going to use it to take control of Rhorn first then move on to conquer the rest of Sauria. Even with one amulet she amassed a decent sized force,” Barros said.

  “She killed my parents?”

  “That was the one,” Barros said. “Now you have two choices. Give me the amulet now and I will experiment on it, or we can go visit Rowan to find out its secrets.”

  “Who are we going to visit?” Rowan asked. He strode into the hall and looked around for who had spoken his name.

  “We were just coming to see you, my friend,” Barros said. “It appears we have a bit of a problem.”

  “Holy shit, is that what I think it is?” Rowan asked as he spotted the chain around Abner’s neck. “You’ve been searching for more of them for years.”

  “Indeed I have,” Barros said.

  “Well come with me, we best make sure it’s the real deal.”

  The three of them waited in Rowan’s office while the Highlander retrieved something from a large wardrobe just off to the side of the main room. He returned with a small round table, no larger than the size of chair. It was covered in runes, very similar to the ones on Abner’s sword. Small glass pieces met at strange angles reflecting the sunlight from it, sending it to focus on the center of the contraption in a focused beam.

  Each piece of glass was linked by a small strand of brass that looped around the outside like a broken cage. Where the beam of sunlight ended was a golden circle that spun wildly, dazing anyone that looked at it. Rowan pulled out a pair of small, half rimmed spectacles and slid them onto his nose looking down at the circle.

  “Abner, the amulet if you please.” He held his hand out before closing his fist around the precious item.

  The Hunter placed it on the table, dropping it straight into the center of the circle where its color was amplified by the amulet. With a nod, Rowan tapped the amulet with his finger, holding it above the golden circle. With each tap a soft hollow note rang out from it.

  “Hmm, that’s a good start but I need something stronger,” he said.

  “No, you’re not breaking it!” Abner said.

  “Hush, boy. I’m making sure it’s the real deal and not a fake. For something so rare we’ve found a large amount of copies. But regardless I still need to check them all,” Rowan said. “Lars Hunter or Tal’davin made this machine to confirm whether or not the amulets were genuine without using their power.” This time the Hunter picked up a hammer and smashed it down on the amulets. Instead of the hollow notes, a deep boom erupted from them. “It’s real, Barros. Just like the ones we put in the cave.”

  “Of course it is, don’t put a blade through it. Judging by that sound I’d say that’s more than one,” Barros said.

  “It is, I have the one I found when Malvrok died, and I have one from the man I killed at the arena. They joined together somehow and now I can’t get them apart,” Abner said.

  “Good, and we have five in our possession, thus these two mean we hold all seven amulets of Tal’davin. Your searching is done, Barros,” Rowan said. “There is just one more thing I have to try.”

  Barros frowned watching Rowan’s every move. Rowan drew a knife from within his cloak and directed it to the palm of his hand. With a quick slash he was bleeding and allowed several drops of blood to fall onto the amulet. It turned red as Abner’s sword did when Vampires were near. From the center of the amulet a thin layer of smoke began to pulse out, before slowly becoming a deep crimson.

  “That doesn’t look right,” Lois said.

  “No, it is. That’s the Red Sky. Abner you need to keep these two amulets safe and kill anyone that tries to take them from you, even other Hunters. When you leave these walls Vampires are more likely to be attracted to you, which would explain why we were ambushed by so many on the High Road,” Rowan said. “Somehow they know we’re collecting them and for some reason are drawn to them. It’s a good thing we’ve got them locked away.”

  “We have to inform Tyrain that we’ve at last located all the amulets,” Barros said. “Give them to me, Abner.”

  “No,” Rowan said stepping in between the two. “We can’t allow them to all be joined. Nobody but Tal’davin did th
at and look what he did to the world, Barros. We can’t risk anyone breaking into the vault and stealing all seven. Tyrain will know who carries the fifth one, but I will not have them know the other six are in our possession.”

  “I know the amulets power, I can contain them,” Barros said. “You saw what I did with the first two.”

  “I’m not going to risk it now that they are all here. Abner I can imagine that in a lot of ways that piece reminds you of Malvrok. I’m more than happy for you to keep it. Obviously it would be best if you could bury it under twelve ton of rocks or drop it at the bottom of the ocean, but I have a feeling you won’t. Your protection will have to be the next best thing. Under no circumstances can you let a Vampire get their hands on it,” Rowan said. “To be honest with you, if you’re wearing them and they’re broken apart I won’t know what happens to you. I’d imagine the end result would be fatal.”

  “Thanks for the warning,” Abner said. “What now?”

  “Well, you know me, I’m not one to have novices standing around idle all day. Begin weapons training with Barros. I need to write some letters and ride south to meet some Renori delegation who probably just want to bitch at me for our involvement in killing their Councilor. You’ll see me tonight. Just keep those amulets safe at all costs.”

  Barros and the two novices stood on the training field once again like the previous morning. They each had their swords in hand, in a small triangle. The Hunter produced four daggers from inside his cloak and held a pair out to each novice.

  “When you get up close and personal, I would recommend these as one of your best defenses against Vampires. You’ll be insanely fast, and there’s two of them giving you more options to strike with. Do either of you know any other reasons why these are good?” Barros asked.

  “They look like my sword,” Abner said.

  Barros nodded. “And what’s special about your sword, boy?”